- 2 days ago
Adam Scott ('Severance'), Cooper Koch ('Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story'), Diego Luna ('Andor,' 'La Máquina'), Eddie Redmayne ('The Day of the Jackal'), Jeffrey Wright ('The Agency,' 'The Last of Us') and Walton Goggins ('The White Lotus.' 'The Righteous Gemstones') join THR in Off Script With The Hollywood Reporter.
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00:00I think the perception of me, at least this is what they say when they walk up and they say,
00:06do you have any cocaine?
00:08But they do feel like, hey, well, are you packing?
00:17If all the world's a stage, it still wouldn't be big enough for the talent we've assembled here.
00:22Six of the most compelling drama actors on TV in a raw, revealing conversation where nothing is off limits.
00:30Walton Goggins, Cooper Koch, Diego Luna, Eddie Redmayne, Adam Scott, Jeffrey Wright.
00:48They're all on the record, but just a little off script with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:54I'm your host, Lacey Rose. Thank you all for being here.
00:57So we're going to start with a question for everyone.
00:58If you were to see an Adam Scott type or a Diego Luna type or, insert your name here, a Walton Goggin type in a script, do you know what that means?
01:09Lonely and sad.
01:12That can be funny, but is also marginalized.
01:17He'll be on his own.
01:18It's hard to beat that.
01:19It is, it is.
01:20And yet, I'm guessing that's not what an Adam Scott is.
01:21Walter speaks for all of us, I think.
01:23Yeah, I feel like that's probably how we all feel about it.
01:27How you feel about the house of Hollywood.
01:29But would you answer that question about yourself, or would you answer for, like, okay, Sam Rockwell.
01:34What would that be?
01:36Or do you answer it for somebody else?
01:37I guess you think about yourself.
01:39I just hate breakdowns altogether.
01:41Uh-huh.
01:43Can't speak for Sammy.
01:44Yeah, no.
01:45What's a Jeffrey Wright, what does that mean?
01:47What is Hollywood trying to sort of signal with that?
01:50Oh, I don't think that there's a lot written for a Jeffrey Wright type.
01:57I have to kind of slot myself into various rooms, yeah.
02:03So if there's a type, it would be probably someone akin to having multiple personality disorder or something like that.
02:12Because it, yeah, it takes a certain flexibility.
02:16Uh-huh.
02:17Yeah.
02:17I think it can definitely oscillate depending on what you've done.
02:21Sure.
02:21There was definitely a period when I started out, and it was all slightly quirky American characters.
02:29And then it went fully into English period dramas.
02:33Anything to do with Queen Elizabeth seemed to be my type.
02:36And then after Theory of Everything, it was the sort of scientific, slightly nervous character.
02:44And now I'm being sent lots of sociopath assassins, basically.
02:50Oh, yes.
02:51I mean, it kind of, I find there is a thing that whatever you've done last is the thing that kind of...
02:57They want from you.
02:57Yeah.
02:58Well, probably before Andor, the only projects I would get offered would be a drug dealer, right?
03:04And then I could be the nice drug dealer and not the very vicious one, but still a drug dealer, you know?
03:11And, you know, when the system doesn't even send you, you know, messages of like, yes, you could probably, you know, find a way to be yourself and still work in those projects that you're looking at, you know?
03:27That you're hoping, as audience, you're hoping to see yourself reflect there.
03:32And I think things have changed in the last years, and I think this TV system has changed where audiences are sending messages that are giving us, you know, the clues of like, oh, well, if you would like to, you could pursue an idea of like actually belonging to something you've never belonged before.
03:55Walter, you recently said, quote, I don't think people truly knew what to do with me.
04:00I'm not Brad Pitt.
04:01I'm never going to be Brad Pitt, but I am Walton Goggins, and very few people fit in my lane.
04:06So much of it, you know, starting out, I think, in your career early on has to do with we're taught to or we often compare ourselves to other people and we look in other lanes, right?
04:19And that just brings so much pain.
04:21And after doing that for the first couple of years, like, I want to be like him or I want to be that person, you know, I realized, you know, pretty early on that I was never going to be any of those people.
04:33And this first acting teacher that I had here in Los Angeles, his name was David DeGrant, and he said, you don't have the looks, so you better work harder than everyone in the room.
04:47You know, you better love this.
04:49Maybe I'm weird, but it inspired me.
04:51It was inspirational.
04:53I think that's kind of, you know, that's what it is, that to express yourself authentically and to be your authentic self and contribute whatever it is that you have to express or say in this medium is, you know, is the only lane that you have.
05:12It's really the only thing that you can control.
05:15And sometimes it takes a long time to figure that out.
05:18I was going to say, like, was it something that did it click for you in one specific moment or did it happen over time?
05:23Because I feel like I do that all the time.
05:25I'm just constantly comparing and, like, seeing what other people are doing and, you know, yeah, I'm curious how you got past that.
05:35God, I just want to know the answer from everybody.
05:37Maybe it never ends.
05:39I'm trying to get over what that teacher said.
05:44That's a rough thing to hear.
05:48I think you're a rather rough thing to have said.
05:51But I was, I mean, I was 19 years old, and I think what he was just saying was, you know, if you're going to go on this journey, like, it's better not begin, right?
06:01Once begun, better finish.
06:03And you better understand what it is that you're asking yourself to do.
06:06And so that's what, and I feel that way as fans of everybody at this table.
06:12That's what you've all done.
06:14And it's like, what is, what are you trying to do?
06:17Not be anybody else.
06:19Be your version of all of these people that you're given an opportunity to play, right?
06:24And then hold up a mirror to nature.
06:26I think it's, that's where the joy kind of comes from.
06:29And I think that's what I meant by that.
06:30Sure.
06:31But I mean, it is, it is quite harsh feedback, but it propelled you.
06:34I'm curious, does anyone else have a version of that?
06:37Yeah.
06:38I had an acting teacher tell me I wasn't getting cast because I have a gay voice.
06:44Wow.
06:45Wow.
06:46Yeah.
06:46Jesus.
06:47No way.
06:47Yeah.
06:48What do you do with that?
06:49Does it propel you and inspire you in the way or motivate you?
06:52Not in that moment.
06:54No.
06:54No.
06:54I'm sure not.
06:55Yeah.
06:56I hated that.
06:57And, but it, and then it starts to make you question yourself.
07:00You have self-doubt.
07:01And I mean, speaking of self-doubt, I just, I don't, I don't know if that will ever end.
07:06It's, I'm, I'm terrified.
07:09I think it will, I think it will.
07:12I think that that self-doubt will, will end.
07:15You know what, thinking of your first question, those things, when they happen, like they can
07:24propel certain kind of people, but, but it's, it's not the way, you know, to search for it.
07:31Oh, that's for damn sure.
07:32I think this is, it's interesting to be on the table talking about TV because I think it's
07:37the big game changer.
07:38It's like when, like the, the middleman between the audience and, and us is not there anymore.
07:43There's no guy with a cigar saying like, you, you are going to be a star boy, you know,
07:47like just people click and then suddenly go like, shit, they're watching a Mexican show.
07:53Should we pay attention to that?
07:55You know, and you can be as far away as you can from this system and the system will go
08:01and search for you if, if there's people with the need to hear stories from that specific place, you know.
08:08So now you, you said that before Star Wars, you were getting the drug dealers, what do you get now?
08:15What is, what is, what is, yeah.
08:16I still get a lot of drug dealers.
08:18Okay, fair enough.
08:20No, but it's just like, I, I don't have, I'm not looking for what they want me to play.
08:25Sure.
08:26I can, I can look for the stuff I want to do, you know.
08:28That's a freedom.
08:29Yeah.
08:30That comes with understanding that people today care about specificity.
08:35So if you do care about like a character that comes from a very specific context and you,
08:41and you care about stories that have that texture and that tone, someone will care, you know,
08:46and you can focus on, on what you want to do and not hear.
08:50I, I remember like the, the, the line of like, are you going to clean your accent, for example?
08:55It's not anymore part of the conversation anymore.
08:58Like when I was 20, it was like, man, you're great.
09:01If you work with your accent, you'll be doing what this or this other person is doing, you know,
09:05and you go like, why would I like to do that?
09:07I mean, that's done also, like, and there's someone really good at doing that.
09:12I'm good at doing this other thing.
09:15And today I think it's, the conversation starts somewhere else where things like those two teachers sound horrible.
09:24You don't feel like, oh shit, I wish I had that teacher when I was a kid anymore.
09:28Well, before it was like, oh, he gave me the, he, he made me strong.
09:32He made my, my skin thick.
09:34They may have been slightly embittered, slightly frustrated.
09:38Sounds like.
09:39Well, yeah, they're coming from a place of.
09:42I think that, I think that tends to happen sometimes.
09:44A little, you know, encouragement, but also a subtle, subtle undermining.
09:49Yeah, take it down a peg or two.
09:51A little bit.
09:52I think if, if you saw a photo of me in like 1994 when I was starting out, it, I know for a fact, I was looking at pictures of Ethan Hawke and just being like, okay, this is what I need to do.
10:08And my hair and my jacket, I mean, Ethan Hawke was and is so cool and excellent and hot.
10:16So, of course, that's what I want to be, but I was chasing this thing.
10:23I was trying to be this thing and it took me years to come to a place of kind of realizing that, like Walt said, the thing that you have, the only thing you have is you and whatever you have to bring to it.
10:40And you, and you're the only one that can bring that, that thing to it and coming to a place of being comfortable with that and being able to share that and thinking that is of any value rather than this thing that you feel is, is better than you.
11:00That you'll never get to that because that's not you.
11:04That's to celebrate that as well, that it's your differences that actually are the, the, the, the power and the interest that you have rather than trying to fit into other people's mold.
11:15But it takes, it weirdly feels like quite a simple thing that, but it's in practice, incredibly hard.
11:21And it's so vulnerable.
11:23It's so vulnerable.
11:24Like you just, because if that doesn't work, right?
11:29Then, then what do you do?
11:31You don't want me.
11:32Yeah.
11:33Yeah.
11:33I'm just so curious from this table, the, the, the way that you feel, uh, like Jeffrey being this far into your career or really anybody here, you know, what is it like for you the weeks or the night before you begin?
11:46And, and, and is, are those nerves and is that anxiety kind of still there?
11:51And then, and then what is the, the first day or the second day of work like after you've started?
11:57I try to, uh, I try to, when I'm working, try to find, uh, narratives and characters that I haven't played before.
12:04Uh, and, and, you know, you're trying to figure out, uh, how to, you know, wrap yourself around this, this new idea.
12:10And so you haven't done it before.
12:12So there's always, I find always uncertainty as to whether or not I'm going to be able to pull it off first and foremost.
12:20So that said, I just started filming, uh, we just started again with the agency and even having done it, uh, for, you know, one full season and just finished, you know, uh, not too long ago, I still felt uncertain, but it was for different reasons.
12:39And I think, I think perhaps what, what we do or what I do is we put obstacles in our way if we feel too, uh, relaxed, too content.
12:52Cause I don't, I mean, that's not a really, um, a sufficient place to work from because there has to be some degree of, of energy of, you know, uh, of, of, of, of anxiety, but, uh, but concern.
13:06I think it comes from a desire to do, do it and do it well.
13:12And more simply, uh, for me, I think throughout my career, there's been a need not to make a fool of myself.
13:21So that's first and foremost, but yeah, I mean, it's, uh, it's still in, you know, it changes over time, but I still, even last week found myself going, am I going to be able to pull this off?
13:32Wow.
13:33Well, I'll never forget on, um, years ago on theory of everything, the, the, the first day we're shooting various different moments in Stephen Hawking's life.
13:42And the night before, I was so nervous that it got to like three in the morning and four in the morning and the pickup's at five.
13:50And I'm like, no, no, no, this is day one. And I literally haven't, and I was being picked at, you know, so I got in the bath at 4.30 and was like, I can't believe this day is starting without sleep.
14:00And it got to the end of the day, the whole day was a blur. And the last scene, I had to sort of do this moment of, of, of a sort of breakdown.
14:07I was so fucking exhausting.
14:09They're like, the director just had to poke me and I was like, but it's interesting that even ever since then, and I quite often get it when you asked about the night before, I often can't sleep the night before, but learning in yourself that you can survive 48 hours and function, like, even though it's not ideal and accepting that that's who, that's who I am.
14:32Like, I can't get it.
14:33And I think that is a part of the process, I guess. Yeah.
14:35Well, no, I was, I think in answer to the second part of the question, in, in, in following up with that, I think at the same time, once you do get through it, you realize why you, why you do this.
14:47Yeah.
14:48I have to say that even though I do get everything you're talking about, I also have another thing that happens the day after where it's like, shit.
14:58Oh God, I should have.
15:00The drive home.
15:00Of course, of course, of course.
15:02And, and it's like, oh, and you wish you were doing theater and you had an opportunity to go there the next morning, I mean, to the theater and like get it right.
15:12Do it over again.
15:13I've been doing it for a scene I shot last week, just last night, I was saying the words out loud in what I should have done.
15:22Yeah.
15:22Like, it's killing me.
15:24I'm in the midst of trying to wash this scene away that I know I did wrong, like four days ago.
15:31I feel like that, that, that I always describe it as being like the aspiration for perfection with the acknowledgement that you're never going to get there.
15:39Yeah.
15:39But that thing that, the drug for me, that, the thing that makes me come back to it is those milliseconds that happen for me maybe once every five years.
15:49Yeah.
15:49You know, like for, and it's gone in a second, then it can happen on stage.
15:52When, for some reason, something suddenly clicks and you find something else happening.
15:59It's magic.
16:00And that's, that's the drug.
16:01It's the drug.
16:02Do you find that on film, TV?
16:03I've had it maybe three or four times.
16:05Yeah.
16:06And, and over 20 years, but, but it's so rare.
16:10The problem with, the problem with film TV is there's evidence.
16:13Yeah, yeah, yeah.
16:15You can't escape.
16:16It's there for a while.
16:17But I can, it's so comforting to hear that you've, you've felt it three or four, it's, it's nanoseconds for you and for everyone here.
16:28And just knowing how much I admire everyone's work at this table and knowing that it's, it doesn't, it's not something that you're always, you're not always feeling the greatness that I see you all generating.
16:42That it's milliseconds for you as well as beyond comforting.
16:47Because I, I, I, I'm lucky to get the, the nanoseconds.
16:53It makes it all worth it.
16:54Can I ask you, this is a project where, if I'm not mistaken, you auditioned for?
16:59Three times.
17:00Three times, but for three different Menendez Brothers projects.
17:04Yeah.
17:04So talk to me about, that's, obviously you, you knew it was a project, it was a story you wanted to tell.
17:09Well, yeah, I, it was my second audition ever that I ever had with my agent in New York.
17:16And I just watched the videos of the testimony and it was like a Saturday morning and I'm just like crying in my bed, just being like, holy shit, this is, I really am so moved by, by this.
17:30And it was my first callback and my first screen test for anything and I didn't get it and I was devastated.
17:36And I remember like looking up to the sky and being so woo woo and being like, I'm supposed to do this.
17:44I'm supposed to do this.
17:44This feels like this is mine.
17:46Like, I feel like I have to tell the story.
17:47And then, yeah, it came back seven years later and then I got to do it in the best possible way.
17:55And so that was for a different Menendez.
17:57Yeah.
17:58The Law and Order one was first in 2017.
18:01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
18:01And then there was a Lifetime movie as well that I tested for that.
18:04And then, yeah.
18:06And then, and that was in, yeah, 2017.
18:08It's like right when I started auditioning.
18:10Do you think it helped?
18:11Do you think that that character kind of ruminating in you over that period of time?
18:15Yeah, I think I just always had such a deep, like weird care and love for both of them that I think it always stuck with me.
18:29And I think a lot of characters that I end up deeply loving are always kind of like, they're like, I remember playing like burger and hair in college.
18:36And like for some reason that, that still sticks with me.
18:40And I remember really learning how to have self-love through that.
18:45Process in a certain way.
18:46Has anyone else had to sort of fight that hard for a role because you knew it was something that you were meant to play?
18:53As I've gotten older, you know, and, and a lot of those experiences, things that you, you might've gotten or the things that you lost out on in your 20s affect you or affected me much differently than they do, you know.
19:06I mean, I'm 53 and, and so now I, I really believe like in, in life and, and, and that if it was meant for me, it's going to be for me.
19:15And if it's not meant for me, it's not going to be for me.
19:17And just because this experience didn't happen, the next one is going to come along.
19:22I feel that way about everything in my life.
19:24Well, you've also been in multiple projects where you were supposed to be, your, your, your time on these projects was supposed to be one episode and done.
19:32You were supposed to be killed.
19:33I mean, more than once.
19:35A serialized kind of experience.
19:37Yeah, justified.
19:38It's justified.
19:39It happened.
19:39It happened on like the, the, the, the shield, you know, the shield, they, yeah, I, you know, I didn't find out until the DVD commentary at the end of the first season that, uh, they wanted to fire me.
19:49And I thought, well, I only had four lines.
19:52How could I piss you off that bad?
19:53Yeah.
19:54It was the, yeah, the shield and, and justified and, uh, yeah.
19:57And a few, a few, a few others.
19:59Yeah.
19:59Uh-huh.
20:00But, um, but it, but it, but it worked out.
20:02Yeah.
20:02I would, I would say.
20:04Yeah.
20:04So these are projects.
20:05I mean, presumably the, the success of these things, even at this point in your career,
20:10the, the phone rings in a different way on, on the other side.
20:13You're hitting a cultural moment in, in a way that, uh, I would say sort of feels fresh and new.
20:19What do those calls look like and how do you sort of process what's happening?
20:24I'm just leaning into it with childlike abandon.
20:27And I suppose some people, uh, would take that opportunity to, to redefine how people see them and maybe become a little more aloof and a little cool.
20:36So I'm just leaning more into who I am as a person and I'm not walking into it.
20:42I'm fucking running straight at it and, and the right one will fit.
20:47And yeah, I'm getting to read some really cool things now.
20:49And, but the work doesn't change.
20:52The attitude doesn't change.
20:54You don't change.
20:55I've been doing what I've been doing for 30 years, you know, and the, and the reverence that I have for this experience.
21:01And I just want to tie it back into something that you said earlier, asking that question earlier, I, like all of you, I can't stand it.
21:11I am filled with anxiety and I, I can't sleep the night before a job, but I do know without knowing, even if I have the right questions, let alone the right answers.
21:21Now at this stage of my life, whether it's an interview, whether it's a, whatever it is, I know that once I'm there, I'll figure it out no matter what I'll figure it out.
21:34And that's the thing I don't question anymore at this stage of my life, which feels so good, whether it's this moment, whether it's a job, whether it, whatever it is, whether it's being a parent, I'm going to figure it out.
21:48And that is a place that, that I think all of us will, can get to, you know, that we will get to.
21:56Anyway, I hope I got there.
21:58Amen.
21:58It is so crazy to just, if I'm talking and all of you guys are like looking at me, I just feel so, this is just insane to me right now.
22:10Like I have been watching you all for so long, my whole life.
22:16And I'm just, I, I feel so grateful to be here and looking at each one of you.
22:21I mean, it's just, I feel so surreal.
22:24I also, I used to watch this all the time, like in college, when I was in acting school, I would be watching this.
22:30And now to be like sitting here, it's just, it, it's very crazy.
22:35Well, you're incredible.
22:36You're here for a reason.
22:38Yeah.
22:40I mean, you, you were, when you got this part, you were working at Salt and Straw and teaching yoga.
22:45I'm curious.
22:46No, quite literally.
22:47I'm curious, what would, what's the thing that you wish someone, anyone would have told you when you guys were at that point in your career?
22:57At the Salt and Straw point?
22:58Sure.
22:59Yes.
22:59Matter of fact, speaking.
23:01Can we all work at an ice cream?
23:02It sounds delicious.
23:05It is an ice cream shop.
23:06Oh, really?
23:07Yes.
23:08Don't, you know, don't worry about what you feel you need to push yourself to be.
23:14What you have is already there.
23:17But at the same time, I feel like to a certain extent, that's something that is lived and that you have to come to in your, in your own way.
23:25And there's a certain, you know, like I said earlier, I was, you know, when I was starting out, I wanted to be Ethan Hawke and Stephen Dorff and whatever was happening at the time.
23:35And sort of with age and with experience, you find yourself coming to a place of kind of accepting yourself and accepting what you have to offer.
23:48And I'm just so grateful that I didn't end up getting Scream 2 or I Know What You Did Last Summer or any of the stuff that I auditioned for at all.
24:01And I would have squandered it.
24:05I wouldn't have, I wasn't ready.
24:07And I was trying to replicate something in my, you know, whatever it was.
24:13And so I feel like the kind of path I've ended up taking is the right one, similar to what Walt was saying.
24:22I don't know if there's something about what I would say, and maybe it's my weird relationship with this city, because, you know, Los Angeles for British actors was like the place, the kind of, the dream world, really.
24:37And we used to come over here, and it was normally in January during, like, pilot season, and we'd come over and we'd tell our families we were going to go and try and get work.
24:46And none of us would get any work, but we would sit here and escape the pouring rain.
24:49And so whenever I come back here, I feel like a profound romance, and it's a nostalgia.
24:56And I get that at the time, we were hustling, and we were trying, and I've never, ever got a job, ever, from a meeting in Los Angeles.
25:05The one thing I would say is that, and maybe I have over-romanticized it, it's very easy for me to say, having been lucky enough to work, and I know how real that struggle is.
25:13But there is great joy that comes through the camaraderie of that period, of helping each other out, of all auditioning for the same stuff, of, we used to do things when, you know, if someone was doing a play or had an audition,
25:26get a group together and get that play, run it all together, because part of the point when you're starting out is you're not acting.
25:32Like, you've, you're never, you're just, you're working, like, I would work in the pub, or you're working, you're not actually getting the opportunity to practice.
25:40And, and I look back on that period as a, as, as a kind of joyful one, if you can create that vibe and that camaraderie to be, and of course, competitions in there, it's like, it's, all of that is very, very real.
25:54But those things of also, when your friend has a, has a break, like the celebration of that, and the excitement behind that.
26:02You had it on such a grand scale, so young.
26:05Yeah, but thinking about the, what you were saying of, like,
26:10what I needed to be told.
26:12Yeah.
26:12And, and I agree with you, probably I needed to go through that, not to be told, but I was already there, you know,
26:21the place that makes me so, like, proud and, and, and, and that I understand belonging by being there.
26:31I was already doing theater with the companies, like, with the people that shared the passion I had.
26:38I was part of a community, a family.
26:40And then Itumamatamin happened, and suddenly we started traveling, and we didn't know that was even possible,
26:46that Mexican films were meant to be seen in a tiny festival in Mexico, and probably you could bring a family member.
26:53And that was it, you know, that was the, it was a luxury just to do them.
26:57But I suddenly once started traveling, and, and, and I felt like, oh, I can work in other communities, in other places,
27:06find new audiences, and in other language.
27:09And I, I did the worst jobs ever, like, it was the worst decision, you know, in terms of, like, how proud are you of those films?
27:18Like, if I put them all, I go, like, oh, I could, like, keep them on the, the table, you know, happily.
27:25But I guess I had to go through that.
27:27Yeah.
27:27Well, yeah.
27:27To understand it.
27:29I think that, I think that's right.
27:30Do you have this feeling in this moment of, like, oh, I have to strike while the iron's hot,
27:34that sort of pressure that, that can come from, from this, from this business?
27:39Yeah.
27:39You do?
27:40Yeah.
27:43Yeah, I, um, yeah, it's tough.
27:46You, you, but, like you said, I, I feel like I, I have to feel it in my, I've got to feel it in my gut, in my heart, in order to want to do something.
28:00If I don't feel it, I'm terrible.
28:02I'm awful.
28:03If I, if I don't have that passion or that, that just immense empathy for the person or for the story or where I really connect, then I'm terrible.
28:14And I've been trying to figure out, is there a way to work your way into finding that or is it just depend, does it depend on what the thing is?
28:26And so then, yeah, how do you say no?
28:29How do you say yes?
28:31How do you, you know, I mean.
28:32That was hard.
28:32Even with auditioning, like, I feel like I'm better going to audition, not necessarily just to prove it to them, but I need to prove to myself that I can do it.
28:42I'm going to steal that one.
28:43That's a good one to say no to a film.
28:45I'm going to ruin your film if I do it.
28:47Yeah.
28:47I mean, you don't need me in your film.
28:51And Itumama Tambien is actually what led you ultimately to Star Wars, which is not necessarily a linear path.
28:57I like telling that story because I was sat down and Gareth Edwards, the director, said, like, he said it somehow, something like this.
29:07He said, like, I want the tone of Itumama Tambien in this Star Wars film.
29:10And I was like, I never thought, like, one thing would, like, get me close to the other, you know, and I want to do both.
29:19I grew up watching these films.
29:21I love the Star Wars universe.
29:22I want to be part, but I never thought, like, Itumama Tambien and that work we did with Alfonso and the way he kept us grounded was, like, a key.
29:31And I remember all the people saying to me what to do in order to be eligible for something like Star Wars, you know, go to the gym, change your accent, move to California, da, da, da, all of those things.
29:44And I was like, no, I, in fact, something I did in Mexico City in Spanish in eight weeks of shooting was the key, you know.
29:53I was saying to Cooper earlier, just outside, we were talking about, you know, the path forward and choices you're making.
30:00And something I kind of came to realize eventually was the things that ended up making any difference in my career were the choices I made for reasons other than career.
30:15It was the choices I made because it's something that I liked and I wanted to do because I thought it would be fun with my friends or I just loved the material.
30:25I thought I could bring something to it and never even thinking about career, how it could help me along.
30:31And those always, and whenever I make a decision for any other reason other than that, it goes sideways and doesn't do, doesn't end up doing anything.
30:42So the only thing that I would say for young actors, and this is my philosophy, the thing that you constantly have to check is your ego, right?
30:53Just because this moment happens and then all of a sudden, well, then you have to do things of, you know, of a similar caliber or whatever, or you're going to be seeing the perception.
31:03Who gives a fuck what other people think?
31:05At the end of the day, for me, go to work.
31:08Yeah.
31:09Work begets work.
31:10And more importantly, don't manage or kind of try to dictate what that experience will be because one will lead to another, which will lead to another.
31:23And I, I don't know, man, like I remember because after like a big job at one particular moment in my career, it's like, okay, that phone is going to ring, you know?
31:31And it didn't, it didn't ring in the way that I thought it would ring or, or like, like going back to justified and what that kind of like, okay, yeah, I'll just do the pilot.
31:42Great.
31:43After, you know, saying no a couple of times, but I'm going to go to work and I can add something to this of real value.
31:49I wound up staying around and then, you know, then Quentin called, you know, for the first time and, and Django and, and I went and met with him.
32:00And after we, we had dinner, I threw it with some friends the night before and he said, well, come in and kind of pick a role and read whatever.
32:06And I, I came in and he's like, I got three roles.
32:10This is it, you know, and got it, spent an hour with him.
32:13And he said, uh, no, he said to, so, you know, thank you.
32:16That was a lot of fun.
32:16Well, and I said, oh, I'm, I'm not, I'm not leaving.
32:21I'm going to read like Sam's role.
32:23I'm going to read Leo's role.
32:24I'm going to read all the roles.
32:26I don't care if I get this job.
32:29I'm saying your words in front of you, man.
32:31This is the only reason I'm in this.
32:34This is the drug.
32:36And, and we spent, you know, another, I've told this story before, but like an hour and a half and, and ultimately it worked out the way that it worked out.
32:44And it was because of that, no ego, whatever, if I can, you know, whatever, we still led to the hateful eight, you know, and, and it's just kind of the way things happen.
32:53And I think people, we all have to constantly kind of check in with our egos and kind of where we are and how, how we see ourselves or how other people see us.
33:04Right.
33:04And to be honest about that.
33:07I think what, you know, we're all saying, I feel similarly to what everyone said, but I think it goes back to this idea of finding the self, which is a process of kind of stripping away all of the things that are added on and all the things that may be false and finding oneself.
33:26But I think early on it begins with having a perspective, with having interest in things beyond just being in front of the camera or being on the stage, because it's only in that way that you're able to find something that resonates with you on the page.
33:51I mean, I tell young people all the time, if you're going to, you know, if you want to do this, study anything but acting, study biology, study anything that gives you a sense of reference.
34:04Get out in the world.
34:05And context, because at the end of the day, the thing that we're asked to do is to communicate something so that it can be understood.
34:18In order for us to do that, we have to understand it ourselves.
34:23And so, and so if you're, if you're, you know, to your point as well, Eddie, I mean, the nostalgia for that time when you're just scrambling, just trying to figure out, I mean, those are the best days.
34:34Enjoy those days.
34:36But I'm conscious it's hideous at the time.
34:38I can just see Cooper's face being like, oh, I don't know.
34:41It was such a bummer back then.
34:43It's, I mean, it's, you know, it's the cliche, it's the journey, it's not, you know, there is a romance to that.
34:48It's not the location.
34:49It's, I think, I worked with what, when we did Angels in America, I'd get these calls, yeah, Al wants to rehearse, you know, on his own.
34:58You know, he wants to, he's got a room over on 57th Street.
35:01He wants to, yeah, sure, of course.
35:02This happened like a dozen times, you know, Mike Nichols directing, but Mike was just, Al just wanted to work through the script and, and dig down into the script.
35:14And I, and then ultimately we, you know, we, we did the, the piece, you know, we performed it, but it seemed to me that he was much more interested in the process of getting there.
35:28Oh, I understand.
35:28Yeah.
35:29Than, than, than in the final outcome.
35:31Yeah.
35:32For him, that was everything.
35:33Just, just, just, you know, the journey, the journey was far more critical for him than, than, than, than the ultimate destination.
35:43And I think there's something to be said for that, said, said of that generally.
35:47Because what we do doesn't happen if there's no one in front, if we are not sharing it, if it's, it's meant to be called a collaboration and it's about that encounter.
36:00And, and, and, and we, we tend to talk about acting and, and this industry like pushes you to think about a career, but it's, it's about how many encounters you can have in life, you know, with others that do what you do that can enrich your perspective.
36:18But the, the, the, the connections, the moments, the, the, the echo you found in someone else is, is what I guess I, I, I, I, it's my drug.
36:30I think that, you know, I would argue the, the thing that is still so special about Pacino and knowing that he takes all of this time to just explore the piece and the scene or whatever it is, is that, and I would say still like in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, watching Pacino on there.
36:51And it's still the, like the, it's very simple what's so special about Al Pacino and I think, for me, it's that when I see his work, I, he does things, whether it's a glance or a monologue or whatever it is, he does stuff that I've only seen in real life.
37:10I've only seen people behave that way or have that feeling, even if it's nonverbal, like when he leaves the room in Godfather 2 and Kay is sewing and he decides he hasn't seen her in months, but he's not going to tell her he's home.
37:27And just the way he backs out of that room. I've never seen that on film before. I've, that, that's behavior that is real. And it's because he is thinking about it from all angles for weeks, probably.
37:41And he knows that feeling and he's able to replicate it. It is a magic trick. And it's rare that you see something that kind of genuine and real.
37:54We're talking a lot about how the industry sees you, how you see yourself. I'm curious about how fans see you. If, if fans are going to approach you on the street in an airport or what have you these days, what do they tend to recognize you from and what do they say?
38:08Always just, can I have a picture? And just those words. And yeah, I, I've developed a rule.
38:18Which is give me a compliment first. Give me a compliment. Just give me a compliment. Just say you liked the show before you ask for the photo. And then, cause then it's just like, well, what you just want to, you just, what, that's all you want.
38:36You don't want to talk to me. Like I want to, I would talk to you. Like I had someone the other day, like just follow me to the car at, at the grocery store. And I just, just, can I have a photo?
38:47And I'm just like, I, I'm, I'll be nice. I'm super nice. I'd never be rude to somebody, but help me load my groceries into the back or just, yeah.
38:56Or just like, I would rather connect like, and then when you do have those connections with people who stop you and say, you know, like, oh, I'm so sorry.
39:05I don't want to bother you, but I just, I loved you in the show. You're amazing. Like, you know, you, I was really moved by your thing or whatever it is.
39:12Like, then that's like, oh, that feels so good. And, and, you know, we really live in an age where like a photo is so precious to people, but, and, and then you do, you do send it to your friends and then, and then that's, that's it.
39:28That's, and yeah, it's, and you don't, there's no connection in it. Yeah. That's been, that's been an interesting, um, yeah. Sort of thing.
39:39I think the perception of me, at least this is what they say when they walk up and they, they say, do you have any cocaine?
39:48But they do feel like, like, like, well, you gotta, you're packing.
39:53But I think that people feel like, oh man, like, I, I know this guy. I feel like I want to have a drink with this guy. I want to hang out with this guy.
40:05And I don't know if it's about because of, you know, where I come from, you know, or, or just kind of the way I kind of move through the world.
40:12People just feel like they have a right, you know, and, and I, I just feel like they do in the sense, because it's like, I've asked you to come in to spend 84 hours of your life with me.
40:23Yeah.
40:23And I can't, are you joking? Okay. So what did you think? Really? What did you, what did you think? You know, what, what did you think was going to happen?
40:29It got in disagreements and, you know, but I, I, you have, like, like, well, I don't think, I think you missed the point.
40:36Wait, you feel compelled to explain it to these people?
40:39Well, yeah. I mean, if they're sharing, if they're sharing an idea of something, this is what I, well, it's interesting that it hit you that way.
40:44I think you're wrong, but that's it. But, and I, and I quite like having those conversations and, and this is going to sound so weird, but, but like, I'm a, there are other parents here.
40:55I'm a father and, you know, for so long and I still feel that way. And my son has taken more selfies, man.
41:02Like, he has been just like, here you go, buddy, you take this, you know, that somebody passed the phone to him.
41:08But I just feel like every time I'm, I'm stopped on the street, I can provide for my family.
41:13Like, it's a, it is a blessing. It's not a curse.
41:17And also, it's not the same. You cannot talk about the audience, you know, as one thing or like the, the, the, the idea of fans as a, as a monolithic idea, because the, I, I think like, for example, the, the, the guys who's, who belong to the Star Wars community.
41:33They, they care profoundly. They know, they, they're experts in what you're working on.
41:39And that feels amazing. Or, or then when I go to Mexico, like, I've been acting since I'm seven.
41:44So I'm part of like, I'm a piece of furniture of their houses, you know, like I arrive and they just, they just go like, yeah, well, Diego, I mean, he's been around forever.
41:54And you're like, yeah, okay, but what's your name? Cool. I mean, and, and that's a different connection. And then I come to this country and it's like, shit, man, we didn't know that was possible.
42:04So nice to have you in a, in that film, you know?
42:08And, and, and, and if you're Mexican in the States, it means a lot, you know?
42:13For me, I, I, I appreciate like going, you're talking about like, you know, like Star Wars, like, you know, with the Batman or something like that.
42:22It's how invested people are, they just feel a personal connection to these stories and characters.
42:30And I think that I've, I've grown really to respect that because particularly, um, now when things are so uncertain in the world, um, and so odd and precarious,
42:46that people find genuine hope and a, and a real sense of, of, of, of, of personal, um, connection and comfort in, in, in story.
42:58Um, I think we've all experienced that ourselves too. Like I've, I, I've experienced that all the time with the shows that I watch and the people that I see.
43:08Yeah. It's, it's, it's not a superficial thing. It's like, it's a critical thing. So for example, going to like Comic-Con for example, I love going to Comic-Con.
43:16I love it. Cause you have, you, you get an opportunity to, to experience this genuine, genuine appreciation.
43:26It's a genuine appreciation that otherwise becomes completely abstracted because you don't have that connection between, um, you know, the stage and the audience as you do in the theater.
43:35But, um, yeah, I mean, it depends on the, on the piece, but.
43:39If it wasn't genuine, they wouldn't go to the trouble.
43:41Oh, they're right.
43:42They're right there and going up to you.
43:44Yeah.
43:45Yeah. I feel the same way with severance.
43:48People that come up and want to talk about severance are really interested.
43:54What do they ask? What do they say?
43:55Well, it, mostly it's talking about how much they love it, who they watch it with is really important.
44:01And I love, I love it.
44:03Yeah. And, and it's great because, you know, when we made the show, when we first made the show, it was in a bubble.
44:11And we figured it was so weird, maybe people would watch it, but maybe, maybe it would just be ignored.
44:18Like we never thought it would connect to the way it's connected.
44:22So when people come up and want to talk about it, I, I, I love it.
44:27And there is, people are so smart and invested and involved.
44:32And I think, like you were saying, it being a part, it being on television, whether it's on their iPad or on their screen at home, it's really ingrained into their lives in a different way.
44:44And there's a, a, a comfortability, like you were saying too, um, that's, that's really lovely.
44:50Um, do they give you plot suggestions?
44:52Yeah. Oh yeah.
44:53Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
44:53For sure.
44:55Season two.
44:56Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
44:56For sure.
44:57Oh yeah.
44:58Oh yeah.
44:59Yeah. For sure.
45:01One of the things that, sorry, just jumping in.
45:03Please.
45:03That I've, I've experienced, cause I haven't done TV that it comes out weekly.
45:07Like, like this for a while. And again, in a time in which the world is becoming like somehow less communicative, the fact that people are talking and waiting that week, the sustain, you know, I really felt it with your show, like that, that, that, that sort of anticipation, the, the water cooler, you know, discussions and the way that people want to stop you to, to really, to have a connection.
45:33And I find, I find that so thrilling. That's been like compared to all of the other things I've done. I've never felt that so like virulently.
45:40When you're out in the world, like in the midst of a season where there are like cliffhangers and whatever, like the anticipation for the next one, it really is a, a, a really new feeling.
45:52Yeah.
45:53It's so fun.
45:54It's so fun.
45:55Yeah.
45:55People coming up and wanting to know, but they don't want to know. It's really fun.
46:00There was a, there was a moment I was in, in, in, in New York and the city, like, I don't know, like episode seven of the white Lotus or whatever.
46:07And I was just kind of walking down the street and it was the, the most surreal aspect of it was, it was like a dude, like on a fifth floor, he can walk a balcony.
46:19Goggins, come on, Rick.
46:21Like, make it Rick.
46:22And then somebody going by a car, Rick hatchet. Like just, you found peace, man. You found peace.
46:28Somebody on a bike, a dude kind of came out of a shop and you're just like, and it's like Goggins. And I was like, you know, Hey, what's up, man? I hope so.
46:35And it was, you know, for like block after block.
46:38And it was like, it was no ego. Right. It was just like, this is just something culture is participating kind of in this moment.
46:45And you just happened to be a part of it. And it, and it is a part of a, like a, this exchange.
46:50Who's the fellow actor, uh, that you drop any, any, anything and everything to act with, but haven't yet?
46:57Hmm.
46:58Anyone who, who has one?
47:01Uh, Jeffrey Wright.
47:02Oh boy. Oh boy.
47:04Yeah, that's a, that's a hard question in the table where you.
47:07Okay, don't, exclude everyone at this table. Exclude everyone.
47:10Everyone has to pick someone.
47:10No, no, no, no, no. Exclude everyone at this table.
47:12Is there someone you're dying to work with? Manifest it here.
47:16For me, uh, I mean, Al Pacino is someone, uh, Harrison Ford, you know, is everything to me.
47:23Is it, he's still doing incredible work.
47:26Someone that I worked with, but for one scene, but I would love to work with more is Ben Whishel.
47:32Uh-huh.
47:33I think he's extraordinary.
47:36Fassbender.
47:37Oh, so good.
47:38Michael.
47:39Uh-huh.
47:39I'll do a scene with Walter and Fassbender and Walter and Walter.
47:42Yeah.
47:44Come over and we'll be at it next week.
47:46Come on over.
47:46Who's got an iPhone?
47:48Let's go to work.
47:49Honestly, Parker Posey.
47:51God, I would, that was, oh God, I would die to do something like that.
47:57She's a, she's a true original.
47:59That's really nice.
48:00You talk about someone who has always been their authentic self.
48:04Incredible.
48:04Oh, for sure.
48:06Fearlessly.
48:06If you could pop up in, in, in another project, even just as a guest star, is there anyone,
48:11is there anything you guys, uh, would love to jump into?
48:16Yes.
48:17I would sever.
48:18You would sever?
48:19Okay.
48:20All right.
48:22That's a good question.
48:24Yeah.
48:25I'm just trying to think of what's like active right now.
48:28Yeah.
48:28Like a, cause I would say like the West Wing or something, but that's not.
48:31I mean, so would I.
48:32Yeah, yeah.
48:33Just any opportunity to work with Alice and Johnny in front of you.
48:36I would say the Flight of the Conchords.
48:39Oh, that's so good.
48:40Ah, yes.
48:41I feel like, Jeffrey, we could do like a Jackal agency.
48:44Do a little mashup.
48:45Like mashup.
48:46Yeah.
48:46I think that would actually be really quite interesting.
48:48I, I think we, we might consider it.
48:50See, I see the problem for me.
48:52I've only.
48:52You don't seem too keen, Joey.
48:53No, no, no.
48:54We could do it in this context.
48:55We could do it in this context.
48:57Cause I, I've only like lately been watching like documentaries, uh, which I tend to do too
49:03much trying to figure out what's going on in the world.
49:05So I've been watching like, well, I did a, a, a film about Russia.
49:10So I started digging down into, um, into kind of recent Russian history and then going
49:14back and then now, and, and, and autocrats, uh, cause the film is, um, it's called the
49:21wizard of the Kremlin.
49:22So I was digging down and then I started digging down into, you know, cause there's a novel
49:26app between Soviet history and Chinese history and started digging down into like, uh, Mao
49:32and these, so I've been watching a lot of historical documentaries.
49:36So maybe we could find ourselves, you know, uh, somehow, you know, um, planted inside the
49:44history of these things as these characters, because they were there, uh, in like kind
49:50of frightening ways, um, these CIA operatives and the like, maybe, maybe we'd do that.
49:57What is the most used emoji on your phone?
49:59Sounds like a crazy question.
50:00It's actually revealing.
50:02I have the hug.
50:03You're the hug.
50:03See, that is, that is, but that says something.
50:06I have this, uh, this, uh, the grin, you know, like that, like that, super cool.
50:13And I do, but I do that and it follows up with one with shades.
50:16It does make so much sense.
50:19Yeah.
50:19I have the one with like the massive amount of teeth.
50:23Which is the story of mine.
50:24It's sort of apologizing for something that's gone sort of cataclysmically wrong.
50:28Um, but I've recently got into, um, what are they?
50:31Stickers?
50:31Stickers.
50:32So Ursula Cabrera, who plays my wife, um, in The Jackal has the most extreme, I mean,
50:37her text message is my belly laugh with stickers.
50:40So I've just saved all of them.
50:41And occasionally I just send them to people randomly just to cheer them up.
50:44And they're like a guaranteed instant thing.
50:46Oh, her.
50:47No, no, no.
50:48She just, they're just her taste in, which is.
50:50I love it.
50:50Yeah.
50:51I'm a dad, so the thumbs up.
50:53I tend to, and my kids are just like, Jesus Christ.
50:58Use something else.
51:00Jesus Christ.
51:01Yes.
51:02So funny.
51:03Use the thumbs up, too.
51:04The dad thumbs.
51:05Yeah.
51:05You shut that down.
51:07Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
51:08I need to stop.
51:09Yeah.
51:10Face palm is mine.
51:12Just the face palm.
51:12Oh, that's a good one.
51:13That's a great one.
51:14That's great.
51:14I love that one.
51:15It's so perfect.
51:16It's so good.
51:17Yeah.
51:17Yeah.
51:18Yeah.
51:19Diego, do you have, do you have, I am, I'm boring.
51:22I have like one that I use.
51:24It's a, it's a little boy dancing that is very sweet, but, uh, it's, that's it.
51:31How is that boring?
51:32Well, because it's been happening for eight years or nine years.
51:35I mean, yeah.
51:36Committed to it.
51:37Is that like a, an affirmation, like right on sort of like?
51:40It's like a, yeah.
51:42I mean, it's going to get better.
51:44You know, it works for everything.
51:45It works for, don't worry.
51:47Life is fun.
51:48It's like, oh my God, you just said something great.
51:50Yeah.
51:50Or I said, I'm having a shitty day.
51:52I wish I was this boy.
51:53I just used that one.
51:55I'm really worried.
51:56That's great.
51:56These emojis are like indicative of our personality.
51:58They are.
51:59But they, but they absolutely are.
52:03My other one, so much of our media is served up to us.
52:06Uh, what does the algorithm think you like?
52:09So maybe that's as simple as your, yeah.
52:11On Instagram, they think I like, um, videos that are focused on, uh, great heights.
52:19And the, you know, these kids that climb to the very top of skyscrapers, to the, like,
52:25the top of the antenna at the top of a skyscraper with their faces covered because it's illegal.
52:30Have you seen these videos?
52:31Yeah.
52:32No.
52:32Are you going to surf this?
52:33Yeah, they hold up a flag or, and they bring a drone up there to get.
52:37Are they drones now?
52:39Yeah, they bring it up.
52:40Like Spider-Man.
52:41They do the stick too.
52:42Yeah.
52:42It's terrifying.
52:44And sometimes they fall and it's a whole subculture.
52:47Oh, shit.
52:48Yeah.
52:48Die.
52:49Yeah.
52:50Oh, wow.
52:50There's a documentary of it.
52:52It's crazy, but it's all I get sent on Instagram are these terrifying videos of, uh, people climbing
52:59skyscrapers.
52:59Fascinating.
53:00I get hotels in other countries.
53:01Like, I'm just constantly, like, looking at, like, so where can we go in the world?
53:05And I'm just like, oh, Mr. and Mrs. Smith again?
53:08Like, please stop.
53:10Leave me alone.
53:12Instagram?
53:13A lot of food.
53:13A lot of recipes.
53:14Yeah.
53:15That's a good one.
53:16Yeah.
53:16Among other weird shit.
53:18Weird shit.
53:19Yeah, I guess.
53:19But consistently, you know, some good food.
53:22Do you make the food?
53:23Do you actually make the food?
53:23Yeah, I do.
53:24I haven't been cooking lately, but yeah.
53:25I, you know, pull down, I download recipes off of Instagram more.
53:31And that's videos.
53:31Isn't it that, like, when you get that little taste of, like, oh my God, look at that focaccia
53:36with rosemary with rosemary by this, and then you click on it, it's like, you can do that.
53:42You really can do that.
53:43It really is that easy.
53:45I've done that many times.
53:46Yeah, it's so good.
53:49Yeah.
53:49Yeah.
53:50Anyone else has one?
53:52Mine is a mixture of, so I was doing music on Broadway last year, Cabaret, and I keep,
53:58like, I keep tabs on how the cast are all doing via their Instagram thing, so there's
54:02a lot of Kit Kat Club content.
54:05And Stanley Tucci.
54:06Just Stanley Tucci.
54:08Stanley Tucci just always makes me happy.
54:10It's great.
54:11His, that show he did on food.
54:15It's amazing.
54:16There's a new one coming.
54:17I saw there's a gigantic poster on, uh, on, um, Sunset.
54:21His new Italy.
54:22I mean, he's got something right.
54:24Touring across Italy, teaching us how to make the groceries.
54:26Yeah, he figured it out.
54:27Yeah.
54:28Great gig.
54:29He makes me happy, too.
54:30On that note, thank you all for being here.
54:34Thank you for doing this.
54:35Does anyone want to make a toast?
54:36To be rich in friends is to be poor in nothing.
54:40What a, what a joy.
54:42Yeah.
54:42Nice one.
54:46Nice one.
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