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Late Night with Seth Meyers - Season 13 - Episode 27: Joel Edgerton, Elle Fanning, Edgar Wright
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00:05From 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, it's Late Night with Seth Meyers.
00:12Tonight, David Harbour, star of Broadway's O'Mary, actor John Cameron Mitchell.
00:18An all-new, closer look.
00:25And now, Seth Meyers.
00:28Good evening, everybody. I'm Seth Meyers. It's Late Night.
00:31We hope you're doing well.
00:32And now, if you don't mind, we're going to get to the news.
00:34When asked during an Oval Office meeting yesterday if he had any top picks to take over the Iranian government,
00:41President Trump said, quote,
00:42Well, most of the people we had in mind are dead.
00:45Some for a while now.
00:49According to a new report, President Trump exposed a CIA surveillance operation
00:53on the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
00:57Eight months ago in a post on Truth Social.
00:59So if you're wondering how Truth Social is doing, it took eight months for someone to notice.
01:06The son of the late Ayatollah Khamenei has reportedly emerged as a frontrunner
01:11to replace his father as supreme leader.
01:14Man, can you imagine going through all of this to get rid of an evil leader
01:19and you just end up with his son?
01:21That would be the way...
01:22No, no, no!
01:23No!
01:25Take it down!
01:27Take it down!
01:30President Trump reposted a picture yesterday of himself wearing sunglasses with the caption,
01:35quote,
01:35I stand with Trump, the most badass president of all time.
01:39I don't know.
01:40When you're, like, 30, you look badass in sunglasses.
01:43When you're 79, people just try to help you cross the street.
01:49Oh, yeah, those are the real square ones, too.
01:52That's...
01:53Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth pushed back this week
01:55on comparisons of the military operation against Iran
01:58to previous U.S. conflicts in the Middle East
02:00and said, quote,
02:01This is not Iraq.
02:02This is not endless.
02:04To put it in Hegseth terms, it's just a bender.
02:11President Trump said in a post this week on Truth Social
02:14that the U.S. has a virtually unlimited munitions stockpile
02:18and added, quote,
02:19Wars can be fought forever.
02:21Or, to put it in Hegseth terms, a bender.
02:26A picture has gained attention online this week
02:28that shows President Trump with a red rash on his neck,
02:31but I think that's just his body rejecting his FIFA Peace Prize.
02:37It burns! It burns!
02:41Ah!
02:45President Trump this week reposted a photo
02:47of Kentucky Congressman Andy Barr
02:49and U.S. Treasurer Brandon Beach
02:51discussing Barr's proposal to put Trump's face
02:54on a new $250 bill,
02:56and that is the perfect currency to plaster his face on.
03:00I can't think of anything more useless.
03:03What is anyone using a $250 bill for?
03:08Buying a vowel?
03:12Here's a little something for you, Venom.
03:16Duncan today began offering a new sugar-free energy drink
03:19called Duncan Zero, which, by the way,
03:21was Mike Scollins' nickname in high school.
03:27I had your sister was dating that Duncan Zero.
03:32Mike's a writer on our show,
03:33and it might feel mean that we would make that joke about him,
03:37but he wrote this next one.
03:40Maybe after you hear it,
03:41you'll realize why we have to attack him
03:43in the body of the show.
03:45And finally, a Florida nudist colony
03:47was recently listed for $2.5 million,
03:50but you can probably lowball them.
03:57Duncan Zero wrote that one.
04:00That was a monologue, everybody!
04:04Got a great job.
04:06For you tonight,
04:07you know him from Stranger Things in the newsroom,
04:10as well as movies such as Thunderbolts and Violent Night.
04:14He's starring in DTF St. Louis,
04:16with new episodes airing Sunday on HBO
04:18and streaming on HBO Max.
04:19David Harbour is here!
04:21What is somebody's back?
04:24He's a multi-talented actor, writer, filmmaker.
04:28You know he's the original star of Hedwig
04:29and the Angry Inch in shows like Shrill
04:32and Joe vs. Carol.
04:34He's starring in O' Mary at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway.
04:37John Cameron Mitchell is here, everybody!
04:43Great show, great guest.
04:45Before we get to all that,
04:46Republicans in Congress who said Trump would end foreign wars
04:49have a new strategy for defending the Iran war,
04:52claiming it's not actually a war,
04:54even though Trump himself calls it a war.
04:56For more on this, it's time for a closer look.
05:02As you all know, before Trump took office,
05:05our military was run by liberal, bleeding-heart, tofu-eating wokesters,
05:08they forced our troops to wear rainbow-colored uniforms
05:11and swap their weapons for books on critical race theory.
05:16But those days are over because President Kick-Ass Now
05:19and Forget Names Later is in charge,
05:22along with his Secretary of War, Pete Drain the Kegseth,
05:26a.k.a. the bad guy from every Steven Seagal movie,
05:29and they have one, they have one mission,
05:32bringing lethality and warfighting back to the U.S.
05:36a mother-
05:37President Trump signed an executive order
05:39to rebrand the Defense Department as the Department of War.
05:43We've renamed the Department of Defense
05:47into the Department of War.
05:49The Department of War.
05:50I love the name. I think it's so great.
05:52We're unleashing the warfighter to be ready,
05:55trained, disciplined, accountable, and lethal.
05:59Every day, we have to be prepared for war.
06:01We're training warriors, not defenders.
06:03We untie the hands of our warfighters.
06:05Maximum lethality and authority for warfighters.
06:08Restoring the warrior ethos.
06:10We're going to go on offense, not just on defense.
06:13Maximum lethality, not tepid legality.
06:17Violent effect, not politically correct.
06:20We're going to raise up warriors, not just defenders.
06:24Yeah, did you hear our secretary of white rapping?
06:28We're doing maximum lethality, not tepid legality.
06:32Violent effect, not politically correct.
06:34We're going to serve and protect while fully erect.
06:37Also...
06:39You guys, also...
06:44Somebody needs to tell him, like, rhyming is woke.
06:49That's like poetry stuff.
06:51He's fully doing poetry stuff.
06:54The point is, America's done playing nice.
06:56That's what got us in this mess in the first place,
06:59according to renowned military historian,
07:02Donald J. Trump, Ph.D.
07:04So we won the First World War.
07:06We won the Second World War.
07:08We won everything before that and in between.
07:11And then we decided to go woke,
07:12and we changed the name to Department of Defense.
07:14So we're going Department of War.
07:16I think it's a much more appropriate name,
07:18especially in light of where the world is right now.
07:22Exactly.
07:22Everybody remembers how woke America was in 1945.
07:25I mean, sure, the president was Harry Truman,
07:27who dropped two atomic bombs on Japan.
07:29But if you read your history,
07:31you would remember the names of those bombs
07:33were they and them.
07:38The point is, America's done with being polite.
07:40We're done with euphemisms.
07:41We're calling it the Department of War.
07:42We're calling our troops warfighters,
07:44and we're calling our missions warfighting,
07:45because that's what it is now and forever.
07:48War!
07:49I wouldn't call this a war
07:50as much as I'd call it a conflict.
07:52Strategic strikes are not war.
07:54It's a defensive operation.
07:56Nobody should classify this as war.
07:58It is combat operations.
07:59This isn't a war.
08:00I don't know if this is technically a war.
08:02I don't know if this is technically a war.
08:05A war is when my Meemaw
08:06hides my porcelain doll collection
08:08because I refuse to clean her CPAP machine.
08:11Just put it in the dishwasher, you old crone.
08:15And give me back my yadros.
08:22They are too worth money.
08:25Come on, guys.
08:26Didn't you hear it's the Department of War?
08:28Our troops are warfighters.
08:29This is a war.
08:30Trump and Hegseth have both called it that.
08:32We may have casualties
08:35that often happens in war.
08:37We have unlimited middle and upper ammunition,
08:41which is really what we're using in this war.
08:43We set the terms of this war.
08:46We didn't start this war.
08:47But under President Trump,
08:49we are finishing it.
08:51Yeah, we didn't start this war.
08:52This was going on long before Trump took office.
08:54Remember when Joe Biden slipped on those stairs?
08:57That's because Iran switched his shoes
08:59with rollerblades.
09:01Cover the steps to Air Force One
09:03with grease and banana peels,
09:04and don't get me started on Trump's up hand.
09:07You think that's because he's 79
09:09and takes aspirin every day?
09:11No, it's because Iran made the lid
09:13on every jar in his kitchen extra tight.
09:16So he has to spend hours trying to twist it off
09:18if he wants his peanut butter.
09:20And this just in, he wants his peanut butter.
09:22That's why he always sounds like this.
09:25God bless the United States.
09:33Someone had their peanut butter.
09:35The point is, Trump and Hexed have both been clear.
09:38This is a war.
09:41It is not the intention of the U.S. government to invade.
09:44That is not what is happening.
09:45These are isolated, strategic, large-scale attacks.
09:48I'm sorry, you say it's not the intention
09:49of the U.S. government to invade?
09:51Did we not just invade?
09:53We are not invading.
09:54Are you seeing boots on the ground there?
09:56Because I'm not.
09:57And I've been told directly by the State Department
09:59and the White House that that's not the intention.
10:00I didn't say boots on the ground.
10:01I mean, we just killed the leader of the country.
10:03That's what an invasion is.
10:03That's not...
10:04Okay.
10:06Targeting strategic military strikes and invasions
10:08are two totally different things, according to military technology.
10:10They're calling it a war.
10:11The president has called it a war.
10:14And targeted airstrikes have...
10:16Strategic strikes...
10:18Strategic strikes...
10:19Strategic strikes, and according to the White House,
10:20and I just talked to them, I talked to the Secretary of State.
10:23Strategic strikes are not war.
10:25Okay, I see it now.
10:26It's not a war unless you're actually on the ground.
10:29It's like when you were growing up
10:30and you'd annoy your siblings by putting your hands in their face
10:32and saying, I'm not touching you.
10:35I'm not touching you, but I'm not touching you, though.
10:38Just bombing someone doesn't count as a war.
10:40You have to send troops in.
10:41That's why in Independence Day,
10:42when the alien ship blows up the White House,
10:44the president goes on TV and says,
10:46no need to panic.
10:47It's not an alien invasion.
10:48It's just an alien strategic strike.
10:52Look, I get that you guys don't want to come off
10:55as shameless liars for telling voters
10:57that Trump would end foreign wars,
10:59but this is getting confusing.
11:00Can someone please take another shot at this?
11:02How about Oklahoma Senator Mark Wayne Mullen,
11:05one of the biggest supporters of the insert euphemism with Iran?
11:09Can you please clarify, Senator,
11:11is this a war or is it not a war?
11:13Did the president not run on not starting a war with Iran?
11:17He ran on two things, ending wars.
11:20He's ended eight of them.
11:21And he also ran on keeping America safe.
11:24This isn't a war.
11:25We haven't declared war.
11:27Everybody wants to say war with Iran.
11:28Hold on.
11:28I want to play.
11:29The Secretary of Defense,
11:30who calls himself the Secretary of War,
11:31said today this is a war.
11:33Is it really not a war?
11:34What he declared on us was war,
11:36meaning us as Ayatollah.
11:38He declared war on us.
11:39We are not at war with the Iranian people.
11:41The Ayatollah who declared war on us,
11:43we've already taken him out.
11:44Now we're eliminating the threat.
11:46So we're not at war with Iran.
11:48So the Ayatollah declared war on us,
11:50but we didn't declare war on him,
11:51and also we killed the Ayatollah who declared war on us.
11:55It makes sense that this guy has two first names
11:57because he can't make up his mind.
12:00I mean, maybe I'm being harsh.
12:02I'm sure it was just a slip of the tongue.
12:03Let's give Mark or Wayne,
12:04whichever one's talking today, another shot.
12:07Can you clarify, are we at war?
12:10This is war, and we're taking out the threat.
12:13And if you're part of the threat,
12:15then you're a target.
12:16Okay, thank you.
12:17That was clear.
12:18It is a war.
12:20Got it.
12:21You can see this is war.
12:22We haven't declared war.
12:23They declared war on us, but we haven't...
12:24The president called it war, Secretary Hicks.
12:25Senator, when you talked to him just now,
12:27you said this is war.
12:28They called it war.
12:29They called it war.
12:30What I was saying, okay, well, that was a misspoke.
12:32I'm sorry.
12:34Did a classic misspoke.
12:38Always do it.
12:39You know what happened?
12:39Mark was thinking with the brain,
12:40and Wayne was talking with the mouth.
12:47For argument's sake, let's say, hypothetically,
12:49that the war is over because the Ayatollah is dead.
12:52In that case, I'm sure every breathalyzer's best friend,
12:54Pete Hegseth, dialed down the rhetoric earlier today.
12:58B-2s, B-52s, B-1s, predator drones,
13:01fighters controlling the skies, picking targets.
13:05Death and destruction from the sky.
13:08All day long.
13:10Oh, it sounds so much like a war to me, you guys.
13:15Just admit it.
13:16Stop getting so defensive when we call a war a war.
13:19This is like if during the whole
13:20Am I a Clown to You speech at Goodfellas,
13:22Joe Pesci was in full clown makeup.
13:25They'd be like, yeah, man, you're a clown.
13:28There are two reasons they're all talking
13:30in Orwellian circles like this.
13:32One, if they acknowledge it's a war,
13:33they also have to admit that it's illegal
13:35since only Congress can declare war.
13:38And two, they don't want to admit that Trump lied.
13:41He said he would keep us out of exactly
13:43these type of open-ended wars,
13:45and specifically forever wars.
13:47We ended the forever wars in Iraq and Syria
13:50and Somalia and Afghanistan.
13:52You're not going to have a war with me.
13:54We will expel the warmongers from our government.
13:57We just fight forever.
13:59Sometimes we don't fight to win.
14:01You know, we'll stay around the country for 15 years,
14:03just bomb the hell out of everybody,
14:05make everybody miserable.
14:07Nobody knows why we're there, you know,
14:09the wars that never end.
14:10My God, he's so philosophical.
14:12I like when Trump starts sounding like one of Wooderson's
14:14stoned friends in Dazed and Confused.
14:16You know, sometimes we don't fight to win, you know.
14:18We'll stay around the country for 50.
14:20We'll just bomb the hell out of everybody, you know.
14:23Make everybody miserable.
14:24Nobody knows why we're there.
14:25You know, the wars, they never end, man.
14:28Once again, Seth threw in a reference to a movie
14:31that he thought would work, and it didn't really land.
14:35Seth's really over his skis this week,
14:37dialing it back.
14:38He thinks everybody remembers the 90s,
14:41but he does, they don't.
14:44Struck out with a Dave reference on Monday,
14:47and now he's back on Wednesday.
14:50Eating with Dazed and Confused,
14:52and he was so, he was so,
14:53you should have seen him earlier,
14:54he was so confident.
14:56And the writer said,
14:57I don't know, Seth, and he goes,
14:58trust me, we're gonna be out there,
15:00we're gonna be out there.
15:01And a lot of people are saying it worked,
15:03a lot of people are saying it.
15:16He won't even say later,
15:18he'll say it wasn't sympathy applause.
15:21The point is, people are tired of pointless wars.
15:24Trump knew that,
15:25and shamelessly exploited it
15:27by claiming he would stop so-called forever wars.
15:30So I have to assume that,
15:31at the very least,
15:32he's insisting this war with Iran
15:33will be short, contained,
15:35and limited in scope.
15:36President Donald Trump wrote late last night
15:39on Truth Social
15:40about the U.S. stockpile of munitions.
15:43We have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons.
15:47He said wars can be fought forever
15:49and very successfully using just these supplies.
15:52I'm sorry,
15:52is that supposed to sound like good news?
15:54You're saying it like you're expecting us all to cheer.
15:57Yeah, the war can go on forever.
15:59You're like the guy at the party
16:00who forces everyone to play Settlers of Catan.
16:02Good news, guys.
16:04I just got the expansion pack
16:06so this game could go on forever.
16:07And before you nerds come after me,
16:11I like board games, okay?
16:12I just don't want to be forced to play one at a party.
16:15I already spent half my day
16:16pretending to lose to my kids at Connect Four.
16:18You know how hard it is to act like
16:20I don't see three red circles in a row?
16:24Oh, you got me again.
16:25I can't believe I missed that.
16:26I didn't miss it, dude.
16:29I'm just a great dad.
16:33Sorry I got so heated, everyone.
16:34That whole thing was a misspoke.
16:38What we're seeing play out
16:39is the absurdity of life inside the Trump cult.
16:42One minute, they all have to pretend
16:43Trump is a working-class savior
16:45who will end foreign wars.
16:46The next, they have to pretend
16:47the war he started isn't a war,
16:49even though he's the one calling it a war.
16:52They lied, not just to their own voters,
16:54but to the entire...
16:54United States.
16:55This has been Closer Look.
17:02We'll be right back with David Harbour, everybody.
17:09For more of Seth's Closer Looks,
17:10be sure to subscribe to Late Night on YouTube.
17:22The rest of the night is an Emmy- and Tony-nominated actor.
17:25You know from shows such as Stranger Things
17:27and The Newsroom and movies like Thunderbolts,
17:29Black Widow, and Violet Knight.
17:31New episodes of DTF St. Louis air Sundays on HBO
17:34and stream on HBO Max.
17:35Please welcome back to the show
17:36David Harbour, everybody!
17:53Hello!
17:54Hello!
17:58You're, you know...
17:59It's so proud.
18:00They're a lovely audience.
18:02And it's lovely to see you.
18:03I like, you know, New York actors.
18:05You're a New York actor.
18:06But, of course, you work out in New York City
18:08and you're just back from Ireland?
18:10I just got back from Ireland.
18:12Yeah, we're doing a little pre-production
18:13for a movie out there.
18:14So I just flew in last night.
18:15And how do you take Ireland?
18:17Are you enjoying it, your time over there?
18:19Yeah.
18:20I mean, I've only been there for a couple days.
18:21I haven't spent much time.
18:22People are really lovely.
18:24Yeah.
18:24But I think it's just that accent.
18:26Yeah.
18:26It's just so charming.
18:28It is charming.
18:29I mean, it reminds me a little bit
18:30of the Lucky Charms stuff when I was a kid.
18:32Like, those commercials are so sad.
18:34I'm sorry to be...
18:35But it is adorable.
18:36Yeah.
18:37And I do find myself overextending myself
18:39just because they talk that way.
18:41It's really lovely.
18:42I think even when they're a little bit mean,
18:43it sounds lovely.
18:44Yeah, it doesn't matter.
18:45Yeah.
18:45What they're saying is how they say it.
18:46I was with my parents and my brother.
18:48We were in a Dublin taxi.
18:50I've told this story,
18:50but my mom asked a lot of questions
18:52when we were on vacation.
18:53Okay.
18:53And at one point,
18:54my dad was like,
18:54all right, that's enough.
18:55And then she kept asking questions.
18:57And the taxi driver was like,
18:58all right, that's your last question.
19:00Like, even he was like, you know,
19:02and she was like, oh.
19:04Yeah, it's adorable.
19:05Like, if my dad had said that,
19:07open the door, walk back to the hotel.
19:09Of course.
19:09So, Stephen Conrad,
19:11we're talking backstage.
19:11This is the creator of your new show.
19:14He's a real, unique, awesome voice.
19:16And it's very different
19:18than sort of the giant
19:19and incredibly popular things
19:21you've been doing recently.
19:21But this is a completely different thing.
19:23Are you so excited to be working on it?
19:25Yeah, I mean,
19:26I've been with this thing.
19:27You know, I met with Steve
19:28like three and a half years ago
19:29and we started talking about this thing.
19:31And I think the thing was,
19:32you know, I've been dealing
19:33with a lot of teaching kids
19:35how to deal with a lot of
19:38negative things in the world,
19:39like Vecna.
19:41Yeah.
19:42And like Dr. Doom.
19:44Things like that.
19:45They're like basically PSAs
19:46for like young children.
19:48Yeah, exactly.
19:48And so I wanted to take on middle age.
19:50Yeah.
19:51You know, which is the real villain.
19:52Yeah.
19:53And something that we encounter.
19:55It's the villain
19:55they don't think about.
19:56Exactly.
19:57It sneaks up on you.
19:58You'll be begging for Vecna.
19:59Yes.
20:00Exactly.
20:01You'll be begging for it.
20:02That's exactly right.
20:04Now, I'll use the transition
20:05for middle age.
20:06You are, and I want to make sure,
20:07so you're doing a lot of belly work
20:09in this show.
20:10And you're showing it off.
20:12You're shirtless a lot.
20:13A lot of belly work.
20:15Oh, please.
20:16Oh, please.
20:17Look at this.
20:17Now, that's wonderful.
20:20But one thing.
20:23Okay.
20:23It's robust.
20:24This is a very supportive audience.
20:26Very supportive audience.
20:27But now, you've gone out of your
20:30ready to clear up the record.
20:31This is also a prosthetic belly.
20:32That is true.
20:33This is not my actual belly.
20:35Yeah.
20:36See?
20:36They're so disembodied.
20:37They've been lied to.
20:38I know.
20:38You feel manipulated and betrayed.
20:40I understand.
20:42It's so close to my actual belly
20:45that I don't need to be wearing
20:47a prosthetic at all.
20:49But they asked me to gain, like, 11 pounds,
20:53and I was like, no.
20:55I have to be ripped.
20:58And so I chose to wear a prosthetic belly.
21:01It's fantastic.
21:02I mean, the guys did an amazing job.
21:05But underneath that belly
21:06is basically the same thing,
21:08just 11 pounds less of it.
21:10It's like you wearing
21:11a David Harbour Halloween mask.
21:13That's correct.
21:14That's correct.
21:15But you, this is the video.
21:17This is how you proved to the world
21:18that it was a prosthetic belly,
21:20lest there were any doubters out there.
21:21Can we just show it real quick?
21:22Oh, yeah, sure.
21:33Now, you know what worries me?
21:40You know what that's like
21:42after a long day at work, too?
21:43All sweaty and hairy
21:45and peeling that thing back.
21:47It's lovely.
21:48You know what bums me out
21:48is everybody was repulsed,
21:50and I'm sure there's one person
21:51in America right now
21:51who's like, oh, I like that.
21:55He's like, I might get that one
21:57on the old VHS and save that one.
22:02There's a moment.
22:03Linda Cardellini, the great Linda Cardellini,
22:05is in the show,
22:06and this is a great moment
22:07where she, as your wife,
22:10is realizing,
22:10look at your bellies on the celery.
22:13She's just gone grocery shopping.
22:15This is not the face
22:16of a happily married woman.
22:17Yeah.
22:18It's a tough marriage.
22:19This is funny, though.
22:21This particular scene,
22:21you know, a buddy of mine
22:23watched the show
22:24and texted me
22:25and said,
22:26I was wondering
22:28throughout the show
22:29whether or not
22:29it was your real belly,
22:31whether or not you gained weight,
22:32or whether it was a prosthetic,
22:33and then I saw that celery scene
22:35and I realized
22:35you just got fat.
22:38And I was like,
22:38no, man,
22:39it's a prosthetic.
22:40It's 11 pounds of rubber
22:42right there.
22:43Do you at least feel
22:44the responsibility
22:45to tell the makeup team
22:46after you get a text like that?
22:47Like, FYI,
22:48it's so good.
22:48I'm getting...
22:49You did a great job.
22:50People are like,
22:51hey, you've got to stop.
22:53You've got to cool it
22:54with the calories harbor.
22:56It sits so nicely
22:57on the celery
22:58to watch that scene.
22:59It just bounces
23:00on the celery
23:01in such an organic way.
23:04That's not what they mean
23:05by organic vegetables.
23:07I know, no.
23:08I have a lot more to ask you.
23:10Stick around.
23:10We'll be back
23:11with more David after this.
23:24We bought
23:24like a three-month dance pack
23:26and then he didn't even go
23:27like not even once.
23:28But I didn't want it
23:29to be a thing
23:30where he felt like
23:31he had disappointed us
23:32because we paid all that money.
23:34So I went.
23:35I'm a...
23:35I sign.
23:36I do the big stage
23:38at the 314 Fest
23:39every summer,
23:40the big like R&B hip-hop stage
23:42and, you know,
23:43they just want me
23:44to sign the lyrics
23:44but I wanted to give
23:45the deaf audience
23:46like a richer experience.
23:47So I wanted to link
23:48the lyrics
23:49to like a rhythm and groove.
23:50And I got really into it.
23:54Wow.
23:54And then I renewed the pack.
23:56Oh, for you.
23:58Yeah.
23:59We're back
24:00and we're here
24:01with David Harden.
24:02That was a clip
24:03from DTS St. Louis.
24:05This is a show
24:06about male friendship.
24:08You and Jason Bateman
24:10play a couple of guys
24:11who connect
24:12and it's very sweet
24:13and I feel like
24:13maybe a lot of women
24:15would observe that men
24:16at any point in their life
24:18sort of connect
24:19over a very childish
24:20things.
24:21Like you guys spend
24:22a lot of time
24:22like on swing sets
24:23in the show
24:24riding bikes.
24:25We ride bikes,
24:26recumbent bikes.
24:27Yeah.
24:28We play speed cornhole.
24:33We do some hip-hop
24:35dancing together.
24:36Do you feel
24:36while making the show
24:38do you ever feel like
24:38you know what
24:39I wish that I was just
24:40like in real life
24:41doing this stuff
24:41with Jason Bateman.
24:42For sure.
24:43I would have
24:44literal days on set
24:45where I couldn't believe
24:46this thing that would
24:47well up inside me
24:48of like
24:48I mean it is very hard
24:50as like a 50-year-old man
24:51to make
24:52I don't know
24:53I find it hard
24:54maybe it's not hard
24:54for other 50-year-old
24:55heterosexual men
24:56but like
24:57but like it's hard
24:58to make a new friend
24:59to feel like
25:00you know people
25:00already have lives
25:01and they whatever
25:02and then Jason and I
25:03we had never really met
25:04and then we got together
25:05on the show
25:05we started working together
25:06and I just like
25:07loved him so much.
25:08Yeah.
25:08He's such a strange
25:10unique individual
25:12and I really
25:13yeah wanted to be
25:14friends with him
25:15so the whole shoot
25:16was just trying to
25:17you know
25:18have a chance
25:18to have dinner
25:19or something.
25:21You play a sign language
25:23specialist in the show.
25:24That is correct.
25:24That is
25:25you know
25:25that's a high bar
25:26because now you were
25:27you know
25:28you have to take it serious
25:28did you know any sign language
25:29coming into it?
25:30I knew three curse words
25:32from high school.
25:34Okay.
25:34Gotcha.
25:34But then I worked
25:36with a sign language person
25:38on like the basics
25:39and phrases
25:40and things like that
25:41and then I worked
25:41with somebody
25:42who does sign language
25:43for like the news
25:45Right.
25:45and sign language
25:46for concerts
25:47because there's
25:49a moment
25:50when Floyd signs
25:52at a concert
25:54and I wanted that
25:55to be
25:55if you've seen
25:56these videos
25:57of these viral
25:58you know people
25:58going crazy.
25:59They're fantastic.
26:00They're fantastic.
26:01Well because they have
26:01to like
26:02because they really do
26:03like bring the music
26:04to what they're doing.
26:05Yeah and you have
26:06to know what you're doing
26:07and have a facility
26:07with it.
26:08So I worked really
26:08really hard on it
26:10and it is very
26:11very challenging
26:12sign language.
26:13Do they
26:13I mean the instructors
26:14who are giving you
26:15you know
26:16this guidance
26:17they obviously
26:18want it to look
26:19good on camera.
26:20Are they harsh
26:21in their judgment
26:22of you early on?
26:24Are they like
26:24you're not close yet
26:25David?
26:26Yes.
26:26Yeah.
26:27And even when
26:28you're doing it too
26:29like you'll
26:30you know
26:30you'll do takes
26:31and then they'll
26:31come up
26:32and be like
26:32no terrible
26:33we're going
26:34to go back
26:34we're going
26:34to go again
26:35worse than
26:36you know
26:36the hardest
26:37director
26:37no they're
26:38they're terrific
26:38though
26:39because they
26:39you know
26:40they
26:40I want to be
26:41as respectful
26:42as I can
26:42to that entire
26:43community
26:43and so I was
26:44I really
26:44appreciated it
26:45that everybody
26:46poured so much
26:47heart into it
26:47and it was just
26:48it was just a joy
26:50to sort of get
26:50to explore
26:51some of that
26:51world.
26:52You have also
26:52taken on
26:53I mean
26:53I think probably
26:54level of difficulty
26:55you know
26:56American Sign Language
26:57is the most difficult
26:57but you also have
26:58attempted a Boston
26:59accent for not
27:00being a person
27:01from Boston
27:01attempted makes it
27:03sound judgmental
27:03because you were
27:04in the equalizer
27:05and you played
27:06a Boston guy
27:07now you know
27:08that like those
27:08of us from Boston
27:09are you think
27:10you think the sign
27:11language community
27:12is hard on people
27:14do you feel like
27:15after you did it
27:16did you get any
27:17pushback
27:17because I thought
27:18it was good
27:21I don't believe it
27:22I don't believe
27:23that read
27:24take it again
27:25take it again
27:28wait
27:28wait
27:29so yeah
27:30so how did I do
27:31I thought it was great
27:34but look at the end
27:35horrible
27:36but up to that point
27:37we'll cut to you
27:39we'll cut to you
27:40the side
27:40here we go
27:40oh boy
27:41hey
27:43wait a second
27:43Mr. Sunshine
27:45what do I look like
27:46to your chauffeur
27:51he's out of town
27:53you're a guest
27:54it's really good
27:56wait I'm so mad
28:00you know what
28:00the key is though
28:01you know the key
28:02to the Boston accent
28:03it's simple
28:04yeah
28:04it's just every time
28:05you feel a little nervous
28:06you just throw in
28:07the F word
28:07yeah
28:07it's just F-bombing
28:08it also helps to put a gun
28:09on the table
28:10that's helpful
28:11I'm so bummed
28:12when we played it
28:13I was so bummed
28:13that I didn't think ahead
28:14and record myself
28:15going like
28:15hey there mister
28:18hey there mister
28:19you're in Boston now
28:20buddy boy
28:21yeah I got a gun
28:22yeah
28:26hey it's always so great
28:28to see you
28:28congrats on the show
28:29you're the best
28:30thank you
28:30thank you
28:31damn it
28:31welcome to you
28:32on this show
28:33the DPS they lose
28:34their Sundays on HBO
28:36streaming HBO Max
28:37stick around
28:37thank you
28:53our next guest
28:54a very talented actor
28:55writer filmmaker
28:56and Tony winner
28:57you know is the original
28:58star of Hedwig
28:59and the Angry Inch
29:00as well as shows
29:01like Shrill
29:02and Joe vs. Carol
29:04he's starring in O'Mary
29:05at the Lyceum Theater
29:06on Broadway
29:06please welcome to the show
29:07my friend John Cameron
29:09Mitchell everybody
29:21hello friend
29:22how are you
29:23I just moved through
29:25a space that was
29:26probably a band
29:27oh yeah
29:27there used to be
29:28a band here
29:29and now
29:30now it's just a walkway
29:33now this is very exciting
29:34this is an 11 year gap
29:37between Broadway shows
29:38for you
29:38yes
29:38you were doing
29:39Hedwig on Broadway
29:4011 years ago
29:41and now you were doing
29:42O'Mary
29:42and how is the return
29:44to the Broadway grind
29:45treating you
29:46well as the oldest Mary
29:47yes
29:48you were the seventh Mary
29:50in this show
29:51but you were the oldest
29:52the oldest Mary
29:53it's a new administration
29:56and I will be turning
29:5763 during the run
30:00wow
30:01wow
30:04oh there it is
30:05I mean
30:06I mean come on
30:08you're a stun
30:09you're stunning for 62
30:10stop it
30:14by the way
30:15you're stunning
30:16you're stunning for any age
30:17I'm not going to put
30:18any qualifiers on it
30:19stay out of the sun
30:19everybody
30:21so
30:21but it's a grind
30:23I feel like people
30:24do not appreciate
30:25the kind of grind it is
30:27well I mean
30:28Hedwig was harder
30:28but this is really hard
30:30eight shows a week
30:31even rock stars
30:32come in and go
30:34Beyonce don't do
30:35eight shows
30:35right
30:36but it's like
30:37you know
30:37you got to be a nun
30:38as Ethel Merman said
30:39when you do the show
30:41and so most of my time
30:42is lying around
30:43preparing
30:44resting
30:45watching reruns
30:46of The Wire
30:47yeah
30:47that's a good way
30:48to prepare
30:49and that means like
30:50so when the show's over
30:51I think also people think
30:52like oh my god
30:53everybody probably goes
30:53to the bar
30:54and celebrates
30:54but yeah
30:55those days are over
30:56those are the old days
30:56that's Patti LuPone
30:58that's Elaine Stritch
31:00yeah they
31:01they put that to bed
31:02but you were talking
31:03about rock stars
31:04you also had another person
31:05who I feel like
31:06as far as like
31:07what I recently
31:08seen them do
31:09physically
31:09gold medalist
31:11Alyssa Liu
31:12came to the show
31:13yes
31:17first of all
31:17much of an incredible
31:18to meet her in person
31:19but did she have a take
31:20on what you guys
31:21were putting yourselves
31:22through every night
31:22she said nice hair
31:23wow yeah
31:25it is nice hair
31:26you and her
31:26I feel like
31:27you both see it
31:28as a you know
31:29as basically a palette
31:30a palette
31:31a frame
31:32yeah
31:32to our talent
31:33but you know
31:34she doesn't do
31:35eight shows either
31:35yeah
31:36that's good
31:37you know what
31:37it's time to
31:38it's time to take her
31:39off her high horse
31:41this is
31:42we mentioned
31:42you're the seventh
31:43Mary's incredible
31:44show written
31:46and originated
31:47by Cola Scola
31:48you play
31:48Mary Todd Lincoln
31:49that's the face
31:50of an active
31:52alcoholic
31:52right there
31:53you are a
31:54you are a frustrated
31:55cabaret star
31:56and it's really
31:57how did you approach
31:58the role
31:59especially knowing
32:00that others
32:00had approached it
32:01well I saw
32:02Jinx Monsoon do
32:03who I know
32:04is on here
32:04and is an old friend
32:05who also played
32:06Hedvig
32:06and I realized
32:07it could be done
32:08in different ways
32:09so you don't want
32:10to do exactly the same
32:10as the great
32:11Cola Scola
32:12so Sam the director
32:14really allowed me
32:15to make it my own
32:16and my version
32:17was that
32:18she's kind of
32:19self-schooled
32:20she's homeschooled
32:21in a finishing school
32:22and she's failed
32:23miserably
32:23yeah
32:24and so she
32:26has pretensions
32:27of fanciness
32:28and then just
32:28collapsed
32:29falls in
32:30through the cracks
32:30she's a self-taught
32:32idiot
32:32she's a self-taught
32:33active alcoholic
32:35well-elocuted
32:37nitwit
32:37and
32:38and then I'm
32:40just going
32:40you know
32:41thinking back
32:41to the things
32:42that not to date you
32:44but there was
32:44something called
32:45Carol Burnett
32:46there was
32:47there was
32:47right
32:48and you know
32:49I thought
32:49there's a real
32:50like a Carol Burnett
32:52a color to this show
32:54and costumes
32:55and the shtick
32:57the full Pratt Falls
32:59I mean
33:00Madeline Kahn
33:00was my comedy
33:01idol
33:02of all time
33:03as good as it gets
33:06and I actually
33:07she
33:08you know
33:09I asked her
33:10to be in
33:10the Hedvig film
33:11and she was
33:11sick at the time
33:13and god bless
33:14Madeline Kahn
33:15but she also
33:16had this weird
33:17comic thing
33:17that's like
33:18what's the least
33:19you can do
33:20to get the biggest
33:21laugh
33:21you know
33:22for her
33:22it would be
33:23one eyebrow
33:24one tiny
33:26whereas someone else
33:27would be
33:28you know
33:28trying to get
33:29that laugh
33:29and it's like
33:30I like the
33:31minimal
33:33absurdity
33:33and I do
33:34the same
33:35with Mary
33:36and I feel like
33:38it's very close
33:40to Hedvig
33:40the character
33:41is very similar
33:41to Hedvig
33:42meaning
33:44unappreciated
33:44angry
33:46horrible person
33:47who
33:49you know
33:50is betrayed
33:51by various men
33:51and then makes
33:52space for themselves
33:53to pee on
33:55the rest of the world
33:55yes
33:56they're
33:57you know
33:57they're both
33:58outlandish
33:59boundary pushing
34:00O'Meary
34:01wig wearing
34:02yes
34:03I also heard
34:04your aunt
34:04who's a 91 year old
34:06nun
34:06yes
34:07came to see O'Meary
34:08she is my biggest fan
34:09fantastic
34:10even when my parents
34:11were scared of my
34:12very sexual film
34:13short bus
34:14sister terry
34:15was right there
34:16in the front row
34:18and it's like
34:19terry don't go see this
34:20she goes
34:21no johnny
34:21if your parents
34:22are not there for you
34:23I'm going to
34:23and she showed up
34:25I know
34:27I mean you know
34:28the first scene
34:28somebody themselves
34:29um
34:31I said
34:32I said
34:33terry what did you think
34:35she goes
34:35oh johnny
34:36she's from chicago
34:38johnny we come from
34:39such different worlds
34:43that's the nicest way
34:45to say that
34:47you mentioned your parents
34:48though your parents
34:48were supportive
34:49they were
34:50they were scared
34:51of the sexual side
34:52yes
34:52my dad was a general
34:53in the army
34:54yes
34:54and he was totally cool
34:55yesterday was the 12th
34:57anniversary of his passing
34:58loved him
34:59very much
35:00rest in peace
35:01and he was very
35:02he wanted me to be a general
35:03like him
35:03but when he saw me directing
35:05uh Nicole Kidman
35:07in rabbit hole
35:08he's like
35:09you do what I do
35:10yeah
35:10you know
35:11oh really
35:11the approach
35:12was the same
35:13make jokes
35:14relax everybody
35:15know everyone's name
35:16and delegate authority
35:17and so you don't have
35:18to do anything
35:19there's a giant plot point
35:20in a head big
35:21is the fall
35:22of the berlin wall
35:22yeah
35:23uh your dad
35:23was actually with
35:24when when
35:25ronald reagan
35:26explain the story
35:27context
35:27this is your father
35:28right there
35:29right
35:29yes my dad
35:30was the military
35:30commander of berlin
35:32the american commander
35:33so when uh reagan
35:35was like
35:35mr gorbachev
35:36tear down this wall
35:37my dad was right
35:38there going
35:39yes sir
35:40and then
35:40and my mother
35:41was behind
35:43nancy reagan
35:45so there's nancy reagan
35:46and there
35:47so that's your mother
35:49and my mother's
35:50she was very funny
35:51she's like
35:52well
35:52he you know
35:53gorbachev
35:54all that
35:54tear down the wall
35:55but i was pretty much
35:56nancy
35:56tear down this hair
35:59it is very
36:00it is very unkind
36:01it also
36:02i mean it looks like
36:03i mean she looks like
36:04the shadow
36:05of nancy
36:05right
36:07um
36:07hedvig
36:08uh
36:08she never cast a shadow
36:09go ahead
36:11this is uh
36:1225 years
36:13uh hedvig
36:14uh the film
36:15and uh
36:17the
36:17the
36:19it was originally
36:20an off-broadway show
36:21and then of course
36:22years later
36:22it did find its way
36:23to broadway
36:24and uh
36:24we weren't
36:25they weren't ready
36:25for us
36:26it was too radical
36:27so this is
36:27and by the way
36:28it doesn't
36:28i mean it's not
36:28a million years ago
36:29it's just late 90s
36:30but the show
36:30would you say
36:31was the show
36:32too gay for broadway
36:33which
36:33it was
36:33it was too queer
36:34it was also the punk rock
36:36which wasn't on broadway
36:37drag wasn't really
36:38on broadway at the time
36:40even though
36:40there's nothing more
36:41broadway than drag
36:42of course
36:42um
36:43and now we know
36:44every drag queen
36:46from drag race
36:47is now on broadway
36:47yeah
36:48um
36:48but at the time
36:49we did it
36:50knowing that we were not
36:52gonna really make any money
36:53on broadway
36:54or even the film
36:55it would never be up
36:56for an oscar
36:57at that time
36:57uh because it was
36:59a kind of homophobic
37:00you know vibe
37:01and
37:02but it freed us
37:03to make something
37:04we wanted to make
37:05so we didn't
37:06we didn't change it
37:07to be more mainstream
37:08right
37:08so it was more itself
37:10and people had to come to us
37:11rather than us
37:12going to them
37:13and now it's opened
37:15in mainland china
37:17that's amazing
37:18you know
37:19it's all over the world now
37:20and i can go to any city
37:22country
37:23and meet fans
37:24and people who have played
37:25hedvig
37:26and i've done that in thailand
37:27korea japan
37:28australia
37:29and now shanghai
37:31i was like
37:31have they read it
37:33it's about
37:33someone escaping communism
37:36uh
37:37i mean it speaks to how good it is
37:38how good the music is
37:39they're like
37:39we don't care
37:40and the 25th anniversary
37:4125th anniversary
37:42which is amazing
37:43in its own right
37:44but this is even
37:45more exciting
37:46uh you're doing a movie tour
37:48that you're gonna be touring
37:49with the film
37:51i am
37:51and uh and doing a q a with people
37:53so they can come watch the film
37:55and are you are you active
37:56during the the showing of the movie
37:58sometimes i do a stoned director's commentary
38:02like live with the movie
38:04live on the side of the stage
38:05with a mic uh and an edible
38:08or a glass of wine
38:09and then i i'm like
38:11hey look at that
38:12look at the hair coming out of my nose
38:14i forgot about that
38:18uh we have something in common
38:20uh well a couple things
38:21we uh we're both graduates
38:22of northwestern university
38:24and uh
38:25we learned our trade
38:26we learned our trade
38:27genuinely like
38:28look i did uh the improv troupe
38:29uh you did the improv troupe
38:30it's called meow
38:31it's very certainly there
38:33it's very well regarded
38:34it was life-changing for me
38:36um but you
38:37i wanted it very badly
38:39the minute i saw it
38:39you kind of had to be dragged into it
38:41i was scared
38:41i was more of a classical direct uh actor
38:44who refused
38:45blind
38:45i would blind i would never improvise
38:49it was all the sacredness of the word
38:51and our friend eric gilliland
38:54who is showrunner of roseanne
38:56and uh mentor to cola scola too
38:59who mentor to many
39:00mentor to many
39:01um including me because he said
39:04i want you to do the improv comedy show
39:05and i'm like well i couldn't possibly
39:06i'm more of a classical person
39:08and he i didn't audition i refused
39:11and he cast me anyway
39:13yeah
39:13and forced me to improvise
39:15which led me to the sad
39:18and uh you know non-lucrative jobs
39:21like hedvig
39:23uh where i did get to improvise
39:26and and loosen up
39:28and and become a better person
39:30so eric who sadly passed
39:32about a year and a half ago
39:33that's the last time i saw you
39:35at his memorial
39:35and he was a very beloved person
39:37eric gilliland
39:39yeah
39:39remember that name
39:40and he he laid a uh
39:41uh he again he he put his uh
39:44he put himself into a lot of people
39:45who are making great work today
39:46so we're very lucky for that
39:47um it's great to see you
39:48congrats on your run
39:50it's great to have you back
39:51on broadway
39:52thank you
39:52john cairn-nitzel everybody
39:53omair is playing at the license theater
39:55on broadway
39:56we'll be right back everybody
40:07come join the audience at late night
40:09live in studio ag
40:10for tickets head over to
40:11late night seth tickets.com
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40:24featuring a closer look
40:25guest interviews and more
40:27available wherever you listen to podcasts
40:29i want to thank my guest
40:38david harvard
40:39john cameron mitchell
40:40thanks for all watching
40:41we love you everybody
40:55you
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