- 13 minutes ago
Hot Ones - Season 29 - Episode 02: Will Arnett Wants to Fire His Publicist While Eating Spicy Wings
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00:00My mouth.
00:01Right.
00:02On fire.
00:03Wants to leave my body.
00:05Yeah.
00:05Wants to leave my body.
00:12Hey, what's going on, everybody?
00:14For First We Feast, I'm Sean Evans, and you're watching Hot Ones.
00:16It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
00:19And today we're joined by Will Arnett.
00:20He's an actor you know from breakout comedies like Arrested Development, BoJack Horseman,
00:24The Lego Batman Movie, and many more.
00:25He's also, of course, one-third of the Golden Globe Award-nominated podcast Smartless.
00:30And you can catch him starring opposite Laura Dern in the Bradley Cooper-directed comedy-drama
00:33Is This Thing On?
00:34Will Arnett, welcome to the show.
00:37Thank you, Sean.
00:38It's a pleasure to be here.
00:39And fun fact.
00:41Yeah.
00:41We have the same publicist.
00:43Before we get started, I wonder, how did he pitch Hot Ones to you?
00:47I'm so nervous about eating hot food.
00:50I can't even watch people eat hot food.
00:52Spicy food, you know?
00:54Anyway, he said, you have to do it.
00:56And I said, I like the idea, but I feel like I'm going to embarrass myself.
01:00I don't want people to, you know, I'm going to have to wear a Depends during the taping.
01:06And he said, you're going to be great.
01:07And Sean's a great guy.
01:08That's really how he pitched it.
01:10He said, you're a great guy.
01:11Thanks, Louis.
01:12Appreciate that one.
01:13All right.
01:14Louis K. from Covert Creative.
01:43I can already smell it.
01:46Wow.
01:54I'm already like, wow, that's really special.
02:01This is going to be terrible for me.
02:03This is a performance unlike any other role that we've seen you in.
02:06You know, it's a true dramatic pivot.
02:08Did you have any fears, any anxiety, any reservations about portraying a character
02:12and then not having that protective layer of irony or physical comedy to fall back on?
02:17Yeah, for sure.
02:17It was new to do something where there's not at the end of it kind of letting the air out
02:22of it
02:22and having to really commit to the vulnerability to whatever the moment was, was new.
02:30It was nerve-wracking.
02:32Everybody I was working with, Bradley, multiple Academy Award nominee, Laura Dern, Academy Award winner, and me.
02:40I'm there with all these, you know, really formidable performers and having to really sort of commit to this.
02:46And more than holding your own, if you ask me.
02:48Well, that's nice of you to say.
02:49Who knows?
02:50But, you know, it was scary.
02:52I see.
02:53Are you reaching for number two?
02:55Look at that.
02:55You're anticipating.
02:56I thought I could distract you.
02:58No, no.
02:58I'm too traveled.
02:59I'm too seasoned.
03:00We're out of time.
03:01Listen.
03:03All right.
03:04So up next, a pickled garlic sriracha sauce.
03:07Okay.
03:15Honest question.
03:16Sure.
03:17Did you, like, when you go and you have, like, a plate of spaghetti now, you're like, ugh.
03:21Yeah, like, it's not giving me enough.
03:23Yeah, it's not giving you enough?
03:24Yeah, I think maybe, to some degree, the sensitivity, you know?
03:27Like, I need it.
03:28I think I do need it a little bit more.
03:30That shit's calling you, man.
03:31Yeah, it's calling.
03:32I'm feeding.
03:32I'm scratching.
03:33I'm itching.
03:34Wow.
03:34Interesting.
03:35That's how that goes.
03:36I read a quote from Chris McKay where he talked about how he did hundreds of takes before finally landing
03:40on the right tone for the Batman character.
03:43Yeah.
03:43How or when did you know that you'd cracked the code on it?
03:46And can you give us an example of a Batman voice that wouldn't work?
03:49We just kind of kept going back to that, those moments in the Batman films, and especially Christian Bale, whom
03:54I love.
03:55I think he's a great Batman.
03:57But that really kind of gritty, serious voice.
04:03And then I just started doing, like, the idea of him going, like, how many wings?
04:10What is it, like 10 wings?
04:11Is this one smaller?
04:13I'd love to get some more ice if I, okay, hang on one second.
04:16I've got to wipe my hands off.
04:17Like, just that at every turn, all he's doing is talking in Batman.
04:23It was just kind of to make those guys laugh.
04:25Like, just saying the most mundane shit.
04:27And that's kind of where we landed.
04:29Number three.
04:30If you're ready.
04:31Yeah, let's do it, man.
04:32So this is a white hot mustard sauce here in the three spot.
04:36Sick.
04:39You like it on the name.
04:40I do.
04:41I do.
04:41White hot mustard.
04:50Well, the mustard is nice.
04:51It's a little bit of a heat cutter.
04:54That was just for shits and giggles.
04:56I didn't even need it.
04:58For dramatic effect.
04:59It was.
04:59And I like, I don't drink a lot of milk anymore.
05:02But here's a good excuse.
05:03You want to get back in the game a little bit.
05:05It is a great excuse.
05:06Can you talk me through the mechanics?
05:07I'd love to, but I'm super busy doing hot wings.
05:12So, yes.
05:14Of playing a bad magician, like Job in Arrested Development.
05:18Like, step by step, how does a professional magician come in and teach you how to do magic poorly?
05:23Well, what was funny was that you mentioned that is we did have at various stages magicians come in and
05:32teach me sort of stuff like how to, you know, create fire in your hand.
05:35And I guess the scene was at a certain time a dove didn't come out.
05:39And then we wanted to have this moment where I'm lifting my hands and all of a sudden the dove
05:43does come out.
05:44But I remember we had this guy come in.
05:46And so he's teaching me all this stuff.
05:47And I actually had to say to him, like, it's okay, man.
05:51I don't need to be good.
05:54Yeah, it was so fun playing a guy who was super confident that he, despite all the evidence, that he
06:00was not good and that he yet ignored that and continued with this idea.
06:06I wish I had more of that.
06:07I know.
06:08Just, like, really unwarranted confidence.
06:11I think I've had a lot of that in my life.
06:14Well, I think it'll serve you today.
06:16You know what I mean?
06:16Bite first, ask questions later, you know?
06:19Yeah, copy that.
06:20Hey, let's get into another one.
06:21All right, so up next, we have a smoked habanero and peach sauce in the four spot.
06:29I smoked a habanero once.
06:31It was late night.
06:32And it's just my mind was restless.
06:36Who's fiending and who's itching now?
06:37Yeah, let's see.
06:38Here we go.
06:48That is another level.
06:51Here's what I want to know.
06:52Obvi.
06:53Yeah.
06:55How far did Bateman get?
06:56All the way to the end.
06:58All right?
06:58And that's going to put...
06:59Are you kidding?
07:00I'm not trying to put pressure on you, but he made it all the way to the end.
07:04Did he complain?
07:05Quite a bit, actually.
07:06He did?
07:07Yeah, throughout.
07:09He's so soft.
07:09As you'd suspect.
07:10He is so soft.
07:14Wow.
07:15Do you have a most painful memory of auditioning in L.A. during pilot season?
07:19I understand that in the late 90s, early 2000s that you swore off pilots after being cast in a series
07:24of shows that failed to launch.
07:26I did have once, not for pilot season.
07:28I had one time I read for, I remember Kevin Costner did that movie called, I think it was called
07:33The Postman.
07:34Anybody remember that movie?
07:36The night before I'd eaten something bad.
07:38I ended up going to the hospital because I was so dehydrated from being ill.
07:43And at that point, that afternoon, going to meet him was, that was the furthest I'd been away from the
07:47bathroom in like, you know, 14 hours.
07:50Yeah.
07:51And I remember getting up there and just, and meeting him and being a fan of his and like this,
07:55it was like a big, and just sweating.
07:59Cold sweat, green in the face.
08:00Just thinking like, this can go really bad right now.
08:04Like, I didn't, you know, it's like, yeah, I was meeting Kevin Costner and, and, and I legitimately was worried
08:10about crapping my pants.
08:20And this is your brand, Tropical Amarillo by Hot Ones.
08:26Get it wherever you get your hot sauce.
08:29That's just a freebie.
08:30That was, that was.
08:32I know.
08:32And that's not cheap.
08:34I know that that's not cheap.
08:35It wasn't, but if you use it, I'm suing you.
08:42And then here you have kind of like a island vibe almost.
08:45There's like some tropical notes up front behind it.
08:48Some heat.
08:49Yeah.
08:49Yeah.
08:50There is a little bit of heat on the, on this island.
08:53There is.
08:54Yeah.
08:54Yeah.
08:55It's sweaty in the tropics today.
08:58There's a proud Torontonian.
08:59Yeah.
09:00Where does being inducted into Canada's walk of fame in 2019 fall on your list of career accomplishments?
09:05Well, let me just say, it's so great fielding left field questions.
09:12There's a lot, there's a lot happening on this show.
09:14And there's so much happening.
09:16Well, Sean, try to ignore what's happening here.
09:20Stay focused on this.
09:22I'm really proud of being Canadian.
09:24And so for them to have me come back there and honor me and also part of me as a
09:28Canadian,
09:28I'm kind of embarrassed.
09:29Right.
09:30But you always feel like even the people giving it to you are going to be like, here you go.
09:34Here's your award.
09:35You're not a big shot.
09:37You're like, you're giving it to me.
09:38But they were so sweet and kind about it.
09:41And yeah, it was cool.
09:43It was like coming, coming home after all these years and having that was, was a really neat
09:48experience.
09:49For the uninitiated, what do you see as the allure of the Big Harv burger from Harvey's?
09:54Oh man, now you're speaking my language.
09:58The Big Harv is the Cadillac.
10:01That's what I'm talking about.
10:02Yeah, the Cadillac of cheeseburgers.
10:05It's just like a big double.
10:06You can get it with bacon.
10:07There's something about the way that they grill up their burgers at Harvey's and the
10:11way they do their like sliced pickles on a burger.
10:13Come on.
10:14How would you quantify the significance of the Tarragon Theater in your development?
10:19As an actor.
10:20Pretty huge.
10:21Look at you guys.
10:22Who does all the research around you guys?
10:26When I started there, I was, I guess, 16.
10:28And I was the youngest by a mile.
10:31Everybody else were in their 20s or even 30s and doing these acting classes.
10:35And it was, it was a good sort of trial by fire of getting in there and seeing what it
10:39was
10:39like.
10:40Yeah, just working on scenes and sort of acting outside of doing school plays.
10:44What was your first big break?
10:45Was it a Man Witch commercial in 1987?
10:48That was pretty big.
10:49That was my first professional gig.
10:52You got to remember those.
10:53Those are special.
10:53The first time you get paid to do the thing, you know?
10:55Yeah, of course.
10:57I cherish it.
10:58It's why I had Lewis scrub it from the internet.
11:06Oh, this one seems fine.
11:07Homegrown Hell.
11:09But you guys don't come up, you didn't come up with the name Homegrown Hell.
11:12No, this isn't ours.
11:13This isn't ours.
11:13This is some other psycho.
11:18I mean, God bless him.
11:20Yeah.
11:20I hope he does well.
11:23We wish him all the best.
11:24Of course we do.
11:25Mm-hmm.
11:26I can feel a little, I can feel my body temp, my core heating up a little bit.
11:30And core's getting hot.
11:31Yeah, and I don't want my core to overheat.
11:34None of us do.
11:35This thing is a finally.
11:37Spontaneously combust in the studio.
11:39I know, I know.
11:40This chassis is no fluke.
11:42This is built the American way.
11:45But Canadian, obviously.
11:48So, Conan O'Brien named you alongside Norm MacDonald, right?
11:52Oh, this is a couple.
11:53It is.
11:54It's two of his all-time...
11:55Because he's kind of my nemesis.
11:56I understand.
11:57I get it.
11:58But two of his all-time favorite talk show guests saying that you have an instinct for chaos that makes
12:03live TV exciting.
12:04What's your philosophy on the makings of a great late night segment?
12:08And how much of it is instinct versus preparation?
12:12How much is lip replacement surgery?
12:16Is that even a thing?
12:19It's got to be.
12:21Oh, my God.
12:23God.
12:23My plastic surgeon is so busy with me right now.
12:26Because I've got all this upcoming work.
12:28Wait till you see me next year.
12:30Even better than...
12:31Wait till you see me.
12:32I can't even imagine.
12:34It's insane.
12:35It's good.
12:36I have so many fun things.
12:38The mock-ups look good?
12:39Oh, they look really good.
12:42Once it settles...
12:45Are you kidding?
12:48I understand that we're there to have fun.
12:51And you can tell the difference when it's scripted and when they're coming up within the moment.
12:55Because it also feels like the grown-ups lent us their cameras.
13:00And like, hey, we can fuck around.
13:07Obviously, we're going to eat it.
13:08Look, Sean.
13:10Let's take a minute.
13:11Yeah.
13:12Let's just think about all the things that are important to us in this life.
13:15You know?
13:17Our health.
13:20Mild food.
13:22Most importantly.
13:23Yeah.
13:23All right.
13:24I'm going to take a deep breath.
13:26See you on the other side.
13:27See you on the other side.
13:33This is where the air gets a little bit thin for me at this point in the show.
13:37Is that true?
13:38Yeah.
13:38I'm starting to catch some tunnel vision.
13:40Eyes are watering up.
13:43In almost kind of a weightlessness.
13:45How long does it usually last?
13:46So.
13:49Here's the deal.
13:49It's going to get worse from here.
13:52But once you walk.
13:53Thanks for the good news.
13:54Yeah.
13:55But once you walk out of the studio.
13:57Yeah.
13:57Okay.
13:58In like 15, 20 minutes.
13:59It'll all dissipate and just be a memory.
14:01You know?
14:01You'll be like, oh, that wasn't so bad.
14:03I could almost do it again.
14:04But you're not going to be feeling that or thinking that when you're actually doing it.
14:08You know?
14:09We're just on a wave that we're surfing right now.
14:11Right.
14:13Again, with the lips.
14:14Yeah.
14:14I know.
14:15I know.
14:15It's a challenge.
14:16I feel like my lips were kind of chapped.
14:18Mm-hmm.
14:18So it's really gotten in there.
14:20Salt in the wound a little bit.
14:21Yeah.
14:21Remember they used to talk about how the butter was going to get in all the nooks and crannies
14:24on the Thomas's English muffin?
14:26Yeah.
14:27The hot sauce.
14:28The hot sauce is doing that.
14:29Having that same effect on my lips.
14:33What's your case for Wendell Clark as the all-time greatest Toronto Maple Leaf?
14:37Pretty solid.
14:38He's the ultimate hockey player.
14:39He's the most incredible power forward.
14:43He can score.
14:44He can fight.
14:45He can do it all.
14:46I spent some time with him recently.
14:49And did you know he's running?
14:52Yeah.
14:52Yeah.
14:53Yeah.
14:53A little bit, right?
14:54I'm juicy over here.
14:55That's fun.
14:57We're having a blast.
15:00Everyone's going to be like, hey, did you see that guy who's sniffling all the time on
15:02that show?
15:03But it's all right because every show, somebody's sniffling.
15:06You know what I mean?
15:06Is that true?
15:06No matter what you're going through.
15:08Uh-huh.
15:09Well, I'm going through something.
15:13And don't apologize for it.
15:14Okay.
15:14I'm not.
15:17You should apologize.
15:26This stuff is so hot.
15:27I feel like I'm happy that I've already had kids.
15:31I feel like this would impact my semen count.
15:36I guess I have that to look forward to.
15:40Let me guess.
15:40This one is like a bunker buster.
15:42It goes in deep and takes a second and then it just explodes on you.
15:45Is that the deal?
15:47So, we bit into that one at the same time.
15:51You'll really start to feel this, I think, almost immediately.
15:53Like right now.
15:55Yeah.
15:56It should be hitting.
15:58Any final words you want to say to Louis before he's fired?
16:06You still got me, Louis, at least.
16:09What's your Mount Rushmore of TV sitcoms?
16:12Like off the top of your head without thinking about it too much, your top four and why?
16:15Oh my God.
16:17Is my face bleeding?
16:18No.
16:19You look great.
16:19Let's not feel like he's bleeding.
16:20You look great.
16:21Holy shit.
16:24I'm a cheers guy.
16:25Classic.
16:26For exactly that reason.
16:27He is classic.
16:29All the family is amazing.
16:30The office.
16:32Golden Girls.
16:33Holy shit.
16:35It's unreal how funny Golden Girls is.
16:38Some of their jokes are just incredible.
16:40I know I'm missing some.
16:42But it's okay because you're in the fog of war over here, you know?
16:46You know, this spice is coming at you from all sides.
16:50My mouth.
16:51Right.
16:52On fire.
16:53Wants to leave my body.
16:54Yeah.
17:00Holy fuck.
17:01Would you like some ice cream?
17:03Yum.
17:04Check this out.
17:05How quick are we on the draw?
17:07That's so good.
17:07Thank you so much.
17:08You knew that.
17:11That first bite, is that like the best ice cream ever, right?
17:20I'm at you.
17:21How does that feel good, right?
17:24Hell yeah.
17:28Are you ready to dive into the next one?
17:31I mean, I don't know.
17:32Is it going to have the same effect?
17:34No, it won't be like that last one.
17:36Okay.
17:44Now, not fun.
17:45Not a walk in the park.
17:47Not a walk in the park.
17:48But after the last one.
17:49Yeah.
17:50I don't want to touch any of, like, my nose with my one that I had in my mouth.
17:55Which is smart.
17:55That's why I've actually noticed you've been cycling through the napkins.
17:59Way to keep your head on.
18:00You know, sometimes people get lost in this whole thing.
18:03You gotta.
18:04They use the finger napkin on the face.
18:06But right.
18:07You're locked in.
18:07When you're in country.
18:09You know, people ask me all the time.
18:11They're like, you're military, right?
18:14And I'm not really allowed to say.
18:19I can see the way that you react out in the field, though.
18:22That you're a trained.
18:23That you're trained.
18:24I keep my head on a swivel.
18:26At all times.
18:27Even on the front lines.
18:28Because you never know.
18:29You know, you're never going to know what's going to be the point of engagement.
18:32Sorry.
18:34Again, I'm just an actor.
18:37I don't do.
18:39I'm not into covert activities, okay?
18:42I'm not getting dropped into hot zones.
18:44Definitely not, yeah.
18:49As a lifelong enthusiast of the arcade staple,
18:52what's your case for Golden Tee Golf as the best bar game of all time?
18:59Sean, what the fuck, man?
19:02It's so out of love.
19:05As if it's normal to ask me a question about Golden Tee.
19:10I used to be so good at Golden Tee.
19:12Have you ever played it before?
19:13Yeah, yeah, of course.
19:14They used to have it at this bar I used to frequent back in the day.
19:17In the 90s here in New York.
19:19Was that the Peter McManus bar on 7th Avenue?
19:22Yes.
19:23Nice.
19:24We just called McManus.
19:26I'm not on the end, you know?
19:27Yeah.
19:28I wasn't playing Golden Tee.
19:29I knew everybody there.
19:30Great group of people.
19:31We're going there and there were two machines.
19:33One in the front, one in the back.
19:34We owned all the high scores for it.
19:37It's so insane when I think about how much time I spent doing that.
19:40Let's finish this off.
19:41Well, we're setting a new high score today, all right?
19:44Well...
19:45No.
19:46We're not.
19:52What are you...
19:53You're just putting it on, then you're going to roll it in there?
19:54Yeah, exactly.
19:56Sick fuck.
19:57Sean.
19:58Will.
19:59You honestly, you bring a great game.
20:02I love it.
20:04You want to talk about keeping your cool.
20:05You're sitting there asking me a bunch of questions, and you don't seem like you're suffering at all,
20:09and I've got to say...
20:12I'm just trying to be a steady hand for you.
20:14Sure.
20:15All right, Will.
20:15I love that.
20:16You're a team player.
20:17I'm a team player.
20:17I like that about you.
20:18We're in this together.
20:19All right?
20:19It's a dance we share.
20:21All right, let's get this shit over with.
20:22Let's get this shit over with.
20:28I felt a bunch get on my lips, and I'm not excited.
20:34But the good news is the wings of death are behind us, all right?
20:38You have conquered the Hot Ones Gauntlet, and to close things out, you know, you're one
20:43of the defining voice actors of our time, and I want to channel that rich vocalization
20:48to close out the show here, all right?
20:51Okay.
20:51I'm going to point to a sauce, and I want you to articulate the feeling of eating that
20:55sauce using effort noises, okay?
21:01Garlic Delight.
21:03How about Tropical Amarillo?
21:06What about Da Bomb Beyond Insanity?
21:10And what you just ate, Thermageddon?
21:16I feel it.
21:17I'm in the scene, and look at you, Will Arnett, taking on the wings of death, living to tell
21:22the tale.
21:22Now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
21:25So this camera, this camera, or this camera, let the people know what you have going on
21:28in your life.
21:29Well, I got a...
21:30Can I get that ice cream real quick?
21:31Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
21:32Ice cream's coming in.
21:33Can I do that with the ice cream?
21:34Mm-hmm.
21:34Do it with the ice cream.
21:35I'm Will Arnett, and I just ran the gauntlet here at Hot Ones.
21:43Way to blast.
21:44If you get a chance, go check out my film, Is This Thing On?, starring me and Laura Dern,
21:50directed by Bradley Cooper, and watch more Hot Ones.
21:54And I can just tell you, it's real.
21:57It's so real.
21:58Too real.
21:59It's almost too real.
22:00This is one of the realest moments.
22:02I feel very awake.
22:13Ooh, that's tough.
22:17Do you feel kind of alive, though?
22:18Yeah, much more awake than when I got here.
22:20Yeah, that's right.
22:21Like, much more.
22:21I was super tired.
22:22Head on a swivel.
22:22Yeah.
22:23Those military instincts kicked in.
22:25Yeah, I mean, I can't, obviously, again, can't talk about it.
22:30How many wings?
22:31What is it, like 10 wings?
22:36People think Hot Ones is chaos, but this table runs on precision.
22:40Every bottle has a job.
22:42And right now, Los Calientes Verde is missing.
22:48Bill, we have a situation.
22:51Relax, Sean.
22:52Hot Ones hot sauces are available in over 10,000 grocery stores nationwide.
22:55I have an extra for you.
22:57Thanks so much, Bill.
22:59Crisis averted.
23:00Now let's roll.
23:02Find Hot Ones hot sauces at major retailers and grocery stores near you.
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