- 23 minutes ago
Jim Parsons, John Cho, Taissa Farmiga, and Joel McHale joined the panel to discuss the world of acting.
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00:12Hi everybody thanks for joining us here we've got a really great line up here I'm just gonna
00:17quickly introduce everyone and then we'll do I have quite a few questions for the group and
00:22then we'll open it up to a few audience questions at the end so I'm gonna start right here with
00:27Jim
00:27Parsons hello hello you may know him from the Big Bang Theory of course for which he's won Emmys and
00:36Golden Globes that he carries around in his pocket oh yes they're not and and he's here with a great
00:43film called a kid like Jake and up next we have John Cho who was here last year with the
00:59beautiful
00:59film Columbus which I caught last year and really loved and he's back with a film called search which
01:05also was just picked up for distribution overnight up next we have Taisa Farmiga yeah you you may know
01:20her from films like the bling ring or the American Horror Story television series and she is here with
01:27two films she's got what they had and the long dumb road both here and of course on the end
01:36here we have Joel McHale he's a super sky guys you can tell who you may know from the series
01:51community
01:52and he it was just announced he's gonna have his own Netflix show February 18th everybody and he's
02:06also here with two films he's got a assassination nation which was in the midnight series and a futile
02:12and stupid gesture in which he plays Chevy Chase so I'm going to start it out with where they say
02:23a
02:23lot of projects start which is the script so how do you know when you're reading a script if it's
02:28something that's right for you that you want to pursue or if it's for the past pile who wants to
02:34start usually for me I can't put it down you know if you're reading and then all of a sudden
02:41you get to
02:41your end and you're like ah wait don't stop I want I want more and you just kind of know
02:47I don't know
02:47there's not like really for me there's not a formula it's just it's all feeling I think that if you
02:53could
02:53finish it if you finish it at all that's a really good sign and frequently as far as like I
03:01want to be a
03:02part of this like I can see a role for me that's just something that pops up along the way
03:06and eventually
03:07you're like I could totally say that guy's words and that would be believable and that's kind of
03:13where I'm like I want to play him and I think that would work I well I don't have as
03:19many opportunities
03:20as these people so I take almost anything off spec scripts you'd like me to read I'm I look for
03:30a
03:32character being described as Asian as do I I do too but on the other another thing that I've been
03:45thinking
03:46about recently is sometimes you're reading a script and I'm feeling like I don't feel like this movie
03:52needs to be in the world you know and sometimes you have the opposite feeling you're reading a script and
03:58you think this thing needs to be out there really and you feel that really badly and and those are
04:05the ones that I kind of gravitate towards mm-hmm Joel I'm curious for you when you read this script
04:11that you would potentially play Chevy Chase was that intimidating obviously you know him and have
04:17seen him and worked with him and things like that uh it wasn't I mean I wasn't intimidated because no
04:35one
04:35it's totally different than it's about this guy named Doug Kenny who started a phone come please
04:40that it just start begun ringing but uh but it's about the early days of the National Lampoon and it
04:47was basically the first cast of Saturday Night Live and Doug Kenny started the National Lampoon he wrote
04:52Animal House he wrote Caddyshack and then he died very suddenly very young but he had changed American
04:59comedy and Chevy was just about to be the biggest star of the eight comedy star of the 80s and
05:05we're
05:06the same height so a number of people passed and once Paul Bettany and Matthew Lillard were out I was
05:16yeah so but it was I did have to study young Chevy Chase a lot because everyone knows Chevy and
05:23everyone
05:24now when once they've seen the movie they're like solid B that's not bad yeah better than high school
05:35yeah well in your experience where you've read a script and you know you felt like you knew what
05:45the movie was gonna be when it was finally made and then it it wasn't it it was something totally
05:52different whether better or disappointing for you and and what is that experience like if you've
05:57had been through that I can't think of a specific time that I've been in something where I was like
06:02boy this is not what I thought but I have read several things where it's always interesting to
06:09read a script even if you don't end up doing it that eventually gets done and somebody else does the
06:13part and it's I would say more often than not not exactly not exactly not at all what you pictured
06:19and
06:20and that's always nice some are you know but but there's frequently the experience I think that's
06:24one of the joys of working on anything is the amount of people involved in shaping a piece to
06:29what it is you are you are one small part of it even if your part happens to be huge
06:34and I don't know I
06:37think that's one of the fun things a lot of things that end up better I would say most things
06:41end up
06:41better because of the tribulations of change and like that's not what I think it should be but then you
06:47go
06:47with it and and it's like oh that's actually much more interesting we probably have some filmmakers
06:55in the audience and I think the director of course is a very key part of your experience as actors
06:59what
07:01can you tell me about what makes a good director for you for you what traits do you look for
07:06what are
07:06some of the best experiences you've had with a director I think like dress code is usually pretty
07:13only do you get uncomfortable easily I'm very uncomfortable I they are in directors usually
07:19uh useless and uh no they're the most important no without a good director you're it's like a symphony
07:30that's not being conducted very good very there's the quote but what is a good director what what makes
07:39I found sometimes I feel like um there are directors who delight in actors and some that I feel like
07:48maybe
07:50I wish they were just you know um and uh I tend to like the directors that like me yeah
07:58but don't you
07:59find in all seriousness you don't have to love working with somebody and they put on a hell of a
08:05good show
08:06and you really love being a part of their stuff I can directors can be good in so many different
08:11ways
08:11you know I think communication is pretty key at some level like being good at communicating in general
08:18it doesn't always have to be verbal but I feel like some directors are really good at different
08:21parts of the process and as long as you've got something where you make your money as it were
08:27uh you can put together a really good movie but I agree with you it's nice to have somebody to
08:31collaborate also knowing what you want right even if it's something you disagree with if they are just
08:37uh no I'm I'm sorry that's not gonna be where yeah this is it this is the way I see
08:42it and I'm
08:43really okay with that hey you say are there any directors that you don't like oh wow names names
08:51names make a list rhymes with no um it's funny I there's been a director or two that I've worked
08:59with that I don't love them personally but I love them as a director and we had this stand up
09:06are you in here Martin Scorsese no not in a bad way just you know people have different
09:11personalities and you don't always mesh with everyone you work with and um but for some reason
09:17talking about this specific character we we just could read each other's mind and that's all that's
09:22important is being able to communicate as Jim was saying and even if it's only about this specific
09:28little project that's fine you don't have to go to dinner and enjoy it and have drinks it's fine
09:33you can just work together have you um ever signed on to a role and then gotten into the project
09:40and
09:40been like I don't know if I can do this realized it it is a maybe a bigger challenge than
09:46you expected
09:46and how did you sort of all of them sort of I mean I've always panicked in a trailer at
09:52some point
09:54I was playing John Cho in Star Trek but not he was playing Sulu um actually I uh I did
10:08uh my first
10:09play an off-Broadway play in New York City two years ago and I'd never done theater before um so
10:14I had
10:14signed on in October and rehearsal started like January 4th or something and so you know I'm not
10:21the kind of person that like chases things that scare me I I'm good at putting myself in situations
10:28like ahead of time I I say yes and then I know when the time comes I'm probably gonna be
10:33incredibly
10:34scared but at this point I can't really do anything I just have to go ahead and just work hard
10:39and try
10:39my best so I signed on to do this play and leading up to it I just had so many
10:44panic attacks and
10:45anxiety attacks and I was like what am I gonna do I don't know what I'm doing I've never done
10:48it
10:49and then you know you just kind of fall on your face and then you get up and you fall
10:53on your face
10:53and you get up and then at some point you stay standing longer than you're on the floor and it
10:58feels good and you learn something were you drunk during this before oh listen I just turned 21 I was
11:04getting my footing very Shelley Winters of you okay hey that worked out well for her yes but I'm I'm
11:14in you could I'm in Jim's camp where I am in it I go like they're gonna find out I'm
11:18a fraud right now
11:20and uh and I'm in a constant state of panic but all it but I just I don't know I
11:26think it's the
11:26majority don't want to speak for everybody I think it's the majority of actors that feel that sort of like
11:31I mean sometimes you feel like I'm really very good and then there are so many other times you're
11:36like I don't know even know why I'm doing what I'm doing and somebody's gonna come along go you have
11:41no
11:41reasoning behind you and this is bullshit and um I hate it when I think I've just nailed it and
11:47they're
11:47all like let's do it again let's go there's also like yeah I think that you begin a shoot and
11:54I start
11:55out the shoot really prepared and I'm I know what I'm doing that first week and I've kind of tracked
12:01everything and then about halfway through just the schedule that starts to kick you in the ass and you're
12:07just trying to keep your head above water and that's when I start going okay I don't know what I'm
12:11doing
12:11I'm starting to slip on the ice everywhere metaphor new movie ice do you think some directors like for
12:25us to be in that slippier position though yeah maybe I don't know but huh so we can rely on
12:31them I don't
12:33know if it's like a codependency trial thing but maybe maybe that's it but maybe it puts you in a
12:39more
12:40vulnerable position and then that that shows through the lens I don't know but I don't like
12:45feeling that way well sometimes it's interesting to come in with a little less preparation and just
12:50sometimes it turns out badly but sometimes it's interesting to come onto set and just look look
12:57at what's there respond and happy and make it happen mm-hmm was there a moment in your career when
13:04you realized that you had made it as they say that you could make a living out of this and
13:11really be
13:11an actor so certain project where you felt like I think this is happening for me or are you still
13:18wondering if I think I think Jim is still wondering if Big Bang Theory is gonna work out yeah I
13:30mean no I
13:30think I'm okay with the TV I mean either I mean I just it's an awkward point in that way
13:34that's not
13:35awkward but yeah at some point that the TV show was like I can pay rent I'm fine for now
13:39but you
13:41know what you never know or the opposite where you said maybe I should try something else if if there
13:48was a time when things weren't coming your way before before the TV shows I chose to be like a
13:56samurai and if it didn't work out I would stab myself because there's nothing else I'm good at
14:02I felt like I think it wasn't so much as security but after I did Star Trek I was like
14:10oh this is
14:12because it's such a part of American culture in some way I thought this is I've done something I
14:17participated in something that will be remembered by as you know by certain number of people
14:26okay so what about you have you always on this path we're sorry say that again review always been
14:32sure that acting is where you know I actually I wanted to be an accountant because I love math
14:38and numbers that much and I'm a nerd and I was in a chess club so it kind of just
14:43it kind of just
14:44happened my my older sister Vera is an actress and she directed her first film almost eight years ago
14:49and it got into Sundance and that was the first time I came to Sundance seven years ago
14:53and I was here I was taking pictures and there was like given coats and jackets and it was a
14:58great
14:58time but I was also like but accounting is cool too so but then um she just encouraged me to
15:05say
15:05I don't know you guys my accountant loves me I'm really good at spreadsheets um what kind of free
15:12stuff do you get in his account money I don't know um anyways so you know it uh it kind
15:20of just it kind of
15:21just happened I got set on this path and this door was opened and you know I nudged it with
15:25my foot
15:25and then all of a sudden now I'm just figuring things out and I'm when I realized I can't live
15:31without this like I I figured out who my personality is through acting and through you know playing these
15:36characters I was a super shy like 16 year old I couldn't even make eye contact and have a conversation
15:41and now look at me a lot of people a lot of eye contact yeah I'm not I when I
15:49was asked to appear
15:50on Sesame Street I literally was like oh my gosh I this I've there's this is some weird marker in
15:56my
15:57career and they've never asked again but still that was it I was the one they banned you
16:03um you guys are probably beyond this point now but I'm always uh fascinated by auditions and the
16:11process that actors have to go through to put themselves out there like that and and go through
16:16rejection and and I'm curious for you all how did you deal with that process and and sometimes not
16:22getting a part you maybe thought you were the perfect person first off you'd be surprised we're
16:26probably none of us completely beyond that um you still have to audition a lot of the time uh I
16:31personally I'll go first always enjoyed it I um for the most part it's it's pressurized or whatever but
16:37if I had enough time to work on something and I really really enjoyed it I um I really tried
16:42to
16:42view it as like well this is your one shot to perform it possibly so go in and do it
16:46and and I and I
16:48and I liked it I did I mean I'm not dying to do it every week but you know I
16:52enjoyed it I think
16:54it's tricky about auditions is I I I I I mean I think that there was a time in my
16:59career when I was
17:00younger I I saw it as a game and you know um and sort of I I wouldn't say liked
17:08it but enjoyed the
17:10challenge of it but um it is an odd thing because it isn't quite acting but it resembles acting you
17:17know
17:17it's true it looks like acting but it's a different thing you're in an office you're not in wardrobe the
17:22person you're acting with isn't looking at you yeah it's reading from a paper and um then there's other
17:29people watching you and you only get one shot at it and then um you know typically you don't have
17:36a
17:36whole bunch of other people that look like you in the room outside actually yeah yeah when you're
17:42actually acting that's that's rare so uh so yeah I mean it's it's just a different thing that you have
17:49to get good at yeah I mean I'm I'm definitely still auditioning on a pretty regular basis and sometimes
17:56I don't mind it because I want to prove to myself that I can do it you know sometimes I
18:01read a character
18:01and I'm like I don't know if I'm the best one for this and then other times I read I'm
18:06like okay this
18:06is me I need it and of course you don't always get it but I like the challenge of going
18:11in and I
18:13don't know trying to convince someone that you're someone else it's hard though I mean I mean you
18:18know rejection is not fun but I've always tried to have the attitude of okay I'm gonna go in I'm
18:24gonna care so much up until you know I walk into the room let it go do it and then
18:28whatever happens
18:29I just make myself forget about it like a lot of people they call their manager meeting they're like
18:33okay this is what happened let me know what they say I can't do that I really can't I have
18:37to
18:37disconnect otherwise I think I would just be living in like this deep dark hole for most of my life
18:43um plus then also you forget about it and then you know you get a call and they're like hey
18:47so they
18:47really liked you and it's like a surprise you know I don't know I prefer it that way yeah I
18:54agree I hate
18:55it and I love it it's like going to a restaurant that has a different chef every night and you
19:00go like
19:00that was great I love it I will do it again and then and then I want to uh set
19:06fire to the office
19:09uh but but John is right the like doing a studio test for a television show is the most abnormal
19:15way
19:16to perform uh it's like skiing I don't know on a flat surface that's not snow it's it doesn't make
19:25any
19:25sense and describe what a a network test is like what are the I've never done one but no it's
19:33it's
19:33a bunch of executives in someone's office looking at you going like this also you sign a you sign a
19:41contract prior to auditioning so you're outside the room and then you sign a seven-year contract
19:48and then you go in and perform and they also tell you how much money you could be making yeah
19:53no pressure and that's not distracting no it's really ridiculous and uh I I I I can't believe you
20:03guys still have to audition but uh uh you guys sweet of you Joe terrific and then when you get
20:10offered a role you're like well of course I'm at this period of my career this is exactly what I
20:14expected but I do think to your point I don't know who said it now one of you did um
20:20but there's
20:21something about it that it it it's also it's is that interview process where the shame of not
20:27auditioning anymore is the audition often lets people well a it lets you discover people you didn't
20:34know about but but in addition to that you you you feel each other out a little bit and and
20:40just know
20:41like I don't know like this is a this could work this could be a good relationship or we have
20:46a
20:46decent vibe together whatever and and you don't do that as much oh that was the point you made that
20:50was so big is that to me at least it's like auditioning when you go in and get something you
20:55do feel that level of proving yourself like yeah I thought I could do it and I can do it
20:59and they
20:59thought so too and when you're offered something it's exciting but it's a little bit scarier because
21:03you're like why do they think I can do it I think I can do it I don't know I
21:07can do it I think I can do it
21:08the other practical thing I think is complicated about auditioning is everyone expects you you
21:13you come in with a certain set of choices and um based upon the actor and the other actors not
21:19being there and then you come on to set and I often think that the if the director and the
21:24producer sort of want you to replicate those choices and you may not be feeling it that day
21:29with that group of actors in that moment you mean like if they call you back or whatever
21:33no I mean if you book oh oh I see what you say oh right it's like I did all
21:39that without
21:39knowing anybody else right and then you come in and you're less open to what's happening
21:43that day because you sort of did it this way yeah 80 times you know what I mean uh with
21:49your
21:49friend in the living room you know so um I'm curious have you you know and I think this was
21:58referenced on like Aziz Ansari's show the sort of like stereotypes that come with being a diverse
22:04actor have you ever dealt with that when you walk into auditions where they're expecting something
22:08because you are an Asian American um you know less so than most because early on I just stupidly decided
22:19that I wouldn't take auditions that I felt like made fun of people that look like me at the time
22:25I just
22:26felt like it didn't make much sense to do it um I didn't feel like they it would be furthering
22:32my career to play to do a ching chong accent I didn't feel like it wasn't that much money you
22:39know
22:39to be honest and so uh I just said no to that sort of thing but yeah obviously that's a
22:49real situation
22:50uh you know uh we are talking about the art of filmmaking but of course it takes money to make
22:56these movies and and it is a business for a lot of people is there something that frustrates you
23:01about the business of making movies and and maybe the choices either networks or studios or that are
23:08sort of made uh when it comes to the way you got how it affects you or no I mean
23:16well I mean all I'm
23:17thinking is well everything everything about the process in the business sense is frustrating
23:23artistically speaking I don't but it's hard to point to one thing because I mean so many things are
23:28are wonderful and and so much any decision being made that's not based on something I can understand
23:34which is not saying they should but it's like a real I don't know what to call a businessy decision
23:41that I'm like I don't why would you what are we thinking about who's basing this on what
23:44then that's that's frustrating you know it's frustrating to have to like with the movie we did
23:49that's here we uh we we didn't know until literally I don't know 72 hours before that we were actually
23:56going to go we we were in pre-production everyone was working for free and we were there was like
24:02all
24:02these different financial dominoes and as soon as one would fall they would all fall but it was like
24:07who's gonna give who's gonna give and um and it happened but it's a it's a bizarre way to go
24:12about
24:13working you know yeah I think an independent film it's always unpredictable yeah hard yeah on a lot of
24:21different companies to back the film or and tv is usually more sure once it's greenlit it's going
24:27it may fail very quickly and you're done it's not hard to tell but it's like once it's greenlit
24:31you're making that pilot and or whatever I think the the I mean for me the thing that I always
24:40want
24:41more of almost in anything that I do is time and that's the most expensive uh commodity there is
24:47and I just wish that there was a way to get it right when you wanted to get it right
24:52until you were
24:53happy but there's always you know somebody always says that's it we got to move on
25:00so time to prepare or time actually to do the scene time on the day yeah I'm I always think
25:07I
25:07think about like when I get frustrated with an executive or something and I'm like oh that
25:11marketing they didn't do it and then I go like oh right my brother is an electrician and he is
25:17trying
25:17not to blow himself up today and so I'm like these are I was like thank god for these problems
25:22that I
25:23have my other brother's a priest and I was like what did you do today and he's like I helped
25:27two
25:27people at the hospital slowly die it was fun and uh so I'm always like right yeah I'm always keep
25:33this in because someone is paying you to do something you love you have a priest in the family he's
25:38an
25:38Episcopal priest in Oakland California and uh Oakland uh was that for Oakland or Episcopal yeah
25:46which one was it Oakland oh go Raiders for the next year
25:57okay um if you could go back and give yourself some advice when you were sort of starting out
26:05is there anything you would have told the younger version of yourself to do a little differently or
26:13perspective wise maybe at that time I know what I would would have told a young John Cho
26:22myself
26:27what are you not going to tell us I am no I was that was a joke
26:31uh continue to have fabulous hair that's I don't ever don't ever shave it because it's glorious
26:43I don't know I um
26:49I mean probably I guess I would just tell myself like
26:53I don't know I guess
26:57I don't know I guess I just did it perfectly so I really just don't have any advice for that
27:02you know I will say this in all seriousness I am I think if you feel determined as an actor
27:08and that's all I'll speak towards now but as an actor and you feel I'm going to keep plugging
27:12away at this in some ways the from my viewpoint now I do feel that in a certain level ignorance
27:19it's bliss um if I I if I knew the tiny hole in the gigantic sieve that I had to
27:30get through to get
27:31certain things that I got you know um I was thinking specifically Zach Braff posted something of um an
27:38image from Garden State on his Instagram the other day and again having put helped put together this
27:43movie that we have here now I'm and and having gone through casting and whatever I was like
27:49the I I can't believe I got there at the time it seemed so natural I was like it's a
27:53good audition
27:53we went well it was a lovely experience looking back I'm like oh my god I was so much more
27:59fortunate
28:00timing whatever than I even could have understood at the time and I don't think it would have helped
28:04me to have had that concept I needed to feel like this is all working out great we're going to
28:09keep
28:09going keep going um but maybe some people could know all that and keep going I worry that that
28:13all that information would have hindered me though it's just on I think maybe on a similar tip I
28:19I maybe I would have told myself uh I actually I probably tell myself this today um relax and enjoy
28:27it a little bit more because you're so busy thinking about getting the next thing and and you know we're
28:33in you know we lead nomadic lives and um I think I tell myself this you look back on this
28:40and uh fondly but
28:43right right now I'm so stressed about everything all the time and I think it's like you can't at
28:49the time unless you accidentally I don't know killed someone at an audition like I backed over that guy
28:54before the audition but it's like giving notes on improv where you go if only you had done this in
29:00the
29:00scene you had gone to that window you're like yeah but it was improv so right uh so that's at
29:05the time
29:06it's with the best information you have yeah I'm curious um how do you feel when you're watching
29:12your own performances you're here at Sundance you're sitting in your premiere you may be seeing it for
29:17the first time uh deeply fulfilled I just applaud
29:25I'm about to come on screen everybody get ready
29:28why are you going to the bathroom
29:32but can you enjoy it or are you just trying not to be self-critical it depends on it depends
29:38on the
29:38movie um I got to see uh one of the movies I had called what they had um yesterday afternoon
29:44and I
29:45know what to expect and when I was filming it back in March I'd been dealing with some stomach health
29:49stuff so my memories at the time have just kind of like blurred and I didn't know what to expect
29:53and
29:53I went in and I was captivated I absolutely loved it and it's not you don't always feel that way
29:57I'm
29:58also totally bragging about my movie right now but um yeah but truly it's not it doesn't happen all the
30:06time where you where I watch a movie and I'm in it and I get sucked in and I'm not
30:09like oh god I made that
30:10face I just I'm like oh like it works like we we made something we made something that that that's
30:17moving wow and you know it's it's not always like that so I don't love watching my stuff but I
30:22think
30:23it's um I think it's good to see it once especially in an audience because then you can see what
30:26they're
30:26feeling and see if it's as good as you think there's no better audience than the Sundance audience
30:31yeah they yeah they love movies yeah exactly John how about you do you like watching your own
30:36movies or how do you I mean I I'm uh mixed I mean I uh don't love watching I'm critical
30:44if you have a
30:45good time if you've had a good time watching it uh or making it it brings up good memories so
30:51that's
30:51also fun on the other hand I have this other uh I just last night you know we had our
30:59um premiere and
31:03the the movie uh I play a dad uh my daughter goes missing it's an Asian family and I did
31:11have this
31:11reaction last night I was in Sundance and I was having I was watching the whole event and um you
31:21know I
31:21said something on stage which is I just couldn't I I'd seen it once before at my agency's in a
31:28screening
31:28room and was sort of trying to understand the movie so I could talk about it when it came to
31:32Sundance but
31:34watching it last night at the most consequential film festival in America watching this family that
31:41looked resembled mine so much you know it was very cool for me and that sometimes I have that kind
31:51of experience um I think we have a little time for some audience questions do we have a mic oh
31:59yes
31:59we do have a mic uh right here
32:04this question's for jim and for um joel you both had the good fortune and the talent to play both
32:11dramatic and comedic roles
32:16I like I like watching people ask me questions
32:22wait let me stand up
32:24no you need to be seated
32:29you've both had the talent and the good fortune to play both dramatic and comedic roles
32:33are you more comfortable in one than the other and do you do anything different feel any different
32:37when you're playing one than the other I'll answer for jim okay um no sorry please uh no I
32:46Jim is so uh I I'm so jealously of his talent that he can do both that stool I can't
32:54now I I don't
32:55know what to say no go I I I know Jim has done more dramatic work than me and it's
33:00it's definitely
33:00better than mine no uh I I have no preference uh I even though I have became I go on
33:07the soup I
33:08uh I cut my teeth telling fart jokes and saying the bachelor was a game show so uh and then
33:14fortunately
33:15community uh came along and uh and that obviously was comedic with some uh dramatic stuff and so
33:23with like assassination nation and a little bit more serious stuff it's been it's more harder
33:29convincing people that I can do it which still after I do it they go I'm not convinced but um
33:36but uh I I people always just assume you're like hey you're that you're that guy who used to work
33:42with uh Donald Glover and so uh because Donald's done well and uh very well uh but uh I I
33:52love doing
33:53both and I I don't have a preference I I feel I don't have a preference either and I don't
33:57feel
33:58differently about doing them although the situations obviously dictate differences that are brought out
34:03within you and I mean you know yeah and and some I think are the obvious ways um but mostly
34:10it's just
34:10you know trying to talk honestly as that character to the other ones and I don't know I do love
34:15getting
34:16to do both though but I do think Joel brings up an excellent point it's just the Hollywood thing
34:19whatever it is that you do that most people see you do at first they're like you you you like
34:24doing
34:24comedy right in fact I I always have to feel for a decade now about my stand-up career that
34:29never
34:29happened I mean I'm like no I didn't I never did it and I would fail miserably I think all
34:35right I'll
34:35try you should try it but don't you think like there's one aspect of making comedies that I love
34:41a lot which is um I mean I think that the the mechanics of acting are the same but um
34:48you know when
34:49you go to video village and try and beat a joke and everyone our tape night and there's a line
34:56and
34:56they're trying to beat it I just find that to me the most fun thing everyone just trying to top
35:01I'll be I don't participate I'm very bad at trying to beat jokes I'm like I don't know tell me
35:06what to
35:06say um I'm very bad at it but they're good at it on our show I like to do that
35:12for dramatic stuff
35:13where I go like let's make this sadder watch I can make this sadder uh yeah so in the red
35:22here
35:22the microphone is coming you're in the red but then there's another lady next to you who's wearing red so
35:31there it is uh my jam price from iheart radio and my question is for all of you um what's
35:39your
35:39greatest obstacle what or what has been your greatest obstacle in your career she's got a big
35:47one there for you guys big um I think I think something I still like have to deal with is
35:56getting
35:56out of my own head like my favorite thing as an actor is when you're so in the moment you
36:01don't
36:01even realize you're acting you're just there with a bunch of good people and you're just in it
36:04and there's some times where I just can't get out of my head and I don't know why that is
36:08and I'm
36:09I'm nervous about something I'm nervous about saying some line or or looking weird on camera
36:13it doesn't happen often but it happens enough that I'm like why can't I why can't I shake it like
36:18it doesn't matter I I know it's okay to to mess up and and look like an idiot but even
36:23though you
36:23tell yourself that it's it's still hard to like follow advice even though you're giving it to
36:28yourself so I think just like just letting loose sometimes even though I feel like I'm doing it and
36:33all of a sudden I realize oh the director's like you're kind of stiff I'm like huh oh my bad
36:37does
36:38it usually take the director kind of pulling you out of that are you able to sometimes it's honestly I
36:42think it's just sometimes I'll just I'll just do it bigger than I think I need to do it and
36:46then it
36:47ends up being the perfect amount you don't look weird on camera really John Chuck
36:59how about the rest of you uh do you remember of the time you were really struggling to get over
37:03a big hurdle or challenge I don't know if there's an external thing but internally like the every
37:08everything I regret or every performance that I dislike or in a moment have been uh I think me
37:15trying too hard or just stressed out I gotta be good this seems really important to me
37:21and I get in my own head and stressed out and it shows and it's um and so uh yeah
37:30it's an internal
37:30thing I think for any I mean unless you're wearing have to deal with some sort of prosthetic or some
37:35sort of really difficult like like the Grinch makeup for Jim Carrey or whatever sounded torturous but
37:40you know it's just movie making um it's yourself to take it out of your own way and it goes
37:44to your
37:44point of like just quit play we're supposed to play yeah play enjoy um but you want it to be
37:51you you feel passionate about it and you want it to be good but it's it's like trying to hold
37:56on to
37:56say underwater the more you grip you can't you know wasn't that a deep thing I just said yeah
38:03good thank you you guys are really good with the metaphors thank you skiing sand
38:08i like joel i i no i agree completely it's just trying to distract yourself to stop thinking about
38:15your own self uh so i couldn't agree more thank you janet for my heart radio
38:25i stream you in the dressing room every day
38:28yeah that's not you personally but through your app my biggest obstacle is turning off
38:34i highly
38:47i just have a question um with like the business side and it gets all frustrated how do you keep
38:52yourself
38:52inspired like defeat your creative more artistic side um when you know do you ever feel overwhelmed
38:59with that you know business stuff
39:05i mean i always i just love i love being on set and i love the crew so if i'm
39:10ever like
39:10pissed that a scene's getting cut that i really really love
39:13or they're changing dialogue and even though i've tried to persuade them not to i really don't have any
39:17control over it um i just kind of i just kind of hang out with the crew because usually they're
39:22happy to they're happy to be there and be making the movie and if you're excited they're excited so
39:27you can kind of feed off their excitement when you don't have enough for yourself i think to john's
39:31point about not taking the roles that he felt were possibly derogatory and he didn't see how it
39:38would advance i feel like that's that's the same thing as picking roles that feed your soul one way or
39:42the other and that could be somewhat of a business decision but if you know why you're there and you
39:46want to be there that i mean that that kind of solves almost all ills unless something really weird
39:52happens because you're like i just really want to do this and i you know i guess i gotta say
39:59that
39:59sometimes you think i read scripts and you know people are you know pitching you stuff that you think of
40:06these things as um deals or business opportunities or the next thing uh but then i i gotta remember to
40:16watch more movies and you're like well that's right i like this this is fun and it's something
40:22that you want to be in and play in and um so i really do have to remind myself to
40:28watch more stuff
40:30because you can uh sort of forget to do it because there's life and uh you do other things but
40:37it's
40:38important to watch movies is there a this makes me think of a question is there a movie in the
40:43last year
40:44or a performance that you really loved that stuck with you i think it's been a pretty great year for
40:49movies overall i just finished the second season of fargo that's how far behind i am and i uh cried
40:58because it was over and cried because i ran through my house screaming uh holding up my ipad going uh
41:05you've got to see this and then taking my family and holding their heads up to it and
41:10um every single moment of that i was just like just astonishing
41:18i like get out i just thought it did everything really well i mean there i don't think there was
41:26an aspect of that film that i thought was below par it just was the acting was unbelievable the writing
41:32was so good it's such a great idea and then it does something really hard which is to make you
41:39uh which is uh to to to address the single most difficult topic in american culture race and i
41:47don't know how how did they do that um so uh effortlessly it's terrific
41:54anything that you i just saw american animals here which is i guess why it's on my mind but
41:59specifically what was really it was one of those inspirational moments where you wanted to kind of
42:02get to back to work and do your own thing the four main guys in that their performances were so
42:08good
42:08and so grounded and so uh so focused and doing something without ever being effortful or in any
42:15way false or push it was just it was it was really anytime i see something like that i'm like
42:20i want
42:21to get back at it i want to do even better i want to do more um so yeah but
42:25that was just here so that
42:26was pretty recent all right i think we can do one more in the audience how about over here
42:34ten more hi they told me to stand up okay so um creatively or otherwise how um to what extent
42:42have
42:42you felt like you wanted to create your project especially since i feel like there's more of that
42:47going out for like actors to create your own projects and maybe have your voice be heard your
42:53creative vision be translated on screen i don't know if i'm ready yet to be honest like people
43:01keep asking like oh are you gonna you're gonna direct your sister's directed are you gonna direct
43:05and i don't know yet it's like a lot of it's a lot of pressure to tell your own story
43:09and i think it's
43:10i think it's um amazing for the people that are brave enough to do it and you know i hope
43:14one day i
43:14can i won't be as shy and i can do it but i don't know for now i'm just gonna
43:18keep getting inspired by other people
43:23yeah we are seeing more actors producing you know to have a little more control over the process and
43:29is that something that's i think i'm interested in i think i'm split um on the one hand i'd love
43:35to have
43:35a say more of a say in things and i think it's fun to come up with ideas and yes
43:41i've
43:42been thinking about it more and more on the other hand i you know i got into this to jump
43:47from thing to
43:48thing and have fun and so i'm of two minds about it certainly i feel like we kind of i
43:55fell into it
43:56a little bit i was very lucky with with my situation with warner brothers and the tv show to have
44:01a
44:01situation where i could open up a production pod where i could if and i felt very experimental with
44:07well let's see what happens and it's organic i didn't want to do anything forced and and this this
44:12the movie we have here was a play that was brought to us by the other producers on it and
44:16um and just
44:18started snowballing and when we finished shooting i honestly felt like never again i like to act
44:24never but i will be honest i did a 180 during post and i i didn't understand how to be
44:31effectual
44:32during production itself partly because i was acting in it most days but i guess that's part of the reason
44:37i maybe that's just not my cup of tea but during post i i i really enjoy getting me a
44:42part of the
44:42process and um so again we'll see what happens i'm trying to be as organic with it as i can
44:49like i said
44:49and only do what feels good and and and is it seems to be a good fit um so well
44:55time will tell
44:57joel how about you i mean you have control i assume with like the netflix show and things like
45:01that are you looking for more of that in other films that you know i with the new show i'm
45:06yes i'm
45:06gonna no i mean morphing jokes about uh reality shows might not turn into the next transformers but
45:13um it i i when i like i'm working with david wayne on this uh stupid future gesture and then
45:20with and
45:21i mean sam levinson uh i i look at those guys i'm like my brain is not big enough to
45:26do what they're
45:27doing and they have endless amounts of energy and creativity uh but so i don't i i don't i don't
45:34know
45:34uh i i put my name on stuff in hopes that it will make money but um uh but uh
45:40my purse line
45:41is beautiful yeah uh joel mikhail clutch yeah i know but the new show is to occupy the right 90
45:51of my brain going like oh man what are we gonna do and uh so that that i i do
45:58stress out about that and
46:00try to i try to not tell the same fart joke over and over because i know you demand different
46:06fart
46:07jokes especially janet from iheart radio i one thing that i found um uh that i liked about like the
46:16post
46:16process that is uh i didn't realize how uh lonesome acting felt sometimes you know like you feel so
46:24vulnerable even though you have a cast and stuff and then but when you're in the editing room um
46:30with your editor and your producer it's um it just feels like so much more of a team and so
46:36much more
46:37of a collaboration and so so much safer you know and that it feels so it's so dangerous to act
46:43and put
46:44yourself out there and and that and so no it's true it also highlighted for me how much and i
46:50knew this
46:51about myself but it really highlighted how much of my joy of acting and it turns out being a
46:55part of this business is simply the act of storytelling i love being a part of helping tell
46:59a story and so the post process was also a very you were like oh but if you do this
47:04it tells a
47:05different it you know i and i knew intellectually that happened but to feel it and to be part of
47:10helping
47:10decide which one that was really thrilling well guys thank you so much for joining us and thanks
47:16everyone for coming
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