Jason Bateman

24:46I didn't go to college. I just doubled down. And thankfully I was still doing a show, uh, until I was about 21, 22, I think called the Hogan family. This was after silver spoons, after it's your move. And then on that, when that ended, then there was like this, this, this arid plane of my twenties of, of employment. Like I'd get a, like one job a year and I kind of keep my head above water, but there was no cash cushion whatsoever. Cause I was, I was trying to catch up for all the time I'd lost being a kid too. So I was playing really hard in my twenties and I'm flying all over the place and paying for my friend's tickets and, you know, so I, I didn't have a lot of money at all.

25:29In fact, I was in debt by the time I was in my thirties, by the time Arrested Development came around. And I was really thinking at that point. So the acting thing isn't going to work for me anymore. Kind of like used goods. Uh, television comedy was going in the direction of single camera comedy. I was known for multi-camera comedy, you know, in front of a live audience. And so I was kind of, I was just kind of damaged, you know? Uh, and especially when I heard about Arrested Development, like here's a single camera comedy and it's kind of a mockumentary and it's Ron Howard's behind it. And like, they don't want my garbage on that, but managed to guess right and get that job.

26:03And it was embraced by the industry. And it was that huge reset button for me. But prior to that, I really, really was that my twenties were, It was not a comfortable period. I was really petrified about being able to support myself and have the rest of my career not be anti-climactic. You know, I thought about, I thought about liquidating what little I did have literally cashing out and literally putting what cash I had in a duffel bag, driving to the Bradley terminal at LAX, looking up on that board, picking a city and going and just kind of unplugging from this kind of not rat race, but, but competition.

26:50This, you know, every night's entertainment tonight, who's doing great. You know, who's on your show, you know, like, and I wasn't, uh, and I had been. And so I thought, well, I don't want to continue playing at a game that I'm going to be, you know, losing every single year. So why don't I go to like Tuscany and learn fucking, you know, Italian, French, whatever, buy a coffee shop and just start over at the age of 25. I don't have a wife, don't have kids, have a bunch of friends, but let's go drink into more of those in Europe. Right. You know? So it was, I was very, very, getting it back to Arrested Development.

27:24That was total paddles on the chest for me. Do you ever think you blew it that maybe you should have done that? Yeah, exactly. No, but I mean, I'm just seriously, this coffee shop thing. Sounds nice. It worked out for Starbucks. Really nice. Yeah. You know? Well, whatever. Le Starbucks. Can't go back, I guess. Can't go back. it's funny that you talk about that period of time there's the I had my own experience working on the late night show we were constantly doing sketches and we would employ there would be a sketch that needed you know a kid to play me you know from 20 years ago constantly or a kid who is in the audience who doesn't understand something constantly doing these sketches where we need kids I remember very clearly Sometimes there were kids that came up to me, maybe eight years old.

28:19This happened more than once, but they would come up to me and go, excuse me, Mr. O 'Brien, I am Billy. Oh, hi, Billy. You know, thanks for helping us out today. You're doing a great job at rehearsal. I just want to say you are a formidable talent. And I could look in the background and see the mother peering out of the dressing room like, it's formidable. We went over this. You know, say it so that you're booked again. you fucker. And I was, it bummed me out. Seriously, every now and then one of those child actors, one was a little kid who nailed it and turned, grew up into Scarlett Johansson.

28:58Oh yeah. And you're like, okay, that's great. I think we had one or two of those, but for the most part, it is, it is a perilous thing to be a child actor. And, you know, it's so fickle. And even as adults, full-on aging adults for myself, it's still hard not to pay attention to who's up, who's down, who's where. And that's with, I didn't have anybody recognize me on the street until I was 30 years old. That's when I got the late night show. And I had a lot of grounding before then. So I have no idea, I think if I had been recognized or had any kind of cachet when I was 11 years old, I'd be a mass murderer.

29:45Yeah. And a very good one. Methodical. It is a very permissive culture that if you have some sort of success as a kid, you kind of get used to, you know, it's like it's junk food and, you know, kids don't have any self-control for junk food. They eat it all up. Right. And you're also learning how to be, how to convincingly be somebody else at the exact time you're trying to figure out who you are. So it's just a big mind fuck too. And it's, it is a big, it's a minefield to go through. And I'm really fortunate that somehow my sort of, you know, stock engine came out able to kind of navigate that, you know, somewhat decently.

30:30I mean, I am nuts. I'm crazy, but I'm functional. I said you're squirrely. I didn't say you were crazy. Squirrely, hard to get a beat on you. I know there's a lot of stuff there. I don't want to go near. You can get near the cage. Just don't start poking around in it. I would drive cross-country with Arnett, Sean, in a second. You, that's not happening. Unless, yeah, like you say, there's like a barrier, a caged barrier. I'm driving a police car. Be in the back with a privacy glass. No, you're in the back. I'm driving you. Yeah, okay. I'm dressed as a sheriff, and I'm driving you cross-country.

31:05But there's a cage, and you're shackled. every now and then I pass you some green tea. But that's about it. That's all that's happening. It is interesting to me that a important linchpin of your turnaround, which you say is Arrested Development, the guy behind that, one of the guys behind it, and the narrator of the show, Ron Howard, famously one of the few examples of a child star who just nailed it in his adult life and seemed to make every right call Did he ever give you any insight into that world? Only by example. You know, like during the vast wasteland of my 20s, I was in an attempt to try to self-educate.

31:54I'd watch a lot of news. I was a big fan of Charlie Rose. I'd watch that show religiously. And Ron Howard was on it once. And I remember watching his interview and, you know, Ron Howard is at all times, it seems just about the most gracious, magnanimous guy you'd ever find. And so I'm watching him just be incredibly warm and kind. And he's not doing that because he needs to kiss Charlie Rose's ass or that he's nervous about being on the show or golly gosh. sure what he's just genuinely that and is not worried about coming across as, as an ass kisser or eager, or he's just being as kind as he is and is not worried about masking that.

32:42Because if you grew up in the sort of cynical environment I grew up in, it's, you know, it's like, well, make sure you look like you don't want it, you know, or make sure that girl can't tell that you like her, you know, like, you know, be mean, or when you go on an audition, make it seem like you don't really want it or that it's an inconvenience, whatever, you know, toxic crap I was listening to as a kid. He was completely at odds with that with his. So anyway, so I remember sitting there watching that interview and going, if I ever get relevance again, any sort of industry capital again, the greatest thing about it will be that I will be able to be as kind as I want to be and not worry about it coming across as being too eager and wanting the job or, you know, and then I got arrested development, like working for this guy.

33:30And, and, you know, he did all the voiceover. So he's never really on set. So I never really met him until after the show had been gone for a while. And, and eventually I, and I think it was pretty late, maybe four or five years into, I finally had dinner with him and I told him this story and I told him about what. Did he narrate the dinner?

33:50And then he told you to fuck off. He pulled the mask back. He said, yeah, pulled another one. Jason seemed perplexed. He wanted the eggplant risotto, but he didn't know if it was going to be too heavy. Yeah, I think he understood what I was saying, that not only his example kind of provided this North Star for me, but the actual show itself gave me the capital that I was, you know, reaching for, hoping for, that I could stop kind of acting twice going into interview, you know, auditions, you know, kind of like trying to be like, kind of like, oh, yeah, what's up, everybody? You know, and it's fucking such a douchebag.

34:30I was just like, and of course, it would make me incredibly nervous because I've got to pull off that performance. And now it's time to do the audition. And, you know, now I got to pull off this. I was just like exhausted. Well, they say it's it's it's exhausting to be a pathological liar because you have to keep all of your stories straight. Right. And it is exhausting to have to put on a persona. Right. To then audition for something where you're then another persona. But then if you don't get it, you have to switch into the persona, which is I didn't really need it anyway. I'm cool. I'm good.

35:07It's just garbage, you know. So thankfully, I kind of got through that to a certain extent, but it was painful. I mean, my 20s were just like, it was fun, but a real sort of head trip for me because I'm transitioning from like all of that fame and success and easy road to not making as much money, not having the actual sustenance because my confidence came from my work. Now that I don't have the work, now what do I have the confidence on? It's just like, aye, aye, aye. Nine people out of 10 who went through what you went through would not, it would not have worked out. Can you identify something in you that helped you say, okay, I'm partying too much.

35:55This has to stop. I need to, there is an inner resource that you have. Right. That. Yeah. 90 % of people in your situation would not have. But I, and I, perhaps, but I, I, I think everybody's got it because all it was, was just, uh, goals and foresight and vision and, and, you know, everybody has a way they like to think of themselves. Yeah. And there are certain things that you can't do and certain things that you want to achieve and incorporate that, that make that vision legit. Yeah. You know? Yeah. I knew I wanted, I wanted to be a dad. I wanted to be a father and I'm sorry. I want to be a husband, a dad, and I wanted to direct a movie with as, as an adult.

36:45That was what I always said to myself as a kid. And so I knew I had to do certain things to make those three things happen. Um, I had to build up sort of acting capital to be able to say, Hey, now I want to direct the famous t-shirt. Right. Um, I couldn't be like, you know, a fucking drug addict and a drunk, uh, and expect to have any sort of relationship that was, that had any legs. Um, and then, you know, being a father follows that. So, um, so I, I knew I had to kind of wind down the, the, the, the twenties fun at some point. Uh, and I didn't know, do you, do you get rid of all that stuff and then the work will come or should I wait for the work to come to be sort of like, you know, the little pacifier that allows me to like stop doing all the other stuff.

37:33It ended up kind of all happening at the same time, which was nice. Um, uh, but yeah, I, I guess it would just be that. So I don't think I'm not that special. I think everybody wants certain things for themselves in the future. And I think it's just about having perhaps the discipline to say, okay, you kind of got to do X, Y, and Z to get to A, B, and C. And at what point do you want to start to implement that plan? I've never, ever had any ambition to direct anything. I admire that skill immensely. And I think part of me is a little curious if someone put a gun to my head and said, you have to direct something, what I would do.

38:11You'd be great. But I don't understand what it is, but I know that you directed quite a bit on Ozark. You must have been watching the whole time. I mean, this was go back to when you're a kid where you're watching other people make these decisions someone explained to me once a lot of directing is making choices do you want this or do you want that what you know so you're watching that and saying i want to be doing that yeah it was it was uh it was michael landon on little house in the prairie so right rise i was starting to like you know i'd done a couple of years of commercials and stuff like that but um but i was starting to really kind of notice what what this magic trick is of making fake life like okay so you point like you know because we We all look through the paper towel tube when we're a kid, you know, and like, you know, you kind of like, you know, you make that little tunnel that you're seeing stuff through and outside that tunnel and stuff you can't see.

39:02Like that's where all the gap can be, right? Like the microphone and the lights and all that stuff. And so just inside that tube needs to be pristine. And so I started to, I started to watch directors and crews kind of create this fake life. And Michael Landon was the director, executive producer, star, writer. Everybody loved him. What was he like? Just because I grew up. He was George Clooney. My brother is obsessed with Bonanza and has been his whole life and has made sure that all of us around him have watched almost every episode of Bonanza. So even though, yes, I know he went on The Little House on the Prayer and everything.

39:42I just can't believe that's Joe Cartwright. Yeah. I can't believe you even knew him. Right. What was he like as a person? He was, George Clooney would be like the perfect comparison today. His ease with people, with the process, with the business, with just Joe on the street. Women are crazy about him. Guys want to be his buddy. um and so watching him juggle all those balls and and kind of be this leader and and presence on a set and be kind with people but also be kind of a uh uh you know stern boss if he needs to that was that was pretty inspirational and so um that's kind of where it started that and my dad never really took me to the park to throw the ball he'd take me to you know art houses you know to like watch foreign films and show me what directing is and what acting is and what's good and what's bad.

40:37I was thinking, what if he only took you to art houses and showed you bonanzas? Here's one where this, these cattle rustlers come to town. Michael. There, we're going to show a Truffaut film here, but we shut that down. This is going to be the bonanza where, okay, all right. But that's beautiful that he did that. Yeah, yeah. I mean, in retrospect, it was because it kind of planted the seed. Yeah. Yeah. And then it just kind of went on from there. And I was always sort of tracking it and wanting to do it. And so paying attention to every set I was on after Little House. And then I actually went and spoke to the producers of the Hogan family when I was 18 to see if there could be a slot for my dad to direct an episode.

41:24And while I was talking to the producers about that, they said, yeah, for sure. and do you want to direct one and i said yes please and um and ended up doing that and um and then that was just sort of like well i guess like now i can now i can do this it's a different thing directing stuff in front of a studio it's more like directing a play you know to be fair um but still it was i got me my dga card and and i thought you know and then i i was really pursuing that career when Arrested Development came around. I was following James Burroughs around. Yeah. Jimmy Burroughs around and watching. He's a, for the listeners who don't know, he was like the most famous.

42:05The Babe Ruth of all the great, cheers. Yeah, sitcom directors. Sitcom directors, friends. Yeah, I was like, well, when I turn my history of doing sitcoms into a positive instead of the negative that I felt it was at the time and let all that experience maybe get me hired as a director. And so I wanted to be like the new Jimmy Burroughs. And then Arrested Development came along. My quick, this just popped in my head, but literally a couple of months ago, I had to go back to Boston quickly, see my family. And I always stay in the same hotel. And I get on my elevator to go down to the lobby. And it stops on another floor and Jimmy Burroughs gets on.

42:45Really? And this is a hotel that's right on the park, literally maybe 60 feet from the Cheers bar. Yeah. And I'm headed down and Jimmy and I are talking. And I said, hey, Jimmy, want to go over to the Cheers bar? Hang out? And he went, yeah. No. It's like, I don't know why that popped into my head. I've been in there. But yeah. That's a cool spot. Sure. People go there. It's like people that go to one of the Central Perk coffee shops and think they're going to see Jennifer Aniston. They feel cheated that they're not. It's a bar.

43:28Yeah, I think the salvation is, if you get into the work, like for me, when I hear you talk about all this, is that you were very interested in making the stuff and the work. and to me that was always the salvation i wanted my goal if you asked me when i was 20 what's your goal i would say i would like to have a body of work which sounds incredibly pretentious but that's what i wanted people could like it yeah they could hate it but i just wanted when i was done to have stuff that i had made that as a writer as a writer as a whatever just as a performer as Did you have on-camera aspirations at that time?

44:13It's so funny. I knew that I could get a job as a writer, but I always was a performer as a writer. So I was always the guy that would get up and do stuff. At Saturday Night Live, I would do things in front of the other writers, start doing something, and they would be laughing. And Lauren would notice this. And Lauren would notice it. But also the writers would say, that's a sketch, that guy you're doing right now. And I'm just doing it because something's wrong with me. or you're trying to make it more you're trying to get your point across to the other writers that this is what it needs to be or this sketch works if you play it paranoid and so you've got to like do it but not even that there were often times when I wasn't pitching a sketch I was just doing yeah you've seen it Sona where I'll just come in and I'll just be doing something that strikes me as funny or odd and that's all you do that's kind of all I do I don't know the real you.

45:09And then we got to SNL and I was doing that for someone like Odenkirk or Smigel. And they said, no, that's a sketch. That's a sketch. And I was like, oh, that's just a thing that I do. Right. And then that was many, many of the things that I've over the years that I wrote for SNL or any of the things that I over the years did on late night were just things that I did. did, sometimes I would do them in the shower. And my wife, to this day, will hear me in the shower saying, you've got some nerves! And, um... Well, maybe you'll just grown accustomed to it, but that's where that came from.

46:02What, have you ever, and I apologize if it exists and I haven't seen it, but have you ever spent time doing multiple characters along with your writing as you would have done had you been on camera at SNL? What do you mean? Well, like, like do inhabiting multiple characters, playing some French pastry chef and then playing a mechanic. And then as you do as a cast member, I think we've done bits where I've been different people. Uh, but not, not on the talk show. No. Right. Where you like dress up in costume and there's a wig and there's prosthetic. Oh, yeah. Just like an SNL. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

46:44It was, it's interesting because I always, when I was at SNL, I never looked at Dana Carvey or any of those guys and thought, oh, I could be doing that because I always knew the difference. I always knew there've been things, uh, where we would shoot something. Um, we did something with Liev schreiber once which was a parody of that show uh studio 60 remember there was a show that was a very serious aaron sorkin show kind of a he took a west wing approach to like a saturday night live and and people were giving him a hard time for it we decided to do a parody of it and so lieve schreiber we got him to play me so lieve schreiber has the conan hair and i my favorite thing is I we got me a thin mustache and you could probably see it online and wax back my hair and I played the producer and I'm talking to Conan and I'm saying god damn it Conan you know women want to be with you men want to be you you've got it all the looks the shots and Liev Schreiber's brooding and I'm talking about Conan in this you know what was this on I was on the late night show.

47:56You know, I mean, we did thousands and thousands of hours of late night shows and we would we would fill. So I guess the point is that for me, it's always been. I'm going to quote my dad and I quoted him many times on the show with this exact same line, but he always said, you're making your living off of something that should probably be treated because it's very manic and I can't not do it. And I do it. I just got back from a vacation with my wife and kids. I did it there. They just tune it out. They're not interested. They, you know, as kids, I would call my kids together when my wife was not around.

48:34And I would say, kids, kids, your mother's gone and I need to talk to you. And they would gather around me and they would look up at me and go, is this real or is this a bit? And I'd go, it's just that I think. And they'd go, it's a bit. And walk away. so it's it's that 24 7 i love that i love being just a total whack job with my kids sometimes but it's such an unreliable audience i mean yes they're they're they're determined not to laugh of course right so it's pain for you and for me but i do that but also i love it and because if you can crack them you've got something but also it's as it should be yeah if your children are laughing and saying, God, dad, you're the greatest.

49:23You got a problem. You have a real problem. They want something. Yeah, exactly. My, my, my eldest, uh, Franny, she's 18. She, um, she's, she's just recently, uh, I don't know, like in the last year gotten into, uh, directing, like she's starting to really look at films and, and, and kind of understand what a director does. and so she wants to pursue that and um and i guess somebody and she she's never watched anything i've done nothing not maybe one i think it's weird for her to see me pretending to be somebody else or she also has a real hard time with me getting hurt um and like and i'm often you know getting the pie in the face you know yeah um and so i guess somebody in her class or somebody started watching Ozark or something and went up to her and said, you know, Hey, you know, your dad and this thing's really good.

50:17And I just remember like a year or so ago, she came home and, and she was like, she basically, well, I don't remember the words, but she basically said for the first time, kind of, so you do this, you, you, you do this thing that I'm interested in. Tell me, tell me about what, but that is so healthy. Well, no, it's, it's healthy. Yes. But it was, it was also so exciting for me that like, she has an appreciation. or she thinks what I do is cool or that she might, she might realize, oh, dad can answer a question for me. You know, like, how do you do that shot? You know, is that a steady cam? Is that Dolly track?

50:52And so anyway, so now it was, we've been having like an incredible time bonding over films and directing and things like that. But it is, it was, it's great that they don't give it up until it's something that's really kind of interesting. And not, in other words, She's not fascinated with my fucking job that I just go off and go do. Just like any kid wouldn't be like, hey, dad, tell me about your day at work today. How was, you know, what was it like at the office? Like, who cares? You know, it's just be my dad. And I appreciate that because it's kind of, I had a bit of a hybrid experience of that at best as a kid.

51:29You know, there wasn't really that really healthy dynamic of deference to parents as you're sort of, you know, the adults you, you, you aspire to be, and you could only ever reach for, and you'll never be as old as them. Like I was, I was colleagues with my parents at a very early age. You were peers. You worked with, you worked with each other. Exactly. And so that was sort of, I had to learn to adapt and not, you know, live a childhood that didn't really have that. So I love that she has sort of kept me at this place. It was like, yeah, dad goes to work. Who gives a shit? You know, like he's just, he's just my dad.

52:01I remember doing the late night show and Bruce Springsteen was performing on the show and Patty's there, his wife is there. And then at one point he's talking and then he leaves the room. And I said something like, he had just told a joke or something and she like rolled her eyes and I was, she said, yeah, when he does his jokes around the kids, they're like, God, dad. And I was like, that's Bruce Springsteen. But no, in the best, in the very best way, they're annoyed right oh god you know yeah and no we don't starting underwater actually you know

52:42he talks about the iconic uh dancing in the dark video where he pulls courtney cox on the stage on the stage at the end in his biography his autobiography he talks about pulling her up on stage and he does the dance with her his kids finally saw that years later and they were horrified at that dance move at his dance move and they just relentlessly gave him shit for it like went back on it and kept showing it to him and going what the fuck are you but you know in 1985 right that was the that was it right it was amazing but and he was bruce springsteen but no it doesn't matter anymore now it's just this embarrassing footage you found of your dad How old are your kids?

53:23My son is 19 and my daughter's 21. And how, so then when you started doing the late night show, that was, what was that? 93. So I was 30 years old. I didn't meet my wife. I didn't meet my wife for another 10 years. So how were they, I mean, when they started, when they were old enough to kind of intellectualize that that's my dad up on that billboard. How did that go? I think they just, they took it really well, but I'll never forget. I did shows at Comic-Con, Spreckles Theater, huge theater. My wife, Wiza, came down. She brought my son, who's kind of interested in sci-fi. He was a little kid at the time, maybe five.

54:09Yeah. He sat in the theater. He saw the band playing. He saw fans. Right. I mean, places packed, three-tiered theater. I mean and up until now you've just been just that annoying dork around the house and so he's watching it and then I come out and I do the show and he sees people getting really excited and laughing and having a good time and then he's walking out with his mom, my wife and we're walking out, he's walking out and he said to her when I grow up I want to do something where there's no stage and no audience and it was just like i want to do the opposite because what that guy's doing because he thought that was sort of it was a scary i i think or whatever reason he just knew whatever that guy's doing that's not what i'm gonna do and he's uh he's highly intelligent and very good and has a completely different skill set than i do not interested in doing no no not at all but uh He'll actually have a legitimate life.

55:14Right, exactly. Exactly. One that's built on credentials. Yes. And actual knowledge. Right, yeah. Knowledge of real things, not like us. Yeah. No, we're show folk. And I've always kind of liked that for some reason, bizarre reason in the mid 20th century, being in show business started to have cachet. And then it has only grown. and I'm someone who reads a lot of history and I studied history. Before the 20th century, for hundreds and hundreds of years, people that worked in show business were thought of as, just use the back door. And no, you're not, you cannot, you can't come in. You do your thing and then get the fuck out of here and take your little, you know, and I've always thought, I do think that's the way we should be treated.

56:05Instead of throwing ourselves award shows. No, exactly. I've always thought, No, we're show folk. We're damaged. We're pure entertainment. We're the jesters, you know, that should come in and out through the back door. Yeah. Right after the food comes. I should not be. I should I should not be given the food that the other people are getting. I should get some cold food. I mean, you're you're right. I mean, we're not doing anything that complicated. You know, we're not doing things that are vital. We're not building infrastructure. You know, we're like not solving problems. we're creating problems we're creating problems we're pacifying people in between their thoughts you know i'm glad i got you to admit that your life is a sham but it's certainly not like no you've gone too far you've gone too far uh i think what you and i do is vitally important and i'll also posit more important than anything being done in science in medicine.

57:04You're right about that. Yeah. So you've completely changed your mind from the, from 15 seconds ago. I want to, I want to wrap this up, but I do want to tell you that you started off this interview by selling yourself very short in a way that I found kind of appalling, which is, I think what you do on smart lists and is, and also what you did so beautifully on Arrested Development and what you've really done in your career is you're channeling something that to me is very essential. You're fucking so smart as a performer, as an actor. And seriously, I think, I mean, Arrested Development is a great example of where you're holding, you are the center of all of that.

57:51You're seeing everything. And yes, that is a huge job. That is, and that could have been done wrong a billion different ways. And so. I appreciate you saying that for sure. But I also think I would know if, if, you know, Arnett and Hayes babbling the two of them, I couldn't listen to that for six seconds, you know, just. Without, yeah. Without the third color going in there, you've just got red and green. You've got red. And then also a very annoying red and a very annoying green. And then you're this like essential taupe. yes it's just it's surrounding it azure no i'm uh i we we fuck around a lot and uh but i any time uh that you would come to my home be at a christmas party or any time would be a big deal it'd be a huge deal a huge deal it would be a big deal for me and and my son's uh hair would fall out and his teeth you um you and before you kick me out i would like to thank you for being so nice to us at SmartList and helping us out repeatedly.

58:59You learn a lot about people when it's so easy to say no in our business. There's layers of people between the ask and the answer that you can easily slide in a no or I'm busy or something like that. You never have. I'll be honest with you. I love playing with you guys. It is that simple. I've never had a real conversation with Will Arnett. No. We only play to the point where we were scolded once. By one of your wives? Yes. Yeah. Knock it off, you two. Before we even got started, it was knock it off, you two. My wife says the same thing. It's worth it with the fucking bits. Do you guys ever really...

59:40Guys just suck. Do you guys ever really... She'll come home all the time and she'll say, yeah, what did Will feel about the party last night or the dinner yesterday or something like that? uh i don't know you like the food no no did he talk about no do you guys never you guys never process anything it's like well that but like dudes don't really process shit like if there's a problem we figured out right but we're not sitting there just like kneading the bread you know about yesterday you know and figuring out what the side door might think of it it's just always through the front door on everything that's why anytime there's been any kind of smartless ask from the very beginning, I thought that's being asked to go play, go play ball with three people who you love to play ball with.

1:00:25And I'm using that analogy because I'm a terrible athlete. And so I'm being very vague about play ball. Which ball? Shut up, Sona. Go pass the old puck around with your mitt. But anyway. You've always been an easy player. You were always my favorite talk show to do because you can do those pre-interviews till the cows come home and most shows stick on them. Always when you sit down and start talking with you, you would just start a conversation. We just want to have fun. And then all of a sudden, the 10 minutes would go by. Yeah. You know, it's such a nerve wracking thing for me doing talk shows.

1:01:02It's like crazy. That's why this format. This format is so much fun. Truly starting to do your show was like, oh, it can be like this. It was great. It was great, great, great. Well, I'm glad we like each other now. Yeah. Let's just throw a two-man party. Yes, just the two of us. Make sure everyone knows about it. It's just you and I. It's just you and I. Even Aniston can't get in. She can serve us. She can bring us the food. Jennifer's outside. Yeah, yeah, tell her we're good. We're good. God bless you, Jason Bateman. Thank you for having me. Go forth, continue to do amazing stuff. My best to the gang over at Smartless.

1:01:41I will tell them. I'm feeling now even better about being Conan O 'Brien. Wow, we've notched from an 11 % acceptance of me to an 18%. It was pretty good at the beginning. 18%. Even better now. All right, take care. Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend with Conan O 'Brien, Sonam of Sessian, and Matt Gourley. Produced by me, Matt Gourley. Executive produced by Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Nick Liao. Theme song by The White Stripes. Incidental music by Jimmy Vivino. Take it away, Jimmy.

1:02:16Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair, and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts, and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It, too, could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of Sirius XM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan.

1:02:51And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.