Matt Damon

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26:20I had a chat with Clint Eastwood once briefly, and I told him how much Unforgiven meant to me. It's an American movie that was a huge hit, box office hit, and it's a very European film. And he just sort of asked me, what do you mean? And I said, because it's, everyone's trying to do the right thing and making it worse, which is very much life. And that is not a kind of classic American movie formula. That movie is magical to me. And he hit me. No, he's. You want to hear a good Unforgiven story? Yeah, yeah. That you can cut out if it's too boring for people. But I thought it was really interesting.

26:57There was a scene in Invictus. I think I had to give a speech or something to the guys in the locker room or something like that. And we were shooting it the following Tuesday or whatever. And I said to him, hey, boss, you know, that scene on Tuesday, do you mind if I tinker with the dialogue? I've been working on it, but I think I can figure out a kind of a better way to say it. And he goes, yeah, sure, go ahead. And so I came back and on Tuesday we shot the scene and we did one take and he printed it and moved on. But he came up to me and said, I thought you were going to change it. And I said, yeah, it's a funny story.

27:31I go, I wrote it and I rewrote it all weekend. I wrote probably 27 drafts and then I got it perfect. And I looked back and it was exactly the same as the original was. And he, and he laughed and he goes, yeah, he goes, you know, that happened to me once. And I go, really? He goes, I had a script and I loved it. And I, you know, I, I, I had it and I goes, I worked for five years on this thing. And he goes, I wasn't getting better and I couldn't figure it out. And he goes, and then I went back and to the original script that I had, I pulled it out of the drawer and I read it. and I called the writer that day and said, I'm making your script exactly as you wrote it.

28:04And I said, no way. What movie? And he said, Unforgiven. Oh, wow. Yeah. Well, it is, it's all there on the page. I mean, I've looked at the script. It's all there on the page. And but it's, but it's sometimes we get in that headspace where we go, ah, I bet I could, you know, it would be, you know what I mean? And then, but it was a great lesson in kind of returning to what attracted you to it in the first place. Right. Like the elemental aspect, But the thing that really pulled you in, like, you know, is the reason you're doing it. And so too much tinkering, you can kind of get away from that.

28:35Yes, you can. Yeah. It's, this is really stupid, but you're saying very well-spoken, intelligent things. But for years on the late night talk show, people would have a good idea and then they'd bring it down to the floor and it would be different from what they told me. And they would say, yeah, I started thinking about it. And I would always say, when you overthink, you start to stink. Actually, that's great. That's, you know, it's kind of a Dr. Seuss version of the same thing. No, it's not, Matt. It's not great. It's not. But couldn't I have, I would do it in that, in like, I have a really smart thing to say, but I intentionally, I think, said it in the stupidest way possible.

29:14That is awful. But then it became a thing that the writers would chant sometimes. They would chant it. No, I made that out. Imagine Clint Eastwood saying that. That's actually great. It'd be nice to see. I think about one of your movies a lot. It's more than one movie. It's a series, but The Bourne Identity, because I do a lot of international travel for work and I'm constantly going through airports now where you don't even have to show. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Listen. You're comparing yourself to Jason Bourne. I get it a lot. People in airports internationally say you're very Jason Bourne-esque.

29:52And then they see me run and they go, forget what I just said. And then they put on their glasses and look at my face and go, really forget. No, what I've noticed is that I'll go through airports now and you don't even have to show your passport. It's all your eye scan. And I think Jason Bourne is fucked now. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because a big thing with you, with your character was a major fight, throw down, shoot out in the streets of Paris. And then instantly you're in Cairo and everyone's looking for you. He's a ghost, yeah. He's a ghost and you've reappeared in Cairo. And I'm thinking now it's just, you know, you're Iris.

30:27Yeah. It was kind of a couple of years ago that that started where I came back from somewhere and I had the global entry, you know, and that was already pretty easy. You go to the kiosk and you put your passport in and it reads it and takes a picture and goes, yeah, that's you. Now it's like, you don't even need to pull your passport out. It's, um, it is. And so, yeah, he would be totally screwed. Like the whole point was he had, you know, six passports and they all had different identities and he could speak all those languages and he could just become one of those guys. Now his safety deposit box has six eyes.

30:57Yeah, exactly. Eyeballs you put on, contact lenses. No, I was, and also I remember I was talking to, I think we were interviewing Emily Blunt once and she was talking to us about a movie you guys made together where she had to run in one scene. and you said it was her first scene where she had to run and that you called, you very kindly said, yeah, Emily, take a look. Look at yourself running and here's how you want to, because you think you're running well, but there's a way when you think you're running well on camera, but then you look back at it, it can be tragically wrong. Do you know who told me that?

31:34No. Was Franca Petente, who was my co-star in Bourne, had starred in this great German movie called Run, Lola, Run. and she runs in that movie through the whole movie she's lola and she's so badass for the whole movie she's in these doc martens and she's just an awesome movie um and we were on set of born and i had to do a running scene and she said thomas the guy who directed uh run lola run she they had been a couple for a while and she said thomas told me before i started doing it to go out and he videotaped me running and we looked at it because she said, you don't, you know, the only running that we see, you know, is, you know, we see Usain Bolt.

32:17We see, you know, the people who can really run and we go, that's, I must look like that. Right. When you start to run, you're, you're like, you just look ridiculous. Yes. Yes. And I thought I ran great. And then I looked and I was like, oh my God. It's Jerry Lewis. It really is like everything. And so you start to practice like, you know, high knees and keep the arms in. And it really, and so I did say that to Emily, I'm sure because it really helped me. No, she said you saved her. It was great. But it's one of those things that, you know, I just, all of us in our mind, if I'm running hard, which I don't do much anymore, but if for some reason I had to run quickly, in my mind, I'm Matt Damon or I'm Tom Cruise, but I know I really am, you know, one of the big balloons that they have in front of a used car lot.

33:16It's flopping around. And I shriek too as I run, which isn't helping. But I figured it out early. I remember there's that great scene in Born on the Fourth of July where he runs through the rain back, you know, before he goes off to war. and like, he must've figured it out in like the 80s. He was ahead of everybody. Yeah, yeah. He probably has a scientific formula, aerodynamic flow chart. He runs perfectly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

33:43I wanted to talk to you because about this current movie, The Rip, which is fascinating to me. First of all, I knew nothing about the movie when I watched it. I watched it last night. and one of the things that I didn't realize is that, oh, you're in this with, I knew nothing, which is not the way you usually experience a movie these days, but someone arranged, oh, Conan can watch the movie. If you log into this, you can watch it. So I knew absolutely nothing. I knew you were in it and that's it. And it's a movie that you have made with Ben. You and Ben are in it together. And that was a surprise to me.

34:16And I thought, this is interesting. This is such a loaded situation for you guys now because in a very nice way, in a complimentary way, it's this dynamic duo getting back together. But I don't know if you feel the weight of that at all when you guys work together. We did the movie Air together a few years ago that Ben directed and we're both in it together. And we started this little studio together a few years ago. And one of the reasons that we started it, I was watching that Beatles documentary, the Peter Jackson one. Get Back. Get Back. At the end of that documentary, there's this incredible scene when they play on the roof together.

34:54And it's just, it's pure joy. You see them, you know, the cops show up and McCartney turns around. He's like, what the fuck? And it's like the most joyful thing. They're all in their 20s. And then Peter Jackson put this chyron up and it said, this is the last time the Beatles played live together. Yeah. And I was watching it. My youngest was, I think, 11 at the time. And she just goes, dad, why are you crying? and tears were just pouring down my face because it was like what uh it made me so sad that these guys who were just you know this was it that that they they didn't they couldn't get past whatever it was that wouldn't allow them to kind of keep doing it together and and and i called ben and i was like man because i think you know this was our dream and our lives from the time we were teenagers and, and, and it was something we did together and, and we wanted to do movies together and we, we, we wrote Good Will Hunting together and, and, and starred in it together and, you know, all of that.

35:54And I think after that, I think we, we were like, oh, well, we should try to, you know, make names for ourselves individually. Right. So I think we were a little allergic to working together for a while. I mean, we were still very connected and, and, uh, you know, saw each other all the time. But after a success of that magnitude, you don't want to get locked in. Exactly. Great, we'll do the movie. Is Ben in or, okay, Ben, but where's Matt? You don't want to get locked into that. Exactly. And we had done, you know, Kevin Smith's movie Dogma together right after that. So we were kind of like, all right, we should chill.

36:26And then suddenly a couple of decades went by and it was like, now we're in our fifties. We're starting this company and it's kind of like, I don't care. It doesn't have to be a thing. It doesn't have to be a stop the presses. they're together. It's like, we just like working together. Yeah. And also what's evident in the movie is you guys have a connection. When, when you have scenes together, there's a connection that you can't manufacture. It's very clear that you two really love, I don't know, you, you're on the same wavelength. You're on the same, you're clicked in and you're two characters in this, uh, in this movie.

37:02There's a lot of tension between you. There are times where you just want to kill each other and then as you go on many things are revealed and you understand what their true dynamic is but i don't know it's just it was something you can't you couldn't have figured that out with an acting coach if you didn't know each other i don't think it helps to have that kind of you know we also did by the way the last duel another movie that we wrote with you know so we were trying we you know we're um but yeah no i think that that connection definitely uh uh obviously kind of loads every scene in a different way i think here's the thing that happens i know in my my twenties, thirties, forties, I was very intense all the time thinking about every move.

37:42And as I've gotten older, I am much more interested in being with people that I really like, that I love making things with them and enjoying myself because I, and it comes a little bit from a place of, oh, who cares? You know? I mean, I just want to do this. I don't want to overthink it. I just want to be with - Well, I think you see that you start to see the, you know, you're in the second half, right? And you go - I plan to live to 150. I hope you do. I hope we both do. So we're still in - I really don't want to live to 150. Well, if you could stay healthy, I don't know. It might be great. I'll be in constant pain.

38:23But yeah, that's literally the whole point of this company is to work with great people that we really want to be with and yeah you know yeah and every movie that we make through our studio is you know even if ben and i aren't in it or he's directing and i'm not in it or he you know yeah you know we're we're we're connected around the work when trying to facilitate whoever's coming in and and and kind of do you guys give each other shit on set or in a professional environment uh do you give each other a teasing like brotherly kind of relationship sometimes you want another take because you might want another take you know that kind of thing that's what I would do I would that's what I would do yeah I think you're gonna want another take but look the good thing is you know I think it really helped with our writing you know 30 years ago Jesus 35 years ago when we started you know Ben said this great thing which was judge me for how good my good ideas are not how bad my bad ideas are and it was it's a very profound thing for a 20 year old to say because he wanted the, you know, he, he recognized that we needed the freedom to kind of barf out all those ideas, you know, and so often, as you know, when you're writing, it's not, you write down the bad idea because it's iterating, right?

39:39That it's like, it, that can build into a good idea, right? And so, so he was basically giving both of us the permission to just keep, keep the window as wide open as we could. And, um, um, and, uh, yeah, I mean that, uh, I forget why I started that story, but, um, well, it does have enough coffee. This coffee is terrific by the way. If you want more, we can get you some. Um, they say whenever someone writes their big, great American novel, uh, and it's a big smash and everyone thinks it's genius. They have nine other ones in their drawer that they wrote before that. And I'm a big believer in you just have to do time.

40:19To me, the process doesn't change. Like you could look at your career or Ben's and say like, oh, you've clicked off, you guys have clicked off every single box that you would want to check. But still, when you show up, there's work to be done. And you have to be a little scared. And there are scenes where you think, I didn't get this. I got to try it again. And time in the edit room and all of that stuff. If they're paying you, it's work. Yeah. And we want to love everything we work on from now on. It's kind of going back to your point. And yeah, it's a hugely labor-intensive thing to do, no matter what.

40:55If you sign up for it, that means that you're willing to, you can't phone it in. Nor would I want to take a job for money that I was phoning. I never did that. I always thought whatever I was working on had a chance to be great. I was wrong most of the time. But I was working with the intention of it being something really wonderful for people to see. But also, people don't, the nice thing I have found, this very smart Simpsons writer, George Meyer, told me this a long time ago. Early in my career, when things were not going well, he said, people will remember you for your good work. Right. And he's absolutely right.

41:37I think about that all the time. He said, you're just laying tile individually and it's going to make a bigger mosaic, which is what you did with your life. And he was right that the work you made later on that didn't quite click with people, what they do is they seek out all these things you've made that are great. And then they almost rule the other ones out. So in your mind, you're saying, oh, man, so many times I've been wrong. And that's not what anyone else would say. That's just what you would say. Yeah, exactly. It just made me think of someone like Shohei Otani, where they go, like, whatever his career batting average ends up being, if it's.350 or whatever,.320, people aren't going to say, well, you know, he missed.680.

42:17Yeah, exactly. I did go to the game and shout that at him. Because even when the Red Sox are out of it, I still go to games and wear a Red Sox hat. Good for you, by the way. I do the same thing. I do do the same thing. I did have an experience once where Lorne Michaels, sorry, I had an experience. I do that when I think my story is really good. No, Lorne Michaels years ago, this is a very name droppy story, but it was that iconic, it's 2004. And the Red Sox were playing the Yankees and the Red Sox are way down. And Lorne invited me to a Yankee game. And he said, we're gonna pick up a friend on the way.

42:57And he didn't tell me who. And I'm sitting in the front of an SUV because he wanted me to make room for the friend. And we pull up and leaning against a street lamp is Jack Nicholson. And I'm, to this day, if I ran into Jack Nicholson, I can't be cool about it, but I just was like, just chill. And Jack Nicholson gets in the back and he's just like, Jack, you know Conan, I'm up in front in that awkward, like, and I lean through there. There's a little slit of headrest. And I'm like, hiya, Jack, you know. Hey, Conan. And then we go off to the game. And what I remember is sitting with him and Lauren at this game and Lauren had told me beforehand, don't wear a Red Sox cap because Lauren had these amazing seats and he pretty much put all this pressure on me.

43:37So I went and I got a hat that had like the Swiss flat. No, just like a black cap. I had to get a neutral cap because I thought it's Lauren's seats. Jack's a big Yankee fan. If I'm wearing a Red Sox cap next to them, this is rude. It was this very hard thing to do. So I just wore a neutral cap. What happened to you, man? I know, I know, I know, I know. It's Jack Nicholson and I buckled. Um, so, but I remembered him, Pedro Martinez was pitching and, uh, it's a game that the Red Sox lost just before they had this amazing comeback and ended up winning the world series and breaking the curse. And, uh, Jack Nicholson was taunting Pedro Martinez and he was shouting at him cause it was getting a little later in the game.

44:18And he went, arms getting heavy, Pedro, arms getting and heavy. And I'm like, fuck, that's good. That is so good. What a dick. It's Jack Nicholson. Yeah, it's baseball. Yeah. Yeah. And then I got a nice moment with him on the when we got home and got out of the car. He he got out and I got out, too, to just say it was really nice hanging with you, Jack, tonight. And he went, he's I guess his son was a big fan of the show. I didn't think Jack knew nothing about what I was doing, but he went, he was like, son's crazy about you, Conan. I said, nice to meet you, Johnny. He's nice to meet you too, Conan.

44:57Son's crazy about you. It's Conan this, Conan that, driving me fucking crazy. That's great. I was so happy. I like got back in the car and I sat back with Lorne. I didn't get in the front seat this time. I'm like, I'm back here where Jack Nicholson's at. He'll forget you tomorrow.

45:19but it is, you know, I love to time travel. I love to go back to the guy in the crappy used car that I bought for literally a couple hundred bucks at the airport from a rent-a-wreck and put on counter makeup and then think about the things I get to do now or the things I've been able to do or had the good fortune to do. And I just love time traveling back and forth to visit that guy and go, isn't this crazy? I mean, if you showed up to the you who's a teenager and really into acting and said, this is what's going to happen. Yeah. What a delight. Well, and also to kind of feel like you won the lottery, but your best friend won it too.

46:01You know what I mean? So for us, like, we've talked about that, Ben and I, you know, and also just the fact that it didn't seem weird to us in the 1980s that we were 14 and 16 years old and 15 and 16 and going to New York by ourselves, um, you know, to audition for things like until we had kids, I think that were that age. And we were like, can you fucking believe that we would just go, would you just let this kid go to San Francisco for the day by themselves? Right. Just, you know, but it seemed totally normal to us. Um, you know, we didn't have families that were in the business of, you know, Boston, there's nobody in the entertainment business up there.

46:43I'm telling you, I think your parents were not in the business. My parent, my dad was a microbiologist. Right. And my mom's a state lawyer. And I never saw anything. There was a local show called Zoom. Yeah, of course. And Zoom had kid actors in it. And it was made in Boston. And at the end, they'd say, made in the studio in Boston. And I just couldn't believe someone was making something for television that was in Boston. And so those Zoom kids were like the Beatles to me. I just couldn't believe. But I didn't see anybody. I just didn't see anyone. And then Robert Urich made Spencer for Hire, which took place in Boston.

47:27That was a big deal. That was a huge deal. Yeah, we used to watch it every week. Just, you know, it was, you know, and then sometimes you'd go and you'd see trucks and you were like, oh my God, I think they're shooting here. Yeah. Spencer's shooting. That's for Hire. Well, I remember they shot an episode and they used my high school. This is long after I've left high school. I'm a writer at Saturday Night Live at this point. And I'm in my early 20s. And I'm at Saturday Night Live in this episode. And we were just hanging around the offices flipping channels at night. And there was Spencer for hire.

47:53And he's, they shot it at my high school. And I became that dick who sat there. I was like, wow, that's my high school. And then Robert Urick's running through the hallways and he went, you can't get from the science wing to the gym. Using the A-level stairs. What are they thinking? What an idiot. But, you know, and I believe your mom was, was she into child psychology? She was a professor of early childhood education, yeah. I, my wife's mother who passed recently, lovely woman, Pam, she had done a lot of work, I think, learning about kids and development and also as a therapist. And so when I would talk to her, sometimes I'd be reminded, oh no, I'm just telling her the problems with my day.

48:42And then I realized that she's, has this incredible intelligence and knowledge that she would apply to it. And she's, I realized, oh, she's psychoanalyzing. Did you have that from your mom? Uh, I think in the sense that she understood the stages of development, of child development, and gave my brother and me a kind of everything we needed to, for our brains to develop the way they were supposed to develop. Oh, that's good. In the sense that, you know, I mean, back then her big bugaboo was like screens, was television. Yeah, yeah. how much tv do you watch what are you watching and now it's just the you know completely just jumped the shark with with screens and and and you know the ubiquity of them and what that means for kids and brain development and stuff like that and we're basically you know this is you know a species-wide experiment at this point yeah exactly yeah because there are these natural things that have to happen for you know and it's like open-ended play and things like that for kids that really just helped them figure out all the strategies to kind of figure out the world.

49:44And boredom. You need boredom. Boredom was great. I mean, remember how bored you'd be as a kid? And then you'd figure something out. You know, you'd figure out a way to entertain yourself or you'd go make something up or you'd, you know. No, I would always say to my wife early on, we got to leave plenty of room for them to be bored. And she said, don't you worry. Just tell more of your, when I was a kid stories. tell your nicholson story again um kids kids he's a big deal uh but no i mean that you're exactly right it's exactly right you have to you have to leave room for all of that and then um i i do worry about it i think it's a scary thing yeah me too when i walk through airports and i just thought of this when i was in hong kong just recently everyone was on their screen and sometimes people would just click i mean and they're not even kids anymore it's everybody and you just feel like for with myself like i how quickly i am i i'll allow my attention to kind of get colonized by these devices this device where i'll just sit there and disappear down a rabbit hole and watch a bunch of and then an hour goes by and you go well wait a minute like that like chris nolan's very famously doesn't have a smartphone and and and i think he said kind of publicly it's just he he he wants to preserve that time that the exact time we're talking about where he can think about things more deeply.

51:05Let your mind wander. Let your mind wander rather than just instantly give it the, you know, the dopamine hit of, of, of, you know, candy crushers. You know what I mean? Like, you know. That's what you're doing for an hour? No, no. No, I play backgammon on my phone. I'm like, oh, I've got a quick game of backgammon. It's like, how am I doing? You know. They should do, you should do one more Bourne movie where you're just, where you're just on your phone. Jason's on his phone the whole time alone. And then they cut back to the CIA and everyone's just on their phone. And the bad guys too. They're not looking for him, really.

51:38They're not looking for you. You're not running from them. Nothing's getting done. Bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop, bloop. And then the tech overlords are making trillions of dollars. That's the movie. Yeah. You know, I really enjoyed The Rip. I want to make sure I get it out there that Steven Yeun's in this. You have a great cast. It's a great cast. It's Teyana Taylor, Steven Yeun. I mean, it's Kyle Chandler's in it. There's just a wonderful group of actors. There was one moment where when I was watching it and I think I heard him before I saw him, but I heard Kyle Chandler's voice and he said something a little like, you know, now what are we doing here?

52:14And I just heard the coach, you know? And I'm like, it's coach, you know? But again, he plays someone completely different. Yeah, yeah. Because you're all really good actors. Steven Yeun, I've done, he's a friend and we've done a lot of stuff together. He's just a nominal actor. I just adore him. So do I. And he actually just, he went from doing that to Ben directed another movie that's going to come out next year that Steven's in. He's in that as well. He's just, we love him. Also, I want to point out the story here is a really interesting one because, and I'm not going to give anything away, but the rip refers to money that I guess has been seized in illegal activity.

52:54And you guys, there's so much great lingo in this movie. Yeah, it's all real cop lingo. It's all based on, you know, Joe Carnahan wrote it and directed it. And it's based on the experience of, loosely based on the experience of this kind of unit down in Miami. That, you know, they go to, you know, they have units that go looking for drugs. And then they have units that go looking for money, for drug money, basically. And dogs, literally, that sniff for drugs and dogs that sniff for cash. That I didn't know when I saw the movie either. You get to this one house and the dog is sniffing and you know that there's cash inside.

53:29And I thought, I've never heard of that. A dog that knows there's cash in there. You know, they'll soon have one that can detect Bitcoin, you know. Right, right. That server. But it was. It spoke a little bit. It just knows server. Wait, the dog speaks and it's looking for Bitcoin. we're skipping past the fact that the dog speaks. I think it's more impressive that it can smell, you know, various, various chips.

54:04Matt's writing now, don't do this podcast again. No, no, no, I'm just on the thought experiment. Both Matt's are writing that. I always like it that the least impressive thing an animal does is speak. And it's more like, how did he know which door to go in? Go on the right one. Wow, he seems to know which door to go in. He did speak. But one of the things the film does is you have to try and figure out who's playing what angle and, you know, who's who's right, who isn't right, who's a good person, who's a bad person. And I was calling it. I was being that wise ass. It's like, all right, this. And I got it wrong.

54:38Yeah, you don't know who's who really. And it's these guys, they hit this house. They think there's going to be, you know,$75 ,000 or$150 ,000 in the house. And suddenly they find$20 million in the wall. And they know that that means it's cartel money, which means that they're probably going to come try to get it. They know, you know, so it suddenly becomes this kind of, they're stuck in this house because they have to count the money on site, which is a rule. I didn't know that either. Yeah. Before they can bring it in. At least in Miami, that's the. You have to count it all on the site because it's too easy for someone.

55:10If it's an amount of money like that, someone could take$600 ,000 and put it in their pocket. And that's just what the count was. So you have to count it there. So you have to count it together and make sure that everybody agrees what the count is. And then you go and you drop it off and they count it. And it's got to match the number that you report and all of that. So, so that's, but meanwhile, you have these, these cops who are, who are, you know, their captain has just been killed, um, you know, before at the start of the movie. And so you're, you're kind of going, something's going on with these guys.

55:39Is there corruption within this unit? Are these people corrupt? Yeah. Are they corrupt? Are these supposed heroes of the movie corrupt? Are they heroes? Yeah. Can we trust the heroes of the movie? Um, and you don't know. And that's kind of the fun of the movie. And I do love the jargon. And afterwards I was walking around the house saying, someone jacked my rib. And Liza was like, shut up. I enjoyed it too, but shut up. Well, I really enjoyed it. And I think I've interviewed you a number of times over the years, but I love it when you stop by and check in. Because I'm a huge fan of you and your career and your work.

56:14And you're a very nice, thoughtful, funny guy. So I love to hang with you. Back at you, man. I'll come back next time. I'm not sure we have a space. Yeah, exactly. Look, I'm sorry. Hey, okay, thanks. Well, yeah, okay. Do you realize - I haven't heard that in a while. Matt, this was an audition to get on the podcast. Yeah, thanks, bud. Did you know that? Yeah, I'm out of practice. Yeah. We'll let you know. We'll let you know. Thank you so much. You do have my contact information, right? That's how big this podcast has become is Matt has to come in and audition. But yeah, thank you so much for doing this.

56:50Thanks for having me. Yeah, appreciate it. Yeah, appreciate it, guys. Thank you.

57:00Well, Father's Day is coming up. Hint, hint. June 21st. We're not your children. What? My children are not getting me anything, so it's up to you guys to get me Father's Day. They have never bought into Father's Day, but you guys are going to. You're my employees and you have to. Well, guess what? Luckily, Macy's has a wide range of options, the expertise to help you find the perfect gift. Macy's is the answer for Father's Day. David, as my sort of surrogate son. Okay, aw, that's nice. The son that I hired to buy me things. I hope that you're prepared for this Father's Day and I hope you've consulted Macy's.

57:43Oh, I sure, I have done both of those things. First. Oh, there you go. You love a pun. We got you a shirt that says The Grillfather. I love that shirt because you know what? I love the Godfather movies and I love grilling and they've combined them with The Grillfather. And are you ready to combine it even more? Let's see the next gift. Ooh. A ninja indoor grill. Can I see something? That looks really good. It does. So happy Father's Day from us and Macy's. You know what? I want to say thank you. Those are cool gifts. I love it. Thank you, Macy's. Macy's makes it easy to take something your dad already loves, make it feel new again.

58:15Same vibe, better version. The kind of gift he'll actually use and appreciate no matter what kind of dad he is. Check out Macy's online gift guide for more ideas at macy's.com slash gift guide. The Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Bundle, the best in entertainment in one bundle. This month, stream Pixar's blockbuster family hit Hoppers on Disney Plus. The hit horror comedy Send Help on Hulu. And season three of the HBO original series House of the Dragon on HBO Max. Get the Disney Plus Hulu HBO Max Bundle today. All of these and more streaming soon. Available with Disney+. Hulu. Max Bundle plans starting at$19.99 a month.

59:01Terms apply. Visit DisneyPlusHuluMaxBundle.com for details.

59:12I was sitting around the other day and my buddy Matt Myra texted me a picture that you might be interested in. If we could throw it up on the... Sure. Oh my God, what is that? This is a sign that's posted outside one of your former residences, The Cochrane Avenue apartment. Did you know about this? I didn't. Where is this? It's in LA, right? Oh, LA? Yes, I live in this apartment. Of course I do. This was a formative part of my life. When I was first getting started in LA, Greg Daniels and I, our first place, he was my writing partner. He's gone on to many great things. He and I share an apartment in Brentwood first.

59:48Then we realized we need to move out of the West side and be with the young people because both of us were just desperate to meet anyone our age and have social lives. So we both moved into Hollywood and I found an apartment. A friend of mine, Cynthia Stevenson, actress, a very talented, incredible woman. She said, hey, Conan, I'm leaving my apartment. Do you want to take it over? And it was on Cochran Avenue. So I moved into, it was a first floor apartment. This would have been 1986, I think. I think I lived there, 86, 87, 88. I didn't go out and shop for any furniture. The only thing - It says that in the sign.

1:00:30Oh, it does? And for the listener, they can see this on at Team Coco podcast on Instagram, as well as our YouTube channel. And here's what the sign says. Conan O 'Brien, former Cochran Avenue resident. There's a picture of you as kind of like a bronze bust. Yeah. Conan Christopher O 'Brien is an Emmy winning writer, comedian, and host who redefined late night television. From Saturday Night Live to The Simpsons to his own groundbreaking shows, he has brought laughter to millions. I'd like to fact check on that. Hundreds, hundreds. In 2025, he added another milestone, hosting the Academy Awards.

1:01:01In the 1980s, Conan lived right here on Cochran Avenue, finishing his apartment with street finds and surviving on ramen noodles and tuna mixed with Miracle Whip. Yes. Yes. Oh, God. It was a time of struggle, ingenuity, and questionable mayonnaise-based decisions. From these humble beginnings, this street witnessed the rise of a comedy icon. May this moment, parentheses, a poster affixed with zip ties, inspire Cochrane Avenue residents to chase their dreams, enhance their originality, and one day upgrade to a home with more than one bathroom. So this is temporary. I didn't realize this. It's foam core poster work.

1:01:39We have to. I mean, my God, we've got to. Oh, wow. Look at this. This is dedicated February 27th, 2025 by the Cochran Committee of Conan Connoisseurs. Actually, just one guy who lives on Cochran Avenue occasionally listens to Conan's podcast. Occasionally. Had some free time and no real authority to put up a monument, but did it anyway. Who is this guy? Or a gal. Okay. It says actually just one guy. Oh, sorry. I was trying to accuse you of being sexist. I know. When actually you're just guilty of paying attention. It could be. No. Oh. Well, first of all, I want to thank this guy because that's really funny.

1:02:18And old me, I always think of Ghost Me, the 160 pound Conan who lived at Cochran Avenue and furnished his apartment with all stuff I found on Cochran Avenue. Yeah. Oh God. I mean. It's just flea ridden? I mean, it's just like tables. People used to just put furniture out. I've done that. Yeah. Lamps. everything. And one of my friends gave me a cutout of the Miss America winner that he had, a life-size cutout of her, you know, in a gown holding, you know, with her sash. And your friend gave it to you. You bought it and it was your girlfriend. Yes. And yes. No, shout out to Randy Klempert who gave it to me.

1:03:01And I had it in my apartment along with furniture I found. And I thought everything was just fine and lived off of that diet of ramen noodles. Tuna mixed with miracle oil? Wait, did you come up with this? No, I - That's an abomination. I know. I think it was something that happened back at Cunard. I think the crime started in Brookline, Massachusetts, and then I brought it with me. That's listed with shellfish in the Bible as an abomination. Yes, yes. And so am I, by the way. And so, yeah, I lived on Cochrane and now someone - This is the part of this culture that I find endlessly fun is someone made that and then put all these self-deprecating disclaimers at the bottom.

1:03:42And it's really fun. I just love that. And I love that someone is memorializing my life on Cochran Avenue. Back in the day, yeah, I would say 86 to 88. And then I left that apartment to go to, I believe, Saturday Night Live. Did Miss America come with you? She did. And I was married to her for a while. I was married to a cardboard cutout for five years and then she left me. Yeah, she said emotional cruelty. You left her out in the rain. Yeah, yeah, I was crying. She was with Bezos for a while. Anyway, yeah, he built a yacht for her made of cardboard. They sailed the seven seas until the boat fell apart.

1:04:26Recycled into some Amazon packaging. Yeah, she's now a packing tube. Anyway. That's really cute that a fan did that for you. It is. That's really cool and cute that a fan did that for you. Yeah, I think that, a shout out to that fan. That was a very fun, cool happening to create. Yeah, whatever gender it is. I love that. And you know what? Occasionally I pass that apartment. Not too long ago, I passed that apartment because when I'm driving from my house to our studio, I get off the 10 and it depends on what exit I take. And I start cutting north to our Hollywood Larchmont, you know, recording studio.

1:05:05And sometimes I'll find myself on Cochran and I always pause and just look at that apartment and go, oh yeah, that kid did okay. Did all right. And then a policeman always says, move it along. Nothing to see here. He's a 1920s. He's got that little bat. He's got the nightstick. Yeah, the nightstick. Baton. All right, move it along. Move it along there. No more visiting ghost you of 1986. Move it. He always knows exactly what I'm doing. That's just a trick of the mind. Moving along. No more ghost you. Those days are past. There's only now. There's no future. There's no past. I'm like, wow. He's done a lot of work.

1:05:43Oh, no, it's a Buddhist mantra. He's the ghost. All right. Well, anyway, thank you, random fan who occasionally listens. Whoever you are, that was a cool thing to do. Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend. With Conan O 'Brien, Sonam of Sessian, and Matt Gorley. 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

1:06:16Our 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 SiriusXM when you sign up at SiriusXM.com slash Conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O 'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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1:07:38Yeah, you want them to live forever. Visit PetTivity.com, P-E-T-I-V-I-T-Y.com to learn more about all the PetTivity smart devices and at-home health tests. The Disney Plus, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle, the best in entertainment in one bundle. This month, stream Pixar's blockbuster family hit, Hoppers, on Disney+. The hit horror comedy, Send Help on Hulu. And season three of the HBO original series, House of the Dragon, on HBO Max. Get the Disney +, Hulu, HBO Max Bundle today. All of these and more streaming soon. Available with Disney+. Hulu, Max Bundle plans starting at$19.99 a month. Terms apply. Visit DisneyPlusHuluMaxBundle.com for details.