RE-RELEASE - Paul Rudd

31:04He loved drums, but I don't think he got the comedy. the drums are fun though. Yeah. Yeah. But it's such a specific kind of thing that he's doing. And I just, God, that was the funniest thing ever. Well, when I first saw him at the, uh, do the, the accent pick a bit at the Largo. So he's going around and he's doing new, new Hampshire or whatever. And he's, the accents are really good. And then he's getting, I didn't realize in real time, he's getting very specific, like Bacisfield. I'm from Bacisfield. Like he's making up accents. And it's slowly, slowly burn you know burns the audience down when i saw you with bill hater and fred and some of the sketches of that wow that's just that's so much fun to be with those two guys oh man was that your first time was that sort of the the group was kristin wig and those guys and then when you come back is it different every time or would sort of overlap the first couple times they were still there i mean it actually made it a lot easier uh because i had a couple of friends on the show and a couple of friends who were writers.

32:07So I, you know, obviously had always wanted to host the show or somehow be involved. And, um, so the first time I got to host the show, it, it was a little easier because my friends with a few of my friends were there, Bill being one of them. Um, and then, yeah, it's now it's, it's been an interesting thing to host over the course of several years where, yeah, I think maybe the fourth time or so I went back and was like, oh my gosh, it does feel really different because it's new people. Maybe it was 2013. By 2013, had Fred and Bill left? Because that was your next hosting. 2008, 2010. The third time was 2013.

32:45And then maybe Kate McGinnon had come in. I don't know if Kristen Wiig had left and you had Kate McGinnon. Yeah, I don't know whether or not it was the third time, the fourth time, Kate was there. Yeah, it might have been. I think maybe, I don't know. I don't remember exactly. Was Kenan Thompson there? Kenan was there when you were there, I think. Kenan is the greatest. He was a child actor on the show, and then he just stayed on. That guy is an MVP, man. He never stumbles a line. He just doesn't miss a moment. I mean, every single time, the camera will just cut to him. He's got the perfect still expression.

33:22He's just so good. It takes a while to get that way on that show, because you're waiting for a camera to cut to you like you're in a Jeopardy sketch. has to cut to you and you don't want it too early. You're kind of waiting and then you do your face. It's, it's, it's hard. It's really true because there are so many little technical things that, um, it just takes time to learn such as when that camera is cutting to you, you know, those, those, uh, those pauses are unnatural. So, um, you just have to learn those kinds of things. That's something that I think I, over the course of hosting a few times started to pick up because I never, nobody ever tells you, oh, this is how you should really read the cue cards.

34:02This is how you really need to wait for that camera. And I was unaware, having not worked on shows really, like, oh yeah, when that light goes on over the camera, wait till you see that in your peripheral vision. There's another thing when you do a sketch, Danny, you know this, you get a big laugh at, you know, dress, and then you pause on air and it doesn't get a laugh and you look crazy or because there's nothing there, but you're waiting or you run over it because it didn't get a laugh at dress and you run over your laugh because you get it. You're like, oh, fuck, I stepped on it. It's horrible.

34:33And if you think you're on camera for whatever reason and then your line just doesn't do anything and you realize later you weren't on camera, but at the moment it kind of deflates you for a moment. You know, you think, oh, what did I do different than the dress show? It is like trying to catch the wind. I mean, there's but but did you get to a point? It took me 80 shows as a cast member, I think, to get comfortable enough to say I'm consistently having fun. But as a host, you know, what was it like just the second time compared to the first time and the third time? I mean, you feel you seem incredibly comfortable.

35:08I'm not. But you're acting. OK, I'm not comfortable. But, you know, the the first time I was on total adrenaline and it was so crazy. I remember feeling so exhausted when we finished the dress rehearsal. And then I thought, Oh my God, I have to do this again. The first time I remember that first time feeling that, it was also really weird for me because not to bring things down, but the first time I hosted was I think two weeks or so, almost three weeks after my father had died. So I was in this state of, uh, complete kind of, I was in, I was in, I was grieving, but I was also, yeah, I was also kind of half there, but I was so excited to host SNL.

35:59Um, and so it was the, the entire experience was just kind of, uh, out of body. And I remember when it finished, I thought, how do these people do this every week? Because it, it was such a, you know, it's such a sprint and all of the quick changes and running around, um, and then the pressure and the stress and all of it, uh, it, the whole thing was, was wild. I had a great time, but it was such an emotional experience. Kind of a beating, too. Yeah. Yeah. You wake up with bruises and things. You don't know what's going on. Everything's moving so fast. You're sprinting. You're banging your head.

36:38And then they want you to get to a party at 2 a.m. You're already done an 18-hour day. Paul, over here, what would you like? What do you think? Yeah. It's amazing. It's ridiculous. You go through all these walls of fatigue. but David and I can tell you that being host is generally speaking so much harder. So much member. Yeah. Cause you're in everything. Yeah. You're in everything. And you can be an update. You could be in the cold opening. You do a pre tape. Yeah. Well, it was very exciting. And then the second time I went back, I think, I think it was the second time Paul McCartney was my, was the musical guest.

37:13So I, I mean, Holy shit. It was incredible. By the way, the first musical guest I had was Beyonce. Yeah. The second one was McCartney. I've had amazing musical acts So you get to go, ladies and gentlemen Paul McCartney So all these dream state fever dreams I still have the cue card, he signed it for me And he looks over at you What would you like me to say on it Paul? I got a call, actually it was about one in the morning Bill Hader called me Hey it's Bill Hader Sorry I'm calling so late But I have to tell you, you want to know who your musical guest is Oh really? He said Paul McCartney and I just couldn't go back to sleep.

37:51Goddamn. Well, out of, here's your music. I think this is the guy Fred Armisen was talking about. It sounds familiar. You had One Direction, you had DJ Khaled. Out of those musical guests, do you have anyone's number?

38:08You know what? I think I had Niall Horan from One Direction. He works at Urban Outfitters now. No, I'm kidding. That's the old spade. I would have said that. I don't say that anymore. No, that's the Hollywood minute spade. No, that's the old guy. I don't do that. And then we emailed each other a few times. They were great. Yeah, how fun. They were super. They were awesome. Cool. And it was so crazy because it was like the height of One Direction. Oh my God, how crazy. People were sleeping outside and yeah. And they're mad you're the one walking out. They're like, where the fuck is Harry Styles?

38:41By the way. Totally. Yeah, no shit.

38:50it's hard to get to know like we were told sort of uh between the lines don't talk to the host a lot like don't you know you don't want to get in their face when you're a cast member other than because it's like when do you get to know each other during a week because you know you do read through and you leave and you're sort of separate you leave and then in rehearsals you're sitting around for a little bit so you can kind of bullshit about it while you're in between we're going to fix something, give us a minute, fixing a light. And then you kind of get to know the host a little just because you're right next to them.

39:22And then you do this, do this. There's the show, but everything's moving a million miles an hour. Then there's a wrap party. And then you feel like this kinship, but you didn't know anyone that well, but it's sort of a good feeling because you went through this. So the next time you host might be more fun because you feel like you've got a base now with everybody. Right. And you sort of know that. Well, I imagine it's different with, you know, with every host is because the first time I did it and subsequently second, third time, I mean, I've, I've known people on the show and have been friends with people on the show.

39:53And you do guest spots too. I had done guest spots. Yeah. But there, the, um, the, uh, the idea that's like, okay, well that first day they were coming around and giving a pitch and then I thought, okay, well I can at least go hang out with my friends and talk about sketches. So, you know, you guys know how that week works. And then if Tuesday comes around you and you go out to dinner with Lauren and a few other people from the show, some hosts will then just go back to their hotel after that dinner. Yeah. I live in New York, but it, so it's like, I just have to go home, but also after the dinner, well, I'm going to go back to 30 rock and help them write, sit with the writers and hang out with my friends and maybe try and come up with ideas.

40:34And so I was, I have always been, um, every time I posted in those rooms and trying to, you know, pitch things or, or help with, if people are writing things that kind of go around and. That is the fun, you know, you sit on some filthy couch and you shoot around ideas and you're like, this could be on national TV in three days. And, uh, it's just, you guys are laughing, saying the stupidest shit going, what if we put that in there? What if we say, I like it a juice. I mean, those sketches, writing them and you hear them in the hallway and you go, this sounds funny. Massive procrastination with anxiety.

41:11It's getting low. It's two. Okay. It's three. At some point, we got to make its decision. And then it's a fury of like, we'll do this, we'll do this, we'll do this, you know? Yeah. But whenever I see people with talent, I'm always in awe of them when I see them start to do their thing. Like Kristen Wiig was kind of shy and just like, hey, what's up? and then she just all of a sudden, it's like monster characters. Super talent. Did you experience that in a way with different cast members where you're like, like Bill Hader is so shy and Fred Armisen, they're so sweet and shy and soft-spoken when you first meet them.

41:44And then they go out there, what the fuck's going on? You know, they're just like. And you think, how can you be talented? You're quiet and polite. There are, well, those guys are comedy savants. I mean, I don't know how, and Kristen. I mean, they're like genius, really incredible what they do. And, you know, um, I'm always amazed and I'm, I'm such a fan, such a fan of funny people and comedy and people that have been on that show fans of you guys. And so like to, to, you know, see, to see all of this stuff kind of, you know, in person and then get to do it with them. It's, it's pretty mind boggling.

42:26Yeah. And to see Kristen Wiig, it's, she can kind of, she can do everything. Yeah. To see them in their natural habitat when they get into a character and they're in a sketch and they're cooking, it's really fun to watch everybody killing it. Yeah. It's also fun. Like you said, when you're, when you're kind of in rehearsing a sketch or they're figuring stuff out and you're standing around with everybody, Yeah, that's fun. It's fun to see cast members who are obviously really close with one another start to do bits. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The king of it. And so hanging out is hilarious. Bits ahoy. Yeah, we would do that too.

43:03Totally. I would try to write people into sketches I just wanted to hang out with. Like, you know what I mean? Just put everyone in because I know rehearsal is kind of boring. They just have the tape on the floor. You don't know where this fucking set is even made yet. And then you're just blah. and they're like, okay, hold on. We got a lighting thing. And then you're just making fun of each other and someone's eating in the corner. And the pressure's off at that point. It's not pressure. You're just trying to get the blocking down and it gets harder throughout the week, but it's definitely fun.

43:29You do Wednesday and hopefully it lands, right? That's the read-through. Right. And by Thursday, you run it for the crew and they kind of giggle. There's no sets, first time, second time. But you get a feel for it. You get a feel with the crew. You get a feel with a couple laughs. By the time the dress show came around on Saturday, I was thinking, we got nothing. You know, it had been beaten down by all the rehearsals and all the walkthrough. Did you feel that? Did you feel that? Like this thing peaked on Thursday? Oh, yeah. No one's laughing anymore. We depend on the crew. They've already heard it five times.

44:02You're like, and then hopefully sometimes at dress, you're like, damn, this is killing. It's really fun. But then you have to not peak at dress. How did you manage that? Well, I just, I just want to try and make my way through it. Imagine peaking a dress and not, but that has happened. I mean, there was one sketch that I think like repeatedly kept coming back that I always liked and it never made the show. And I think the second or third time I said, look, we tried again, but we never got to it. If it goes through read through and doesn't get on, it's got a stink on it. Even if there's no, if there's no other reason other than someone just read it wrong and they forgot to do the accent and you go, no, no, it's just, they go, nope.

44:39the second time you read it, everyone just leans back. You're like, don't you fucking take a dive on this one. It's good. It's hard to resuscitate it. Or if it got on dress and goes away, there's always that, well, there's a reason it didn't get on air. So it's hard to resuscitate. It went on dress and then it didn't go. But I always loved it. Give it a chance. Do you want to share with us? Maybe we can resurrect it. It was about the giving tree. I remember it was a dad reading the giving tree to his kids, not realizing that it's so sad and he starts to spiral out and and and then you know winds up crying and you know uh drinking and the cops come to the house i mean it you know it just devolves into this uh even now as i describe it i'm thinking no i see why this what was the what was the kid's name in the sketch i don't remember the kids names i'm just trying to do an impression of lorne not thinking the sketch is going well at Reed's.

45:37I think maybe Bobby Moynihan might have been one of the kids, but maybe a girl was, one of the girls might have been named Susie. Susie's sad. Bobby sits back. Bobby has a tear. This is at Reed's. He's reading stage direction. Right, yep. Yeah, sorry. And it's starting, you know, like this one's not going to make it. Yeah, sense memory. Has there ever been, like for you guys, Did you ever do a sketch that was the biggest surprise, that the sketch killed so hard and you really didn't see that one coming? Is there one that sticks out for either one of you? Well, I would say, if you want to go, David, from my very first SNL, I'd never done a sketch, and the Church Lady sketch with Sigourney Weaver and Phil Hartman and stuff moved up to the first sketch, and then it really killed.

46:34And it really, it shocked me. I'd never had a dress on. I'd done a little bit of the character in my standup. So that was a big surprise. Yeah, I just did one where it wasn't that big of a sketch, but where I was a receptionist and I kept condescendingly talking to people and go, and you are, like, it was like a Hollywood person didn't really, made people explain their credits. And then it was last in the show and got put to first in the live show. And it was Roseanne, Phil came in as Jesus, and there was one other person, but it killed and it was first one up. And that was rarely happening with me.

47:10Dane had happened every week, but to get the first sketch out was a big one. When I did the Pepper Boy with Sandler, it wasn't really happening throughout the week. It wasn't really, it did not happen at dress, but we both just went for it hard. Of course, we had Farley in there too, the ultimate button. So that crushed on air enough that Sandler called me at four in the morning and just said, Carvey, Pepper Boy. That was it. It's hard to kill in a restaurant sketch in the corner. Yeah. You know, it's not at home base, right, Paul? I mean, you know, hard to time the laughs. You can't quite hear the audience.

47:51Yeah, yeah. You're kind of off to the side. It's true. And the audience is above you. Where you're doing the sketch on stage makes a difference, huh? Yes, because you can immediately kind of feel and hear the audience or you're not sure you scored. They're watching it on a 12-inch TV in the audience. You know what I mean? They're like, oh, wait, because they can't see you. It's a really interesting point that you don't hear about that often. Where you're actually doing it physically. Well, when I got used to this process, I would go to where the set designers were. They had a little map of 8H.

48:20And I'd look at my sketch and I'd see it in the corner. And I'd say, could I get this near home base or whatever? and they go, well, not if there's that entrance. What a fucking cheater. They go, not if there's an entrance. So what if I take the entrance out? Oh yeah, then we can move it here. Oh my God. No kidding, that's fascinating. Oh yeah, I learned all the tricks of the trade. That's brilliant. You gotta do it, you know. What about Please Don't Destroy? That group was really good, Paul. You did one called Good Variant. I saw it was funny as shit. They got a lot of different moves in those things.

48:52Yeah, well, you know, we were supposed to do a version of that. those guys are great by the way um the the fifth time my fifth time uh i hosted the show was canceled the day of it was the i think it's the only time in snl history that a show got canceled that day was that the tom hanks one with you and well tom hanks was there tom hanks and uh tina were there because they had come in because they were in the monologue because there was a big five time yeah and then the show got canceled at about two or three in the afternoon but they were already there so we were trying to come up with a show on the fly it's really a fascinating thing to see and be a part of but earlier in that earlier that week i was going to do a uh please don't destroy video a version of the good variant yeah um but the shoot got canceled because one of the guys got covid oh same and so they had already had a crew and they uh camera everything was set up to film something that night.

49:55So we took a sketch and turned it into a, into a film. And then we filmed that. And then they showed that during the show. Was it that one? it was the one home goods. It was a show. It was the one with, with 80 and Kate about wanting grandkids. And, and oh yeah. Yeah. Okay. I remember that. Yeah. So that was, that was done in place of the, please don't destroy. It was, it was COVID closure, right? And it was COVID. Yeah. Because it, it, It happened, it was that week where the really, that Omicron variant really kicked in. Came back hard, yeah. Yeah, yeah. People were dropping my clots. Yeah, everyone thought it was kind of going away, and then it came back fucking hard around November, December or something.

50:36Yeah. Yeah, it was, I mean, it was really tense. And then, you know, we were all going through our testing. And then that morning, I remember going in and getting tested Saturday morning. Crossing your fingers. Totally. And I remember I got the results of my test. It came back negative. and I was just jumping for joy. Thank God. Perfect. And then the whole thing got shut down. Can't do without the host. So you get through and then they shut it down anyway. That's such a drag. It was a bar. And that monologue was weird because I hosted for Kimmel once and it was in a house with a monologue with no people.

51:14So I said to the crew before, we were rehearsing and I go, you can laugh. They go, oh, we're not supposed to. I go, please, God, give me a tiny noise, anything to play off of just to dart my eyes around, just to make it feel like there's some life in here because just to nothing is too hard. So when you did yours, I could hear a little bit of something that must've been crew or writers or something. Yeah. And I think that's what it was. Um, and you know, Michael Che and, and, and, and Kenan stuck around, but that, that was it. And, uh, and yes, when the crew guys, and so there was some laughter and Higgins was there, uh, but it was so strange.

51:50It was such a weird feeling. That was one of the weirdest most, I mean, just no audience on Saturday night live. No audience and also no real rehearsal, no nothing. And for the hours before the show, it's like, well, what do we do? What, I mean, we have to write something and figure out what it is. and I remember Lauren saying, do you have any Christmas episode that you really like? And I said, I remember when I was in high school seeing Steve Martin talk about his Christmas wish and memorized it and I loved it because Steve Martin and so it was great. We'll dig it up. It's on, it's in the show.

52:37wait man you now officially have joined uh the uh 70 timer club of someone who does a great lauren yeah it is so weird whenever you are around anybody doesn't matter when they were on snl yeah people start talking about lauren they just start going into they go right into it so you you spent a lot of time with lauren because lauren spends a lot of time with the host and also you're a friend you're the third paul he likes paul mccartney paul simon i love it I like all the Pauls. No, he's, he's, he's, we love him too. He's, he's, he's amazing. He's amazing guy. Yeah. Nobody's ever done what he's done.

53:16Not even close. Yeah. I mean, 50 years. Are you going to be at the 50th? I certainly hope so. Yeah. I mean, I would love to. I was at the 40th, which was, I mean, what a incredible. That was a real fucking blast. I remember we had a little running gig. I just had met you that night or something. That's exactly right. Liked you right away. and every time I'd go do something, I'd say to you, I'm going to bring you up. It's so ridiculous. I'm going to do Wayne's World. I'm going to bring you up. That's right. Yeah, that was the 40th. But so with Lorne and your relationship, do you have any, I mean, I hate to say, hey, I don't have any stories about Lorne, but did you ever stay all night at the party?

53:56Because Lorne will stay till 6 a.m. Do you kind of go, Lorne, I got to go? or no, I'll never, I'll never leave early. Um, especially if I'm sitting at a table with Lauren, I mean, I will, uh, you know, even recently I went just to, to, um, watch the show and it's like, I'm at that party and it's like the greatest thing I'm sitting with. I went with Marty and Steve were hosting and, uh, and I'm at the table after with Martin Short and Lauren. And then of course I'm in the middle and I just want to start hearing them talk about three amigos, which of course happened. And, uh, and it's, it's amazing.

54:35It's amazing. There, there are, there are many times that I just kind of step outside of what's actually happening in the moment and say, can I cannot, I cannot believe this. I just can't believe it. And there's something like having it on the show with these guys. I had it at that, at that table, listening to the three amigos stories. I had it when I was hosting SNL and, uh, Paul McCartney was the musical guest. And there were many times that week that, I mean, I couldn't believe what I was seeing. And I had that same thing. I did a, I did a, I did one of those, um, I did a, you know, a lonely Island video at that week.

55:12And Andy and I, they pulled him Paul McCartney who did a little thing on it. And we were standing around the three of us for an hour. And he was just telling us stories about John Lennon and the Beatles and everything. Wow. Now I'm jealous. I'll tell you one of the, honestly, one of the coolest things I have ever experienced ever was on the Thursday, you know, Thursday for people that don't know, that's when the band really kind of comes in for the first time and they do their run through. And so we were taking those pictures that you, they use for the bumpers next to the stage. so thursday comes in thursday happens the band comes in and we're taking pictures and um marilyn and i said we're not going to take pictures we have to go watch paul mccarthy so we did and um he performed i played a couple of songs and then there was a grand piano on the floor and um he didn't know what he was really going to play so he just came down and sat behind the piano and there's maybe you know the crew is there it's probably about 20 people and he sat down at the piano and he just started playing the long and winding road wow i got chills i got chills i know and i was standing 10 feet 10 feet behind him you know and and i'm just i hadn't met him i hadn't i was just kind of observing and like i couldn't believe i was in the same room with paul mccartney but i was standing behind him and i was looking at his hands playing the keys and I was looking at his feet, pressing the pedals and hearing him sing Long and Winding Road and thinking, oh my God, that's the, that's him.

56:52That's the guy who made this. And those are the foot pedals that he, you know, that he pressed that same way when he recorded it. And it was, it was amazing. It was just amazing. And everyone applauded when he finished. He said, oh, thank you. Thank you. Then he went into Lady Madonna and then more people kind of started coming into the room and Lauren came in. and he wound up playing about 10 Beatles songs just for us in the room. Just piano. Just piano. Yeah. You know, how does, how does he come up with those, those middle eights they call them, the change ups and the chord structure and how it just hits you every time.

57:28Emin Lennon. It's divine. There's no, I mean, I'm, I'm in that. I don't think, I think the greatest band that has ever existed. They're the greatest band that ever will exist. They are like Shakespeare. They're like Bach. they're like every several hundred years somebody or something comes along that redefines that kind of beauty and I think the Beatles are that, they are for me I couldn't have said that better, that's really well put and Sheryl Crow said to us that she thought that Blackbird and Yesterday were the greatest songs ever written for her, there's so many that's the thing, they have so many and she thought it was, she didn't say it in a heavy way almost divine, there's almost something like how did those two guys essentially go to high school together and then find those other two guys and George Martin and write a hundred masterpieces in six years you know it's crazy and then and maybe record three of them in one day yeah yeah remember Dana when he said we talked to him Paul and he said uh during that get back thing we were fawning over you know the documentary and we said he said he came in with was it yesterday or and he goes well for that one he did have long and windy road and he had get back you know he was in kind of he said i came with it and i go do you walk in like i got a fucking banger and he goes no you can't you have to go under and just go hey i got it i got one if you guys want to hear it i worked on just to probably just for ego wise like let everyone go let us find it if we like it you know and i think it was either yesterday or some other monster well yesterday was a little earlier but yeah he plays it let it he was he he did uh and they love it let it be i think on yeah oh yeah that right he was playing that and then um uh and then my god when he sits down he's playing and he is playing uh get back and george and ringo are just sitting across from listening and ringo starts clapping his hands to a beat and you just think and same thing like i'm how are we seeing this this is the first time these guys are hearing this they don't know what this song is going to be it's just it's magical i couldn't get over that that i wanted nine more hours i couldn't sure what i was seeing wow i mean you know i get in my age group i was you know watching them in real time having older brothers so i was nine when they're on ed sullivan but i love when i hear someone who probably first heard them in the 70s late seven after they because the the wave was so high and And by they left at 69, I don't think anybody, even them, understood what had happened.

1:00:06Right. And then people like you come along, and then younger people keep coming along. And we're all trying to figure it out. And Dennis Miller said to me, he can figure out the Stones. He can figure out Pink Floyd. Dennis Miller said he can figure out Zeppelin. And he goes, honest to God, Carvey, I can't wrap my mind around the Beatles, okay? It's too much. I know. It's true. Because they have that thing that you can't define. It's something otherworldly. It's why if you play the Beatles for kids now, they cotton on to them. It's hitting all of us on some kind of level that is something else.

1:00:44I don't know what it is. I'll show you this thing I just got, Paul. I got fucking Lennon's glasses from that photo. Oh, his real glasses? Real glasses from that photo. Oh, wow. Oh my God. Isn't that sick? Damn, David is holding up a picture of John Lennon and he bought the glasses at an auction. I'm just telling the listeners. It was a bit steep, but it was because you never see shit like that come along. And I saw it and I was like, and I called the auction place and he goes, well, it's going to go up. I said, I got to try to get in there. And I just got horny for it. I was like, it's too fucking cool because when in your life, Lennon and McCartney, and they had proof it was his and I said, oh, unreal.

1:01:28I used to do it with a friend of mine at some of the SNL parties. Wow, that was really cool. Everyone's really, you know, just cool people are coming to the SNL party. Maybe it's Elton John or whatever. And we used to imagine, you know, what if John Lennon could walk in? You know, we were like, who would just everyone would just stop and so anyway, I'm with you, Paul. You, me, Fred Armisen and David and whoever else wants to join us, we should have dinner and just fan out on I mean, there are like, I can't, I will talk about the Beatles forever. Just once that subject comes up or if I see a picture or if there's some kind of video clip or something, conversation stops.

1:02:08I know. I love the unheralded ones kind of compared to, we hear Let It Be a Lot and Hey Jude, they're brilliant. But here, there and everywhere for no one. I mean, No Reply by John Lennon is one of the most heartbreaking pieces of, and Paul maybe wrote The Middle Eight. Anyway, back to Paul Rudd, who's a super Beetle-Fan.

1:02:54with Viso Steuer. Now, let's try it out.

1:03:24we came out in 95 and so did Billy Madison. So Clueless, Tommy Boy, Billy Madison. Oh, that was fucking some comedies. My God. Yeah. Yeah. I don't, way, way, way later. Way late. Why? It might've been, it might've been like actually kind of around Marvel. Because it wasn't, you were in ensemble one, so they can't pay everyone that much. If you're in a movie with Will Ferrell or Steve Carell or. Oh yeah. Yeah. A lot of those. So then, then when it was, Paul Rudd's movie. Honestly, I'm just like, I'm just happy to work. Of course. Well, I know. And certainly with those guys, I mean, you know, do it for free.

1:04:04Wet Hot American Summer is a little nugget. That's just, that might, I mean, now I don't remember everything about it, but I remember going, this is a cool movie. And I tried to get that director to do something, I think, because I thought I'd go, oh shit, this is such a weird, funny, cool, low budget well done you must hear about that one a lot yeah it it um i think it was probably partially responsible for me getting cast in anchorman honestly because it was a movie that came out and and you know no one knew it really but comedy fans and comedy writers yeah really kind of took to it and and i i loved it when i read it it took a while to get it made no one wanted to make it, but, um, I had met David Wayne and show Walter.

1:04:54And a lot of those guys, they were in a comedy troupe called the state that used to be on MTV. And, um, you know, they lived in New York and I lived in New York and, um, and I was a comedy fan anyway, and we had some mutual friends. And so I met them and David said, man, this script, uh, if you want to read it, I think I had just done clueless. I mean, it wasn't that long afterward. and um and i read it and thought i've never like this is the funniest thing i've ever read and you never get to really read anything that really makes you laugh like that or i certainly hadn't up until that point i did i felt that way with anchorman too but um uh i i used to keep that script around and just read it for pleasure because it was so funny well also to get it from the script to the screen there's so many ways you can screw it up and you know i'm sure you know this i've done a lot of comedy movies and some just don't connect by the time you go through all the process and you're like, fuck, where did it go wrong?

1:05:51And, uh, well, I think that with that, it was just like, uh, there weren't many cooks in the kitchen and it was, it didn't, it didn't, it, you know, had a very small budget. No one was really paying any attention and we filmed it at a summer camp and it was people, everyone that worked on it. I think we all had similar sense sensibilities and we found the same things funny. And so meatballs or something. Yeah. Yeah. It was like a singular voice. And I remember Zach Orth, the actor, a friend of mine that was working on the film, halfway through said, I don't know if this movie will ever come out.

1:06:22I just want to get a copy of it. It's a very good sign. I just wonder, when I'm looking at these notes here, studying your career, it's quality. I mean, I don't see any evidence of you taking a role because you needed the money or something? It just seems like there's a consistent theme with you. It's all the way through. You did Living With Yourself, you executive produced, got a Golden Globe nomination where you played opposite yourself. All kinds of quality work. So were you ever tempted, like if you, have they backed up the Brinks truck for commercials? I mean, but commercials are totally fine.

1:07:00I would do any commercial if anyone's listening right now. In the 90s, you weren't supposed to do them. Taco Bell, sorry. But have you gotten stuff where because of Paul Rudd, you know, the, the, the image that you're like, I'd like to take a lot of money. It's just not for me. You know, you're at that point now where you have to navigate that. Well, yeah, I think that I'd say through the, you know, majority of my career, I've always tried to make as many, um, decisions. If I had the luxury of making a decision, uh, to, you know, to have it be some, an artistic decision and never trying to do anything for the money.

1:07:37And, um, that's Tuesday, good. Sometimes you have to. I could certainly point you to a couple on that resume that say, well, that one I kind of like. Okay. Well, we'll ignore that. No, I would say of the decisions that I've made in my career, 97 to 98 % of that has been because I really thought it was something I wanted to do and that it had the potential to be something fun. or interesting or something I would want to see. Um, and, and I tried to always have that kind of be my guiding light when I was in my twenties and thirties and I wanted to be an actor. I really also went a different kind of way.

1:08:25And I would always think of bands that I really liked. I always think of music always seemed to kind of be the, the North star for me more so than other actors or, uh, uh, acting careers. I would just think of musicians that I liked and I liked lots of cool indie musicians. And I thought, well, would, you know, would Tom Waits think this is cool? Would he do this? Would Elvis Costello do this? Would he make this decision? It seemed like all the things that I liked were artistic decisions made by people who I admired. And so I really tried to kind of follow that path with comedies that, you know, I think with wet hot American summer.

1:09:06And then when anchorman came around, those were two things I really, really wanted to do. Um, because I felt as if more than anything else I'd ever read up until that point, it spoke to, uh, me and my own kind of, what I thought was funny. Um, and I really wanted to be a part of that. Um, and, and I think that that then turned into working with Judd over and over again. I didn't see much like the Ant-Man thing. I didn't see that lane coming. I did not expect over the following many years to work with a lot of those guys again, uh, on a lot of comedies. I'm, you know, it's still, it was the most fun.

1:09:44It still is. Uh, but it's, it was always, I think I was always following that. Like, this would be fun. I think this is funny. I really like these people. I like these actors. I'd love to be a part of this. So. Wow. I think you're twin, the two lanes that explain this. One is what you just said. And the other of never losing a sense of awe and wonder of this remarkable good fortune we have to be in show business. And you meet people that get bitter or kind of angry or whatever, you know, rather than just like, I can't believe we're able to actually do this on any level, you know? I mean, right now I'm working.

1:10:29I think that all the time. You know, even it's like you're in the middle of some, some scene and you're just going some improvisation about farts or something. You think I'm at work right now. This is like, So, okay. Before we let you get back to your other job. So you label things. Kevin Nealon told me you love a P-touch, which you make labels and you love to put labels. I love myself a P-touch. And you put labels on everything. You have one? This is my fall right, too. There it is. That just organizes your brain to get it labeled. These are my AirPods. And by the way, it's my second case. That's why it says number two.

1:11:13That's hot. All right. So that's, are you of, with your wife and your, are you the tidy one or, or equally as far as how having the kitchen clean and stuff like that? Uh, well, she can be, she's pretty clean. She'll, you know, uh, but I, I think that there's a, there's a level that I will take it. That is maybe a little, yeah, I'm kind of the same. A little to Jean, the anal retentive chef. Yeah. Oh, do you have any other secret secret? show business dream. I mean, would you want to get direct to a Gary Oldman, like playing Churchill kind of thing or, you know, or Scorsese movie where you're a gangster or just whatever comes?

1:11:54I don't know. Yeah. You know, I don't, I don't necessarily think in terms of like a type of role, but I mean, I would certainly like to do things I haven't done and work with many people that, you know, like great directors like Scorsese and so many incredible directors. If Tarantino wanted you in a film, would you take the call? In a heartbeat. For sure. That's a good plan. I got obsessed with the last one. Once upon a time at Hollywood. Oh my God. I saw it so many times. It's so good. Yeah. He's great. What an amazing director. Yeah. Yeah. I would, I would jump at the chance. Coen brothers. I mean, like it just, there's so many, there's so many.

1:12:32You're just going to say yes. Mike Lee. I mean, there's so many great directors. Most people I think probably wouldn't think of me for some of these things at this point, but. I would love to do more kind of versatile, you know, dramatic roles or whatever. But I don't know. I've also haven't really tried to, for better or worse, guide my career by thinking, well, I just did a comedy. Now I'm going to do something really dramatic. You know, I think other actors probably do that and it might be smart. I just think like, oh, that'd be fun. Yeah. Doesn't always sync up perfectly like that. No, no.

1:13:11And that's the other thing too, is that people always say, well, why did you choose this? And why did you choose that? And I want to say, well, you know, you don't always get to choose. There's a bit of whimsy to it. Jack Palance told me that once. They got all the parts. It's all about the parts. And if you get the parts, Spencer Tracy took that part. I didn't get to do that part. I don't do a Jack Palance. That's an old reference lost on younger viewers. Not at all. You start doing some one-arm pushups right now. Oh, yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Paul. Thank you. You're a fucking stud. This has been really interesting and enjoyed it very much.

1:13:45Yeah. So I feel like I know you a lot better than I did after the 40th. I know. Well, this is the great thing. When I see you at the 50th, we're going to really have a lot to talk about. And I'm coming up. If you bring me up on the 50th, I'm coming up. I'll be so excited to see you. I'll kiss you on both cheeks. Yeah. And then go, what did I just do? I'll be Dana's plus one. Paul thanks buddy very cool of you to come on and talk and thanks for having me guys I appreciate it say hello to I really appreciate it Steve and Marty and I've never met Meryl Streep Selena tell her I love her I will tell her

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