John Turturro

27:41What's the matter with this guy? All right, Carmen, who's next?

27:51There's a handsome man, Paul. Why? I mean, come on. I mean, you know. How do you look that forward up his nose and respect me? 100 years. So handsome. Oh, my God. I mean, you're just like, you know, we rehearsed the whole movie with a video camera because Paul Newman had done that with Jimmy Lemaitre. Right. I want to hear you from the microphone so everybody can hear. And Scorsese was nervous around Paul Newman also. Really? Oh, yeah. He was really nervous. And matter of fact, the first day, you know, he would tell these jokes and sometimes they would be very long jokes. And Marty would look at me like he didn't get the punch line and either did I.

28:51So, you know, he'd be like, it's funny, right? It's funny. You know, he was like, funny, right? And then so the first day of shooting, I think it was that scene. I had to put my coat on or something. I was a little I was nervous. I was wearing with Paul Newman. I mean, Tom Cruise was still, you know, pretty young at the time. And Marty said, he was trying to shoot, like only do two, three takes. And he goes, that was very good, very good, excellent. He was very nervous, that's how we talked. And he said, but he kept tucking his shirt, because he was nervous, and he said, the next take, just do me a favor.

29:26He goes, just put your jacket on. I just died laughing. I said, I'm a little nervous, I'll just put my jacket on. I said, maybe it was a little, too much movement or something. And I said, listen, Marty, I'm a little nervous, because every time I turn, I look at Paul Newman, and I see, like, somebody up there likes me, The Hustler, you know, HUD. And Marty goes, you think you're nervous? He goes, I got a director. He says, you don't understand, because I see every movie goes right across my head. He goes like that. He goes, The Silver Chalice. He goes like that. I was dying laughing. And so then we got, you know, and Paul Newman was great.

29:59He was, I became, like, friendly with him, you know, afterwards. I did some charity things with him. And he was such a lovely guy. And he was telling me one day, he said, it took him like 25 years to learn to really relax on screen. He said, I was always working too hard. And he just was really an interesting guy. And it was a thrill. Then I worked with Robert Redford after that. But it was a big experience for me. And he was very, very kind. Very kind. Amazing. Yeah, he won the Oscar for that one, as I recall. Great film. So you mentioned Spike before. And that obviously, so he saw Five Corners.

30:44He saw Five Corners. That's the reason he wanted me in, because I threw my mother out the window. That gets you the racist to do the right thing? I mean, John Patrick Shanley wrote it. I just did it. You know what I mean? It wasn't a good job. I didn't make it up. You know what I mean? And so, but, yeah. And what did you guys, I mean, you talk about kind of having kind of reverse, you know, upbringing, but what did you connect with as just contemporaries? We just, we had so many references, you know, whether it was the Knicks, you know, growing up in New York, and it took a while, you know, to get, when he asked me, do you want to be in the movie?

31:21And I said, yeah, and he said, well, who do you want to play? And I said, I really, I think I would like to play the racist character, because I think that's what the big part of the movie is about, you know? And so, and I kind of understood that, and then I worked in a pizzeria for a while, you know, before I did it, and then we really got him, and I was very, got close with Ernest Dickerson, who was the cinematographer, and Wyn Thomas. I mean, a lot of those pictures in the Wall of Fame, you know, those are my pictures, a lot of those pictures, you know, and so Ruth Carter, And so those are people who have been friends of mine since 88.

31:59And it was a great cast, Giancarlo. Yellow, yeah. But then I remember that in rehearsal, we started adding things. And then the more relaxed I got, I started sharing things that maybe he didn't know or he hadn't heard. And then I would tell him, and he would say, oh, we've got to put that in there. You know, things that were really incendiary at the time. So the one thing about it was we would go to dailies at LIU, Long Island University, and the whole crew and all the people from craft service, they would be invited. So we would watch the same scene four times. So, of course, people are watching you do something, and they're seeing it four times or maybe five times.

32:45and so then some people who had never hadn't the experience of you know working on a movie started to think well that's who you are you know what I mean and there was a woman who in craft service and it was very very hot it was a real bad heat wave that summer and she just she would pass me by when she had water and I said can I you know and finally one day she turned and she She said to me, she said, I hate you. She said, I hate you so much. And I was like, so I told Spike, I said, Spike, I said, she thinks something penal. And he was dying laughing. He thought it was the funniest thing. But I was a little worried at first.

33:27I thought, well, suppose people, I take the subway, people. And it predicted that Joe Klein being one of the people, that there was going to be riots and all this stuff. But I've never, ever had an adverse relationship from that movie. Well, it stands the test of time. It's a classic. But it was an exciting movie to make and upsetting at the end. But we had a great group of people. All right. I have a clip. You and Spike, obviously also a performer in the film. Yeah. Yes, he says some things that are pretty horrendous here. But it's just acting, guys. Don't worry. John Turturro and Spike Lee and Do the Right Thing.

34:09Check it out. You know, I've been listening and reading. You've been reading now? I read. I've been reading about your leaders. Reverend Al, Mr. Do, Sharp Tone, Jesse. Keep hope alive. That's fucked up. Keep hope alive. Hey, that's fucked. Don't talk about Jesse. And even the other guy, what's his name? Farrahman, Farrakhan. Minister Farrakhan. Sorry. Minister Farrakhan. Anyway, Minister Farrakhan always talks about the so-called day when the black man will rise. We will one day... What does he say? We will one day rule the earth as we did in our glorious past? That's right. What past are you talking about?

34:52What did I miss? We started civilization. Man, keep dreaming, man. Then you woke up. Pino, fuck you, fuck your fucking pizza, and fuck Frank Sinatra.

35:08I guess we haven't come that far from that film. For my money, the Coen brothers are maybe my favorite filmmakers of all time, and you've appeared in a number of their films. Miller's Crossing, they write, I believe, Barton Fink with you in mind. They wrote Miller's Crossing, too, yeah. Amazing. Barton Fink, I feel like every frustrated writer's favorite film of all time. It's one of those. I mean, you obviously vibed with them. You knew, I think, Francis from Yale, Francis McDormand. Do they direct you much in the course of your films? What's the vibe on set from Joel and Ethan? They've seen me do a lot of different performances on stage, and sometimes they write things for me that they haven't seen me do.

36:01and we share a kind of dark sense of humor and I think the more human you can make their characters, the more horribly funny it is and can be moving too but we just really get along and I've directed one of Ethan's plays on Broadway and so it's just you know like kind of a you develop a shorthand and a language and you're you're not I'm not afraid or ashamed to try things with them and to make myself look you know not you know uh good you know or heroic or whatever I've really kind of just been really uninhibited for them I mean, in a deep way, where other directors say, hey, could you do something like that?

37:00And it's like, no, you have to kind of earn that. Yeah, no, I've talked, I mean, Sam Jackson's been here. I remember he always talks about like, you know, if you don't trust them, they're going to screw you in the edit. And if you feel like that's going to happen, that you're always going to be protecting yourself. But, you know, these are characters that you're just going to go. You're going to go out there. I mean, I think I've learned from doing things on stage that I like to do that. I like to take a risk and see where it lands. And you said, like we talked about Lebowski, that Jesus, you thought, you were out there, to say the least, in that one.

37:36Well, I had done a play that they had seen, and that was sort of an inspiration for them. And I had done a play with, I did these two plays in this trilogy by Ronaldo Provod called La Puda Vida. And I played, it was a mother and son, and then a guy like the Jesus, his name was Chino, and this little boy. It was about their relationship. Got it. But is it fair to say that after you did that performance and you saw it back, you said, I went too far? No, I was shocked. Because I was trying all these different things for them because they kept telling me about the role, but then I saw it. It was so small.

38:16They said, well, we know you're going to come up with a lot of things for it. And I did. and I didn't think they were going to put all of that in and then the way they edited it it was just whatever and the movie is it's a really funny movie it holds up and most comedies do not that's like a philosophical comedy and the fusion of Jeff as a man as a human being and Jeff as a performer I mean that is just you talk about performances and all these people who've won awards, you know? I mean, Jeff didn't win, like, you know, the teeniest award for the dude, you know? But the dude is in our psyche. And it's a great, great performance.

39:03Yeah. I mean, there's a lot of other great... But Jeff, I'm a big fan of Jeff. Yeah. I wouldn't imagine you know this, but, you know, you played a relative of mine once, John. Can you guess? Herb Stemple? Herb Stemple. Oh, I didn't know that. Herb Stemple, cousin mood basically from me. Of course one of the leads in Quiz Show. I love Quiz Show so much. Directed by Robert Redford. Another good looking guy. I mean, yes. And then he was a good director and my God, he used to, you know, smelled good. You can smell it off the screen. I would do anything for him. But that is such a beautifully made film, meticulous in every way.

39:46I love doing it. What did you make of Herb as a character? Well, I was the only person cast for a long time. When I saw the kinescopes, I was shocked. I was like, oh, my God, I've never seen anybody like Herb in a way. And then I think originally he wanted Paul Newman and Tim Robbins to play Van Doren's. And Tim was doing Shawshank Redemption. And Paul Newman was on the fence about it. And then we were waiting and waiting. And Redford told me, it would be great if you could gain some weight. And I started gaining weight. And then he said, well, you could play the other part. You could play the best.

40:29Oh, Rob Burrows? And I was like, no, no. I'm all in for Herb. And I gained a lot of weight and had my teeth and my hair thinned and discolored. but I loved working with Robert and he was very, very helpful and that was a hard, I mean, he has a very high voice you know, I can't, because I didn't warm it up now, but you know, he really, he spoke like this and you know, Josh was a distant relative of mine, but I mean, I would warm up and the whole crew would imitate me like me and I would do these things because I had it was all in his in the nose and uh you know and I also I would talk to him uh you know at length uh and uh you know as I was getting heavier and heavier and uh uh uh and he was very innocent guy and if you watch the kinescopes I mean they made it more of the the tragedy of the wasp right but Van Doren took to it like a fish in water and Herb was always awkward about it.

41:39So they definitely, and there were different versions of it where Herb was a little bit more aware of that. But I loved, it was a great group. Chris McDonald, too, was great. And of course, Rafe was, that was a big find when Redford showed me the tape. He was coming right off of Schindler's List. He showed me the tape of him in the Schindler's List haircut. And he said, what do you think of this guy? And we'd have a lot of time alone, me and Mr. Redford. So he's a very interesting man, because he didn't get to do all these eccentric characters. But he could play almost all the characters in the movie when we'd be alone.

42:34Propel hydrates better than water to help you get the most out of your workout and get back to your best self. What propels you? Propel with Gatorade Electrolytes. From athletic stuff like a full court pickup game, swish, to athletic-ish stuff like a half mile stroll. Get those steps in. Head to Sierra or Sierra.com for the brands you want at the prices that let you do it all. From athletic to athletic-ish, Sierra's got it.

43:08One of the many things that I love about your career is like, yes, you can work for the Redfords and the Coen Brothers and the Spike Lees. And yet there's also a segment of your fan base probably that knows you from like Adam Sandler films. Right. Like, do you see like any difference? Yeah. You do. Yeah. So I not with Adam so much, but with some like maybe Transformers films. Right. I consider that my, if I was a builder, that's my electrical job. Sure. Right? And then my other job, that's my plumbing work. You know what I mean? Like this quiz show is my plumbing work. Yeah. You know what I mean?

43:41So you have to have a toolbox. But when you do these things, it's like less of an intricate portrait that you're painting. It's more of a sketch, you know? And within that, you can do a lot of things. And it's really hard, you know, to do that. With Adam, I've had fun doing like the Zohan or Mr. Deeds. I mean, you got to work with Nicholson in anger management. That's something. Yeah, well, he had told Nicholson that I was going to do the film. Oh, so you were bait. So he was a big fan of my first movie, Mac. And he was like, oh, Johnny's going to be in it. Great. And then Sandler called me up.

44:19He said, you know, Nicholson, he's excited. You're going to be in the movie. You know, he wants to do the movie. And I was like, oh, so you blackmailed me. So then when I met him, he was really funny, and he was really nice to me, and I was a huge fan of his and stuff, and I did ask him when we were doing the movie, so how's it going, Mr. Nicholson? He said, you wanna call me Jack, man? Call me Jack. And I said, how's it, what's it like? He goes, I said, what's sort of the tone of the movie? He goes, well, let me tell you, Johnny, there is no tone. He goes, you know, I've been all over the map, man.

44:57I've been, you know, in the Strindberg play. I've been in a, you know, a Pirandello play. And he was, you know, he had all these metaphors and stuff. But, you know, I told Sam, I said, you know, he's, there's no tone, you know. He says, you know. So I just, you know, but he was great just to be around. And he was so giving off camera. He was, he was, he's like a real, I've always heard that. Really giving off camera. A Few Good Men, the famous story is that he did like all like, yeah, He did the reverses even when he didn't. Oh, yeah. It was really great. And, you know, he loved my first movie.

45:29He had told me he saw it three times. And I was really, you know, these are people that have had major, you know, effect on you. And when you meet them, it's, you know, you have to digest that. Because they're part of why you do what you do. Have you reconciled that you have now shifted into that for actors, younger actors that you work with on a set? I don't know. That doesn't really help me. I don't want to be like, well, I know what I'm doing now. I'm sure Riz Ahmed looks at you on set and says, I helped Riz because Riz was under a lot of pressure. And he would vent and do it. I said, well, you just have to speak up for yourself.

46:14You can do it in a reasonable way. If you don't like something, if you feel like you're being pushed around or whatever. and Riz would sometimes vent and I kind of you know showed him a little bit of how I learned to navigate things because I worked with some directors who were really abusive I mean physically abusive so then I learned I said well I have to speak up for myself otherwise it doesn't really help your performance if you're tense and that was kind of a school of directing. For some people. It was a type of director, too. I think you mentioned before, the Chaminos and the Friedkin were regressive men at the time that were not.

46:57I mean, I worked with, like, Francesco Rosi, and he wasn't that way. He was a masterful director. But he would show you all these things to do physically and stuff, and I loved working with Francesco. Where does in the Venn diagram, like doing something like for Matt Reeves and the Batman, is that... Well, that was, you know, I put a lot of work into it. I was reading all the comics and, you know, the comics that inspired that. and stuff and I took it seriously. And I also went to the source material too. And I told him, I said, I'll do it if I can wear these glasses. Because I said, everyone else has a mask and I want a mask too.

47:35And I don't have like really cold eyes. So I know that. So when you have that shield, that helps you. Sometimes one thing, it can be something physically or a costume piece and it can free you in a way. But I take it seriously. You passed on the Penguin, was that just sort of? No, I had done it already. You did it. I felt like I had done it already and I liked what I did. I felt really good doing Batman. I don't know if I wanted to continue and be in another series and things like that. I like to come in and then do my thing and then leave. And then I go. Is there a director that's eluded you?

48:23Who's on the list? There's a lot of them. Where's the Coppola? Where's the, I don't know. Coppola I never worked with. There's people, Tarantino. Sometimes I've turned things down. And then if you turn something down, sometimes then the person thinks you don't want to work with them. and sometimes it's a family decision right and sometimes or someone's sick or something you know and is there one you regret that you can say yeah uh there's a few yeah i mean i turned down i didn't turn down stanley kubrick but stanley kubrick called me up for eyes wide shut and i was like shocked that he knew all about me he asked me about all these actors and i was like because I had just finished La Tregua, The Truce, and I spent five years preparing for that while I was doing other things.

49:22He knew all about Primo Levi. We talked about Primo Levi, and he said, you know, I think you're a terrific actor. I said, well, thank you. He goes, well, you are. I was like, well, I can't walk around my house saying that to my wife. she'll hit me over the head with a frying pan. And he said, well, I'm going to send you a script. And I think, and I hope you like it. He goes, you'll like it. And then what do we do? I said, well, you know, he said, but I heard you may do a movie next year as a director. I said, I don't have the money. And so I didn't say to him, he said, I wrote this part for you.

50:02I didn't say to him, whatever it is, I will do. But I was so excited. I said, I'll read it and then we'll work it out. I was talking to him like a normal purse short. And he said, well, how can I get you the script? I said, well, FedEx it. Because what if you're not home? I said, well, I know my FedEx man. His name is Ray, and he throws it over the gate. And he said, well, that's unbelievable. I said, well, do you know your FedEx man? So I was just trying to be a normal person. And anyway, he told me he wrote the role for me. He wanted me to do it. and what do I think of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman?

50:39I was all excited. The next day, I heard that I wasn't available. I was unavailable because I didn't tell him no matter what. He's used to getting that immediately. That's it. No matter what. I didn't know that at the time. I just tried to be a regular. I would have liked to have worked with him just because I'm a big fan of his and see how I would have survived doing 100 takes. A year-long shoot, exactly. You know what I mean? That would have been a year of your life. I would have been replaced or whatever. Harvey Keitel lost his... Yeah, lots of people lost it. There were a lot of people who were replaced.

51:09Which role would it have been? I was the piano player. But there was a scene at the end... On field then. Yeah, they didn't have. And I guess he was in three different parts of the movie, and they think they cut that. But anyway, so, you know, I would have liked to just had an encounter with Stanley. Sure. You know what I mean? So that's something that, you know... You've got plenty of great experiences, but you got a Stanley Kubrick conversation. That's more than what I was going to say. Oh, yeah, that's long. And he wrote it for me. Two hours. And we talked about Primo Levi at length. Amazing.

51:42Yeah. A couple audience questions. What books are you currently reading? One of our audience members would like to know. What books am I reading? Well, I've decided to read Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment, which I've never read because I've read some of his other books, but I'm reading that book. and I read all different kinds of authors. I'm a book person. I've also discovered he's the biggest WNBA fan. The new WNBA fan. I'm a basketball fan and I've always followed a women's college but now I have Liberty tickets. I love it. It's fascinating to watch and it reminds me of basketball before it was played above the rim.

52:28And I love the teamwork and the passing that goes on at the game. I think it's really, really good basketball. Yeah. Excellent. Would you rather have a New York Liberty championship or an Oscar? Well, there is. They already won the championship. Okay. No, no. But if it would be like the Knicks championship, that would be a tough one. That's a tough decision. You know, that's a tough one. It's a long time coming. Yeah, I mean, that's a communal victory for everyone. The fact that you're even considering that as the option means you're thinking of your fellow Knicks fans. Well, it's a great thing, the collective.

53:06I think the individual thing, you know, it's terrific in some ways. But it really takes teamwork to do something that's really good. In sports or in a movie or in a play, there's a lot of components to it. and I don't think it's right where people say, well, you know, this is the best. You weren't doing it by yourself. Someone sat before a blank page and wrote it and there's a designer and there's a lot of choices that goes into that and I love when I see beautiful teamwork where if I watch, you know, something and everyone is excellent in it. You don't know where to look and that's there's something great about that i mean yeah you're only as good as your your collaborator your post star that's right that's why i wanted to work with you know with christopher walken i was gonna say i thought listen yeah you know ben said you know you're gonna have a love affair with someone and i was like chris i love chris and i love working with him and i've directed him and i've i've watched him on stage i saw him play elvis presley in a play that that he wrote based on National Enquirer articles.

54:26He's dressed as a woman, Elvis, and as a waitress, and he never really died. But we have a lot of fun. I need someone I admired when I was younger, and I still think he's a wonderful actor. And we just laugh. And I thought, well, if there's someone you have that simpatico with, it's easy to be in love with them. because if you don't laugh with someone, then, you know, then it's maybe, okay, you're attracted to someone or whatever, and he's also very, he has a fragility to him, and I just thought, I don't have to act. I don't really, I can just, you know, be with him, and he's like a jazz musician because he spins it, and so you have to be really on your toes.

55:18In the moment, always. Yeah, and he doesn't like, you know, Like he didn't want to like really like kiss and stuff like that. And I was making fun of him one day. I said, you know, kiss. I said, the only reason I wanted to do this was to kiss you. So he was like, not doing it. You know? It's a cliche, man. He was like, you know. But you know, it is interesting that when we see these scenes and stuff like that, it's always the things that lead up to something that is kind of evocative or sensual or even, But when we see people actually do it, we're like, yeah, well, they're not really doing it.

55:56You know what I mean? They're kind of doing it, but not really. But it's the things that... The anticipation, yeah. It's the anticipation. And so I've loved working with Chris. I mean, I really have a very warm spot. Is he as much of a Luddite as I hear? Does he have like a phone? Like, he doesn't have a phone. I've shown him my phone. He's amazed by it. He's like, oh my god. You know, this is great, you know, it's just, and he's a very humble actor. He talks about all these performances, which I've seen him do, you know, that this was good, this wasn't good, I'm not great at Shakespeare, and he just has a sense of play.

56:40And a lot of actors, they don't, they take themselves so seriously, they forget, like little kids when they play, they're great. You watch them play, they believe it. They're in it. And so Chris has the experience, but he also has that playfulness of a child. Well, it makes you great, but also, let's factor in, don't you want to enjoy this? Don't you want to have fun until the end? Like, the day it stops being fun, why are you doing this? Right. You know, it's a tricky balance because people's egos and all kinds of things. I want to be good. He was a great director. I did many plays with him. The Cherry Orchard and Endgame, Master Builder, Andre Belgrater.

57:28He used to always tell us, don't try to be good. Just do it. Do your thing. But don't put that on you. Don't focus on the results. That's right. Focus on what you're doing. You know what I mean? and it's very wise words. We're going to end with the happy second if you use profoundly random questions for you, John. Okay, fine. Are you a dog or a cat person? Dog or a cat person? Well, I had a cat in The Night Of, and Bam Bam, and everyone loved Bam Bam, but I'm allergic to cats. Dogs by default? So, yeah, but cats are more independent. Okay. So, yeah. Do you collect anything? Yes. let me rephrase that what do you collect?

58:13like everything I have a huge vintage movie poster collection I'm really I need more walls Dennis Hopper had these sliding walls that Frank Geary made in his house and he would have all these great paintings he could slide in and out I need that what's the most prized movie poster you have? What's your crown? Oh, there's a lot of great ones I have. I mean, I have like Charles Lawton, Polish poster of Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I consider one of the great, he's one of the greatest actors of all time. And that's a great performance. So yes, and you know, when I first started doing, you know, movies and things, I would keep, you know, all those cinema magazines or American film because I was like, wow, I'm in the magazine and now I have all these magazines.

59:06What am I going to do? You know what I mean? What am I going to do with these magazines? So I guess when you don't have a lot growing up, it's hard to throw things away. And, you know, so I'm putting things. I want to, like, give my archive away to, like, my undergrad school if they want it. But I don't throw things away easily. I get it. What's the wallpaper on your phone? The wallpaper? The background on your phone? Oh, my God. Well, actually, my son and I, we bought Speedos when we were in Sicily. So there's a picture of us in Speedos. Sure. Yeah, my younger son. And so he's very proud of that.

59:51And so, you know, that's what it is. Yeah, Channing Tatum saw it, and he, like, flipped out. He goes, like, Magic Mike! He goes, you know. I was like, listen, I was stripping way before you, man. You know. No, that's a whole other thing. My mom used to do a kind of faux striptease for my dad when he was depressed, she would do it. And I actually have family films. I mean, she would have leotards on, you know what I mean? But she would have leopard panties and bra over the leotards. And we would be dancing with her three boys, you know, trying to entertain my father because he'd be in a depression or something, You know what I mean?

1:00:37And I have this on 8mm film. I saw it and I was like, I've never seen anything like this in my life. You know? My mother would do all kinds of things to make my father smile. She did. And as a matter of fact, in romance and cigarettes, I use a thing where when my father, he had cancer and stuff like that, I was over the house visiting and he wasn't doing that well. and my mother like ran into the living room with a big kitchen knife, like, ah, screaming. And my father threw his hands up like, oh my God, you know? And I was like, and then he just smiled and she walked out. And I was like, what?

1:01:24What was that? And so my father said, oh, I asked your mother to do that every once in a while, just so he goes, just so I know I'm alive. And I realized this is one of the greatest love scenes I ever seen in my life. And I put it in the movie. It's still not as good as when my mother and father did it, but I was like, oh my God, she's doing this just so he can have a jolt. And so when you see stuff like that, that's someone doing it for someone else. And I learned a lot about acting. between my parents because they went moment to moment. Nothing passed with them. Like my father would, my mother would give my father a look.

1:02:09He'd say, well, what's that look? He would say, I know what you're thinking. She would say, yeah, you know what I'm, you know, and I know what's on your mind. They would go back and forth, and when I first brought my wife, which we were just, my girlfriend, Kathy, over, she just, she couldn't take it. She's like, she started crying at the table. My mother said, well, you know, you'll get used to it or you'll leave. She said, that's it. You know what I mean? That's just the way it is. But it was like, that was like better than any acting class. And when I went to acting class, I was like, ah, I see my mother and father do this all the time.

1:02:43You know what I mean? This is boring. And they would watch movies together and my father would be laughing, my mother would be crying. And I usually was with my mother, like I would get emotional. And he was like, why is he crying? You know, this is a good movie. You know what I mean? Yeah. You know, you know, I mean, Betty Davis was a big, you know, my mother loved Betty Davis and Jenna Rollins. Sure. My mother loved Jenna Rollins. My mother, you know, when Gloria, when she says when she's on a train with a gun and she says, you, you let a woman beat you. You know, yeah. And my mother just she just loved Jenna Rollins so much.

1:03:18and once we went to see opening night at the New York Film Festival, and it was with my brother and my wife, and there's funny things, but in Cassavetes' films, they're not cued. You don't know what to laugh at. So it's about your sensibility or my sensibility or someone else's, and we were laughing because there's a play within a play, and we thought it was hilarious, and this woman was like the centerpiece or something. She had a big fur coat on, and she had some work done. She kept turning to my mother. We were laughing and laughing, like as if we shouldn't be laughing. So my mother goes to me like, why does she keep turning around?

1:03:59I said, she doesn't get it, Ma. So then she turns around and my mother goes, you turn around one more time. She goes, I'm going to punch you right in the face. Like that. And I was like, it was like right out of the movie. You know what I mean? And I was like, I was mortified, but I was like, you know what? I said, you know, she says, we get it. because you don't. You know what I mean? Watch the movie. You know what I mean? And I told that to Jenna Rowlands once because I had lunch with her. And she just said, that was a typical reaction to some of our films because people didn't know. And she just said, I would wish I got to meet your mother.

1:04:32I said, my mother just loves you so much. I mean, if we've learned nothing else tonight, it's bring your parents to movies. I mean, your dad back in the day. Oh, my God. Your film, the freaking film. Your mom at Cassavetes. Yeah, I mean, they just, they were in it. They were in the movie. They didn't like, it wasn't like this passionate. No, no, no, no. Like, you know, my father would, I mean, put in one Mac. I put in, he'd be dead asleep, because he got up at 4 o 'clock in the morning, and there'd be a movie on. And then in a climactic moment, he'd wake up and interact with the movie, right? And then go back to sleep.

1:05:14and I mean I saw it many times especially if it was Burt Lancaster you know what I mean and he would be ah you can't you can't fuck with Burt you know what I mean it was like yeah and then he'd go back to sleep you know what I mean and I was just like this is you know all my friends my friends growing up they would like to hang out with my father I can imagine why because he was just like completely like unconscious and I think that's no filter yeah well you know people have asked me they say well you don't seem to be inhibited. I said, no, I'm not inhibited. No, because I feel like I don't really care.

1:05:52Like, you know, I saw my parents do that, and it's like, and if you have enough affirmation in your life, you're willing to try. And that may not work, or whatever, but you know, you have to get past embarrassment sometimes. And sometimes it's quite embarrassing. Okay, I know we're over time, but indulge me in the last couple of things. Last actor you were mistaken for. Does it ever happen? Nicolas Cage many times. Who is this? Someone else I get sometimes. I don't know. A lot of times people say they look just like me. And they don't look like me. Only one, John Turturro. They say, guys, I look just like you.

1:06:31And I'm like, no, you don't. What's the worst note a director has ever given you? Tense up. You know, do it like you did it in another movie. Then I feel like telling them, you know what, you know, why don't you get another job? You know what I mean? It's just like, you can't ask me to do something I did before, that's like cheating on somebody. You know what I mean? It's like, no, come up with your own idea. You know what I mean? So, yeah, or someone, like a director telling me, you have to trust me on the first day. It's like, I told this one director, I said, I don't know you. Yeah, you gotta earn it.

1:07:06I don't know you, how can I trust you? Yeah. I said, I'm also half Sicilian, so I don't trust easily. Okay? And I don't forget easily. And in the spirit of happy, sad confused, an actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're happier immediately. Oh, well, there's so many of them. One that comes to mind. Oh, God. That makes me happy all the time? Well, I said Jenna Rollins makes me happy. You know, Barbara Stanwyck, you know what I mean? Burt Lancaster, you know. Edward G. Robinson. Okay. Love Edward G. Robinson. James Cagney. A movie that always makes you sad, breaks you down.

1:07:48Oh, man. There's a lot of those, you know. I mean, I love On the Waterfront. I mean, you know, I love that. I don't know. There's so many. Charles Lawton in a lot of different things. I think Edward G. Robinson is really, really, really powerful, powerful actor. You know, there's so many, so many. It's hard for me to pick, you know. I love Robert Mitchum, you know. And finally, a food that makes you confused, John. A food that makes you confused. You see it on a menu. Why do people eat that? I don't understand. Well, I don't like coffees that have all different kinds of things in them. Just keep it pure.

1:08:39I don't accept that. Like you're not a frappuccino? No, no, no, no. That does not work. No, that's a malted. You know what I mean? It's like, you want a malted? I love a malted, though. Malted is good, but it's a malted. It is a malted. You can't say, you know, it's a cinnamon raisin, this, that, whatever. I hear them describe it, I'm like, this is disgusting. I mean, because a great espresso, a great, like if you get it in Naples in Italy, I mean, it has the cream on it. Maybe they rim it with sugar, you know, and it's like bitter chocolate, you know, if you want it with sugar or not, but that's an art form, you know, and it takes the coffee and it takes a certain kind of water, too.

1:09:30So I like it potente. We like your acting potente too. You do it well, sir. Congratulations on the new season of Severance. I'm sure you guys have checked it out, but check it out again. Spread the good word on Apple TV+. Thank you. Thank you so much for going down the road. This is always a great place. Love to be here. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thanks, everybody.

1:09:57And so ends another additional coffee, Sal, confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't finished to do this by Josh.

1:10:17Fall is the perfect time to refresh and reorganize your space. At the Home Depot, find power tools and tool sets starting at$50 to help tackle DIY projects, home updates, and more. Whether you're drilling brackets to support new shelving or sharpening your hedge trimmer blade with an angle grinder, the Home Depot has the tools you need to check projects off your list. Shop Labor Day savings at the Home Depot. and gear up for fall projects with the right tools to keep your projects moving.