Matt Bomer, Vol. II

25:36And to actually learn a technique of how to do it. I had no technique. I was just going on instinct at the time. And so to be in a space like that with peers who were as fascinated by it as I was, was just, it was the best experience in my life. I just dove in. I swear I did some of my own work tonight, but Joe Manganiello sent so many questions for you. I've got a few more. He wanted to know what your CMU animal project was. Do you remember that? My CMU animal, oh my gosh. Oh, my animal project. Oh, sorry, I was thinking of a different one, the characters say. No, so one of the things you have to do at Carnegie Mellon is you have to choose an animal and then you have to come in and behave as that animal in front of the whole class.

26:19and do all kinds of things. And like, we had a substitute teacher that semester because one of our faculty was working professionally on something else. And she was a little bit out there. And she would kind of navigate us through this. And I remember her, I was a peacock. You had to go to the zoo and choose an animal and then bring it back to class and show everybody. And we did like a zoo project where some of the students were people at the zoo and everybody else were the animals behaving as themselves at the zoo. And she was like, Matt, I want you up on stage alone. She was like, I need you to really know what it is to feel a need.

26:55You are a peacock in heat. Now, I'd done my peacock research. I had read everything about it. I'd never seen a peacock in heat. All I knew was that they let out a sharp and shrill cry and fluffed out those feathers, baby. and I screamed until my voice bled and I was in tears and part of it was because I was just going forward and part of it was because I was mortified to be doing this in front of my friends and I left the stage and she went, now you know what it is to have a need and I was like, okay. And that peacock and heat went something like, I'd have to put this microphone far far away. So, Joel also said that you used to walk the streets of Pittsburgh preparing for your characters.

27:51That you would really... I mean, obviously, you were taking it seriously. But clearly, you kind of alluded to this. You dove all the way in. You were luxurating in reading and talking about acting, etc. At that time, was theater the goal? What were you thinking? I only ever thought I was going to do theater. And can I tell you something? I still walk the streets as a character and I love when I'm on location because one of the last things I do and I try not to go I'm not in full hair and makeup but I'll take little habits or voice or whatever and I'll take it out into the world and see how it works out in the world but yeah, what was your question?

28:34I'm happy to go down that path more I don't need to go any further these people are all terrified theater as a goal was theater? Yeah, I only ever thought I was going to do theater. Truly, that's all I ever thought I was going to do. I thought I might, because I knew I was going to New York when I graduated. Actually, the first time I, you know, you do this thing called leagues, it might be, or showcase, I don't know what it's called now. It's been a little while. But you go and perform for agents, and I did it in New York and LA, and I got a good response in LA, and it was the first time I'd ever been in all that smog and everything, I completely lost my voice.

29:10So, um, the people, they were like casting a role on that 70s show and they'd brought me in and that was like a big show at the time. And I literally had no voice. And I was like, this is a sign that I'm just supposed to go to New York. And I went to New York and the only thing you could be on in New York was a soap opera, uh, law and order. And there was like one season of the education of Max Bickford and Ed. Yep. That was it. That was like all that shot in New York. So maybe one other about all the like paramedics and police and. Sure. I can't remember what it's called. The education of Max Bickford.

29:47So is very epic. I was like, maybe I'll score a guest spot on law and order SVU. That was like dreaming for me, you know, and you end up on a soap, which like, it sounds like correct me if I'm wrong at the time, like, you know, you're coming out of Carnegie Mellon, you have some preconceived notions about soap actors, soap acting. What was your attitude like day one walking onto the set of like Guiding Light? So right before I graduated, I got the very first workshop of Spring Awakening, which was super cool. It was like all the way back when Duncan Sheik was like strumming it out on his guitar as we were going, going like, no, that's an A minor.

30:21Try that. It was like that rough. Wow. But it was so cool. It was at Sundance Theater Lab. I got to meet all my heroes, like all these icons of theater were there. And you're just like having lunch and dinner in the communal cafeteria space every day. It was unbelievable. And that director was also doing a musical called Thoroughly Modern Millie, which he also cast me in, thankfully. But we were waiting on our house. On Broadway, you get the producers who are going to do it, and then you have to wait your turn until a house that you want opens up before you go into a Broadway house. You don't just go on to Broadway.

30:54So sometimes it can take a few months. Sometimes it can take a while. and for us because of 9-11 it took forever right and so i got laid off i was bellman at the hudson hotel in new york on 58th remember that it was an ian schrager joint it was on and popping back in the day but um good times just saying on and popping should date me enough already but um uh so i was there and i i got laid off because they'd laid everybody off in order of seniority and nobody was coming to new york at the time right and i got this call like do you want to audition I'd done two episodes on All My Children with Susan Lucci, who's in Outcome, who I got to just come full circle with because she had spoken at Carnegie Mellon.

31:34I'm sorry. I go on tangents. I'm so sorry. No, this is great. She had spoken at Carnegie Mellon, and three months later, I was on set with her. She was the first person on camera I worked with doing two episodes playing her daughter's ex-lesbian lover's new fiance. Sure. You remember. Classic. Yeah. So I had had a couple days on it, so I had a little bit of a sense of what it was. and they were like, do you want to come and audition for like a real role on the show? And I thought, I don't know, man. And it ended up being the best choice I ever made because I was terrified to be on camera. I had no idea.

32:06At the time, we didn't have a camera study class at school. So this is perfect for you. This is teaching you. This is before everybody had a camera on their phone. Like you're learning on the fly. It was like getting paid to go to grad school. You know, there were times I was doing like 30, 40 pages a day with one take. doing the craziest circumstances you've ever seen. And by the end, they could be like, okay, Matt, we don't have time to rehearse a scene. Like, come down here, cry out of your downstage eye on camera, two if you can on this line, that'd be amazing. Okay, and five, four, three.

32:38And you have to be able to do it. It's just like getting shot out of a cannon. So it makes you make choices really quickly. Can you sum up the arc of Ben Reed in 60 seconds for us? Do you really want to hear it? Yeah. Okay, I'll try to remember. It's been a minute. He's a trust fund baby who bet his fraternity brothers that he could be the first to deflower the town virgin who was like the young female heroine on the show. But then, of course, he falls in love with her. But then she finds out about his attempt to deflower her. And so she dumps him. Then he falls in love with this other girl. But then he loses his trust fund.

33:14So he turns to the only life that one can, which is to become a male sex worker. and all my clients were like women in their 40s. I was like 22. Meet them at 6 a.m. and be doing intimacy scenes by 9. And then he goes crazy because his girlfriend finds out that he's a sex worker. And so she dumps him. He goes crazy, kills four people, then kidnaps her to a remote cabin in the woods where he holds her hostage with a syringe full of insulin. And then when he gets busted, he injects himself with it but then hangs on one extra day in the hospital to apologize for all his sins i told the writers that when i got there i was like look i'm not going to be here i don't know if i'll be here that long so give me the craziest shit you've ever given anybody and they obliged yeah but my favorite thing was after all that i remember i was like in my dying makeup walking off the soundstage and a writer comes up to me and goes if you ever want to come back we've got it figured out I was like that's so nice of you I don't even want to know what it is because whatever I'm going to come up with in my head is so much I'll have a lot of time to think about it you'll come back as a peacock in heat perhaps reincarnated I know we've done just about everything in my journey on this show but you haven't seen my peacock in heat so then there's this crazy story I don't know if you're sick of telling this story but it does coincide in a fascinating way where this guy was almost Superman.

34:48Like you really were almost, you were cast essentially, as I understand it, or very close to being cast. I was such an unknown at the time. It's so hard to know. I mean, I went in on a cattle call. Then I got a phone call from the casting people. Then I went and met with the director and read with an actress. Then I went back in and screen tested in the suit and signed the contract, you know, all that stuff that you do where it's like, okay, this is the next step. You're doing the role. and I know that I was the director's choice for the role and then wah wah it happens. So that iteration for those that don't know, it was never made it was a J.J.

35:23Abrams script it was a great script it was called Flyby and it was more about him when he was younger, he was like a college student trying to figure out like what it is to have all these powers and how to try to be a normal person and Superman at the same time and J.J. just crushed it with the script. Do you remember like what your take was in the audition or what you felt you brought to it? Well, at the time, so I was using my money that I made from the soap opera to study with this amazing guy called Ron Van Loo, who was the head, he's been the head of Yale Graduate Acting Program, NYU Graduate Acting Program.

35:57He's like one of the best acting teachers in the world. And so I was using my paycheck from the soap opera to take acting class with him. And I was just trying to take all this great knowledge he was imparting to me and just bring it into that. But I remember it feeling just especially with the director who was Working on the project he liked it very spontaneous and fresh and different every time and no two things the same And he liked to direct from the monitor a lot and kind of go see how you did that gesture do more like that That's the energy where it like that kind of thing So it must have been a head trip though because like you I would imagine you start to plan like your life You're like imagining like oh the next five years.

36:34I'm gonna be doing It was all so surreal to be going from a total cattle call to that. And suddenly everybody in L.A. wants to meet you. And all I really remember is playing Lose Yourself by Eminem and my headphones before every audition. And just trying to stay in the mindset of somehow that I could believe that this could be real. More Happy Say Confused coming up.

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38:06So we're going to jump ahead a bit. I mean, you're getting work. You're consistently working. You're doing some different TV shows. But, I mean, the big game changer we should talk about is White Collar, obviously. White Collar, yes, was an amazing role, a fantastic show. Which, talk about unusual casting processes. Like, I mean, they were not looking for your type. Like they were looking for an older British actor at the time. I think, I think, I think probably Bonnie Hammer, who's my friend now, um, at the time had Remington Steele in her mind. So I think she wanted like someone who's British and in their forties and I was like 29 and not British.

38:46So I had a hill to climb and, but the creator, Jeff Easton, I love him and thank God for him. He just believed in me from day one. And, um, he was like, I got your back on this. like you are the guy and the casting folks gail pillsbury um she had i'd gone in for her on a bunch of things that i'd gotten close on and she was really in my corner and so i think i ended up i think i had tested for it twice um i tested for it once and i was his choice but they were like no we want someone who's older and then uh they were like we'll give them one more chance at it i had to test against a whole other round of actors so i think i tested against like 10 people total.

39:25Testing means you've auditioned for it multiple times and the network and the studio have signed off on like five people usually. I don't know if it even still works this way, but to come in in front of a room of suits and like perform the scenes for them. And by the time you're on set, you're making the show. Did you immediately realize how delicious an opportunity this was? This suave con man could be for you? I mean, I realized at the second I met Tim Decay. Yeah. Because I met him, I had been cast in the role and he came into audition and he had a very improvisational quality to him. And he understood who his character was supposed to be in opposition to my character.

40:05And his talent was so great that I understood my role better because of him. And I remember him leaving the room and me going, that's the guy, that's him. And if we can do that on camera, we're going to have a good show. And so I just mentioned that. Not that my word meant anything at the time, but thankfully it all worked out. Where the hell are we at with the reboot sequel? It keeps coming up. We keep talking about it. It feels like where there's a will, there's a way or not. What's the status? I don't know. I think it's probably public. It's an interesting time in our industry right now. where I won't obviously name names, but people who are so far above my pay grade are having a hard time getting anything pushed through the ranks.

40:53I think it's just a scary time where the industry is still kind of reeling from the pandemic, the strike, and also how is AI going to fall into the marketplace. And so things that seem like such a slam dunk are really, really hard to get through the corporate ladder. But we'll see. You know what I thought could be fun, too, is if Tim and I did a rewatchables podcast together. No-brainer. Not to edge in on your game, dog. There's plenty of room in the podcast field. Do it. Do it. Would you listen to that? Okay. What are they going to say? No. But thank you. I appreciate it. So jumping ahead to 2012 is an interesting year for a couple of reasons.

41:35Professionally, there's Magic Mike, which I want to talk about. But it's also the year that you come out publicly in kind of the least grandiose coming out way. Which was clearly like, I mean, I'm sure you thought about different ways to publicly acknowledge your personal life. But it seems like that wasn't, I mean, can you talk a little bit about why you chose to kind of undersell and thank your family in a speech accepting an award in 2012? I mean, it had been kind of this long, drawn out thing where long before I thought it was even valid for me to do it because no one had any idea who I was or anything.

42:10And then being offered the cover of People magazine and stuff like that, which just seemed so sensationalized. So I just thought, well, how would a normal person behave at an awards show? They would thank their family. And I didn't want to sensationalize that. I wanted to make it like everybody else. And so that was kind of our MO. Makes sense. So I alluded to, and we talked a little bit about Magic Mike. But people, for context, for folks that don't maybe remember what Magic Mike was at the time. It was a very independent, small movie. It was not going to be a blockbuster. I don't know. I literally thought I was doing the girlfriend experience.

42:47I thought I'm doing a small Soderbergh gritty indie. And then these suits started showing up at the monitor. I had no idea. I was so green at the time. I was so green at the time that Steven Soderbergh's name was on the camera, which if you own the camera, they put your name on it. I thought he had helped design that camera. That's why his name was on it. It's very professionally, like, lasered on. But it turns out he did actually help develop some of the technology for it, so it wasn't that far off. But I remember asking Channing, and I was like, who are all these people who are, like, coming in?

43:20They're watching our dance numbers in L.A. before we came down to Tampa. And they were like, oh, there's a bidding war going on. And my stomach just dropped because I was like, I did not know this many people were going to see me strip. when you're rehearsing in your room and you're thinking about it, you're not thinking about no, I did not think it was going to be a summer movie but hey, thank God I mean it must have felt exposing in every possible way but I guess you're in it with all these great actors and Soderbergh so it's like, I'm not going to trust these guys you're a band of brothers and nothing bonds you like having to get down in that thong together and take it all off.

44:04I mean, truly, we were real close by the end of that movie and always will be in some ways, you know. And Steven's such a great director. He's such a pro. He typically only does one take. So you're not, like, suffering through these things over and over again. He really wanted that spontaneous live quality to the numbers. So we really only did it usually one time. Yeah, I'm endlessly fascinated with his process. Like, he often operates the camera himself. and by the end of a shoot he has a cut of the film. He's like editing us. It's just like he is one of one. He's one of one. He's a machine. He would actually, when we're doing XXL, that's Magic Mike Part 2 for people who don't know it by the Roman numerals, he would like edit the scene.

44:48He'd do a rough cut at the end of the day because when you're doing one take a day, you're only working like nine, ten hours a day. So we'd go back to his hotel room he'd pour a drink rough assemble it together with his headphones it was like watching a savant go and we'd just be actors making small talk badnage with each other and then 30 minutes later he'd be like alright here's today's scenes and it was the rough cut of the movie so that by the time we wrapped the film we watched a rough cut of the movie so we referenced that's not usually the process it's usually like a year before you see an assembly of a film together so we referenced your John Bon Jovi at the end of shooting, karaoke style.

45:30The music has recurred throughout your career. You sang in Magic Mike XXL, Glee. You were with Kelly O 'Hara at the Kennedy Center Honors. I mean, where's the full-on Broadway musical, movie musical? Is it something that feels like an itch that still wants to be scratched? I'm going to give you a really deep cut that I've never told anyone. That's why we're here. Josh, because I love you, I'm going to give you an exclusive that probably zero people will run with. So after Magic Mike, so I recorded, the reason why I sang on the Magic Mike XXL soundtrack is because we were filming the first one and in between setups of cameras, oftentimes they'll send the actors out, especially in like a group scene like this to entertain the background artists so that they can, you know, they keep their energy up and they're excited.

46:19And Channing had heard me like singing in my trailer or something. And he just put a microphone in my face and was like, Matt, sing something in front of all these people. And I was like, what? And he was like, I don't know, Jodeci or something. And so I sang Lately by Stevie Wonder through Jodeci's cover of it. And so he said, when we're doing the sequel, we knew we wanted this, this, and this, and we knew we wanted you to sing in the sequel. So he recorded a couple songs for the soundtrack, kind of just on a lark, although one of them was recorded by Ludwig, who just won his second Oscar. He produced Ludwig Lornstein, who just won his second Oscar, because he was working with Donald Glover, who was also in XXL.

46:58And so I guess they did well on Spotify, which is not something I planned for. But then the folks at Tower Records were like, would you ever want to do a recording album? Yes. And they were like, do you write music? And I was like, yeah, I've written music because I was a kid. So I wrote three songs. And they were like, we like it. We're going to set you up with producers. So I started doing that. And then I was like, like the deals, the music industry, if you think that if you think the entertainment acting side of things is crazy, music industry is like, no, no, dog. Watch this. OK, it is some craziness.

47:33But I ended up not doing it because people wanted such a big percentage. It was just so complicated between the lawyer. It was too much. And I had kids. And so but I ended up recording a couple of songs with Diane Warren. Stop it. That we recorded. 90 time Oscar nominee. 90-time Oscar, total legend. But I knew that if I released them into the world, I was going to have to go on talk shows and do them and tour around the country with them and do all this stuff. And I was like, you know what? I love her music, but if I'm going to do this, it has to come from me. And so we never released it. So there is an unreleased...

48:09There's an unreleased EP. Matt Boomer, Diane Warren collab. It's rough tracks, but yeah. The world wants this more than the podcast. for white collar Matt. So there was that. And I would love to do a musical, but look, truly doing a show like that eight times a week, you have to be an Olympic athlete and I would need to train for like six months to do that. So if it were ever the right thing, I would do it. Amazing. Okay, there's no segue from a musical to the normal harp, but we're going to talk about the normal harp, which is important. Yeah. And amazing. Thank you. Amazing piece of work. Obviously, these folks know Larry Kramer's Chronicle of the Early HIV-AIDS Crisis is a seminal piece of work.

48:54Something that I think you encountered reading perhaps in high school or college. Yeah, high school. That must have been meaningful for a thousand reasons when this comes around. Can you talk to us a little bit about the experience of Making the Normal Heart? Well, like you said, I had first read the piece when I was in high school, literally in the closet in the closet of the drama room. Yeah. And it just informed me so much about what was going on in the world that I didn't know about. No one around me was really talking about. I was living in suburban Texas. It wasn't something people talked about on a daily basis.

49:29And I knew a little bit about Rock Hudson and people like that. But it just, that play, Tony Kushner's plays, Terrence McNally's plays taught me so much about myself and the world. who I wanted to be and who I wanted to meet when I went out in the world and all those things. And so Larry Kramer was a total icon and hero to me. And even that I would have done that, you know, regionally in theater. The fact that I got to do it in a company of actors with Mark Ruffalo and Julia Roberts and Jim Parsons and Jonathan Groff and Taylor Kitsch, all this, this incredible, incredible group of actors. I hope I didn't leave anybody out.

50:10But look, I mean, basically my life peaked when I got married to Mark Ruffalo by Julia Roberts. I literally had to go, where do I go from here? All my childhood dreams have now come true. Another very important piece of work, and I was privileged enough to see you perform this on Broadway with another amazing company of actors, is The Boys in the Band, which, again, fantastic. You, again, Zach Quinto, Jim Parsons, Andrew Rannells, and more. again, something that must be meaningful for a thousand different reasons the subject matter, the place that holds in culture the company of actors entirely outcast as opposed to the earlier productions and your Broadway debut so was that a full circle moment for you, theater kid finally hitting the Great White Way?

50:59Yeah, I mean it was always the dream you know, and it was full circle in so many ways the fact that I'd known Zachary Quinto since we were 18 and now we were our dressing rooms were next to each other at the booth theater on Broadway and I was getting to work on this legendary piece of work that had never been on Broadway before um uh Mark Crowley's brilliant piece of writing and working with Joe Mantello who's just the chef's kiss of theater directors and it was a growing experience a learning experience and and um just beyond surreal unforgettable it was a perfect run yeah I didn't know if anybody was going to come see it.

51:36I was like, maybe people would be like, oh, it's the guy from the Big Bang Theory. Let's go check it out. And we'd have like, you know, a smattering of people in the audience. It was sold out immediately. And we extended as long as we possibly could. And then that sold out. And then it won the Tony. Yeah. I think this is why I haven't been back on Broadway. You set the bar too high. I was like, it can't ever be that experience again. I remember turning to Joe Mantello and saying that. And he was like it probably won't be this experience again you can't go do like cats now um we have to talk about fellow travelers which i mean come on yes give it up fellow travelers um

52:18hugely celebrated people were obsessed with this uh series and justifiably so and you were in this pretty early on as i understand it yeah you you kind of helped will this one into turning this novel into into this yes series i was i was really the beneficiary like i spoke about in my speech earlier i got so lucky that ron nicewander just saw me in this role robbie rogers believed in me i don't know i had never done anything remotely like this character so the fact that they saw this in me and believed that i could be a part of this it still kind of blows my mind um and they called me one day and said hey we've got the rights to this book uh do you want to read it and I read it in like three days.

52:58It was during the pandemic and I got back to the media. I was like, yes, I have to be a part of this. How can I help you? We pitched it around town and thankfully Showtime bought it and Ron had a great relationship with Showtime because he wrote on Homeland and had done Soldier's Girl with Lee for Showtime as well. And so we had a great relationship there and we had amazing executives who from the get-go in the creative process were like, push it farther, take that. because I think some of the stuff could be perceived as really transgressive and really pushing the envelope. And they were like, no, go farther.

53:33Scare yourself with this. To Ron, really. And I have to say, I wasn't sure. It was so hit or miss. It wouldn't get made today. It wouldn't get greenlit today. Why do you say that? Well, maybe you see something like heated rivalry and you think, okay, maybe it could thread the needle. But we're talking about an expensive period piece. right um it's just a it's it's more of a game that's more political that doesn't have as quite as happy an ending so um it's just you know i don't know that it i think in the marketplace they would have a harder time getting made for sure but um we just got really lucky and uh i we're so lucky to find jonathan bailey um the first time because you know that character is written is like a waifish blonde twink basically in the book and Jonathan is like strapping handsome swarthy like just he's the sexiest man alive do I need to say anything else like so but he's such a great actor that immediately when we screen tested on zoom together and I was like oh this guy is phenomenal.

54:42We would be so lucky to have him. And he just brought his A-game every day and just made everybody else, including myself around him, so much better every day. Now you guys crush it together and you'll be happy to know Jonathan still has fond feelings for you. Jonathan Bailey sent a video. You got JB on the phone? Oh snap! Let's see Jonathan Bailey. Hello, Matthew. It's JB. I'm sending you so much love as always. And congrats on this award no surprises you are so many people's hero and definitely mine and I think I know fellow travelers will be one of my proudest and most special stories sets and partnerships with you of my career and with that in mind I've got a couple of questions one is about focus you have got this unbelievable ability to click in and I'm thinking about uh 21 hour filming days and me getting the giggles um lying in bed in a log cabin and you um you know I felt so so held by I mean sometimes literally held but I mean um I mean uh in terms of craft and sort of spiritually and technically held and um is that focus that you have something you've had to work on and how is your brain and specifically under sort of creative pressure because you're super bright and super funny and I know it's quick it must be and number two it was you attaching to fellow travellers Ron's amazing idea and adaptation of the book that made it happen, it was your attachment, your clout and I would love to know is there any stories you haven't seen or anything you're curious about that that we are going to get to see because we're ready and we'll follow you wherever you go because you're the best.

56:44Yeah, sending loads of love and hello, Josh and hello, everyone and congrats again. Bye-bye. I love you, JB. I mean, if that ain't class, what is? He's all right. What a great dude. Great guy. So, again, helping me with the questions focus and also other kind of passion projects like photo travel now you're making me realize it all goes back to uh oliver and my and my focus when they were trying to make me laugh while dragging me off stage when i was dead my character is dead um uh no you know what the the truth is uh it's a couple things i think i i my attention can go in so many different directions that i almost have to counteract that when i'm on set and just go fully into focusing on one thing and putting all those multiple channels into just one thing i lead a very monastic life when i'm filming and i just put all my adhd into one place and um just channel it all into that and um also i i feel like um if you're lucky enough to have like a great role like that where you're in pretty much every day there's this essence and this spirit of of the piece that's happening and that it's alive on the set that's all happening in real time that you're kind of uh and jonathan did this too but you're like the torchbearer of that and you're like carrying that with you through the piece because really um when you're doing eight hours of something you're the you're the only people who are carrying it episode to episode because you have different directors usually it'd be very hard to direct all eight hours um and so uh that that energy kind of with a character like that just kind of takes over in a way and it's not even like a oh I'm a method actor kind of thing it's just it's in your subconscious so deeply and in terms of is there another kind of passion project that you want to help bring into the universe like fellow travelers there's a really cool play that I've been workshopping with Michael Arden who's amazing he's like a two-time Tony winning director um that was off Broadway in 2008 that we're hoping to bring to New York that would be really, really cool.

58:57There's this movie, this Australian film that I'm trying to get made. We almost did it a couple months ago and there was some weird financing stuff, but that'd be really fun. And then I'd love to see something that explored gay marriage in an interesting way. I just haven't seen something that like, and I'm sure it's out there, and I apologize if you made something beautiful that I didn't see, but yeah, I don't know. I feel like it's a new thing. And it's, you know, it's not a total, it is heteronormative, but it's also its own thing, you know? And so, I don't know. I just feel like a really great writer could get in there and just find all of the intricacies of it all.

59:39What do you make of, you mentioned heated rivalry, the centering of the culture, like that being like an omnipresent, it was not a gay show, it was a show that everybody, the show everybody needed to see and watch. Well, first of all, it's so well-deserved. They are such brilliant actors. And the direction, Jacob Tierney does not get, he gets great props, but he is a phenomenal talent. The fact that he made that show look as expensive as it does and just the quality of it all around, that he leaves the camera on actors' faces, great actors, and lets them have these beautiful interior moments. That's so atypical.

1:00:17That's why I was so grateful to get to work with Bradley Cooper because everybody is just so fascinated with cutting, cutting, cutting, cutting, cutting. And if you really let the camera live in a moment with an actor, I mean, that's what has really transported me as an audience member. So well-deserved and something, I don't know, did you ever think you'd see it in your lifetime? I don't know. I don't know if I did, but I'm so glad it's here and may it last for many, many more seasons and congratulations to all involved, truly. The time has flown by, but we do have time to end with the happy second fuse profoundly random questions for you, Matt.

1:00:51Are you ready? The what? Profoundly random questions. Profoundly random questions, baby. All right, here we go. Dogs or cats?

1:01:01You got to start with the hardest one? Some actors have dogs. Dogs, yeah. Jessie Buckley almost got herself canceled by going in on hating cats on a recent question. Oh, I love cats. Okay, good. Oh, I love cats. I actually think there's a reason why James Dean studied cats and was surrounded himself with cats or something so They contain so many multitudes But they're so relaxed at the same time and complicated in their own world. Don't betray your peacock love man. Come on That wasn't one of the options You know, adjust it dogs cats or peacocks going forward. What do you collect if anything? Dog cats are peacocks and heat What do I collect?

1:01:42Yeah, what do you collect? Oh man? Um, what do I collect? Oh, sea glass. I love sea glass. Um, like, when I find a cool piece of sea glass, you would think I found a buried treasure. It's like so irrational and so not cool. I'm like, I got a blue one! It comes in blue! Like, it's so embarrassing. So, yeah, I have a jar of it at home that I've collected from beaches all over the world. Nice. Yeah. Favorite video game of all time? Did you ever play a game growing up? anything oh i mean there are a lot of them you're talking about of all time like what did i log the most hours on okay this is your son would never guess this because it's pretty butch tech mobile wow i love tech mobile i love football yeah i you know i was born into it yeah i love the sport and that was a great game mike tyson's punch out i'm really dating myself Newer games Oh, I love a lot of the new independent games I love the like Metroidvania one, what's it called Silksong is really cool Hades is really cool Hades 2 You're impressing all of us right now Well, I had to counteract Mike Tyson's punch I had to counterbalance that This is the Dakota Johnson Memorial question She asked me this, I ask everybody Would you rather have a mouthful of bees or one bee in your butt?

1:03:15Sorry, mom. I apologize. You know what? I would say a mouthful because I just feel like it'd be easier to get them out. Interesting. Okay. You know? Yeah. You're in the minority, just so you know. Really? 90 % of folks go with the butt. What if it's just stuck up there stinging you and you can't do anything about it? You make a fair point. I'm not arguing. What's the wallpaper on your phone? It is a picture of the bay outside of Big Sur with otters in the ocean. Thanks. Appreciate that. If you don't think I found some sea glass in that beach, you're wrong. Where did it all go? In Matt's trunk of his car.

1:04:00The last actor you were mistaken for? okay my sister thought I was Henry Cavill first of all I wish but secondly I had a junket day yesterday and my sister my sister my lovely beautiful amazing sister Megan and my mom are here today in case they didn't hear that from the speech earlier I don't know if you're including that in the podcast please don't but anyway they're here supporting me and my sister went by a billboard She was like, Matt, since when are you on a watch campaign? Now, my sister is an incredibly intelligent person and very perceptive. She was in the back of a car going very fast.

1:04:39But still, she thought I was Henry Cavill. And then I was at the junket and somebody else was like, oh, I feel like I've already seen you today because I saw you on the billboard coming in here. First of all, I wish. I'm just going to leave it at I wish. Yeah, this is good company to be in. What's the worst note a director has ever given you?

1:05:05I feel like I've buried this to protect myself going forward.

1:05:13You know what? It's when it has nothing to do with the scene or the life of the scene or even the rhythm. I understand if somebody's like, there's a great thing that Paul Newman said because somebody asked him to go faster, which can be a really irritating note. but it usually means like he said that the stakes aren't high enough you have to make the stakes higher for the character um so there's there's always usually some technical way to get into a note like that it's anything that makes you self-conscious or that isn't about the scene or is about how you look or a face you made or hey when you cry you blinked a lot and you're like dude i'm up here bearing my soul for you right like i don't care how i look right now i wouldn't be doing this for millions of strangers if what I cared about now our job is to get up in front of you and get ugly and try to be human in front of you that's what we're getting paid to do yeah so that kind of note doesn't make sense to me at all I don't confront somebody when I get that I just nod and then forget it immediately and just go back to the scene but no you're trying to forget all of that and just be in the moment yeah just you're trying to do the antithesis of that right Okay, and in the spirit of Happy Second Fused, who's an actor who always makes you happy?

1:06:29You see them on screen, you're in a better mood. Oh, who's an actor? We can edit this pause, right? Steve Carell. Oh, great. Steve Carell. What a treasure. Obviously, he'd had an extensive... Can I tell you a funny Steve Carell story? Yes, we're here. I'll tell you two things. I'm sorry if I'm going over time. Just cut this out. so I saw him in the FedEx commercials do you remember when he was in these FedEx commercials before he became famous okay now he had already been in Second City in Chicago and was like a big like legend in Second City but we didn't know that at home and like but I was I think I was still living in Houston and I was like that guy is a star he is amazing he should be a movie star I can't believe he's doing a FedEx commercial so cuts of years later it's like after the second season of white collar i'm finally like getting meetings on films and things like that and i get this call like hey we're meeting everybody we're meeting all these actors to um uh i just take a meeting for this new movie valentine's day do you remember that yes remember they used to like movies around like holidays arbor day the movie yeah exactly exactly yeah three callbacks for arbor day didn't my latin i was in latin club but it wasn't good enough um anyway i'm in the i'm in the elevator with Steve Carell and I cannot believe it I don't say anything I try not to bother people especially because I was like he must have the same meeting I have and so we go to the front desk he was he'd done like the 40 year old version he was a huge star and they were like they were like what are you here for and I was like I think I'm going to the same place he is and they were like no yeah no he's like here to talk about four projects that we've already greenlit.

1:08:16You're here to have a loose meeting about our 17th holiday movie. You're over in that room. Anyway, sorry Steve. I am sorry that I ever estimated that I would be in your company, but I love you. What's a movie that makes you sad?

1:08:35Oh my gosh. Dead Poets Society. Yeah. That's a good one. And finally, A Food That Makes You Confused. You don't get it. food that makes me confused oh I love it all food I love all food food that makes me confused honestly you know what when I'm in my monastic filming mode I do try to avoid gluten and here's my thing y 'all not everything needs to be gluten free we appreciate the effort we're glad you're here with us we encourage you to continue on your research but when it's grainy and gritty and I feel like I just ate a handful of sand I'd like you to go back to the kitchen and try again sorry

1:09:35we're renaming the podcast Matt Bomer's Hot Takes and that's the premiere episode the gluten episode exactly we lost our sponsorship from the gluten lobby congratulations on this award well deserved Matt I want to just say thank you again to the Miami Film Festival for hosting us thank you for coming out thank you to Matt's family for coming out and most of all thank you to Matt Bomer for sharing his time with us today love you all thank you so much and so ends another edition of Happy, Sad confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

1:10:16I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley, and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

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