Gillian Anderson

0:14Welcome to the Off Menu Podcast, taking the baked beans of conversation, the little sausages of humour, and putting them in the can of a podcast. Sausage and beans in a can, James. Oh! You're in the factory making these? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The factory of humour. This is the first time we've ever had a factory introduction. Normally it's when someone's about to eat it. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're working in the factory now. Yeah, I'm working in the factory, mate. Because the way this country's going, we need to remind people of the working man. Yes. Industrial revolution. That is it, Gabbo. My name is James Acas And together we own a dream restaurant And every single week we invite the guests And ask them their favourite ever Start a main course dessert Side dish And Drink I want to say Drink yes Not in that order This week our guest is Gillian Anderson Gillian Anderson James Well I mean International trej Yes international trej Absolute ledge It's pretty exciting Pretty crazy Obviously you know An icon as Scully on X-Files When we were growing up But now an icon all over again with Sex Education, The Crown.

1:25Also, some really exciting projects coming up that we're excited about. Tron, Ed? Tron Aries. Yeah, I'm glad you said it because I didn't know how to pronounce that. I'm assuming it's Tron Aries, unless it's Tron-ars, which wouldn't make any sense. I was going to say, Ars. No, Tron Aries, I'm going to say. It's an anagram of Arse. Yeah. But, yes, I'm excited about it. Now, Tron Arse, I'm going day one. Yeah, yeah. Day one, I'm going to see Tron Arse. Yeah, it's completely normal. Everyone's in normal, like, the world, but all of their arses are, like, computer-generated. Their arses have been troned.

1:58Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, no. They've troned our butts. Yeah. What are we going to do? I'm glad we're getting all this out of our system before Gillian arrives. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's good. But it is exciting. It's an exciting film that's coming out. Loads of great people in it, including, of course, Gillian Anderson. Yes. Hasan Minhaj is in it. We met him. Yeah, we met him. we met him at an award 7 money very hungover when we met him yeah yeah to be honest I would like to meet Hassan again and be sober so that he thinks more of me Jeff Bridges is in it of course the OG what about trespasses on channel 4 it's not just Tron there's trespasses when I was a kid in prayer we said trespasses I went to a C of East school those who trespass against Those who trespass against us thingy.

2:52Yeah. Yeah, that one. So we've got forgive us our trespasses. Yeah, forgive us our trespasses. I would say forgive us our trespasses. But then trespasses surely is like actually how you, but I think this is called trespasses. I think it's trespasses. Forgive us those who trespass against us. That sounds ridiculous when we say it. Yeah, yeah. Trespasses. Look, we've got things to ask Gillian, but I think question one should be, is it trespasses or trespasses? And what did you say in Sunday school? If it's called trespasses, it might be about a world. All of Jillian's things she's here to talk about are about bums.

3:23Our arses have been trepsed. Anyway, she's also got a drink called G-Spot, James. Oh my God, Jillian Anderson. Which has nothing to do with arses if my reading has been correct. Yes. Apart from with men. Yes, it's a delicious drink. A delicious non-alcoholic drink. Oh, by the way, if me and James sound like we're out of sorts or a bit weird, we're not in our usual studio today. We're in a different studio, Spiritland, because Benito's having the off-menu studio refurbed. He's having a refurb. And I saw the blueprints, James. You know, it's going to be exactly the same, but he's having a glory hole put in.

4:03Benito. You naughty little boy. We are giddy. We like little kids on a school trip. Yeah, we are. I've just had a coffee. We can't believe we've been allowed here. Yes, Gillian has a drink called G-Spot, James. It's a fresh alternative to the high-sugar caffeinated drinks that dominate the market. I tell you what, I think we're sounding like we need that at the minute. Yeah, I think so. Yeah, we need an alternative to high sugar caffeinated drinks because we are all over the place. We're buzzing off our wangers. Yeah, we're 40 years old and we're buzzing off our wangers. 39, thank you. Please don't wish my life away.

4:38It's coming for you, Ed. I know that. I'm not stupid. But let me enjoy those months. Yes, I'll let you enjoy those months. Thank you. We love Julian Anderson. Yes. We are going to kick her out at the dream restaurant if she picks the secret ingredient. That's what we tend to do. Yes. Normally we say the secret ingredient together, James, but I don't really know what it is, so you're going to have to read it out. Yeah, because it's quite long. The secret ingredient is nonfat tofuti rice dreamsicle. And that's something from The X-Files, yeah? Season six from the episode The Unnatural. Scully has eaten a nonfat tofuti rice dreamsicle, and Mulder is making fun of her for it.

5:14Can I check something? Yes. Someone else has suggested this ingredient to you. My partner. Your partner. Who loves X-Files. And now you're reading what it is off a photograph where she's written it on a card. Yeah. Why didn't she just text it to you? She had written it down while watching the episode on a post-it next to her and then just took a photo of it and sent it to me. Okay. So she's watched this episode recently? Yeah. Okay, cool. I don't think Gillian's going to pick that, which is good. Well, she might do. You never know. And my partner's very excited that Gillian Anderson's in. So am I.

5:51She was her first female crush. Can I tell you what happened when I told my wife that Gillian Anderson was coming on? Yeah. She simply went like this.

6:05Wow. Yeah. Wow. Well, I mean, we can tell Gillian Anderson all this. We can see, can't we? We'll see what the vibe's like. And you can watch this on YouTube from tomorrow. So listen to it. and then watch it. Sure. Listen to it, and you might think, hmm, what do they look like when they say those things? Yeah, I wonder if what I imagined in my head is the same as what actually happened. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And like, you get points. Yes. For how close you were. Yeah, and then Benito will send you a signed chopping board. If you, if you, yeah, if you get the most accurate, imagined version of the podcast.

6:34Yeah. And you've got to be honest about it. Yeah. Do a drawing. Do it in percentage. Yeah, percentage. Because I imagine like, this percentage, accuracy. Yes, like 100%. This is the off-menu menu of Gillian Anderson.

6:55Welcome, Gillian, to the Dream Restaurant. Thank you for having me. Welcome, Gillian Anderson, to the Dream Restaurant. I've been expecting you for some time. Exactly that. Do you have questions about James's entrance there? Yes, no, no, no. No, I was prepared. Yeah. Yeah. Who prepared you? A little bit of Googlage. Yeah. Googlage and listening-age. Yeah. Listening-age to other guests. I don't think I've ever heard the edge added to listening before, but it works for me. Listening-age, I like listening-age. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's good. I'll start using that. I might come away from this as talking exactly like you, if that's okay.

7:31Why not? Why not? You know, you're a cool person. Thanks very much. A lot of people think you're cool, you know. Pretty much everyone. Yeah. How's that feel? I'm not so sure about that but everyone I've said to we're interviewing Gillian and I'm like what the fuck yeah everyone thinks it's cool I'll take that I don't know how you expect Gillian to react to that James I want to know what it's like to have everyone think you're cool right one day the shoe will drop yeah that's I don't know but also everyone thinks Gillian's cool sure I agree with that but imagine if Gillian was like yeah everyone does think I'm cool then immediately I mean of course yeah yeah then you stop being cool don't you if you're arrogant about it duh I don't know I'd like that if you were like that yeah yeah if you were bringing duh back if I was bringing duh back yeah yeah I think that's great bring duh back I reckon yeah I think Billie Eilish tried to bring duh back on that song it kind of worked for a little bit wait which song can you sing a bit to me duh she has that it's a bad guy That bad guy song.

8:38How else does it go? Oh, God, I don't really like singing. I'm so scared of singing. And I think Gillian picked up on that. But I've made it sound like something of Noel's House Party. That one. That was almost Crowded House-y. It was a bit like that. It sounds like Noel's House Party. It sounds like something that should be on a nighties, Saturday night show, what I just did. Like a Chuckle Brothers theme tune or something, rather than Billie Eilish. I'm not Chuckle Brothers. You've got to know about Chuckle Brothers. Are you kidding me? This is a huge moment in podcasting. Oh, dear. You and me get to explain to Gillian Anderson who the Chuckle Brothers are.

9:13I can't believe that. I mean, they would have been at their peak at the same time as X-Files. So maybe... I've never thought of them like that. No, they were, though. So they were 90s. Yeah, so there's a chance that they passed you by because you were very busy during this period of time. I was, and I was also living in the States. Yeah, you're in the States. They don't sound like they were in the US. They didn't make the crossover. They didn't make the crossover. They're sort of like Robbie Williams. They never managed to break America, sadly. Yeah. And a couple of monkeys. Yeah. Or Jimmy Savile.

9:44Fortunately. Oh, yeah. And thank God. Yeah. The Chuckle Brothers, they were children's entertainers. They had a show called Chuckle Vision where they would just get up to hijinks. They'd have a new job every week and it would always go wrong inevitably. They had a catchphrase which was to me, to you. Normally when they were carrying something, to me, to you. Okay. One of them was sadly passed but another one was still trucking. Yeah. And there was always like I think there was two bosses. Yeah. And one of them would say no slacking to them if they were being lazy. He'd go, no slacking. Yeah. Like that.

10:15And as kids, we all loved the Chuckle Brothers. They both had little moustaches. Yeah. So that's who the Chuckle Brothers are, Gillian. They do panto quite a bit. They used to do panto quite a bit. Very similar, actually, if you ask me, to Tron. Another great link from you, James. Yeah. He's coming to cinema soon. Did they have light cycles? yeah they had light cycles but one they had a tandem yeah yeah oh i'd love that chuckle brothers got i've got in tron that's exciting being what was it like when like a franchise that you've seen for years because like tron even though there's been i think only two films is the third one yeah but like it's still like such a huge part and like you you know you will remember the first one yeah and now you're getting to go into that world what's that pretty cool to be yeah because you know you get you get a phone call i mean you know proverbial phone call every once in a while and sometimes it's like okay and sometimes it's like yeah so it was kind of like yeah what was the phone call like when you offered this podcast

11:22yeah yeah yeah a bit of googlage yeah it's all good uh yeah pretty fucking cool actually to be asked to be involved in Tron. And also, aside from my own fandom or whatever, knowing that they were throwing a lot of money at it. And I'm a big fan of Greta Lee, who's in it, and Evan Peters, and it's got Jared Leto, it's got a good cast, and it lives up to it. It really lives up to it. It's really good, actually. It's a fun ride. You've got to throw a lot of money at Tron, though, haven't you? if you can't skimp on the budget for a Tron film. Because science fiction, sometimes there's the other version of it, which is it can be rubber bands and glue and cardboard.

12:08Which has its charms. Which has its charms and adds to the cult appeal. So it could be that. But in this instance, it's many, many multiples of millions. High-end sci-fi. Yeah. And we've been debating how to pronounce trespasses. trespasses is it trespasses or trespasses what would you say the show that you're doing on channel four because in prayer time as a little kid at school i'd say trespasses yeah that was what we were taught to say but now if i say it on its own i say trespasses i've just never said it on its own i've only said it in terms of asking god to forgive me yeah and all of your trespasses and every trespasses against me as well yeah oh no i will forgive them when you started talking about prayer time it's very early for this as well jillian looked at me in the way most guests look at me at some point during the episode where they go, It's quite early.

12:59Who the fuck is this guy? Yeah. No, it's good. Yeah, yeah. I think I'd probably say trespasses, whether I say it during my morning prayers or whether I say it on its own. I think I say trespasses. Just to reassure you, I don't do prayer time anymore. This is when I was a little boy and it was having to do it. Yes. Have you ever thought about taking it up again? Yeah. Yeah, many times I've thought about taking it up again. Do you think that would answer some of the, you know? The big questions? The issues. The issues? You think prayer time would answer some of my issues? That's what I think. Yeah.

13:39No, I'm just thinking about your comments at the beginning about him not really being happy about anything. Yeah. Yes. That was before we started recording. That was before we started recording. Oh, was it? Oh, sorry. How did you phrase it? Not to repeat it or anything, but what did you say? He's never excited about anything. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe if you started prayer again, you'd get excited about things. Yeah. I could pray to be excited. You could. Please, God. Please, God, make me excited. Yeah. And forgive those who trust us against me. One of my drinks out there is called a Rouse. That will get you excited.

14:12Oh, yeah. I should sink a big can of a Rouse before I leave the house. Yeah. Just have some G-Spot. Anyway. Hello, guys. Nice to meet you. We're drinking G-Spot, which is your drink. Yeah. I'm drinking Lyft. Yeah. I'm drinking Soothe. None of us picked Arouse. I've gone for Soothe as well. I should have got Arouse, really. Yeah. We can do something about that. I don't want to drink Arouse while talking to Gillian. I've never met Gillian before. I don't want to risk anything. Benito's got a big can of Arouse on the go, actually. No, it's another Soothe. He's soothing it as well. It'd be fun to say he's got Arouse.

14:45Especially because he's got a laptop on his lap. We'd know if he was drinking Arouse. Well, presumably the laptop would be on the ceiling. Oh, my goodness. Word for bed. Oh, that's a compliment. Why don't you, buddy? It'd be through the fucking roof. You've got to be happy with that. You had to refurb another studio.

15:03Good stuff. And obviously we know that you're a fan of food and drink. You've got your own drink. Yeah, yeah. As well. So normally we'd ask people if they're, you know, if they're foodies. But I guess. I'm sort of a foodie. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I mean, I'm one of those people that could literally eat the same thing every single day for a year. If I like something. I'm not really that fast. but I do and I don't really cook I cook for my kids which makes me happy that's cooking so you do cook yeah I do cook but I don't I'm not very good at cooking for anybody else like for guests and what not what's your speciality that you cook for your kids what's your kids favourite thing on your repertoire one of them likes chicken wraps very much like you could eat that every day for a year I'm imagining a little Colonel Sanders yeah Yeah, well, I do, you know, it's just, it's, you know, sometimes it's salmon and kale and sweet potato and sometimes it's...

16:02It's the healthy kids, man. Yeah. It's Gillian Anderson's kids, man. Yeah. What do you think they're going to be eating? They're healthy kids. That's what I cook. I cook, you know, some form of protein and vegetables, really. That's what it is. Classic. Classic, yeah. Sometimes curries, but, you know, I don't make it from scratch. No. I'm not one of those people. You're ordering it in? No, no, no, no. I make it. I just use, there are these great like Massaman curries that are frozen. They're actually frozen. They're on like popsicle sticks. What? Yeah, it's odd. Have you ever considered during the summer just getting one out of the freezer and eating it like a popsicle?

16:43I have not. No. You should do that. But you add coconut milk or coconut cream and you start in. That's what I do. better than a jar for some reason it feels more natural feels like you're doing something and you're cooking something it feels more natural that it's on a lollipop somehow I don't know why it's how you find curry in the wild so it grows yeah he's put it out the ground he's funnier than I thought he'd be he's a funny guy he's a funny guy how funny do you think he was going to be like one to ten I thought maybe a seven but he might be like a nine he's nine on a bad day this guy that's amazing yeah yeah it's my job yeah Yeah, alright.

17:22That was a fucking offensive thing anyone's ever said. At least it was that way around. Yeah. Yeah, to be fair. I thought it was going to be funnier. People turn up disappointed. Yeah, I used to say he's way more miserable than I thought he was going to be. Yeah. Because I don't, you know, I think it's quite annoying if a comedian tries to be funny as soon as they meet you, right? Outside, I was like... Turn it down, turn it down. I was like, hello, thanks for doing the podcast. I turned your eyes, you were thinking... Yeah, you were very dry. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Very dry. It's kind of meant to be funny.

17:53Yeah, you should have come in with a little try to come in. You should have come in with like a clown. Yeah, he was hustling. Yeah. Yeah, I was hustling. Yeah, it was a hustle. And I apologise because that was dishonest of me. Well, we always start with still a sparkling water on the podcast, Jen. Do you have a preference for your dream meal? I do. Thank you for asking. Sparkling, please. I mean, obviously, G-Spot's sparkling. It is, yeah, because I like sparkling. You do like the bubbles. Yeah, I do. They're not meant to be good for you, though. They're not meant to be good for your gut or your teeth.

18:27I've heard this, but we've got to just relax, haven't we? Come on, we've got to have some fun now and again. Yeah, push the butt out. Yeah. Have a bit of sparkling water. You can't walk through your life going, oh, is this good for my teeth or not? Just get stuck in. Yeah, yeah. We've heard it not being good for your teeth on the podcast before, but I haven't heard someone say about the gut thing. Yeah. Yeah, I think it's, you know, or the air. Just the air in your gut. Yeah. It's not good for the air? No, it's not good for you. The air is not good for your gut. Oh, the air is. So don't breathe.

18:56I think. Don't breathe. Is the vibe? Maybe in the bubbles. Maybe something to do with the bubbles. In the bubbles. The extra air. Not all the air in the world. I actually don't know what the fuck I'm talking about. I'm just making it up. I'm sorry. Look, this is modern podcasting. We can just say something scientific and pretend that it's real. And it will be the biggest podcast in the world. Or politicians. Yeah, exactly. Just make it up. as we go along Ed is worried that now that air air in general is as bad for your gut so you can't breathe yes so that's going to be stressful for him now so well done that's Ed for ages now every time he breathes in all scared but you say it's the bubbles get in I don't know and then pop I say I don't know what I'm talking about is what I say I believe you though yeah I believe you I think you'd know but regardless yes they are sparkling because I like sparkling and also They all have an apple base because I mix apple juice with sparkling water in my life.

19:55Yeah. Just at home, what are your ratios there? Oh, good. Very good question. It's important. Yeah. Half and half, probably. It should probably be a quarter to three quarter. Heavier on the water. Sure. But it depends. Over the years, you've gone up with the apple juice, I imagine. I actually am more likely to have more apple juice while eating a meal and more likely to have more water in between. But I shouldn't be having either. Really? You shouldn't have apple juice either? Well, you shouldn't really have… What's that? No. So many things are bad for you. You should… Well, no, no, no. But you…

20:35I know. But you're not really supposed… I don't want to use the word supposed. Sure. But they say if you have fruit at the same time that you're having food, it causes fermentation which is awesome not good for your gut obviously I don't listen because I drink it with every you can ferment your gut yeah oh my god although some fermentation is good for your gut again I don't know what the fuck I'm talking about I'm just saying yeah because I thought like fermented things like kimchi and that that's supposed to be good for your gut right it is but it's all the sugar that's in if you have a lot of you know I'm sorry to draw an X-Files like parallel so early in the podcast, but you're like Mulder and Scully in one.

21:17You believe something without knowing it and then you question it immediately. I can't be real. It's like both characters walking around. My girlfriend drinks a lot of apple juice. Oh, really? Yeah, got to the point now she doesn't have to ask me to get it when I'm going to the shop. I know that she'll need a new massive bottle of apple juice. What brand? Are you allowed to say brands? Yeah, we are. But I actually don't know this one because I've literally got it so many times from the shop I don't even see the label anymore is it in plastic or in cardboard it's a glass bottle it's a glass bottle you get a fancy yeah that's a fancy one that's a fancy one that ain't Capella no no it's big it's like a huge glass bottle you mean the big ones like that like Martinelli's with the no but like it's quite a tall yes like big bottle it might as well be a wine bottle really like a magnum yeah and I'm like that's always gotta be anytime I'm going out to get something I've gotta get one of those because she's guzzling that.

22:13Is she drinking it straight? She's drinking it straight. She's not doing the... I couldn't do that. It's not for me. She's not doing the... It's like, she may as well have like an adult-sized sippy cup like a little kid. Well, that's it. I think adding sparkling water to it makes it a grown-up drink. It does. Whereas drinking straight apple juice... Are you five? Is your girlfriend five? She's not. Just to be clear, when she was nine, which is still to come, she told me that when she's nine years old, she had her first crush on a lady she's ever had in her life. Can you guess who that lady was, Gillian Anderson?

22:49Well, I hope it wasn't her mum. I mean, sorry. Fingers crossed, not her mum. I'm sorry. Sorry. Why would I be bringing that up? On the pod, guess what? My girlfriend used to fancy her mum when she was growing up. What do you think about that? No, she loves apple juice. Oh, she loves apple juice. There you go. It was you. Really? When she was nine? Yeah, when she was nine. She remembers it very clearly. She's telling me it's her first female. She's old now. Yeah. She's like in her late 30s. I mean, she would be. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, you were her first. Well, she knew at nine that she had a crush.

23:28Yeah, she was like, this is the real deal. Right, okay. Yeah, like this lady is like, I can't stop thinking about her. Oh, interesting. Yeah, yeah. And what did your wife say when? Oh, yeah. I said we're interviewing Julian Anderson tomorrow and she went like this so there you go both of our partners are very jealous that we're speaking to you clearly yeah rather and apparently my wife is like Les Dawson that was my impression yeah yeah Ed's wife's quite grubby I can't believe you miss Les Dawson now when was this you know Les Dawson old comic old comedian no I'm going to pick my references better moving forward no no it's alright this is good I'm learning I'm learning I don't know how useful all the stuff you're learning is I do apologise for what we're filling your head with Pappadons or bread?

24:17Pappadons or bread? Gillian Anderson Pappadons or bread? Definitely bread I love Pappadons But bread's the real deal That's not to imply that Pappadons aren't real But I love bread I love a lot of bread Oh yeah? Yeah I mean bread's probably my favourite thing to eat ever in the world I could eat it all the time every day. All the time. And do you? Or is this another it's bad for the gut scenario? No, no, no. I do eat bread. I do eat a lot of bread. What's your go-to bread? What bread is always in the house? Probably bagels. Oh, nice. Oh, lovely. We rarely get shout-outs for bagels. That's interesting, isn't it?

24:57Yeah, this is nice that we get... Because obviously we do this section every single episode. So it's nice to get a bread that we don't really see get enough praise. I mean, I like a sourdough loaf, like really crispy and kind of white, bad for your gut, white flour on the inside. That's really nice with a lot of butter or really good olive oil. What bagels are we talking about? What are your favourite bagels? Usually sesame bagels. Yes. But, you know, there's a big difference between, you know, New York is famous for their bagels. Yeah. And there's a bit like proper New York bagels. they just taste different than other bagels and I don't know what makes it different.

25:39Well we've had some guests from New York on this show and they claim it's the water in New York. So apparently the tap water in New York and the water they get is different to everywhere else in America. It's like amazing water. Is it? And it goes into the bagels. It doesn't feel like it should be. The tap water? That's what they say. No, isn't it full of drugs? That's why the bagels are so good. It's full of drugs. Full of drugs. No, but of course it would be. They say it's like it's from a mountain spring. Yeah. In New York City. That's what they say. Susie Essman told us that. Yeah. Susie Essman told us that.

26:12Yeah. She never mentioned that it was full of drugs. She didn't say it was full of drugs. I know, but if all those people taking drugs, prescription drugs, and, you know, the fentanyls of the world, are then peeing, you can't filter all of that out. I hope you can. Well, you can't. Are you saying every time we drink tap water we're drinking pee? Aren't we? Hold on. Hold on. Are we drinking piss? What are you saying? I can't believe this. Sorry. We're just drinking piss. No, but it's all going in. No, no, no. But it all goes into the water and the filtration, the sanitation systems, doesn't it?

26:50I mean, it's not all coming from London. It's not coming from the glaciers where. No, sure. But I'm assuming that they filter it well enough that there's almost no piss in it by the time I'm drinking it. No, it's not. Well, the piss is the least of your problems. Okay, tell me more of my problems. Well, the drugs and everything that's left over because the particles of the drugs is smaller than the particles of your piss, isn't it? It's all like drugs that was in your piss. It's all piss drugs. Gillian, how have you wandered down another blind alley where you're claiming to know the size of drug particles?

27:20How have I lived this far in life? How have I survived? I know nothing and everything that I do know is bollocks. It'd be a great episode. I would like it, but remake X-Files and have it that Gillian just plays both characters as one person. It's just like, you know that's piss you're drinking. No, it's not. Yes, it is. It doesn't piss. Well, look, I'm only reporting what people from New York have said. Okay. That the bagels are better because of the water. Okay. And maybe that's because the bagels are full of drugs. Yes. Maybe there's like all sorts of drugs in there. You've gone up as down as.

27:54All of it. Yeah. Yeah, it could be that it is for the drugs. And all the drugs probably balance themselves out, don't they? because they're all doing different things. Perhaps. Yeah. Yeah, so you're saying that like the uppers and the downers. We're really out of our depth because we're not very druggy. What would counterbalance the fentanyl? Would cocaine do it? Yeah, a bit of cocaine, surely. Fentanyl's a downer, is it? And then cocaine's an upper. I don't know anything. Cocaine is definitely an upper. Yeah. Because I've spoke to people on cocaine. But then prescription drugs, there'd be like loads of antidepressants in there.

28:29so that would be good bagel cheer you up bagel cheer you up bagel cheer you up yeah because of the antidepressants yeah so that's nice yeah did you find that the bagel cheers you up when you have it in New York uh

28:44might use that use that as a sound on its own but cut that on its own and use it in various episodes when Jillian isn't even on them and have it just in between people talking of uh if only if you're watching this episode will you be able to see that Gillian did a full 360 rotation not 360 because actually when I got to there my neck would be quite small 360 would be impossible that would really be X-Files yeah that would be full X-Files if you did that I'd go Walt that would X-Files so I could play the monsters as well and Scully and the monsters well it's a one woman show right yeah full 360 the other head yeah so we're giving you a new york sesame bagel as the bread course see i don't think so no not based on what my main is okay so you like the sourdough no it feels like it needs to be more i probably even though it uh traditionally it wouldn't suit it feels like it would suit for other reasons which is a challah oh yeah yeah lovely yeah yeah we've had that chose on the podcast before i think ben schwartz chose that yes yeah what did de niro choose as his oh he didn't choose anything he chose whatever's good for every single course yeah we had to choose it for him because and i and joe what a lot of guests had a problem with that and were like why has he not chose his own menu why didn't he do the prep i think it's very insightful into the life of robert de niro that you just learn that what he does now is turn up at a restaurant and the people there just bring them out whatever they think is best and i think that's interesting yeah is that a truism did he say that yeah he he and for everything we asked him he went i like whatever's good good food and then we did have to say robert we're going to be asking you the whole time what you want so just so you know it's not an aggressive act it's just the yeah it's just the format of the podcast yeah and the answer is always why did robert de niro do that is uh it's robert de niro can do do what he likes yeah yeah and you can do what you like yeah to be honest as well but we're glad you're picking something specific because that does make the chat way easier but yeah yeah i mean you must know some like some of those people uh actors and whatever who just turn up and they just go just bring me whatever's good you must have met some people like that you don't have to name names but like you know i'm sure you've come across that before i don't know if i i don't know if i do i feel like i've known a couple humans in my life not not necessarily actors who you know properly trust the people within the restaurant to make that decision but I think I'm too controlling right you know when you look at a menu you are deciding what you actually feel like at that moment and what if they brought you something that you didn't feel like yeah absolutely I agree with you and I'm looking at a menu before I go into a restaurant do you do that?

31:30I look online to do my research do you? yeah big time was that prior to doing this podcast? yes prior to doing this podcast yeah kind of one of the reasons why we do this podcast because we're both obsessed with food already our person sometimes I'll be going to a restaurant and it's like where are you going right and then within when i'm on my way to that restaurant yeah it takes me what he would get at the restaurant because he's looked at the menu online oh wow and knows what he would get that's funny he can tell you any any menu of any restaurant really no absolutely not he can recite it you can't like devon brown i'm so interested in this so how often do you go out to eat um probably less than i used to maybe a couple of times a week a couple of times a week but for a special meal out twice a week.

32:13So it's not really special anymore. And do you try to always choose new places that you haven't been to before? No, you've got to go for the old classics sometimes. It's like you say, sometimes you're just in the mood for something certain. So, you know, you go to the old classics. But I do like trying new places. Went to a lovely restaurant this week I'd not been to before called Okoko, which is a West African inspired tasting menu restaurant. Right. Very, very good. Was it? Yeah, it was excellent. He's the best at trying new places. Out of anyone I know, he's the best at going to new restaurants all the time.

32:40finding them, telling me about them. Every time people ask me, could I do this podcast? Yeah. We're in London for a few days. Where should we go and eat? I'm like, here is Ed Gamble's phone number. Yeah. I'm afraid that that is who you need to sort to. It's basically my job now is recommending restaurants to people in London. No. Yeah. Have you ever watched that documentary by the food critic in Los Angeles called Something Gold? He was a famous... But he would travel all around LA and go to like mom and pop's restaurants. You ever see the LA Times critic or something? Yeah. I know the guy you mean.

33:10Yeah, it's a really good documentary. He literally changed people's lives. It meant they could put their kids through uni and stuff because he would give a review of just this tiny hole-in-the-wall Mexican or Cuban restaurant, and the next week, they'd have lines down the block. They'd be swamped. That's great. That must feel really good. I think probably my favourite part of doing this podcast is when we mention a place and then people come up to us and go, we went there because we heard it on the podcast. And that must have been great for that guy, if he's running those reviews and then seeing that difference being made.

33:39But also he really cares. He really knows his food and knows the questions to ask about the ingredients. Well, yeah, we know what that's like.

33:50Let's start your menu proper now, Gillian. Okay. Your dream starter. Okay, so my main is pretty heavy. Yeah. So under normal circumstances, I don't think one would have a starter. You don't need to. But I'm going to. Okay. Thank you. James, don't try and get the slip started. I'm going to have like a pumpkin soup. Love it. But a pumpkin soup with roasted pumpkin seeds on top. Delicious. The roasted pumpkin seeds are very important. It makes a really big difference, yeah. And it has to be a little bit creamy, but not too creamy. Yeah. Our friend Josh Whittacombe loves soup. We learned this yesterday, last night.

34:33Josh Whittacombe's a comedian. Uh-huh, and he loves soup. He loves it and he has it before his gigs. He goes to his tours and he turns up at his tours. What do you think of this? He turns up at his tours and his tour manager goes and makes him a soup. What do you think about that? Wow. It's all right for some, isn't it? Yeah. Because Josh says he's not allowed to use the microwaves at the theatres because that's for the staff at the theatre and the tour manager's allowed in that little room, like the kitchen room where all the people who work at the theatre. So where does he make him the soup?

35:05In the microwave in that little room, in the little staff room. So the tour manager's allowed to do it, but Josh says he's not allowed to use the microwave, so he just sits in his dressing room waiting for his soup to be delivered to him. Oh my goodness. He thinks he's not allowed. That's what he's saying. But I reckon he is allowed to use the microwave. He's just lazy. Yeah. Yeah. Do you agree that there are two types of people in the world? There are soup people, and there are people who don't like soup. I think that's got to be. And it's pretty much 50-50, I'd say. Do you think? Yeah, in the world.

35:31Yeah, down the middle. Some people will go, no, I'm not having a soup. Yeah, no way. I'm not touching a suit. That's very good for both. Not for me. I'll tell you what, Ed, no slight on you as an actor because you were doing it alongside a professional there. Yeah. That wasn't very convincing for you, but Gillian, I really thought she didn't want a suit and then I remembered, I know for a fact she does like a suit. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was an amazing actor. Gillian's an amazing actor, you know. Straight away, you get the part. I wasn't trying. I'd not had a chance to prep for the casting or anything.

35:57Okay, well, you use all the excuses you want, but the part's going to Gillian. I'm not good in the room. you're not do you have to do self tapes surely you don't have to do that anymore surely it's been ages since you've had to audition no yes that's correct I don't generally but if it was a fancy fancy director and they weren't sure if I was right for it I'd be happy to do a self tape so who's the top director for you who would you go and take for do you have a dream let's say let's say Paul Thomas Anderson or someone like that were to say look I really but I don't know whether she can do it we have a character who doesn't like soup I need to see yeah the soup painting character soup painting lady you're straight you're straight on tape for PTA yeah that would be good that would be good Magnolia 2 yeah and one of the characters their storyline is they just don't like soup very much and then that comes round at the end a frog lands in the soup it's way less weird this time round the frog I remember that kid at the end he sat behind the desk and said something like this happens yeah this happens in life or something like that yeah yeah He's thinking about the coincidences that happen all the time.

37:05He goes and tells his dad, you've got to start being nicer to him. I tuned out when the frogs started. It's brilliant. Did that lose you? It's ridiculous. I didn't like it the first time. As opposed to aspects of the rest of the film. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The rest of the film I was on board with. Right, all right. But yeah, as soon as the frogs, I was like, this wouldn't happen. No way, Jose. We all remember the ages, like, you know, the age we were when that film came out. Yeah. It was like nothing we'd ever seen. So, like, I remember watching that film and loving the beginning so much that lists all these different coincidences and a bunch of short stories.

37:37And I was so on board and thinking, oh, the ending is going to be all of those coincidences. And then the ending is It Rains Frogs. I was like, what? And I was really like, I hadn't seen anything like that before. And then the second time I watched it because I couldn't stop thinking about the rest of the film. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. It is quite like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I guess nowadays kids... I don't know why. Nowadays kids would have seen Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. Yeah, and they go, this happens. If you haven't watched Magnolia, they would be okay with it.

38:03Yeah, they would be like... But wait, so how old would you have been when you saw... Late teens? Yeah, probably. So what did you think of the whole Tom Cruise character? Or any of it, actually? I thought that guy's speaking a lot of sense. That's what women are like. No, I thought... I mean, it was just like I was familiar with Tom Cruise already. So I was like, I've never seen Tom Cruise be like this before. I think, yeah, it's a pretty amazing character. Also, I hadn't seen many characters that are just out and out, clearly wrong. for the whole film, but also be painted in the end in a little bit of a sympathetic light, in a way.

38:36Yeah, I just thought it was a really different character to what I was used to seeing in films. I only remember the frogs, really. I don't have as good a memory as James, so I remember the frogs. I've seen this film. But you remember food? I remember menus and the frogs. Those are the two things I remember. Yeah, I don't know how many... Do you like eating frogs? I have eaten frogs' legs in the past. Yeah. I think they're fine. I wouldn't go out of my way to get frogs' legs. Right. Do they taste like chicken? They're chickeny. They're a bit stringy. Stringy? Yeah, a bit stringy, a bit fiddly, I'd say.

39:06You don't get a lot of meat on a frog leg. No, you wouldn't. No. So I wouldn't go out of my way. I'd rather have a chicken leg, to be honest. Would you ever lick a frog? I'd lick a frog, sure. Sorry. You know, the drug, the hallucinogenic frogs. I mean, I may as well lick a frog. I'm drinking tap water. Yeah. You know, it's all the same thing. Have a frog swimming around in some New York tap water. Have a good weekend. Would you look a frog? I don't know. I don't like hallucinating. Have you ever hallucinated before? I have. I have quite a lot in my younger years hallucinated. Love seeing the old quick glance at the PR.

39:46For the listener, I'm sat with my back. So the mood that Jimmy's PR is sat in. So every now and again I get to see a little. I have hallucinated a little glint. Yeah. A little look over. But it's not even nice when it's not on purpose. like you can hallucinate on purpose and at least you know that I'm making a choice to hallucinate it's coming but then there's sometimes when you hallucinate and it's not on purpose and that is even pricier yeah I bet no I'm not a fan of hallucinating I've never really gone out of my way to try and hallucinate yeah so you wouldn't lick a frog I'd lick a frog maybe if it was a controlled environment and the guy who had the frog was like this is what's going to happen if you lick the frog yeah and you knew it was a clean frog yeah a clean frog but also So, like, I'd be constantly worried it was a prank.

40:31Right. Like, I was going to lick the frog, and then I'd go, you can't believe you fucking licked that frog, you idiot. Right. That'd be really bad, wouldn't it? Like, candid camera. Yeah, exactly. Like, all of your friends standing around laughing at you. Yeah, I licked a frog. Like, curtains come up, and it's my whole friends and family. But the prank is just that they got you to lick a frog. Lick a frog, yeah, yeah. And then nothing happened to you. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's worse. I'd say licking a frog for no reason is worse than licking a frog for hallucinating. What if you licked a frog, and what you hallucinated was the prank show?

40:56Oh, my God. And that's a film. I think that's The Truman Show. Oh, what a film that is. If we're talking great films, The Truman Show. Oh my Lord. So good. I met Natasha McElhomers. I just stopped talking about The Truman Show during her editing. She introduced me to her kids because her kids thought I was 9 out of 10 funny. So I had a photo with her kids and then I saw that as a green light to talk about The Truman Show as much as I wanted. did she bring her kids when she did the podcast because there was a podcast it was weirdly they were there watching i've only been on the show have i got news for you oh yeah yeah but uh they went to watch have i got news for you because she knows someone who makes it and the kids wanted to come i don't know if it was because i was on it that episode or not but that her kids all right so like i got to meet them afterwards but then i definitely one of those things where yeah you're the one they're coming up to being hey we're fans and then you go i love the treatment show and you You talk about it so much, they're like, goodbye.

41:58And then that's it. You've blown it. So that's a shame. Do you think she remembers that? I bet her sons remember it. I bet they're like, we were excited to meet him, and then it turns out. He told Dweeb. He likes to do it. Don't meet your heroes. No. No. I don't think Natasha will remember that. You can ask. Do you know her? Your friends? I do know her. I do know her. But I probably wouldn't. Can you put that sound from earlier on? I probably wouldn't. Text her to say. Yes. It's a bit much to open a conversation with them. Did you think he was as annoying? And also, would you lick a frog? You've got to finish that.

42:34Ask my guy if she'd lick a frog. And by the way...

42:44Your dream main course thing. You say this is quite substantial. Yeah. Thanksgiving dinner. Oh, yeah, that is substantial. American Thanksgiving. Does that count? Am I allowed to do that? Yeah. Of course you're allowed to do that. We haven't had English guests choose it yet. Right. Have we had an American guest choose Thanksgiving dinner? We've definitely had English guests choose Christmas dinner. A lot. British Christmas dinner. But I don't think we've had the full Thanksgiving dinner. So this is great. Let's talk about all the components. Yeah, there's lots of components. You asked about sides.

43:13It's all sides. Yeah. When you've got one big bit in the middle and then everything else is a side. Yes. Have you ever had a Thanksgiving dinner? Once, but it's Canadian Thanksgiving. Yeah, it's probably quite similar. And it was definitely the best turkey I've ever had in my entire life. Oh, right. I think about it all the time. I have had Thanksgiving dinner once, but we were filming a TV show and I was pretending to be a member of the royal family, so I didn't really get a chance to enjoy it. Georgie Carlton. It was being Georgie Carlton. Yeah. It was a show called Almost Royal. It was me and Amy Hoggart were pretending to be 50th and 51st in line to the throne, and we travelled around America meeting real people.

43:49Like Borat. Like Borat, but kind. And we had Thanksgiving dinner with a family in a house in Florida. Oh, wow. Did they serve you mashed sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top? They did, yeah. Did they? They did, yeah. Now, I can't picture you eating that, Julie. No, that's not how I make it. But I figured that's what you would have been served. They did, yeah, like grilled and the marshmallows were grilled on the top. It's crazy to me. that I can't wrap my head around it because it's sweet on sweet. It's sweet on sweet. Sweet anyway, the sweet potato. Hello, closing the name. But very often people also add maple syrup to sweet potatoes even though they're sweet.

44:31Holy moly. That's a dessert, surely. Yeah, you'd think. So what are you having? What's your dream Thanksgiving dinner? And, think about this. Don't point to the guests, James. Who are your, if it's your dream meal, who's at the table with you? Oh, well, definitely my kids. Uh-huh. Definitely my kids and probably the rest of my extended family, mom and dad and sister and her kids and whatnot. And so it usually would be a turkey and would be mashed sweet potato, maybe a little bit of maple syrup if it's not sweet because sometimes they're not sweet. Sometimes you mash them up. Yeah. You put a little bit of salt and butter in them and they're not quite sweet enough and you need to add just a teaspoon of maple syrup.

45:18just a little jug maybe leave a little jug there for people if they want to sweeten it up even more no no no i i do control of that oh sorry i forgot about the controlling yeah yeah um also roast potatoes is that normal on a on a thanksgiving dinner or is this you bringing a little i don't know what normal is okay sorry i don't that's good to admit that yeah not a lot of actors I do admit that. I don't know what normal is. So, roast potatoes, sometimes in duck fat, but I'm not sure whether I prefer it, actually. But definitely, well, as opposed to just oil, heating up the oil beforehand and rosemary and garlic and that.

45:58Duck fat feels like it's the special occasion potatoes, right? Yeah, but then does it actually make them any better? I think it does. If you're using duck fat or, dare I say, goose fat, it feels like they're crispier and they've got that sort of rich luxurious taste to them I think but maybe that's all in my head you know how sometimes when you have a roast potato and it's really crispy, sometimes you taste and you don't taste the oil, it's just the crispy and then the hot goopy in the middle my fear is that duck or goose fat you only taste the the grease. Yeah, I think that's a good point. I wonder whether that's to do with like the heat of it before you put the potatoes in, whether there might be some cooking technique thing that changes that.

46:48Oh. So you just get, you just want the crisp and you want the hot goopy in the middle and then that's it. you don't want it to be dripping, dripping. Yeah, you can as long as you don't just taste that. Yeah, you don't want just drippy, drippy. No. You want crisp, hot goopy. Very glad we worked this out. Yeah, that's it. Okay. For the listener, Gillian's entire body language went towards Ed there

47:09Gillian trusts me on the roast potato. Yeah, yeah. Gillian's got a lot of questions for you. Gillian, I have a question for you, along with all the guests. Just for the dream meal, you can have three of your co-stars at the meal as well. Oh, yeah. Throughout your career, what three co-stars would you like at the table for your dream Thanksgiving meal? And this is no shade on anyone who doesn't get picked. Three is a very small number. Hannah Einbender I just worked with. Yeah, right. I would pick her. And I just worked with Greta Lee. I'd probably pick her. And I would pick... Gosh, this is interesting.

47:58How about Olivia Colman? Oh, yeah. Wow, what a line-up for Thanksgiving that is. That's a nice triptych. That would be a lot of fun. I mean I wish we had access to the inner monologue where you ran through people and went no not them I actually didn't land on anybody else in between but yeah I mean those three fantastic yeah Coleman's gonna be a laugh at Thanksgiving Coleman is a laugh she is a laugh she seems to be a laugh like doesn't seem to take anything too seriously when she's on press tours and stuff you know what I mean like she's promoting that film The Roses at the minute her and Cumberbatch just going around having a night jolly that's good she deserves a jolly I've become hooked with all the I watch YouTube too much Gillian do you it's a problem that doesn't surprise me trying to put it down yeah and like I just got so into watching the two of them talk about the roses I don't think I'm ever going to see the roses no no but like absolutely just love watching the two of them try and guess each other's films guess lines how long are your holes pardon me when you go down the kind of question yeah I know exactly what you mean but let's have fun with what it sounded like a YouTube rabbit hole how long do you do you wake up after how long and go oh my god I mean there's my afternoon yeah I don't know you know but like my screen time updates are getting longer and longer but you know each week it goes you did you average this much a day and it's like are you watching on your phone yeah oh right see I also watch a lot of YouTube, but I'll only watch on the laptop.

49:34Phone screen's too small for me to watch things on. Oh, yeah. Interesting. I'm just on it too much. I got absolutely addicted to watching videos of Dave Franco and Alison Brie talking about their relationship. Because there's so many different formats on all these different YouTube channels. And what does that do to your relationship? I think it makes it all, I don't know, maybe, I don't go back and go, you pretend to be, you're Alison, I'm Dave. Yeah. But if it's like that, but like I don't compare I think maybe I relate to their relationship that's why I like watching it I'm like that's like us because Dave Franco watches 8 hours of YouTube a day yeah he just watches 8 hours of YouTube and Alison is worried about him and Francis Gillian Anderson yeah I mean they talk about their cats quite a bit we've got cats right and I just like the way that they talk about oh that cracked him up how they met because it's so ridiculous he's laughing imagining watching the videos He is.

50:31He's totally admitted. Yeah, yeah. I just said, yeah, I think they seem like good people. All right. I like watching them thinking, they seem like good people. Yeah, you're too deep into this YouTube thing, man. Have you ever met them? No, and I can't now. Well, we can't have them on the podcast now because anyone who is listening who represents them for PR stuff is not going to be a stalker. Yeah, absolutely not. Creepy boy. Keep them away. Yeah. Even if they came on together, that would be the worst, actually, if they came on together. Yeah. That would be the worst. I'd know too much about their lives, how they met, how they feel about each other.

51:04It would be bad. Even though she's called Alison Brie, which is perfect for a podcast about food. Oh, my God. Do you know Mr. and Mrs.? Where you fill in the... They did that. I've watched them do that. Oh, they did? Oh, I was going to say, you could probably answer the question. You could do Mr. and Mrs. for her. Mr. and Mrs. and the creep. Yeah. What does the creep say? The creep's a full mask. You'd be like a ventriloquist, then. Yeah. You proposed while wearing a mask. Really? yeah he did he wore a mask that he'd kept from when they went to New Orleans together they met in New Orleans and then she was wearing like a mask at New Orleans and then he kept that mask and when he proposed to her he was wearing it and she didn't she didn't like it she didn't think it was a great idea that he proposed like that but I appreciate his heart was in the right place

51:54I didn't hear a single thing you said there no no no I was like I can't listen to this I've got to be friends I've got to be friends with this guy.

52:03I think it's cool that I know that. Yeah, yeah. I think that one day is going to be played in a court. Yeah. Yeah. It will. So can we talk through the rest of the components? Yes, we can. You've got turkey. Yes. You've got sweet potatoes. Yes. Mashed sweet potatoes with a little bit of maple syrup. A little bit. You've got roast potatoes. And with butter and salt. That's all you really need, yeah. And what else is on there? I usually make Brussels sprouts. like a Jamie Oliver recipe with bacon and chestnuts. Nice. But I don't really like them, but I make them anyway. Oh. Okay. Yeah, like Brussels sprouts in general.

52:38Or you don't like Jamie Oliver's Brussels sprouts. No, I don't like them really in general, but I make them because you're meant to. And they're meant to be good for you. And if you've only got a couple of green things, usually green beans as well. Yeah, nice. Then there's a couple of dishes that we've always had, family dishes, like a pearl onion gratin, which is almost like a cauliflower cheese but with pearl onions. Just all onions. It's really yummy. And it's got crumbled breadcrumbs on the top, and it's really delicious. That's not good for the gut, though. Ed, please. It's Thanksgiving. Get Jillian in joy.

53:19Thanksgiving is the time where you give thanks for your gut by mistreating them, right? Yeah, for sure. And then there's another one, and I have to say, I've already mentioned this on a food podcast. What other food podcast? There's no other food podcast. What are you talking about? No, on Jessie Wears food podcast, I talked about this dish, but it's a truism, and I can't think of Thanksgiving without talking about this dish. So I'm going to bring it up. Okay. And let's see if we, the way we react is going to be way better than the way Jesse and Lenny Ware react. Yeah, here we go. This is going to be good stuff.

53:57We're getting ready for this now. Okay. Here we go. All right. So you've gotten paler. That's something. I went to the Isle of Mull recently off of Scotland and we wanted to see wild ponies and there was a lady who could show us where the wild ponies were and she was walking up the hill with us and she said, what do you do for a job? And I said, I'm a stand-up comedian. She went, that's why you're so pale, just locked up in all the clubs your whole life. Right. And you're like, no, it's because I spend all day watching Alison Brie on YouTube. Yeah, that's why, actually. Thank you. Did you see the ponies?

54:33Yeah, we saw the ponies. It was great. He is a little bit like a ventriloquist dummy, isn't he? In his manner, isn't he? Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Very good. Yeah. Very good impression straight away. Yeah, this is the master at work. That's the clip. Benito, we've got the clip. That's the quickest anyone's done. No, it's really interesting. It's fascinating. I don't think I've ever met a live ventriloquist done it before. You met Jimmy Carr? Haven't you? I have met Jimmy Carr. You're right, so I take it back. Surely that was an X-File. Jimmy Carr? Yeah, if only. Popping out of a grate. If only he was just an X-File and that was all he was.

55:15That would explain everything. Oh, you mean a ventriloquist? I think we did have a ventriloquist dummy episode. Yeah, I'm sure you did. You must have done. How many episodes did you do? There must have been a ventriloquist. 211 or something. What's the one that gets brought up to you the most? Because I'll tell you the one that I've heard everyone say the most who watches X-Files and they're like, they're like the scariest one. They're like, I can never sit on the toilet again because of that big worm. Oh, yeah. Oh, the fluke worm or whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's scary. Tombs, surely. yeah and tombs yeah yeah what what did you find most scary like to film but when you're probably coming out the toilet like that oh no here we come sorry jillian we had asked you something else then we asked you another question and we kept on pivoting what was the original question the side dish we actually asking dream side no no it was the no we're not we're not at the side No, we were at the side dish that also came up on Table Manners.

56:18That's what it was. And we were getting ready to react in a great way. But unfortunately, we just proved we are much worse podcast hosts than Jesse and Lenny. Yes, I'm sure they didn't do that. Go off on a Jimmy Carr tangent. Okay. Watch this. Okay. All right. Concentrate. Yeah. Okay. So we call it green glass jello. Hmm. Interesting. And it's a sweet dish, but you have it on the plate, actually, with everything else. And it's got chunks of pineapple in it. It's got lime jello, cream cheese layered, chunks of pineapple, like crushed pineapple. I think it might even have a lemon jello, too. It's got different striations.

57:06And it's delicious. when you spoke to Jesse and Lenny Ware about this what was their reaction to that I can't remember was it I can't remember you'll take it very seriously and I really appreciate it but was it you are can I tell you my initial instinct oh yeah mine's going to be identical Gillian that sounds absolutely fucking disgusting I know everybody thinks even my children think it's disgusting and why are we making this another year in a row and I'm the only person who eats it ah okay but it's you know it's ingrained in my childhood DNA. Did someone make this for you as a child? Yes. Yeah.

57:43It was a family recipe. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it really sounds like a family recipe. Yeah, it does. It sounds like a family recipe from the Midwest of America. Truly. It sounds like. Yeah. Wow. And it is. How many generations was this passed down? I don't know. It sounds like something they call salad in the Midwest of America. Yeah. No, you're right. And would be on iceberg lettuce. Yeah. Put it on there and call it green salad. That's my vegetable. How much are you eating of it? If you're the only one that touches it, how much are you eating to make it justify having made it? I mean, a nice dollop.

58:24A hockey puck. Yeah. There might be one other. I mean, if my parents are over, you know, they will also have some. It's just my three kids. And it's going on the plate with the savoury ingredients. Yeah. And is it like, so does it get like gravy on it by accident and stuff? Does it like touch? And that's good? Yeah. It is, yeah. It is. It's good. Because also on there are two different kinds of stuffings. There's another family recipe, which is a, what's it called? Chocolate and porridge probably not your family. No, it's a, where has it just got out of my head? It's a cornbread stuffing. Oh, nice.

59:05Cornbread stuffing. My mum makes a rocking cornbread stuffing, which I make. And then I also will do one with sausage meat. Oh, yeah. See, that's great. Like sage and apricot sausage meat stuffing. Really delicious. Absolutely love stuffing. But next to jelly? I don't know. Yeah. Are you worried? What's it called, the jelly side? Does it have a name? We call it green glass jello, but only because a green glass vintage bowl fell and it broke into the jelly. That's nice. Into the jelly? Yeah, it was on top of the, somebody put it on top of the fridge, opened the fridge and the whole thing. So from that point on, they called it green glass jello.

59:46They didn't eat it. Okay. They're just, yeah. I like that. I like that. The name comes from something that happened in a family, you know, because it's a family recipe. Yeah. Are you worried that the green glass jello tradition is going to stop now because your kids won't eat it so no one's going to carry it on? It hasn't occurred to me, but I have a sister. And she likes it. And she has kids. Yeah. And she likes it and she will pass it on. Her kids like it? Well, probably. It's like pudding, right? Well, your kids don't like it. Your kids don't like it. Yeah, but mine are late teens. And they're British rather than my sister's kids are American and I can imagine the American kids being used to that.

1:00:26The British kids aren't going for that. And they're rebelling against, you know. As disgusting as I think it sounds. Yeah. Me and my brother and sister would have wolfed that down. Oh, God. Well, no. We're little British kids. No, you'd have to wrestle it off your dad. Yeah, yeah. But when you have turkey, do you have, like, cranberry jelly? No. I can do. Yeah. I guess it's the same sort of principle, isn't it? It's the same sort of principle, yeah. But you only have a little bit of the cranberry jelly, right? it's just a little tasty no

1:00:55or like a schnitzel when you have a schnitzel do you have the lindenbury jam and stuff and that's that's chicken that's it you know it's like turkey it's chicken it's the same so that's your main course and all your sides so we get onto your wait is that everything hang on let me think okay we've got a bit green yeah bit of orange bit of white this is how you remember things you think about the Irish flag or or Italian. No? Orange, not orange. Red. Red, I think. Bit of red and the cranberries all. There is, wait, there's something else, there's something else, there's something else. Oh, well, the gravy.

1:01:37Gravy is very important. Yeah. Now, let's talk about, when I say gravy as a British person, very different to what Americans might call gravy. What do you call gravy? Well, sometimes American gravy is like quite thick, like it's very thick flour based like a sausage gravy it might be like a white thick creamy sauce but are you thinking of more like a thinner meat jus sort of situation a meat jus situation yeah yeah yeah nice and you're thickening it up with a bit of flour but it's not flour based it's not like a bread sauce yeah you're not spooning it on or anything no but a bit of red wine in there yeah nice yeah love a gravy so important isn't it I love a gravy too yeah so important to really bring the jelly to life

1:02:24your dream drink I wonder what this could be were you waiting you left that pause because Abel's drinking having a sip of water but that could have been a G-spot you were drinking it could have been I'm happy to have a sip of G-spot yeah go on have you tasted it yet I really like it well you have to say that don't you yes yes I do but also I do yeah yeah because it's a sparkling functional drink yeah it is Yeah, and it's given me a lift. Yeah, it will. It really will. This one's Red Berries and Sarawak. Yeah, you should know what Sarawak is. Should I? Yeah. I've got absolutely no idea what Sarawak is.

1:02:59Oh, come on, man. You're fired. He wrote, what was the main book he wrote? Everyone goes on about it. The thing is that for the joke to land, you do have to remember what the book is so we can work out what you're talking about. Wait, who wrote a book about Sarawak? Sarawak wrote all those books. You mean Carawak? Oh, sorry. There we go. Good thing about that. If you said on the road, we would have forgot that. I knew it had the word road in it. See, that's what I'm talking about. I like the herbaceousness of this. And of course, Sarawak is a black pepper. Yeah. Yeah. I've just remembered that.

1:03:36And this one that I'm drinking is scarlet apple and sage. But the functional ingredients are things like mushrooms. You know, like ashwagandha, chaga, reishi, cordyceps. Do you ever take those in in any form? Way, shape, or form? No, cordyceps scare me now because of The Last of Us. Are they cordyceps in The Last of Us? Yeah, that's what grows out of everyone when they turn into really scary mushroom zombies. Oh, wow, I did not know that. That's the last thing that you need being brought up when talking about your drink. Yeah, because imagine if G-Spot was the start of a zombie apocalypse. Oh, my God.

1:04:13Yeah. There'd be a lot of blame at your door for that. especially the zombies have drunk aroused. Yeah, yeah. Oh, God. That's the last thing we want. Oh, my good Lord. That's a completely different show. How did this start? The drinks. Did you think one day, I'd like to start a drinks company? No, never. Or were you getting interested in, like, all these different mushrooms? Somebody in my life, my son-in-law came up with the idea of me doing a drink, which I had no interest in doing at all. but I was addicted to full fat coke I drank about five of those a day and so the idea of finding something or creating something yeah that um that I might turn to instead of it that was uh also good for me and initially starting with the lift um something that would actually give me the energy that I was after all the drinks are caffeine free vegan uh low sugar all natural and so creating something that I might actually become as addicted to as I was to the Coca-Cola.

1:05:17Yeah. And we've done that. We're actually really, really proud of their flavors. We work with a fantastic alchemist called Alchemy Sturt's Company in Stansted. And he did Seedlip. Do you know the – Yes. So he works with botanicals and really mature, nuanced flavors and anyway we're very happy with them and under normal circumstances wouldn't necessarily have chosen to do a drink but the whole branding around the drink feels very uh appropriate given stuff that i've been doing over the last few years sex education yes and uh a book i did of women's sexual fantasies anonymous sexual fantasies but the drink is actually not uh it's g-spot was chosen as much as anything because my name begins with a G.

1:06:10Yeah, it's not a sex drink is what we're saying. It's not a sex drink, even though we haven't aroused. Yes. It doesn't sound not sexual. It's called G-spot. No, but, you know, what's your G-spot? What's the place where you find pleasure? And it can be in the drink. You can find pleasure in what you drink. If it turns out my G-spot's in a drinker, it's going to be mad. Much easier time for everyone involved, I think, if you just hand them a can. Yeah. So just shake that up a bit. Yeah. I'll be good as gold. Could be in the next room. Yeah. Thanks very much. But it is delicious. It is delicious.

1:06:49Thank you. Thank you very much. I really like the herbs in this one, the juniper and coriander. Very nice. Thank you very much. We're in Ocado and lots of places. It's Sainsbury's Ocado. Harvey Nicks. Harvey Nicks. Harvey Nicks. That's pretty cool. And do you need two guys for the advert? we could be in an advert yeah you could yeah what sort of thing do you think we should do for the advert for G-Spot I think you could say we finally found it yeah yeah that's good it could be us looking for it in a supermarket or something yeah or in the bushes yeah in the bushes Ben made that joke this morning he came in and said I couldn't find because he had a bunch of G-Spot he said I couldn't find this for a while yeah good little joke for him so it's just me and James in the bushes you and James in the bushes Just looking through your G-spot.

1:07:37Me and Eddie in the bushes drinking G-spot? And then we pop out and our hair's all messed up. Yeah. We found the G-spot and then we hold up the cans, yeah. Sounds good to me. That's the sort of classy advertising you need for your product, isn't it? Perfect. When you were writing the book and you're getting all the... So you've got a load of fantasy sent to you, but they're anonymous. Yeah. How do you go about choosing which one's getting the book? Were there some that didn't make the book that you felt bad for those people? James, I've told you to not bring this up. I know you gutted that yours didn't make it.

1:08:04Listen, I think it was a good fantasy about Dave and Alison Brie. They frank her Alison Brie at all they wanted. The fantasy was just them talking about their life, fully clothed. That's the fantasy. I don't see why you didn't involve that in the book. James, you said you wouldn't bring this up. I just want to hear them talking to each other about their love. That's a good fantasy. Yeah. And the fact you didn't put it in. He is. He's like a ventriloquist. Yeah, he is. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But no, I don't think any performer would make their dummy say what James says. Yeah. he's a possessed one who's got ideas above his station yeah yeah one of the ones if there was adventure with a christian end up back in the bag yeah pretty quickly not for saying anything you know on pc or anything just for just doing their edit yeah getting back in the bag stop asking me stupid questions like that talk to me like a person what was the original question for jillian james i can't remember now anything you felt bad about not putting in that yes oh uh not bad no No, no.

1:09:01It took a while to go through all the letters. And we've got a second book, actually, that we're compiling letters from as we speak. But it's part of the modus operandi was asking women from as many places around the world as possible. So it felt like the book was representative of all voices. And so sometimes it would make a decision. It would be making a decision for a letter that was representative from a country or a city that it may not have been the better letter, so to speak, but it felt like the experience or the writing because of where the writer came from was that that was the more important decision to make.

1:09:47Did you notice geographical trends with the sorts of fantasies? Is there anywhere in the world where they specifically have fantasies about podcast hosts who talk about food? not podcast hosts but there are some around food fantasies around making food or partner making food during sex or after sex oh there is sex involved it's not just my fantasies my partner cooks me something so that would be the saddest letter no but there is yeah yeah or or you know does laundry empties the dishwasher you know that kind of stuff yeah which is interesting yeah it's so easy to make that person's fantasy come true yeah yeah geographically similar no i mean i think on the whole probably the ones that were more explicit came from the west you know very what what i found fascinating was you know the little bits and pieces that you get of slice of life stories because they don't want to reveal too much because it's anonymous they're not gonna you know but the little bits that you do get from the women's lives um and their relationship or the their religion or the culture that does or does not allow them to you know how scared they are that they're even putting it um down on paper so to speak and well that's really interesting

1:11:15well that leads us nicely onto your dream dessert it does you're right perfect yes perfect perfect bread pudding great yeah really eggy yes made with uh panettone yes this is great yeah with custard brilliant absolutely delicious heaven yeah custard cold custard hot custard this sounds great this is exactly the kind of thing i like i mean quite christmas pudding when made with panettone as well how's that yeah it's got that seasonal taste to it yeah yeah for sure yeah Yeah, absolutely delicious. And when would you have this after Thanksgiving dinner? No. In fact, it's been a really long time since I've had a bread pudding at all.

1:11:58And when I realised that that is what my desire would be, I thought, I need to have it more often. Yeah. This is the service we aim to provide on this podcast, to make people realise that they want bread pudding. Have you ever thought about actually making the food or having somebody make the food that the people have on and then having people back again and serving it to them. We have thought about it because it gets suggested all the time, so we've had to think about it. But every time we've thought about it for a split second and gone, no. What a bad idea. We're not doing that. Not at work.

1:12:30And who gives a shit? Like, only you would enjoy it. If we made your meal for you, as in the guest, not just you. What if the guest made it and brought it in for you? Sometimes that's happened. And then tried to get you to like it. Again, that's nice for us, but the listeners don't care. I'd say in an audio format podcast, the last thing people like is when everyone's eating on mic. I'd say that's definitely an issue. People get really upset by that. Where are you imbalanced in your lives? Good question. What, me? Well, we know your answers. I don't want to hear it again. Please, I don't want to hear it again.

1:13:07Where am I imbalanced in my life? Maybe work and relaxation. You know, I go hard on one or the other. and then absolutely hate that I'm doing it. So it'd be nice to find more balance in that. But other than that, I feel pretty balanced. And you're the kind of person who, when you realise that you want to change something, you actually take active steps to change it? I think so. I will think about it for a long time, but then I will actually take an active step. James is probably the best person to ask. I don't know what I do. Yeah, yeah. Ed, I got asked on a podcast recently, what do you admire most about Ed Gamble?

1:13:47And I said it was how disciplined he is with stuff like that. Right. Whenever he decides, I'm going to make a change, I'm going to do this now, he really does it and really commits to it. Right. To the extent he's one of those friends where when he does it, you think, I should really be doing it. Right. I should be looking after myself a bit better, actually. That's really good. So, yeah, he's... I think that says a lot about James. He's the best in the best. I should be doing that. Oh, yeah, yeah. And what would he say is the trait that he admires the most in you? You Mr. and Mrs. A little bit of that.

1:14:18Yeah, yeah. But I'm asking you what you think he would say about you. Oh, I think he would say about me. Yeah. I have absolutely no idea. Oh, yes, you do. I think secretly he doesn't like me. It's no secret. Oh, no. No idea what he would say. Would you like to know? Yeah. Very hardworking, very talented, never rests on his laurels, always creating, lovely man, very emotionally literate. Anything else? Do you want more things? That's very nice. That's lovely. Great company. Yeah. It would surprise you, wouldn't it, from the venture of the Chris Dummy? It does. It surprises me. That's a lovely thing to say about somebody too, if it's true.

1:14:53Thank you, Ed. It is true. I want to make it up. I thought nice to hear you. And do you guys spend time with each other outside of the podcast? We do. Yeah. Last few New Year's been spent together. Yes. Any more than one day? No. Well, we'll go away. There we go. We'll go away. On the 30th, 31st. and then we'll we'll you know leave on the second I leave it earlier but yeah yeah so it's up it's up to three days Gillian right okay that's impressive yeah outside of the podcast pretty good pretty good well the whole menu sounds great I'm going to read it back to you now and see how you feel about your menu you would like yeah sparkling water yeah I'm going to put a little bit of apple juice in there for you oh thank you very much appreciate it you would like hullabread for your poppadoms of bread starter pumpkin soup with roasted pumpkin soup I feel like we didn't talk enough about that we didn't can I quickly ask would you like it served in a big pumpkin absolutely not no main course it's gone so well up until that point no awful main course thanks for dinner turkey sweet potatoes roast potatoes green beans pearl onion gratin green glass jello both types of stuffing gravy drink oh g-spot of course dessert panettone bread pudding in with hot custard.

1:16:11Oh, delicious. I mean, I think I'm most excited about that dessert, but that is so up my street. Yeah. It's unreal. Very excited. I think that's a great menu. Well, thank you. I do, yeah. I thought it was making me very hungry. And my initial reaction to the green glass jello was that that would be horrible, but I do actually want to try it. Oh. I really want to try it, so I'm intrigued by that. So if I sent you the recipe, would you make it? Benito will make it. Right. Benito will make it, and if any guess... And bring it in and you guys can try it together. Okay. We'll try it with the guests that we have in that day.

1:16:45Okay. Yeah. If any listeners tweet the podcast and say like, hey, Mr. Benito, can I have some green glass jello for a treato? Yeah. You'll make it for them. Amazing. Send it to their house. Love it. I genuinely will make it if you send the recipe. Okay, I will. I will send the recipe. Deal. Gillian, thank you so much for coming into the Dream Restaurant. Thank you for having me. Thank you, Gillian.

1:17:11Well, there we are, James, the wonderful Gillian Anderson. Wowee! Wowee! What a pleasure it was to meet Gillian Anderson. And, I mean, so many things in there. I've never heard of the green glass jello. Yes. I think it's going to make for everybody. That's very exciting. It does sound disgusting, though. Yes, but I will eat it. Yes. By the pint. But you have to eat it with a savoury meal. You have to eat it with those things. Yeah, I understand. Yeah, separately. I imagine it's quite nice if you have it as a dessert. But the issue with it is you're having it with gravy. Yeah, yeah. So you've got to have it with gravy.

1:17:42So Benito, you've got to make some gravy. You've got to make some gravy, Benito. I understand all the rules. Oh, dear me. That was me picking my phone up. It sounded like a fart. Yeah. The rubber case of my phone dragged across the wood. It's because I have to look at my phone to recite the secret ingredient which Gillian did not pick. Which is nonfat tofuti rice dreamsicle from season six. Yes. Of X-Files, The Unnatural. And Tron Aries, not Tron Arse, is out in cinemas on the 10th of October. Trespasses, forgive us those who trespass against us, Yes, please. will air in November on Channel 4.

1:18:16And you can buy G-Spot drinks at stores nationwide, including Sainsbury's, or online at thisisgspot.com. Careful when you're typing that in. And you can watch this episode on YouTube from tomorrow. Listen to it and then watch it for all the little nuances. If you watch it on YouTube, be careful, because that thing is addictive. And you can end up on there for a long time. watching God knows what else. I won't even tell you what videos are, which you won't be able to guess. Because I'm presuming Benito's going to edit that out of the episode so I don't look like a weirdo. Things to enjoy on the YouTube video, Jillian's noise where she rotated her head a lot.

1:18:50Yeah. Jillian's impression of James. Yes. And also how uncomfortable it looks when she brought up her sex book. Yeah, yeah. Ed really didn't... When I was asking questions about the sex book... Oh, no, I didn't mind at that point. It's when she brought it up and she was looking me right in the eye and she was talking about her sexual fantasy book. And then you were scared. Not scared. Uncomfortable. Yeah, you seemed like you wanted the conversation to end pretty quickly. I didn't think the book was going to come up. We were already talking about a drink called G-Spot. That was enough circling around the nethers for me.

1:19:19Oh, I'm touring Europe in November. So if you live in, you know, your Denmark's, your Netherlands, your Portugal, weirdly. Circling around the Netherlands? Circling around the Netherlands. I'm doing Lisbon I'm doing Rotterdam I'm doing Amsterdam I'm doing Oslo I'm doing Bergen I'm doing Gibraltar Never knew her Always funny Yeah Always funny And you can go to eggamble.co.uk for tickets I'm also touring America next year in February Absolutely fantastic And then of course got to come back because we're doing bloody off menu at the Royal Albert Hall Oh yeah It's over We're struggling to sell tickets for that.

1:20:03Can't give them away. How many shows are we doing Benito? We're doing six Royal Albert Hall shows James and we just put the last one on sale. Yep. We're trying to get bums on seats. We sold 22 ,000 tickets. It's over. We're trying to get bums on seats because everyone's giving us a bloody standing ovation. Sit down. Put your Trons on the seat. Brilliant. Thanks. It's best in the biz. Well there we are James. Thanks again everyone for listening. Thanks to Gillian Anderson. Thank you Gillian. Let's all raise a G spot. and we'll see you next time. See you next time. Bye, Steve.

1:20:46Hey, I'm Alison Spittel. And I'm Fern Brady. And you might remember us both from our episodes of Off Menu. I think in my episode, I got very angry when I ordered toast in a restaurant and was presented with hot bread and then told that that was the nature of sourdough, that it simply doesn't toast as a bread. And I said that I'd take it in the hand and the mouth like communion. Did you? I did. That kind of brings us on to the topic of our new podcast, Ignore That Feeling, a show by two ex-Catholic girls who have never learned to acknowledge a single emotion ever. And the podcast is out every Tuesday, starting Tuesday the 10th of February.

1:21:23So please listen and subscribe.