"Brian Cox"

12:59Sean Hayes:That was a lot of fun. Good fun. Brian, did you have, so when you ended up making your feature film debut, directorial debut, did you find that it shifted? did you sort of retroactively go back and kind of shift your opinion of directors? Did it sort of even anything out? Well, I had more sympathy for them, but I still think a bunch of them are twats. Yeah, sure. I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I must be too... It's great. But I think you all agree with me. I think you've all been through that as well. Yeah, it's always interesting.

13:34Will Arnett:A director definitely needs to have a plan and, pardon the term, a vision and all that stuff. But when it comes to performance, you realize that they think they can control it. But it is like one of the few lanes in making something that you can't control. You can't control performance. You can't control music. Like everything else you can kind of get in there and make a decision on. But performance and music, there's stuff that happens in between action and cut that you just can't micromanage. It's got to live. It's got to breathe. And that character is the actor's character. It's not the director's character or the writer's character.

14:11Will Arnett:Like, you have to own it. And to be able to give the actor the kind of latitude to really feel like it's theirs, I think that frees up a really exciting performance as opposed to trying to get them to do the version of the character you always saw in your head. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, you know, I've suffered under that for the last 50 years or even 60 years. Well, you've pushed through it very, very successfully. My God, the performances I've been able to watch you do, Brian, It's just an incredible career. Let me just say thank you.

14:42Sean Hayes:Yeah, you have done so many. And, you know, these guys know I've gone on and on about some of my favorite films.

14:50Will Arnett:And you have one of Will's favorite quotes, too, about what is it? I'm going to paraphrase it here. I'm too old, too rich, and too famous to give a fuck. Yeah, it's something like that. I'm too old, too tired, and too talented to give a fuck. Yeah. It's so good.

15:08Sean Hayes:Brian, I love that so fucking much. That is really good. I just fucking love it. I love how you don't, in the best way you don't give a shit. But I know you do about the things you do give a shit about. Well, just the silly stuff. Exactly, exactly. Well, the thing I was determined to do with the movie was to get everybody give their talent. You know, the costume department, the wardrobe department, I mean, that's the same. and the design of the film and the DP. And, you know, you just want people to do their best work, not to say, do it this way. Right. Because once you say, do it this way, you've immediately put a block up for them to go, oh, I've got to do it this way, I can't do it.

15:50So I didn't do any of that. I just said, give me what you're giving me. Tell me what you want me to do. Tell me what you want to, in the design department, tell me what you want to achieve. And therefore, one had an incredibly happy crew. It's probably a terrible film, but we had a happy crew. No, but it's a true collaboration.

16:10Sean Hayes:I mean, you hired those people for a reason because you like what they do. You provide an environment where they feel like they can. That's exactly right, Will. That's exactly right. And not enough of that goes on. We don't trust. We really don't trust. We don't trust nearly enough. And if somebody comes on and says, this is the design, you just say, well, let's see what you do and do what you want to do. Do what you feel is right. And, of course, you can modify and all that. But at least you're not impending them. You're not stopping them from being creative. Wait, so for Glen Roth, did you find the project or did the project find you?

16:43How did that happen? Well, I didn't find the project. It's written by a guy called David Ashton. I do, you know, we still do radio back, would you believe, I don't, you know what the radio is? Sure, sure. Yeah, sure. Anyway, I still do radio back in the old country. And I've been doing a series for 20 years, which I go off and do for three days. And it's a series about an Edinburgh detective called McCleavy. And it's been very popular. We get about a million listeners. Wow. And David wrote this. And they came to me, and a guy called Neil Zyger, who's also a pal, And Neil said, you're going to be directing this film.

17:29And I've never directed a film. And I said, what? He said, you're going to direct the film. And they said, and you could be in it. I said, oh, that's kind. And thank you for letting me be in it. You can cast yourself, yeah. Well, you know, it's a wonderful, wonderful. There's a great comedian in Scotland called Stanley Baxter. And there's a great scene which he used to do where he played a little boy. and also his grandfather's dying and his grandfather's looking out the window and saying, son, one day all this will be yours from the hills to the river and all that land out there and he goes on and on and on and the wee boy says, you know, grandpa, that's an awfully big job for one wee boy on his own.

18:19So that's what I was reminded of, how an awfully big job it is for one wee boy on his own.

18:25Sean Hayes:Well, it's funny you mention that one wee boy on his own because I was thinking about, you grew up in Dundee, born and raised in Dundee, Scotland. Yeah. And now you're a sort of, forgive me, a sort of a world-famous actor, acclaimed actor. How did you go from that to that? What was that leap from your, what I've read, very humble beginnings. Oh, yeah. Well, my dad died when I was eight. And my mom had a... He was only 51. He had pancreatic cancer. And he died when I was eight. And I had three elder sisters. I was the youngest. And a kind of crazy brother who used to go off and disappear. And he was nine years older than me.

19:12And I was the baby. And my dad died. And then my mom had a series of terrible nervous breakdowns which resulted in her having electric shock treatment, which, I mean, she lost about 60 pounds in weight. I mean, she was unrecognized. I mean, she was a little overweight to start with, but she was underweight. So I had no parents. For most of my, I had my sisters, and I didn't realize it, but it was the best thing that ever happened to me. It's a tragedy, in one sense, losing your mom and losing your dad. Certainly, I was heartbroken, but I was liberated. No fucker was telling me what to do. No fucker was, no parent was giving me.

19:51How old did you, you were eight years old when your dad passed? Eight, eight. And then your mom, and how old were you when your mom? Well, she died much later, but my mom went into almost immediately. She had a huge breakdown and she was just hopeless. And also we were sending my youngest sister, actually my youngest of my oldest sisters, you know, she's 12 years older than me. And there were my two oldest sisters who were married, had children. I mean, I was, they were amazing. They were just amazing what they did. But they didn't look after me, but they looked out for me, which was better than being looked after.

20:24They made sure that I was okay.

20:26Will Arnett:Did you find that you were making a lot of really good decisions or did you make some bad ones and learn from those? Well, you just learn. You learn. I mean, I made good decisions and I made bad decisions. But at least I could get the lie of the land, what was going on.

20:42Sean Hayes:But I imagine that Dundee, Scotland at that time was a tough place to grow up, yeah? Yeah, it wasn't easy, you know. And it's a lot tougher now because we have the, you know, don't get me started. But we have, sorry, I wanted to be more humorful on this, but I'm in there. No, no, no. It's fitting right in. No, what happened is that we have the highest heroin addiction in Europe, in my hometown. Oh, in your hometown. Yeah, yeah. because of the poverty. And it's all about poverty. And it's what makes me a socialist. Socialists, I mean, what I can't stand about this country we're in is how they confuse communism with socialism.

21:25Socialism is not communism. Socialism is social welfare, taking care of the people. Communism is a dictate. So, you know, and I wish Americans would understand that, what the difference is. Good luck. What a socialist is.

21:38Sean Hayes:As a Canadian, let me say, Good luck to you trying to explain it to them, Brian. Well, they figured it out in New York. Well, the Canadians seem to understand it rather well. Yeah. We've got a pretty good understanding. I do have disrespect to either Jason or Sean, but, you know, Americans don't get it. No. They just don't get it. Well, they don't understand. And I'm not—I don't consider myself really anything, but I do understand that we have to take care. We're only as strong—the idea we're only as strong as our weakest link. and that there has to be a net because once you, if there is not a sort of a social net, then the whole thing falls apart and it sort of decays from underneath.

22:14Sean Hayes:If you have extreme poverty, which we do in this country, then the entire thing is resting, the foundation of our society is rotted from underneath, you know. So anyway. So Brian, growing up there, you said it wasn't as bad, but what gave you the hope or the courage to seek something better? Well, I had two teachers. I mean, my education was a disaster. It was a technical education. I was supposed to be, I was trained to be a bricklayer, really, was what I was trained to be. I mean, I never laid a brick in my life, but that was supposed to be my destiny. And I thought, fuck that for a game of soldiers.

22:53I'm not doing that. I'm not doing that way. And I just wanted to be an actor. I wanted to be an actor since I was three, you know, and that was my desire, just to act. Where did that come from? Did you watch a lot of TV? We had 21 cinemas in my hometown. Wow. Wow. That's a ton. Before the war, we had 42 cinemas. But after the war, we had 21. And now there's about four. And I visited every single cinema. And where I lived, there was a right angles to where I lived up the street. There was a thing called Arster Stone Terrace. and there was my church, the library, the Broadway cinema, and opposite that was the Royal.

23:36And it was double features. So you're going at 6 o 'clock and you would get out at 11. So I used to go there all the time. In fact, I'm surprised that when they were alive, they even noticed I existed, my parents, because I was in the cinema most of the time.

23:52Will Arnett:Was it a form of escapism? Is that what brought you into the theater initially? No, I don't think it's escapism. It's just joy. Yeah, yeah. It wasn't, I mean, I just got so much joy out of it. You know, when you live in Dundee, which was pretty heavy going, you know, in those days. I mean, it's a great community. I mean, but the city fathers always make a balls up. You know, they took people out of the town and they put them in these schemes, which is why they're still paying for it now. In fact, the Lord Provost said to me, you know, we're trying to get people back into the city. I said, you should never have taken them out of the city in the first fucking place.

24:28I said, that's so important. That's who they are. They're from that. And then you put them, you isolate them without any proper conditions, you know. And therefore, the heroin, the drunks, the whole thing just spirals out of, you know, and this is something that really gets me more and more and more. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We'll be right back. Summer gatherings are easier when the grill does the heavy lifting and Whole Foods Market has the ingredients to make it all come together. Start with no antibiotics ever, meat, or grill-friendly seafood like salmon and halibut. Add peak season produce like organic cherries, yellow peaches, and strawberries, plus fresh prepared sides.

25:18Finish with a limited time peach marinberry pie or soft brioche buns for burgers and hot dogs. Fire up the grill at Whole Foods Market.

25:33Will Arnett:And now, back to the show.

25:36Sean Hayes:So then you have this love of cinema. You're going to the theater all the time. And then you went to, if I'm right, you went to theater school in Scotland. I went to Lambda. Oh, you went to Lambda. Okay. Yeah, what was wonderful was there was a guy called Bill Davis. There was a series of directors at Dundee Rep. And the last guy was a Canadian called Bill Davis. Now, Bill is a director and a writer in his own mind. He lives in Vancouver. And also, he's part of that Davis, you know, the famous Davis family who run a lot of theatres in Canada. And Bill was great. And he said, he invited me. I think I was just 16, if that, anyway.

26:18I'm like, yeah, I was just 16. And he invited me to a voice class. And I'd never been to a, I didn't even know what a voice class was. What's a voice class? He said, come along to voice class. And I went along and there was this, he said, we've got this young woman who's coming up from London. She's just taken over now because the previous voice teacher who was a genius died. And this lady's taken over. And I said, who is this? She says, she's called Kristen Linklater. Have you heard of Kristen Linklater? No, you see? See, we don't know anything. We're smartless. I'm surprised at how really ignorant you both are.

26:53Except the Canadian. I find the Canadian isn't ignorant at all. But you two guys are really deeply fucking ignorant. You're right on. You're right on the money. You're right on the money. You sit there and wonder going, oh. Yeah. We're here to learn.

27:08Will Arnett:The little baby boy. So anyway, she was, well, look up Kristen Laker. Of course, she was, she's sadly passed away. Her son is an actor called Hamish Linklater. I don't know if you've come across him. And she... No, you don't know him. Jesus Christ. What about like Taylor Swift?

27:26Sean Hayes:Anyway. They think that you're making these names up. I know, I know. Oh, wait, yes. And I think... Yes, I know Hamish Linklater. They're actors that resonate. Pardon? You guys know Hamish Linklater. I know... Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes, yes. God, the Canadian. He's so sensible. What is wrong with you two others? My Google's faster. I know exactly who Haymish Linkletter is. So anyway, so that happens. So I go to Dundee. My first day in Dundee was a very funny day because I went up for my interview and I went up to the front of the theater and this woman in a very broad Dundee and I said, what do you want, son?

28:05I said, I'm here for an interview. He said, you're kind of getting to the front for the front. You've got to go in the back to get to the front. You can get to the front for the back, but you kind of get to the front for the front. So go in the back and then you can get to the front. I said, okay. So I went around the back. And as I walked in, there was an almighty row, a fight going on between an actor. Now, I'm going to say an actor's name and you probably don't even know who the fuck he is. But anyway, he was very well known. We've been pretty good so far. You've scored brilliantly. Anyway, this actor was called Nicol Williamson.

28:37Oh, yes. Oh, Nicol. If I had a Nicol. That's great. We've struck gold at last. Anyway, so I'm, this is Nick Williams. And a boy's like that, and he's knocking, you're backing me, I'm backing me. That is a great impression of him. You're backing me, I'm backing you, I'm backing you. And I'm trying to get past them to get up for my interview. And I'm 15, and I've never been in a backstage before. So I'm getting up, and I'm climbing up the stairs. I get past them, finally. And I'm standing on the landing, and there's a wonderful act called Don Granger smoking a cigarette. and he looked at me and he said, are you all right, darling?

29:14And I went, that man just called me darling. I have never been called darling before in my life. This is clearly where I must be. I have to be in this place. That's great. Well, I have to ask you, because I'm the person that always asks this, what's your favorite stage show you've ever done and what's the worst thing that's ever happened on stage in the love theater? Well, the worst thing that ever happened, And actually one of my favorite shows I did was I did a show by, do you know who Connor McPherson is? No, there you go. He's a very famous Irish playwright. And he's had a few plays on Broadway.

29:51And I did a play of his called St. Nicholas, in which I played a theater critic. It was a one-man show. It was a wonderful show. Really very, very funny, very inventive. And it's about this theater critic who becomes obsessed by this actress. And he becomes obsessed by her. And he follows her. And he follows her. The play she's in, he gives a bad review to in Dublin. And he's persona non grata because of his terrible review, having flirted with this actress. And finally he goes, he follows them to London and he follows them to their home. And he nearly rapes the girl, but he doesn't. So he ends up being kicked out.

30:28And he eventually goes to work for vampires. He meets a vampire on Crystal Palace Hill. And this vampire says, if you could bring people to our house. and, you know, we like to suck blood, but we never kill. We just only suck. We don't kill. It seems reasonable. And I said, that seems reasonable to me. But the idea was he would allow me a space so I could write. And the whole point of it is the fact that he's wanting somebody to write the story. So I did this play, which was a really good play. So one night I come on and I start the play. and I look to my right and there's my ex-girlfriend. Oh my God.

31:09What is she doing here? And then I carry on and then I turn over and there on my other side was my ex-ex-girlfriend and they're literally sitting opposite one another. Oh my God. And I'm completely thrown. And I just say to the audience, I said, I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen, but I'm going to have to start again. No way. Yeah. I said, I'm going to have to start again because this is, I can't explain what it is, but really, just please trust me. I will be better second time. That is so... Did you see them after the show? I did. Oh, my God. I did. And what happened was after the show, they came on and they said, oh, that was lovely.

31:53We enjoyed it. Oh, and tremendous. And I said, why were you sitting... To one of the girls, I said, why were you sitting opposite Arena? And she said, I wasn't. I said, you were. She said, well, I never noticed. I said, well, I noticed. You were sitting opposite her, and you're literally sitting right opposite her. And I said to her, I said, did you not? No, I never noticed. So I went through agony for no reason whatsoever. And they had no sense, yeah. And then that was it.

32:16Sean Hayes:But that's the, Sean, it makes me think, Sean, you're about to do a one-man show. You're about to do a one-man show. Sean opens, well, it'll be on now, I think, by the time this airs. But Sean's doing a one-man show off-Broadway. What's it called, Shawnee, and what theater will it be in? It's called The Un... Thanks, you guys. It's called The Unknown and it's at Studio Seaview, which is 43rd and 8th Avenue. It's a... Yeah, it's... But Brian, you'll understand having to explain, like doing a one-man show and I was talking to Sean as he's been preparing for it this fall and just getting off book, just learning the fucking...

32:54Sean Hayes:I mean, it's like... The way of... That's another story. I'm still not off book totally and it's been three months I've been learning. You're pretty good. Yeah, decent, yeah. He runs the show every day. You have to, right, Sean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I'm scared shitless. I mean, we're recording this and I haven't opened yet. By the time this comes out, I haven't opened. So if I'm alive, I'll let you know. But isn't it hard? Send a postcard. Yeah. But Brian, I mean, like the one-man show thing, it's just, it's colossal, isn't it? Yeah, it is. It is. It is. I mean, I remember I came on one night and a guy, I walked on, and a guy, he said, I came on, he opened his program and he went, and I took the program out of his hand.

33:33Threw it away? I just took the program out of his hand. You don't need it. It's just only. But I mean, yeah. But isn't it, I mean, did you ever go off? Like, go up on the line? Oh, yeah. I said in rehearsal, I was like, can I please have the script just off stage for emergencies? If I can't remember where I'm at, I just have to, I'm just going to, there's nothing you can do. You just got to walk off.

33:55Sean Hayes:So you're just going to dip off stage and take a look? What are you going to do? I mean, you know, I don't know. What about a prompter? Well, I'll tell you what's great now. I mean, because I'm a considerable old age now. Well, I don't really think about that, but other people tell me I am. No, no, no. You wear it well. You wear it well. Yeah. Earpiece. I know. I know. But I don't know. I can't imagine somebody talking to you while you're talking.

34:18Will Arnett:But only if you go up, maybe if you, only if you go up, do they then talk to you, right? Well, the earpiece, I've done the earpiece a few times. And the thing about the earpiece is don't think about it as learning lines. think about it as volition in the play that you want to keep it moving so you want to keep it moving in a certain way so this, because when you get to my age and you know, your brain isn't working in the same way it's a little slower by the way Sean, I just want to say I saw your show in London by the way oh I didn't know that, thank you yeah I did, I just saw it and you were absolutely brilliant that was just an amazing show but there is, I do have a funny story about it and please don't be offended by the funny story But anyway, so I'm sitting there and I'm watching this amazing evening.

35:01And I stood up and, you know, I kind of went, oh, Christ, because it was so extraordinary. Thank you. And the guy later on, the guy said, that was a wonderful mind. I said, what do you mean? I said, the guy, the way he mined to the piano. I said, that was him for real, you fucking idiot. You know, people have said that. And it's like, if I were to mime it or like, I'd have to imitate it perfectly with all the notes. So why not just play it? Exactly.

35:27Sean Hayes:By the way, it would almost be more impressive if it was the line. Right. That's almost harder than playing it.

35:36Will Arnett:Was there ever that discussion, Sean, to turn the piano such that the audience, some of the audience could see the keys? Yeah. Well, oh, I thought you were going to say the other thing that they couldn't. So that, because I did, I panicked before we opened. Talking about Goodnight Oscar. Yeah. And talking before, I panicked. I was like, if something, if I hurt my hand or I can't do it or like, or I get scared and I've been playing it too many times. can we just run a tape and I'll just fake it with the keys facing a wave, you know? And the director's like, you're going to be fine. I'm like, but you don't understand.

36:05Sean Hayes:No, but you did record it, though. You did have it recorded. Yeah, yeah, just in case, and I never used it. Just in case, right, but you never had to use it. No, I mean, clearly your command was just dazzling. Oh, thank you. That's right. I said, you know, what have I been doing for the last 60 years? I'll be fucking about. Well, Will and I were crying at the end of it. Jason and I were crying. Oh, yeah, I was crying, too. A, how beautiful he was and how talented he was, and B, how talentless we are compared to him. Yes, I felt distinctly talentless after having watched that film. Did you see Black Rabbit?

36:41No. That's okay. Pushing through. Pretty fantastic. Pretty fantastic. Or is this thing on with Will or not? And Lord knows. He'll get around to it all.

36:50Sean Hayes:So, wait, Brian, I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to get in before because this is one of my favorite films and in a film series. And I love the character of Ward Abbott from the Bourne movies. I know. I think people thought I was going to mention playing Hannibal Lecter, which you, again, you are the original Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter, which I saw in the theaters. Great movie. In the 80s. I fucking loved that movie. You were brilliant in that. Really brilliant. Chilling. And I'm not just saying that, but I'm such a Bourne fan. and I loved Ward Abbott because there's a scene there's so many great scenes you're so great in those movies but there's a scene where the kid finds out that it's you that's done it and he takes you down and he says I figured it out and what they did was they have a light switch and blah blah blah and you go okay yeah you go okay run it for me again and he does it again and then you kill him in the most brutal way and it's one of my I remember the first time I watched it I was like oh my it was so shocking you know so walk me through the Bourne movies if you can just a little bit did you have a great was it a fun experience did you like yeah it was great I mean Doug Liman is probably the most eccentric director you could ever meet you know he flies a plane like this he's extraordinarily eccentric but gifted you know just like he's got these flashes like there's a you know I can't remember which film I think it's the first one there's a sequence where Jason Bourne falls, it's set in Paris, and he falls off, and it looks as if he's going to kill himself, but he falls onto another actor who goes down, and that breaks his fall.

38:32Do you remember that? Yeah, of course. That was Doug's idea. That was Doug said, why don't we do that?

38:37Sean Hayes:That was the first one, in that stairwell, in that huge stairwell in the middle of the Paris. Exactly, exactly. And it was amazing. I just couldn't believe it when I saw it. And I thought, my God, because it was very brave of Matt to do it, but it worked like a dream and it was wonderful. Yeah, there's such a great series of films. I just had to bring those up because I love them so much. And of course, because I don't want to run out of time, and I know that people, because this is a big area and people are going to, we'd be remiss if we didn't mention it, and so forgive us for, hopefully, bringing up Succession, which has been so beloved around the world and talk a little, I mean, first of all, how did that come into your orbit, the success?

39:26Well, I just got a call one day to say that Jesse Armstrong was thinking about this piece and he would like to talk to me. So I got on the phone with Adam McKay, who was one of the executive producers. And Jesse always wanted me to play the role. and I knew, I thought this is going to be a hit. I just knew it was great. Oh, you knew it. You know, it's so funny to hear you say that because we ask everybody, did you know it was going to be a hit? And people are like, you never know. But I love that you just said, I knew. I knew. I just knew this was going to be one of the biggest shows of all time.

40:05Sean Hayes:Because the material was so strong? Yeah. And also, you know, just the part, I thought, wow, this is a great part because it's so, it's a received part. You know, he's not, he just comes in at the right moment. And then you've got this kind of real, kind of intellectual kind of bandit that he is, you know. And it was just an extraordinary, but the cast, I mean, the cast was amazing. I mean, and to watch all the actors grow through the whole show and see the lovely Sarah Snook, you know, Roman, you know. I can never remember the names of the actors, but they're also good.

40:47Will Arnett:how did you like how did you like the schedule of that was it was it was it did it seem just sort of relentless um or was that since it was an ensemble the the workload was all shared and no one ever really got gassed no no no one really it didn't become heavy in in any way and when it was a heavy episode usually you weren't in it you know which is what was quite good you know like Kendall's Birthday Party. I wasn't in that episode at all. And no, it was very relaxed. And such great players like Matthew McFadden, who's just a wonderful actor. And all of them, they were all great. Even Jeremy Strong.

41:25Yeah, sure, sure. And you were... Stop it now, Sean. Behave yourself. Please. I have a reputation, you know. I've got to think about it.

41:36Sean Hayes:Wait, so you find... So you get this material and you're like, okay, I think this is going to be a hit. You like the part. It is a great part. It's a great, great part. And then you, what, you shoot the pilot? Do you guys shoot a pilot or do you go straight to series? You know, that's a very good question. I can't remember. I think we went straight to the pilot.

41:54Will Arnett:Adam McKay directed the pilot, yes? Yeah, yeah, he did. I think we went straight to series. Yeah. I mean, no, I think we did the pilot and then it was literally like, I don't know, a month. And then we went on and did the series. But we kind of knew we were going to be doing the series. Right, right, right. I think so. I may have got that wrong. Were you living in New York the whole time? Well, no, I was living in London to start with. And then I got, yeah, I was cross-living. Yeah, because I live between London and New York. How do you like living in the States versus London? What's the pluses and the minuses?

42:26Will Arnett:Oh, God. Where to start? Where to start?

42:29Sean Hayes:Be careful because we don't want you to get stopped at the border. No, no, no, no, no, no. We live in funny times. I don't want any ICE agents. No. at my hotel door. It's difficult. It's very difficult. I feel very sympathetic towards Americans and where they're finding themselves at this time. Yeah. And in many ways, it's a very exciting time, but it's also in many ways an acutely depressing time. You know, and I find that, I go more to the depressing side than the exciting side. Yeah. And I just find it extraordinary because I love this kind of, when I was a kid, you know, You know, when I was 15, and I so wanted to be an actor, but I realized I wanted to be an American actor.

43:16Sean Hayes:Yeah. Because I never wanted to be Kenneth Moore or Dirk Bogart or any of those English actors. That just had nothing. Who were they? No connection. Oh, God, don't worry.

43:28You're being pernicious, Jason. Absolutely pernicious.

43:33Will Arnett:and we will be right back oh boy you know we talk about closets a lot on this show we sure do kicking the door down coming on out that we're basically talking about that closets are for clothes oh okay and i've taken that too much to heart because my closet is stuffed i've been meaning to go through my closet round up all the i should sell it i mean yeah listen you know what feels familiar in my closet. Maybe exactly what someone else is searching for. Buy, sell, and discover affordable secondhand fashion you'll love with the resale marketplace, Depop. Reselling can feel overwhelming, but on Depop, getting started is easy.

44:20Will Arnett:Just snap a pic of your item and Depop can take care of the rest, including suggesting a price to help sell. One of the best parts, there are no seller fees, which means you keep more of your money. No printer required. And you can even choose a convenient drop-off. No matter your style, Depop is where people with all kinds of tastes come to sell and shop. It really is for everyone. Parents selling kids wear, people shopping for the perfect outfit for a Friday night out and anyone who wants to express themselves and play with trends on their own terms. Download the Depop app now and start listening today.

45:08And now back to the show.

45:12Sean Hayes:I understand that too, though, Brian, as a Canadian. And I'm very proud of being from Canada and I love it. But as a sort of a newer American of almost 20 years, I always wanted to come here too. I always had that thing like this was the place. It's such a great country, the U.S. And there's so many incredible talents, and there's so much opportunity to do so many different things. I think that was it. Do you know what I mean? And also the history of cinema. I mean, cinema is an American invention. You can't deny it. Because my great passion is, in fact, my wife is so pissed off at me, because I spend my days, I've been working really hard.

45:49I've done four plays. I played Bach. I've done a play about the financial crisis of 2008, which I played Adam Smith, you know, the history of... Do you know who Adam Smith was? No problem, because of your education. Anyway, and I did that. I did that. And no, it was great. And I realized that I wasn't American. And it was very depressing when I realized, what was I going to do? Well, I would say this to us, you had a leg up being British or Scottish, whatever. Yeah, but just in terms of where you were going to go with your work, and it was just a very odd feeling. And then I was walking down the hill town of my hometown, and there was a film on called Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.

46:45You probably haven't heard of that film, have you? Sean's favorite.

46:51It's Albert Finney. Love Albert Finney. And when I saw Albert Finney, I thought, I'm saved. If he can do it, I can do it. That guy from Salford, Manchester can do it, I can do it. And also, Albert and I, subsequently, he was a bit older than me, but we worked together a couple of times. And I remember we did a play at the Royal Court. The Royal Court's a very famous theater in London. Yes, yes. Oh, yeah, of course. God, sometimes it's really hard work. Anyway. I look at these, you can't see, audience can't see, I look at these bewildered faces, particularly the two on the bottom here. That's just their resting face.

47:34Sean Hayes:They have resting, bewildered face. But Albert Finney, he changed my life. He just realized, I said, I can, that's my path. And of course, it was the time of, which was an amazing time in the UK, of the beginning of what they called the free cinema. And it was Tony Richardson, Lindsay Anderson, who you didn't know, John Schlesinger, who you probably have heard of. I put him in the same category as Lindsay Anderson, to be honest. But Brian, you have such an incredible, you're very funny, you're very charismatic. You remind me of another Scottish, one of my closest friends, Patrick Doyle. Do you know this composer, Patrick Doyle?

48:12Oh, yes, the composer. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He composed Harry Potter and Cinderella. Yeah, he's a great friend of the Irishman, what's he called? I forget his name. Jesus. Ken Branagh. Oh, yeah, he does all Ken Branagh's. He's a big pal of Ken. You remind me of him a lot. I just didn't know if you knew each other. No, we've never met, actually, ironically. We've never met.

48:31Will Arnett:You know what I want to ask you about? I want to ask you about, you know, Will and I moonlight a little bit with voiceover work sometimes, and I love the stuff that you do for McDonald's. For McDonald's, I know. And I wonder, how did that come your way? Is that something that you enjoy? I mean, I love it. gives you some very handy pocket change. He's loving it. It pays for a lot of stuff. It pays for a lot of stuff. I'm not complaining. Oh, yeah. How often do you find yourself in the booth recording new stuff? Well, it took a while, you know, because I'd been here for nearly 30 years on and off, you know.

49:10Yeah. And I, you know, I had a huge voiceover career back in the UK, which I couldn't keep up. I believe it. And that was before they'd do things down the line, which they didn't do in the early days because it was too expensive. So I had a great voice career. And when I came here, it stopped. I lost my voice career. And then I had this agent guy called Steve Arcieri who I would recommend to anybody. He is a brilliant, brilliant agent. He's in New York. And he'd been watching out for me for a few years. And he just came at me at the right point and he said, and it was McDonald's. And that was it.

49:46And then I did Uber Eats. Have you seen my Uber Eats commercial? I don't know if I have. Oh, you've got to watch that. You've got to watch the Uber Eats. That's very funny. Is that on camera or is that voiceover? Yeah, it's on camera. It's about, I play a sort of belligerent character who's going back to university in order to get Uber Eats because it's free. It's a huge price. Yeah, it's so good. It's a series of vignettes. And it won an Emmy, that whole band. So I've got that as well. I love ads. I love them. I do.

50:17Sean Hayes:Well, we do too. And I kind of want to sort of piggyback on what Jason was saying because we do, as Jason said, we both have sort of moonlight sometimes and get to do these voice gigs. But you have such great command of your voice. That was Kristen Linklater. Was it? There you go. That was Kristen Linklater. That's when I found out that's why I went to Lambda. And then, blow me, but six weeks after I got to Lambda, she left and came to America. because she taught at Columbia for a long time. Oh, wow. But it's just, like even in something like the McDonald's ads, you understand such a way of bringing something to the voice in a way that is outside the norm.

51:04Sean Hayes:You know, with no disrespect to anybody else who does voiceovers, I've done it for a long time and there's so many talented people out there. You mean like me?

51:13Will Arnett:Because you've never said that to me.

51:14Sean Hayes:I'm just saying that Jason's never done that. I mean, Jason sounds like, talk about phoning it in. I mean... He does it on his phone. I do it on my phone. It's like leaving a voicemail message. He does it on his phone. And did they say do it at a higher octave? I don't understand. Buy a Hyundai.

51:28Will Arnett:It's a great car. There it is. I just speak it, you know.

51:33Sean Hayes:But do you... And do you sense... I wonder also if you have that thing, which after years of doing voiceovers, where you understand, where you can look at a script. I have this thing where I can look at copy that they send me, and I'll go see the timing and go seven seconds, and then I'll go like, yeah, I can probably do that in six and a half seconds. Do you have that thing? Similar, similar thing. I mean, usually the scripts are so good and so tight. That's the great thing with McDonald's. They've timed it out already. They've already timed it out, so I don't have to worry. All I have to worry about is the performance, you know, just getting the way.

52:12Well, can't you just say, if it took too long, wouldn't they just say, can you read it faster? Oh, yeah. They would tell me to hurry up. But I like to get out. We have a great expression in Scotland, which is get on and get off, which means get on and get off. And with voiceovers, I like to get on and get off and not hang about on them. Because that's the other thing. if you hang about too much, their density doesn't support you. And with voiceovers, you have to drive them through. You have to do them. And just be abandoned to them rather than sort of, because otherwise, you lose the job because you've only got an hour to do.

52:55Sean Hayes:I find myself getting kind of ornery where I'll go, I'll be doing something and they'll say, you'll do a take and you'll go through and you'll get a perfect take. It's really good. You'll go, you'll lay it down and blah, blah, blah. And then they'll go, that's great. and they'll say, let's get one more for safety. And I go, safety? It's digital, right? What, are you worried about a hair in the gate? What are you talking about? You got it. Now, if you want me to do it differently or you have a thought, great. But otherwise, we're good. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more, Will. I mean, but again, we have director problems.

53:27Will Arnett:Now, Brian, was it a gentle pitch that they made to you when they asked you to do the iconic little jingle at the end there? The ba-da-ba-ba-ba. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba. Yeah. Did they, but was that, like if I had to pitch Brian Cox, hey, listen, we'd like for you to do this, I'd be scared shitless to ask you to do that. Or was that your idea? Was it in the copy? No, no, they just wanted me to do it and I did it. It's so good.

53:54Sean Hayes:If I know Jason, Jason would be like, you know what? That's a different pay rate. Yeah, that's going to be a bump. If you want me to sing it. Yeah, sing is a different rate. Sean, am I right? would JB hold them up for weeks on that? Sure, yeah. I don't know. I'll call you back. I'm not going to show up. Tell them to call you back. No, but what about, I auditioned for the voice of Affleck for that duck that goes, Affleck, right? Yeah. Perfect. Didn't get it, huh? It was between me and Gilbert Gottfried who got it. And I go, I remember the audition and I go in there and I had no idea what it was for.

54:27And through the glass, you know, I have my headphones on and they're just read the copy there and I'm like, Affleck? Like, I don't understand. and they're like, that's all it says. I'm like, that's all it says. Like, yeah, just do it. And I'm like. Do it like a goose. Like a goose. I'm like, Affleck. I don't understand. I don't understand what you want me to. And they're like, great, thanks. And I'm like, well, I didn't know that I was supposed to sound like an actual animal.

54:50Sean Hayes:Do you feel like your lack of intellect has held you back in other ways? Or creative impulse? Yeah. Oh, my God. It can be tyrannous, these situations. but you go to, it's a question of just moving it, you know, I love it, I love the discipline, you know, I love the discipline of the voiceover, you know, and it's just, it's just a great thing to practice your craft, you know. I agree, and I like that it's a tight space, I like that you only have a finite amount of space in order to get this point across, often it's a, it's not a lot of time, and there's something about that that I find really, GMC Sierra, are you talking about professional great we are professional great Will you're blessed with a very fine voice thank you I remember when I saw you in that wonderful film that you did with Brad and I thought your voice is very strong it's a very very good voice that's a compliment coming from you so I appreciate it thank you very much you've got great clarity and that was what was so wonderful about that part you were playing because he was on the run but the clarity was so strong and I was very, very impressed.

56:06If he ever wins an award, the first person he's going to thank is cigarettes. Yeah.

56:13Sean Hayes:They're the only ones who have never let me down, Chuck. They've never let me down. They've never not returned a call. They've always been there for me. So, Brian, you've done, it's so funny. You go back and you've done theater. You've won Olivier Awards. You won BAFTAs and Emmys and Golden Globes and all of it and film and television. Now you've directed your film. It is one of these, you know, we ask people all the time, like, what is the thing that you'd like to do? You've seemingly done, again, at risk of embarrassing you, it all. So what gets you up in the morning of, like, now that you've directed this film, what's the next thing that kind of you're excited to get out of bed to do sort of creatively?

56:55Sean Hayes:The next job. Okay. The next job.

56:57Will Arnett:Do you have anything left that you're curious to see if you can handle?

57:02Sean Hayes:Yeah. It only comes when it comes. You know, I can't, you know, you can't do over contemplation. What if I, what would I do, how, you know, just do it. But like you guys were talking about a one-man show.

57:18Will Arnett:Like I literally turned down one a couple of months ago because I just didn't think that's something that I could really enjoy doing. No, because you're not a one man.

57:26Sean Hayes:You're not a full man, that's why. That's it. That's it. If they said a half-man show. If they said a half-man show. Half-man show. A half-man show you could do. You could do a half-man show for sure.

57:38Will Arnett:Well, like, I got to get some theater under my belt before I take something like that on. Why don't you? No, no, I'm dying to do that. But, like, there are things that I am— You would be brilliant, Jason. I would love to challenge myself. That's one of them. I can't imagine there's a whole lot left on your list to challenge yourself with. Is there? I don't even see it as a challenge. I just see it as the work. It's part of the work. It's part of the job. And Jason, you're a very fine actor. No, no, thank you. You are. I mean, you've done the Ozarks, the work you've done. I think sometimes you don't trust yourself nearly enough, Jason.

58:12Wow. Yes, I like that. Let's get into it. I like this. Keep going, Brian. I think that's your problem. I think you really, you're very contained. And you're contained in a way that says, if I move too fast, I'll fall over. Ah. Oh. Oh. Look at this guy. Great note. And I think that that's your,

58:30Will Arnett:just let yourself go. You'd like to see me cut it loose. You'd sound like my wife. Yeah, cut it loose. Because you're so gifted. You're so talented. Thank you. And you should trust your talent more than you do.

58:42Sean Hayes:He did a very fine performance in this program, The Black Rabbit. Brilliant. He's brilliant in. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. And he is much more... He's a wonderful actor. He's a wonderful actor. You are a wonderful actor. I've had the misfortune, sorry, fortune of working with him many times. But I will say, Jason has, and I always say this to Jason too, and this is the great thing. He is so funny. Sean, you'll attest it. He's the funniest person. Ever. His timing is absolutely impeccable that you cannot teach. And I say to you, Jason, all the time, I wish you to get back and do a couple straight comedies.

59:18Sean Hayes:You're so fucking good at comedy. Well, if there's still me, am I doing? But you're denying us of comedy. Why are you denying us? They just don't make them anymore. Make a show. Do an eight-episode comedy show.

59:31Will Arnett:Yeah. I'd love to if they made those. They do. But you said that you wanted to do some more theater. Is that right? Yeah, yeah. I'd love to do that. And I would love to do some more sort of acting. I just haven't felt like, I don't know. It's a whole different subject about, I've enjoyed playing characters that aren't that character-y for lack of a better term I kind of got turned off to watching actors act so I kind of like playing the straight man and the talent in doing less but now I'm starting to think I might want to take on some other characters and sort of do bigger broader acting swings I think you've earned the right to risk it Yes.

1:00:17Will Arnett:It's not a question of risk or trusting talent. It's just a question of not, I haven't, the roles that I've been attracted to, I would be overplaying them if I did, if I ran instead of walked. You know what I mean? Jason, I can't see you overplaying anything, to be honest with you. Thank you. Because your taste is exquisite. Well, you are very kind. All you guys have got that. Thank you. And that is what is so good about you. So trust yourself a bit more than you do. Maybe we should have a private session. Yeah, this is not a bad idea.

1:00:51Sean Hayes:I'd pay handsomely just to be able to witness it and be a part of it. I'd love to have a session with Brian and Jason. Oh, my God, Sean, how fun would that be? We're kind of halfway there. No one's got it figured out. God, Jason, this is what you need. You need a mentor. You didn't even fucking know it. Yeah. Brian, you have mentored us all with your talent for so many years. We are so grateful for you coming on here. We wish you just continued success and a lot of success with Glenn Roth and your film that you've directed. Congratulations. I can't wait to see it. Brian Cox, you are an absolute legend and icon, and thank you for being part of our show today.

1:01:32Well, this was an absolute, I mean, this is an honor, to be honest, to talk to you three guys of such incredible talent. It's an honor. It's been an honor, so thank you. Thank you, darling.

1:01:42Will Arnett:There we go. Thank you, Brian. Thank you, buddy. Thanks, Brian. Thank you, Brian.

1:01:46Sean Hayes:The great Brian Cox. See you, bye. Bye, pal. Amazing. Have a good day. Bye, bye, bye.

1:01:50Will Arnett:Bye-bye. Bye.

1:01:55Wait, you know what? First of all, he's an absolute delight. Like, I had no idea he was so funny and, like, breezy. You know, like, light and breezy.

1:02:05Sean Hayes:I had the opportunity. I said this to Brian. He came to a screening of our film a few months ago, and I got to talk to him afterwards, And he, and when I, like 30 years ago, he was friends with somebody I knew. And I was out here, it was one of my first times in California. And he said, we're going to go buy Brian Cox's renting house in the Hollywood Hills. And we're going to go watch the Oscars. At his house? At his house. Okay. That he was renting. So I went up, it was like one of my first time ever like doing that thing, you know, you've come from not here and you go up into the Hollywood Hills to a house.

1:02:39Sean Hayes:And you're like, oh my God, look at the lights and everything. And then you go in and here's this guy who's this working actor, acclaimed working actor, and going to his house. And I was about, you know, 25. And going into his house and just being, and he was, you know, just sort of blown away and not knowing what to say. And, you know, and all you want to do is get a job. And he was so kind and so gracious. I was just some stupid ass kid. I'm not much different now, but he was, I'm some stupid ass kid. and he was so welcoming and generous and made me feel, and I was like, what a fucking great dude.

1:03:14Sean Hayes:Yeah, you can tell. Why don't you, you should have told him that story. Because I didn't want to cry.

1:03:21Will Arnett:Oh, well. Yeah, okay. Or have him say, no recollection. Turn the tables on us. No, it doesn't sound like me. Willie, you need to do, what about you doing theater too? I think Jason would be fucking brilliant. in a play, and so would you.

1:03:40Sean Hayes:I don't know if I have the character for it. Or the voice. Or the voice. You've got to reach the back row with your pipes. Yeah, you've got to reach the Italian guy in the back. You know, you always want to be like, oh, whatever you do, do not take the Lessington bus and then go across out and then cross back like a Neil Simon play, you know what I mean? Well, he was delightful. I love that guy.

1:04:04Will Arnett:He is a delight. He really, really was. What a great, great actor. What a great career My God I know It doesn't sound like He's gonna slow down at all I know

1:04:12Sean Hayes:Waiting for the next gig Yeah And I love that he's doing Like radio plays And it's just God He loves it Kind of does it all Sean is just making us

1:04:22Will Arnett:Hang here Making us come up With a bye Usually Sean Is coming I got one I got one That may or may not Have just popped up Oh Yeah Oh

1:04:33Sean Hayes:You know Wait Sean I have one Wait no no Sorry I have one Oh okay What's yours What's yours? Well, you know, it was great. And what a great, simple name to remember. You know, if you can't remember his name, you could always recall. Oh, yeah. What's his name? By-in-cocks.

1:04:51Will Arnett:By-in-cocks. Wait, I don't get that.

1:04:56Sean Hayes:I still don't get it. Because Bennett said it to all of us, and it said By-in-cocks. It says By-in-cocks. I still don't get it. What is it? Is that a Brian By-in? Oh. So dumb. Here's music. Smart. Nice.

1:05:18Smart.

1:05:20Sean Hayes:Nice. Smartless is 100 % organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjarf, and Bennett Barbaco.

1:05:36Smart.

1:05:37Sean Hayes:Less.

1:05:40Will Arnett:Working on building a dream space, but don't know where to start? At The Home Depot, we can help you bring your dream project to life. Whether you're building a backyard oasis, a podcast studio, or a wellness space, we've got everything you need, in-store and online. With project guides and free delivery options, it's easy to go from dreaming to doing. The Home Depot. How doers get more done. All new drinks are now at McDonald's. Like the Strawberry Watermelon Refresher and the Spriteberry Blast topped with cold foam. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so fire? Try them all now at McDonald's. Refreshers contain caffeine.