"RE-RELEASE: Jon Hamm"

11:17Will Arnett:Will's high school T-shirt's now a beautiful midriff that he wears every once in a while. It's turned into an homage to 90s Britney Spears.

11:27Sean Hayes:Jason's high school T-shirt is a Warner Brothers lot tour shirt.

11:34Will Arnett:It's a tank, okay? It's got a cap to match it. It's from Upfronts. They came in after Al. It's from Upfronts. 1988 Upfronts. Johnny, I didn't know that about high school where you graduated with an English degree and then went back to your high school to teach it because that's kind of like a... I'm one of the few people that loved high school. I did too. I went to a really excellent high school, the aforementioned John Burroughs High School in St. Louis, Missouri. And we had like crazy, you know, we were encouraged to try everything so it was like arts and sports and and academics and everybody was sort of encouraged to achieve and do well and and that sort of was the ethos of the whole joint so you know you didn't have to be good at it but you had to try and that was the fun of it all and exposing getting exposed to like all of these different disciplines was really was really cool and and it wasn't you know there weren't like the jocks and the nerds and the sportos or whatever the Edie McClurg thing from Ferris Bueller as of all of the gradations.

12:38They were all kind of... Nice call on Edie McClurg. Come on. You gotta know McClurg. You gotta have McClurg at the top of the...

12:44Will Arnett:I did. I did a show with her for five years. Did you really? I love that woman. Yeah. Hey, so, but now, John, don't be falsely modest here, but I've got you, between the jocks and the nerds, I've got you heavier over on the jock side. Yeah, the dial's twisted a little to that side, for sure. You did very well in high school. Was that a fair statement? Yeah. I graduated with honors and, yeah. That's not what I'm talking about. Yeah, it is. You did okay? Did you do all right?

13:08Sean Hayes:I did okay. Why do you keep winking at him? I'm not winking.

13:11Will Arnett:Did you, uh, no, we're talking about sports. Did you score a lot? Scored a lot of points. Yeah. Scored a lot of points. Played a lot of defense. Did you put a lot in the bucket?

13:18Sean Hayes:That's how good he was. He had to play a lot of defense.

13:20Will Arnett:Put a lot of balls in the basket. I don't know where this metaphor is going.

13:23Sean Hayes:Jason, has Amanda got you, like, on a no-fly list? What's going on right now? Are you not? What's going on?

13:30Will Arnett:Well, then how did, all right, so then you start to feather in. Jason, fix your hair. I'm sorry. You start to feather in some theater, right? Feather. Feather in some theater.

13:39Sean Hayes:And then did you braid anything in?

13:41Will Arnett:I don't have a lot of terms. Will's so tired of my shit. I love it. It's new to John, so be hush-hush. There was some theater feathering for sure. Did the jocks ostracize you for that? That's a new one, Will. I'm going to feather that one in. Did they ostracize you? and then did the nerds embrace and receive you? Like I said, no, not really, because there was a real blend of, talk about feathering. We were, both groups were feathered together quite well. Yeah. And the jocks were all over. We did, the senior production, senior year production was Godspell. So, and as in most high school productions, they were, you know, 35 roles and they split up roles and you would do half a song.

14:25with the exception of me who played Judas and the kid who played Jesus. So, yeah, you know, it was fun and exciting, and it was something to do, and it just was encouraged. So we all did it. It was fun. If I looked at your high school picture, did you have luxurious hair? I had a good flow in 89. Sure. Real good flow. Real salad, huh?

14:49Sean Hayes:Bateman-esque, I would say. Jason, this is, I think Ham's giving you a run for your money. He's got a great flow.

14:54Will Arnett:He can have it. John wins every category with any man on the planet. Look at him. You know? You're foolish. You just chase the silver with him. That's it. It's just nice to be nominated in any category. Wait, Johnny, when you went back to teach at your high school, was there anybody still there that you knew? Oh, yeah. Yeah, tons. Tons of teachers that I knew and loved. So it was kind of a trip. Now teaching beside them? Yeah. Yeah, they were now colleagues, which was really cool. That's crazy. And in fact, the guy who was pretty much responsible for me becoming a professional actor, giving me the encouragement and hiring me and got me my equity card eventually.

15:30Wow. I kind of taught under him. That was my pitch, was like, look, you're such a good teacher that you made this department a fun thing to do, so you have way too many students. So you need a helper. And basically, I'll be the junior theater teacher, if you'll have me. And they did. And when was that? I graduated college in 93, so this would have been 94. 94, 95. And then I moved to L.A. in 95. Wow. I did too.

15:58Will Arnett:Okay. Wow. Geez, what a coincidence. Fuck it. Lower your eyebrows, Sean. Fuck. A lot of people hit the airport in 95 out here. Like a million a day. I remember we auditioned up against each other all the time, Sean. All the time. Wait a minute. Lost another one down here.

16:16Sean Hayes:And then I went on the 405. I was on the 405. What car? What exit did you get? Because I was on the 405. Okay, wait. Okay, wait. I came here so long ago, it was the 404. Thank you. Hey. I love you. It's a TV, okay? Wait a minute. Wait. Sorry, John. When we were on tour, Will or Jason, one of them came up. It was Will. The best pun in the history of puns. It was stupidest. It was the dumbest. You were eating Japanese food. I kept going, I was too lazy to make dinner, so I ordered some Japanese food. Sashimi.

17:01Sean Hayes:It's so stupid. And we were so punch drunk and tired, we couldn't stop laughing. Oh, God, was that funny?

17:08Will Arnett:I was crying real tears. 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. We're basically talking about that closets are for clothes. Oh, I just knew. And I've taken that too much to heart because my closet is stuffed. I've been meaning to go through my closet. Well, you should sell some of them. I should sell it. I mean, listen, you know, what feels familiar in my closet may be exactly what someone else is searching for. Buy, sell, and discover affordable secondhand fashion you'll love with the resale marketplace, Depop.

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21:17Will Arnett:And now, back to the show. John, would you ever consider doing something so generous and loving and give back-ish as teaching the eighth grade class again? Now that you got the 16 Emmys, this incredible career. Nominations. Nominations. That's crazy. Is that the most nominations anybody's ever received for one show? It's got to be a record. I don't think so. It's crazy. I think there's been, because they were kind of, they were for, eventually I became a producer on the show so I got nominated for best show and things like that.

21:50Sean Hayes:But you won three as an actor? I won one. Oh. I won one for the final season of Mad Men. But I was nominated I think as a guest star on SNL and on 30 Rock and a couple of things like that. So I think those have been lumped in there.

22:03Will Arnett:What'd you do with all the speeches? What'd you do with the 15 speeches that you didn't use? I still got them. I bet you do, right? I still got them right up here. No, no. Did you memorize them or did you write them down? No, no, no. I didn't write anything. I never wrote anything down ever. You didn't have any sort of thoughts prepared. If I get up there, I want to make sure I don't forget to thank. Honestly, no. I really didn't.

22:25Sean Hayes:Did you, Jason, did you write a few of the times that you lost?

22:28Will Arnett:Oh, yeah. No, I've got a book. Yeah.

22:30Sean Hayes:You did write it down. Yeah. I was an early adopter for when Bateman won. I was right there on, probably number four on the text chain. Congrats, buddy. John is incredibly supportive. You deserve it.

22:41Will Arnett:Love you. Consistent.

22:42Sean Hayes:Oh, fuck. You know what? That's a good point. Congrats, Jason.

22:45Will Arnett:What happened?

22:46Sean Hayes:I know it's been a couple years. No, you were winning the Emmy. Sorry, I don't think I ever said anything. Hey, better late than never. Wait. Sashimi. Sashimi, all right. Sashimi. You know what? Will can use the same joke again, another one from the tour, which was when I said to Jason, I got him golf balls for Christmas, like two sets of 18 golf balls each or something. And I said, did you ever get that? And he goes, yeah, I already had those. And Will goes, that's a twist on thank you.

23:19Will Arnett:Wait, what did I say? I already had those?

23:22Sean Hayes:No, Sean, you said that you dropped them. Sean, you go, I gave you like a couple boxes of golf balls. You came over to my house and I gave them to you. And Jason, you said, oh, yeah, yeah, I did get those. I said, well, that's a fun twist on thank you. That's pronounced thank you. That's pronounced thank you.

23:42Will Arnett:I don't think that happened. I think you're both way back to Jason's question. Would you ever go back and teach now, John? Would you ever do that? Desire still there? I sure would. I, I, I was offered a chance to extend my contract by another year and I would have, um, loved to have done it, but I was 24 turning 25 at the time. And I thought, well, maybe I'm at least going to try to, to do LA, see what happens. And, um, and you know, I did. And I, I, I really would though. I, I, I found it tremendously fulfilling. I don't know what teaching is like now with phones and internet. This was pre-internet, pre-phone.

24:17Will Arnett:Well, that's how I was going to kind of ask, like what teaching would be like now for you though, like you as an acting teacher then versus how you would teach acting now, not to get into acting weeds because we'll lose our one listener. But like as your whole theory about acting, like how would you teach the kids now? Would it be different? It would probably be similar, if not identical. I would just have much more credibility as a 50-year-old rather than a 24-year-old guy trying to wear a tie. Yeah. What was the gig that you had? What was the job you had right before Mad Men? I was kind of unemployed for like, I got a pilot, which I got fired off of, and then I tested for seven other pilots the following pilot season and got none.

25:06I went all the way up to the top.

25:08Will Arnett:Seven times. Oh, my God. So Mad Men was my eighth test that season. And it was crazy late in what used to be called pilot season because it was on AMC, which didn't really know how to do pilot season. So they just had a different schedule than everybody else. But I had tested seven times and biffed them all. um so yeah so my last job was a pilot that was called something that then went on to be called a show called related with lizzie caplan jennifer esposito and oh yeah someone else um and i played the love interest of god why am i spacing on her name she was in pretty woman with julia roberts sanji como yes laura sanji como so laura sanji como was the the eldest of three siblings and i was her love interest and the power and she killed herself on this pilot she was wonderful in it and they forced her call every day and she had a kid at home it was like they treated her terribly and then they fired her and the powers that be said you're out and when they told me they're like but you're we like you and you're gonna stay i was like there's no part for like that was my love interest i don't have a person and i'm not in the family so it doesn't make sense no no no no no and they kept me kept me kept me and i had to turn down another couple of jobs that now i was available for and then they they released my option on the last day and fired me so that was

26:34Sean Hayes:that was my last gig before madman that's so great and and what it what if what a change of perspective you have now on the other end of it and we all know we've been there of just just we just hearing you describe it brings almost like ptsd oh yeah for sure yeah like you said we've we've all had a version of that. Yeah, for sure. Oh, this is going to go. Oh, it didn't. And then it's going to go in the far worse way than it ever possibly could have.

27:00Will Arnett:Right, and a good example of while it probably felt like hell at the time, had that show kept going, had they not fired you, you would have been unavailable to do Mad Men. So it was a great... Yeah, everything happens. Yeah, everything happens for a reason. So you're saying look at the bright side of things, which I'm going to say I agree with. There's plenty of fluid in that glass. um johnny i read somewhere that you after madman you got offered like 800 parts where it took place in the 60s or some kind of same thing over and over and over and over again but you were smart enough to wait out wait for that one good thing and what was that one thing well there's there's obviously like as soon as one thing hits then there's five versions of that thing that come around the pike and so for us it was nbc came out with something like called like pan am or something that was about, like, sexy stewardesses in the 60s.

27:53And then, like, there was some other version of, like, Woodstock. And it was just all this stuff. And, you know, then, like, the movie Revolution Road came out. Like, there were all of these kind of things that the 60s became kind of a hot commodity, or at least the late 60s. And it was, and not only that, it was just, yeah, it was like, so if there was a brooding, dark character that smoked and drank a lot, Then I got that script. And I was kind of like, that's my day job. Like, I don't, and I love it. And I get to do it at a very high level and I very much appreciate it. But it's my day job.

28:31Like, I would rather do something radically different. Was any part of you like, oh, God, you know, I know what it's like to not work so much that maybe I should just take one of these things. Like, the immediate instinct when you have that is to just grab everything with both hands and hold on for dear life. But I don't know. there was something i guess i was older i was 36 at the time 37 like i was kind of like all right i got this this seems to be going really well but then like you know lauren michaels came calling and said like why don't you host the show and i was literally like this has to be a prank i don't understand um and i yes yes and in fact i had to turn it down the first time he asked because my then girlfriend at the time and i were had planned this huge trip like i'd never been to Greece we had like planned this whole like two week long getaway and it was like we couldn't we couldn't move it well I was like well I get to say no to Lorne Michaels Sean will never go

29:29Will Arnett:to Mykonos again tell him what happened Sean what happened Sean Jesus yeah you didn't know me too

29:35Sean Hayes:well I love the highlights uh John I you know it's funny Mad Men was and and remains such an incredibly, like, it's one of those shows that really changed, I feel like in a lot of ways, changed TV, changed the way that people look at TV, was one of incredible, incredible writing, and you were so incredible in it. And I'll tell you, here's a testament to how great you are, you were in that part, and you are, because it still lives on. When I actually started watching it in earnest, I had already known you a few years, and then started watching it, and was completely immersed in it and could not get enough of it and watched absolutely every episode all the way through to the end and was really profoundly moved by your performance uh as don draper honestly and it really really really truly and it's historical now absolutely did it change the

30:30Will Arnett:way you acted around john when you when you need to when you hang out with him afterwards no no

30:34Sean Hayes:No, but yes, of course. Way more deferential. Way more. Let's see what John has to say. I don't know. He's my friend, my friend John. My friend John is. John, do you want anything? I mean, I wasn't going out, but I will. I will totally go out. The kids are in bed and the doors are locked, but I'll get up. No, I'll get dressed. I'll get dressed. But so you do something like that. That changes your life in so many ways. Absolutely. And it's at first scary probably and weird. Like you say, Lorne Michaels is calling you. And it didn't happen at 18 years old. Yeah. To this day, you know, Jason, God, your life and growing up the way you grew up, being famous since you were six, I remember you on Silver Spoons.

31:26I'll say it. Yeah. And I was a fan. I was a fan early on. I was like, this kid's good. I get it. um but uh yeah it changes everything you know and it really does provide an incredible amount of opportunity but it comes with an incredible amount of like you know uh caveat you know like just be careful what you wish for in a lot of ways so you know we also we also came around you know the show really kind of got famous and i then got famous around 2007 which seems like not that long ago but was a long time ago not only it was 15 years ago but it was um that was the year they came out with the iphone and i think it was maybe around the time that twitter started and then like 2010 was instagram and like all of these things were starting to kind of like people's access to the internet became in their pocket and 24 7 and so that was kind of the blogging recap culture was just starting.

32:28So this idea of kind of actively engaged fans that could in real time kind of talk about the shows really came around right when we happened to get famous. So there was a lot of like serendipity and luck involved in in our show's success. And it was, you know, it was crazy. And it was a whirlwind. And it was impossible to kind of not enjoy because it was enjoyable. And it so rarely happens that you and we've all been a part of at least one, in some cases several hits like that where you just, it's out of your control and you just have to hold on for the ride.

33:07Will Arnett:And that's kind of what it did. But getting that level of fame and respect and success in a profession at the age you are at is, is fortuitous, uh, I would think, uh, in that, in that you're, you've, you've got the coping mechanisms to, to, to deal with something like that. Were you able to, uh, take some really beneficial parts from fame, um, and incorporate it into your life and in a healthy way? Yeah. I mean, I think part of it is, is, is being okay with, with appreciating it. If that makes any sense.

33:44Sean Hayes:Like, yeah, yeah. There's a lot of us, I think that are one of like poo-poo it and play it down and be modest with it, which is also very healthy and good. But there's something very, I think, healthy about saying like, you know what? Yeah, good for me. Hooray. Yay me. I didn't for nothing like work for 10 years with very little recognition or accolades or money or jobs or anything like, you know, when I landed in 95, when Sean and I landed in 1995 it took me three years to even get a job so you know and it wasn't for lack of trying i auditioned for everything you know my my weird audition story was auditioning for Mimi Leader for Deep Impact a part that eventually went to Jon Favreau yeah um and you know who to this day i still say i'm still a little angry at i'm a little angry at him sure beat me out for that He had swingers.

34:42He had swingers. He's a writer. He had so much. He didn't need deep impact.

34:46Will Arnett:He couldn't back off and just give me that. I needed it. No. He could pay you back now, give you some nice sweet arc on Mandalorian. Some Mandalorian love. Nice little tight little three-up arc.

34:57Sean Hayes:Well, he's also the guy in all that stuff, too, in all the Marvel stuff, isn't he? That's Johnny Marvel. Come on. Isn't he the guy? Isn't he in those movies, too? Yeah, he's Iron Man. He's Downey's driver, right? Yes, chauffeur. Getting his SAG benefits, you know what I mean? Listen, he's driven Robert Downey in the Iron Man trilogy, quadruple E. Yep. He's driven Jack Nicholson, I think. Truly? In As Good As It Gets. Really? Am I making this up? I don't remember. Was he a driver in that?

35:26Will Arnett:Was he in As Good As It Gets? I don't know. I'll be honest. I might be conflating a lot. I think you made that up. John is a fun guy to act with. Have you guys done that? No, but I obviously know him.

35:36Sean Hayes:He's a fun guy in general.

35:37Will Arnett:He is fun in a scene. Yeah. Very fast, very quick. And him and Vince together, that must have been fun to watch. Oh, man, yeah. I've met those guys. I live on the east side of L.A., and they're kind of credited with kind of bringing Los Feliz into the hipster world for sure. The Dresden, the whole kind of swingers scene was their scene for sure. Right. And when those guys walked into a bar in 1996, like, you knew it. Oh, yeah. They were very good hangs, and they were very funny even then. And, you know, the proof's in the pudding. They both have very nice careers.

36:14Sean Hayes:We were talking the other day about, Jason and I were talking about, Vince, about how fucking quick and funny he is. There's just no one better at what he does. He's fucking unbelievable. He's unreal. Yeah. And nobody does what he does, which is a nice place to be. Yeah. And now, a word from our sponsor.

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39:25Will Arnett:All right, back to the show. John, when you, you know, now that you worked your butt off to get to where you are, and in hindsight, it probably took longer than you wanted and longer than what you explained before. Is there anything that you tell younger actors going through it now or any kind of business, businessy advice rather than acting, you know, technique advice that you know, that you would probably pass on to anybody looking to make it now? You know, I've talked to actually Jenna Fisher about this, who's also from St. Louis, who I've known for some time. I didn't know her in St. Louis, but we were talking about something for some reason.

40:05And it's funny, like, you can go to all of the acting schools in the world, and nobody really teaches you about the business of acting. Right. And what it really is like, of course, like managing your day and managing your time and, and your expectations, your expectations for sure. Like thinking about, you know, here's what it is to like drive into the Valley in August and then have another audition in, in Fox in an hour, you know, and it's, you know, it's, it's a lot and it's, and it's real. And it's actually the part of, of acting that most actors engage with from a professional standpoint, far more than they do, you know, scene study or whatever.

40:46And so there's that part. And there's also just the fact that everything at this level moves so quickly, especially in television, that if you're not ready to go, if you haven't done the work before you get to work, then it's not going to go well for one reason or another. And I've seen it happen. I've been a victim of it of just like, oh, I'll just wing it. And then you're like, uh-oh. So, but it's a real lesson to learn of just, you know, it's the first one I learned in class is just like be prepared.

41:16Sean Hayes:I had an acting teacher too years ago. He kind of would profess this and he was kind of a working actor. He was a character actor-y guy and he'd lived in L.A. a long time. He'd moved back to New York. It's like early 90s. Charles Nelson Ryley or? Early 90s. Charles Bronson. It was Charles Bronson. It was the. Bruce Willard. and we'd only do scenes from Fort Apache, the Bronx. But he would... Wait, what? Great movie. He wasn't in that. Charles Bronson was. Sure he was. You had a lot to pick for him, but I'm glad you picked that one. Yeah, me too. He would say the same thing, which was like, as a young actor, if you get to set and you start going like, I'm going to work through my stuff, you're fired.

42:03Sean Hayes:There's no time to work through your shit. They got to get this shot and they got to move on. Yeah. And they don't give a fuck about what your process is and how you get there. You deliver. When they fucking call action, be ready. And I think that that was like the, I had that at an early age and I was, I felt lucky because I feel a lot of actors feel like, I'm just going to go and I'm going to work it out. I'm just going to feel it. Once they see how amazing I am, they'll give me all the time in the world. Right. But it depends on what you want, right? If you want to be like, take Tom Cruise, for example.

42:37People are like, they didn't just hand it to him. He worked his butt off to be Tom Cruise. You know what I mean? And having worked with him, he is the first guy on set. He's in the gym at 5 in the morning, call times at 6. He's there, he's ready to go, and he's the last guy that leaves. That guy deserves it. He wants it, he got it, he works hard at it. And that's, you know, Jason, I know you've directed. have you guys both directed television sean and will like yeah it's the same thing when you sit through those auditions and you think like all right the guy that comes who's going to come in and take this part right who's going to come in so i can worry about something else so i can worry about something else and by the way so i can go back to the set i gotta shoot yeah and and you and you watch the guys that do it that walk in and just say like i don't have any questions or or i don't have any ridiculous questions not how you hey this is not 10 minutes of bullshit it no it's like let's do this and i'm gonna prove to you how how i can crush this and then it's like great that's the guy i want on the day when i'm 10 hours behind sean you do that but you you're

43:40Sean Hayes:you haven't directed but you also you go to the when it goes to going to the gym you're the last guy there the first guy out right yeah very similar i mean look at me so john growing up in

43:54Will Arnett:St. Louis, did you spend any summers at the Lake of the Ozarks down there? Yeah. In fact, a good portion of my family has retired down there. My dad's sister, my Aunt Betty, lives down there full time now. Is it true that there's a bar down there that does real well called Big Dicks Halfway In? No way. Is that a true story? It's entirely possible. If I'm judging by the amount of and the quality of puns that I've seen and heard throughout the years in the Lake of the Ozarks, the Redneck River. Is that true, Jason? Is that a real bar? That's a real bar from what I understand, and it is a very high-level pun.

44:32Will Arnett:That is, they deserve to do a lot of business in that.

44:35Sean Hayes:Jason, can we get a little something out of Marty Bird?

44:39Will Arnett:I don't change at all. This is a full Marty right now.

44:43Sean Hayes:Can we hear a little something out of Marty Bird?

44:45Will Arnett:This whole interview has been conducted by Marty Bird, I think. I would love to have a conversation with Martin Bird real quick. I think it might go a little something like this. Now, did you ever see any money laundering or killings or anything down there? Very little, if any. We're painting a pretty bleak picture of the lake down there. There was a lot of bass fishing, a lot of water skiing, and some pretty heavy drinking. Yeah. But, you know, a lot of very poor water safety. But you're not getting a murder a week down there. Yeah. We're taking a little license. Maybe a fall out of the boat, hit your head.

45:28Will Arnett:Son of a bitch. Yeah. I had my phone in my pocket. God damn it. That's a lot of that, for sure. A lot of anger with that.

45:35Sean Hayes:But not a lot of cartel guys walking down dirt roads with shotguns in the middle of the night, right?

45:39Will Arnett:You just didn't see it. And that doesn't mean it didn't exist. Now, are they upset at us for painting that type of a picture? I think any publicity for the Ozarks is good publicity at this point. You know, they do need to lengthen the runway there so they can get some commercial flights in there and really open up tourism, darn it. You're preaching to the choir at this point. Why don't you get down there and kind of ramrod something like that? Is that one of the other bars, the ramrod something like that? The ramrod does great business, but it's mostly on weekends. And it's gay. Mostly on weekends, thank you.

46:13Johnny, what's your favorite best movie experience on a set or part that you played and experienced? I will tell you, I've got it right here. He's loaded with that one. I worked on a movie called Bad Times at the El Royale a couple years ago. Yes. Directed by a guy who I've known for a long time. He used to write promos for the WB. I auditioned to be the guy that reads the promos. Next on the WB. That guy that Will probably got.

46:41Sean Hayes:No, I did CBS at that time. Fair enough, fair enough. And so I got the offer for it during Sundance. Yeah. It came through and they said, you got 48 hours to read this. It's yours if you want it. You got to be on a plane from Sundance to Vancouver. Let me know. And I read it and I loved it and I was like, cool, cool, cool. This is amazing. Who fell out, basically, because clearly somebody did. No, John. No, somebody did. It was fine. It was Russell Crowe. whatever good good replacement i think sure and it was to work with jeff bridges who i've wanted to work with my entire life and i've always thought was maybe the coolest coolest guy you know even pre big lebowski i was just i was on board i just thought that's no letdown right he's a real that's a high level professional and so i got to work with that guy for they shot the whole thing chronologically um spoiler alert i die in the first act but i shot all you know whatever two and a half weeks of my part and it was mostly with Jeff and man that was a that was and it was a beautiful set it was super cool everybody on it was nice um it was that was that was one of the good ones that was really one of the good ones John how weird so you actually you you did this movie with the guy who was writing promos at the CW what a trip for you guys right did you guys acknowledge that and I knew him through like a little poker league that we played in like he he He was just, he hit the big time.

48:10Drew Goddard, and he's still making movies. Oh, yeah, he's doing very well.

48:13Sean Hayes:Oh, wait, I know Drew because he's, Caroline Williams. He's married to Caroline Williams, who's a tremendous comedy writer. She's one of the funniest writers I've ever worked with. There you have. She wrote on BoJack. Good things happen to good people sometimes. Yeah.

48:25Will Arnett:Now, you mentioned auditioning to be the voice of CW. So the voice has been something that you've been using for a while, than it sounds like. but you've really hit the top of the mountain there with Mercedes for how many years now? I think going on 13 now. Jon Hamm. That's so cool. Yeah. That's great. I've outlasted several CEOs and CMOs. 13 years. That's pretty good. Here he comes. Here he comes. Here he comes. It's not professional grade, though. I mean, 13 years is good, but it's not professional grade. It's not professional grade. It's not professional grade. It doesn't matter. Oh, no. I think people want to know.

49:00I will say for the listeners out there, Every now and again, I will get texts from both Jason and Will about some voiceover something or other, which is it's a compliment, but it's a left-handed compliment. No. It's always a, oh, I see you doing that too. Good for you. Good for you. Good for you. Real happy for you.

49:21Will Arnett:Let me tell you what else is a good, that Apple commercial that you do is killer. I love that. That's well done. Come on. And it's beautiful. Who shot that, by the way? I want D.P. on director. another guy I've known for a long, long time through our mutual friend Tall John Schrader, a guy named Wayne McClammy, who now is another guy that came out of the trenches at the WB. No way. I'm not kidding. Do you know who shot it? Do you know who the DP was? I don't remember the name of the DP. I'm sorry. Okay, wait. Johnny, before we let you go, because I know you've got to go, I want to know what you're excited about coming up that's really getting you going.

49:55I'll tell you exactly what I'm excited about because I've said it about four times today. I get to go to Europe for my birthday I turned 50 last year and it was during a pandemic and my big celebration was having some people over and standing 10 feet away from them and I get to go my gal and I get to go to the Alps for two weeks for my birthday I've never been to Switzerland I've never been to that part of France and I've never been to that part of Italy so we're going to do it right. You're going to like that a lot. I'm leaving in a week, and I'm very, very excited about that. That's so exciting.

50:34Will Arnett:George can toss you the keys for the house in Como. GC, baby, you got Como handy? Let me rock it out. It's right there. I promise I'll mop up.

50:43Sean Hayes:Why not? And listen, you can pop down to Zermatt. Where are you going in Switzerland? Switzerland, Stad. Stad, yes. I just want to be like, I want to do like one thing James Bond did. Right. Like I want to eat dinner in a like UFO shaped thing that you have to take a gondola to. And then you ski out for dessert.

51:07Will Arnett:Hey, are you going to get into Germany at all? You should get to Germany and have Mercedes give you one of their cars and drive on the Autobahn where there's no speed limit. It's incredible. I think that's a different trip. But yes, that's going to happen at some point. I'll go on that one with you. Okay. Let's go. Yeah. Come on. God, that sounds like fuss. Let's take this podcast on the road. and do it German style. But one more thing, and I know the personal life is way more important than anything we do for a living, but I'm just excited about you and your talent. And is there anything that you're excited that's coming up that you can share with us that you're working on or going to work on?

51:40The most exciting thing that I have coming out, which will finally come out in May, is the long-awaited 30 years on sequel to Top Gun. Oh, nice. You're in that? Yes, I am. That's great. And that's coming out, I think, Memorial Day weekend. around there and uh it's i've seen it it's really really good um it's exactly what you want out of this and it's uh i cannot wait for people to see it it was one of those things where another kind of pinch me moment like just like wait they're asking me to be in the top gun sequel like tell my tell my 15 year old self that and right yeah i would punch my 15 year old self in the face like yeah that's healthy so yeah tom cruise was uh not not a disappointment

52:22Will Arnett:men either, I'll bet, right? Just incredible. The best in the biz, man. He's the best in the biz. He's as advertised. He is intense and hardworking, but that's exactly who you want. That's what you want in a Tom Cruise. That's great. I'll do a whole hour on that. That's awesome. Well, I'm excited about that, Johnny. Thank you for being here. I know you've got to run. It means the world to us, and thank you for saying yes to coming on. I'm such a big fan. Thank you very much for having me. It's rare that I know all three podcast hosts at the same time. Hopefully if Major League Baseball gets their act together, we can go out there and spend some quality time.

52:57You know, Jason and I have a lovely, friendly Cardinals-Dodgers rivalry that the Dodgers have had the better of the last few years. Not really.

53:07Will Arnett:Barely. You still have Flaherty, though, you know? Listen, you got the ring. You give me him and all is forgiven. Okay, I'll trade you for Walker Bueller. Give me with the high school out here. No, no, no. He needs to be with Walker. Anyway, we'll talk. We'll negotiate something.

53:23Sean Hayes:No, no, no. Please continue on with fucking baseball, man. All the fucking sports. Yeah, let's end on baseball. We can end on the fact that I went on a blind date with Jason's now wife. We can all, but that's for another. Wait, you did? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, wait, wait. No, he's got to go. He's dead in there really fast. Fuck off, heart out. I got to go. That's the next episode. Baben, shut up. Did you really go on a blind date with Amanda? Ham, just wink at me. One wink means yes, two means okay, yes. John. All right, John Ham, thank you so much. john thank you johnny oh great to have you ham you're the best you're the best go burrows on the next time all right i love you guys thank you buddy thank you thank you bye uh john ham is no ham

54:05Will Arnett:john is a is a very humble classy solid individual solid individual yeah yeah i i was super excited that he was coming on i mean he's like one of those guys that's you know i say it all the time but about other people, but whenever he's in something, you're like, oh, this is going to be great. Yeah. Yep. He's got a real solid presence.

54:26Sean Hayes:And I really meant it about Mad Men watching that and truthfully, like, thinking, like, kind of know him and, like, how's this going to be watching him in this? It's kind of like Jason watching you in Ozark, which is also a testament to how good you are. It's like you get into it and you're like, you forget that you know the guy, which is, it's a hard, It's a higher bar to have to I love that That's so true And that shows how good it is Whenever I watch it It's transformative as they say So congratulations on that Congratulations to John Hammond So Sean, also, what a great guest So great having John on Yeah, he's got a new podcast Yeah, I was going to say that Does he have a new podcast?

55:10Yeah, he's got a new podcast It's called American Hostage And it's on Amazon Wondery It's fantastic You've got to listen to the trailer The trailer sounds like an actual movie. It's really, really cool.

55:20Sean Hayes:Ah, he's perfect for that. It's really great. He's perfect for that because he's so good. I meant it when I said, like, I watch Mad Men.

55:26Will Arnett:And, I mean, how many, you would never think that a series about a pot store would last for how many seasons?

55:32Sean Hayes:Oh, no, no, you're thinking of, sorry, you're thinking of Mad Men, which is a pot store out here in California. No, it's a different, it's a totally different, yeah. I mean, it's a very honest.

55:40Will Arnett:Oh, this is, oh, sorry, Mad Men. So it's an anger management, like a help group?

55:44Sean Hayes:Again, it's just, honestly, I wish you could just kind of play on Madison Avenue, guys, of advertising. Oh, I missed. But it's like where they, you know, those ad executives, they come up with all the different slogans. Like, you know, do this, do this. You're thinking of like... Bye, Mennon. Bye, Mennon. Smart. Nice.

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