In short
Walton Goggins discusses his acting career and personal resilience, focusing on his experiences filming Fallout and a life-changing, physically punishing father-son horseback trip in western Mongolia that left him with a broken rib.
Guest backgrounds
Walton Goggins is an Alabama-born, Georgia-raised actor who moved to Hollywood at 19 and built a career across film (Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight) and TV (The Shield, Justified, Vice Principals, Righteous Gemstones, White Lotus, Fallout). He also shares that he’s a father to a 14-year-old son.
Key claims
He says growing up with limited resources and “colorful” Southern family shaped his toughness and freewheeling approach. He argues that insecurity is less about status and more about the effort of carrying conversations. He describes “new normal” confidence as he ages and becomes a parent.
Notable examples
He recounts riding horses across Mongolia with an interpreter and eagle hunter, comforting his son through homesickness, then falling and breaking a rib—continuing the trip for nine more days using Advil and yak vodka. He also mentions working in a rented dressing-room van on Fallout and filming in remote desert locations.
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOLighthearted Banter and Guest Dynamics
2:53 to 4:16
The hosts engage in playful banter about their guest and past experiences.
“Hey, look at Will's on the fucking Western set.”
Storytime: Hollywood Anecdotes
4:16 to 6:46
Hosts share amusing stories and experiences related to Hollywood.
“Don't you feel like we just all slept together in the same cabin somewhere?”
Ernest Borgnine's Unique Legacy
6:46 to 8:51
A humorous discussion about Ernest Borgnine's life and quirks.
“So Griffin Dunn tells, so he says, I've been meaning to see, I've been meaning to tell you this story.”
Walton Goggins on Acting Experiences
8:51 to 14:02
Walton discusses his acting journey and experiences on set.
“All right, let me pull up my notes here.”
Horseback Adventures in Mongolia
14:02 to 17:52
Walt shares an extraordinary two-week horseback riding trip across Mongolia with his son.
“Yeah, at the location with a security guard.”
Facing Challenges Together
17:53 to 20:41
Walt recounts a pivotal moment with his son about coping with difficulties during their trip.
“it kind of happened and he was like, wow, this is, excuse my language, this is really fucking hard, Dad.”
The Broken Rib Incident
20:42 to 28:00
Walt describes the accident that led to his broken rib and how he managed through the pain.
“And so it was, you know, another nine days.”
Adventures in Mongolia
28:00 to 29:20
Walton shares a wild story about his trip to Mongolia, including unique experiences with yak vodka and goat meat.
“I've only been gone for 20 minutes, man.”
Discussing Past Adventures
29:20 to 31:10
The hosts talk about their own adventurous experiences, including a canceled trip on the Orient Express.
“but we ate that goat every way one can eat a goat.”
Memorable Canoeing Trip
31:10 to 33:30
A host recounts a challenging canoe trip in northern Ontario, complete with unexpected rescues and historical remnants.
“It's like his dream to go on that train across Europe.”
Show all 27 chapters
Growing Up in Georgia
33:30 to 35:40
Walton discusses his upbringing in Georgia and how it has shaped his acting career.
“He said, okay, well, we'll get in touch with somebody.”
Living Like It's Your Last Day
35:40 to 37:10
Walton reflects on living life to the fullest and the experiences that have influenced his perspective.
“As you know, I mean, Sean, you don't, but I am.”
Chasing the Acting Dream
37:10 to 40:00
Walton shares his journey to Los Angeles at 19 and the challenges he faced in starting his acting career.
“He said, but you know the difference between you and me?”
First Jobs and Struggles
40:00 to 42:05
He recounts his early jobs and experiences as a newcomer in Hollywood, including working at La Fitness.
“And, you know, I had, you know, a number.”
Walton Goggins' Early Days in LA
42:05 to 43:32
Learn about Walton Goggins' early experiences and first jobs in Los Angeles.
“And she said, what, you've been out here the whole time?”
Positivity in Life and Work
43:32 to 45:34
Discover how maintaining a positive attitude shapes life experiences and career paths.
“Again, I'm going to get down to just what I know from you over the years.”
Insecurities and Imposter Syndrome
45:34 to 47:18
Explore the common feelings of insecurity and how they manifest in social situations.
“Do you get insecure walking into a room?”
Aging and Personal Growth
47:18 to 49:44
Understand how aging impacts self-acceptance and enjoying life's moments.
“do you guys ever have the suffer from imposter syndrome and she said Benicio and he goes what is that and I was like oh man that's wild It was so dope.”
Empathy in Acting and Life
53:30 to 56:00
Discuss the relationship between personal growth and portraying flawed characters.
“Does it go against what you like to live in?”
Navigating Anxiety as a Superpower
56:00 to 57:00
Exploring how anxiety can be a driving force and a superpower in personal interactions.
“And I listened, I saw you, Sean, and I saw like how far, you know, you sat and kind of speaking about your anxiety.”
Early Career Reflections and Breakthroughs
57:00 to 59:15
Walton Goggins discusses his early career, jobs and the film that changed everything.
“Yeah, but I wonder if that – Very similar.”
Public Persona vs. Private Self
59:15 to 1:02:01
Goggins shares insights on maintaining authenticity amidst public recognition.
“Because it was a Toronto film festival or whatever.”
Lessons from a Unique Upbringing
1:02:01 to 1:03:36
Exploring Goggins' upbringing and the impact of his family on his life philosophy.
“I don't, no, I just, I live my life differently in that way.”
Traveling for Real-World Experience
1:03:36 to 1:05:39
The importance of travel and real-world experiences in shaping Goggins' career.
“Hateful Eight, Django, Cowboys and Aliens, The Unicorn, like all those great things that you've done.”
Working on 'Fallout' and Future Projects
1:05:39 to 1:09:40
Goggins discusses his role in 'Fallout' and the anticipation of the new season.
“Having that kind of real-world experience and getting out in the world is important, man.”
Reflecting on the Guest
1:10:01 to 1:10:51
The hosts share their admiration for Walton Goggins and his infectious personality.
“I'd give a limb to work with you one day, buddy.”
Camp Memories
1:10:51 to 1:11:58
A host shares a nostalgic story about attending a music camp in the woods.
“I do feel a little seasoned just even talking to him.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:01Walton Goggins:Ever invest in something that seemed incredible at first but didn't live up to the hype? Yeah, I wasted a lot of money buying a car when I was 21 years old. I spent way too much on it. It just never worked and I didn't know what I was doing. Marketers know that feeling. They optimize for the numbers that look great like impressions, but they don't see revenue. LinkedIn has a word for that. Bowl spend. Instead, you can get the highest ROAS of major ad networks with LinkedIn ads. Cut the bull spend. Advertise on LinkedIn. Spend$250 and get a$250 credit. Go to linkedin.com slash smartlist. Terms apply.
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1:23Walton Goggins:This episode of SmartList is brought to you in part by Skinny Pop Popcorn. You know when you want a snack that tastes great, but you don't want it to spiral into like a full life decision type thing? There is always that crossroads. You want salty, you want satisfying. You also want to avoid the feeling of needing to explain yourself afterward. That is where Skinny Pop quietly wins. Start with original Skinny Pop. It's made with just three simple ingredients, which feels refreshing in a world where labels require a translator. Sweet and salty kettle gives you that perfect balance when you cannot commit to just one direction.
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2:35Jason Bateman:Hey, everybody. This is Walton Goggins. I'm the guest on Smartless today. And I can't wait to have a conversation with these three fellas. Only one of them know that I'm going to be here. So let's get this conversation started. Thanks for listening. Welcome to Smartless. Smart. Less.
3:00Smart. Less.
3:07Smart. Less.
3:12Walton Goggins:Wait, whose guest is it today? Shut up, Sean.
3:16Sean Hayes:Jason's. You can tell by the attitude.
3:19Will Arnett:Fuck you, piece of shit. Hey, look at Will's on the fucking Western set.
3:24Walton Goggins:Looks like you have his smoking jacket on.
3:26Will Arnett:His fucking quilted, self-stitched, what's it called?
3:30Walton Goggins:Santa Fe something.
3:32Will Arnett:Yeah. Will, how much research? So Will's doing a Western thing. Not a Western. What is it?
3:39Sean Hayes:It's with Michelle Pfeiffer. Yes. Yeah. He's reprising. By the way, our friend Michelle Pfeiffer, who said to me. It's Michy Fee. Michy Fee. And I said, she goes, I know we've got to take a break so you can do your podcast. She's being sort of coy. She said with a mocking tone. Yeah. And I said, yeah. She was very good on the show. I said, you were great on the show. We loved having you. And I hope you got a good response. And she said that people came out of the World War II and that people listened to it. So how about that? That's nice.
4:11Will Arnett:People always say, I don't want to do the show. I don't want to do the show. And then they're happy that they do the show. That's right. I don't know.
4:17Walton Goggins:I don't know. Don't you feel like we just all slept together in the same cabin somewhere? Because we just did this like 10 hours ago. I know. It was... You mean like we just all...
4:26Sean Hayes:Well, let's go back to... Hang on.
4:27Will Arnett:Why is everyone sleeping in a cabin?
4:30Sean Hayes:Because I'm dressed like I'm in a cabin.
4:32Walton Goggins:Well, no. Well, that we just all slept in the same house and then we just woke up for breakfast and then we started doing this again.
4:37Will Arnett:Yeah.
4:37Walton Goggins:Wait, what is your dream? You know what I mean? What was for breakfast? Sushi. I just said sushi. No, you didn't. Yeah, I went to Zaybars. You know, Zay Bar is really close. Oh, yeah. Famous for their sushi. Zay Bar is making sushi. It's true. I put a jacket on. I went next door and I ate some sushi.
4:57Will Arnett:I mean, I brought it home. I brought it home. Hey, you shit pig. Remember yesterday when you said I just had Chinese food? I thought to myself, self, that sounds really good. And so I ordered some Chinese for me last night. Oh, you did? And we had Chinese for the first time in a long time. Right. It tastes good.
5:13Walton Goggins:That's right. What did you have?
5:14Sean Hayes:I was wondering about your face because I could see there was
5:16Will Arnett:something you know will um wait till you see my face after a sushi lunch today yeah wait do you
5:25Walton Goggins:do you get um do you get like you know anything kind of naughty at when you order chinese like breaded chicken or breaded something or no all like no bamboo shoots and you know no i we had
5:38Will Arnett:a couple of chicken dishes and a noodle dish and there's some vegetables yeah you know because i I said to Amanda, I said, you order baby. I don't want to, don't let me see anything on the menu because I'll order Sean's food.
5:52Sean Hayes:And she went like totally clean and everything. Yeah, and it was good. And it was great.
5:57Walton Goggins:All right, wait, Will, one of the grossest images I ever witnessed in my life was going over to Jason's house and he's swimming in his pool in the backyard. Yeah, you're right, gross. Amanda has a big hat on covering the sun and from the pool on his floaty, he goes, honey, can we get some sushi for lunch? While he's baking in the sun, it's so Hollywood gross.
6:23Sean Hayes:He FaceTimed me once floating on a floaty in his pool. I was like, and all I thought about was like, obviously Ernest Borgnine in the pool. By the way, by the way, by the way, it just reminded me, I forgot to tell you. So a little while ago, I run into Griffin Dunn, our old pal Griffin Dunn. The great Griffin Dunn. The great Griffin Dunn. So Griffin Dunn tells, so he says, I've been meaning to see, I've been meaning to tell you this story. I've been meaning to tell you this story. He said, years ago, when, this is public record, he said, when Ernest Borgnine was getting divorced, his wife cited one of the problems that she cited in the court record of their differences that she found as a problem, as grounds for divorce, was that Ernest Borgdine would Dutch oven her.
7:20Sean Hayes:He'd fart in the bed and pull the covers over her head.
7:23Walton Goggins:Is that real? Is that real?
7:24Sean Hayes:I swear to God. Apparently, and I looked it up. It's true. And she hated it and she was disgusted by it. And so he was like, I got to tell Will. I got to call him. So he had my old phone number, because I haven't spoken to him in like four years or something and I'd switch my number. So he keeps, he's sending me stuff and he calls me and the guy goes, hello? And he goes, hey, listen, now, you know, this thing about Griff, you know, he goes, hey, Will, and the guy sort of says, yeah, and then he goes, listen, Ernest Borgnine and the thing and the reason he got divorced and the Dutch oven and this stuff, and the guy goes, this isn't Will.
7:58Sean Hayes:Okay, he's changed his number and that is disgusting. Why would you think I'd want to know this disgusting? And I'm not put on it.
8:06Will Arnett:That's really funny. Oh, my God. Listener, as a backstory, you should know that I bought Ernest Borgnine's old house. Years ago. Years ago. And Will has been writing me for years that what I've done is I've made a bad purchase because...
8:22Sean Hayes:Not a bad purchase.
8:24Will Arnett:Well, when you consider that supposedly Ernest Borgnine was a world-class masturbator.
Read the full transcript
8:31Sean Hayes:Well, he credited his longevity with the fact that he claimed that he masturbated every day. So I always imagine him everywhere in the house, leaning against the rail. I don't know why. Right.
8:43Will Arnett:Yeah. And so it's in the pool too, Will. And there's also lots of farts stuck in the master. Okay.
8:50Walton Goggins:Got it. Yeah. And when Ernest Fortnite... No, no. That is crazy.
8:56Will Arnett:Welcome to Smartless. So I've been meaning to tell you that. All right, let me pull up my notes here. Oh, yeah. This is organized. All right. I've written a little intro. Where is it? Here it comes. What we've got here today. It's so smooth.
9:14Sean Hayes:Oh, God.
9:15Will Arnett:Stop shouting. Well, we're back from commercial. What we've got here today is an actor, an exciting actor. This guy knows how to put you on his back and carry you into the world of some pretty interesting characters. Oh, I like that. Some are funny, some are scary, some are dark, some are breezy. Whatever it is, though, it's always a good ride. He's the kind of actor that gives you the grin of expectation and the feeling of relief that you're in good hands for wherever you're going. Guys, I write these myself. You can tell. He was born in Alabama, raised in Georgia, moved to Hollywood at 19, and has brought us iconic roles in films like Django Unchained, The Hateful Eight, and on TV he's given us gold in shows like The Shield, justified vice principles righteous gemstones and recently white lotus and fallout dudes here's mr walton goggins jr yo man here he is now we get it started i didn't know that you had to
10:14Jason Bateman:masturbate every day to to lead mikhail's navy you gotta get the evil out if you want to stick around a while damn it i want to get that show why do you look so sharp today you're in the
10:27Walton Goggins:He's in the middle of a junket.
10:29Jason Bateman:Yeah, in the middle. Day, I think three or four, something like that. No, really? Yeah, in it. But this is the first one for today. So I had a cappuccino, so I'm doing okay. Yeah, you got me fresh. This is for Fallout? Yeah, for Fallout.
10:43Will Arnett:Yeah, this is Fallout.
10:44Jason Bateman:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I knew, I know that there's a surprise guest, and I saw Will the other night. I know. And I almost let it. Did you keep it zipped? You were so good. Well, I didn't know who invited me. Who the host was.
10:56Sean Hayes:Dude, you were so good. No idea. I mean, I was focused on your full-length leather coat you were wearing, and it was 100 degrees in that room.
11:02Jason Bateman:So was I because I was sweating. I lost 10 pounds that night. It was great. Oh, my God.
11:09Will Arnett:Hey, so here's the deal. MGT, maybe we've just sniffed out what maybe the hole is sometimes when every once in a while, Walton, a guest will come up to one of the three of us and say, hey, can't wait to see you next week. Or their rep. or the rep or something like that. So what I think is the guest needs to be told, Michael, who the hosting fella is.
11:35Sean Hayes:Yeah. Right.
11:36Will Arnett:They're told.
11:36Jason Bateman:The reps are told.
11:37Will Arnett:They're told. They are told.
11:38Sean Hayes:We're keeping that in. We're keeping that they're told in.
11:41Jason Bateman:The host, I mean, the guest knows who the hosts are. This is smart list, man. No, no, but you didn't know. Your people didn't tell you. Yes. So this is more, you know who we need to be speaking to
11:53Sean Hayes:are Walton's representatives. Because they have them on the phone. Yeah, we're going to get some.
11:57Jason Bateman:Some of them are in the room right now. Do you hear that? Why didn't you tell me? Honestly. It doesn't matter. It's truly just to cut down on homework for the other two.
12:06Will Arnett:What's up, fellas? What's up, bud? It's so good to meet you. So you're out there with the sandwich board for Fallout. I am. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
12:16Jason Bateman:We're just starting.
12:17Will Arnett:And let's just jump off right there. How are you enjoying? God, he loves to jump off. What's the pre-call? He loves to jump off. What's the pre-call on that? You got a two-hour pre-call there for the makeup chair?
12:29Jason Bateman:Yeah, man. It's like three hours before anybody else shows up. I mean, it got so bad. Not so bad, but we filmed the first season in New York for some reason, honestly.
12:44Will Arnett:Well, because you've got a place there, a beautiful place there in the Hudson Valley. They thought maybe we'll make it geographically attractive for Mr. Goggins.
12:53Jason Bateman:But never saw it. I never left the city, really, except to go to Namibia. But we're out here now, and we were out filming in the desert. I've got this van, you know, that like so many other people.
13:06Will Arnett:That you rent back to the company and you call it your dressing room?
13:08Jason Bateman:As a matter of fact, I do. Wait, what? It's working. Yeah, here's what you do, Sean. What are you talking about?
13:14Will Arnett:When you're a fancy pants like Walton and you're working all the time, the smart money is spent on like a motor home or a van or something like that. You buy it yourself. Yeah, and then you rent it back to the production as your dressing room. And so they give you the money for dressing room rental.
13:31Walton Goggins:And so it pays for itself.
13:32Will Arnett:It pays for itself. Kind of.
13:33Jason Bateman:I mean, it's a little harder in New York than it is in Los Angeles. Parking on 8th Avenue. Yeah, parking is very expensive there.
13:39Will Arnett:The parking tickets offset the rental fee.
13:42Jason Bateman:Yeah, but it did. It worked out, you know. It worked out. But so we got to the point where we were kind of filming, like, out in the desert a few times. And I just stayed for the first time. I don't know if you guys have ever done this, but I stayed at base camp. You slept in your trailer overnight? Everybody else were in these really kind of bad hotel rooms in the middle of nowhere. So you slept at the location? Yeah, at the location with a security guard. Everybody else would leave. Oh, smart. And I just had my food.
14:08Will Arnett:Did you stick them for the hotel money too? Give me that.
14:11Jason Bateman:Yeah, I got those$60. I said, no, no, come on.
14:15Walton Goggins:I love it.
14:15Jason Bateman:Let me have that too.
14:17Walton Goggins:And you have your shower and a little kitchen in there and everything.
14:19Jason Bateman:Yeah, everything. and it was only four steps to work. You didn't shower in there. My call time was, I mean, I had, yeah, I did shower there. Did you? Yeah, as a matter of, every single night. Yeah, of course. I mean, you gotta shower when you have that stuff on your face.
14:30Sean Hayes:Jason would never, Jason, you'd never use trailer water, right?
14:34Will Arnett:Yeah, no, exactly. I don't want to smell like a hose. I have filtered. Yeah, I only use. But, Walt, you do strike me as a fella. You do strike me as a fella that is not afraid to walk barefoot on a hotel rug. Okay. No, no, I walk barefoot across the desert. Exactly. You're a guy that you're much, you're not, I'm a soft, I'm a soft man. You don't seem like a soft fella at all. You can handle quite a bit of, you know, taking away the creature comforts.
15:03Jason Bateman:You know, well, I just, I had an experience where all the creature comforts were taken away. Like, and I didn't realize how many they were going to take away. But I took my, I'm a father. Sure. There's two other parents here, and Sean, you have a dog. Stop bragging. I know. Yeah, hey. I just have one, so I can kind of not take a job for a while. But I took him. He was 14, right? About to turn 15. And it's like, okay, well, this is a big transition kind of in your life, and we need to mark this occasion. And I took him on a two-week horseback riding trip across western Mongolia. Oh, wow. Yeah. How old is he?
15:44Jason Bateman:It was a big deal. He's 14. He'll be 15 in about six weeks. And it was just an opportunity for us to kind of get out there and see the world. That's cool. And we're both obsessed with Genghis Khan.
15:57Sean Hayes:Jason would be stressed going to the first class lounge in Mongolia.
16:02Jason Bateman:He would be, actually.
16:04Will Arnett:Where are you going to find a TV with CNN International or coffee pods or anything like that?
16:11Jason Bateman:You don't get a signal, man.
16:13Will Arnett:But where do you, again, you do strike me as a guy who's so sort of, there's a lot of texture in your life. I'm like, I'm surrounded with thread count and things like that. Well, I like thread count too.
16:30Jason Bateman:I know, but you know how to do both. I like Mongolian cashmere. I mean, I like all of those things. But on this trip, here's what happened. And other than maybe we'll get to like a parenting moment, you know, with my son, which was extraordinary. Yeah, I want to see it. I want to hear that. But on day three, I mean, it took us about like 72 hours just to get to the starting point, you know. Yeah. And stopped and missed a flight, spent the night in Istanbul, which is, you know, hey, throw me in the briar patches. I love that place. Wow. Yeah. And we made it to Ulaanbaatar. Then another plane landed in Western Mongolia.
17:05Jason Bateman:And then like an eight-hour drive to just the starting point. And we got there. And it was just the two of us. We're obsessed with that part of the world. And then we start, you know, start. We meet everybody. Nobody speaks English. We have an interpreter. It's just the two of us. Five horses. I mean, seven horses, five camels. And an interpreter, two horsemen, an eagle hunter. and a cook, man. Like, it's legit. It's the real deal. And we're both, like, in the tent the first night looking at each other going, like, we're here, man. We did it. And the very first, when we landed in Western Mongolia, my son looked at me and he said, I've never been this happy in my life, Dad.
17:47Jason Bateman:So he's got that wanderlust like I do. So cut to day two, you know, something like, it kind of happened and he was like, wow, this is, excuse my language, this is really fucking hard, Dad. Like, this is really, this is hard. Like, this is really hard. And he was, you know, he was missing his mom and missing, you know, his life. And I said, you know what, buddy? I understand it is hard. You're absolutely right about it. It's very, very hard. And you can be in this place and I'll hold you and I'll love you and I'll comfort you in this time. Or you can, he said he really wanted to go home. And I said, okay, but I'll hold you and I'll comfort you for as long as you want.
18:29Jason Bateman:I mean, for the next 12 days. Or you can accept that this is your reality, right? You're not changing this reality. And you can let that fester and you can react to that. Wow. Or you can accept the fact that this is your reality and actually learn, you know, and not waste that energy. Just tuck in. It's up to you. and literally at 14 years old he said i just need give me can i can i use the battery because there's no you don't have cell phones we only have you know little bitty batteries with us or whatever it's like you can use the battery if you use it up use it whatever you want he's like i just need to listen to some music yeah he did he sat in the tent he came out uh about 45 minutes later and he just looked up at me with this big beautiful grin on his face with a plane ticket no i'm kidding and he thumbs up like i'm good dad i'm good and then so it's like okay he got through that The next morning, I'm on the horse.
19:28Jason Bateman:We're all leaving this whole caravan. It takes a whole process of getting ready to go. And I've been riding horses my whole life. My son is an unbelievable rider. And my horse just trips. Uh-oh. And I went down. I didn't see it coming. Oh, now who's got to go home? And then she rolled. Yeah, she rolled on top of me. Now who needs to be held? Exactly. She rolled on top of you. Well, this is what happened. She rolled on top of me. and I was able to push her off thinking like, oh my God, I just broke my leg. That's it. And looked down. I was like, okay, leg's fine. Everything's okay. And then I went to stand up and I immediately collapsed.
20:06Jason Bateman:Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. And my son looked at me and was like, dad, are you okay? And he's like, yeah, yeah, dude, I'm okay. All right. I got up on the horse, rode for seven hours. Don't remember it. Had a couple of Advil my wife threw in a bag. What I realized, you know, after a few days is that I broke my rib. Oh, God. And then all of a sudden, I'm like taking the advice that I just gave my son because it's like, hey, man, nobody's coming to get you. You know, you're in the middle of nowhere. There is no, like, helicopter coming to air vac you out of here, man, medevac you out of here.
20:40Jason Bateman:You got to go. You got to ride. And so it was, you know, another nine days. Oh, my God. Where does that kind of –
20:47Sean Hayes:That is, dude, dude. Jay, are you going to tell the story about...
20:51Jason Bateman:Do I have some cred now?
20:52Sean Hayes:Jay, you're about to tell the story about when the guy didn't have your valet ticket at the Governor's Awards?
20:56Will Arnett:Yeah, and I'm like, hey, man.
20:58Sean Hayes:You waited like 10 minutes for them to sort out your limo. Do you remember that?
21:01Will Arnett:A solid 10 minutes. This happened two days ago. I had to talk to a bunch of people I didn't want to talk to. Yeah. My tux was sort of itchy. And we offered to hold them. Well, where'd you get this kind of thick skin emotionally, spiritually? Did you have a couple of good parents?
21:22Jason Bateman:Well, I mean, I think we all have thick skin. You know, it's just a matter of being exposed to it. Look, I'm a poor kid from Georgia, and my parents divorced, you know, when I was three years old. Yeah. And I grew up around a bunch of, you know, when I say crazy. You say it with love. With love. Yeah, yeah, curious and really colorful. I like that. Colorful Southern women, you know, and a little bitty farmhouse, you know, outside of Atlanta. And, yeah, we didn't have anything. We didn't have, like, you know, central air. I mean, we had, like, a heater, you know, that emitted, I mean, like, it is the cause of global warming.
22:05Jason Bateman:Like, this one particular furnace that we had in our house. And, yeah, we just didn't have much. But we didn't want for much. I don't know. I just think growing up that way.
22:16Will Arnett:Well, then what about all this privilege and luxury and elitism that you're rolling around with every once in a while? Is it getting you soft? I love it.
22:27Jason Bateman:Yeah. No, dude, is it getting me soft? Yeah, I mean, I suppose. Yeah, right? Everybody has a new normal. But you know how to categorize it, right?
22:35Will Arnett:I think so.
22:36Walton Goggins:you're still able to go to Mongolia and get along
22:39Will Arnett:absolutely
22:39Walton Goggins:can I ask you some questions about that story that it's crazy I just can't believe I'm talking to the three of you
22:46Jason Bateman:this is just two of you I know and Sean I don't know so ask me anything Sean and I went to Istanbul once
22:53Will Arnett:yeah we went to Istanbul don't make that together they were at the Four Seasons there at the old prison that's true but if you remember
23:03Walton Goggins:like a week after we left It was like a big terrorist attack. Do you remember that? Yeah, I know. Like a week after we got out of there.
23:09Will Arnett:Wow. We'll be right back. My home, like your home, it's a retreat, right? It's your nest, right? And you want to be able to just lay out in that nest, you know, after a long day. So, you know, like my couch, like your couch, it's probably deep. It's soft, highly crashable, right? The home should show off who you are. Ashley has styles that balance timeless appeal and modern trends to bring your personal look home. Ashley offers well-crafted, affordable pieces built to stand up to real life with great looks that are made to last. More than just eye-catching design, get features like stain-resistant performance fabric options that are incredibly durable, stain-resistant, with machine-washable cushion covers.
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26:57Will Arnett:And now, back to the show.
27:01Walton Goggins:So, the broken rib, how do you get through that many days?
27:06Sean Hayes:This is going to be about ribs at Chin Chin. Okay. It's really interesting.
27:10Walton Goggins:You talk about how do I get through with a broken rib? Yeah, I get you through that many nine days. what do you do with the pain and how do you heal? And like, what do you do? Okay, he's hard, man. He can do it.
27:21Jason Bateman:Well, no, I mean, like, but there's no, I didn't know what was happening, right? I didn't, and it did, you know, I gotta be honest with you, man. I felt like, oh, you know, maybe this is internal bleeding. Maybe this is it. Like I was really, I was scared, but I tried not to show that to my son. And I said that when we got to this particular, the next location after that seven hour ride, And I crawled into this tent. I mean, they took me off this horse, which, by the way, I had the only horse in Mongolia with Alzheimer's, man. She had no idea who I was. It's like, man, I've been riding you for eight hours a day, man.
28:02Jason Bateman:I can stop for lunch. I've only been gone for 20 minutes, man. Like, I'm here. I don't have a scent. I mean, really? Right, right. But no, I crawled into this tent and I looked at my son and I said, listen, man, I'm going to take this Advil and we're going to see if I wake up with any relief. And if it is, then I think, you know, we're going to be okay. Everything's fine. And I did. I fell asleep. I don't even remember falling asleep. I woke up, I don't know, three hours later or something like that. And I felt marginally better, right, because I'd found a place that wasn't so painful, Sean. Right, right.
28:36Jason Bateman:And then I was able to make it out of the tent. I walked in. I mean, I'm in Mongolia. It's the best horse people in the world. You know, they had an idea of kind of what it was. And then while I was sleeping, they fermented a bunch of yak vodka. Sure. You know, like yak milk. And so I just, I drank, we killed a goat that day. Jesus Christ. And I drank this yak vodka. Oh, my. They just, when we left there for the next thing, we had these like two gallons of yak vodka. So I would just like in the morning, you know, like with coffee and follow it with a shot of yak vodka and a little bit of Advil.
29:14Jason Bateman:You can't get that at the Marriott now.
29:15Sean Hayes:Just a mouthful of goat.
29:17Jason Bateman:Yeah, exactly. And we had no refrigeration for that goat, but we ate that goat every way one can eat a goat. Oh, of course.
29:25Walton Goggins:I can't think of anything I'd rather not do. Just watching Jason's face. Really?
29:30Jason Bateman:Because I'm going to invite all of you on the next trip.
29:32Will Arnett:I mean, I would be, I would have an uncomfortable time just researching that trip. You know what? Okay, this is how. The websites I'd have to go to to research this would have a font and a sort of a user interface that would be aesthetically unappealing to me. And let alone go to the country. What's wrong with me? You know what?
29:59Jason Bateman:Because my son was, you know, at this age, I said, and he's obsessed. I got a smart kid, y 'all. Like, he's a very, very, very bright, very curious man. I can't even say young man because if you sit with him, you feel like you're talking to somebody. How old is he now, Walton? He's still 14, man. Like, he turns, he's a New Year's Day baby. So this was a recent trip. Oh, man, I just got back like two months ago, man. Well, how's your rib now? You know, better. I mean, I got, I got, I got, I mean, look, it was, it's such a long story, but it kind of made it, like, kept going. And day three, it took me, that's when it, like, got really bad.
30:37Jason Bateman:And it took me, like, an hour and a half just to get out of the tent. I'd wake up before my kid did just so that he didn't see me that way.
30:44Will Arnett:So you'd go do this trip again? Oh, yeah. Oh, God. With you guys. No. The four of us. You won't find me there.
30:52Walton Goggins:I'll drive you to the airport. That's it.
30:53Will Arnett:What about, like, a safari in Africa?
30:56Jason Bateman:Look, what's the most adventurous experience that you've ever given yourself? Go ahead, Sean.
31:04Walton Goggins:Well, during COVID, like right before COVID hit, I booked a Scotty thing where we were going to go on the Orient Express. It's like his dream to go on that train across Europe. And so that's like the most extravagant thing I would have ever done. But that's on a fancy train. Oh, you didn't wind up? No, because COVID happened.
31:21Sean Hayes:Have you ever done anything out of nature, though, either of you guys?
31:25Will Arnett:Well, I did a day's worth of work, Schedule F, on a Knight Rider episode once they get rid of a honey wagon. And honey wagons, let me tell you something. If you're looking to stretch out and catch a nap at lunch, you're fucked. Schedule F. Yeah, you are. In the forest. In the forest.
31:41Jason Bateman:Schedule F. Yeah, that's hard. Yeah, those, well, I mean, your legs are straight up and they're flat. Your feet are flat against the wall. You can't do it.
31:49Will Arnett:You got the xylophone wall that you're hearing everybody's business next door. I don't recommend it.
31:55Jason Bateman:You remember your roommate?
31:56Will Arnett:You remember who it was? Some old timer. Bless his heart.
32:01Sean Hayes:Not earning his portion.
32:02Will Arnett:Jack Elam. It might have been Jack Elam.
32:04Walton Goggins:I don't think, yeah. I would go if it was like, you know, the kids say glamping.
32:09Sean Hayes:Like if it was, because I love. I did, when I was your son's age, I was 15. I did a three and a half week canoe trip up in northern Ontario. Oh, was that right? 1985. and we got dropped off on the side of a road and it was, yeah, three and a half weeks of canoeing and it ended up being a whole thing and we got way behind because the maps were so old so we had to portage every day for the last eight days. Portage. And we had to get rescued by. We paddled into this bay and we were like, we knew we were way behind and we had to meet a bus at a highway and we knew we were hundreds of kilometers or miles or whatever behind.
32:48Sean Hayes:And we paddled. we paddled into a bay you didn't see anybody and there were no roads up there there was nothing it was way up northern Ontario and we got we paddled around this corner there was a cabin there we saw some people there and they dropped sometimes they drop people a lot of Americans off for fishing for a week on a seaplane and there was a couple there and we paddled up to their dock and they're like are you boys okay by the way I never let my we were all 15 and the two guides were 18 so the five of us and then two guides. And we were like, we're kind of in trouble. And at which point, the plane that worked for that company drove by and saw our canoes and came and he landed and asked us what the situation.
33:31Sean Hayes:He said, okay, well, we'll get in touch with somebody. You know, this is way before cell phones and all that shit. And we were like, what's going to happen? And then like two hours later, we see a twin otter come and land and it's the Ministry of Natural Resources. And they picked us up and we strapped a couple of our canoes to the pontoons and we took off and we got out of there. The craziest thing was at the end of this bay, there were these two small islands really close together. And on each island was a wing. And we were like, what's that? And they're like, oh, back in the 50s, a plane tried to take off.
33:59Sean Hayes:It was too heavy and it didn't make it. And they cheered off both wings. Oh, my God. And we're like, are we okay? And the guy's like, you know, bush pilot. He's like, oh, yeah, we'll be fine. No worries. Wow. Were you scared?
34:11Jason Bateman:Did you get, did you, do you remember that feeling of being?
34:13Sean Hayes:About day four of us being way behind, we started to get a little bit scared. It was really, we were, it was just, we were out there and we was like, nobody knew where we were.
34:24Will Arnett:So anyway, I couldn't eat when they broke for first team. I had to wait till background. I had to eat when background ate. And I'm like, guys, I've got lines. I'm saying a couple of lines today. And they're like, no, we're going to want you to stay in holding. and then we'll let you know. We've got to get first team through first.
34:45Walton Goggins:I've had to eat when background ate.
34:47Will Arnett:But I made it. I made it.
34:49Walton Goggins:You made it. You made it. Oh, you look great, Jay.
34:52Will Arnett:Walton, you grew up in Georgia. Can you say anything specifically from that area that has shaped you into the kind of actor you are today? I mean, I guess you're sort of, you basically said it. It's seasoned you a bit, right? I was going to say this.
35:09Sean Hayes:I don't know if it's Georgia, but also the way that you live your life and you're talking about the stuff you do. You have such an unbelievably freewheeling style. And I mean that is the greatest, is such a compliment. You bring something to every sort of role that you do. There's no BS. You bring this kind of, yeah, this life, like this kind of freewheeling thing that is so fucking alive and fantastic. Every time, you light it up, man. And I wonder if that is because of your background, dude.
35:35Will Arnett:He's been exposed to stuff, you know?
35:37Jason Bateman:He's got things to draw on. Look, that's a lot coming from this group of men because I am such big fans of all of you. As you know, I mean, Sean, you don't, but I am. Well, that's very sweet. Likewise. This is what – I genuinely live every day like it's my last day. And what I mean by that is I know what it's like to be hungry. I know what it's like to be cold. I know what it's like to be uncomfortable. I know now what it's like to wear really nice clothes because I've had this beautiful run and gotten to wear well that's very kind of you say but it's like well why do you think these people are letting you wear these clothes I said because I'm wearing them like I'll never get to wear them again and that's the truth and I mean that
36:24Will Arnett:and that's okay too you do have an allergy to buttons though and just like Justin Trudeau's got an allergy to sleeves and what is wrong with you two you're in a fight with the clothes You're not, you're not.
36:35Jason Bateman:Hey, man, I'm taking my cues off Richard Deer. I'm taking my cues off. You know what? I did a movie with Richard, man. I did a movie with Richard, like, this is a few years ago. And it was with Dinklage and Bradley. And we were sitting there, and it was really, really tired. It was a long, long day. And I looked at him, and I said, man, I'm so tired. I'm really tired. You must be tired, Richard. And he said, you know what? You're right. I am. I'm very tired. He said, but you know the difference between you and me? I said, no, man. What's the difference? He said, tomorrow morning when I wake up, I'll still be Richard Gere.
37:23Jason Bateman:Motherfucker. And you won't. Wow. You motherfucker, man. You're exactly right. You will be. So it's okay. You're okay. That's really funny.
37:36Will Arnett:Now, all right. So you pack up from Georgia. Pack up from Georgia, yeah. You go to Georgia Southern University. I think I got that right. And you do a year there and you say, you want to know what? I think I know what I want to do. So you jump. Did you ride horseback from Georgia out to Los Angeles? Yeah, I did. I rode a horse.
37:56Jason Bateman:I've seen this entire nation. Yeah, I took the long way around. So you tie that horse up. I went the northern route, then came back, and then took the southern route just to get to LA.
38:04Will Arnett:So you pull into Los Angeles there at 19. Wow, 9 years old. You start the process of chasing the dream. And was it a difficult thing to get an agent and get auditions right away? Did you have a colorful first job to sort of pay the bills during this process? What was that first year?
38:25Jason Bateman:Well, you know, I was, look, we all have our stories, right? I mean, there was no way I was ever going to go to New York. A vertically integrated city was way above my pay grade. I couldn't handle that living.
38:38Will Arnett:Wait, wait, sorry. Because you thought New York would be too expensive to live in? Well, too expensive, but so radically different, right?
38:45Jason Bateman:Oh, right, right, right. And then the life that I kind of grew up. Well, not sprawl, no. I grew up kind of like in the country with space, a little bit of space. And a big family, a little family? No, well, I mean, I have a half-brother now, but at the time, I mean, I was really kind of raised an only child. And it was my mom and her three sisters and my grandmother and my cousin who's like, you know, she's like my aunt's daughter, like my sister. And then all of these crazy, crazy southern hippies, you know, like all of these guys. I had just a lot of people that kind of came through my life.
39:27Will Arnett:Right, so New York was too much of a cultural shock, potentially.
39:31Jason Bateman:Well, you know, maybe on some level, absolutely. And I also think that I was just really attracted to the West and the idea. Growing up in a place where the biggest view that you have is a football field, right, because of all the pines and all the rest of it. I just love the idea of seeing from miles in any direction. And so, yeah, I left, you know, at 19, you know, drove across country with my dad, believe it or not. Oh, right. And, you know, I had, you know, a number. But I watched. I watched. I mean, I'm not without people in my life that were in this business in the sense that my aunt was an actress in the theater and her husband, my uncle.
40:14Jason Bateman:So I grew up kind of watching them on stage. Sure. and uh but you know i really didn't i mean i i like doing this you know i mean i i did like i didn't know this is what i was going to do for the rest of my life i just really wanted to see
40:25Sean Hayes:the world but when you landed day one what do you do like how do you what was your plan well i
40:31Jason Bateman:started working right in in atlanta i mean i started working like uh there was a yeah like kyle chandler was this you know in this group and my buddy ray mckinnon and and just there was there were there was a lot kind of going on in atlanta at that time and uh and i got a you know know, a few gigs there. And one was a pretty big one, you know, called Murder in Mississippi. And it was nominated for like eight Golden Globes with a bunch of really great actors in it. And so I got an agent pretty quick, you know, because I'd come out. And they said, come on out. Well, kind of, I mean, yeah, I kind of that.
41:03Jason Bateman:I mean, I don't know. They were kind of reluctant. I don't know why they took me to be quite honest with you, but I, you know, I didn't, I didn't know. I mean, I had a guy's phone number and, and I, when I first got dropped off. At the Oakwoods. No, I got dropped off at this woman. I worked with her husband and she was like a manager. And I actually put this like on my Instagram version of it on my Instagram, but I got dropped off at this apartment. Woman, her husband picked me up and got back to her apartment, like right off like Sierra Bonita and Hollywood Boulevard. And, you know, she asked me to sign this paper and I said, I just, I don't really know.
41:42Jason Bateman:I don't think I should do that. I don't even know what I am. And she said, well, you know, if you don't sign it, then you have to leave. I said, well, I don't have anywhere to go. And she said, well, you've got to figure that out. I said, well, can I just spend the night? I'll be out of here first thing in the morning. She said, yeah. And I left, you know, first thing the next morning. And I had an audition, actually, with a cast director by the name of Pam Dixon. And I sat, I was there, you know, four and a half hours early with my luggage. And she said, what, you've been out here the whole time?
42:12Jason Bateman:I said, yeah. you know, she said, well, just bring your stuff inside. Just hang out. And I did and didn't get the job. But afterwards I had a phone number from a guy that I'd worked with and I ran into it, a Rio Bravo in Atlanta. And I called it and he answered the phone, a pay phone, right? And he said, yeah, man, I'll come pick you up. You can stay with us. And that was kind of it. That was the beginning. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I mean, I had 300 bucks, you know, in my pocket and then got a job like everybody else you know what job what were you doing uh la fitness sure um uh you know 5 a.m to 9 a.m shift making four checking folks in or were you personal checking them in man yeah yeah the shittiest locker locker keys yeah yeah like there was nobody just me yeah and uh do you remember where that was which la fitness that was yeah oxnard and uh cold water oh in the valley
43:02Will Arnett:yeah oh with the racquetball courts i used to play racquetball in there as a matter of fact they
43:07Jason Bateman:They did.
43:08Will Arnett:Yeah, did they have that? Yeah, they did. Sure, they must have right there. Right there on the L.A. River. Right there. On the L.A. River. Would you play there with Schwartz? Yeah.
43:15Jason Bateman:Johnny Schwartz. Johnny Schwartz. Would you guys play there? Johnny Schwartz, he'd kick my ass every game. And where were you living at that point? I mean, were you living at the top of the Sunset Tower?
43:25Sean Hayes:That's where he kept his course.
43:26Jason Bateman:That's where you started your journey in Los Angeles.
43:29Sean Hayes:Listen, I will say, Walton, it's not surprising. Again, I'm going to get down to just what I know from you over the years. and that this stuff opened up because you come at life with such a great positive attitude. And it is a really great, not to get too weird, but it is a great example of you come out, you just, you make a call, you're open, you're very positive and you kind of get in life what you put into it. And it's almost like, I think that that lesson, again, that you gave your son, I mean, this is all part of a bigger, if you kind of take a broader view that you've just got this great vibe.
44:04Sean Hayes:And again, I just, it's no surprise to me, man. People want to hang out with you.
44:10Jason Bateman:Yeah. How do you say? Well, I mean, look, we all have our path, right? And what, you know, how did we get that first job? How did we get a second job? How did a decade later, 20 years later? I mean, hell, I've been at this 30-something years, 35 years. Yeah, right, right. And I, you know, I just don't compare myself to anybody else, really. Yeah, that's so crucial, isn't it?
44:34Sean Hayes:Yeah. Yeah.
44:35Jason Bateman:And I've got, like, we have a lot of friends in common. I've got a lot of friends who are a lot more successful than I am and a lot that aren't. But it's the same, right? Sure. We're all the same, yeah. Yeah, it is. I mean, we really are. It is.
44:51Sean Hayes:Sean was saying something interesting because we were talking about this thing I went to the other night and Sean said, isn't it funny that no matter what, we, on a certain level, nobody thinks that they've made it. I don't care who you are because you're always trying to, right? Right. You're always, there's no, like people like, oh, you made it. Like, I haven't made it. I'm like thinking about how do I, right? And everybody else thinks.
45:12Will Arnett:They say in, there's this great line. I just saw the movie Jay Kelly, which is pretty good. George Clooney says, you know, that he spent his whole life trying to get something that he thought he really wanted and then he got it. And then he realized, oh, wait, it's not over. I got to, now I got to keep it. You know, it's like, so no matter where you are, even if you think you're there, you still got to work on trying to keep it if you care to.
45:33Sean Hayes:Do you think they'll put your quote on the poster, J.B., J. Kelly, pretty good? Pretty good.
45:39Jason Bateman:Why not? On the back. Yeah, on Sunset Boulevard. There it is. It's pretty good. I highly recommend. Can I ask you, gentlemen, something? Capricorn. Do you get insecure walking into a room? I mean, yes, in general. Every day. I live my life insecure. Every moment. Yeah, right? Walking into a room? Walking into a room with, you know, like an event or like a bunch of actors or writers or directors, you know, like something affiliated with this. A hundred percent of the time, Sean?
46:11Walton Goggins:I don't get insecure about status because I don't care about it. I get insecure about carrying a conversation.
46:20Will Arnett:Carrying a conversation?
46:22Walton Goggins:Yeah.
46:22Will Arnett:Really?
46:23Walton Goggins:Yeah, yeah. You're an incredible conversationalist. No, no, but the work that it takes for me to get up to being a good conversationalist is exhausting. It's exhausting. Yeah, it's exhausting being interested in somebody you don't, you're sitting next to at a table with placards with your name on it next to somebody you don't know and you have to like, start off the scratch. Hey, what's going on? Like, you know what I mean? So I get anxiety about that, but not so much about like status. I don't care about status. No, not anymore.
46:50Sean Hayes:Weirdly, I think it's a, I think that I'm just naive and I don't know what it is. I'm blessed with that. It's kind of, you know, they're just like, I just don't have any, sense yeah I had a really cool I was doing this interview thing the other day it's gonna come out but that and I had the pleasure of sitting next to Benicio Del Toro and well that's somebody I would like to sit next to you yeah and the woman said she said you know this idea of imposter syndrome she said do you ever do you guys ever have the suffer from imposter syndrome and she said Benicio and he goes what is that and I was like oh man that's wild It was so dope.
47:30Sean Hayes:And she goes, no, you know that thing? And he goes, I don't know what that is. I was like, fuck.
47:34Jason Bateman:Yeah. That would make me feel even more of an imposter.
47:38Sean Hayes:But it was so dope. That would send me over the edge. But at the same time, it was so cool because it was such a great sort of lesson of like, you don't have to, right? Like you can try to, you can kind of let that go. And he has it naturally in the most beautiful way. But like, oh, yeah, you don't have to have it, you know?
47:55Jason Bateman:That's right. Yeah. Yeah. No, you know, I've gotten to where like, you know, I've just gotten, it scares me a little bit, you know, but I've gotten really comfortable at work. Yeah. Like it doesn't, you know what I mean? And that's not a feeling that I'm comfortable with. I like to be, when I'm working, I'm not very social. I'm alone. I'm just off doing my thing. Yeah, I like that. And then you kind of come in. I don't hang out and just small talk. I don't have the energy. I'm like you, Sean. I get exhausted. Yeah, me too. I'm an introvert for sure.
48:31Walton Goggins:But you know what, David, you know that famous David, I just looked it up, the David Bowie quote. I love this. You probably know it. Aging is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person you always should have been. Yeah. So all of this stuff that we're talking about, I think the older you get, the more you're like, I can walk into a room because who gives a shit?
48:49Sean Hayes:I just had an extraordinary experience and who knows if it'll translate, but I am up here doing this thing. Where are you, by the way, man? I'm in Montana, outside of Bozeman, Montana. He's in the back of an In-N-Out. And I'm doing this. I have the pleasure of doing these scenes with the great Michelle Pfeiffer. Jay, what do you call her? M. Pfeiffer? Michy Pfeiffer.
49:12Will Arnett:Michy Pfeiffer. Michy Pfeiffer.
49:14Sean Hayes:And she's so brilliant. And I just had this moment, and I think it's age. I don't know if it's age or what it is. And I can just say it honestly, that I was just there doing this thing, and we're shooting, on the edge of this river that's out there that's beautiful. What I'm looking at is insanely beautiful and then snow-capped mountains in the distance and the thing. We're about to go, what am I doing in this scene? I just went like, oh man. I literally was like, anything can happen. Just enjoy it. Just be right here. Then it was just like unreal. Incredible. I was just like letting go. I don't think I could have done it as a younger man and I think that as I'm getting older, or just let go of so many hang-ups.
49:56Walton Goggins:Yeah, because, well, because you asked that, do you have that? Because you asked us that, do you have, are you still?
50:01Jason Bateman:Well, I guess what I was kind of getting at, just to hear your experiences. Yeah, I think that I just carried so much of the people that I've gotten to play. You know, they're pretty lonely, you know? They're, you know, nefarious and they got a lot going on and they're under a lot of pressure mentally and emotionally for the most part. And so I quite enjoy kind of being in that state, in that place, especially, you know, at work. But, you know, something happened recently where it's similar, but I just showed up like, yeah, hi, how are you? And I was just not, and I was there. I'd read the script 250 times.
50:46Jason Bateman:I know what's happening. But all of a sudden, I just didn't need that anymore. I mean, it's like the difference between, you know, your 20s and your 30s, and then for me becoming a father at 39, so let's call it 40s, and then learning how to be a parent. Oh, God, oh, God, now I'm a parent. I'm in my 50s, and that's okay. I know how to be a parent. I feel like I know how to tell stories, and I enjoy it more than I've ever enjoyed it. So it's just a new experience for me.
51:17Walton Goggins:Right.
51:17Jason Bateman:Like I don't have that. But it's freeing though, right? It is so free, man. Yeah, I love that. It is. It's so free. I love it.
51:26Walton Goggins:We'll be right back.
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53:36Walton Goggins:And now, back to the show.
53:39Will Arnett:well do you feel that um because you know we're we're we do this thing where we're playing people and i think i think all four of us are interested in playing people that that don't have it all together people that are that are that are somewhat broken in an interesting way and vulnerable and human and have flaws and all that stuff and have you have you felt like you've you know we're talking about as we get older we get better right it just just as people um um so do you think that that's at odds with playing characters that don't have it all together like as we're starting to get our shit together as we get older um it's sort of at odds with playing characters that are that are a little bit broken and then in fact as you get uh more and more successful maybe you know as we were joking about earlier you kind of get a little bit soft because things are sort of privileged around you and luxurious and stuff is it do you do you fight that sort of embrace of success?
54:36Will Arnett:Does it go against what you like to live in? You know what?
54:40Jason Bateman:That's a great question. And I would ask you all to answer that question too, but because I think we're told a lie, you know, early on that, you know, you got to struggle, you got to, you know, you got to live in it. You have to be, you have to be fucked up to play fucked up people. Right. And the truth is, no, man, you don't. You can just be really evolved and not create distance between yourself and that experience. Actually really empathize with these people. And I think that's where I've gotten to in my life. And outside of, I generally empathize with human beings. I believe that all of our paths are by nature narcissistic.
55:24Jason Bateman:narcissistic, we cast ourselves as the antagonist and the protagonist in our own story, and we just watch how we interface with the fucking world. When you step outside of that, when you really step outside of that narcissistic DNA quality of survival, all of a sudden the world just becomes, it's just easier. Life is easier. It's just calmer, and I'm calmer. And I feel that happening kind of in my professional life. It's happened, God, I had such a hard time. I watched you guys on Kimmel, you know, the three of you on Kimmel. And I listened, I saw you, Sean, and I saw like how far, you know, you sat and kind of speaking about your anxiety.
56:11Jason Bateman:And I had, I still have it on some level, but I had it, I really had it. It's also a little bit of a superpower, but yeah. It is a superpower. and getting ready to walk into a room for people that experience that. And it's like, okay, I'm gonna show, because I show up for shit. You know what I mean? I show up for a conversation and nothing is half-assed. That's right. I show up for everything. And if you put that much into it, if you care that much about it, well then, and it's not performative. It's not a performance, but it takes a lot from you. And on the other side of that, you gotta just be alone and quiet and kind of do all of that.
56:49Jason Bateman:And I envy people that can just fucking move through it, man, without expending like a ton of energy and still be just as charming and all the rest of it. I know. I know. Yeah, but I wonder if that – Very similar.
57:02Will Arnett:Because there have been times when I have been less insecure and really kind of just cruise through it. And I just don't feel like, well, I might have a lesser level of anxiety. I just don't feel like I'm participating as much. I don't feel like I'm feeling the day as much. I like being insecure in as many things and situations as I can. I just feel like I'm a little bit more eyes open, ears open, heart open if I am. I worry when I get too comfortable. Anyway. All right. So you come out to LA. You start working. Do you remember what that job was that gave you a little bit of like, oh, wow, I think I might be able to make a living at this.
57:50Will Arnett:Some people have raised some eyebrows. I'm getting some calls. Was there one that kind of initiated the momentum that you've kept going since then? Yeah.
58:01Jason Bateman:Yeah. Yeah. Very specific, right? We've all had many before this happened and after this happened events in our life. and I valley parked, I sold cowboy boots, then I became a personal trainer at the same gym that I started this thing. I did all of that. And then I got this movie called The Apostle with Robert Duvall. Oh my God, so good. You were so good and I love that movie. You were great. But I was 24 years old and it was through the process of kind of telling that story and the relationship that I had with Bobby on the other side of that that I felt like, okay, I can, you know what, man, because I always were, and I worked as soon as I got here.
58:42Jason Bateman:I was very, very fortunate. And I, you know, poor kid, Georgia, I just squirreled it away, always, and just lived off whatever I made doing whatever job that I was doing. But at that point, I thought, well, you know what, I'm just gonna, I'm not gonna do that anymore. And I'm just gonna, you know, focus kind of on this. And then, you know, I don't think people really knew what to do with me, because on the other side of that, thinking my manager who was actually sitting here was my manager then. Nice. And she leaned in my ear or somebody that she was with leaned in my ear and said, hey man, your life's about to change.
59:17Jason Bateman:That's good. Because it was a Toronto film festival or whatever. And then on the other side of it, people just thought, well, this guy's just fucking from there. He's just a local hire.
59:28Will Arnett:They thought you weren't even like an actor. You were a real... Yeah, exactly. It's like, oh, okay. What a compliment.
59:33Jason Bateman:I guess it is to Bobby Duvall. That's what he says. And then I just kept cruising. I just said yes in life more than I said no. And my 20s weren't under a microscope. I just got to do my thing.
59:49Will Arnett:But now when you walk down the street, you're getting stopped. Yeah. And you have been for years. But what's your relationship with that? Do you feel like those are two separate people, the person that the public recognizes, wants to talk to? Or have you been able to incorporate that into what seems to be an incredibly authentic person? From the very beginning, you've been very tapped into keeping it real, not being full of shit, no artifice, no veneer. Yet the public basically has a say on who they think you are as well. And sometimes fame, there's a discomfort with merging those two things. Have you made a fan of that?
1:00:39Jason Bateman:Oh, you know what? Honestly, whether you like it or whether you don't, whether you like me or you don't like me, I am me. And I am me privately. I am me publicly. Anybody that knows me very, very well listening to this podcast would say, yeah, he's the exact same. and when like, you know, interfacing with people on the street, this is no bullshit. This is how I -
1:01:03Walton Goggins:No, because editing yourself everywhere you go is exhausting too. It's like, oh, I gotta be this person.
1:01:06Will Arnett:Yeah, because the person who's not full of shit, who's no BS, would be at a dinner table and enjoying your conversation with your friend and then a fan would come up and ask for a picture or something. The person who's like truly no bullshit would say, hey man, I'm having dinner. I can't do that right now. But like, this is like an example. Kurt Russell would say that. Kurt Russell did say that.
1:01:25Jason Bateman:He called somebody out who said like, I'm a pilot. And he's like, no, you're fucking not. You're not a pilot. Tell me about this thing. But that's not my personality. That's not where I come from. That's not how I was raised. And for me, and I really mean this, man, when I'm stopped on the street, yeah, I mean, it has been a lot. And it has been a lot over the last two or three years. But honestly, man, I feel like I can provide for my family. It just means that somebody else is going to hire me. And we have a public job. That's part of the job. It is part of the job. And I genuinely love meeting people.
1:02:01Jason Bateman:I don't, no, I just, I live my life differently in that way. And I never meet a stranger. I like, you know, even where we live now, which is radically different than where we've lived our entire life. Like, you know, I wasn't, my friends are the painter and the plumber and the artist and all the rest of it. But that's, man, listen, I was raised in a household with crazy fucking southern hippies. Yeah. Crazy, like insane. With love. With love, yeah. Oh, absolutely. But certifiably insane in the best way. And we all are. Like a Christmas at our house, like with, you know, one little heater or whatever, more often than not, somebody would go to the store and then whoever went to the store would come back with three or four people.
1:02:54Jason Bateman:And that would happen to a couple of people who would come back. So then all of a sudden, like in a, like this, you know, family of whatever, there would be like 25 people sitting in our, around our Christmas tree that were, you know, when we had food. and then we would go, because we didn't have gifts for them, we would just go pick out, I remember giving my Atari pitfall game to somebody, just like my mom said, just go in there and pick out something you can give away. And I went in and wrapped it up in a Christmas present. I'd just been playing it all morning and gave it out. That's kind of what we did and that's, I don't know, it's just kind of how I live my life.
1:03:33Jason Bateman:I love that.
1:03:33Walton Goggins:Wait, I just wanted to ask, Well, like, you know, we could go through tons of your stuff, Hateful Eight, Django, Cowboys and Aliens, The Unicorn, like all those great things that you've done.
1:03:44Will Arnett:And then TV, Shield, and anyway.
1:03:48Walton Goggins:On and on, but only because it's the big recent massive thing is White Lotus, right? Yeah. It's like you were so fucking great in that, and it was such a great season, and the world watches that show. It does, yeah. It's so massive. That must have felt different.
1:04:05Will Arnett:And you got to work with your buddy Sam Rock. Well, our pal Sammy Rock. Yeah, I love Sam Rock. That must have been fun. But shooting in Thailand must have been, well, maybe not for you. You probably loved all the fucking hot, sweaty conditions, right? Lots of open-toed shoes. Yeah, just like. I went to, okay, like in the travel.
1:04:23Jason Bateman:Provided your own wardrobe. I went to that part of the world 18 years ago. It's a long story. I've said it, so I won't repeat it here. But I went all over Southeast Asia. once I got to a certain point in my life after studying, like I didn't party really in my 20s. You know, I just, I was hyper-focused on what it was I was asking myself to do. I didn't go to, I mean, you know, I went to... Roxbury. Wall of Brown Derby, right? Or, yeah, yeah. You know, all the places over in Los Feliz with Elaine and what's the name of the place? Yeah. Sure, sure. Anyway, I did all of that, but barely. And so then when I turned 30 years old and, you know, we were on the second year of the Shield or after the first year of the Shield, I just said, you know what, this is my time.
1:05:08Jason Bateman:Now I'm just going to finish a job and I'm going to take off and go somewhere in the world and just hang out and get to know that place. And I've done that now, you know, with family and with family for, God, I mean, I'm 54 years old. So I've been doing that for 24 years. Your passport must be a mess.
1:05:28Sean Hayes:But it just gives you such a richness of life that's not just about doing this stuff. It gives you real-world experience. Sean and I talk about this all the time. Having that kind of real-world experience and getting out in the world is important, man.
1:05:43Jason Bateman:How do you do that? How do you find something new to bring back to the table?
1:05:48Sean Hayes:I try to do that too. I think it's what Will just said.
1:05:52Walton Goggins:I have to force myself to get out of the house. So I have...
1:05:55Will Arnett:I'll put on CNN International. and I'll just see how it's all going.
1:06:01Sean Hayes:I like to go places, man. But even like the dumbest things,
1:06:05Walton Goggins:when Jason asked me to go to the Dodgers game, I was like, yeah. And by the way, never been to a Dodgers game and those seats. But just as far as an experience goes, it's like, wow, I have that in my brain now. Yeah, and you didn't take the 101.
1:06:18Sean Hayes:You took Sunset. That was new for you too. Backroads.
1:06:22Will Arnett:That's an adventure, man. And it was an 18-inning game. Oh, my God.
1:06:25Jason Bateman:Take the five, man. It was great, though.
1:06:28Will Arnett:But now what about, before we let you go, tell us about Fallout. Tell us about, so you've made a friend of the three-hour makeup session. It's certainly worth it. My God, what an incredible job they do with you. Thanks, man.
1:06:43Jason Bateman:It's a big, you know what, we got to do this. You get a call from Jonathan Nolan. The first word out of your mouth is yes. Right, right. Read the scripts afterwards. and one of the writers was, she wrote Tomb Raider and she was a friend of mine, Geneva Robertson and Graham Wagner. I knew through some friends, I was just a fan of his really but it started, it was all on the page. I didn't know how they would tell this story and it was a lot. Like day one was really intense thinking like, man, I'm too old for this shit. Like I don't know how I can pull this off. It was in New York, and it was like 99 degrees with a heat index of like 106.
1:07:26Jason Bateman:And then we just kept... Go ahead.
1:07:29Walton Goggins:No, just to say, your makeup, it's like you don't have a nose. No. But I do have a nose. I know, but how do they get rid of your nose?
1:07:38Jason Bateman:You know, it's called CGI. Oh, okay. I didn't know. I thought it was like... Yeah, okay. It's still there. Yeah, they do that like in the post. So people see me when I do my nose. Actually, I just saw these screeners that they send out to everybody. And one scene, they didn't do the effects on yet for the credits. And it was like, oh, fuck, that's my nose. Now, do you have to put,
1:08:02Will Arnett:do you have to act with like a tracking mark on the tip of your nose? Yeah, it doesn't affect me because I can't see it.
1:08:07Jason Bateman:But yeah, everybody else is like - Is it like a little X or a dot or a green? It is five dots or four, one, two, three, four. Four dots. I'll send you a photo. Oh my God. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we did it, man. And it came out and it was really well received and it became one of the biggest shows in the world. I mean, it truly is a global experience. I mean, this game resonates so deeply with so many people all over the world. And we got an opportunity to do it again and jump right back in there. I've been on a long run. One of the best pilots I've ever seen.
1:08:43Walton Goggins:The first episode I've seen, it's amazing.
1:08:45Sean Hayes:Thanks, man. Did you shoot the second season back in New York too? No, no, no. We're in L.A. now, man.
1:08:51Jason Bateman:Oh, nice. We're here. Yeah, and it feels good to be back here and to work with an L.A. crew, you know, to see all of these. It's so rare to work here, yeah. It's so tough here in this town right now. But it feels great to look out and go, yeah, we're back home. And so we did it. We did season two. And look, we've all been down these roads a number of times. And you know that if you get this first season, if you can get a critical mass to like it, and I knew it with a shield and with Justified and with like the Righteous Gemstones or any of these things, that you have an opportunity to do something transcendent, really.
1:09:29I mean, if you can play it safe or you can go for it.
1:09:34Jason Bateman:And that's what, you know, everybody did. And we're, you know, it's about, it's coming out on December 17th. That's right, on Amazon. Yeah, man, and we're really, really, really excited about it.
1:09:44Will Arnett:Well, you always go for it. You always go for it. And as I said at the top, you never drop us. You take us with you. You carry us safely on these great creative journeys that you take us on.
1:09:56Sean Hayes:Oh, dude, what was the show that you and Danny did that killed me that was the other one before? Vice Principals. No, Vice Principals.
1:10:02Jason Bateman:Vice Principals. Dude, dude. Dude, you killed me in that, dude.
1:10:07Sean Hayes:Thanks, brother.
1:10:10Will Arnett:I'd give a limb to work with you one day, buddy. So my fingers are crossed for that. This will have to do until then. Thank you so much for coming on the show and talking to us.
1:10:22Jason Bateman:Well, you're just a legend, dude. You are, buddy. I'll buy you a glass of whatever you want whenever I see you next. And I look forward to continuing.
1:10:30Will Arnett:Just take me on a horseback ride. You know, I got to get cultured.
1:10:33Jason Bateman:Yes, anything. What if I knock you? What if you woke up with me in Mongolia? In a tent in Mongolia?
1:10:41Will Arnett:I would need a few batteries. It'd have to be a lot of batteries in there. Okay, man.
1:10:46Jason Bateman:All right, y 'all. Thank you so much, everybody. Thank you, Paul. Nice to meet you, Paul.
1:10:50Sean Hayes:Great to see you, dude. All right, I'll see you soon. Bye, bud. Okay. Yeah!
1:10:53Will Arnett:I love the slam!
1:10:55Sean Hayes:He slammed it. He did it. Love him.
1:10:59Will Arnett:Yeah. I know. I do feel a little seasoned just even talking to him. I don't need to go to Mongolia just here.
1:11:06Walton Goggins:I know. By the way, those are the kind of guys, like, obviously we have tons and tons of favorite episodes. This is one of my favorite ones. Like, that guy I could talk to forever. How great is his vibe?
1:11:15Sean Hayes:That's a good dude. Yeah, it's great. His lust for life is just incredible and infectious.
1:11:20Will Arnett:Wouldn't you want to invite him over? It's funny when he talks about walking into a room.
1:11:23Sean Hayes:Every time he walks in a room, he lights it up, and it's genuine. It's not put on. That's so funny to hear him say that. As I said, I saw him the other night. He just comes in, and he just has this, like, joie de vivre, as we say. Sparkle. A little fairy dust. He does have sparkle.
1:11:38Walton Goggins:When he was talking about, when you were talking about your experience with the outdoor thing, I wanted to tell my story about my camp when I went to camp. Oh, let's see how that. As a kid, I went to music camp at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. And it was in the middle of the woods. And that's my only kind of outdoor, long-term, woodsy kind of thing. Sure. Anyway, who cares? Ugh, yeah. But after two weeks of being in a camp in the middle of the woods, I was ready to say, Bye!
1:12:34Sean Hayes:less.
1:12:36Will Arnett:Why have I asked my HVAC guy I found on Angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? I was so amazed at how we replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube. I think we should call a doctor.
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From the publisher
Grab your breakfast sushi – it’s Walton Goggins. Seven horses, five camels, two gallons of yak vodka, and an eagle hunter. Plus, imposter syndrome: what is that? This is your reality… on an all-new SmartLess.
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