Episode 12 - Cheryl Hines | The Katie Miller Podcast

26:30Katie Miller:Mm-hmm. So, you know, and I'm just trying to have my latte and that's coming at me. It's like, whoa, okay. So, yeah, I mention it every once in a while. I'll say something. So, what happens when you guys go out to eat? Is he, like, waiting to get back home to eat? Now, this is, I don't know if he wants me saying this either, but who cares. he's so dedicated to this diet that he's eating that he will bring his own sauerkraut to a restaurant which by the way Katie you will appreciate this because we'll be in the car dressed up I'll have like a little no I'll have my little clutch right one of my good bags that I only take out every once in a while because I don't I want to keep them nice and he'll hand me a bag of sauerkraut and say, can you put this in your bag?

27:24And I'll say, I actually cannot. And I, you know, if you would have told me when we were inside, I would have brought a different bag. But what you're about to put in, in this bag is not okay. I'm going to give this bag to one of my daughters. So when she, you know, when I die, this is not a sauerkraut bag. if you tell me ahead of time I can bring a sauerkraut bag

27:52you know what I mean it's too much I won't bring the Chanel I won't bring the Chanel exactly I'll bring the sauerkraut bag and when I walk in people will say ew what's that smell don't worry about it it's my husband's dinner you know what I mean so it's like I can roll with it but I need some prep time for it

28:17No, you're laughing because you know Bobby and you know that that is 100 % true.

28:21Katie Miller:I sat next to him at dinner and I was like, he's not eating. I wonder why he's not eating. Yeah. But I didn't want to ask because that's rude to ask somebody. But there was a reason. Yeah, because he's waiting. He eats only a specific thing. And if it's not there at the party, then he still gets home. And if he's going out to dinner, he brings his own. Sauerkraut. Does he buy it at the store? Is he making it himself? The sauerkraut? Yeah. He buys it. That would be a bridge too far. I don't even know how you make sauerkraut. I've made sauerkraut and it smells in my whole pantry. Yeah. I don't like the idea.

29:00Okay. Okay.

29:02Katie Miller:Speaking of food labels and transparency, did you know there's a website where you can learn more about the ingredients in all of your favorite drinks? It's called goodtoknowfacts.org. There you can explore over 140 common beverage ingredients in one place. No spin, just facts. As a mom of three young kids, it's so important for me to know exactly what I'm giving them. And this website, created by the American Beverage Association, is such a great resource. Check it out at goodtoknowfacts.org. As parents, we know what's best for our kids. It's about time that we were in the driver's seat. This episode is a paid partnership with the American Beverage Association.

29:33I like it. Great.

29:35Katie Miller:When you look at what's happening in this country, stress, burnout, and chronic illness, What do you think is a real first step towards making America healthier? Well, I think it's everything that Bobby is advocating for. I think we need to get back to Whole Foods. That's number one. To move, to go outside, to get exercise, to walk, to take the stairs. just to switch over, to be more active, be more aware, see what's in your food, what's in your drinks. I think that's the first step. Which portion of the Maha platform are you most excited about? Like if you had a platform of Maha, which one is it?

30:27I really, I really appreciate that they're getting out ingredients, eliminating ingredients in our food that, like I said, other countries don't even allow. They don't allow it in their food. I don't know why we have it in our food and who was in a leadership role when they allowed that to happen. Also, baby formula, I think is, I'm really glad that they're working hard to take out toxic ingredients in baby formula.

31:01Katie Miller:That's what radicalized me was baby formula. Yeah. That's where I started. It's hard to believe that, you know, I went down a rabbit hole and I was looking at it all because I, when I first heard there's arsenic and lead and things like that in baby formula, I thought, first of all, that can't be true. And is it in all baby formula? And so when you look it up, it's like, yes, it is true. And no, it's not an all baby formula. So you do have to look at the ingredients. And I love that the Maha movement is making sure it's not going to be in any formula. It's hard being, first of all, really hard being a mom.

31:43It's overwhelming. It's overwhelming. And so you would think that something like baby formula, you would trust that whoever... Whoever allowed it on the shelf. Whoever allowed it on the shelf knew what they were doing. And they wouldn't put anything in there that was harmful.

32:02Katie Miller:Speaking of babies, are there any vaccines now, if you were a new mom, that you wouldn't give your young child right away? Or think twice about? I would definitely think twice about the hepatitis B. if you're a mom that's giving birth in a hospital,

32:25I would think, and I think it's pretty normal practice that you've been tested to see if you have it or not. And if you do not have it, you're not passing it to a baby.

32:37Katie Miller:There's polymarket odds right now on which vaccine Bobby is going to look at first. Yeah. I always think it should be happy, but... It doesn't make sense to me at all. It really doesn't make sense to me. But I also appreciate that they're going through vaccine by vaccine. Nobody's saying no vaccines, none of them work, don't do them. They're saying, let's look at the schedule. Let's go through them. Do we need this? What does it do? Why did this start to begin with? And can we make them safer? Can we make them better? elective, what does that look like? I think that's important. The one always got me was the rotavirus vaccine because I've never heard of anyone contracting the rotavirus, at least in where my kids are.

33:25Katie Miller:And so if it's not a common illness right now, why are we giving it to every kid? Right. It's a fair question. But that's just what you and Secretary Kennedy have been married for 11 years. How did you meet? We met at a Waterkeeper fundraiser. I was actually with Larry David and I'm you know I and Bobby was hosting the event and it was you know it was great to meet him but it was just really a flash in the pan was it love at first sight no no what was his first move or did you make the first move what you mean when it's when there was a switchover yeah um well that was that was years and years later we were both going through divorces you know file papers waiting, suing, whatever that looked like.

34:15But there wasn't really a move. It's just strange because I had not really had a one-on-one conversation with him before other than, hi, how are you? How's it going? How's a fundraiser? But when I saw him and I talk about it in my book, unscripted uh i went out uh november 11th i talked about um the first time that we actually had a conversation and i saw him so differently that night i was just i thought oh whoa he's cute and interesting and smart and i don't know i just saw him completely different and he was funny, a lot of people cannot believe that he's funny.

35:12They're just like, that's not true. I say I know because when he's on TV, he's like stone-faced man, which makes me laugh because that's not his normal go-to. It's not the person you know. No, but I do know that side. Mm-hmm.

35:31Katie Miller:When you see rumors or speculation about your marriage, how do you keep your cool and decide what's worth responding to versus what's just noise? I think you always have to consider the source. Right. So that's where I start. And then I and then it ends with a conversation with Bobby. So getting to the truth of the matter, and then that's where it ends. There's a reporter who's trying to monetize herself over Bobby. What was your reaction to her allegations then? And what's your reaction now that she's writing a book? Well, you know, at the time, it was Bobby, Bobby had been running for president.

36:20And it was an exhausting year and a half of headlines and rumors and articles and chaos. And at that time, I thought, OK, this is more chaos and more rumors.

36:51and it was a lot. It was coming up. It was on the heels of everything else. And I had just lost my nephew. I just lost my nephew. So that was really what's important in life. So you have a real loss and a real situation and a real family situation. And then to have a story was distracting at best, but also in the scheme of what's real, what's not, what's important, what's not. It was not ranking up in the this is what's important in life category. Lori. And now I don't know, you know, I don't know. I have no idea. I don't know this person, don't know their intentions. I could guess, but I won't.

38:00But you can if you want. But I don't know. So a lot of people who look for clout. Well, that's the thing that I really learned during the campaign, there are people that really want to be involved in the conversation. They want to be a part of it. And they want to, I'm not just talking about this person, I'm talking about a lot of people. And they spend a lot of time figuring out how to write something that's going to get people's attention. And if they do, then they are really celebrating. you know and whether it's true or false it doesn't matter if it gets people's attention it's a celebration it's a success for them even if they've only met you once or have barely had a conversation yes so um and in a campaign i know you experience things differently because it's not exactly the same as a campaign but it's very very similar right but in a campaign there's an out date.

39:10You know, as soon as the election's over, there's an out. It's done. Like, you can keep saying all the things that you want to say about this person. If they've been elected, it's whatever you're trying to do, it's not going to make a difference. But before that date, people are very hopeful that whatever I say can make a difference. People are going to listen to me and they get it all out there. You know, Oh, I know something that happened in 2014 that nobody's heard about, but you should hear about. And they are all dying to get it out there. And then after the campaign or after it gets out there, and it did make a splash or it didn't, a lot of people have moved on from it.

39:57I would say most of the people have moved on from it. And there are people that didn't even know about it to begin with. I was talking, I was asking my brother about this situation. He said, I have no idea what you're talking about. I said, you don't know at all what I'm talking about. You're my brother. And he's like, yeah, I don't, but you can tell me.

40:19Katie Miller:What I've learned in this is that like when you think something's important to you and you're like, everyone's asking about this one story and then you talk to somebody who is not involved in this aspect of your life. It's like, what are you talking about? This may be important to you, but it doesn't matter to 99 % of the other portion of the population. That's right. Right. And it's hard, though, because when it's happening to you for that day or for that week or whatever it is, you feel like, oh, my God, this is all anybody's talking about. It's not. It's not. It's not. People are trying to get their kids out the door to school.

40:50People are trying to figure out how they're going to pay their electric bill. That's like nobody gives a shit about so-and-so who said blah, blah, blah. It's like, and there are people that will be excited to whisper down the lane, oh, did you hear what it said about?

41:09Katie Miller:I get the same comments on my, like, pages repeatedly. And it's like, no one cares. It's not real. What comments? We'll talk about it later. Oh, okay. But that's also interesting, the people that do comment. And I also wonder who are these people that have time to go through and leave comments. And then somebody will comment on their comment. And they're like, well, I also think blah, blah, blah. So it's like, whoa, you've got a lot of time. And this is how you want to spend it. Okay. Do you ever feel like your career has taken a backseat to Secretary Kennedy since he's announced his bid for president?

41:48Well, I'm working on a project right now. So, you know, it's an interesting question because there's been a shift in the entertainment industry that coincided with Bobby's, you know, getting this job. So in the entertainment industry, COVID shut everything down for a while. And then when that lifted, then there were strikes in the entertainment business. So people also were not working again for another year. And then when the strikes lifted, a lot of people thought, oh, everything's going to get back to normal. But it didn't. There weren't very many things shooting. And then the fires happened in L.A., which was another setback.

42:38So it has been, you know, four years of setback, setback, setback. And now it's very, very expensive to shoot things in California. The taxes are really high to shoot. Is it because of their own policies? Perhaps. I don't know how it got there. That's another thing. You know, when I got to L.A. for a while, for a long while, they were the, you know, L.A. was the leader in production and the creative content that was coming out of the U.S. Nobody does it better than Hollywood. Nobody does it better. And now they're not really shooting in L.A. They're shooting everywhere else. Yeah. So it's hard.

43:28I don't know. I don't know the answer to that.

43:31Katie Miller:Maybe. You became a mom before your career really took off. How did that shape the way you film and navigate Hollywood? I mean, that's a good question. I think for me, it's always been important to lead a life with integrity. and even though being an actress is crazy and sometimes people ask you to do crazy things you know you you might have to ask yourself am I going to feel good about this and my daughter's in grade school and I'm you know wearing castles dancing around at a I had a bachelor's night out in this film. Not that anyone ever asked me to do that. But I was offered a role where I would come out of a swamp topless, like a swamp goddess, that I turned down.

44:34Katie Miller:Could have been your real breakout moment. It could have been my breakout moment. But even as an actor, sometimes there will be something. There will be a line. and not often, really, I can only think of one time, there was a line that I didn't want to say because I felt like it wasn't, I felt like it was crossing the line. And I didn't, and I thought, you know, is this something that I want my, I have to explain to my daughter later? No. Is there a family rule or tradition that's sacred in your house, no matter how busy life gets? Is there a what? Like a rule, a sacred rule or something you guys live by?

45:20Well, definitely family first. I don't care what happened in the world. I don't care what you just did or said or a situation you got yourself into. Anybody in my family, it's just like, let's have a stop down. Let's talk about it. and I'm going to stick by your side. And that's the number one rule. You know, it's like you will always, this is always going to be your home and we're going to get through it.

46:01Katie Miller:Now we're going to play the time-honored game of Would You Rather? I can't wait. Okay. Would you rather have Larry David narrate your inner thoughts for a week or be stuck in a curb your enthusiasm storyline for a month? I think I would rather have Larry David speak my thoughts. I would just love to hear what he would think. Wait, are they my actual thoughts or are they what he thinks I'm thinking? Well, it's an interesting question, but this says narrate your inner thoughts. Oh, and that's not as interesting. Although it would be kind of interesting to hear Larry say, should I eat a carrot or should I just, you know, eat the stupid yogurt like I'm supposed to do?

46:47Yeah, I think that would be more entertaining.

46:50Katie Miller:Would you rather have paparazzi outside your home or political reporters in your DMs? I'm sure I have. Politico or political? Political. Yeah, I'm sure I have political reporters in my DMs. I know I do. And I don't even know. I mean, I just read one. And I never look at my DMs. I just read one the other day that was from, I think, a year ago. I clearly didn't respond. Do you want me to get back for the story now? Yeah. Would you rather host Saturday Night Live or star in the next season of White Lotus? White Lotus. Would you rather be known as the cool mom or the calm mom? The calm mom. Would you rather star in a reality show called Keeping Up with the Kennedys or The Real Housewives of the Trump administration?

47:38Both of those sound amazing. I mean, I think the Trump administration, Real Housewives, would really be entertaining. It would be a banger. It would be a banger. By the way, I'm sure if you made a call right now, you can make that happen. I'm sure we could. How many people want to sign up for that? Listen, I could probably, we could talk off record, but I could probably think of four. Yeah.

48:09Katie Miller:Man, that would be so amusing to watch back. Could you imagine? Oh boy. I can. I can. What does your daily routine look like? It's hard because it changes every day. Every day is completely different. I'm either, you know, getting up at, I seem to get up at five every day, which sounds like I'm getting up and heading to the gym. I'm not. I get up and I look at the clock and I'm like, I can't sleep for two more hours. You can't sleep for two more hours. And then I'll, you know, lay in bed for a while and have that conversation with myself. You can't get to sleep for another hour. You want to try to sleep for another hour.

48:55You can't sleep for another. And then I'll get up and I'll, I don't know, I end up either traveling. Lately I've been doing press. But before that was getting up and just writing. I wouldn't let myself even leave the house most days.

49:18Katie Miller:Do you scroll on your phone?

49:23Yes. What do you scroll on? I just scroll. I scroll on Instagram. I do look at X. I go through phases. Some days I'll say I'm not looking at anything, and I don't. And I managed to get through the whole day. What were you last influenced to buy? I mean, I really liked Molly Shannon's memoir. Memoir? I'm sure I'm hitting that too hard, memoir. Memoir. I want.

49:56Katie Miller:Who's more dramatic, actors or politicians? Politicians. What's your guilty pleasure TV show when no one's around? I really, I love a good date line. What's your skincare routine? I feel like I have a lot of lotions and potions. Until I run out of one and then I switch it over to something else. I don't know. I mean, I definitely take off all my makeup. I sleep with the lip balm on. I don't know. I really, I don't know. But I eat a lot of avocados, and I do think it's good for your skin. Okay. Okay, that's fair. That's the first time I've heard that one, but okay. What's the last fast food you ate?

50:45It was just in Maine. and I don't know if it's fast food, but we went to a place where they have lobster rolls and I had french fries with Old Bay spice. Is that fast food? I mean, I really can't tell you the last time I went to like a Burger King or something. Is that what you're talking about? Oh, I can't. I don't know.

51:10Katie Miller:In the last year, have you gotten asked more what you eat than like in chart time in your life? Yes. Yeah. What part of your new book are you most excited to share with the world? I'm terrified to share all of it. It's very, it makes you feel very vulnerable. And I'm getting ready to record the audio book, which also makes me feel exposed. It's one thing if you're just writing the words and you're just like, close the book. And it's like, you read that and however you hear it in your mind. But then it's kind of terrifying to think I'm going to read these words out loud. But I think different aspects are going to appeal to different people.

51:56I don't know. I don't know what the answer is. What's the biggest bombshell? Once again, it depends on what pocket of person you're... I think that, you know, I talk about some of Bobby's siblings a little, which I imagine will be something. I talk about, you know, Bobby running, which is, you know, behind the scenes. And at the same time, I do talk about a lot of behind the scenes of shows that I've been on or films that I've been in. I talk about a creepy director that was trying to get me to take my clothes off.

52:52Katie Miller:So I don't know. There are a few little bombshells in there. Who's the funniest person or favorite actor you've worked with? That's so hard. Got to name one. I guess Larry David. It's not that interesting because... It's fair. Yeah. Who are you most excited to never see again? Who are you most excited to never see again?

53:19I really don't know. I don't have a good answer to that. Well, let me think about it. I'll circle back. Let me see. Who are you closest to in the Trump administration? That surprised you. I really like Linda McMahon. And not that that surprises me, but, you know, we're different generations. But I like her. I like her daughter and her family. So it's interesting because there's a sort of a, there's something about her that kind of feels like, Like, reminds me of family in a way that's just so, yeah, maybe Linda. But I really, I like everybody in there.

54:04Katie Miller:Who's had the worst reputation and you're like, they're going to be a terrible person. And then they're not a terrible person.

54:14I could name eight. um you know I was I was really concerned about meeting President Trump you know at the time um I and I was um kind of surprised when I met him I found him to be very personable and um interested in listening to people, which I, from everything I had known or read or had seen about him, I thought he was not going to be that person.

54:57Katie Miller:Has he upheld all the commitments he made to Bobby when he joined his ticket? He has. That was another thing too, right? When Bobby joined his ticket, I got another round of phone calls from people saying, you know, he's going to make Bobby look foolish. He's never going to go through with this. He just wants Bobby's supporters. But those people never called me back to say, oh, hey, he actually is working for the president and they're getting a lot of stuff done, just like he said. What's been the best moment of being in D.C. or your best experience yet? That you felt like I'd never have the chance to do X.

55:42Katie Miller:Right. That's a good question. I mean, there have been a lot of them. I don't know, being in the Oval Office with Bobby and watching him be sworn in. It's pretty monumental. It's an awesome day. Yeah. All right, our last question. Okay. If you could host a dinner party with three people dead or alive who's sitting at the table, and what are you eating? Yogurt? No. Okay, three people dead or alive. Oh, be so really. Maybe Carol Burnett.

56:25And Maya Angelou. and do we need a guy? No, it doesn't matter. It's my fantasy. And my grandmother, Ruth. And what are you eating? Hmm. We are eating french fries with old bay season. We're eating I don't know. I think like Italian pizza.

57:01and having dirty martinis.

57:04Katie Miller:And we're going to circle back to who are you most excited to never see again? Oh, to never see again. Who am I most excited to never see again? Jeez. I was hoping we wouldn't circle back to that. To never see again. I know it's ridiculous to say I like everybody, but I do feel like even the people I don't like, it's interesting to see them. Any of the senators at Bobby's hearings?

57:29By the way, those hearings, we were talking about dramatic. After sitting through some of those hearings, I thought, yeah, this, Hollywood does not hold a candle to the performances in those hearings.

57:47Katie Miller:Does it make you lose faith in Congress, watching those? It doesn't make me lose faith, but it makes me see how performative those hearings are. I mean, a lot of people, not all, some not all, come to the table. Even though it's a hearing, and the idea, I think, is that they're asking questions and listening to what that person says. But that does not seem to happen with most of them. And most of them, you know, some of them are getting out charts and props and another thing. And it's like, whoa, what? Or my favorite is when they'll say, can you tell me, you know, what the answer is? When, what date did this happen?

58:35And Bobby will say, well, I knew you couldn't and we're out of time. And quit trying to use my time. It's like, what? And I look around like, has anybody else seen this? And everybody else is like, yeah, no, that's how it goes. Um, yeah, maybe one of the, maybe one of, I will, I can't mention anybody by name. Because like I said, even somebody that I don't like necessarily, I, they're usually pretty interesting at the very least to be like, whoa, what's going on inside your head?

59:05Katie Miller:And thank you for joining this episode of the Katie Miller podcast. Thank you, Katie. Thank you all for joining. Remember to like, follow, subscribe, and share. We're available every Tuesdays at 6 p.m. Eastern, everywhere you get your podcast. See you next week. Thanks, Cheryl. Thank you, Katie.