The Treat: Ken Leung

0:00Welcome to The Treat, I'm Elvis Mitchell. Actor Ken Leung can be seen in the new film, Project Hail Mary, and for the last few years as the boss whose support isn't necessarily nurturing on HBO's industry. For The Treat, he looks back at a beloved piece of children's literature that he found at a later age, which reinforced how enduring this character is. My name is Ken Leung, and this is The Treat.

0:34My treat is the final chapter of The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, illustrated by E.H. Shepard.

0:49First of all, I didn't discover the Winnie the Pooh stories until my late 20s. I think thanks to birthday presents, somebody gave me the books. Previous to that, I had only known the character through Disney, you know, the smiling bear. And then suddenly I had these stories, and not only the stories, but these illustrations of a not-quite-smiling bear.

1:20It kind of blew my mind, particularly that final chapter. The Pooh stories allow for a kind of return to innocence that I guess I found healing at the time. There's a section in that final chapter where Christopher Robbins says to Pooh, let's go. And Pooh says, where are we going? Nowhere, Christopher Robin says And they begin going there I love that How do you do nothing? Asked Pooh after he had wondered for a long time Well, it's when people call out to you just as you're going off to do it What are you going to do, Christopher Robin? And you say, oh, nothing And then you go and do it Oh, I see, said Pooh This is a nothing sort of thing that we're doing now Oh, I see said Pooh again.

2:15It means just going along, listening to all... That allowance for not always having the answers, but going anyway, you know, takes great bravery, but it also takes a connecting, a reconnecting, reminding to your inner child. Pooh, promise you won't forget about me ever, not even when I'm a hundred. Pooh thought for a little. How old shall I be then? Ninety-nine. Pooh nodded. I promise. He said. I used to have this ritual where every day on my birthday I'd go somewhere, a bookstore, some corner somewhere, and just read through some of the chapters just as a kind of birthday ritual to myself. And then I used to carry Winnie the Pooh in the house at Pooh Corner in one volume.

3:08I used to carry it around on my trips as a kind of amulet. I don't do that anymore, but those stories will forever be a kind of touchstone for me as what is important. And that, in fact, we don't know anything. Being here is not about the knowing. It's about the being together. And if we believe in that and stick to that, it may lead us to an enchanted place. Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh. Chubby little cubby all stuffed with fluff. He's Winnie the Pooh, Winnie the Pooh. Whilly-nilly silly old bear. Actor Ken Leung on a book by A.A. Milne that also inspired a song, The House at Blue Corner.

4:06Rebecca Mooney produces and Kenny Gilchrist mixes The Treat. I'm Elvis Mitchell.

4:29Winnie the Pooh

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