Directing and Improvisation Stories

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Yep, elevate your summer wardrobe. goo to quQins. com slash fly for free shipping on your order and three hundred sixty five day returns now available in Canada too That's QUI NCE dot com slash fly for free shipping and three hundred and sixty five day returns. Quints dot com slash fly People forget that like Fight Club became such a om definive film and everything, but it was a total financial bomb. Brad had said to me You kind of pull me the side. He said, How do you think this is going to go? And I said, I don't think this is going to go well at all. And he said, mee neither. let's get stoned. Sandler's interesting because like I thought Uncut Gems was just boom Yeah. Brilliant. Brilliant, brilliant film and he was as great as he's ever been in anything And I remember I was texting with them or something and You know, I don't remember if it was the reviews or the Oscars or something came around and he wrote me, No love for the Sandman. You know Edward Norton Ver cororded got a little mystery to him, which doesn't happen a lot in his business. He's came out of the box fast. We'll talk all about his career, his techniques, his philosophy. He's very thoughtful, has a great sense of humor. He's very generous with people he works with. it was it was fun to talk to him because he's a really classic, great movie actor. ' some good stories. Brad Pitt stories, Adam Sandler. We kind of broke down a little bit L lot of fun and pops up in a lot of cool moas. we asked about the hulk I told him why I wouldn't say the h. Yeah Yeah, the Hulk and his new movie with Olivia Wilde. So it's a very interesting sc like that comes out. Inview with someone who who's just a brilliant actor who just keeps working and doing lookook from in the invite with Penelope Cruz, Seth Rogan. Olivia Wilde and Edward Norton. So that's in theatater soon and ye I'm definitely going to that one because he was talking about it and I got very interested Yeahere he is. Yeah, it sounds cool Edward Norton Congratulations. You're on our podcast. Awesome. Yeah, everything's coming together for you Whse birthday is it It's J's. Well, wait, it's let' let's go by hierarchy. It's Jerry Mathers who played the Beaver in the nineteen sixty two And myself. do you share your birthday? We don't have to get the number, but with a other well known person, you have five seconds. I think maybe Robert Redford Wow, what a good one. Oh my God I I got I K Jerry M Jon Penn and Robert De Niro are all in the same middle I can't remember u C't remember who's on my day though kindind of makes sense. But anyway, yeah, it is my birthday. And they said, you don't have to do this with Edward Norton on your birthday. And I go, You fucking kidding me. You were like, what could be better? Pretty much mean, what am I supposed to do? Be like a ten year old all day long? me open present? I mean, are you a birthday guy? Like Look at day man. No, nobody is. It's rational.fter the age of ten. Listen, the audience is wondering who has one on my birthday? I'll tell you quickly U Selena Gomez Okay, let applause die down and Don Henling All right, continue. I like to diverse I like Ton Hanley. so I've nicely rememered I add nothing to this fuck. That is kind of nice. Mine's just Jerry Mathers and me what do do the math. We're in the same tribe. All right That's good. I like that. So as far as the movie, the invite for a second, we can start with that Okay. Wh yeah Whps big. I read some of the reviews Hm They're incredible. Hollywood Reporter gave you a love letter. Did you see that I didn't Okay Is it good to hear that phrase, love letter Yeah, yeah. I mean, um is It' kind of weird, isn't it? like the time we've all been doing this, like I mean, I, I remember being in New York and in my early twenties and there were There were people who could close a play, you know, like Frank Rich In the New York Times, he could open or close a play. and then there was those people like You know, there was And I Roger Ebert, maybe. Yeah, Roger Ebert those guys could you could really u And there was writers you loved and there was people. I feel like it's not to disrespect anybody as a writer or anything, but I just feel like in this like rotten tomatoes world. it I'm not as tuned in. I'm just not that tuned in anymore to I'm not as tuned in as I used to be to what an individual kind of review really miss anything Yeah. and and and It's like, it's more it' It is sort of more like are we Are we are we fresh overall? Are we rotten you know, are we are you rot? Like are we I don't know are we, you know, it's like How are we how are we, um I don't know, there's like this different metric now in a way. And maybe it maybe it's healthy in some ways, but then you do sort of Sometimes you kind of miss that thing of like, I mean, it was dramatic. You felt like you were stars and it really. you felt like you lived sometimes it was like you felt like you lived and died on that stuff. Well, if we do stand up, David and I or theater or whatever, then there's a thousand reviews Just you go online and you see what people thought of the show. Or is there egalitarian? You know, that's different. likeike it's there you know you bombed and Rot tomatoes is interesting because I think they get They rough up so many movies, they added audience meter tomato meter where They go. Well, the critics hate it, but the crowds liked it. So I think Edward might be in more of the both with his movies Sometimes, sometimes Simes. Although people forget that like Fight Club became such a You know, how became became such a om definive film and everything, but it was a total financial bomb. I mean, it when it came out, it didn't do It didn't do well at all. I mean, I think I think that movving cost sixty or seventy million buckars to make. and I I'm not even I'm not even sure it got to forty. I don't even know if it got to forty million at the U.S box office. It was very u the whole And it was And I remember I remember They made a very strange decision to premi that movie at the Venice Film Festival, which didn't feel like a good fit Um with subtitles and all these things and it got booed it got booed But I had Yeah, it got booed. and and I had at the hotel beforehand, Brad had said to me You kind of pulled me the side. He said, How do you think this is going to go? And I said, I don't think this is going to go well at all? And he said, mee neither. let's get stoned. And he had flown in private, so he had a big joint. And we kind of stood in the back of this hotel and I was, you know I'm like a lightweight and Brad's like a at the time, pro, you know,s pro and And we we I remember, but I remember sitting in the back and watching the movie and and people People were actively they were booing. they booed at the end and people left in the middle of it. and at the end of it, Brad Brad turned to me in the dark at the end of it kind of tearfully. he said, I think that's the best movie I'm ever going to be in. W And it was there But and it sounds like a story, a funny story, but the thing is that the experience The experience was really, really schizophrenic because there was this feeling And this is just to the point. sometometimes sometimes you have your own feeling about a thing. doesn't You know, it doesn't like It doesn't grab in some of the ways that the the industry or the town signals but then it's got its own you know, and I think I mean, I mean, think about comedies like I think there's so there's things that have become Sure You know, they didn't get well reviewed and maybe they did well or they didn't do well, but they become kind of epic. They become classics and I ' kind of interesting because you can be I remember that feeling of being disappointed in the short term and but then slowly over time, you go, oh, this is actually better than This is better. It's almost. I would h that because you know it turns into a cult. it turns into important thing that hits people and if it's still being talked about to this day you might hear it every day. I mean There's things I've done that if it was bigger And then you don't hear about it. I'm not even on your level.' beyond. we'll start with that But like let's say, A comedy I hear about this day, Tommy Boy It made I was I literally was thinking that while we were talking about this. everyvery I mean Like that's a classic movie in in everybody's comedy pantheon and I don't think at the time. thirty two million thirty two. What did Waynes World make right before that? I can't remember No, you're going to say some high number you prick? I don't know. No, but you're right as far as resesonance was just like U that, you know, but comedians, I don't know about anybody else, but most comedians get their ass kicked doing movies or TV shows. It's just like as if we're trying to do apocalypse now and we came out with this. They shit on Sandler more than any comedian in history for decades I would text them after they're out of their minds. so you're not trying. And so where' used that. I remember Steve Martin one time going, Yeahah, the critics hate me It's kind of a trap because Burt Reynolds used to say that to reference And no one really knew the critics hated them. You don't even thought of it until they announced it. We're not reading their reviews. Well, I'm talking to somebody who's done very well for himself. Go ahead. Yeah and sometimes. No, but Sandler' interesting because like like I thought uncut gems was Honestly, maybe one of my favorite films in the last ten years. It just Yeah Brilliant brilliant, brilliant film and he was f as great as he's ever been in anything And I remember I was texting with them or something and You know, I don't remember if it was the reviews or the Oscars or something came around and he wrot he wrote me, No love for the Sandman. you know. And I remember he wrote No love for the Sandman. And I said but I remember, you know, and you laugh and you go like, oh, fuckem, you know, but But it is, but I do remember thinking at the time, even I thought, it is funny. It's like it's like It's like sometimes People just don't want to give it up the Matrix doesn't want to give it up. Yeah Um, they're just going They want to keep atam in a box and You know, he's pushing out of it. That's the thing is like they he gets very close and then they're like, we'll let you get this far. He had that and then he's had Jo Kelly recently where he's kind of knocking at the door a couple times. I think one more turn through Yeah, punch drunko. I mean, punched drunk gloves like Yeah, like to me, that's want a PTA's Hal. I love it. Yeah. and and Adam Soogan and that P is Um I don't know the I don't know if it' If you guys feel it I don't know if it's age and or just getting a thicker skin or having family and your priorities shift or whatever, or if there's been a real cultural shift There's no question people are consuming things in a different way and they're listening get like you said, the gatekeepers, I don't. I don't think things aren't the same. I mean, there's this. There's an atomization There's not as much power in There's not as much power in in the idea of cultural gatekeepers, I feel like there are more ways There's more ways for All of us, anyone who makes anything can kind of direct to their own audience in ways that I I actually am'm happy, you know, I'm happy. I think it's Oh yeah because we came up with Johnny Carson or SNL or a sitcom And that was it. and there were three channels. So now like Shane Gillas, he really got bumped off of SestNL. He came on our podcast and he released his own special on YouTube. And he was kind of a little shy, I guess maybe I'll play theaters and they just took off the fans. So I do like that about it, you know, Do you read comments, Edward about yourself? Do you read Are you on social media? No, not really. I mean, I use it. I use Like I'm a real interloper in social media. I don't I I mean, you know it seem the algorithm seems to know that I like surfing and people falling. L like they must have somehow it like somewhere in New York, I think at my desk I still have like a sticky on it with that Mel Brooks line that, you know, Uh what tragedy is when I cut my little finger comedy is when you fall in open sewer and die. I was like M Mel breaks his line Yeah, and I, uh, I I 'm I'm a sucker for for that stuff, but I don't, I don't know, I don't know I don't go down that rabb hole.'s like you watch one surfing video and then it goes, You love surfing. Here's a hundred videos. You're like, Yeahah one There's you know, the way I would describe it and there's other people like you, unintentionally mysterious because you're certainly not fostering a celebrity thing And so it's Using the word loosely of cool. I mean, Gene Hackman would come in crush in a film. then he' go to New Mexico. He didn't know what he was doing And I know this I For what I gather with you, this isn't intentional. You're just not hungry For that you are I mean, it sounds very self congratulatory. You're No, no, I doing great stuff. you know Well, look, I mean everybody Everybody gets shaped by their own inclinations and decisions, but then also there's a lot of luck, you know, there's a lot of there's a lot that's not in your control too. and I I I'm certainly I've certainly been hugely lucky in the sense that from pretty early on, I I I was getting to choose, you know, I I had I had choices about what I wanted to work on and what I didn't. And so I was getting to cut my own path, but then But then I do think in all honesty, I think Um, there are there are There are performers, let's not even say actors, There's performers of all types who are just We're drawn to them because they're iconic, they're very They're they're st they're a star, you know, they're like they and it's kind of like who they are their characteristics Um I mean, we're talking about Sandler, but like and I'm not even joking like to me Sandler's iconic because we we just love him He's got these characteristics that we love, and we go to him again and again and again. Not that he doesn't do things like uncut gems shape, but then there's other And I think those Those kinds of people tend to draw attention in a different way. And then there are people who I think Like that's not, I don't think that that's my value. I don't even think a my value in a way, like I or because I just tend to I tend to gravitate toward character driven stuff and I do I don't really think it's me Like I don't think people are that interested in commentary on me or following me around or doing that because I don't That's not even the role I serve for them. You know what I mean? I don't I'm not' not interesting and they you see that because you're going to put some spin on it or whatever. they know at least you'll try hard to bring something Yeah, which for me, I will be honest, I am It's a happy I love getting, I love getting to do the work I get to do And if there's You know, if If there's this or that, that that I get to do because I'm not like, you know, I don't I don't I'm not the most commercial or that's so you know, I'll take it because I think I think some Sometimes what comes with all that, as we all know It can be a real burden, you know what I mean? And it's like, I mean, I have a lot of friends who too much in the limelight has ended up putting them in. twelf step, You know what I mean? Like I don't I don't I don't I don't sort of Yeah, they surround you with their iPhones now. It's not autographs or anything. I mean, I'm not me, but you know, really famous people and they just start filming you if you're walking around Heat up your fourourth of July at the Home Depot with our wide variety of grills under three hundred dollars and make every gathering one to remember. Give your outdoor space a glow up. Whatever your budget is, with savings on seasonal plants starting at five dollars. With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party Start celebrating with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. 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Learn more at windows dot com slash student offer. Law suppupplies lastast ends june thirtieth turns at aka dot mS slash college PC Well, you did do u the Hulk You know, Yeah, that was like a big tement pole part of a franchise. And, um Yeah I was for you. That's like a. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed it. I did I mean, I loved I did it because I loveved those comic books. I was you know, I was me too. Nerdy kid who subscribed to I subscribe to probably like half a dozen of those things that I And I loved when they It was like but when you were too little to get porn mag, you know, like Marvel, people forget like comic books showed up in a brown envelope. you know what I mean? It was a little bit It was a little bit a listit, you know, you got a brown envelope and you got the little plastic sleeve And, you know, I couldn't read enough comic books I love it man' back there. I'm such an actor if I was in the hulk I would be holding production because I'm telling the director, I should be read because I'm mad and not green. And then we'd go back and forth and then they We'd land on green, but I wouldd waste everyone's time You think I'm overthinking it. You were like purple pants, really? I know whoo's wearing T pants? You know what It didn't matter what Bill Bixby was wearing. That's wass really funny too. in the comics, but also in the great Bill Bixby, you know, in the Luke Fgno show we grew up on It's like whatever Bill Bixbiey was wearing. You know, should but the pants became purple. Why? Oh, I didn't think of that. Wh you know, and that was from the comic book too, but why were why why no matter what Bill Bixby was wearing was Lu Frigan Notice that? You know who shouldt know joker friend or something? Fucking script suupervisor. There's so many people that drop the ball in that O my my mother's favorite comment that she loved to make whenever we watched the Hulk with Luth Fregna was she would always say Why do his pants only rip up to there Oh jeez. very observant and rather interesting. but his weiener get bigger? We don't Yeah no But it was funny how his pants shredded up too would wear like cies from Best By and then he would suddenly, I never even connected. I was so into the Hulk two And I was so blinded by the fun of it, I didn't really look at that stuff. I'm just excited that Bill Bixby was mentioned on our p. I know. He's not He's not talked about a lot on. That's like Ross Martin Oh from Wamiss Gordon. Yeah. I still love that Do you remember courtship of Eddie's father? Of course. Yeah. Yeah. ye. I mean That was What were you like three months old when you walked. Yeah, it was but it but it dead and stuff. Yeah. Go ahead. It's funny how there's things that rom when you were really young, they you kind of remember the song, I remember the song too there's certain things that had a u I don't know, they had a vibe They had a vibe that you knew maybe you were a little too young for it, but there was something about it that seemed Sweet like or happy. Yeah. every one of those old shows has a Thee song that I hear and I partartridge family There's so many where they're just good and they have good memories right away and There's some potion where they put together these jingle songs. Cheers. I mean I love them And then the whole your whole life, greatreat songs. funny, they don't I don't think they do it that much on those shows anymore or any shows Oh we grew up during such innocent time and you think of those shows and they were, you know, maybe they weren't politically correct or whatever. But I dream of genie and, you know, why why There's no, there's there's there's so much, you know, there's so much, uh So much chatter and debate right now about all the The inevitable you know, all the corporatism and the compression of, you know, is this studio going to buy that studio and all the mergers? And I agree I agree that in on balance, um just more more diverse places to get stuff done is probably better on the whole. but the But I think Um And I think You know, I'm not one of the ones who's sort of down on To me streaming Um And this whole idea of all these platforms It's hard to argue that it's It's created more opportunity for more people to make more different kinds of stuff ever when we were coming up. I mean And I think and I think it's on balance, you know, it's so much that in a weird way, I feel at times I'm like, I just can't keep up with I just can't keep up with what's going on. I can't peopleeople are always referencing me see this and that. I'm like whereere do you show show Yeah It's so much. it's so much But I will say and I know that I know that there was much narrower bandwidth of types of things when we were growing up But at the same time it was really interesting. There was basically the three networks And there was what was coming out in the theater And I did I do have this kind of memory that You kind of knew everything You knew everything that was available Like you knew everyone did. Yeah, you kind of knew what not Ebody was on Yeah. You knew what was night TV Star W. Indiana Jones is coming out this summer. You'll notice Yeah now it's fucking blur. It Yeah, it's it's very, very, very, very psychologically challenging to keep up with with helmets gets made and the whole idea of like I don't know, I'm sure itutes both ways, because it's all the things we werere talking about. I think people Pe with unique cool voices and ideas they they can almost get out there and You know, easier than ever to make your own stuff. It's easier than ever to get your own stuff out there and distribute it. and you can have And there's so much that's cool about that., And I think you do see a lot of people figuring out how to find an audience, you don't have to go through the gatekeepers to get The current number one movie as his podcast is being made is by a young man. I think he's nineteen or twenty did back did some AI and he's out doing these big corporate films. I'm not against them, but it's just interesting to observe that. So there's never and it's going to accelerate. Within thirty six months I'll be able to go W's World three Um done as Alfred Hitchcock would do it. Bom. And then in two seconds Yeah an AI right now, I just heard this stat the other day can read a hundred thousand page document in two seconds and have photographic memory of it. So we're right at the cusp fast, you know So I find myself not worrying, I mean, doing doing the invite. was actually a really good really strong affirmation of this, the way that Olivia Wilde made the movie and the the amount of imp Yeahes, she she st. terrific actress and she direct she directed this new comedy that we made it It's me and Seth Rogue and Olivia andel and Penelope Cruz. and And Olivia He didn't I mean, I've been doing movies for thirty years. I have never never done what she did, which is was it was a single set. It's one apartment. Two couples in one apartment for one evening And um And she she shot it in page order. So So so we got to make it in in the exact order of the scenes And it had this really cool effect, which was You were always building on what had actually come right before And so If a while and she was encouraging so much improvisation and so much It was almost like going back to, you know, acting classes when you were in college. She was having us write our backstories and and know a lot and and She wanted us to kind of invent O characters bring them in Um And And as a result, as we were doing it, she was really wide open to the idea that the ending might end up very different than anything that had been on the page. and it did the end you're building toward it and it's changing as you go. Yes. And it was changing it was changing as we went And it was just it was a very nervvey but very cool feeling. Sath is One of the great improvisors I've ever worked with. He's phenomenal Olivia and I had kind of a rififf that we were building on Penelope brought in all this great stuff. from Esther Perll and from other stuff she was interested in and and u I guess my point of this was that It was the ultimate it was the ultimate rebuttal to the idea that a, you know AI is just gonna like print crunch out everything because film, which Olivia just did have completely phenomenal job with. like it's I saw it at Sundance with Seth and We kind of We with our wives, we turned to each other and we were like, that's like a classic. She made like a classic, like Mike Nichols Yeah kind of vintage comedy and the thing is It didn't even end up likeike what we thought it was when we started out because of how live alive and on the feet and improvisational it was. and I don't I mean, let alone AI, I don't even think and we had good, you know, Will Rashida Will McCormack and Rashheida Jones were You know, with the six of us were at a table working on this thing very fluidly evolving it in rehearsal, evolving it. But even from that It changed on a daily basis as we carried it forward. and it was like This I'm that that's the kind of thing that makes me think like You're never, you know, AI is never gonna, um I can't imagine like that kind of a process getting sl slanted supplanted by something because I think there's There's just things about people bouncing things off of each other that things you wouldn't think of because you're just things yount thinking out of the box that wouldn't make sense Sounds like Olivia is very, very smart. Yeah. She is really smart. really smart. fourour brilliant actors and you're not trying to control them. you I mean, it's just like go go some play, you know, people at home don't realize some One thing is some directors, writers lock to the script. You cannock go outside these lines and that's okay too. but I've never done one where people might not even know When they see a movie, you shoot it completely out of order. And I think when I tell people that casually, they go, wait, You don't do it the way the movie is. I know, you start at the end. you might have your final crying scene the first day and you don't even know how you got there really because it will change a little bit and I've never had that gift of going straight through. I haven't even heard of it really. But if you have one set, I guess you can It was great and there's a There's a moment we were trying to figure out Seth and Olivia became it's basically about an unhappy couple meeting a happy couple on over cocktails Ething that this collision produces and it it's It's kind of hysterically funny, but it does get down into the real shit at the end And And in the beginning, I think when we embarked on it, the ending was a lot lighter and And by the time we were halfway through, we were sort of realizing there was so much savagery underneath that there was so much real you know, the way that couples get really nasty with each other that in a way It almost felt like It almost felt like you couldn't duck it. And by the end, Seth and Olivia became really convinced that We could and should get down into the real shit a little more Eer. But we were sort of figuring out like, well, how are we going to make that frequency shift and And there was this I kind of had this idea that it had just been for me of what had happened to my character. And Olivia said mayaybe we should find a way for you to say you know, that And but she did something wild, which is she set up she didn't she never She asked me to write it and not t her And she shot herself and s listening to there's this monologue that and she shot herself and Seth listening to it for the first time And her emotion in the film is Olivia listening to this story for the first time, but which is beautiful and really balssy as a director. I mean, really, really kind of a big swing, but the funnyest that was When you see this j Seth, Seth says something to me on the back end of this very vulnerable sort of reveal and share it that is I think it's maybe one of the funniest things I've ever heard anybody improvise. L he made it up on the spot because he had never heard the story and And it was so good that the whole scene, to my point, the whole scene just just completely went off the It changed the entire trajectory of the scene ust one line that s that made us so fun for know It was it was It was such a um It was it was a really fun way to work, but will, I will admit like It was a little like Bird manan. It was sort of like Birdman was fascinating and great and I loved it. At the end, we all had this feeling of like this could be this could just not work at all. You know, And then lo and behold he did it. I think when We finished Seth and I were walking out at one point and we were like Seth was like, it was fun to do. I have no idea if it' gonna come together and I just give Olivia like all the credit in the world because she really kind of hit the high and the low with the.'s interest thing where I'm sorry to when you do a movie that there's something fun about the fact that everyverybody good at their job and the best people but you still don't know you can fuck it up. I mean, you just don't know if it's going to be good. You can walk out of there going We nailed it. and for some reason, it just falls on its face and you go, no one has for sure or we would have movies at all. killed at all times So Part of the fun is going, if you make one work It's such a big deal. You go, we got through editing. We got through the post Yeah, the trailer. Yeah, it feels like a miracle It's like a miracle to get the finish line. It's still good. You go, Oh, that's great. That sounds. And She did book Smart, which is that what she did bookmart? Yeah. Yeah. I thought I was very good. great. Yeah, she did a great job. She made sence She made a science fiction film called Don't Wry Darling that I also thought was really sharp and great and weird. Is that with Harry Styles? Is that one Yeah Yeah it's really saw that too. Yeah it It's really, really good actually. But no, I did I did this movie Death to Smooie that I love. But by the way, it's Danny, you know, Robin Williams anderie and but Danny Devito directed it and is in it. Katherine Keener, John Stewart Um I mean, you just run down the list of everybody who's in the movie and We could not, I mean, I could not have had more fun and and it didn't do well at all Like it it you know, and it's kind of come up. I'm not going to say it's Fight Club, but I do think there's a bit of a cult following around D Dy. and I mean, but but but Jing, it was like, I mean, we were killing ourselves. we were cracking ourselves up making it. I mean we were feel Iling later. No, I was like I was like it was like this long winter in Toronto. I started like feeling like I had stomach muscles coming in and I was like, I haven't been working. I realized I was laughing so much. You know, I was actually like N not getting fit Yeah, that's that's unfortunate thing that happens sometimes. You know, the cre the crews laughing like this and like, oh my God, everyone's high fiveing. then you, you know, you see the dailies in the old olden days, you know, just a big shot and go, this going to work. And then it's cut into the film and like, That's S andL sketches too. They work all week and the audience, the audience goes, fuck you Oh God, I I had that the the I had a you know, I had that thing where you the end of the at the dress and you have to kill one, you know, you got to kill one you know, or something ye know and I got down to that thing where um I got down to that thing where There's sort of, I guess you guys called it like the You know, the eleven forty or the whatever twelve forty five one Yeah the last one that they save the weirdest one for and basically you know two we had two of those and Lauren was like Lauren is like, you got, you gott to pick one of these. One of these is your is your last slot one. and I loved them both and And the one that got killed, the one that got killed was this thing of like Me and Kate McKinnon were like this couple Do you remember who was the couple at the Dresden Room? Do you remember the singing couple at the Dresden Room in East LA? They were like Stehen Edy I know the problem You know, they were like the piano bar comeble this really like Um But they were looking for older right? Yeah, they ye they I feel like they were named like Steve and Eaty or something like that anyyway Kate and I were like this completely kooky couple who are obsessed with the idea that they're gonna to write that their songs are gonna to get done by Rihanna And u And and it was it was a little bit Ishtar. It was like it was almost like it was like it was like Ishtar. It was like a couple writing songs for Rihanna I was so in love with it. and And they killed it they killed it right at the end Be we did it in dress. I was convinced if we had done it in the real show, it would have gone in dress in the dress. It was like M. It just I knew what we were doing wrong. We had to but it didn't go over. and so Lauren was like Marty in Elanaine Yeah Marty and Eelan Martyian Elaine, than you It's so difficult in comedy It's you're always humbled like that that didn't work, but that throwaway got out an applause break. Yeah know, it's hard to get lucky. You get a get a cutaway in a movie, a reaction shot gets a bigger laugh than anything and you're like. You're in a screening going, That's the funny part. All right. All right What if you guys say? We have no idea what we're doing. ye. No. Now to Yeah I also I heard the first firstirst movie I directed Um called keepeeping the faith and mee and Ben Stilller Stilller. Yeahah Yeahah And yeah, he's great in it and we had a we had a really good time. And I when I went do it, I u I met this editor named Malcolm and he had cut Malcolm had cut Th think you'd cut like He'd worked on a lot of Landis films, so he had done like Animal House and he had done um he had a really He had a really great roster of, um, comedies that he that he had cut. and u I thought it'd be good to work with someone like that. So I was working with this guy And um back when, you know, we were using avids, but then you had to conform back to film. remember you we weren't, you know, you still had to you had to re rematch the film to the digital edit And we were going through this but we locked the movie And we were going through this process of of you know, where they cut the negative and all those old things from when we were doing stuff on film. I said to Malcolm Im like, hey, we, you know, let's go out, let's have a drink, celebrate. or whatever. and he said, I'm going to hang by the phone And and I said, what's going on? He goes, Well, we're cutting negative tonight, you know And I was like, yeah, but that's I mean, that's you know, a science lab, they do that And he's like, yeah And I said, What's your anxiety? And he told me this story, which was He cut spies like us. Do you remember spies like us? Yeah, Dan Acrod. Yeah, Dan Acrod, Chevy Chase, Chevy Kind of a kind of a pretty funny movie anyyway They had cut spies like us And it had gone to the lab ut the negative all these things, and Malcolm said they called him and He said he got this call and they said, canan you hold for the head of TechnicColar And he said he went, o, no, like there's a huge scratch on the negative or something, and we're going to have to replace the shot or something. And he said He said He saidays as soon as the guy got on, he said, what real what real is it just what realel is it in? And the guy said real three And he said, I'm doing the math like what real three, real three? And he said, what shot in real three? And the guy said, real three. And he said, what are you talking about? He said The whole realel is gone. The whole negative of Reel three is gone. And he said, What could have happened? And it was a guy He had moved the real like instead of into the developer, he had put it in, you know, we put it into the wrong Solution And he had completely erased the negative of the cut negative of Re three and Malcolm said they had to he said they had to call in You know, the head of the studio, the insurance company, teechn Color, all of it because and basically they were like, they told him and Landis like You have to get from the end of Reel two to the beginning of Reel four with the most efficient you know, use of reshoots or shots and everything. And he said they He said they they did this crazy thing. they picked up a few shots, they took out takes, they did this thing they put it all together and he said he and Landis were like, This is obviously never going to work. Then they did a test and they scored higher They got they got bigger laughs and scored higher W basically their whole Reel three eliminated. It's just never ridiculous. I know I know. You never know One new message Translating y and Pixararssoppers is now available on Disney plus. You could say that again. Critics are calling it Pixar's funniest movie ever, and a wildly entertaining ride. Blizzard P potato. It's certified fresh and verified hot. Now we party This is incredible I am clear in the rest of the day. Disney and Pixar hoppers is now available on Disney pllus. Red PG This episode is brought to you by State Farm You know those friends who support your preference for podcasts over music on road trips? That's the energy State Farm brings to insurance. With over nineteen thousand local agents, they help you find the coverage that fits your needs. So you can spend less time worrying about insurance and more time enjoying the ride. 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Of course. you know, I mean, just that tension immediately Grab me So yeah, I really' going want to see it in the theater I think that I would it sounds like a line, but I would definitely I would definitely get another couple and go you know, go as a double date because it's a the it will provoke a very interesting dinner table conversation afterwards You know. Oh, I mean about unspoken truths that couples don't mention. Yeah. And I don't know, you maybe maybe you maybe want to go to this movie with another couple that you ag You both agree are attractive. Re o. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh're like you're like, would I would would we you know, like little the trailer. The trailer has ten million views already And all these comments R. fawning over it. And also just such a big cast. When they come to you before you wrap, I want to say you that when they come to you, this type of movie Is it? Just a script, Olivia is attached to direct and she's a star. Is that when you get it or do you wait? No, no, this was different. This was this was different. this there was this Sanish this little Spanish independent film that this guy Ceske wrote and it was a play and then he made a film of it. and And the film is the Spanish film is the same scenario, two couples. I think it was called theeople Upstairs or something, but anyway, the I saw it, I saw it u Maybe I don't know, four years ago, four or five years ago. and Iked I saw it with my wife, Shaana, who you know, you guys know from, um, She produced All Juded Acteles movies and La stuff But so she's kind of the she's the comedy U d She did like elf and Anchoran and survivive. Big, bigig. wow meet the parents she know those when There's some gangers thatater that era with Ben Stiller doing his thing will Anyway, I look to her for, you know, is this funny? Is this not funny? I think she's kind of famous for the dick jokes in Super Bad. That' her that's her. They were there. They did a good job. You guys seem like such a match The Eactly because I am known for actually although I've done now with Seth I have known Seth and Jonah and all those guys and Michael Sarah through Shauna And I have done, what have I done with Seth? I've done We did sausage party together That's right Yeah yeah did we did sausage party together and then they turned that into an Amazon series. so we've been Every now and then I drop my kids to school and I go record some Samy Sammy Bagel Junior. U And I just did I just did an episode of of the studio with Seth that was really, really funny. but Tum This Spanish film is brilliant and There had been remakes of it in like Poland and South Korea and France and everything. And I thought to myself I would love to get the rights to this and do a you know, ad do a do a re a U.S. remake of it or something And then I found that someone else had some producer had grabbed the rights, and it was gone. And I even threw my hat in the ring and said Hey, I would direct this and be in it and I in my mind, I was going I was going to call, you know, either Seth or Carell or someone like that. and I and And then I and then I actually like to the guy who ended up producing the movie, who had the rights And he sort of He kind of, he was really nice to me, but he kind of was like, yeah, I think I'm going another direction. Like it basically was like, thanks, thanks, but I'm gonna talk. And then he went through these permutations of it with other directors and other actors and they never got it together And it kind of what a process. But it was under my skin. You know, most stuff, I'm like, oh, that didn't work out. I didn't really think about it again. but this one kind of got under my skin and I did for a couple years, it was like the one that got away. I thought,h, that one was so good. I wish I could have done that one. Interesting. And And then lo and behold, Seth texts me and said Hey, do you know something about this This thing this thing called the invite. I said no. he said about the two couples And I was like, wait a minute, is that what they're calling it? And he said, Yeah. he said, you know, Olivia Wilde wants to do it and she wants to do it. you and me. What do you think? And I was like, is this the Spanish thing? And he goes, Yeahah. It was like, Four years after I gave up on it It came back around. How great. Yeah. and I And in a weird way, like, It was meant to meant to be maybe, but but I also think Olivia what Olivia did with it is so much better than anything I had in my head. Like she really T. She just saw it, she saw it with more layers on it, you know, she she saw more in it than than the pure comedy of it. And I do think What she did has a lot of what I love about Mike Nichols films or what I love about you know, Woody Allens's Manhattan or husbands and wives and stuff like that. She Yeah she She took it to a ho other level, u and and really was a a gift that it came back around And you got to be a part of it Yeah it was coming out Let's tell you when, if you don't know. I know. june twenty sixth, I think That sounds right. june twenty six The invite Mhm twenty one days on set thirty fiveilometer fam. You shot on film. Yeah It's like, you know, it's like I mean, I don't think the Odyssey is going to be a lot of laughs You know, it's going to be good. But I think, you know, at some point you want to laugh in the in the course of the summer. Oh is that what it's up against? The Odyssey? I'm just saying. mean I figuurered the Odyssey is going to straddle the summer like a cololossusan M Damon will find a way to get funny unless there's another Trojan horse movie. Yeah. Well, thank you, Ed. Edward, I appreciate you coming on. I think I ran into the other night. It's always good to see you out in the real world and U D And I just want I just wanted to say we' so happy when we saw your name on the list. like of course, you know, and also I loved the Pete Seeer I love that. I love you doing that character. Bob Dylan, My? Yeah, Bob Dylan, a completely unknown. Huge Dylan fan, Woody Allen fan Beetles Pink Floyd You have to pall of it Yeah. if I have to pick one, Oh man, Led Zeppelin Pink Floyd It's impossible,. I mean,' I was just It was Oh, man, that's not fair. That' I'm sorry, Johnenny. I Martney.. I mean, t too. It's tough too. I mean, Bob Dylan Neil Young. Oh, you're killing like it's like I mean, but Dylan is in another, you know, he's you know big time He's a mic He's one of the only he's one of the few people I never wanted to meet I just was like I just wouldn't There's only a few people who are like a wizard out there and a mystic and I I never There's lots of people, I mean, you you meet B Springsteeen and he's a great guy, you know, but I don't but Dylan, like, you know, Dylan has a thing. He's not a people play No, are there some comedians? There's probably some comedians it's better not to me. There's some that aren't hilarious in real life. I will say that. We're traditionally sad clowns, you know, They're traditionally kind of have mess stuff bide. Isy? Well, it's just sort of a damaged Edward, I have one last boring piece that you can even click off for this. but Here's a piece of trivia. I did a movie called Joder years ago and they give you your, you know wardrobe and they just came off another movie. And so I go open my wallet. And there's a license in it and it's Tyler Dirty and And u It's ficture Brad. and I'm like What's this? Hees, Oh, I forgot to switch it. We just did Fight Club. We just used the same props and everything. So I kept it because I thought it was so fun because I loved fight Club. and Anyway That's a good one. That's a good one. I'll tell you another funny trivia. Dana, do you remember Making Waynes Wor The producer name Hotch or you know, Howard Hor Yeah again So you're gonna like this. So in this movie, the invite in the script, my character was a