00:00:00
brian Cranston dana uh
Brian Cranston i'm a big fan of Brian Cranston and you
00:00:05
know I don't really run into him out there in the world and uh most of these people usually kind of bump into it here
00:00:11
and there but um
maybe they were doing Malcolm in the Middle on CBS Radford a lot when I was doing Just Shoot Me it
00:00:16
feels like it synced up around the same time
uh super cool super light on his
00:00:22
feet always uh is laughing doesn't take it too seriously for being a really good
00:00:28
dramatic actor and comedic actor
no he doesn't take it seriously at all and you
00:00:34
try to pay him a compliment he's very very humble about it um I'm not sure he can really grasp how great he is but
00:00:41
it's hard to not gush a little bit because he was so brilliant in Breaking Bad and I think it's a quintessential
00:00:49
show um just someone really fun to hang out with had a great sense of humor told
00:00:54
us all about his adventure trying to be a stand-up comedian for a full year and
00:01:00
that's a very interesting story and where he came from and how he started in a soap opera in New York and
um
when he
00:01:07
felt like he made it yeah oh Malcolm in the Middle was huge
and he
00:01:13
got was it Breaking Bad within a year it's so weird how those time frames
00:01:18
because Malcolm in the middle seems like forever ago breaking Bad does not seem like that long ago but I guess within a
00:01:26
year he got it
yeah and then it just goes to uh the idea of I call it whimsy
00:01:32
or luck in show business and he kind of talks about these pieces of his career
00:01:37
there's this sort of like just planets lined up for him and of course the Phoenician
00:01:43
um
it's out right now with Wes Anderson uh the Phoenician Scheme was it
sorry
00:01:49
about that
with Bonichio Del Toro who I love and
yeah and Tommy Tommy Hanks or
00:01:56
Tom Hanks to you
tombbo
tombo Hanks and uh yeah so great chat we all cracked
00:02:06
up as always and uh hope you like it and here's the guy
here is Mr brian Cranston
00:02:15
[Music] [ __ ] that dude's here already
oh [ __ ] brian Cranston god damn it
00:02:23
say anything he can't hear us yet he can't hear us yet
i can't hear anything not one thing
look at this guy brian
00:02:30
Cranston
brian Cranston is a name you want to say it feels good to say it
00:02:36
god is
Brian Cranston our whole goal is not to bore you
00:02:42
so how's it going so far
uh I think we're you know I just watched your monologue
00:02:48
of Brian Cranston brian Cranberry
00:02:54
the SNL mono
god
oh god thanks for coming on you're a You know you're
00:03:01
you're Brian Cranston when did you first realize that like I'm [ __ ] Brian
00:03:06
Cranston
yeah when do you put [ __ ] in it when did you kind of go "Hey I'm Brian Cranston i'm Brian Cranon i'm
00:03:14
Brian [ __ ] Cranston
i want to know the moment cuz like we don't have a real
00:03:19
structure here
um I'm assuming sometime during Breaking Bad it must have hit you
00:03:25
at some point this is fantastic this show's great and I'm I think I'm really
00:03:31
killing it here this is This is [ __ ] You know what I mean you must have had a moment or maybe it was a gradual series
00:03:38
of moments when I got in SNL it worked out for me
i was sort of like "Oh wow i'm actually on SNL and it's doing
00:03:44
pretty well for me." So the same kind of thing was that Was it there or was it Malcolm in the Middle was it Was it
00:03:49
Seinfeld or I assume Breaking Bad i'll let you talk there you go
yeah
00:03:56
you know I mean those uh elevations along the way when you're hoping that
00:04:02
you have opportunity i think I I started to talk to some young actors a while ago
00:04:08
and also um those of us who have been around a while and I I I said I think I
00:04:14
realized what it was when you first start out you have tremendous ambition
00:04:20
but low opportunity and right it's like you want to conquer everything but it's like the
00:04:27
you're struggling to find an audition and and then if you get really lucky as
00:04:33
we all have um I think the opportunities grow sometimes larger than the ambition
00:04:40
and that's where I find myself now is is putting out the same amount of energy
00:04:46
but going "Oh my god." Okay yes I I I will read that script i I I will get to
00:04:51
that at some point you know I I instruct my agents now i said "Listen please
00:04:56
don't send me anything that you don't really love." Uh so you know let them do that work to
00:05:04
be able to say "Oh this script is really really great so you should take a look at it." Um but I think it's a question I
00:05:12
actually had for you uh for both of you thank you
can I do that can I turn it around
we love that
we like it better
00:05:19
yeah it's better for us
you know the interesting thing of of when you feel like you've you've made it when I was 25
00:05:27
years old I got a job on a soap opera here in New York and uh
you know it's
00:05:36
churn man you're just one script you do the script you throw it out read
so hard
00:05:41
next day next day next day next day it's it's a lot of churn that you're going through but there was something about
00:05:48
feeling like "Oh man I could do this i feel like I can do this." And it was from that moment on at 25 that I've only
00:05:57
worked as an actor since and so I wanted to find out from you guys if that's the
00:06:04
way you felt when you got on SNL did something click did you cross over a
00:06:09
threshold that you went "Holy [ __ ] this is it for me
00:06:14
david uh my answer would be it was such a slow grind i think Dana popped quicker
00:06:21
on SNL but I I was doing standup then I got on an HBO Young comedians then I got on SNL then I was a writer first and so
00:06:28
it took me to getting through SNL and having to make one more jump to something that worked because I wasn't
00:06:35
quite solidified yet like you can always make one misstep off SNL and you get one
00:06:41
like free pass hey we'll give you a movie we'll give you a TV show or something and if that doesn't work to
00:06:46
generate that heat again is so [ __ ] hard
and so I got to a sitcom and then
00:06:52
when the sitcom started to work that one old one just shoot me it was probably on around one years or something
but when
00:06:58
that got to like year three I started to breathe again and go "Okay this might be what I do." You know I don't think I'm
00:07:05
going back now but uh when was yours Dana cuz that was that was it took that long to be honest
00:07:12
um I bombed a lot you know I just started doing standup there wasn't ground lanes or theater groups up in San
00:07:18
Francisco in those days so I was doing standup but I didn't find out until 10 years later literally almost from my
00:07:24
first set to getting SNL like oh this is where I belong so when I got on SNL and
00:07:30
I'd done these characters as a standup and then I put the wig on and the dress with church and stuff it was like this
00:07:36
is this is really fun we'll talk about when you host it but and also your LBJ
00:07:41
which is I think is extraordinary i was watching
you do one of the best LBJs out there
well the only one where you
you
00:07:49
Fred Travalina and uh
well he was doing it as an actor i I mean I Hollywood
00:07:55
wanted to use me i I screen tested for Amadeas you know um
for real
yeah yeah i did a
00:08:04
sitcom with Mickey Rooney and Nathan Lane in New York City when I was 25 years of age at at at uh Studio 6A in
00:08:12
Rockefeller Center and then eight years later I got on the there so to answer
00:08:17
your question shortly it's like once I got I felt like a fish in water like I really belong here you know and so that
00:08:24
was uh that was it for me you know
how old were you then Dana
i was 51 um no i
00:08:32
I was I was 31 and my first set in a shitbox comedy club where these
00:08:38
comedians came up and I I thought well they're not that great it was a No it was in Berkeley
and I and I I scrolled
00:08:45
on a nap and I do a Howard Coell I do John Wayne you know and then a guy came up and levitated the room and it was Rob
00:08:52
Williams and then I crumpled the paper or the napkin put it back in my pocket cuz I didn't know there was only one of
00:08:57
him but basically it was the classic 10 years of this but the standups always
00:09:04
have a baseline like a band you just go back to the clubs go to the theaters do standup so it's it's a nice little side
00:09:12
job so
it is it's foundational for for you
i I did standup for about nine
00:09:18
months
oh boy
back in 1988 81 and uh I did it only because it
00:09:27
scared the [ __ ] out of me
i what you guys do was was something that terrified
00:09:33
me so I thought "Ah the only way I'm I'm ever going to get over this fear of it
00:09:38
is to dive in."
So I rose from being terrible to being mediocre in in those
00:09:46
That's a big jump
yeah it's a big jump it is in stand up it is big consistently
00:09:54
walking everyone
do the job get consistent laughs you know
was it New
00:09:59
York
it was in LA back in ' 81 when they had uh there were
00:10:04
place like the Playboy club was was there in Century City the Laugh stop of
00:10:10
course the comedy store and improv
is laugh stop in Newport
00:10:15
uh there was there was one in Newport right
then there was one in the valley where I I had Great night
i My best
00:10:23
night was in in the valley i did it you know about eight minutes or something
00:10:29
and killed i got in my car i drove to the improv i begged the guy "You got to
00:10:35
get me on." I finally
I'm on fire
i'm on fire
and he says "Well I could you stick
00:10:43
around because someone may not show up." And so
come on you're blowing it guy
i know so I So he says "I think I think
00:10:50
what's his name he's not going to show up so in about 45 minutes you can go on."
Okay okay 45 minutes 45 minutes i
00:10:57
walked around the block in that neighborhood i walked around the block in that neighborhood doing my set just
00:11:02
trying to recall it exactly as I did it that got such a great reaction and I felt great and I got
00:11:09
up it wasn't the same
not the same it's so weird crowds are like fingerprints
00:11:16
they just they're all a little bit different and then you go I just was on the road and I'm like one night these
00:11:23
three jokes work the best the next thing these three so overall it's about the same but you go why why didn't they bite
00:11:28
on that did I say it wrong is a different attitude different something about it it just it didn't work
and you
00:11:34
could you could drive yourself crazy trying to figure it out
oh anyway and I
00:11:40
started I I I started turning down auditions because I was drinking too much you know i was
00:11:47
in the clubs and and if I had a a good night someone would offer me a drink if I had a bad night someone would offer me
00:11:53
a drink
oh yeah
and it was like
And they're all free which is great
yeah and you're just going and then sleeping in
00:12:01
until noon or one
and turning down auditions and finally I just went "Wait a minute wait a minute what am I doing?"
00:12:07
And I realized that what you guys had innately was not me it was not in my
00:12:15
being i was trying to overcome a fear and all of a sudden I realized wait a minute I did that oh let me go back to
00:12:23
that was the point yeah you did that which was a huge thing
i remember
but does it scare you with acting does it
00:12:29
scare you or is it the fact you have a few takes so it's a little easier well
00:12:35
it's it's just a a different muscle right you you and you you're attracted
00:12:42
to certain types of uh performing and you find something that you do well and
00:12:48
it's you know inspiring i I I didn't I didn't wake up thinking "Oh I've got to
00:12:54
get on stage and try to tell this joke." Um I I love being different people and
00:13:01
getting into their skin and doing the research and figuring out what made that
00:13:06
guy tick and why was he important and all that
so are the police coming to your house right now
yeah we that's
00:13:13
usually that's from our parent company it's just saying pick up the podcast a little bit it's a little bit of they put
00:13:19
a siren in a little bit like I I'm just curious for a second because
00:13:24
um you become one of our great actors uh it sort of maybe happened secretly or
00:13:30
whatever but I know you would never put yourself probably with your your nature
00:13:35
into the the people you watch growing up you know and then you realize you must
00:13:41
realize at some point you're doing work as good or better than a lot of your heroes right i
I'm talking I know what
00:13:47
age group we're in you know there's the people die now would have loved you
00:13:53
Jimmy Stewart I just so that's kind of surreal isn't it
to realize that
I I I
00:14:00
still don't feel that I don't know maybe it's just the way I was raised but um
00:14:05
there is that impostor syndrome that I think many people go through that you go
00:14:11
wait a minute I don't I don't always know what I'm doing but people think I do like
you can get away with a lot like
00:14:19
"Oh my god
your acting choices are like so genius." You know I I forgot my line
00:14:24
it's throwing a dart yeah that stutter you did no I was searching for the word
00:14:30
yeah I didn't remember
oh when you spaced out when you looked off you know so real
00:14:38
[Music] when did Bob Odenk first come to you and go "Oh that was a great take you're so
00:14:45
You're killing it." Oh my god so great people are going to love it
god yeah
00:14:52
that's funny that's so funny we love you Bob
when
00:14:57
when he was hired for Breaking Bad he hadn't seen the show yet and I just
00:15:03
ribbed him about that i go "So
he got hired to be on a show and the episodes
00:15:09
were readily available to you but you chose
readily
you chose not to be." So
00:15:14
but he he uh he learned quickly and uh boy what a what a a lovely thing that's
00:15:20
happened to him you know yeah um
and I you know when he when he was offered uh
00:15:26
Better Call Saul he asked if if he can go out to lunch with me and I said "Sure." And he said "I'm not that guy
00:15:34
i'm not the hey follow me i'll lead you to the promised land kind of guy." And I
00:15:40
said you know I don't know that I was that either but there is the need for that person to kind of take care to kind
00:15:48
of be the dad of a of a company
of a show
of a show you you're number one on
00:15:54
a call sheet it's kind of saying there it is for you to take if
it's like quarterback yeah they look up to you
00:16:00
even whether you don't know you know it or not
exactly so I said there's there's a going to be a vacuum if you don't take
00:16:07
it someone else will or it'll be taken up by someone who you don't necessarily
00:16:13
think is is the right person you know so it's you know just I said when I when I
00:16:18
first started getting some comments of of my work I used to push back hey
00:16:23
you're really good no you No no i used to say that oh you're a you're a a
00:16:29
really becoming a television star oh no no no no no no i'm just an actor just
00:16:35
and it I found it it did terrible things first of all it made the person wrong
00:16:41
which is not a good thing and feel bad it forced them to to then continue the
00:16:47
fight
more compliments
i mean serious trick
00:16:53
so what do you say now
thank you
yeah thank you
that's it
you don't want to go
00:16:59
on a set and be run by number nine on the call sheet well can let me ask you a question about the and I don't know
00:17:05
exact I know the Malcolm in the middle of this and that but was you were the lead lead in Breaking Bad and you were
00:17:11
in the flow all day long i mean the the pacing of yourself but also when you're
00:17:17
someone who comes in and does a guest spot or has one line you're waiting all day that I mean you get into a flow
00:17:23
right where you're just that character just for so many hours is it harder
00:17:29
better obviously it's how do you hand how do you handle the sheer exhaustion and do you get almost hypnotized even
00:17:35
deeper into the into the world because you're just doing so much of it
well as
00:17:41
you guys know this uh so for the listeners it's it's basically you you find your rhythm when you're needed when
00:17:48
you can rest you you develop a system of how and when you're going to rise to an
00:17:55
occasion and when you can shut down a little bit um but I always thought and
00:18:01
we've all been on shows where you have the the person coming on the show who has one line and they know nobody and
00:18:10
they have to come in and nail that line and that's one of the hardest things to do
yes
so I would always try to greet
00:18:19
every co-star
sabotage them no go ahead
00:18:26
and I and and just try to make them feel at ease because number one it's the right thing to do to help this person
00:18:34
but number two it it also helps your show that
Yeah they're very important those people that come in
it's really
00:18:40
hard
it's so important to get they get it right and they're in a vibe that they don't know they're just getting in the current going "Are we playing everything
00:18:46
like this?" And you're like "No no no no no we're all down here." Like but they don't know and then you're okay let's
00:18:51
make it all late in the day all the makeup's kind of wearing down on the people have been filming all day long
00:18:57
the crew looks wasted they're exhausted they're coming in to land that line yeah it's It's
Yeah they bring them in you're
00:19:03
up it's like ah right before we wrap
now just relax okay never thought of it
think of
00:19:10
that great yeah
but so you So how old were you when you really made it made it
00:19:17
in your mind because you you struggled for a while
yeah you know I I I I
00:19:23
expected to struggle so I guess I didn't feel like I was struggling
um so
after
00:19:28
the soap opera were you saying like that that was 25 so you kind of consistently
00:19:34
worked after that so that's really making it right
very consistent after that i've never had to do anything but
00:19:39
act after that point and that kind of um confidence going into whatever you're
00:19:45
doing next is is brilliant um and it was a savior and then about
00:19:51
30 I guess 35 years ago or so I stumbled
00:19:57
upon a philosophy that I realized oh I was doing everything wrong
00:20:03
um I was uh I was thinking that an audition was a job interview and that uh
00:20:11
because I'm an actor and they're casting for a movie or a TV show or something that's that's a job i'm going to go in
00:20:16
to try to get something and I realized by doing that you're putting you're giving up your energy and you're you're
00:20:21
you're sending it away from you and so I thought oh whenever anybody wants or
00:20:27
needs something they don't have control they're giving up control because they need something they need a job they need
00:20:34
validation they need something so I thought "Oh I'm just going to hold on to that and I'm not going to want some i'm
00:20:41
going to give them something i worked on this scene i think I can do it but you know it's their option here here's an
00:20:47
idea you take it if that that works for you fantastic if it doesn't we'll see you later
oh like we're 5050 i'm going
00:20:54
in this is good you want my product take it
exactly
goodbye
and in the modern era
00:21:00
I like that
you can audition with your phone or with a friend which is kind of nice like here's how I'd play it you can
00:21:07
see me you know a lot of people get roles that way as well
you can tweak it a little bit that helps i hated going in
00:21:12
those rooms and I always bombed and it was horrible i bombed in front of Paul Newman terribly and Joanne Woodward god
00:21:19
what did you do
holy [ __ ]
well I I had no
Newman the superstar
take a [ __ ] in
00:21:25
front of them or something were you there
00:21:32
i think Robbie Benson got the part i had no training i I you know at all i was
00:21:38
just a standup and so acting terrified me so I went in they put us off in pairs they auditioned so I went with a lovely
00:21:45
young woman we read the scene i was all over the place i knew I was bombing
00:21:50
joanne Woodward was there with the dog paul Newman with red socks really tall red socks
red socks
and then Paul Newman
00:21:56
was so sweet we just bombed
and then he he spent 10 minutes saying "Well I
00:22:02
appreciated that." He was just so nice about it but the air was thick and so I walked out with my partner i just I just
00:22:09
met and I said "Well that didn't go well." And she was like "Yeah
yeah it didn't go well did it?" You know I mean
00:22:14
I really ruined her audition so anyway what you just said I hope I
00:22:19
hope young actors listen to that that you're just showing them something you're not really trying to get a job
00:22:25
it's it's the the difference is
do not go in there to get a job go in there to
00:22:32
do a job
that's it if you can just say "This is my job i'm gonna create something it's either funny or it's it's
00:22:39
appropriate to this character here's my idea there it is if you like it great if you don't that's
00:22:44
a
I like that you don't look so desperate and thirsty
desperation
that's my my angle is desperate and thirsty
00:22:50
because when I would go in I would try to joke them i didn't know what I was doing so this is Dana probably does too
00:22:57
we spend eight minutes talking about the 405 and how the crazy drive and then they're laughing and then I read it and
00:23:02
when it stops laughing goes "Oh forget it well that happened to me
i'm trying to win him over with the meeting
i made
00:23:08
Suzanne Pushette laugh so hard i sp I had 15 minutes i'm doing Boy I'm doing
00:23:13
everything and well let's Oh I'm excited to hear you read and then it was just dead
00:23:18
silence and you know I mean so um I'm just curious I thought again I'm curious
00:23:25
about our guest today i think I heard you say at one point that I'm just gonna
00:23:31
do this show business this is you made a decision wherever it goes I'm just going
00:23:36
to do this and what what was that after the soap opera you went back to
No no I
00:23:42
was uh I was actually going to to a junior college in LA I had no money so I
00:23:49
was studying police science I was going to become a cop and
00:23:55
uh detective
you look like you could play a detective
yeah you look pretty cool we'll get to that you must have
00:24:01
played a cop or detective playing yeah played lots of cops um and and I I
00:24:06
didn't know what to do so I was going to become a cop and transfer to a
00:24:11
university to finish before I went into the LAPD that was the general plan but my second year of this junior college I
00:24:18
took an acting class and in the class my job was to kiss this really pretty girl
00:24:24
i am
making out with this pretty girl and I'm thinking "Oh my
00:24:31
god this is amazing." And so after after that semester now I'm
00:24:38
19 and I went I have no idea what I want to do that just spun me out of control
00:24:44
uh and so I I hopped on a motorcycle and traveled around the country for a couple years getting jobs and odd jobs
00:24:54
yeah just Well no I was so confused so in a way at the time I felt like I was
00:25:00
running away and I suppose I was because I didn't know what it was I wanted to put all my energy in and it wasn't until
00:25:08
I was I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway of Virginia waiting out a rainstorm on my
00:25:14
motorcycle underneath a a picnic covered um picnic bench with a slab of cement
00:25:22
and me and I stayed there for like five days because it just never stopped
00:25:28
raining and it was at that time I had this epiphany that okay I am going to go
00:25:34
after something that I really feel I can be in love with but I wasn't necessarily
00:25:40
good at yet u as opposed to something I was good at which was police work but I
00:25:46
didn't love it and so that was the distinction to me and I thought okay here it goes i'm going all in there's no
00:25:52
God that's ballsy too one of them's like a set job and the other one is iffy very very iffy
and will always remain that
00:25:59
way too when when did you first get a without giving numbers a check where you kind of went "Holy shit," you know
00:26:06
compared to regular you know I was a waiter a bus boy dishwasher all the all the rest but you know like wow that's
00:26:12
amazing they're actually I love this and they're paying me a lot of money to do it it's very heady thing well n I I was
00:26:21
doing some community theater and somers stock and dinner theater and stuff like that but it was in 1979 is when I got my
00:26:30
SAG card and started working and making a living and I did commercials and I did
00:26:35
industrial films and whatever would pay the the rent and and all that stuff that's you know
it was fun
when did you
00:26:43
get paid too much money when did you want to give some of it back because clearly this is wrong
00:26:49
there there are there are some of those jobs now that you say no no no wait what
00:26:55
you want
what did you get for Godzilla 2017 what did you get we don't ask
we don't
00:27:02
you don't answer that question I'm sorry I do know that you know I I did when I
00:27:08
was coming up I I worked uh did voices for the um Power Rangers I did so many
00:27:16
voices for the Power Rangers that They renamed when they changed all the names
00:27:21
from a Japanese name to Americanized sounding names they said "Uh why don't
00:27:27
we name the blue power ranger Cranston?" Billy Cranston not Brian billy do you
00:27:32
mind and I said "I don't mind we didn't think it was going to go anywhere." And it goes everywhere so the blue Power
00:27:37
Ranger Billy Cranston is is named after me because we did I did so many of those
00:27:43
those voices
let's go team
let's go i love that never defeat me i will kill
00:27:49
you
oh I love it
you've kind of done everything haven't you voiceovers
00:27:56
sitcoms movies theater
it's you you you you have to expand your ability to work
00:28:03
or else you're really narrowing the field I think man right
00:28:11
[Music] well I think you're in this new Phoenician is that correct
the Phoenician scheme
phoenician
phoenician
00:28:18
scheme which is uh very interesting movies
which I will see this
00:28:24
one because
you're in it and we're buddies now but also because just those are so cool those movies um that he does
00:28:32
he is uh Wes Anderson is probably the most untexonike Texan you've ever met
00:28:40
he's very nerdy dressed he's very he's very ariodite and polite and
and worldly
00:28:47
and uh he he it's not to say let me clarify it's not to say that Texans
00:28:53
can't also be that but
sure the the sensibility send all your letters to
00:29:00
yeah to David um but uh you know and so I've done this is the third project I've
00:29:06
done Wes Anderson and he's uh it's brilliant he's such an a tour you cannot
00:29:12
go into it thinking "Oh I know where he's going to twist this or turn that." It's like he blows your mind with where
00:29:19
bananas goes with stuff yeah it's crazy i think I saw that last one maybe Astro
00:29:25
something with Scarlett Johansson asteroid City
yeah yeah asteroid City and uh went and saw the theater it was
00:29:31
so fun and so cool and it just like wakes you up like "Okay here's a movie okay pay attention." Like everything set
00:29:38
dressings everything very good he did a great job um and uh I love Bonicho also
00:29:44
bonicho in this one what a
cool guy i've run into him along the way here and there but
what are your
00:29:50
thoughts co-star
yeah so
give us some Bonicho
so Tom Hanks and I uh play
00:29:56
brothers we play brothers in the Phoenician scheme and we are shooting this in Germany and so we go over to
00:30:02
Germany and we're in every scene together so we're rehearsing together
00:30:08
and stuff and and we had basically in this in this movie Phoenician scheme
00:30:14
it's kind of light lift for us
but Benio has a [ __ ] ton of dialogue very specific
00:30:22
very Wes Anderson you know the way it's carved and moved it's like wow and uh so we I
00:30:31
was just saying if there's anything I could do for you man you let me know because
you're carrying the load here
00:30:38
and he would just nod and look and he would cram and uh so it's challenging
00:30:43
work because of the fact that he is so specific
and his in his shooting style
00:30:49
and his symmetry of his of his camera angles and everything it's it's uh it's amazing but the film works venetian
00:30:56
scheme really does work
those things I've already heard people that have seen it immediately
00:31:02
yeah you can tell it's it's one person is making the movie i mean some I know that he's uh it just sort of hit me
00:31:08
researching that sometimes he collaborates with Roman Copa
um and I
00:31:14
did a commercial with Chvy Chase and Molly Shan whatever for a phone company and Roman was directing it and he had an
00:31:22
immaculate suit on and he was such a gentleman it was just very interesting to watch
00:31:28
him do that and uh so when I saw him connected to Wes Anderson there is an eloquence about them
that is a type of
00:31:36
director out there also it's nice to be in a movie Brian where
they're not just like who do we get to direct this you
00:31:43
know because it's going to look so specific to a director
when he does
00:31:49
it you just watch the trailer and you go "Oh that's okay that's what that is." You know and that's that pulls people
00:31:54
right in I think and to be an actor to be in it would be what a blast
it's cool i mean there is some pressure be like
00:32:01
when we were shooting Asteroid City in Spain
uh
oh that was Spain
it was shot
00:32:07
in Spain for the California desert the California Nevada desert
but I
00:32:14
believed it
he work he Wes lives in Paris most the time so and
00:32:20
he doesn't like to fly so he takes his his big bus coach that he has all decked
00:32:26
out and he travels that way so
he usually stays on the continent
god what a what a life he's in Paris with a bus
00:32:33
and he has complete control over his work and he gets like 10 superstars
00:32:40
so the budget for the acting I heard Hank's got 20 million for this one or is
00:32:45
that
what exaggerated
interesting well but how does he manage because you're
00:32:50
doing it for the love of the art i mean is it right and he gets just the greatest Bill Murray and you guys
yeah
00:32:56
we We all make the same amount of money and I honestly can't even tell you what
00:33:02
that is but I know it's not much i I I believe it's just more like if he wants you in you do it
that's such a
00:33:08
great thing that he has it obviously must be just a hell of a nice person to
00:33:13
want to be around and it's a great hang because there are no trailers you all go
00:33:19
and you're in
um one like really souped up kind of tent with the rugs and and
00:33:26
nice comfortable chairs and
floor lamps and and you know and and everybody just
00:33:32
kind of hangs out together and you go in uh you only work usually about eight
00:33:37
hours or nine hours a day that's it and within reason then at night every night
00:33:44
there's a long rectangular table and all the actors and all the department heads and the writers the producers and Wes we
00:33:51
all have dinner together every single night with wine and all kinds of
So
00:33:57
where do you watch porn that's my
Where how
why not where how who has to ask someone it's so embarrassing can we do
00:34:04
it at dinner do we have to wait
i do anyway you know
yeah you'll you know you'll figure it out how do you
00:34:09
personally or I guess it's project like to be directed you know do you like a
00:34:15
soft touch you like someone in your face cranston i don't believe a word you're saying
i don't get it
or does Wes
00:34:20
Anderson kind of just sort of wander around and sort of give you subtle notes or you like it all i mean
the the first
00:34:29
first day I worked on Asteroid City I had a quite a a large uh speech to give
00:34:36
and um and I got through it in his tricky dialogue and I thought I did
00:34:42
pretty well and he did too he came to me and he said "Yes Brian that was that was very very good now I just need it much
00:34:49
much much faster." And it was like oh it
oh
00:34:55
to hear that it was like oh my god so you're you're going so fast you don't
00:35:00
even hear yourself you don't even think you're thinking and you're and getting it out um so the work
00:35:07
is the work is challenging
it's hard with dialogue people forget you're memorizing it's so hard to get every
00:35:14
word right especially if you're working for a writer director and you go
I've had one where he came back and he said
00:35:19
"You were great you missed this one word here let's go again and I go one word it was like one word that didn't change
00:35:26
anything
but that's the way I wrote it i go "Got it."
You said element instead of
00:35:31
B
exactly oh I hate that that's why I hated movies cuz you go in the morning for the master shot and then you're
00:35:37
you're in your closeup eight hours later and the script supervisor says "No your
00:35:42
elbow was on top of the chair." Oh really i mean that's why have you have
00:35:47
you done um movies where it's like a moving master minimal shooting um that
00:35:53
kind of freedom
yeah yeah and actually you know I don't know if you remember this Dana but we worked together
why
00:36:01
whoa
i remember running into you at Letterman right
well we've done that but no like Dave said
was I first on the
00:36:08
call sheet where was I
yes sir you were was I nice opportunity knocks yeah kind of no
00:36:16
it wasn't that
clean Slate
clean Slate whoa you were in that that movie that's
00:36:24
your probably your lowest grossing movie oh that's great
i'm so sorry if I could write you a check a do a Venmo where are
00:36:30
you
i I uh I played the very pivotal role of club official
00:36:38
dana what would that be do you remember we were at We were in Santa Monica at on
00:36:44
the beach at a beach club
right and and I don't remember anything else
00:36:51
not a thing
dana doesn't remember Santa Monica
i don't remember a thing so I play a character with amnesia it was
00:36:58
terrible went to this acting coach and and his theory was you don't you don't have amnesia your character is
00:37:05
pretending to have amnesia but you don't your character does not have amnesia he
Was that real
00:37:12
from the movie
this is Roy London God rest his soul he's this great actor so that was his way of getting you out of
00:37:18
your own way so then there was a guy um playing a blind person we were filming
00:37:23
at the beach and he had the stick and he's playing a blind person and I say I said to him um you know I I I don't
00:37:31
really have amnesia i'm just pretending and he goes "I'm not really blind." He'd gone to the same acting
00:37:38
coach you know whatever i just fig I'm But uh uh yeah that was uh that was
00:37:46
ridiculous that was me making a foolish choice right off of SNL i had way too
00:37:51
much heat no experience and um I wish I could take it back if we could have
00:37:57
switched in that you became the lead and I was guard number one it might have had
00:38:02
a chance
no I was club official
oh club official
00:38:07
god Wikipedia sucks sometimes oh my god that was written by uh Robert King by
00:38:13
the way robert King
he's great
i've worked with since yeah i was partners with him on on a series called Your
00:38:19
Honor and he's terrific that's a great show i've never seen I've never seen you bad i don't know if you
00:38:26
like
Oh you were kind of bad
let's see what was um What was I was the one we
00:38:32
circled
no but by the way when I heard
00:38:38
Amalgam in the Middle reboot is it That's right what is it on what is on Disney Plus
it's going to be on Disney
00:38:44
yeah that since they bought out Fox we were originally owned by Fox
oh yeah how
00:38:49
do they do that and so now we're owned by Disney and uh they bought four
00:38:55
episodes of this
reboot uh I didn't think it reboot it's it's something I
00:39:01
was trying I was pushing for for the last 10 years because I thought that that audience
that was that hard wow
00:39:10
well be fun
no Lynwood Boomer who is the creator of the show when I first pitched
00:39:16
it to him he said no I'm not interested no about a year and a half later I said "What about it?" He goes "No I I really
00:39:22
don't think it's something I want to do."
And I went "Really it's starting to improve." And then a third one the third
00:39:29
time three years after that it was like "Well I you know if someone else wrote it maybe I'll look at it." And I just
00:39:35
started wearing him down until he said "I've got an idea." And I said "Good
00:39:40
love it go get it
love it."
So we just finished it we shot that uh a month ago
00:39:47
and uh it's amazing how these boys who were my boys on that show are now around
00:39:54
the same age I was when we first started oh no really
they've got children of
00:40:01
their own
there's a kid on there named Eric is there
yeah eric
Sullivan
yeah eric Pur Sullivan
played uh little Joe
00:40:10
Dirt in an old movie I did
that's right he played me as a kid now now David did you remember that or or now that you
00:40:17
were doing the research
i didn't i remembered he was on it that back then he's really cute and funny and he walked
00:40:22
on a little cowboy boots and uh
in the movie
but now that you say it again I'm like "Oh that's right he's probably you
00:40:29
know older now." But
he is the only one who's not who didn't come back to act in
00:40:35
the show
oh for real
yeah i talked to Eric and I I said "Hey we got the show
00:40:41
it's going to come back." He goes "Oh that's fantastic." And I go "Yeah so we're looking forward to having you
00:40:46
back." He goes "Oh no no i I don't want to do it but it's fantastic."
Yeah
00:40:52
because he's
he's actually going to Harvard and
he's a normal person now
00:40:58
well I I don't think he's he's not normal because he's really not in my circle normal he's he's
00:41:05
really really smart and he's getting I think he's getting his masters at Harvard right now he said "Oh god no i
00:41:12
haven't acted since I was
nine or something so I'm I'm not into it." Yeah
00:41:18
wow because he's like "It just makes us all feel so dumb that we're actors." He's like "I don't want to go
00:41:24
do that stupid [ __ ] again." I'm like "No it's pretty smart what we do." And you're like "No not really
it's not that
00:41:32
hard." Oh cool though pick a topic okay um SNL
00:41:39
you hosted
oh god
and and uh just because it was all over the place a
00:41:44
couple years ago during the strike that just the idea of AI and robots integrating with our in industry and
00:41:51
where it seems to be going is fascinating to me because we keep seeing these
digital short films by Alphabet
00:41:59
Google where you're like you know what what the hell i mean it's getting surreal we are actually digital copies
00:42:05
right now i just want to be full disclosure but it is kind of bizarre isn't it just to watch the future right
00:42:13
it is it just feels like something a little impersonal but
00:42:18
um you know I I remember it so fondly and being invited to host at that time
00:42:26
when Breaking Bad was at its
you know pe pink peak and uh I immediately said yes
00:42:33
and
it's such a rush i mean I know you guys have talked about this on the podcast before and everyone's experience
00:42:39
but it was it was incredible and how how deep dive involved you are in every
00:42:47
moment of that and that
you know from the from the first time I'm sitting in in Lauren's office in that chair in the
00:42:55
middle and everybody all the writers are on the floor and behind the curtains and things and and every I thought the
00:43:02
pitches that were going on that first day that Monday were actually supposed to be sincere it was like some of them
00:43:09
are
some most are fake pitches
yeah most I just want to say this because it'll be
00:43:14
rejected and let it die a cold death someone said uh Okay so you're a barista
00:43:22
at Starbucks and you finish your drink and you call out
00:43:27
Trevor trevor ice mocha uh latte
00:43:34
trevor trevor and no one ever shows up that's
00:43:40
that that was his pitch
that's the whole pitch
that was the whole pitch i went I bet this is going to be a long week
00:43:48
yeah people think of that at Starbucks on the way to the meeting they're like cuz they have I think the problem is you
00:43:53
end the show Saturday you don't wake up until Sunday at 3:00 in the afternoon you do your laundry and then you're in
00:43:59
front of Brian Cranson you're like I haven't I will think of something for him i just have not
i would say a guy
00:44:04
walks up and says his name is Trevu trevu no not Trevor trevor and then another guy walks up taniv no trevor
00:44:12
trevor
i'm Trevor
travu i'm just trying to complete this
we can write it we'll write it
lauren will be listening to
00:44:17
this we'll have him back you know after you know the Wes Anderson kick
00:44:24
we'll get good numbers with the Malcolm Pedle we What do they have nicknames for malcolm in the middle fanatics like
00:44:30
Malcolmites or middlers
they probably do but I I don't
I don't I'm not aware of
00:44:36
that stuff yet i don't know [Music]
00:44:43
so what were you what was your monologue like u did you when you were coming out there did you have a strong one
i did I
00:44:51
did have some ideas and John Melany is wrote it
i remember that guy did he do
00:44:57
that barbershop kind of quartet one or whatever you did
yes the singing
that's right the barberh shop kind of and he
00:45:02
said "Uh you know what if we take the the point of view that uh people kind of
00:45:08
know you but they don't really know you." And I said "Yeah okay." He's like
00:45:14
because I was getting that "Oh you're the guy from Malcolm in the You're the dad you're the guy you're the guy." It
00:45:20
wasn't
associating name with face breaking Bad was on at that time right
00:45:25
yeah but then
still kind of going up you're kind of that guy oh you're Wolf you're the guy from Breaking Bad
right
00:45:30
you're the guy from Breaking Bad and it's not until someone actually knows your name connected to your face
that
00:45:38
you go "Okay things have changed." Which which goes back to your original question Dan
is that that's when you go
00:45:44
"Oh things have changed." Uh but we did Yeah we we did the monologue and I I I
00:45:51
just wanted to do anything uh I had a couple pitches for them which I pitched
00:45:57
ideas which were like almost immediately shot down
00:46:02
shut down shut down shut down
i had a great pitch which I think is still
I'm a circus clown and do you remember the
00:46:09
pitch
i do remember the pitch
well let's hear it and let's see if it's really that bad we'll grade it 1 to 10
so
00:46:17
uh myself and a date and and another couple we can't believe we got
00:46:23
reservations for this restaurant it's supposed to be amazing it's called All In the Sauce and it's like "Wow." And
00:46:30
this very snoody waiter comes in and says "Are you ready we can we see a
00:46:35
menu?" "No we don't give menus we serve you food you eat the food you leave." You know it's like "Oh okay yes yes
00:46:40
yes." And he said "It's all about the sauce." So he puts down a crude and we dip it in the sauce and it's like "Oh my
00:46:47
god just amazing crudeet is taken away here comes the the entree you're eating
00:46:52
the entree we're eating oh my god this sauce is absolutely insane we're overeing we eat too much we throw up we
00:47:00
dip the barf in the sauce oh my god it's
00:47:06
okay
it's all about the sauce it's like no matter no matter what you're eating as long as
What's in the sauce do we
00:47:12
know
no I like it's in the sauce it's in the sauce
what if it's soil and green at the end it's It's like you you know you
00:47:18
have a severed finger and you dip it in the sauce and stuff
whatever i I got you yeah
still good
still good
that didn't
00:47:24
get past Monday meeting
yeah it didn't get past Monday now I truncated that pitch now it goes much longer
00:47:31
i can do a longer version sauteed pig snout to take a bite oh this is horrible
00:47:38
dip in sauce yeah get everyone to come in with a funny accent you're halfway there
yeah
00:47:45
did you get to play uh big big broad accents Italian what get that out of your system and just because you have a
00:47:51
great ear i mean
you you know it's like that
00:47:57
your your listeners know the system now so I mean Tuesday is the big writing overnight and then Wednesday the binder
00:48:03
the binder of 60 sketches terrifying
and each writer is can I talk to you a second okay now you're a pirate you're a
00:48:10
pirate and you're
there's absolutely no system they just grab you and
they just grab you you're a pirate you're you know and and
00:48:18
so you're you're just making big choices you know okay I'm going to do a New York
00:48:23
accent a southern accent an English accent i'm a pirate i'm a baseball player just you know and so I don't know
00:48:30
what I was doing it was just one after another after another and it's dizzying as you know and then but but you know
00:48:36
he's weighing Lauren kind of knows what he wants already
and then uh and then
00:48:42
I'm shuttled into the room
uh Seth Yeah kind of
secret Lauren's
00:48:49
office brings you in
seth and Steve came in
steve Higgin Seth Myers
steve Higgins
00:48:55
yeah and Seth and we're we're looking at the board and he's and Lawrence saying "Well
is there any
00:49:02
particular sketch that you felt connected to?" And I said "Yeah that uh
00:49:07
this other one this laundry one." Yeah that's not as strong as this one though you
00:49:14
know he hoped you agree and then you're like "No actually you're wrong
what you just picked uh would never work." Um if
00:49:22
yours is better oh you're a novice it's not your fault but we'll take care of it
00:49:28
is there anyone you don't like that'll be the
Marcy any more popcorn don't bother
brian he's starving help him
he
00:49:37
But yeah I mean it is uh there's nothing like it we've It's been called an athletic event on this show by some
00:49:42
people like a sporting event
it's tactile it's It's uh
high r I I don't
00:49:49
know i mean just we got to get you back on i want to co-host with you and David
00:49:55
I would love to go back on because it is you know Steve Higgins said uh there's
00:50:00
two things I I two pieces of advice I can give you
and I and I had known Steve before because I worked with his
00:50:07
brothers Al Higgins and David Higgins who were connected to Malcolm al was one
00:50:12
of the writers of Malcolm dave Higgins was one of the actors on the show um so Steve says two things f first and
00:50:20
foremost trust the cards
don't think you can go off the cards and I got this i
00:50:25
know what it is because they're constantly changing cues are changing lines are ch trust the cards and second
00:50:32
don't try to be perfect allow it to not be perfect allow it to be
wherever it's
00:50:38
going to go
it's part of the fun yeah yeah and so I took it that advice and I think by doing so I mean I had a blast
00:50:46
and man that 90 minutes was over in it felt like
two seconds oh yeah
it felt
00:50:51
like you know 85 minutes it was amazing
00:50:57
yeah the energy that comes because you gra you're going when you host that show you're pretty wiped out by the time the
00:51:03
dress and all this stuff and you're coming out and you're like damn and then of course it just it just comes when you
00:51:09
need it as soon as you hear that
and it's adrenaline
yeah and then to hear Don for the first time I'm backstage at
00:51:16
that door with the facade and people are scribbling their names on the thing is and you're waiting behind the door and I
00:51:22
was standing there going "Oh my god I'm about to host Saturday Night Live."
Oh
00:51:28
my god and I just I just took a couple deep breaths and then I hear Don
00:51:34
Partardo's voice going and host Brian Quin you know and I went that freaked me
00:51:43
out and the door opens and out we go and it was Oh god like shot out of a cannon
00:51:50
well Brian before you go I definitely want to tell you it's great first of all great to have you second of all
to have
00:51:57
a line like um I won't get it exactly right but that scene when you say I am the danger everyone knows it everyone
00:52:03
talks about it it's great to have a show it's already everyone's all over it but
00:52:08
then to have such a cool thing what a blast
i It It possessed me i was
00:52:16
completely possessed by that show and the acting and Aaron Paul all of it was
00:52:21
just so new and different i try to think cuz I was talking to someone I got
00:52:27
Sopranos Breaking Bad you know when they say television's better than movies you
00:52:32
know like
to be up in that category
i thought Ozarks was really good there's been a lot of other shows but I can for
00:52:38
sure say Sopranos Breaking Bad like if you have people haven't seen Sopranos you got to watch that haven't seen
00:52:44
Breaking Bad you got to watch that and I think they're seinal i think they're some The Wire also is
The Wire is
00:52:51
another one there are others
where it's like not arguable people like "Okay okay."
It almost didn't happen for me
00:52:57
either um we were we were finishing Malcolm in the Middle seventh season and
00:53:04
Fox said "Keep all the sets up we might pick it up for an eighth season." Then
00:53:10
they turned around and a month later said in May of ' 06 "No we had a good
00:53:15
pilot season so we're we're done with Malcolm thank you very much." We're all a little disappointed it would have been
00:53:20
it would have been fun but later that year is when Vince Gilligan wanted to see me for for Breaking Bad and we shot
00:53:28
the pilot for Breaking Bad in February and March of ' 07 had Malcolm in the Middle gone that
00:53:35
eighth year
i'm not doing Breaking Bad someone else is
wow
so it's I try to
00:53:41
tell that to to young actors all the time to say luck has a weird way of working so just when something happens
00:53:48
that you think is bad luck it may be putting you in a position to have better luck you don't know
yeah that's I love
00:53:55
Paul Newman for a lot of reasons you know his charitable work but he always people would try to go how great and
00:54:01
cool and Luke and how great you are
he goes it comes down to one thing dumb luck you know whether that's completely
00:54:07
true or not but you know there is whimsy whimsy to this life and whimsical things
00:54:13
happen in show business you never know but you still should not have taken a [ __ ] on his Red Sox
no that's crazy
that
00:54:21
was that was a mistake
i know but I did have a dream last night i'll leave you
00:54:27
with this i had a dream last night cuz I thought of you as in a way like archetypal like you could you could have
00:54:32
been an actor from the 40s or 50s or whatever just because of who you how you look you're timeless in a
00:54:39
way and Henry Fonda came to me in the dream and I said "Well what do you think
00:54:44
of these young actors?" Brian Cranston he said "Well he's as good as anybody's ever been he sure knows his way around a
00:54:52
camera would have loved to have done a movie with Brian Cranston." And then I woke up you know I said to my wife "Well
00:54:58
I I just heard Henry Fonda talking about Brian Cranston." So I just wanted to do that for you
thank you
no one asked me
00:55:05
to do Henry Fonda anymore no
that's a perfect Henry Fonda unfortunately you
00:55:10
got to be 60 to to to know who he is they only remember Jimmy Stewart they don't remember Spencer Tracy Carrie
00:55:17
Grant it's Jimmy Stewart because of the Christmas movie
it's a wonderful life ryan looks like a little bit like
00:55:23
Springsteen today oh
don't you think a little bit
he does look a little There's an underbite there
00:55:30
got an underbite yeah
I like cool
ryan thank you buddy
all
00:55:36
right such a pleasure and uh good luck and everything and um I'm going to go
00:55:41
see this Wes Anderson picture
i'm going to see this
Phoenician scheme
the Phoenician scheme why not
phoenician
00:55:47
scheme and we got Malcolm coming out soon i love it all
yep
thanks guys
okay bud
have a good day
be well buddy you
00:55:53
too
this has been a presentation of Odyssey please follow subscribe leave a
00:55:59
like a review all this stuff smash that button whatever it is wherever you get your podcasts fly on the Wall is
00:56:05
executive produced by Dana Carve and David Spade Jenna Weiss Burman of Odyssey and Heather Santoro the show's
00:56:11
lead producer is Greg Holtzman
