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Brendan Fraser | Full Episode | Fly on the Wall with Dana Carvey and David Spade

January 18, 2023 / 01:19:36

This episode features Brendan Fraser discussing his career, including his iconic roles in films like Encino Man, The Mummy, and The Whale. Fraser shares insights about his experiences on SNL, the challenges of acting, and the emotional impact of his recent work.

Brendan Fraser reflects on his early career, mentioning how he got his start with Encino Man and transitioned into more serious roles, including School Ties. He discusses the ups and downs of fame and the importance of resilience in the acting industry.

The conversation touches on Fraser's recent performance in The Whale, where he plays a 600-pound man. He shares his thoughts on the film's reception, including the standing ovations it received at film festivals, and the emotional weight of the character he portrays.

Fraser also talks about his time on SNL, describing it as a milestone in his career. He discusses the unique challenges of performing live and the camaraderie among cast members.

Throughout the episode, Fraser expresses gratitude for his career and the support he has received from fans and colleagues. His reflections on acting, personal growth, and the importance of storytelling resonate throughout the conversation.

TL;DR

Brendan Fraser discusses his career highlights, emotional roles, and the impact of <i>The Whale</i> in this engaging episode.

Video

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Brendan Fraser
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Brendan Fraser uh he is uh I met him
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first during Dickie Roberts uh the movie
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and we asked him to come in and do
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a day or two uh and play himself and he
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did that was nice and he was super cool
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and he's a huge star yeah he's always
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been a rep of being a cool dude he's uh
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that was the height of his Fame he came
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over and did his favor um uh we got to
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chat with him and there's so much going
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on with Brennan plus just give some of
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the movies I mean I mean he really and I
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I when he was 23 I believe he started
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Encino Man that was probably in a frozen
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caveman broke through so then he was
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just huge hit in the 90s he was doing
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George the jungle The Mummy trilogies
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he's had this incredible career and then
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for different things we'll talk about he
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sort of went away for a little while and
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then he came back I saw him uh in the
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Showtime show the affair and he was
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great in that and I hadn't seen him in a
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while ago damn he's a great actor and
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then recently as everybody knows he's
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done a movie called the whale in which
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he plays a 600 pound man so the sort of
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all things Brendan these days and people
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are just really happy to see him back
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such a like yeah it's like it's nice to
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see everyone pulling for someone and
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yeah and uh he doesn't really need
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pulling four I don't think that's what
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he's asking for but it's just nice to
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see someone's a good dude every career
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is up and down
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um and
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to still be killing it and to know he's
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always probably knows he's good it's
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just it's the opportunities that's for
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everybody you just don't always get oh
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yeah totally so he's he's back and you
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know it was a I think it was Lauren or
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Bernie that I always said
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um the talent doesn't go away
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so your career can go like this but the
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talent doesn't go away we're going to
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ask him about uh standing ovations they
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go to Cannes Film Festival you got a
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12-minute standing ovation I go do
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people feel dumb after a while do you
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ever use the bathroom in the middle of
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Standing Ovation because I would be I'd
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be texting with one hand like I mean how
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long can you go like this when you go
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like a bunch of seals but we'll get into
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that because there's a six minute one he
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had at Palm Springs and he had an eight
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minute one I'm like so first they Stan
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is like 20 seconds and then it's like
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that Festival hears about it yeah two
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years later it's like longer than the
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movies
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with the French love to do that you know
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the franchise
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[Music]
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[Laughter]
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we'll we'll get we'll do a deep dive
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into that uh we won't tell you about the
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whale we'll we'll talk to him about it
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so you can wait for that and uh but what
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a movie and um here he is Brandon
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Frazier
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[Music]
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no one hates us but we do all the time
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so this is you know obviously new show
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business that we don't really even talk
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we never had a plan we just put the mic
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on and start talking to people connected
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to SNL in some way yeah and you know so
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it's
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do you have any questions of us
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we're just asking Greg who your sponsors
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are because I'm just interested in how
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popular a lot of the you know this is
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new a lot of Hello fresh you know a lot
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of companies that basically say will do
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the work for you digitally like you know
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zip recruiter be one of them you know
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like we'll help you hire people zodoc
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will help you find a doctor yeah it's
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true
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sorry but they're gonna love this part
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of this podcast
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yeah this is free advertisements
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what's our favorite we don't have a
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favorite Master Class no it's good that
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they do it because what you should do
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you should teach a master class in what
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uh brilliant acting duh
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we both saw the whale I'm still
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recovering well we both saw I didn't see
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it all I got to the part where you got
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out to the ocean and then I I didn't see
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it it clicked out oh no I'm kidding
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I saw it okay I saw it and it kept
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cutting off because they give you 18
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minutes to watch it and so it gives you
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little bits oh I know my screen mine was
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perfect you know screeners work yeah I
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pressed a button I had on a beautiful
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laptop stereo speakers and I went
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downtown and it was amazing we're going
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to talk about the whale we're going to
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save it for the for for people listening
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right now want to hear about Brenda's
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thoughts about the whale it's coming up
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soon okay we can say that because I want
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to talk about a lot teaser I'm learning
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uh still shaken by it
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um okay we'll do a little SNL let's just
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ask him a couple quick questions because
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we have to fake like that's what this
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whole thing is about well no no I I want
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to talk about SNL as a part of his whole
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thing because I was fascinated as I did
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a deep dive is how you
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I hadn't seen anybody do the broad
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comedies
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and then can do the offbeat leading man
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funny guy like the mummy stuff and back
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and forth you're doing George of the
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Jungle and then you're doing Gods and
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Monsters it's like there's a pattern
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here I've had to have a theme I have a
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theme for every podcast yours is like
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the seeds of you being this renowned
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brilliant actor it's almost like you're
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just starting now I would say because
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you set the seat for it by constantly
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dipping your toes into it between these
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franchises that is so iconic anyway
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that's all I have to say I'll be quiet
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good night thanks folks I think I think
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his his pattern is there's no pattern
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how about that interesting because like
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let's say someone like me who gets into
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comedy you're lucky enough to just get
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um comedies and so if you're let's say
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Encino Man was maybe one of the first
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things that sort of uh blew up for you
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that was um which is a comedy you think
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that's all you would get offered or
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and people tell me oh you should do more
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movies like uncut gems I'm like well
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everyone should but that's just not how
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it works yeah do the academy
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award-winning level movies those are the
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good ones again yeah but then you went
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to school ties from Encino Man yes with
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Matt Damon
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um correct correction it was the other
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way around School Ties was shot first
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and then you went around the release
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dates were flip-flopped wait so you so
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much just brilliant drama and then you
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went with this broad comedy or whatever
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you want to call it a full-blown comment
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a straight ahead teen comedy genre that
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I don't know if it's really being done
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that way anymore y'all kids go to high
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school have a big Discovery no throw a
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party my sons who were basically 30 I'll
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just round them off that you're so much
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a big part of their childhood and they
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miss just big funny comedies that just
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exist to be funny
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maybe people are scared to step in it
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because you got to dodge so many types
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of jokes you know that's really your
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domain and expertise yeah and that's the
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hard part they start pulling stuff and
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cutting stuff and uh you just lose
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something maybe maybe those days are
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over forever but it's just like anything
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you just like Madonna you got to figure
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out a different way to make a comedy
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that's still big and funny I think they
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can make it back I think there's an app
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type yeah I think there's a huge app
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because it just releases all the
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cultural stuff that's going on and you
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just laugh you know the question We're
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not gonna let you talk
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he warned me I'd have to fight for my
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time I warned him ahead of time but
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we're slowing down because we're shot
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out of mechanics we just saw the movie
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so well I was gonna yeah I was I was now
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I was deeply napping in a full full-on
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dream and he said he's here no I'm
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kidding no but I I live close by no I
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said get over here prick I said who he
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said Brenton
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so the School Ties is sort of a heavy
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drama right so you get that now is it
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because of some sort of feedback or
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buzzing that that you when you go for
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Encino Man uh that helps that because
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you've got one in the can that people
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like sometimes that's how it works
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chronologically I went in to meet for
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Encino Man before I got hired to do
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School ties and I I was reticent to do
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and see no man because it was too kooky
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and I wanted to I don't know step out as
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very serious actor straight out of
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college with my my DFA in my back pocket
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and a lot of aspiration and
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um
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I I understood that the character is
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basically the new guy in town which was
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something that they hadn't seen anyone
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bring in to the readings or the
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auditions before that they really wanted
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because he's you know he's a fish out of
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water he's in trying to fit in all that
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um but it was so Broad and I didn't
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really know anything about film or
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comedy and then School Ties came down
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the Pike and
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I read for that
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did nothing with it because it didn't go
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anywhere they were casting a driftnet to
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find their David as I learned
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um and then some a number of of months
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later they came back to with a new
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um casting director who had me go in and
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read for Sherry and they did a screen
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test and I thought when they said do you
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want to test I was thinking exams in
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something that's a green I was
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um got the job
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and that was great I I read with Matt
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Damon and
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um met a lot of the other guys who were
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already hired
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was off to Boston and Massachusetts to
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shoot School ties and um was getting
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messages from
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um
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Encino Man with George the loom and Les
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Mayfield were quite driven to get me to
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come on board and then part way through
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almost finishing School Ties I was
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having a conversation with a really
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great guy who was called Keith Wester
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he's not with us anymore he was a
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soundboard mixer and he had a great
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voice and he was always mixing sound but
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he
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he was reading he was on his own Radio
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Show in a way he was really a Charming
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guy and he was mentoring a lot of us and
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I was talking about you know what are
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you doing and and uh I was conflicted
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and very serious and got his comedy
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thing they want me to do and they've
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offered it to me and he said well hang
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on you know there's this it's a drama
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and you've got a comedy it's not a bad
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thing to have you know as he said
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because he joked about it a bird in the
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hand it's worth two in the nest is that
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the bush I think idiom bush is near
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ahead and I just realized uh my voice is
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so loud and I'm screaming I'll sit up
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he's very cool can I say something I saw
00:10:56
an electromagnetic uh visual thing
00:11:00
around your mic maybe it's your charisma
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I'm sorry there's a flash feature on my
00:11:05
phone
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it's went swoosh so Greg Holtzman quite
00:11:11
another I'll turn that off I don't want
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to be that guy I didn't want anyone to
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get electrocuted during our podcast it's
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my own lighting feature when I say
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something interesting he's got a light
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Charisma it's like there's a lightning
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but by the way you had to when you read
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the script for School Ties it was the
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first time you had to not have clothes
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on and act I saw you had to have a fist
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fight with Matt Damon in a shower yeah
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when you read that in a script are you
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like okay or I can't wait for that day
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well you don't look forward to it but I
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understood what the scene was about was
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exposing one another's Prejudice and all
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this oh yeah it was incredible
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aggression and so it kind of drives the
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point home yeah and 17 year old boys
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fight so lock it let's figure this out
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there it's interesting I don't want to
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interject but I like to interrupt David
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um these these people throughout your
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life anybody could be a parent brother
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friend who'll say these casual things
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that kind of tilt you in one direction
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or another we could all have stories
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about that so this one guy said this
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thing to you which made it I'm gonna go
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do Encino Man or till to do that it
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helped me make up my decision because
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this point was if you're new to the
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industry your calling card will be I can
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do something dramatic I also I can do it
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all comedy
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don't get that off you don't get that
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chance a lot so you have a chance before
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the one comes out you're like I can do
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the other one and then now you can get
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hired for two different kinds of movies
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that was the hope then so yeah um and by
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the way Encino Man is a good movie you
00:12:41
can do wrong like that no it was that
00:12:44
reading it
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he was great I remember seeing it back
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then I think Paulie was in it with you
00:12:48
correct and Polly was funny and crazy
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and uh but you were Charming he's good
00:12:53
looking but you're making a lot out of
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this that could have gone the wrong way
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you know what I mean it could have been
00:12:57
so dumb but it was a huge hit and that
00:13:00
was great and it was fun I remember
00:13:02
watching it back in the day and that
00:13:04
kind of launched you uh I I I remember
00:13:07
my first audition was for a movie called
00:13:09
um I wrote it down
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[Music]
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yeah what'd you say about it I just
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remember that film was coming out and it
00:13:24
was being promoted and I was yeah seeing
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a young Ethan Hawke and the cast yeah on
00:13:29
Oprah I think it was to I'll press for
00:13:31
it so it was prior to and you did movie
00:13:33
anything in my yeah I did a couple
00:13:36
auditions and didn't quite make the cut
00:13:38
um but uh so from George I'm not George
00:13:41
jungle you have so many in here goddamn
00:13:43
yeah there's so many but I just want to
00:13:45
introduce this too because is that you
00:13:47
said that your dramatic training so you
00:13:49
you're doing some of these movies and
00:13:51
you're just totally committed like as a
00:13:53
dramatic actor essentially when you're
00:13:55
doing even Encino Man yeah you're not
00:13:57
thinking comedy you're just playing the
00:13:59
truth the scene I don't know how to
00:14:00
think comedy I think I'm the least funny
00:14:02
person I know and so I saw some pretty
00:14:05
funny on it that's my Approach it's
00:14:07
a risk calling comedy anyway but it
00:14:09
might understand here
00:14:11
approach is that if you think you're
00:14:13
funny you're not yeah and if you try to
00:14:16
be funny for sure you're not so play it
00:14:19
as a straight ahead reality right yeah
00:14:21
and you know on SNL when the host would
00:14:23
come in and sit down in that first
00:14:25
Monday meeting and say good news guys
00:14:27
I'm funny
00:14:30
I know how to do it I know I was shocked
00:14:33
I know all the rules of comedies and
00:14:35
three things oh boy I just made a joke
00:14:38
it wasn't Christopher Walken he said the
00:14:41
Bears no that would be funny
00:14:43
um but one gear that you did have also
00:14:46
in the these 90 comedies is that and I
00:14:49
find it really interesting that you
00:14:50
could make your face like super leading
00:14:54
man handsome and then you could go to a
00:14:56
grin that would just go a certain way
00:14:58
that made you kind of funny or you know
00:15:02
you could take the handsomest and be the
00:15:03
goofy leading man it's really
00:15:05
interesting to watch that some of your
00:15:06
stuff you know it was that intentional
00:15:09
or just it was you're just thinking it
00:15:10
I'm sure you weren't making a face but
00:15:12
you could actually had a chameleon
00:15:15
aspect
00:15:17
well I think you shouldn't take yourself
00:15:19
too seriously yeah maybe it comes from
00:15:21
that yeah and just I think if you're
00:15:24
having fun internally I do think with
00:15:25
comedy it helps even that doesn't mean
00:15:27
you're mugging pushing trying to be
00:15:29
funny but you're feeling a sense of fun
00:15:31
you know
00:15:32
um likable is half of the battle too
00:15:34
Anthony Hopkins a Tony to me sure told
00:15:37
me once that he thought acting at the
00:15:39
top level is a form of self-hypnosis he
00:15:43
would as you probably have heard he only
00:15:45
reads the script 200 times and he has a
00:15:48
Polaroid in those days I know you're a
00:15:50
huge Polaroid camera person he had a
00:15:52
Polaroid picture of his character and
00:15:54
they'd yell speed he'd put it up look at
00:15:56
it put it on his face and go what put it
00:16:00
in his pocket and then he was the guy
00:16:02
are you sure
00:16:07
picture of himself and then played the
00:16:10
character yeah wow look whatever works
00:16:14
and he'd breathe it and he said oh I
00:16:16
think it's sort of I always do Rob
00:16:18
Williams when I do Anthony Hopkins
00:16:19
they're both incredibly shy they're his
00:16:21
Charisma is like this you know but um
00:16:24
this you know we'll go to the whale in a
00:16:27
minute but it's hard to act the point I
00:16:29
wanted to make something else I learned
00:16:30
I got this from Lauren was before I did
00:16:32
the first monologue when I hosted SNL
00:16:35
that moment before the it wasn't
00:16:37
broadcast it would have been the
00:16:38
rehearsal yes thank you um he came out
00:16:41
and he has a little chat with the hosts
00:16:42
I was told yeah Lauren's going to have a
00:16:44
word with you all he said to me was it's
00:16:46
all about confidence and he turned on
00:16:48
his heel and we went to whatever shoot
00:16:49
it went to air wow that's what he told
00:16:51
me I mean I didn't know if he was
00:16:53
telling me be confident or don't try and
00:16:55
be funny but essentially it's just about
00:16:57
taking ownership of what you're doing
00:16:59
yeah and
00:17:00
committing to it
00:17:02
um
00:17:03
I think that that let me know a lot
00:17:06
about
00:17:08
um pretty much everything else about you
00:17:10
know again
00:17:12
knowing you're knowing you're there for
00:17:14
a good reason you're good at what you do
00:17:16
you like what you do and if people don't
00:17:19
laugh at what you're doing then just
00:17:20
move on to whatever is next
00:17:22
well I felt when I watched the 97
00:17:24
monologue you were very confident thanks
00:17:27
but then when I watched 99
00:17:29
there was a whole other level of
00:17:31
relaxation because you you'd already
00:17:33
done
00:17:34
it but once before nothing defeats that
00:17:37
you went and you found Tom Davis in the
00:17:39
room it's like Tom Davis was still
00:17:40
living on the set
00:17:42
it was really really good day when I was
00:17:45
there
00:17:48
[Music]
00:17:49
what about when did Airheads come along
00:17:52
95
00:17:54
95. so I was hearing you talk about that
00:17:58
on some uh you know with Sandler with
00:18:01
Sandler I didn't put that together it's
00:18:02
like oh what's up I was whenever he's
00:18:04
mentioned I try to do that just under
00:18:06
Mike yeah he's he's listening uh so oh
00:18:10
by the way let's listen so it's uh Adam
00:18:12
was asking you are you guys kind of uh
00:18:14
bullshitting about AirHeads and and then
00:18:17
Adam goes oh and Farley was on it he was
00:18:20
on for two weeks he did a lot of night
00:18:21
shoots and it was probably the most fun
00:18:24
I've had on any set I'm sorry were you
00:18:26
in grown-ups
00:18:28
Adam traitor
00:18:30
no it was very traitor-ish and you agree
00:18:33
I'm glad you agree
00:18:34
and uh Grumps 2 also he could have
00:18:36
picked either one uh but I remember
00:18:38
AirHeads and I was jealous I think Bob
00:18:40
Simons did that movie I think it came
00:18:41
along yeah and he was shooting down uh
00:18:43
he was in New York some of it there was
00:18:46
some in uh inside stuff and I would come
00:18:48
maybe came to watch I don't think I knew
00:18:50
you but I knew Adam and Farley and uh
00:18:52
Buscemi I just met so that one kind of
00:18:54
was a fun one too it didn't do great but
00:18:56
another fun comedy one right let's come
00:18:58
around I do a lot of fan conventions now
00:19:00
and people show up dressed like Chaz
00:19:02
Darby and the characters the posters
00:19:04
design they scream uh it's too loud
00:19:08
you're too old
00:19:11
you're flipping you off double barrel
00:19:13
flip off you just get him right back I
00:19:16
love you bro you know what I think it's
00:19:18
it's really fun when you get a movie
00:19:19
that lives on because sometimes movies
00:19:21
do well and you never hear from them
00:19:22
again and then some sort of live on and
00:19:24
it's good to have the ones I think it
00:19:25
Resurgence because it's you know
00:19:26
Nostalgia yeah now for a whole new
00:19:28
generation I did one called PCU and then
00:19:30
people go oh PCU is great I didn't love
00:19:32
it but I go oh yeah okay Hey listen if
00:19:34
there's people that get into it and for
00:19:37
and it's kind of timely again now
00:19:39
because it's politically correct and all
00:19:40
that stuff right uh some of my movies
00:19:43
were buried in Nevada
00:19:45
in a mine
00:19:47
if you could have saved Clint slate you
00:19:49
could have played that baby they would
00:19:51
test nuclear bombs and just do it do it
00:19:53
because they wanted to blow that movie
00:19:54
up people still like Wayne's World come
00:19:56
on you guys yeah Wayne's World come on
00:19:58
let's talk about Superman I just heard
00:20:00
that that could be a quick story but oh
00:20:02
Superman what was the era of Superman
00:20:05
was that an audition or was that a
00:20:07
meeting or how does that work that would
00:20:08
have been in the year
00:20:09
2002 uh it was on the Warner Brothers
00:20:13
lot they were looking for a new Superman
00:20:15
and I think they're like five or six
00:20:17
guys around town who are being juggled
00:20:19
their names juggled around sure
00:20:22
um there's a test again same drill yeah
00:20:25
I went in on a fox or the Warner Brother
00:20:27
lot put on the outfit no first I went
00:20:30
into an office somewhere in wheelchair
00:20:31
Corridor and they locked me in a room
00:20:33
with a script that was printed on
00:20:35
Crimson paper with black ink could
00:20:37
hardly read it but you know you could
00:20:39
also can't photocopy okay and then I I
00:20:43
could read it and give it back to them
00:20:44
and then for a Superman movie yeah I
00:20:47
could know the story okay so was it
00:20:49
since Christopher Reeve this is like the
00:20:51
first Superman back I don't know it
00:20:53
would be way later than that I think
00:20:54
Reeves might have done the third one in
00:20:57
the 80s so
00:20:58
uh all right Brandon Ruth played the
00:21:00
part that's what he got ultimately got
00:21:02
your part okay correct about it's his
00:21:04
but I mean I was an aspirant for sure
00:21:06
and um yeah there was a screen test uh
00:21:10
how did you talk as Superman I mean did
00:21:12
you kind of lower it you have a pretty
00:21:14
deep voice but did you I didn't want to
00:21:15
put quotation marks around anything yeah
00:21:17
and I didn't pretend to be Superman I I
00:21:20
tried to you know get back in think of
00:21:23
it well the script that was written was
00:21:25
like it was like heightened text it was
00:21:29
like they seemed like that you know had
00:21:32
a gambler or
00:21:34
um you know like big stuff that you
00:21:36
would have done Dynamic pentameter
00:21:38
Shakespeare and all classic text and so
00:21:40
I gave that kind of approach to just
00:21:41
taking everything seriously and playing
00:21:43
big objectives and yeah you know and
00:21:45
just trying to
00:21:47
approach the piece as if it was a giant
00:21:50
Opera in space you know do you have any
00:21:52
lines like Lex Luthor you're an idiot oh
00:21:55
kill me
00:21:56
taizor was his name I was bellowing
00:21:59
tyzar
00:22:00
I'll kill you
00:22:03
I would have done it as super Encino Man
00:22:08
change your name was that was Zod
00:22:11
in one of those or am I crazy Zion
00:22:14
there's a woman a man with black hair
00:22:17
and they came down there going the three
00:22:19
that got in the painted glass I love
00:22:21
that one that one was brilliant yes the
00:22:24
first Christopher Reeves uh glass prism
00:22:26
yeah
00:22:29
it wasn't Brandon Brando was in that he
00:22:32
was amazing
00:22:34
[Music]
00:22:42
these Regis get out of here and there's
00:22:46
a little bit of choice a little bit
00:22:47
Brandon there we are there's no one
00:22:49
finder then Brendan Frasier anyway I
00:22:53
just have to tell him I'm just a little
00:22:54
Punchy right now I'm sure you're more
00:22:57
Punchy than me no no no he's beat up
00:22:59
you're a giddy from the whale uh but
00:23:01
we're not talking about that just yet I
00:23:02
want to tell him about his big break in
00:23:04
Dickie Roberts now yes Dicky Dicky
00:23:07
Roberts where everyone was saying a
00:23:11
Brendan phrase you or
00:23:14
um it's like razor Frazier right razor
00:23:17
Frazier rather than do you shave with a
00:23:19
racer or do you say oh Fraser do you see
00:23:22
it do you shave with a razor razor or do
00:23:25
you say that Frasier the chameleon voice
00:23:27
guy got it yes I can do it it takes
00:23:31
Direction
00:23:33
Brendan Fraser just gave me an acting
00:23:35
note it was a great note he'd be a good
00:23:38
acting teacher um yes I want you to
00:23:40
direct me
00:23:41
[Music]
00:23:49
because I didn't know Brendan and he was
00:23:52
nice enough to come in and do something
00:23:53
in it but I think it was through Sam the
00:23:56
director Sam Weissman okay so the back
00:23:59
story on that was just to bore this
00:24:00
out of you is Vicki Roberts
00:24:04
was Pitch we pitched at me and Fred
00:24:05
wrote it and we said oh it's a child
00:24:07
star which is sort of to this day a
00:24:11
theme of child stars kind of Hit the
00:24:14
skit you know what I mean they have a
00:24:15
lot of trouble and it's very real and
00:24:17
it's sad and it's no one's quite figured
00:24:19
out how to fix it but that movie was
00:24:22
PG-13 two funny things one when we
00:24:26
finished writing it
00:24:27
a pretty big director kind of can't
00:24:28
remember was said I'd love to do it I'll
00:24:30
keep the First Act but we have to go
00:24:32
very dark after that
00:24:34
and make it R-rated make it with the way
00:24:36
that it really is and I said no it can't
00:24:38
be super dark I mean and Paramount's not
00:24:40
gonna do that uh so
00:24:43
we handed it in but by the way when I
00:24:45
handed it in this is a classic Showbiz
00:24:47
story
00:24:48
so they read it at Paramount and then I
00:24:51
get word to back channels
00:24:53
they like it a lot and they want to give
00:24:55
it to Jim Carrey now
00:24:56
ouch you understand that this could
00:24:59
happen at any time this is a classic
00:25:00
behind the scenes and so
00:25:03
people are trying to keep that away from
00:25:05
me going the good news is they love it
00:25:08
but they think Jim could take it like
00:25:09
crazy because he was the biggest guy
00:25:11
right there they'll give him 20 million
00:25:12
dollars and uh
00:25:14
and they talked to Adam saying as Santa
00:25:16
was the producer of it and so
00:25:19
he said I don't know ask Spade but I
00:25:21
think Spade because he co-wrote it would
00:25:23
rather be in it but then John Goldwyn I
00:25:26
think it was John Goodman who's under
00:25:27
Sherry you mentioned Sherry Lansing I
00:25:29
think you mentioned her about School
00:25:30
Ties yes so
00:25:32
he called me and said you might have
00:25:34
heard some rumors it was so weird and he
00:25:38
said I apologize we're moving forward
00:25:39
the way it is and I said you know John I
00:25:42
get how business works
00:25:44
hey you take me out of it if you could
00:25:46
have Jim Carrey I get it it's really not
00:25:48
personal yeah I'm trying to take it that
00:25:49
way and uh he said no we're moving
00:25:51
forward uh and let's do it and so that
00:25:55
was such a wake-up call like those those
00:25:57
conversations happen every day yeah and
00:25:59
you just don't know it I shouldn't have
00:26:01
known it but I found out he said you
00:26:03
still want to do it I said yeah so we
00:26:04
did it Brandon was very nice came in and
00:26:07
uh so what did you do Dickie Roberts I
00:26:11
was playing myself yeah oh you're the
00:26:13
celebrity camera he was I was proving
00:26:16
that I think I know celebrities because
00:26:18
I grew up and I was wearing gloves and I
00:26:20
was crazy but you know that child star
00:26:22
thing could go
00:26:24
there's really dark because they're kids
00:26:25
and they get involved in all these crazy
00:26:27
adults and uh and then there's the
00:26:29
drinking and so we started in a skim job
00:26:32
of making it but it was fun we we
00:26:34
brought in a lot of child stars to do it
00:26:36
and then at the very end you know some
00:26:38
aren't with us anymore but it was it was
00:26:40
very interesting to talk to them up
00:26:41
front just and hear some of their real
00:26:44
stories but we can talk about Brendan's
00:26:46
movies again all right would you do you
00:26:49
have any more things you want to share
00:26:51
about Saturday Night Live before yeah I
00:26:53
loved it it was a proving ground and it
00:26:55
earned a stripe at the same time by the
00:26:57
way I felt like I had it was a milestone
00:27:00
absolute Milestone you feel like I think
00:27:03
if I was just out there doing a show or
00:27:05
doing a movie
00:27:06
and when it's one of those things like
00:27:08
the cover Rolling Stone or something
00:27:09
where they go you they want you to host
00:27:11
it it has to hit you like it does it's
00:27:14
just it's not insubstantial at all and
00:27:17
when you host that show you own New York
00:27:20
for an hour or so in a feeling that you
00:27:22
get yeah oh it is oh it's the coolest
00:27:25
thing like you're a part of the city in
00:27:26
a meaningful way that I wasn't
00:27:28
anticipating the whole machine
00:27:29
everyone's trying to help you everyone's
00:27:31
there to make sure you're okay that week
00:27:32
that I think it's about changing clothes
00:27:35
it's mostly about it goes fast quickly
00:27:38
running around features not trying to
00:27:41
bump your head into the overheads
00:27:42
basically yeah you would be in danger of
00:27:44
that at your height
00:27:46
there you go then you can put bumpers on
00:27:49
it like oh yeah they have bumpers tennis
00:27:52
balls because you're sprinting sometimes
00:27:53
the studio in the dark naked essentially
00:27:57
naked underneath the seats of everyone
00:28:00
watching so there's all these asses
00:28:02
above you and you're like crew guys are
00:28:04
walking by they've got me stripped naked
00:28:05
this guy walks by the cigarette Spade I
00:28:07
thought you're going to start working
00:28:07
out I go get out of here I would just
00:28:10
close my eyes I'm so humiliated by just
00:28:12
a little underwear on it I I was
00:28:14
completely bare chested everything there
00:28:15
comb my hair they're picking at me and I
00:28:17
just closed my eyes and this can't be
00:28:19
here I wear two speed I was in case my
00:28:21
main one breaks all right
00:28:24
do you know the Hooter clamp it's a
00:28:26
thing that keeps everything in place
00:28:27
it's called a Hooter clamp so that would
00:28:31
spell data well you know that's a joke
00:28:33
my brothers and I had that as a running
00:28:35
gag when we were kids I have three older
00:28:36
brothers like is that one of our
00:28:38
sponsors we joke about the Hooter clamp
00:28:41
brought to your mother
00:28:44
you got your Hooter clamp on it was just
00:28:46
a joke you know I don't know there's
00:28:48
also you can put a trucker's buddy in
00:28:50
there where you can pee during the show
00:28:51
that's real okay no three older brothers
00:28:55
so oh oh wait an SNL so 97 I had gone I
00:29:00
know you probably looked for me for
00:29:01
about a half hour I had gone by then and
00:29:03
then Will Ferrell I think was there yes
00:29:06
cast it was sort of will maybe Molly
00:29:09
Quinn Will Ferrell Tim Meadows he you
00:29:13
were in a really funny sketch with
00:29:14
Cheryl Terry and Chris Katan where they
00:29:16
went crazy in the gym like what you want
00:29:18
to work out huh you know that aggressive
00:29:20
sexual dude the most committed sketch
00:29:23
players ever probably and you were right
00:29:25
in there you know at the end come on you
00:29:27
guys and every time you play along with
00:29:28
them they'd start screaming at you it
00:29:30
was really funny like these people were
00:29:32
sexual perverts I'm the trainer okay
00:29:35
I'll go with it when you want that you
00:29:37
want that and then Chris katam would go
00:29:38
nuts on you very funny amen
00:29:42
it's fun to be in that insane world of
00:29:45
like sketch and then you the second
00:29:46
you're like taking a bow in your head
00:29:49
going we got through it here's the crowd
00:29:50
it's live and they're ripping you going
00:29:52
again you're the UPS guy in this one you
00:29:54
have a Russian accent oh there's
00:29:55
another one you're looking like or even
00:29:57
worse if there's a sketch you fell in
00:29:58
love with that one got cut no I know
00:30:01
that's the between dress and error it's
00:30:03
heartbreaking yeah were you on the first
00:30:05
delicious dish that's where the no not
00:30:08
the first one I was on it though but it
00:30:09
did the Applause at the beginning I felt
00:30:11
like it was new when you were on it or
00:30:13
maybe it was the second time I wouldn't
00:30:15
know what to compare it to but I think I
00:30:17
think Peach Ready MP3 yeah balls sweaty
00:30:19
balls he was coming on with a little
00:30:21
beard and glasses and plant sort of this
00:30:24
quiet nerd playing very small about
00:30:27
squash or something like that that was
00:30:30
me yeah okay yeah and what were there um
00:30:32
yeah okay the scary thing is
00:30:36
good times good times was that it good
00:30:38
times yeah yeah good to know read this a
00:30:40
little harder hey because writers get to
00:30:42
be directors on SNL I had a hard time
00:30:45
understanding that concept like who's
00:30:47
the director who's the director and
00:30:48
someone actually pulled me aside
00:30:49
everybody is the writers are the
00:30:51
director you are the dude I wrote my
00:30:54
first sketch they go go in the booth and
00:30:55
watch it I go what does that mean I'm
00:30:57
the director of it I don't know what the
00:30:58
going on it's a great thing there
00:30:59
was it's you know when William Shatner
00:31:01
came on he was so loose like during the
00:31:03
dress show or whatever he seemed like he
00:31:05
goes well why why what I can't you know
00:31:08
because we're so under rehearse like
00:31:09
it's ridiculous there's cucumbers yeah
00:31:12
why bother can't believe people take it
00:31:15
seriously you can't rehearse you know so
00:31:17
it is just I loved it personally because
00:31:19
I can get up in my head I love that it
00:31:21
was so fast yeah okay let's just go less
00:31:24
time to think about it no time to think
00:31:26
just go go
00:31:27
but I'm jumping ahead to The Mummy now
00:31:29
the mummy the moment it's called the
00:31:31
mommy I'm I'll see your mommy and raise
00:31:34
you the whale no we're getting to the
00:31:36
whale that's the big the whale is a Big
00:31:38
Kahuna yeah all right but the mummy I
00:31:41
liked it because
00:31:42
say it again easy Ahab you know hunting
00:31:45
for the whale
00:31:48
there's a giant franchise three huge
00:31:52
movies
00:31:54
um yeah that Brendan starred in in the
00:31:56
knots correct yes now what was your what
00:32:01
was your biggest pain no let me see oh
00:32:03
yeah
00:32:05
you don't have to tell us how much money
00:32:07
you got paid I don't even honestly
00:32:09
recall to tell you the truth because
00:32:10
most of it's gone now I
00:32:13
I know the feeling
00:32:16
today yeah everybody comes and takes it
00:32:19
all away do you remember making a
00:32:23
million dollars my first million I
00:32:25
remember I don't know what it was but I
00:32:27
remember a good conversation a good
00:32:28
conversation first million well what are
00:32:30
you in that that's the thing is it a
00:32:32
million in the bank people don't
00:32:33
understand what's the check shock on
00:32:35
this one I remember my first paycheck
00:32:37
and it was for 17
00:32:40
000 dollars on a pilot I did what the
00:32:43
net I went and picked up my check from
00:32:45
the agency it said nine thousand dollars
00:32:48
and I went to their accounting
00:32:49
department there's a mistake here and
00:32:51
they pulled me a sign they're like no
00:32:52
kid you got to pay taxes you gotta pay
00:32:54
commission okay
00:32:56
you're out I mean if you get a million
00:32:59
you probably make and it sounds crazy
00:33:00
people because a million is so much but
00:33:02
when you walk with 375
00:33:05
000 you go you round down to 25 cents on
00:33:07
the dollar yeah because you got agent
00:33:09
management to get used to the gross
00:33:11
figure and your friends hear the gross
00:33:13
yeah right I drove to an agency once
00:33:15
with my wife and I think it was a 30 000
00:33:17
check for a pilot and we're like we're
00:33:19
rich it's over babe we went in it was
00:33:22
like 1300 you know I tried to give her a
00:33:25
hug
00:33:26
differently you said you were red yeah
00:33:30
just kidding honey I got it at some
00:33:33
point and I was so excited about it and
00:33:34
okay and my question on the mummy were
00:33:36
it was early and CGI kind of yeah it
00:33:41
well it was the tip of the spirit ilm
00:33:43
with John Burton Running Oh I am okay
00:33:44
and they had done a lot of uh stuff with
00:33:50
I'm gonna say like Terminator yeah
00:33:55
uh um the not like the creature from um
00:34:00
close it was uh it was Jim Cameron's
00:34:03
water movie oh I remember that the abyss
00:34:06
yeah I got it that was pretty good that
00:34:09
was good dude because I know a guy who
00:34:10
was in it Todd something yeah anyway
00:34:14
um but it was a big gamble because the
00:34:16
first of all nobody had no idea what the
00:34:18
movie was going to look like is it a
00:34:19
comedy in a way because everyone's
00:34:21
comparing it to happen Costello and it's
00:34:22
throwback to Mommy blah blah was it a
00:34:25
horror film was it was it Indiana Jones
00:34:27
was it an Adventure film was it a
00:34:29
romance was it a
00:34:40
[Music]
00:34:41
um
00:34:41
John Hannah oh yeah see oh yeah he was
00:34:44
your your guide or something yeah he was
00:34:47
her brother my brother-in-law my nerdy
00:34:49
well brother-in-law they call him
00:34:50
popcorn movies today right just fun
00:34:53
that's right what was it fun to do
00:34:54
absolutely a little bit scary a little
00:34:57
bit romantic Thrill Ride funny like I
00:34:59
want to do it again yeah do you get hurt
00:35:02
ever not on that one just my feelings
00:35:08
one reason or another
00:35:10
wait how are you with reading reviews
00:35:13
throughout your career did you get uh
00:35:15
iron uh ding by it or I'm terribly
00:35:19
sensitive if anything says anything
00:35:20
slightly negative early on it was
00:35:23
um you wanna
00:35:25
slap me in my bulbous face says some
00:35:28
writer in Portland Oregon I thought
00:35:31
that's fighting words I'm gonna come
00:35:32
find you bro but it's hard to not take
00:35:35
stuff like that personally yeah but I
00:35:38
would always feel like
00:35:40
um
00:35:40
I would root around and look for the
00:35:42
good ones but I didn't know if they held
00:35:44
any currency sift through yeah I get
00:35:46
hurt by Instagram comments on social
00:35:49
media are you crazy yeah a painful
00:35:51
indeed is vindictive speech is a theme
00:35:53
of the whale say that again painful
00:35:56
indeed is vindictive speech
00:35:59
I saw that on a plaque outside of a
00:36:01
temple and Thailand years ago in front
00:36:03
of a giant golden recluse well earlier
00:36:05
in your career if you get something
00:36:07
negative it can affect your career and
00:36:09
you know it and then later
00:36:11
when you've gone through some stuff it's
00:36:13
a little if you're if you feel a little
00:36:14
more resilient
00:36:16
you know you can withstand the storm but
00:36:18
if if early on you do something and
00:36:20
people
00:36:21
are negative or Rotten Tomatoes or all
00:36:23
that it just it's such a wispy
00:36:25
career where it could just wind blow
00:36:27
away from you and you're like wait I'm a
00:36:28
big deal I think it's worse when you've
00:36:30
had some success and then you get dinged
00:36:32
and they use that success you can
00:36:34
juxtapose how you're not successful
00:36:36
anymore because I've had my trails with
00:36:38
that but then I you kind of go back to
00:36:41
you know Tom Hanks said there's no
00:36:43
crying in baseball there's no being
00:36:45
bitter in show business because the
00:36:47
entire thing is designed to make you
00:36:49
better I met so Mickey Rooney was the
00:36:51
most bitter man I've ever made I was the
00:36:54
number one star in the world you hear me
00:36:56
bang the world you know so I knew early
00:36:58
on okay everything is about Showbiz is
00:37:01
designed to make you feel better so I'm
00:37:03
gonna choose either to pretend or just
00:37:05
remember that we're privileged that we
00:37:08
we paid a dollar to do this let's do
00:37:10
this yeah that's they're up it's like
00:37:12
they're paying me to do this that's how
00:37:13
I failed early on because I would be
00:37:15
doing this anyway even if you didn't
00:37:16
because I didn't know else what else to
00:37:18
do Tony Randall told me that did he we
00:37:20
get paid to do this and he was like 85
00:37:23
of this yeah never lost the Wonder in
00:37:24
all of that that's why I like people do
00:37:27
regular jobs because I go we need them I
00:37:29
can't do it I can't do Jack's
00:37:31
agreed and I appreciate it I was a
00:37:33
busboy got fired three times
00:37:36
um but in in the mummy
00:37:37
first of all the mummy looked fun like
00:37:40
you said it was fun but doing stunts you
00:37:43
must have had to do some in the Mommy
00:37:44
and then you said you got choked out
00:37:46
pretty good on like day two or three
00:37:48
there was a hanging sequence and hanging
00:37:51
from the neck
00:37:52
no I'm out well didn't they have you in
00:37:55
a harness and you know they didn't
00:37:57
because they were trying to get the shot
00:37:59
before lunch that's what happens scene
00:38:02
and you blacked out did they fire the
00:38:05
stunt coordinator no he was too
00:38:06
important and plus I could still be
00:38:08
replaced it was early on in the schedule
00:38:11
so you know we we're running around
00:38:13
going we still have jobs we do but you
00:38:15
know we could be replaced Hannah was
00:38:16
like that all the time like well no I
00:38:19
can't believe it don't tell them they'll
00:38:21
send me back law school I don't know
00:38:22
what I'm doing oh I still got a job they
00:38:24
can't fire me now it let's do this
00:38:27
you can't you can't it's hard to
00:38:29
complain on the set you don't want to be
00:38:30
a complainer I got choked out because
00:38:33
the Rope was on my neck Stephen said hey
00:38:36
it's a medium shot uh um it doesn't look
00:38:38
like you're hanging because they already
00:38:40
shot the Y to the stunt man in the
00:38:41
harness and he went bang it looked great
00:38:43
you know we need a moment and then they
00:38:45
go in on the coverage of Rick choking
00:38:47
choking did one shot came in and he said
00:38:49
hey um look it doesn't really look like
00:38:51
you're you know
00:38:52
dying can you really like dial it up and
00:38:56
all right I didn't like what was
00:38:57
happening anyway so we went for another
00:38:59
take and I remember watching the camera
00:39:02
was on tripod came around there's a guy
00:39:04
screaming off camera and I remember look
00:39:06
I could see the matte box and I thought
00:39:08
okay I'm Really Gonna sell the hell out
00:39:09
of this and I made up what would really
00:39:12
make me look like I'm choking like I'd
00:39:13
been asked so I huffed air really hard
00:39:15
and started hyperventilating and held my
00:39:16
breath so I thought I won't get really
00:39:18
big red veins popping out of my eyeballs
00:39:19
and all that this is
00:39:21
just thing you could do if you're right
00:39:23
these are being choked off and the guy
00:39:26
holding the Rope above me on the
00:39:27
scaffolding was the stunt man and he
00:39:30
brought up the tension and I was on my
00:39:33
own feet on your toes on my toes and I
00:39:35
had nowhere to go unless I was a
00:39:37
ballerina and uh and I I don't all I
00:39:40
remember seeing is the map Box come
00:39:42
around and then it was like you went
00:39:45
black and Iris closed like someone
00:39:47
turned the dial down like and the next
00:39:49
thing I knew
00:39:51
there is a British voice going Brendan
00:39:55
Brendan
00:39:57
and there was dirt in my ear and in my
00:40:00
teeth and it felt like my elbow is
00:40:01
behind my head and the world was
00:40:03
sideways I didn't understand it and my
00:40:05
shin really hurt and everyone was quiet
00:40:09
as a drop of pin forget it they were
00:40:11
screaming their heads on moments ago
00:40:14
earlier uh what just happened and it
00:40:16
kind of dawned on me that these guys are
00:40:18
medics they're trying to wake me up
00:40:20
everyone's looking at me it was um while
00:40:24
it didn't hurt per se it frightened me
00:40:27
more than anything else and I didn't
00:40:28
like having that feeling of you know
00:40:31
being the Fallen team player when it
00:40:33
happens in hockey or football or
00:40:34
something everyone gets quiet yeah yeah
00:40:36
and I kind of had this emotional
00:40:38
reaction like yeah he did something
00:40:40
wrong or I didn't know that's dead
00:40:42
silence Simon runs over to me and he
00:40:46
goes all right man cool uh
00:40:49
you're in the club same thing happened
00:40:51
ml Gibson on Braveheart
00:40:55
I want to go home
00:40:58
initial here press hard four copies we
00:41:01
won't Sue all right oh I passed out he
00:41:05
was a great he is a great stunt car he
00:41:06
went and he did a lot of really good
00:41:07
stuff that we've all never heard I've
00:41:09
never heard of someone having that
00:41:10
experience that would well apparently
00:41:12
Mel Gibson did on a Braveheart like I
00:41:14
wanted you said let's do it again
00:41:17
that's my bad male gifts how is Mel
00:41:20
Gibson
00:41:21
Australian accents are difficult that
00:41:23
was that was Keith Urban
00:41:27
[Music]
00:41:29
okay now I just want to touch on we're
00:41:32
making our way toward the whale yeah we
00:41:34
are which is great I just wanna my wife
00:41:37
and I were watching
00:41:39
the the affair on Showtime oh yeah which
00:41:42
I think is a really really great show
00:41:44
and then you come on for season three
00:41:46
yes and it's it's a precursor to your
00:41:50
skill well or whatever you've done
00:41:52
throughout your career because think you
00:41:53
must have got a lot of heat for that
00:41:55
character Gunther this damaged uh
00:41:59
sadistic prison guard and all of a
00:42:01
sudden there's Brendan doing his thing
00:42:04
so I it really stood out for me and I
00:42:06
really reckon that's Ben Fraser I mean
00:42:08
he's killing it so did you get that
00:42:10
feeling from that part the conceit for
00:42:12
that was that um he was a doppelganger
00:42:16
he was
00:42:18
the you know the bookending character
00:42:20
and it straight lifted straight out of
00:42:22
um
00:42:23
creepy German fairy tale lore the
00:42:26
doppelganger is your other half doesn't
00:42:28
necessarily have to be your twin other
00:42:31
half but looks like you and is there to
00:42:34
teach the protagonist something about
00:42:36
themselves and they're doing it through
00:42:38
the use of violence so that was Gunther
00:42:41
and that's evidenced in the rashaman
00:42:43
quality of swashman's story quality of
00:42:45
like what really happened from different
00:42:46
perspectives that the affair was
00:42:48
structured on when you would pick up
00:42:51
little clues of
00:42:53
all right uh no it's was it no yeah
00:42:56
Noah's Car Guys no yeah his car got
00:42:58
bashed into by Gunther who's trying to
00:43:00
chase him down he saw him the rear view
00:43:01
mirror but
00:43:03
he pulls over and he thought it was a
00:43:05
vision but the camera pulls back and
00:43:06
there's
00:43:07
um no damage on the bumper so did it
00:43:10
really happen or not and then buy
00:43:13
stories and
00:43:15
he gets out of jail and confronts him in
00:43:18
his own home and it turns out the guy
00:43:20
may have just been a well-meaning social
00:43:22
worker all along you know he worked in
00:43:24
the jail and want to make sure that the
00:43:26
inmates had a structured plan win there
00:43:28
if they got out and he was confronted by
00:43:30
him on his own front lawn and you should
00:43:34
be left wondering did that really happen
00:43:35
that way and I think that was the
00:43:38
Perfection of that show because they did
00:43:40
that in so many ways from retelling a
00:43:43
story from different characters
00:43:44
perspective her point of view his point
00:43:46
of view but it's interesting to me not
00:43:48
being any kind of sort of dramatically
00:43:51
trained actor is that you do all this
00:43:53
stuff prep work in your head and then
00:43:56
you just stand there as Gunther and we
00:43:59
as viewers just know A lot's going on
00:44:02
this you've you're gone and this guy has
00:44:04
got tons of going on so it's just
00:44:07
fun to watch thank you it's interesting
00:44:09
to pick I appreciate it different places
00:44:10
to show up too like in the affair which
00:44:12
is a hit show and then he's in there
00:44:14
just well that's why you never went away
00:44:17
there's always these you're showing up
00:44:19
and really kind of high quality stuff
00:44:22
throughout the what do you call it the
00:44:24
post knots
00:44:27
around there yeah yeah so I did take a
00:44:30
step back to slow down my life had taken
00:44:32
a different path at that point too I had
00:44:34
had kids some I moved across the country
00:44:39
um there's some legal action in my life
00:44:41
personally speaking and that you know
00:44:44
for better or worse it's something you
00:44:45
must contend with and it takes your
00:44:47
focus away from what your aspirations
00:44:49
professionally are but you'd go mad if
00:44:52
he didn't have a job right so I always
00:44:54
had something to do whether it was with
00:44:57
the affair or some other project and and
00:45:00
also
00:45:02
I don't know if I could have maintained
00:45:04
the level of expected success that I had
00:45:07
had up until that point because you fall
00:45:10
out of favor if your film doesn't reach
00:45:12
or no in magical number or something
00:45:15
like that and you don't know what the
00:45:16
rules are you don't know if you've been
00:45:17
fired or you just won't be rehired yeah
00:45:19
so you got to take it in control of
00:45:21
yourself being someone who had a botch
00:45:24
bypass and had career difficulties you
00:45:26
know so I just wonder how you process
00:45:28
that period of not needing to go and do
00:45:31
it personally but it's sort of on record
00:45:33
that you had troubles and various things
00:45:35
same with other people how do you does
00:45:39
it how does it affect you now you look
00:45:40
back at hey Brent you know were you
00:45:42
proud of you were courageous you made
00:45:43
the right choice for everything that
00:45:45
happened the way that it did because I
00:45:47
couldn't be the individual who I am now
00:45:49
without having gone through the paces
00:45:52
that way before if this kind of
00:45:54
acknowledgment that I'm seeing receiving
00:45:56
right now it happened 20 years ago I
00:46:00
wouldn't have been able to I wouldn't
00:46:01
have had
00:46:03
emotional man tool belts of psyche to
00:46:08
deal with it I do now because I have a
00:46:11
context I know why I do this it's
00:46:13
because I've got kids now and that just
00:46:16
chemically changes everything that you
00:46:17
every choice you make it's it gives it a
00:46:20
oh that's the reason why the rest of it
00:46:22
was just about desperation and fun and
00:46:25
trying to stay with us I think that's
00:46:27
where I'm at a trend desperation is fun
00:46:28
or staying with a trend that was that's
00:46:30
the title of his Showtime special
00:46:33
I took Brandon to find a good title for
00:46:36
me that's it
00:46:37
so yeah it's sort of like your own
00:46:39
mortality or you know knowing putting
00:46:42
your kids first in your brain all the
00:46:43
time and for me when I did that too yeah
00:46:45
well I was like oh you can really check
00:46:48
out here at any time you know so I was
00:46:51
like oh please can I get to 60.
00:46:54
because some checkout meeting you yeah
00:46:56
because my issues were at 42 I'm perfect
00:46:58
now never had a heart attack that's all
00:47:00
it's in my book
00:47:01
um it's called Dana and you look
00:47:03
fantastic you look really healthy you
00:47:05
look hot uh thank you uh I know anyway
00:47:10
but I was curious about that and that
00:47:12
makes total sense and so you're you're
00:47:15
back at the table in a way and you're
00:47:18
saying it makes sense all this
00:47:20
emotionality went through in this whole
00:47:22
trajectory you're able to actually grasp
00:47:24
it because I got an Emmy once and Bob
00:47:25
Hope handed it to me wow and I wasn't
00:47:27
really there just you had another body
00:47:30
experience with him I had a body but I
00:47:32
couldn't really me and Emmy I'm just
00:47:34
from you're like am I the good guy
00:47:36
that's supposed to get an Emmy right now
00:47:37
when I look at her one's so great yeah
00:47:38
when I was on the cover of Rolling Stone
00:47:40
I felt nothing I just like I didn't I
00:47:42
couldn't grasp it I'm just saying that
00:47:44
you got that a little more because it
00:47:45
kind of happened to me a little bit last
00:47:46
night oh yeah the critics were you know
00:47:50
kind of no
00:47:51
um yeah well can I can I say one thing
00:47:55
about that thing offense again I just by
00:47:57
accident because he he was kind of doing
00:47:59
TV movies yeah you know and then he read
00:48:02
the script to this will take very fast
00:48:04
Hannibal Lecter whatever science the
00:48:06
Lambs and he put it down after five
00:48:07
pages he said I didn't want to read
00:48:08
anymore because I might not get the part
00:48:10
because it was so perfect wow and he
00:48:13
thought he's he would think to say what
00:48:14
would it be like to be in a big
00:48:15
Hollywood film well that must be amazing
00:48:18
so he does Hannibal Lecter wins the
00:48:21
Oscar he's in Times Square he looks up
00:48:24
Silence of the Lambs Anthony Hopkins
00:48:27
lying around the block and he says and I
00:48:29
felt nothing oh
00:48:32
so it's hard you're out of body in a way
00:48:35
you're all these Awards you're getting
00:48:37
and 10 minutes to Innovations I would
00:48:40
find it to grasp it you feel like you're
00:48:43
in a fever dream or something or
00:48:44
sometimes but that's just my own
00:48:46
insecurity coming to take over me and
00:48:48
the best advice I'm getting from friends
00:48:50
and family and all that is just stay in
00:48:51
your own boots just take the moment in
00:48:54
and I know that has value because
00:48:58
I couldn't appreciate that stuff earlier
00:49:00
on I can now well I think that for all
00:49:03
of us because you know I'll cry in my
00:49:05
car sometimes just like for a minute you
00:49:07
know when just things overwhelm you and
00:49:09
David is there usually at the same time
00:49:12
no but so when you're that raw with
00:49:15
people and it's so authentic I know
00:49:18
that's such a cliche word now it touches
00:49:20
all of us yeah because we're feeling the
00:49:22
weight of it you can't watch your
00:49:24
acceptance speech and I couldn't by the
00:49:27
end of the whale too it was just so
00:49:29
overwhelming and this so whatever
00:49:31
doesn't you went through maybe informed
00:49:34
you to bring us these gifts it has to
00:49:37
have kind of add value or gotten into
00:49:39
your body and and the whale was shot
00:49:42
during time of covet also so you know
00:49:45
this it was Tiny set two-bedroom
00:49:47
apartment we rehearsed on a sound stage
00:49:50
of the taped out floor for one-to-one
00:49:51
model so we really knew our jobs pretty
00:49:53
well so one-to-one model so it's like
00:49:55
exactly exactly what this is like you
00:49:57
would rehearse a play for instance
00:49:58
Darren wouldn't even let us cross the
00:50:00
tape we had to use the entrance oh taped
00:50:02
out entrance like there's a wall there
00:50:04
yeah either walk into the wall don't
00:50:05
cross the day Darren oronsky Aaron
00:50:08
officer Aaron him too I'm not good I
00:50:11
went to state school I'm not we're from
00:50:13
Montana you know we don't put two and
00:50:15
two together too easily um
00:50:19
Brendan Frazier's here I always thought
00:50:22
just to touch on what you just said
00:50:25
it would be harder to me I think if you
00:50:28
were on friends it's like a show like
00:50:30
that the first thing out of the gate is
00:50:32
so huge yeah and you don't realize it's
00:50:36
not it might not be like that anymore
00:50:37
how do you follow that and how do you
00:50:39
follow it must screw with your head and
00:50:41
when you get like one line in something
00:50:43
and then you get this and you sort of go
00:50:45
up and have everyone has career ups and
00:50:47
downs that you do appreciate when it's
00:50:50
going good because you go it can go away
00:50:52
you didn't know before but now I still
00:50:53
feel like someone's gonna walk in the
00:50:54
door and accuse me of fraud basically
00:50:58
and I have a what uh imposter syndrome
00:51:01
like I feel you feel like I should be
00:51:03
feeling something I guess it's normal
00:51:04
Jimmy Stewart and Henry Fonda said they
00:51:06
are well that's it every movie they
00:51:09
haven't found me out yet yeah yeah yeah
00:51:11
yeah and I won't even do the impression
00:51:13
I guess we're right on schedule then
00:51:15
guys
00:51:16
we're yeah I I
00:51:20
David tell tell him now listen people on
00:51:24
this the whale got a
00:51:26
12-week Standing Ovation by the way I
00:51:30
will say it's funny when I hear like a
00:51:32
three-minute standing ovation and six
00:51:34
until I go what are these people doing
00:51:35
do they bring a lunch because they're
00:51:37
clapping on are you sitting down because
00:51:39
I loved it but I I have to go to the
00:51:41
valet now like
00:51:42
yourself
00:51:46
are you done I get it you liked it now
00:51:50
my feet are hurting I was trying to
00:51:52
leave the theater when we and I thought
00:51:54
we're almost out of the doors in Venice
00:51:56
and Darren's like no I'll get back take
00:51:57
a bow I think really all right fine so I
00:51:59
did I took it back it wasn't but what
00:52:01
you don't see is I was looking at 1200
00:52:04
people and they're all crying in their
00:52:06
Italian and stuffing they're doing this
00:52:09
side you can't nut so was that a moment
00:52:11
I was just curious about this when I see
00:52:13
that like you you do the movie so
00:52:15
everyone's starting to get you hyped up
00:52:16
I gotta admit hey you're you're awesome
00:52:19
at this thank you right it's starting to
00:52:21
happen but then when you show it to an
00:52:23
audience and you get that kind of
00:52:24
response
00:52:25
then okay
00:52:27
it's as great as people are telling me
00:52:29
right and so that see why that would be
00:52:31
a Water Works moment maybe even more
00:52:34
than because it's proof they actually
00:52:35
like it it's not just some agent or
00:52:37
somebody telling you that it's good
00:52:38
you're great are you having a sense
00:52:40
memory right now I was just
00:52:42
um no no yeah because that no wait I am
00:52:45
now now yeah because it feels like that
00:52:47
would be the first what was the first
00:52:49
one that you showed it to where you were
00:52:51
with the audience and they just Venice
00:52:54
1200 seat theater I don't have the
00:52:56
number of seats but there were many many
00:52:57
many and you have no idea how it's gonna
00:52:59
go
00:52:59
I know that I've seen it I know that
00:53:02
after you finish watching this film The
00:53:03
Credits roll and people are still rooted
00:53:06
to the spot and I don't say that in the
00:53:07
same kind of like blown smoke kind of
00:53:09
way agent's going we loved it man this
00:53:12
one's legit I was the whole time just
00:53:15
riveting I felt like I needed to
00:53:17
reconnect a few sockets and cables after
00:53:20
I saw and I'm in the thing you know it's
00:53:22
not uh it doesn't let up
00:53:25
um your daughter is wonderful Sadie
00:53:27
Singh Sadie sink is some stranger things
00:53:30
you and her together is that energy is
00:53:34
Magic the two she came in coming in hot
00:53:37
and she did not let up she was tough too
00:53:40
she was tough the estranged daughter
00:53:42
she's first thing Sadie is a genuine
00:53:44
article I watched this kid winning the
00:53:46
game ball every single day at a front
00:53:48
row seat she her Talent presages her
00:53:52
years I don't like where'd you come from
00:53:54
and she um
00:53:57
is this Darren describes her she's like
00:54:00
a jewel you look at it one way it's
00:54:01
interesting and new and beautiful and
00:54:02
all that there's something a new facet
00:54:05
and
00:54:06
she was just consistent a stone cold
00:54:09
professional in her um approach just
00:54:13
always gold star performance I could say
00:54:15
nice things for the rest of her time
00:54:16
here but Sadie
00:54:18
um
00:54:19
is also a young woman who has a big
00:54:22
family her father is uh a football coach
00:54:25
he's got a handshake on him like
00:54:29
like gripping a handful of channel lock
00:54:31
pliers are you a stone Mason like ouch
00:54:35
and it's just him introducing himself
00:54:38
um so she comes from a real strong
00:54:40
family and uh she
00:54:43
um has this gift it has to be her
00:54:46
approach to playing this part was
00:54:48
and I saw it it's she never went in for
00:54:52
the Trope of an angsty teenager she
00:54:54
understood that this girl is talented as
00:54:58
a character but doesn't know it yet she
00:55:01
has a lot of
00:55:02
understandable rage that comes from her
00:55:06
heart Charlie did something that really
00:55:08
really wounded this kid and he didn't
00:55:11
have to pay the bill on it until it
00:55:13
confronts him and lifestyle you invited
00:55:15
the building exactly so she comes back
00:55:18
and she's she's demanding oh yeah to get
00:55:22
what she needs Sadie's um focus on that
00:55:25
was
00:55:27
never to crack never to crack never to
00:55:29
crack until the moment
00:55:32
when the spell gets broken in a way when
00:55:35
he finally
00:55:36
crests his mouth kill them in jarrow of
00:55:39
making his apology to her and come see
00:55:43
the film but you know that's that's the
00:55:45
moment I'm just thinking about that part
00:55:46
because first of all I'll watch you from
00:55:48
different eyes my dad left when I was
00:55:51
four and my brothers were six and eight
00:55:53
so and he didn't come around and then he
00:55:56
came back later and he wanted to he
00:55:58
didn't really want to make up he just
00:55:59
came around and so I was the one sort of
00:56:01
pushing
00:56:02
the reconciliation you know just because
00:56:05
you don't have your dad and so there was
00:56:07
themes in that movie that hit me in
00:56:10
different ways and also just the fact
00:56:11
that it is just a very well crafted well
00:56:14
and the woman takes care of you Liz I
00:56:16
think is her name
00:56:18
yeah she was a magic as well in movies
00:56:22
that are brilliant that are great and I
00:56:23
give it up to the writer director and
00:56:25
all the performers Samuel you can't
00:56:27
imagine anyone else playing no any other
00:56:30
part no that's one a great movie that's
00:56:32
always the sign of it no one else could
00:56:34
have done what you did she hung I
00:56:36
believe that character should have its
00:56:38
own movie I want to know who who Liz was
00:56:41
at work and her other life because she
00:56:43
just becomes such a likeable character
00:56:45
and there's more that Hong can say in
00:56:49
between the lines in the pauses and the
00:56:52
silences than any of the dialogue she's
00:56:53
speaking just by her face and how she
00:56:56
drinks in who she's speaking to almost
00:56:59
as if like she's listening with her
00:57:00
pores or something well there's parts
00:57:02
there and you can always tell us to cut
00:57:04
something out if it feels like it's too
00:57:05
much but remember the part Dana we're at
00:57:08
she's talking about her truck and it's
00:57:11
such a
00:57:12
curveball like you're getting it from
00:57:13
all sides and it's just like oh my God
00:57:15
what a mess
00:57:17
ah that was tough to take all that so
00:57:21
listen it got me I kept starting and
00:57:23
stopping it because I had to like
00:57:25
gather myself Brendan I'm a comedic
00:57:28
performer I was doing sold out shows
00:57:30
other people's words
00:57:31
and uh big theaters and uh it was hard
00:57:35
to regain the funny bone
00:57:38
but like you very talented and I got
00:57:43
through it Dana I just want to ask uh
00:57:46
because I I'm fascinated uh how great
00:57:48
movies get made I remember asking Joe
00:57:50
Pesci once do you know when it's great
00:57:53
yeah how do you do it I mean what did he
00:57:56
answer he goes hey you just you lock in
00:57:59
that's how you do it you just
00:58:00
lock in you know he said something once
00:58:03
that I knew he'd done he goes yeah
00:58:05
sometimes some guys don't want to fight
00:58:07
you know what I say sugar bowl across
00:58:10
the nose and you could tell he's done
00:58:12
that move he's only he's not a big guy
00:58:14
but it doesn't matter but he says you
00:58:16
lock in so for me when you're when
00:58:19
you're shooting the whale how does
00:58:21
Darren approach that so he's like he's
00:58:23
got these diamond gems you're in your
00:58:28
you're you're just so locked in uh does
00:58:32
he does he do you a lot of takes you ask
00:58:33
for more takes is he is he he likes to
00:58:35
shoot a lot of takes and you know and
00:58:37
that's okay with you look we're all
00:58:39
there once anyway you know we knew like
00:58:42
I said we knew our jobs from the
00:58:43
rehearsal process so you made your
00:58:45
discoveries and yeah your bonding made
00:58:47
your mistakes before you walk up and
00:58:48
said you're just a bunch of actors
00:58:49
showing up going hey you know it would
00:58:51
be really cool and looking at the sides
00:58:52
every morning no we knew how to play the
00:58:55
music yes precisely and for that
00:59:00
each uh each take because it's a tiny
00:59:04
set it's a two bedroom apartment we're
00:59:05
like a submarine crew on top of each
00:59:06
other and because of the just the
00:59:08
exigencies of playing that character and
00:59:12
I I'm wearing a great deal of makeup and
00:59:15
apparatus and costuming and harnessing
00:59:17
and
00:59:19
you know whether it was a man whose body
00:59:22
is big like Charlie's or if I was in an
00:59:25
alien costume or something they're
00:59:27
really kind of the same approach it's
00:59:28
suit performing you know and
00:59:32
so I think you know we're here let's
00:59:34
just keep doing it again Darren he he
00:59:37
would just keep shooting me we were also
00:59:38
shooting like everyone does now on
00:59:40
digital so there's no more film there's
00:59:41
no magazine to change just keep going
00:59:43
it's like a light switch just you're not
00:59:44
and you can do them on a loop and if
00:59:46
something's off on a take just back up
00:59:48
the camera and go again and
00:59:51
I think that would get him a lot of
00:59:53
variety and
00:59:55
um but in Hong's case he would just kind
00:59:57
of go okay well we already got it
01:00:00
um you know what just show off impress
01:00:03
me he loved her so much
01:00:05
it it it it was um it wasn't you would
01:00:10
you would you would try and it was
01:00:11
really finessing of many takes to find
01:00:13
out what's the best way to do it he was
01:00:15
never shooting for variety with me at
01:00:17
least and you could almost do it
01:00:19
different ways like you there's
01:00:20
different colors and layers in each take
01:00:22
and you're like he's got to go back and
01:00:24
pick which is the best one because
01:00:25
sometimes I think that was a good one
01:00:27
the next one you go that was good at the
01:00:28
beginning
01:00:29
oh we nailed that part you know on
01:00:31
different movies but this this one I'm
01:00:33
sure he's got in his head what he wants
01:00:35
it's hard it would be hard with that
01:00:38
emotion which is a lot of your stuff and
01:00:40
humor it's very emotional to get through
01:00:43
take after take you know that would be
01:00:45
harder for me because you have to say
01:00:48
one day at a time I think you know you
01:00:50
eat an elephant one bite at a time
01:00:52
um at least it was in one location was
01:00:55
kind of nice where was it we shot in
01:00:57
Newburgh New York um across the mighty
01:01:00
mighty Hudson it was frozen in that time
01:01:03
of year so cold there in a Motorcycle
01:01:05
Museum and the lower half and I'm sure
01:01:08
you've said this on press junkets but so
01:01:10
it was three hours in probably and three
01:01:12
hours out four oh and how many to get
01:01:15
out an hour
01:01:17
but that's okay shoot for 12 minutes a
01:01:19
day I I actually I had a guy Kevin
01:01:21
Jaeger who's brilliant on this a very
01:01:23
goofy movie no one saw a master disguise
01:01:25
the lovemaster of this kind hey wait a
01:01:28
minute let me get a can I record this
01:01:31
guy
01:01:35
it was very very silly but he did he
01:01:38
yeah like eight hours with me sometimes
01:01:40
eight
01:01:42
honest yeah and what which character uh
01:01:46
do you remember well it was the turtle
01:01:47
man I I get well I'd get there at 3 30
01:01:49
or 4 sometimes he would spray tobacco
01:01:52
very detailed on my hands and stuff was
01:01:54
he built what are they putting
01:01:55
appliances on you appliances on when I
01:01:58
did
01:01:59
um
01:01:59
quit from Jaws you know Robert Shaw go
01:02:03
in the water that was a big one you know
01:02:05
to look exactly and I'm so I'm encased
01:02:08
in rubber I don't know if you had a
01:02:09
situation like I'll ask you in a second
01:02:10
and they said Barbra Streisand's here
01:02:12
today because James Brolin was playing
01:02:14
the father so I had lunch with Barbra
01:02:17
Streisand but I'm in full prosthetic
01:02:19
Robert Shaw make up the whole time there
01:02:22
was no time for me to get out so do you
01:02:24
have goofy agents or people come by
01:02:26
you're completely Charlie you're fully
01:02:28
your guy and then you're talking you're
01:02:32
in the and you're talking as Brendan
01:02:35
there was yeah there were moments of
01:02:37
that but if we weren't like in the
01:02:39
production or the family there weren't
01:02:40
many visitors anyway they're actually
01:02:41
zero because it was yeah coveted
01:02:43
restrictions and all that
01:02:45
um
01:02:46
I think I think David for May 24 came
01:02:49
around just put his head into my cooling
01:02:50
tent and say hi you know like cooling
01:02:52
tent yeah I did I had a cooling problem
01:02:54
yeah
01:02:57
um because you can't like get up and run
01:02:58
to lunch you have to I needed to be
01:03:00
wheeled the 70 or so Steps From the
01:03:02
chair or two to the chair to the side
01:03:04
yeah I won't say anything more about the
01:03:06
movie but yeah I could see that we're
01:03:07
talking about the movie The Whale yeah
01:03:10
which is uh doing very very well at box
01:03:13
office wise I've read I mean it's
01:03:16
getting a big audience for an indie film
01:03:18
it's hard to make yeah adult thoughtful
01:03:22
dramas at the moment I hope they'll turn
01:03:24
around it used to be that's all you
01:03:25
could make if you wanted to do something
01:03:27
small it was a thinky piece that went to
01:03:29
a film festival and then you hoped for
01:03:30
distribution or something like that but
01:03:32
well with streaming and all the
01:03:35
different ways to consume content after
01:03:39
after rehearsal how long did it take
01:03:40
after what after you were done with
01:03:42
rehearsals how long did it take to
01:03:43
actually shoot it I think we had like 30
01:03:45
something days not including the
01:03:46
weekends but you know 30 32 days but we
01:03:48
shot mostly chronologically which was
01:03:50
really helpful that's fun yeah
01:03:52
I wouldn't say it's a fun movie but I'd
01:03:54
say that sucks
01:03:59
[Music]
01:04:00
oh good is good I I'm wondering when the
01:04:03
first time you did the makeup test and
01:04:05
you became the character and when you
01:04:08
looked in the mirror you know obviously
01:04:10
the thing is just start to go what was
01:04:12
your reaction was it emotional almost it
01:04:15
was actually funny you should ask yeah I
01:04:17
think before well the first one the
01:04:18
first test was at the protozoa office
01:04:19
and Adrian Moreau is the designer of
01:04:21
this makeup he's brilliant and
01:04:24
um getting into it for the first time
01:04:27
you know I was Big labor to get all the
01:04:29
parts of Montreal and all that
01:04:31
and
01:04:32
Derek looked over my shoulder and he
01:04:34
said
01:04:36
for the rest of your life
01:04:40
that's what I thought what's that mean
01:04:43
and then I thought I know what you mean
01:04:44
actually because you can't really
01:04:46
Divorce Yourself from me creating this
01:04:49
character For Better or Worse okay
01:04:51
remember it yes you can be remembered
01:04:53
for something for the rest of your life
01:04:54
for any number of reasons well there's
01:04:56
never been a movie that explored people
01:04:58
suffer from obesity not in this way no I
01:05:01
was I thought about this long and hard I
01:05:03
I remember not this way yeah the closest
01:05:06
I could think of and this might be
01:05:07
reaching for it was Dom DeLuise in fatso
01:05:14
it was really emotional too yeah and and
01:05:17
I I brought I drew inspiration from John
01:05:20
Candy in Planes Trains and Automobiles
01:05:22
yeah you recall when they were in he was
01:05:25
deriding him and he says go ahead you
01:05:26
can I'm a big guy you take a shot at me
01:05:28
yeah but I like me my wife likes me I'm
01:05:32
good enough I mean and he looked like he
01:05:34
was gonna crack in that moment and he
01:05:36
probably was and that was a beautiful
01:05:37
piece of acting right there I don't
01:05:39
think we've seen that kind of
01:05:40
sensitivity attached yeah owning who you
01:05:42
are when you live in a larger body like
01:05:44
that yeah and I I love that he was a
01:05:46
college professor you know and and there
01:05:49
was a heartache always underneath almost
01:05:52
the entire it was just there you didn't
01:05:54
have to play it even you were being
01:05:56
light like you're being light with
01:05:57
everyone you're saying I'm sorry and but
01:05:59
you know what I was all in really your
01:06:00
face so the suit kind of uh goes away
01:06:03
because you're just watching you to see
01:06:05
what's the hoop because in the absence
01:06:07
of it you know being a success with our
01:06:09
finely tuned Brands seeing makeups
01:06:11
versus CGI creations and you can tell
01:06:13
where the dotted lines are and you
01:06:16
automatically go you have to make a
01:06:17
decision about suspension of belief I'll
01:06:20
let that one slide and but with this it
01:06:22
was a straight ahead
01:06:24
analog makeup yeah with the exception of
01:06:27
maybe a light um digital Curative if
01:06:30
like a piece of fabric on your shirt it
01:06:31
was acting up in its own movie or
01:06:33
whatever that would fix that later or
01:06:34
there was a scene when on the bib sort
01:06:36
of shape or the collar when Charlie goes
01:06:38
down the hallway you go to bed he takes
01:06:39
his shirt off before and
01:06:41
you know anyway that that was the full
01:06:43
suit was very heavy and
01:06:45
um
01:06:46
you know anyway apart from that what you
01:06:47
see was what you got but if it didn't
01:06:49
work there was no movie and the rule was
01:06:52
this is a makeup and costume that will
01:06:56
obey the laws of physics and gravity
01:06:59
it um it will not be what we've seen so
01:07:05
frequently which is uh a foam Light
01:07:09
phone Halloween costume kind of
01:07:11
silhouette is that an athletic actor
01:07:13
wears and you sort of defy gravity and
01:07:14
bounce around the way and yeah you know
01:07:16
I mean that's that's a different movie
01:07:17
it's a different genre I have mixed
01:07:19
feelings about what's funny about that
01:07:20
and what's not no you look like it was
01:07:23
very belabored to do anything that guy
01:07:25
was Ill he was not well you really I
01:07:28
mean when you were wheezing and and you
01:07:31
know I felt suffocated you know I was
01:07:33
really in when he the heroic moment with
01:07:37
his daughter where he's I don't I don't
01:07:38
want to give away the ending but when he
01:07:40
gets up that was just that put me in a
01:07:42
puddle of Tears I'm I'm feeling it right
01:07:44
having the strength to get to your feet
01:07:46
yeah and do what you need someone who
01:07:49
loves his daughter so much and it's
01:07:50
impossible and he's going to do it
01:07:52
anyway and anyway you should see it
01:07:54
folks if you like great drama if you
01:07:58
like great movies my God
01:08:02
I think we should let him go on his
01:08:04
flight
01:08:06
Brandon's a very nice dude and uh on the
01:08:10
way to go to uh more stuff in London
01:08:13
anyway well on a just a another human
01:08:16
note everyone you know there's so many
01:08:18
awards
01:08:20
in our lives growing up you know you're
01:08:22
a Canadian as you can play a little yeah
01:08:24
speak French but there's the Academy
01:08:26
Awards I mean you've already nominated
01:08:28
Golden Globe You've Won Critics Choice I
01:08:31
don't know how many more they'll be but
01:08:33
do you let your mind wander to that idea
01:08:35
no I can't I don't want to get ahead of
01:08:38
myself I can't read those tea leaves any
01:08:41
better than you me or anyone can I I
01:08:43
laugh at the prognostication that goes
01:08:45
on because nobody knows nobody
01:08:48
knows anything no it's always a simple
01:08:51
introduce yourself of having the inside
01:08:53
track you do not I know nobody knows you
01:08:58
do have to keep that attitude yes you
01:09:00
know right it was Herman Melville who
01:09:02
wrote I know not all that may be coming
01:09:04
but come what will what may I will go to
01:09:08
it laughing yes I lived by that from
01:09:10
since Venice and now a few other maxims
01:09:14
and idioms along the way another one
01:09:15
being
01:09:18
foreign
01:09:20
is the parent of fear
01:09:23
it's better to know better go towards
01:09:26
the risky things that were reticent to
01:09:30
know about or learn about so they have a
01:09:32
fully formed opinion about a more
01:09:34
well-informed opinion than just ignoring
01:09:36
it and condemning it early on and
01:09:37
remaining
01:09:39
frightened yeah that's again Melville
01:09:42
1851.
01:09:44
Moby Dick exactly with Gregory Peck
01:09:47
tattoo god is a little kid was always
01:09:49
Blown Away about it did you just do
01:09:51
Gregory Peck Gregory Peck I've kissed
01:09:53
bigger lips than yours
01:09:55
I'm Gregory Peck I'm Henry Fonda I can
01:09:58
do these guys but no one knows what they
01:10:00
talk like yeah I know a lot about a gif
01:10:04
projector now you're a Polaroid Channel
01:10:06
GAF anyway I just do the voices but you
01:10:10
know those Rich Little voices those old
01:10:13
movie stars the only one you could do
01:10:15
now is Jimmy Stewart because of It's a
01:10:18
Wonderful Life kid came up to me hey you
01:10:20
did It's a Wonderful Life guy but the
01:10:22
rest are the rest are fade now they
01:10:24
don't know who they are they have no
01:10:25
friends
01:10:26
I still do Nixon in my act it seems to
01:10:30
too can we get a taste
01:10:35
is that the standard higher that's it no
01:10:38
that Nixon was a good go-to Alderman and
01:10:41
Dean they were the ones but let me down
01:10:43
that path well good luck to you I think
01:10:46
anything happens from now on as I all
01:10:47
gravy so Brendan
01:10:50
um great talking to you could I I'll
01:10:51
give you one little thing and I'll do it
01:10:55
fee five full form I smell an Oscar
01:11:00
nomination oh God sorry he's laughing
01:11:05
about it just in memory of my late
01:11:08
mother who loved the church lady because
01:11:10
she was church she was church lady oh
01:11:13
that's funny wow wow wow we're up there
01:11:16
getting our Awards aren't we we think
01:11:18
we're a little bit Superior to a little
01:11:20
man I like to call Jesus
01:11:23
we like ourselves don't we we're having
01:11:27
a good old time at the party circuit
01:11:29
where alcohol is served and the
01:11:31
there are plenty
01:11:34
uh yeah I don't know where she came from
01:11:36
but that's that's I'm I'm flattered that
01:11:40
your mom got some joy out of that
01:11:41
character and my mother-in-law's Irish
01:11:44
Catholic loves it they would have gone
01:11:46
along great they loved it no one took
01:11:49
offense to it even in the Bible Belt
01:11:51
they just loved but it's just fun to be
01:11:53
superior we like to talk on our a
01:11:55
microphone tell me David we've got a
01:11:58
podcast we feel Superior I don't know
01:12:01
but um Brandon Frazier
01:12:04
um exudes likability I'm so happy that
01:12:07
he's laughing yeah right now because
01:12:09
it's been he got me
01:12:11
David David saw a little bit we laughed
01:12:14
but so I saw the whole thing you jackass
01:12:16
the whale well just everything here when
01:12:19
we started thinking about that last
01:12:21
moment in the film it still gets me that
01:12:23
I don't want to talk about that because
01:12:25
it's part of the movie but I just always
01:12:27
gotten all across the board I kept
01:12:29
stopping because I was like oh my God
01:12:30
this is catch me off guard yeah so what
01:12:33
what can we how can we sum up we just we
01:12:35
appreciate you I mean the whole world is
01:12:37
as you know it just loves you like
01:12:39
everyone's so happy to see you it's not
01:12:42
always really nice and I know that it is
01:12:44
you've been through everything and it's
01:12:46
it's just seems well that's Show
01:12:47
Business and then there's life and it's
01:12:49
it's hard to
01:12:50
you know kind of puff yourself up at
01:12:52
this point and go hey damn right you
01:12:54
know I will never let that and it's
01:12:56
never going to happen but at least my I
01:12:59
would just hope just enjoy it as much
01:13:02
you know as much as you can I appreciate
01:13:04
it write it out yeah if people will say
01:13:06
nice things to me sometimes and I'm like
01:13:07
oh okay you're blowing up dang that's my
01:13:10
sister you're blowing up again really I
01:13:14
don't think so but so I know but for you
01:13:17
uh your training and what you've shared
01:13:20
with us about your you know quoting
01:13:22
Melville and what you're doing you know
01:13:24
I mean that's the true path like what's
01:13:26
you know what's the work you know in the
01:13:29
end of the day yeah you did this
01:13:31
brilliant piece of acting in this film
01:13:33
that's all we have thank you look I
01:13:35
summed it up all right and what I have a
01:13:37
business manager to introduce to you you
01:13:41
have any advice no he's doing good so
01:13:43
far yeah so anyway well good luck in
01:13:45
these next few weeks going through the
01:13:47
circuit and you know we only wish you
01:13:49
the best and we also really want to
01:13:51
thank you for coming on our podcast it's
01:13:52
my absolute pleasure no it's uh it's
01:13:54
it's very very flattering you got to
01:13:56
talk toward the end I thought that was a
01:13:57
big deal we tried to interrupt I said to
01:14:00
David before let's let's cut them off 50
01:14:02
of the time we don't have to coach us on
01:14:04
that no we help you is there anything
01:14:06
else you feel you want to say to the
01:14:07
world because we have a really big
01:14:09
following thank you very very much all
01:14:11
right
01:14:12
fly on the wall with Dana Carvey and
01:14:15
David's big Brendan Fraser thank you hey
01:14:19
what's up flies what's up please what's
01:14:21
up people that listen we want to hear
01:14:22
from you and your dumb questions
01:14:24
questions ask us anything anything you
01:14:26
want you can email us at fly on the wall
01:14:29
at cadence13.com
01:14:33
okay here's an AMA guys
01:14:36
Danny get prepped first of all pick a
01:14:39
sunglass David I'm gonna let you pick
01:14:40
for this second
01:14:42
I don't mind the little no I like those
01:14:44
bags
01:14:45
okay love the podcast the recent Farley
01:14:48
tribute was great sent me on a YouTube
01:14:49
deep dive of Farley's timing us now
01:14:52
what a legend question for David you
01:14:54
mentioned a movie you and Chris pitched
01:14:56
we're pitched shortly before we pass
01:14:58
called the tree do you remember
01:15:00
specifics yes
01:15:02
his name is Lance witchy pronounced like
01:15:05
Witchy Woman that's what he says okay
01:15:07
the tree Dana was um a movie it was
01:15:12
pretty typical of spade Farley formula
01:15:15
um I like this
01:15:17
I was I was a stiff DC political guy
01:15:24
climbing up like an assistant whatever
01:15:26
low man on the totem pole I'm getting
01:15:28
married that's a week for my wedding
01:15:30
week for Christmas or whatever after
01:15:33
Thanksgiving they say
01:15:35
they want a tree to be delivered to uh
01:15:38
you know across the country I order it
01:15:40
there's a big screw up it's my fault I
01:15:43
hear from the president himself you go
01:15:46
get the tree and bring it back make sure
01:15:47
it gets here
01:15:48
so I have to fly across country I have
01:15:50
to get back for my wedding and Farley is
01:15:52
the lumberjack that's in charge of the
01:15:54
tree and he wants to make 18 stops on
01:15:57
the way there and I don't want to so we
01:15:58
fight along the way and sort of a good
01:16:00
device kind of like train transplants
01:16:02
and automobile like two Misfits on a
01:16:05
journey is that script still around it
01:16:07
might be I is on a journey yeah I'm up
01:16:12
for Journeys and uh Melissa McCarthy I
01:16:16
thought might be funny at one time for
01:16:17
that but it just sort of went away we
01:16:20
both had read it we had done you know we
01:16:22
just done two
01:16:24
so we thought let's give it a breather
01:16:25
but at the end we were like you know the
01:16:28
tree was pretty funny we could probably
01:16:29
shape that or get somebody on that so
01:16:32
anyway it didn't work out
01:16:33
um but uh that was kind of what it was I
01:16:36
never asked you this but what was the
01:16:38
difference you think in terms of like
01:16:40
Black Sheep versus Tommy Boy and nothing
01:16:44
oh I mean did you sense that maybe Black
01:16:47
Sheep wasn't because Wayne's World 2
01:16:49
didn't do as good as Wayne's World one
01:16:51
but well the problem there was Tommy Boy
01:16:53
the quick story is uh which we're not
01:16:55
good at quick stories but it um it sort
01:16:58
of fell into place
01:16:59
Pete Siegel's director of Fred Wolf is
01:17:01
on the set we're just adding jokes we're
01:17:02
just all screwing around so yeah it was
01:17:04
light and easy and then the pressure in
01:17:05
the second one second one we got your
01:17:07
director
01:17:08
um from Wayne's World no Libby she's
01:17:10
good and she didn't want me in Black
01:17:13
Sheep so
01:17:14
and she's admitted this she said I
01:17:16
wasn't good and she didn't like me and
01:17:18
Tommy Boy and she said she just went to
01:17:20
a movie with Chris so she would do this
01:17:21
movie oh well when the yeah and that's
01:17:23
when it's and she took 40 pages out of
01:17:25
the script that Fred wrote and we all
01:17:27
chipped in on so
01:17:29
we were more separated the movie and it
01:17:31
wasn't as fun back and forth I still
01:17:33
like Black Sheep but uh I'm not here to
01:17:35
hammer her down um I'm just saying no
01:17:37
I'm sure that's what it turned into I
01:17:39
didn't mean to bring up something
01:17:40
negative I would just say that I think I
01:17:41
better go budgets are also David if I
01:17:44
could for a moment yeah budgets are also
01:17:46
can be the enemy of Comedy like so the
01:17:48
first movie they threw Mike and I as
01:17:50
Wayne and Garth on the hood of the car
01:17:51
and we're going did you ever be
01:17:53
attracted to Bugs Bunny or whatever and
01:17:55
it was like took 20 minutes yeah do you
01:17:58
ever yeah it wasn't over thought if she
01:18:00
she's a babe if she were present she'd
01:18:02
be Abraham Lincoln so it was just one
01:18:04
Tech go away second movie it was like a
01:18:06
three-day shoot multiple cameras around
01:18:08
that car for our CGI sucking and
01:18:11
squeezing the life out of it so anyway
01:18:13
no one's fault and a lot more pressure a
01:18:16
lot of more Cooks more pressure
01:18:18
could be funny yeah over thought over
01:18:21
tested um and so I still liked a lot of
01:18:24
black sheep and Chris was definitely
01:18:26
funny in it but and there's some funny
01:18:27
parts
01:18:28
um Penelope did add one thing I have to
01:18:30
give her where we were in bunk beds and
01:18:32
when she said I'm gonna do this thing
01:18:34
where he falls on you and I go we didn't
01:18:35
shoot that knee she goes I did it with a
01:18:37
camera trick and when I saw it I was
01:18:39
like there's no way I would even
01:18:40
know that was a camera trick it looks so
01:18:42
real and so reverse I will give her that
01:18:45
that was very funny and um yeah great
01:18:47
additional joke uh which is what you're
01:18:50
killing for in those movies just get a
01:18:51
house laugh so uh that's it and um thank
01:18:55
you for asking
01:18:56
[Music]
01:18:57
this has been a podcast presentation of
01:19:00
cadence 13. please listen then rate
01:19:02
review and follow all episodes available
01:19:05
now for free wherever you get your
01:19:07
podcast no joke folks
01:19:10
fly on the wall has been a presentation
01:19:12
of cadence 13. executive produced by
01:19:15
Dana Carvey and David Spade Chris
01:19:17
Corcoran of cadence 13 and Charlie finan
01:19:19
of brillstein entertainment the show's
01:19:21
lead producers Greg Holtzman with
01:19:23
production and Engineering support from
01:19:24
Serena Regan and Chris Basil of cadence
01:19:26
13.

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Best performance
  • 85
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most emotional
  • 80
    Best direction

Episode Highlights

  • The Nature of Talent
    Discussing how talent remains despite the ups and downs of a career.
    “The talent doesn't go away.”
    @ 01m 46s
    January 18, 2023
  • Comedy's True Essence
    Brendan Fraser shares insights on the nature of comedy and acting.
    “If you think you're funny, you're not.”
    @ 14m 13s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Pressure of Hosting SNL
    Hosting Saturday Night Live is a milestone that makes you feel part of New York.
    “When you host that show, you own New York for an hour.”
    @ 27m 20s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Reality of Reviews
    Early negative reviews can deeply affect an actor's career and self-esteem.
    “I'm terribly sensitive to negative reviews.”
    @ 35m 19s
    January 18, 2023
  • Lessons from Showbiz
    Navigating the ups and downs of the entertainment industry requires resilience and perspective.
    “Everything in showbiz is designed to make you feel better.”
    @ 37m 01s
    January 18, 2023
  • Brendan's Choking Incident
    Brendan recalls a terrifying moment on set where he was choked during a scene.
    “I huffed air really hard and started hyperventilating.”
    @ 39m 13s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Emotional Weight of Success
    Brendan discusses the overwhelming feelings that come with awards and recognition.
    “I felt nothing.”
    @ 48m 29s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Whale's Standing Ovation
    Brendan shares the experience of receiving a 12-week standing ovation for 'The Whale'.
    “The whale got a 12-week Standing Ovation.”
    @ 51m 26s
    January 18, 2023
  • Joe Pesci's Filmmaking Wisdom
    Fraser shares a memorable piece of advice from Joe Pesci about locking in to create great films.
    “You just lock in, that's how you do it.”
    @ 57m 56s
    January 18, 2023
  • Brendan Fraser on Emotional Acting
    Fraser discusses the challenges of performing emotional scenes repeatedly, comparing it to eating an elephant one bite at a time.
    “I think you eat an elephant one bite at a time.”
    @ 01h 00m 50s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Whale's Impact
    Fraser reflects on the emotional weight of his character in The Whale, highlighting the film's significance.
    “The whole world loves you; everyone's so happy to see you.”
    @ 01h 12m 39s
    January 18, 2023
  • The Pressure of Sequels
    The pressure and budget constraints of making sequels can stifle creativity and fun.
    “Budgets can be the enemy of comedy.”
    @ 01h 17m 41s
    January 18, 2023

Episode Quotes

Key Moments

  • Comeback Story01:17
  • Comedy Insights14:13
  • SNL Experience26:55
  • Negative Reviews35:19
  • Choking Scene39:12
  • Standing Ovation51:26
  • Emotional Challenges1:00:50
  • Audience Connection1:12:39

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown

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