Rose Byrne

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be hard to see. Follow NPR's planet money wherever you get your podcasts and start seeing how the economy really works. This is Fresh Air, I'm Terry Gross. Our guest today is after Rose Burn, known for both drama and comedy.

She's now one of the few actresses to be nominated for an Oscar and a Tony in the same year. She's currently on Broadway in the revival of the Noel Coward Play Fallon Angels.

She spoke with fresh airs and re-billed in auto.

When Rose Burn appeared on American TV in 2007 in the show damages, it was clear she was a dramatic force. Being opposite Glenn Close, she was nominated for two Emmys and two Golden Globe Awards. Then she starred in a series of comedies, get them to the Greek, Bridesmaids, and neighbors, and it became apparent that she's also one of our most gifted comedic actors.

Her work in the last year alone shows that she's so good at playing complex characters in any genre. She stars opposite Seth Rogan and the Apple TV comedy Platonic, and she received an Oscar nomination for her raw performance in the film if I had legs at kick you. Now Rose Burn is on Broadway in the play Fallon Angels.

It's a revival of the 1925 Noel Coward Play, a farce about two wealthy women married, English, who go a bit crazy when they hear that the man they had both been involved with before they were married is coming to town. Both Burn and her co-star Kelly O'Hara have been nominated for Tonys for Best Actress in a Play.

Rose Burn, welcome to Fresh Air. Hi, thanks so much. Now this play is from the 1920s. It was scandalous back then because it was about two women talking about having affairs with the same man before they were married.

Have you known this play or had you performed Noel Coward before? I'll say that Coward is a British playwright known for writing sophisticated, witty comedies about the upper class, you know, funny with a lot going on underneath. I wasn't familiar with the play, Scott Ellis, who's the artistic director of the roundabout theatre, brought it to me in Kelly O'Hara for a benefit rating for the roundabout.

“So that's how I discovered the play, obviously I was, but I was familiar with Noel Coward.”

I think productions of his more popular plays, I guess, that it done very frequently like I'd seen private lives, it's in hay fever, like I've seen productions of his other plays, but full of angels was no, I didn't know it, it was a less it done play. So it was a really interesting discovery. I won a play a scene from the play here, you and your co-star Kelly O'Hara are discussing

your ex-level Maurice, whose French, who you haven't seen in years, you're both

excited about the possibility of him visiting, Kelly O'Hara speaks first.

I say, wouldn't it be too wonderful if you arrived suddenly now? Oh, I should choke, you're sure you left a thoroughly care message at your flat in case you went there first. Of course. Well, bound to get a frightful shot when we do see anything.

Oh, I don't see why. He's bound to have got bold or gone fat or something. No, no, he went to change at all, he wouldn't come if he had because he's far too conceited. No, I can't see it, a little day and perhaps naturally. Withers are who can blame him, and there's panters, he's there's a leg of a leg.

Yeah! That's a scene from the play, fallen angels, roseburned your Australian, you live in the US now. Can you talk about your accent in this play? I would think it's that some of this dialogue is fun to say, and some of the words the syllables get drawn out, like the way you say "I" is "bleem", even "teeth" in this clip.

I mean, yeah, it is the language he uses that have linguistic gymnastics and the extraordinary vocabulary of an old coward is a delight. Yeah, we work with Kate Wilson, who's the head of voice at Juilliard, and I've been working with her now for nearly 10 years, and she's extraordinary because she's just like consonant, consonants, consonants, you've got to hit the consonants, stick the landing, like it's

sort of the language that sort of is everything in a way.

“It is this brilliant sort of use of language that he had at the age of 25, I believe, on”

he wrote this play, it's all in the delivery and the kind of the pacing of it, and just

Yeah, I've never tire of sitting backstage, and I'm constantly rediscovering the words

“that and he peppers throughout, like the word calluses throughout, which I just love.”

Delicious and just brilliant and bitterly is used a lot, a bitter time, bitterly, and it's just these brilliant words that he uses that I've started to use in my day-to-day, as I walk around in my life now, every year doing everything bitterly now. Exactly, it was a bit of time, I say, in the morning to my children, and they're like what?

Well, it's interesting you said that thing about consonants, but in that clip we just heard it too, it's like the vowels, too, it's like what happens to the vowels and an upper crusty British accent maybe? Yeah, and also, you know, the lover, his name is Maurice, which is a wonderful name because it's like more Maurice, he's like hidden truths in there, and he hidden kind of subjects

that we just dig in mind for every night, and vulgarity was like that, it's just brilliant, it's so fun for a lot of the show, you and your co-star Kelly O'Harris are playing drunk, both of your can out. It's just getting drunk. Yes, slowly, but surely you're getting drunk over the course of the evening, and so

much of the comedy comes from that, how do you prepare to act drunk, and how do you actually do it? It's interesting what he's writing is so brilliant with the drunkenness, like he's, you know, the switching of words and the slow decline and the volume, it's very specific in the stage directions, my character gets louder, continually throughout this sequence of

them drinking, which is very funny, and very true about drunk people, this problem is often

“get louder and louder and louder, and louder, and that's what happens to Jane, and then”

it's referred to in the third act that she was much worse than Julia, and she really is,

she sort of unravels, and then there's a violence that comes out in the character too that is very dark, and can also happen, and I've seen with people when they get to an eborated, sometimes it can really, you know, it can be, not reveal the best part of them. Yeah, there's a lot of physical comedy in this play, it reminded me actually of kind of Lucy and Ethel and I love Lucy, as far as the physicality of it, or maybe you're both

just such an honor, you know, we stand on the shoulders of those women, you know, of those, and like Carol Burnett, like that just on a pedestal Christian wig, you know, I'm that the physical comedy of those performances is truly, really dry, if it's, I mean, John Klee, these are the people I put on pedestals, my, I wrote off, you know, I just brilliant physical comedians, so we've definitely pushed that side of things, which has

“been very fun, how just performing in a Broadway show, each shows a week, how does”

it compare to shooting a movie, you know, even, like, something so kind of adrenaline pumped as your last film, if I had legs, I'd kick you, I was just wondering how it feels differently, those different kinds of performance. No, it's a great question, something I'm sort of wrestling with because it's kind of a little bit hard to describe in any area done fashion that it feels, we are trying to reach the

back row, you know, so it's, say, physically, it's just bigger, it is a bigger experience and then to sort of perform in a bigger arena like that and to still remain truthful in

that sense of, like, you know, I felt like I was screaming when I first got up because we're

not wearing mics either, there's mics on the stage, but we get up there and I'm like, "What, you know, scape, hello Jane, you know, something to yell like, how do I translate that in a way that still feels authentic?" But the theatricality of that leading into that, too, so it's been a learning curve again to do that, but I had long wanted to do a true comedic piece on stage, like it's been one of my dreams, so this has been extraordinarily

to have this experience. I also like that you do some hair acting in this place, like at one point, oh yeah, you're hair issues, how drunk you are and what may have happened to you, or the course of the evening because your hair is really big and it actually reminded me of your hair acting in the movie Spy from 2015, which is what you're threaded that nightle, and you appreciate

that. There are so many fun things like your hair, what you do with a napkin, and your UN, your co-star, Kelli O'Hara, are constantly repouring yourself champagne, so there's what, you know, there's champagne all over, so it's just interesting all the different kind of props that you use.

Yeah, and that's an listening to that clip. The main thing about that, a clip is timing when I drink and when I eat, because you're constantly drinking and I'm constantly eating throughout that sequence, which is fine, but it did take a minute through the previous

on the beats for the comedy, and also to establish how much they're drinking, you know,

“so that was, again, sort of, a technical, physical feat to figure that out.”

Do you eat the same things, like are you ingesting the same, I mean, that was an impressive thing. Yeah, what could be an oyster, what could be an oyster, what could be eat that is described in the play of what they're eating, and then figure out, yes, so that was also a process of figuring out all of that stuff, but also really fun. I mean, it's so fun and delicious.

Well, what are you eating? You're not eating oysters, so the oyster is a jello, a yellow, like a lemon-flavored jello, which is actually good, it's like very bland, and then there's

one chicken sausage that we, you know, kind of, nibble on, and then these, like, weird,

sort of, like, potato things with the steak, and then we have, like, doughnut holes when we're eating. It's supposed to be profiter rolls. Yeah, you eat a lot of those profiter rolls, yeah. I mean, a lot of them, and they've sort of become, again, a source of some of the comedy, like, playing with the food and all that kind of stuff. Now I want to ask about the film, if I had legs, I'd kick you, and I have to say, I feel

a little bad about asking you about it, because you talked about it for so long. It premiered it premiered in Sundance, back in January of 2025, and, you know, it seems like you've been talking about it, it came out late last year, and then you were nominated for the Oscar earlier this year, and it's such a great film, and you're so great in it, but it's kind of relentless, and I wondered if speaking about it was also relentless.

“No, I mean, it was an extraordinary experience for me, honestly, that Mary Bronstein wrote”

this in Sundance Greenplay, and I just did not want to mess it up, and it was such a creative opportunity, and her and I, I've just, we, we hit it off and had this, a real experience, you know, one of those experiences in life that, you know, sort of, creatively has kind of changed me. How would you describe the film and your character, Linda? I've loved speaking to other people about the film, because it's really, it's sort of

defies generalization or description, because it's, it's sort of like a fevered dream in a way, it has Gallow's humor in there, it's also obviously extremely, there's horror kind of tropes in the film too. I think Mary Bronstein really kind of broke the mold with the tone of the film in many ways, and she really sort of plays with the edge of consciousness, I think, in many ways, and tapped into sort of like the monster within and the fear of being a

“parent and the horror being a parent, and some of the joy too, but obviously she's in a really”

extraordinary difficult situation, this, this, this woman, but I, I still can't believe the film kind of got as far as it did, just because it was, you know, it's a small independent film, so it was just extraordinary. Yes, the film is written and directed by Mary Bronstein, and it's based on some of her own experiences, her daughter had become ill when she was younger, and she had that similar experience about trying to get her well and feeling trapped or the, the weight while doing it, and I

read that you both did a lot to prepare for the role that the two of you would meet after dropping off your kids at school and just talk about the script about motherhood, did any of the stories that you shared make it into the movie? Yeah, we, we were really lucky we had a period of um, really like five or six weeks where I would get good of her apartment, and we just started from page one and just went through every single, you know, comma and syllable and dialogue and everything

just carving through and sharing stories, and as to your point, your Mary Bronstein has shared that too, it was based on a, you know, something she went through with her and child, um, I'd obviously shouldn't behave like my character doesn't film, but um, the fears behind that and what went into it and she shared her journals from that time, um, and yeah, and I shared my own

personal experience of being a parent and how that feels and struggles and it was really a incredible

period we had there, so then when we got to set obviously it was a short shoot, it was only 25 or six days or something, um, we sort of had every conversation so we could really leap off and play the scene and discover stuff and as an actress I can't make any sort of decision until the other actors in front of me, and I'm, you know, responding to what's happening, so I'm so grateful we had that period. Mary Bronstein has said that, you know, she wanted to capture that visceral

feeling of, you know, desperation, that mental state where you feel everything is falling apart, because all these, she has a child who's ill and then there are all these other things that are

like it's the state of where you're so stressed that all these problems become, um, equal.

Then that felt real to me, and I was wondering how you and Mary Bronstein wanted to convey that, and if you've ever had that kind of feeling before yourself. What Linda is going through of having a seriously critically ill child, you know, you know, knock on what most parents, what have to go through that, you know, 99% of it isn't a very extraordinarily specific illness that she has to, um, but I was sort of obsessed with, like, how do it, what happened before this, like,

what led to this moment, who was she before, like, you know, because very little information is given, and I was like, I wanted to, like, discover this, sort of, because she's got such a sort of

streak of distrust of authority, you know, she's very defiant and, like, prickly and why, like,

where did that come? So that was sort of our boring, like actor homework that, you know, I was really interested in as the point of entry for the story, um, and Mary was, she's come from her acting background, she went to my use to turn as an actor. So she loves character and the details of that, so that was something we sort of, we discussed a lot of, and sort of, and just also tracking the downfall, because the trap would be, she's hysterical from the start, you know, and how do we,

you know, and sort of to track that sort of slow decline, um, and also the isolation the character has put upon herself because she does not want anyone reflecting back her choices, which are becoming increasingly unhinged and irresponsible, um, and so she's, she just has her therapist really,

“and he is telling her, you need to get a good night's sleep, don't smoke part, you know,”

these basic things, and she's ignoring that, she just completely goes off the rails, she has no, she has no guardrails anymore. So that, that sort of sense of isolation that I've seen with people in my life, if they've, they're in a situation they don't want, come into it on and they don't want to acknowledge, they slowly remove from your life, because they can't have that reflected back. I want to play a scene from the film, and Mayor Bronstein, the writer, director, is actually

in it. She plays the daughter's doctor, um, who's really hard on your character, Linda, in this scene. Here, the doctor is trying to talk to Linda about how treatment isn't working, and she doesn't think Linda is doing enough to help. You've missed the last few weeks of family sessions. Yeah. I told you what happened, our entire ceiling fell down, and with the old ad chaos, and we're living out of the hotel. So we need to schedule something as soon as possible to

talk about our goals and the treatment process. Yeah, okay, yeah. So, uh, yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, you meant now? Okay. All right. Um, well, uh, let me look at my schedule. I should probably do that. I know that you already know this, but you can't start letting feelings of guilt and control about this illness and treatment affect you.

“So no one's fault. That's right. That's what I keep hearing. Also, they really need you to start taking”

care of yourself, right? You can, yes. No, put my oxygen mask first. Mm-hmm. I'm just going to

have to get blunt here. So she needs to reach her weight goal in the next week. If she does that, then we can put to removal and discharge dates on the books. But if she doesn't do that, I'm going to have to reassess the level of care, because obviously something is not working here, and this is what I need to talk to you about. When can we sit down properly? Yeah, fine. September 7th. It's September 15th. September 20th. I mean, September, September 20th.

That's a scene from the film. If I have legs, I'd kick you. Um, I think it's hilarious. That's funny. Well, you know, it's funny because, yes, there's a lot in the movie that's funny, but you know, when you are nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Actress in the Musical, or comedy, people are like, that was supposed to be a comedy. It feels like hard to me. It's not exactly, yeah, not totally. It's um, it's not bridesmaids. No, it's a different

lot of comedy. Totally, but that that's seen so funny hearing it, especially because Mary's so serious. Yes, and she's my friend, and I'm like, just dying because she's so, and she also looks like

“she's told his old Mary, and she's playing the doctor. But that's what happens all the sudden you get”

to certain age, and then there's all these younger people telling you what to do, and you're like, oh my god. And so that was really, she was so stern and kind of scary as that talked about. Let's take

Broadway in the revival of the play, Fallen Angels. She just got nominated for Best Actor in a

play for the role. Her films and series include damages, bridesmaids, neighbors, and cities, platonic, and if I have legs, I kick you. More after a break, I'm Ann Marie Baldenado, and this is Fresh Air. Hi, this is Molly CvNusper, digital producer at Fresh Air. And this is Terry Gross, host of the show. One of the things I do is write the weekly newsletter.

And I'm a newsletter fan. I read it every Saturday after breakfast. The newsletter includes all the week shows, staff recommendations, and Molly picks timely highlights from the archive. It's a fun read. It's also the only place where we tell you what's coming up next week. An exclusive. So subscribe at WHY.org/FreshAir and look for an email from Molly every Saturday morning. Even though she maybe knows that it's not her fault, it's hard to not feel like it is,

“and it's hard to not feel judged. And I think that speaks to what can happen to parents”

to moms that you blame for yourself, for things that are beyond your control, or you think people are judging you about your parental decisions, even when there's nothing you can really do. And I was wondering if you related to that feeling of guilt. Now, of course, I mean, it's fascinating to examine that and examine it in my own life and also I spoke to parents of children with special needs and the whole spectrum of that have, you know,

how it had affected their life and their marriage and their self-esteem and the cost of that. And it is just heart-wrenching. But what lend it the hostility that linda has is something that I had to discover. That was very different from how I rose. We would respond to something like that. And that was really fun to kind of figure that out and figure out where that hostility came from, and why she has that for every, you know, anyone approaching her to telling her what to do,

whether it's the doctor or the therapist or her patient or anyone or her husband, or even the child for that matter and her resentment around that. And it was very fun, because it was far more interesting than something, how I would have approached the situation

“across this like that. And I think that was the key to figuring out that aspect of the character.”

Yeah, and I think something that the film does so well is convey that pressure of what it's like

to be a caretaker, like the darkness of it. Because it feels relentless, like you never stop worrying.

And, you know, there are these decisions that the director makes. For example, there's this constant beeping of the machine that happens through the film. And, you know, it's the machine that feeds the daughter through the feeding tube. And you can hear that throughout the movie and that adds to the anxiety and I think that's also what happens when you're a caregiver, like there's that constant beeping in the background.

Yeah, these noises get magnified and actually Mary Bronstein made those louder. Just a bit, like the clock on the wall, the beeping of the machine. All those things were louder, because they are not in her point of view. And it is as a parent, those things become overstimulating. It's relentless. And that's she wanted to cap her to that claustrophobia. And the sound design was really extraordinary. And that's hence too, really captured that.

One thing I should add is that we never fully know as viewers what kind of illness the daughter has.

Nor do we see the daughter's face through most of the movie. Yes, again, she sort of provides more questions and answers. And the conceit of not seeing the daughter and she's Mary's spoken to this many times, but sort of a too prong thing. And that, you know, I don't think Linda, my character, can see her daughter at this point. She's so drowning and beginning this sort of real descent into her crisis, her mental health

crisis, that she can't even see this little, she's sort of lost her shape, which can happen with your family or, you know, when you're in a day and a day out and you just, they lose their physical shape in front of your kids or your husband or wife or whoever. And I feel like we sort of, that Linda's perspective. And also for the audience to have that choice taken away to not see the daughter that you're forced to reckon with the mother. Um, because as soon as you put a child on screen, your empathy as it

should goes to the child. Um, they're so vulnerable. And it's, you know, if immediately you're concerned, we'll go to them. And so, she takes that choice away from the viewer. So, you know, you're forced to, uh, to be in the perspective of the mother. What was it like making a film about

“motherhood and anxiety and then going, ah, oh, my after work and then being a parent at home?”

Um, what kids are so in the moment and grounding in the in the best way that not particularly

snap into your role as mom. The greatest role, the most challenging, the most fun and, and so for me,

it was, it's church in the days. It'll leave it at work. I mean, it got busy. There were days when I was more exhausted or tired or, you know, had harder to let things go. Um, but, but children of the great equalizer has a parent, you know. Let's take a short break here and we'll talk some more. My guest is actor Rose Burn. She's currently on Broadway in the revival of the play Fallen Angels. She just got nominated for Best Actor in a Play for the role. Her films in series include

damages, bridesmaids, neighbors, insidious, platonic and if I have legs, I kick you. More after break, this is fresh air. Uh, one of your early acting jobs was working on a soap opera and you say that you got a lot of good training from that. What was the show like? And what was your part? If you were a kid, what, what your role did you get? Um, it was called Echo Point and I played Billy who's set up of the show is who was her father. Since an unknown she didn't know it was like the

“overarching storyline plot of the of the soap opera. And I was very young. I was 15, I think when I got”

that part, um, so I still, you know, I would be at school and then going there and then getting tutoring,

um, and it was an incredible technical training. It's amazing what you learn. You just learn how to

learn lines, very regularly and quickly because you are doing so much, you're filming so much, all that you're doing like 15 pages a day or something like, it's intense. Um, and the technical, you just, it's brilliant how much you learn about the camera, all of the machinations of making a show or film. So it's a brilliant training ground, I'm not saying for the technical aspect of of acting. Did Billy ever find out who her father was? Well, I think, so I think what happened was that

we quickly, we did not, was not a successful number one. Exactly. It's okay. Who quickly was deemed was not going to be picked up for after six months. So they rushed the

“ending and I did find out. You did find out who my father was. I think they were hoping it would be”

season, you know, 25 that I'd find out, but it was in fact season one. So I do, I just, she did find out. I think they got it. I think they told me already. I think it was pretty obvious to what one. I pretty sure they told me as well. Yeah. I want to ask about Bridesmaids, which came out in 2011. It came out 15 years ago this month. It was May. Oh, I'm 20. Oh, yeah. Oh my god. How did you get that role? It's crazy, right? 15. That's wild. Um, I had done getting to the break and

John had produced that and he was producing Bridesmaids. Yes, so he had been working with Chris and Megan and any mom alone in the script for a while. I think and I went in and I auditioned to get with Kristen and pull fake the wonderful, uh, the gorgeous director. I want to play a scene from the film. Just to remind people, this film is about Annie, played by Kristen wig, her best friend, Lillian, who was her friend since childhood, played by Maya Rudolph,

is getting married. You play Helen, a new, very put together, wealthy friend of my Rudolph's character, and you've tried to step in as a new best friend, kind of taking over things like the shower, the bachelor rep party, even the wedding itself, taking that from Kristen wig's character. This scene is near the end of the film, the bride, my Rudolph's character, has gone missing, and your character is trying to find her and get her back to the wedding, and um, she has asked

Annie for help, you're both in the car driving. I just don't know what could have possibly gone wrong. Everything was going smoothly. The dress looked fantastic. It had come in from Paris. Dougie was was being great and very helpful. I had organized everything to the, you know,

“last final detail. I just, I don't know what's happened to her. I don't know. You should know,”

right? You're your best friend. So we're in, they don't know. As we're so close. Annie, I, uh, I want to apologize to you personally for all of the things that have gone down. I know that I hurt you, and then I created a distance between you and Napoleon, and I want to apologize. You know what? I don't want to hear anything that happened in the shower, and because that's Vegas. Okay, I don't want to hear anymore, honestly. I just, I don't even want to talk to you.

Harry never really wants to talk to me either. He travels a lot, like all year, and I'm basically just

by myself. I don't want to, I don't want to, I don't feel sorry for you. You know, I really like that

taste, thanks, but that's a little too like that. And I know, I don't think that Brazilian food really gave us food poisoning. Now I think people just ask me to, they're weddings, but because I'm good at organizing parties. And I don't have any female friends, I don't know what's happening. What are you smiling? It's just, it's just, it's just, it's the first time I've ever seen you look ugly. It makes me kind of happy. I look ugly now I don't. I don't really look ugly.

You're an ugly cryer, but that's amazing. No, I'm not really an ugly cryer. I mean, just, you know,

this is my makeup. It's so pretty.

“That's as seen from Bridesmaids. It's hard to remember that back when this movie came out,”

you know, there were articles on the press. People were still asking, can women be funny, can they be wrong? Can comedy starring women make money? What was it like making this film surrounded by so many female comedians? It was so fun. Oh my gosh, we had such a fun time. I mean, there was a great group of actresses. I was like, this is incredible. It's already extraordinary to have that many scenes with just women. I had that one since then when I

didn't miss this America show of artifacts about the second wave feminism, Blanglor, it's starting, but this was really, really special. And we had no idea that it would go on to become such a beloved movie and it was again like an education, an education in the brilliance of these comedic actresses and the performances and me trying to, I mean, but Helen's really the straight man in

“the film, but it changed my life in so many ways. Helen gets off some good singers, though.”

Oh, she's great. Even in that scene. Did you learn any specific techniques from these actors who were, you know, well-versed in improv? No, yeah, that's so, I mean, what wig does is so different from what Melissa does to Maya to Wendy to Ellie. They're all so brilliant in their different ways. And I don't know, improv for me is still a little material and a little like, you're kind of sometimes I'll come up with something funny, but sometimes often I don't like it. It feels

for me intuitively, I've always liked the character driven. Who's the character? How is the character,

you know, what would they, Helen is so different from me? Like that's such a different, so fun to play because it's completely opposite to myself in every kind of possible ways. That entitlement and the presentation and all those sorts of fun things of what means something to that to a person like that. The more character driven I can make it, feels like the comedy can be more specific, but the improv stuff, I mean, it's just like a

skill set that is still eye-mobile out when I'm working with someone like Seth Rogan. He's also the same, just naturally, they make it look effortless, but it's actually really quite ably hard. Since we're talking about Seth Rogan, I want to play a scene from the first time I think you work together on the movie Neighbors, which came out in 2014. You play a young married couple, you just had a baby, and you happen to be living next door to a friendhouse at a university,

and it kind of escalates, you sort of have battles between each other. And here's the scene later in the movie, you're fighting with your neighbors as sort of escalated and kind of gone too far, and the two of you are fighting. We went to Fana, this is dangerous. Oh, we did not go too far. Now is when we get them back even more. Do you see what they've been to me? We don't stop now. What it's going to be next? We're going to break into the house.

“No, no. You need to crawl up. What a family is in danger.”

I need to grow up. Yes, you need to grow up. One of us has got to be the adult in this relationship. You should take responsibility. It's not only offensive, but it's a offensive that I'm saying that you should be smart. Yes, it's affected that I have to be the smart one all the time. I'm allowed to be just as irresponsible as you. Well, that's how it works. I'm the dumb guy, and you're the woman who's supposed to stop the dumb guy from doing dumb f***. Haven't you ever seen enough Kevin James movie? We can't

both be Kevin James. I'm Kevin James. I have a little bit of Kevin James and me. Well, we can't both clearly, you're the one who knows better. So you should know better. I have no you know that

I'm not like that, and I've never been like that. Let me be a should be. There's never been me,

and I'm just because I'm a mom doesn't mean that I'm going to change who I am. Well, just because I'm a father, it doesn't mean I can stop doing mushrooms with teenagers. Fine. Fine. Good. Good then. Okay, Kevin. I don't think we're a good team anymore. James breaking up. Yeah, this worked before we had stellar, but now it doesn't work anymore. Yeah, because someone refuses to grow up. Fine. You go find your nagging wife and you want to find an all go find a real man. Fine. Fine. That's a scene from

great things about it is this portrayal of a married couple because it's not, it doesn't follow those

“those tropes that you make fun of in this clip. Yes, they really wanted to break those stereotypes”

of like in these typical sort of broad companies, it is the nagging wife who's like you can't find. You can't do this. It's like this very like old tropes that are extremely boring. We wanted to break those typical ideas and have like two wildly irresponsible people who are trying to be like be parents and also party with the you know the ridiculous frat house next door. So it was it was really fun and an intentional thing that we were trying to address and do and be a sort of

conscious about it, you know, it was a really a bonding exercise for Seth and I and it felt sort of

fresh which was which was nice. Roseburn can grats on the Tony nomination and thank you so much

for joining us. Thank you, Henry. Thank you so much. Roseburn spoke with fresh air producer and

“Marie Boldenado, burn a starring in the Broadway revival of the Noel Coward Play Fallen Angels.”

It will be live streamed on Broadway HD on June 5th. It's limited run ends on June 7th. After we take a short break, TV critic David Biancauley reflects on the end of the late show with Stephen Colbert. The final episode airs tonight. This is fresh air. The late show with David Letterman, ran on CBS from 1993 until he retired in 2015 and after that in the same Broadway space now known as the Ed Sullivan Theatre. It became the late show with Stephen Colbert. Tonight, after 11 years at

the helm, the show's second host steps down but not of his own volition and the franchise itself

is ending too. Those are decisions made by CBS and its corporate owner Paramount. But our TV critic David Biancauley says, Colbert is very much going out on his own terms.

“Stephen Colbert has approached the last weeks of his show with what seems to be a mixture of”

defiance and celebration. He's defiant in that he's doing pretty much whatever he wants to. When he hosted David Letterman, the man who launched the late show, and who himself was famous for gleefully throwing watermelons and other projectiles from the roof of the Ed Sullivan Theatre, Colbert joined Letterman on the rooftop. The two of them threw things, including Colbert's desk and guest chairs off the roof. And then Colbert gave Letterman the last word. Letterman quoted

the familiar send-off of one of CBS's respected news icons, Edward Armerl. But Letterman's last word added an expletive. Well, Dave, yes sir. Hey, thanks so much for creating the late show 33 years. It's been a pleasure having you back. Oh, the joy some stuff. The pleasure is all mine. I enjoyed just throwing stuff. It's great, great fun. Thank you for everything you've done for our country. I'm Felix Mitchell, Dave. Thank you. Anything you'd like to say to the audience before we go.

Well, not necessarily to the audience, but to the folks in CBS in the words of the great Ed Murrow, good night and good luck, my ***. It was a show of support and a sentiment and a phrase that caught on. Days later, on HBO's last week tonight with John Oliver, Oliver used Letterman's phrase as the sign-off for his own show after giving Colbert a quick plug. Oliver also showed up on Colbert's late show in solidarity, along with fellow late night hosts Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Seth

Myers. The defiance was on display there, too, as Colbert asked his guests about late night TV in general. Jimmy Kimmel, a survivor of his own politically electrified corporate battles, gave the best reply. Seth Myers, seated next to Kimmel with an iPad, provided comic sound effects. Late night isn't a bit of a weird spot right now, so I'm a little alert, and people questioning his future. I've been asked this question more like three times over the last 10 months in various

interviews, like they go like, "Make a case for late night." I'm like, "What do you mean?" And they go like, "Make a case for it." Like, "Why should it continue to exist?" I'm like, "Uh, we let people like it. I enjoyed doing it." Why would you say that, uh, "Make a case for late night?" Well, I would say that in my, well, I'm, look at the figures, and the fact of the matter is, more people are watching late night television now than, and I know everybody gets crazy,

then when Johnny Carson went out, obviously Johnny Carson had a lot of people watching one show, but we have a lot of shows, like 30,000 people watching each one, right? And it adds up,

they keep coming to us. And I will tell you, when I got knocked off the air for a few days,

“people, people, people canceled, people canceled Disney+, why is it? Why?”

Why are you people canceling power around plus, because you didn't have it in the first place?

Stephen Colbert also showed defiance in planning as final shows. One program, presenting sketches and ideas that didn't make the air, pretty much was an inside joke aimed at his staffers, who were the only ones seated in that night's audience. It wasn't that entertaining to watch, but I suspect that may have been the point. Colbert made that show with and for the co-workers he loved so much, because he could. And on other shows, Colbert's musical guests and song selections

were statements too. He got Bernadette Peters and other Broadway musical stars to sing,

“putting it together from Stephen's on-hime Sunday in the park with George, a song that's all about”

the joys and difficulties of making art. And David Bern came on to perform a highly charged version of burning down the house. In the context of Colbert and his show, both leaving CBS, those lyrics were amazingly spot on. And Colbert joined in at the end, singing and dancing with Ed Grimley-type Glee. And of course, Colbert was ruthless to the end in his monologues,

diving deeply into political topics instead of avoiding them, like this joke from earlier this week.

Today, the Justice Department posted an addendum to the original settlement, which says that the IRS is forever barred and precluded from pursuing examinations of Trump, related or affiliated individuals, and related trusts and businesses. So he just gave himself a get out of jail free card and a way better one than Jeffrey Epstein gots. The celebratory element of these final shows has been reflected in the a-list guests who showed up and how Colbert interacted with them.

Stephen Spielberg and Tom Hanks showed up separately with projects to plug, but also brought stories and perspective. And Tom brought gifts, including a vintage typewriter, one of his well-known passions. John Stewart, who, like Letterman, was one of Colbert's former employers, had a great time comparing getting fired stories. Several of these shows and guests could have been the finale. David Letterman, John Stewart, the gaggle of late-night cronies, and Barack Obama, who appeared in

“a pre-tabes segment to answer the Colbert question air. What is the scariest animal?”

This is a scientific nerd question but Mesquitos are just crazy. Yeah, because they bring a lot of bad diseases as they go. Yeah. Tonight is the real last show and the final guests and contents are a mystery. Meanwhile, it's still a mystery to me why CBS and Paramount are being so short-sighted and stupid. Firing Colbert, that's bad enough, but he'll do fine. Ending the late show franchise? That's the worst mistake CBS has made with its entertainment line

up since firing the smother's brothers. David being coolious fresh air is TV critic. I'm sure the show will be great tonight and Colbert will probably make us laugh, but when the show is over, it's going to be really sad. I'll miss you Stephen Colbert. And now performing Burning Down the House, David Bird. Fresh air is executive producer Sam Brigger, our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. Our interviews and reviews are produced and edited by

Phyllis Myers, Roberta Chorock, Anne-Rabel Denado, Lauren Crenzel, Theresa Madden, Monique Nazareth, Susan Ecundi, Anne-Abaum, and Nico Gonzalez-Wisler. Our digital media producer is Molly C.V. Nesper. They at Challon are directed today's show. Our co-host is Tanya Mosley, I'm Terry Gross.