Jonah Hill

>> Martin Scorsese and Quintarentino, they couldn't be more different to me. Described the difference. >> I was in Jango and Jane, I was in like one scene. So I felt it was you were like a paint color in his painting. And like you are red coming and be red in this corner of the painting.

And as an actor, which is why I don't have to turn, that is not what I do. I am like, you're this person go. And let's see what happens. And Marty is like when I say, when I have the most I've ever learned

from Marty's, he's my hero and lucky to get to ask him questions, like I get to ask you questions, et cetera. He creates this space where the plumbing is so intact, where the infrastructure is so intact. Then when you walk onto the stage, you can do anything.

And it is supporting what the actor wants to do. And will creatively, if they want to take it to a place, it is still with it, he will guide you within the movie itself.

So I've never felt such freedom

and then sort of like just rigidity. But I love Quentin Tarantino's movies as much as I love Marty's movies. There's nothing to do with the work itself. Quentin Tarantino, once upon a time in Hollywood, I thought, it's one of the greatest movies I've ever seen in my life.

- Same here.

“- I think he is one of the most exquisite and credible”

movies and in Leo's performance is unrivaled. And he was so brilliant. I just think once upon a time, all I would as a complete masterpiece. It's just what I found was the process was different.

- That's the last movie I saw in the theater. - Yeah, at the time, I called it the last movie. Because it felt at that time like all movies were going away. And that was like, you know, have real movie stars and a real director that you went to go see their movie

because they're the director. - What's Judd like as a director? - Apatau? - Yeah. - He's awesome.

I mean, God, I haven't worked with Judd in so long, but we're very close as friends. And he put me on. I mean, dude, put me in super bad, like, end of story. Him and Seth and Evan, I offer every day.

They put me in the movie super bad. Just like, completely launched. - And how did that happen? - I was younger, very improvisational, very open, very much wanting to mind your experiences

in life for the piece itself. And like, is just an awesome guy. He's taught myself in a lot of other people how to make these kind of comedy movies. And I'm forever grateful for that.

I went to like the Harvard on steroids of making comedy movies when I was 19, you know? - Would you say you've learned from all of the experiences and actor on what to do is a director?

“- Yeah, I think you learned a tremendous amount.”

Most of all in how to talk to actors, but really in directing your running a company, you know, it's just running a mini company that dissolves after a year. So the biggest thing is, as producers,

like it's strong baby, I'm always like,

I was in the hotel business for 15 years and I opened my own hotel. I know how to make the sheets nice. I know how people should be treated. I know how the food should be like.

I'm asking like, you know, it's course-asian to come for a few days. I'm like, you're gonna get treated nice. The sets gonna run smoothly, your time won't be wasted, you'll be respected, you know?

Like it's a first-class experience. And I believe a lot of the things I was bummed on was productions themselves. And we really work hard to make our productions great. - Tell me about working with the comb brothers.

- Very much like Quentin. I would put them in that category of like, you are the color red in this painting. - It's like Alfred Hitchcock as well. - Kubrick's super-exacting, super like they have

the painting in their head. And they're fucking brilliant. They made Babowski full stop.

We never have to say anything ever again.

They're, and fun hangs and funny, guys. But I didn't find myself adding a ton. Like I wasn't like, they were just like, "Please sit right here, say this, et cetera."

“- Well, I think this goes to you saying,”

you see yourself primarily as a writer, not as an actor. - Yeah, and even as an actor, which I do see myself as an actor too, my foundation of acting is writing.

- Yeah. - Whether I'm saying new words or not. - What was Todd Phillips like? - Awesome. - How would you describe that experience?

- I would say a mix of the two. Very exacting and very open to improvisation. And I look back on that experience. I was in a way different place in life. It was a hectic shoot, it was a hard shoot.

There's no surprise that he's had so much ginormous success. And he's made some of the best comedies ever. Old school is, to me, he's like crown jewel.

“I think Old school would go up with any classic”

gomery like that era, any borat, whatever your thing is. Old school is the only movie to this day. I've ever seen in the theaters, walked out in New York City when I was 18, walked out and then walked back in and saw it again.

- Wow. - The only movie to this day. I said, I got to see that again right now. - I read that you watch movies over and over often. - Often.

And I don't go back to Todd for one second.

It was a very interesting character in movies because he was like, he's such a punk. You know his first movie is about Gigi Allen. It's one of the best docks ever. And you could see even Joker too is so punk.

It's almost like he wanted to be like burn it down to have to rebuild it or something. He made Joker and it was this crazy success with Joaquin and they did such a great job. And I was like the other one was almost like a middle finger

in a sense to it all. And then now he's gonna like like, I just can't wait to see what he does next. You know, I'm just interested to see what that dude does next. - And Gus fans aunt.

- Unbelievable. Just with with Gus the other day. I did my first magazine interview. But it was for interview and Scorsese interviewed me for interview.

So Gus was kind of up to shoot the photos. - Oh great. - And we've been made very close. We're producing a movie that he's directing a strong baby,

which is an incredible movie.

On my DGA certificate, you need three people to sign and mine were Spike Jones, Bennett Miller and Gus fans aunt. - And so Gus is very near and dear to my heart. And he acts in my next movie cut off.

- Oh cool.

“How would you describe his strengths as a director?”

- No idea. (laughing) The most mysterious, I cannot tell you anyone who works with him adores him. It's like, I have no idea.

He's a man of such few words. I was such a partying to get him to say almost anything. It's just vibe and magic. And it's almost like quietness in his energy till it becomes something.

I have no idea how to describe what Gus fans is directing. So as well I will tell you that it's probably the best performance I've ever given in a movie in my opinion. And no one saw it and he is brilliant. - Would you say stylistically,

he's different than everybody else? - I don't know what he does. - And you work with him and you don't know what he does. - Yeah, he doesn't talk that much. - Did that give you a sense of freedom

or did it make you self-conscious than that? I don't know what's happening. - You feel safe because it's Gus fans' aunt. That's the way I'd put it.

If he wasn't Gus fans' aunt,

“I'm sure me and Rocky would have been freaking out.”

And we would joke. We're like, oh cool, Gus had nothing to say today. - Yeah. - And then he'd be like, "Me'd make fun of him." And he'd be like, "Oh, that's very funny."

- So maybe for a whole day, he might not say much. - Walk in. Hey, don't know. - Oh, are you? - Good, Gus, how are you?

- Good, good. - Okay, action, do the thing? - Do the scene, walk up to him, walk in wheels up to him in the wheelchair. - Go again, man, go get one, go again, that's good.

- Almost like not like you were like that. And then there's a great director I worked with Bennett Miller, who's a genius, who did money ball. And his style was almost confusion till something great happens.

He sometimes confused the shit out of me or he's so smart and he's, I don't really follow what he's talking about a lot of the time. And then somehow he would confuse you into some master, she's a chess player.

So I feel like he had everything chest out, and it was more like chest to him. - How much do you know about the backstory of the making of the movie Money Ball? - Everything.

- Okay, so it was a book, Michael Lewis' book, Vesseller, and it's a nonfiction book. And if you read the book, it wasn't obvious how to make a movie out of that. - My dad didn't believe me,

'cause he loved the book. And he's like, what do you mean? Like what are you gonna do? - It doesn't seem like you could make that a movie. - I don't know how they did.

I was there for it and it was amazing to watch.

I can't even tell you how they did. But Bennett's, you know, there's no one out there that doesn't know that Bennett's not a genius. He's so brilliant. And what he did with that movie is amazing.

And how he utilized two great writers and Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaylian kind of used their, you know, collaged their work and the work I did with Brad and the Brad and I did so much fun hanging

and time with Bennett to talk about this stuff. And Brad was just so his vision. And I think he has a real authorship over that movie too, deserves one. - How'd you get into surfing?

- Friends, different friends, Mike D, Spike, very influential in me doing TM. Mike D's like an uncle, he's like uncle, Mike, you know,

He really got me into surfing, anti-M. So those are the two biggest-- - Good voice.

“- That year right in the Beastie Boys movie.”

Oh, so I was right in the Beastie Boys movie with Adam and Mike and I produced the Beastie Boys doc that Spike directed. So I was working on that. So we spent a whole year together.

And he finally convinced me to go surfing.

And once I started surfing, he was like, you really need to do TN and both have in the past seven years of made a massive difference in my life. No social media for the past four or five years and really limited internet.

Really, really limited internet. - How's that changed you? - I'd say it's the biggest change that I've had. I cringe when I think about when I was on social media as far as what I posted

and the amount of gratification I wanted. It's kind of what the movie outcomes about in a large way we all do it. We all want people to love us and like us and whatever. And I cringe as that almost middle age man.

I was posting like fit picks of myself

“like an outfits or whatever for validation.”

And you know, I'm not wrapped up in the constant.

I don't see 20 Brazilian images of day, good or bad.

I don't see the hate or love. I don't see the millions of opinions a day. I get to think about what my opinions are. So much of the bad parts of creativity are when you're trying to keep up with the Joneses.

And when I left social media I stopped thinking, how come isn't a movie where you're like, what are they doing? And I should be doing outcome. How comes what you make when you just think,

what should I be making? - Yeah. - And so it's freed me really creatively to like just be with my family, my thoughts, and just kind of like, what am I about?

What am I into? You know, not what is culture into at this moment and what should I be doing?

And what should people think of me?

And what should I think of myself? I just meet people and I have no idea what their social media presence is like. So I just know what they're like based on us talking.

- Seems more real. - I think it's the healthiest thing you could do, but I also have a lot of empathy that a lot of people for their jobs have to use it. And if I had it and had to use it,

I would be naughty sometimes and I'd get caught in that a lot, like a lot of people do. And so the movie is largely about what would happen if we just focused on our interactions. Like what would happen if we just,

your day starts at 8 a.m. or 7 a.m. and then you go to bed at 9 p.m. What did you do? Did you pick up the phone and call the person you should call the older a guy

“that you should call that's like a father to you?”

Or did you just do him scroll? I used to have a list of like positive actions. At my time where I was trying to change my mindset the most, I had two white boards in my kitchen. One said gratitude list, it was 10 things

and one was positive actions. So one positive action could be calling mom. - It's like seven years ago? - Yeah, this was like around that time. It was great to see it.

It was great to see that I had done 10 nice things for other people by the end of the day. - Where did you get the idea to do that? - Well, studs talks a lot about grateful flow. So gratitude, grateful flow is a mini

in your head tool that it does a gratitude list. The gratitude list and that it was an idea I had. No one told me to do it. I've just, you know, a lot of people know make gratitude lists.

But the positive actions weren't really help because, you know, so much of the problem with like not moving forward in life is beating yourself up or like the negative thoughts you have. And I'm really good about catching them now,

probably from like 70 years of tools. And knowing that they don't serve me, they hurt me and everyone around me if I'm beating myself up. So catching the negative thought,

bucking, changing the channel and going to get on your feet and do something for somebody else. And kids are the best because what makes you feel better than wiping your kids' ass? I mean, I know that sounds crazy,

but I feel like I'm a good person. He'd have poop in his butt if I didn't take it out. Like, you know, like talk about a person who needs your help, you know, or taking him to the sky zone, watching him laugh

and be like, this is like, I'm getting to do shit for him that makes his life better. - When you go with him to the sky zone, do you jump on the trampolines as well? - Buck yeah, fuck yeah, I love sky zone.

Dines and ice, friend, from elementary school invented sky zone, shout out to Jeff Platt.

- Yeah. (upbeat music)

- As nutrition science advanced

through the mid 20th century, researchers began to understand that modern eating patterns, limited variety, processed foods and time constraints, could leave small but meaningful gaps

in daily micronutrient intake. Today, large population studies confirmed that approximately 90% of adults fall short

“on one or more essential vitamins or minerals.”

A.G.1 was formulated in response to those findings. Each daily serving provides more than 75 vitamins, minerals and all food source nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, D6, B12, magnesium, zinc, selenium, and iodine.

A scientifically developed formula backed by nutrition research and delivered in forms the body can readily access. Because utilization depends on absorption. A.G.1 also contains probiotics,

to support gut health and digestive health, helping the body make effective use of what it receives. A.G.1 contains no gluten or dairy. Users know genetically modified ingredients or artificial sweeteners

and is suitable for a wide range of dietary approaches, including plant-based, paleo, etal, and low carbohydrate diet. It's available in single serving packets for when you're on the goal. Manufactured on the strict quality controls,

every batch of A.G.1 is tested to confirm its composition, nutrient levels, and the absence of contaminants, ensuring reliability from one serving to the next. It's no wonder A.G.1 is trusted by the world's top athletes and experts.

What was once a futuristic concept? Daily nutritional support in a glass is now the result of applied science. Learn more at www.brinkag1.com/hetra. Do it today.

- Do you have brothers and sisters? - I have a brother who passed away about seven, eight years ago, which was probably the impetus of why I started to see studs or around when I started seeing studs.

I miss my brother. I think about him all the time. I was driving here and going damn, I wish he's very proud of me right now. He showed me hip-hop.

He showed me who you were, like, house sick, dude. House sick is the brother. - Older brother Jordan, yeah. And so like to me, I have those moments

“and I think about him and I talked to him”

and I go, like, how cool is this man? We're going to sit with Rick Ruben right now. And then he has two kids, Josh and Charlie, who I kind of helped raise after. And that was also the biggest moment in the change of my life.

I really, I didn't actually bring that up, but it's like, I was a lot more responsible for them. So I had to get my act together. - Of course me. - And they are now 18 and 16.

And I've like helped them become men, you know. And I'm so proud of them. I love these guys. And he lives on through them.

And they're amazing boys.

- Do you feel like he lives on through them or through you? - Then, thinking is most proud of them and I think he, sorry, sorry to look. I think he, I think he's so proud of them.

“Yeah, I think he's very proud of his kids.”

They're fucking awesome kids, you know. There's something to be proud of. And Matt and I grew up together and we're like brothers, you know. She's my, Matt's my brother.

And Uncle Mike's my brother in spite of all those guys. They've all, I'm embarrassed, sorry. I have a lot of brothers. And then my little sister, Bini is just so fucking awesome. Our relationship has changed so much, you know.

She's a very strong person.

And it's kind of always been the boss.

She was 16 years younger than my brother and 10 years younger than me. So she's always been like our boss. And then she's, you know, married with an incredible wife and has her own booming career that I, you know,

had nothing to do with mine, just her own talent. And like, we've had to go through all the things that siblings go through in the differences of opinions and little fights here and there. But where we've landed is a place where like,

we can totally be ourselves and be there for each other. And it's like, I urge siblings to do that.

It's like a marriage in a sense too, you know. She thinks I'm a moron, which is fair.

“And I think she's too uptight, which is fair.”

And like, you know, it's worth the effort like it is with your partner or your friends or your business partners with siblings to do the work

because they might not always be there.

- I'm going to read to you a quote from the new movie. - Cool. - Not everything is one thing. I mean everything in this conversation, just because the camera's rolling doesn't mean it's not real.

Just because it's performative, doesn't mean it's not the truth. (laughing) - Tell me about that. (laughing)

- I love you, Rick, but yeah. You see the things I want you to see. So Reeve's mom played by Susan Lucci, brilliantly in the film, shout out to Ellen Lewis, our casting director.

She's a brilliant, maybe the greatest of all time.

Cast good fellows, et cetera.

She had the idea to cast Susan Lucci, which was an astonishing choice, and Susan was brilliant. So Reeve's mom, Keanu's mom, he has to go make an amends too, but she will only receive the amends on camera

during an episode of real hall swaps of Beverly Hills, which she is a cast member on. - He has to appear on a reality show to make amends to his mom. - And you don't realize if he starts his amends,

and then he asks him to take that again, meaning say that again, because the label of her drink wasn't facing camera, and she's got to get her bequeat with her stauncher shoes. - So yeah, this is probably the most head-y scene

in concepts, but one, I love the most in the movie,

“which is things can be many different things, right?”

You know, the scene is long and goes many different directions in a way that I'm really proud of, and her and Keanu's performance both are brilliant. Keanu gives such a quiet, beautiful performance in that scene, but he didn't respect her choice to be on that show

and views her as a lower. She won't even accept his amends unless it's monetized. She used his fame for her own benefit, and then she goes on to remind him how she left her marriage, her husband at 19 for him,

for his dream, and moved out to LA, stayed at the Oakwood apartments, and 19 years old, no supportive family, left her husband, which ended up ending their relationship, also he could live his dream because he was obsessed with it.

He would not just ask for it, not just begging for it, but she says, "Tantrums days long tantrums, and you can imagine what this 19-year-old woman was going through with this five-year-old who was relentless." And she says, "That quote,

and what are apologies, are they for you? Are they for me, like who are they for? What are they for?" And I just think it's such an awesome thing because we so quickly want to say things are good and bad,

are they're real or they're not, are they're whatever, but they're a lot of shit, and there's good and bad to both, and there's lies and truths to both, and there's falseness and genuineness in both.

I could say this to you and want to monetize it, but I could still mean it, I could say something in the most private intimate setting, and not mean it, I love that scene, I love that scene,

“I think it's probably the most important scene in the movie,”

and it taught me a lot through writing it. It really messes with your perception because our first instinct is, this is the most shallow thing we've ever seen. And then she says something like that, and it's profound.

- I'm so happy you felt that way, thank you. Yeah, I mean that's just sick. - That's a real rug pull out moment for the audience. - The last thing I wanted to be expecting from Susan Lucci playing a real housewives mom

is like depth.

Yeah, it all makes sense, it's amazing.

- You know, it's a funny, a funny person in my life, a great person in my life is already manual. - Yeah. - I've worked with him in different capacities, he's my agent, and I've been surprised at how people view are,

because there have been many times in my life where the most profound thing I had heard, like all year and a deep emotional level, they've come from him, you know, a guy who's peg does, you know, in a superficial industry,

the most superficial job, in the most superficial industry, and just cares about deals and this and business, some of the most insanely profound life advice, in really heavy moments have come from him. And so I think he's a big inspiration in this movie,

in that, within Hollywood and all of its closeness, and all of its this, and it's that,

that populated as well.

“With the film is a parody about Hollywood and fame,”

would you say it's wildly amplified from reality,

or is it closer to reality than we might know? - Not at all, I don't think it is farther than you think. I think it is. - It's not amplified. - I think it honestly, there are things

that are real, that are way too broad to fit in the movie, that would feel too broad to fit in the movie, and even some of the stuff I put in feels too broad to people, as outrageous as the movie is, it's representative. - Yes, absolutely.

- Can you think of any example in your life of something that happened where you just couldn't believe it happened 'cause it was just so outrageous? - Yes.

- Is there what you mean that dude? College dropout came out before I was famous, okay? Before I was like in movies and shit. I had probably was the biggest con in the biggest con in a fan is was whatever you want to say of his art of anyone in the world.

If you want to talk about surreal, Kanye West went on a Jewating tour and then Instagram that I'm the reason he actually loves Jews.

“If you want to say something is too big to be real,”

that is an example of it. Like it's from outer space. The whole thing is completely from outer space, yeah. - But now that I get to live a true quote in a normal life, like I really get to live a normal

last life, I am so grateful for. It used to be like, how close you're all be that landish things that are happening when you're in your 20s and stuff and all this stuff with movies and stuff happens.

And now I live, like, I don't live in a mansion when I'm not shooting, the whole job is writing and editing, which is I can walk for my house from breakfast with my family, drop my son off at preschool is next to my office, go to my office,

I edit or write for nine to five, come home, walk on the beach with the fan, eat some dinner, get the bath ready, wipe the butts, eat some high chew strawberry flavor candy, which I shouldn't have.

And then hit the sack, start it over the next day, six a.m. with Blippy and Baba, you know? And I'm like, how blessed am I? I just feel blessed that I get to have a family. I feel blessed that I get to feel that kind of love.

I feel so blessed to be a dad. I feel so blessed that as a person for me, no, it's been as a comedian second or a comedic voice, let's say, as a writer second, I get to go from being bark to Homer, you know?

And so I'm really excited for this new era of my work as I am with my life.

- Did you always want to be a dad?

- Yeah, I just didn't know if I'd be able to do it. The movie stats, the personal part from my end of stats, when the movie had to become personal for me, was my fear of not being able to pull off having kids or a family or if I was always

going to be too like working or in my own shit to do it.

“And I think by the time we were mixing it or locked it,”

we were pregnant. - Congratulations. - Hey, Steve, yes. - Beautiful. It's almost like the film had to be an art project

that got you to the place that you really wanted to be. - I mean, I think about that a lot, obviously, a lot of artists will say the same thing. Clearly, my medium is movies. Though, surely, stats in mid 90s

came from a very personal place. More so, you know, outcome and cut off, all the movies will be personal, but abstractly, those two were personal. - Do you talk about going to your writing room

for the day, can you be writing or editing? - My office, yeah. - Describe what that process looks like. Are you by yourself for you with somebody? - It changes from movie to movie, you know,

so it's not always the same.

But like we're now editing cut off, right? So, I'm on, in my office by myself, on a system called Evercast, which is awesome, which is like a better zoom for editing movies where we all can control things.

And my editor is at Warner Brothers. Her team has a whole office there working on the stuff that we give the team to do while me, her, and our producer Amanda Adelson. And my assistant, Cat Aguilar, are all on Evercast.

But I love that place. That's my shame, we're a lot, but it's just one little room. - When you're not editing, but writing, let's say it's the beginning of a project.

What does that look like? - Beginning of a project? It's falling in love. You have these ideas, you have millions of ideas. Everything for me, and originally when it's just me,

is run out of my notes section. So, ideas, like, let's say, for cut off. The original idea there was, I had worked with Jennifer Lawrence on don't look up. And I was like, Jen and I are so funny together.

that I've ever seen her be in a movie.

I want to make a movie where we're both get to kill equally hard, but it's not like a romantic movie. So, the way I thought to do that would to be like brother and sister.

So, I thought of us as siblings, then twins, then rich of noxious twins that get cut off in their mid-40s

“and have to go to the valley was zero dollars per year”

and have no idea how to tie their shoes. - It's something that inspires it and the story can come from there. It's not really, it's like the players, the artists, or the feeling, or the idea, or whatever.

- It's often have to do with the people or not. - Yeah, people, I love these people. So, it didn't end up being Jen. She couldn't do the movie because she was having a baby. And so, it ended up being Christian Wig

who I'm over the moon about, who's the funniest person on the planet. So, it ended up being Jen starting this idea and then she had nothing to do with the movie, except giving me the idea, just by loving her.

And then so, with the ideas, you have three or four, you're kind of batting around like premises or like what they could be, right? Let's say like Beastie Boys movie, cut off, outcome. And then whatever one you can't stop thinking about

and you can't stop writing notes in your right note section about, you know, you'll have a note section for each one. Everything runs out of my note section.

“So, if I can't stop thinking of ideas for one”

or it's just like, you one day you just go, oh yeah. I don't care about anything else. - Do you only do this when you're in the writing room or 24/7? - All the time.

I'm present with my family and I work on it

and I'm not always perfect at it.

- But ideas come all the time and you know them. - Yeah, and I have to say to everyone around me like also because I hate that I'm on my phone, but my note section is on my phone. So, sometimes I'm writing in my note section

and it looks like I could just be fucking around on my phone. And a lot of, I say to everyone, a lot of my job is staring at a wall. So, I may look like I'm doing nothing but I'm thinking about this thing for years

on and the same thing. And then the other cool point I want to say that it's not just creative is, let's say I'd become obsessed with the idea and I go, this is it, I'm in love.

I then take it to dines and we strategize and Ari and Rick, you aren't our manager and we strategize, is this a movie that we could get made

“with who, what is the infrastructure of that movie?”

And then we have to decide whether we're gonna go forward based on can this actually be the next two years of our life pragmatically? So, we have to formulate the business plan can be as creative

but if I'd say it's something so off the wall with no stars or anything, we have to go, I still may do it like studs. - Yeah. - No, it was banging down my door to make studs.

- Yeah. - And I'll go fuck it, I'll eat it and lose a bunch of money for a few years because I have to, but we make that decision together, Matt and I.

(upbeat music) - L-M-N-T. Elements, Electrolites. Have you ever felt dehydrated after an intense workout or a long day in the sun?

Do you want to maximize your endurance and feel your best? Add element electrolytes to your daily routine. Perform better and sleep deeper. Improve your cognitive function.

Experience an increase in steady energy with fewer headaches and fewer muscle cramps. Elements electrolytes. Bring it in the sauna. Refreshing flavors include grapefruit, citrus,

watermelon, and chocolate salt. Formulated with the perfect balance of sodium, potassium and magnesium to keep you hydrated and energized throughout the day. These minerals help conduct the electricity

that powers your nervous system so you can perform at your very best. Elements electrolytes to sugar-free, keto-friendly, and great tasting. Minoros are the stuff of life.

So visit drink L-M-N-T.com/tentrum. And stay salty with element electrolytes. L-M-N-T. - How's it working with Adam McKay? - Amazing.

- Had you worked with him before? - I had him. Adam McKay's a total hero of mine. The man made stepbrothers. He should be knighted in every country.

You know, McKay and Will Ferrell their work together is like not in trail level to me.

The Holy Trilogy, like their first three,

like anchorman tall, the biggest stepbrothers. I'm still brothers tattoo. - What do you get your first tattoo? - First tattoo is nanny rules, my grandma. But I want to say about McKay, he's go did.

And we've got to work together during COVID.

So it was all, we made that movie right in the middle of beginning a COVID, like a height of it, so we were all separated. It wasn't a great movie making experience 'cause COVID was so fucked.

But like, I love Adam McKay.

“And I think stepbrothers is probably the,”

could be the funniest movie ever made. - Tell me about your parents. - Rich and Sharon, they're awesome. You know, they're parents. They have their flaws and they're great attributes.

But now that I am a parent, I think they're a lot greater than I would have, I wouldn't give them shit. And now that I am a parent, I'm like, oh my gosh, are my kids gonna say that I suck to a therapist

and make a movie about it? (laughs) You know, like fuck, this shit, I wiped your ass. And I like called them all the time and just say thanks and I'm sorry, you know,

'cause I'm like, you guys were like 20, whatever, you know, I'm 42 making mistakes. You know, you're 20, something making mistakes and you wiped my ass, you know? So like, how dare I not,

I just don't, you have no perspective to you. - What's their relationship like? - They're like classic Bickering Old Jewish couple. They've been together since they were like teenagers. Literally, long Island years,

been together since they were teenagers. I'll probably see them after this. - Tell me about your relationship with Seth Rogan. - I love Seth, I'm so happy for Seth and Evan and they're crazy success with the studio.

Like it's so cool to watch them have this new realm of success to it feels like I do big chapter for them. I mean, all those guys, everything they gave me, they wrote super bad and they let me place the guy and super bad, which I would have been something

in comedy, but they, you know, they gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, you know? And I love them and I make it effort with them to like still try and go to dinner with everybody. I'm the annoying one because I'm the smallest one now

where I was the most probably out to lunch that like I'm more like, I'm more like, guys, we really should all get dinner and like, you know, like, see how everybody's doing and like, we had a really great dinner recently

that was like hours long and just laughing and making fun of our parents and everything.

“- What do you remember about that first part of Super Bad?”

Tell me about being invited to be part of it. - You just knew is the shit. It's the best script I've ever read to this day. They worked on it for 10 years and Judd infused so much like emotion into it,

I think, or inspired them to do that. They just worked on it. So, you know, we worked on something for 10 years

that doesn't get made and they never gave up.

And so, it's just got better and better and we were making knock-up and then like, I was able to read it and stuff. I did a table read where I played a different character. Judd with truly those characters,

the guy gets hit by the car and they were like, real teenagers playing the like kids. So, everyone thought I was too old but I just knew. I was like, if I get this movie, like, it's a game changer and I knew the movie was gonna be successful

because it was so funny. It was like, Seth and Evan had just, it was really there writing, you know? And then Michael Sarah is just, I can't talk about my career and my life

for that time on Michael. He's one of my best friends to this day. He's such a beautiful friend and he's just the funniest person. Him and Christenway are the two funniest people. - Do you ever ruin a scene by laughing?

- Me? - Yes, all the time. - It's just too funny. - Yeah, cracks me up. Like it's, now I'm directing too.

I'm the worst. I'll be in the scene directing it and I'll break a text. - Yeah, 'cause I'm like, I'm also laughing at the absurd. I'm like, some of them like directing the scene. I'm in it.

I'm like, I'm fucking talking directing, key out of the res from in it. And I've bald and I look like an insane person. I'm like, you know what I'm saying? So it's all just crack up at like the absurdity of life.

But I break scenes all the time. I don't encourage you to be like boss or something. But like, God damn, there's no problem with having a good time. - How is acting in a drama different than acting in a comedy? - I've only done like a couple like real where there were no,

it wasn't both or something, you know, or...

- Was money ball the first traumatic rule?

- I think I had one before that. Now is an older, there's not much difference to it. I give you a viewed as one thing. I'd have to get cast now in a drama I wasn't directing. - Yeah.

“- That's the only way I could answer that question.”

You know, I've done, there's a, I think there's one knockout traumatic scene with me and key on his characters, not 'cause of me, but 'cause of key on you. And the person who plays my son in the movie. And that's a, I think a dramatic scene, I'm very proud of.

And there was no, you know, it's different. It's just honoring what that is. - Have you ever been acting in a scene and get so lost in it that you forget it's a movie?

- Feels like it's really happening.

“- Yes, the best one by far is acting with walking.”

I'd say acting with walking is like being directed by Scorsese. I'll say acting with walking in Leo is like the same level of like quality, like four seasons of acting.

Four seasons of being directed is by Marty. When you act with those guys, it's like as if it's real. And walking style is more like mine where it's more like convincing yourself. Kind of stuff, not like I'm as good of an actor as him,

but like Leo's just such a trained talented actor. He could talk about normal life and then nail action, he'll do the best acting you've ever seen. Whereas walking is more like me. I have to kind of like think about it all day

if I'm acting in a movie and I have to like do pretend it's something sad about to happen. So those scenes we had together in the Gus fan Sam movie, I can really forget I was there.

And really access emotion and I'll always thank him for that.

There was the best acting experience in my life. There's one scene in particular and I cried 'cause I cried today and it's funny. I don't cry very often. I cried during that scene and it was real.

And I was always having to ever happen to me. I've cried in scenes and I'm supposed to. But it was because it was like, and not because I was accessing my own life. Was it in the script that you were supposed to cry?

“Or you just cried 'cause that's what happened.”

It cried just 'cause that's what happened. And it was because... You were taken over. Tain over by like, what else supposed to be feeling as this person?

Yeah. And that had never happened to me and it hasn't happened to me since. And you think it was because of how convincing they were. And it is 'cause walking sets the table

for you to allow yourself to feel that and he's doing that. Yeah. And then you got to give all credit to Gus. It's not like I can't describe what he does. But Gus does something to create an environment

where that happened. Yeah, Gus doesn't say anything but that happens. He's doing something that's making that happening and that's the director that's doing that. Along with your other actor, you know.

Was the Phil Stutt's documentary the last thing that you put out? The last thing that I put out was the Stutt's documentary and then right after a movie called "You People" that Kenya Barris directed.

And I didn't do press.

“So that's when I stopped doing press was like”

when those two came out. And the main reason was I really didn't want to do press for Phil's movie, you know. I love the movie Stutt's like I'm upset and I just sound so bad to film.

It's a, I didn't want to capitalize on a movie that was designed to help other people. I didn't want to have to get a pat on the back or not a pat on the back. I did it for a very pure reason.

And I just wanted to go out there and help the people who were supposed to help and not have to talk about it or like make it like I was getting cloud from it or something. How did the idea to make it come?

The idea to make Stutt's came. I couldn't figure out what my second movie was. Best piece that I was talking to actually talking to Marty

the other day about how I will never be in a position

where a movie locks and I don't know what my next movie is. I'll never do that ever again. It's after mid-90s. It was all I worked on for years. And then it locked and I had no idea what I was going to do.

And so I was creatively like I was directing a lot of music videos and commercials. I was writing a Beastie Boys movie with Adam and Mike because I thought, okay, well, people liked mid-90s and I got offered all these movies to direct.

And luckily, I knew Mike and Adam and the book had just come out and Spike Jones was going to produce it and Spike I think vouched for me is kind of being the person that should direct the movie. And I adapted it with Mike and Adam,

which was an incredible year but we ultimately, I realized you don't, you don't write the Bob Dylan movie with Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan can't be there while you're writing it. And you know how to, I didn't like,

rock didn't fucking have it. (laughing) - 'Cause you want to make the best movie. - I got it. - And then you want to tell the story.

- These guys are my heroes and like,

I never want to bum them out and,

and it was the fun of the best years of my life. I got to spend a year with Adam and Mike writing. Like I was one of the most like how this is a goldstandard experience. I wouldn't trade the time but I had no idea what I was going to do. So I was just kind of creatively like,

what am I going to, you know, if you make movies and you're lucky enough to do this, and especially if you don't have a family yet, you pour everything into it. So when you're left with nothing to pour stuff into,

you're confused. So my friend Joaquin Phoenix who introduced me to Phil Stutz. Funny person to have introduced you to your therapist. He's like, "Hey, I've been doing some interviews with Phil, "and I want to make something ball-gaw."

And he kind of was talking to me about it in a way where he wasn't sure about what he was making or what it was going to be, and he had seen mid '90s and it was a big proponent of that movie.

I felt like he was asking me to do it.

“- Was it filled with unlike anyone you've ever met?”

- Yeah. So Stutz, you meet him and you kind of, you enter his space and it is like a dojo. It's got like, you know, you see them in the movie. It's like, it's got power to it.

And like, your first talk with him,

you kind of leave being like I'm a bad, if I choose to on the back to go on, like, a really significant journey, which sounds kind of woo-woo or whatever, but you're like, come on, you meet someone and go, you know what, if I go do this,

it's going to be an important thing that I go do. And it was, it helped me a lot, and along with a lot of other things. But I go back and forth about that movie a lot of whether it was smart to make it.

- Tell me your thoughts about that. - I felt the reason for making it was as simple as this. This is what I told Netflix when I pitched it. I want to make a movie about the tools, right?

That shows the tools. So if you're a kid that doesn't have a lot of money and your parents, let's say, won't let you do therapy and it's stigmatized or you need to watch it in private

or you can't afford to go get it. If you have a Netflix account or access to one, you can privately watch this movie that will give you therapeutic tools to help your life. Where you can do it without shame,

you can do it without money.

And if you're in a third world country, like whatever,

and then the full circle to that was, I went surfing in El Salvador and all the kids were yelling studs at me. And my friend and he translated it because they had all loved studs.

And they had all watched it. And they were like 10 to 11 years old. - That's amazing. - It was epic. It was the whole reason I did it.

But being vulnerable for me is not hard, right? Like during that movie, I was non-camera originally and then I injected myself into it and walking was a big part of why I did that as a producer. He was like, you know, it feels weird that you're not,

you know, talking about your own stuff alongside this stuff. And for the movie, it was the absolute right thing to do. I'm really proud of the film itself. I'm proud of really proud of how great Phil feels about it. - It's great and it's not like any other documentary.

- And I really appreciate that. And I've gotten that response from a lot of people I admire and a lot of people, but I do feel I was, I would say in a sense, punished for being so vulnerable or like people calling itself serving

“or that I think I'm some sort of evolved person”

and I'm not a monster. - You had kids shouting studs at you. - Yeah, and I guess neither of them actually really at the end of the day drive why I'd make something.

I have to make something because I have to make it and I had to make that and I did. But what I'm saying was it wasn't as comfortable of an aftermath for me, some of the movies. It's also a beautiful filmmaking.

It's really original. - Thank you. And I think it was probably the hardest movie I'll ever make. - Yeah, not everybody's ready to see it at a particular time.

- Yeah, I guess maybe the people that were hard on me were people that don't want to look at that stuff or face that stuff and maybe some people's reactions were that, but I will say, I know Phil is so happy and I wanted to honor Phil and I know a lot of people

who have come up to me and said that day, it's helped them and a lot of people who are stunning to become therapists that they show it at school. - Yeah. - And I was like, damn, that is cool.

- There's no other therapists like Phil Stutz. - No. - He's truly one of a kind. - He is one of a kind. Even for letting me do that, you know?

But his insight to things without having the answers himself are what make him able to meet able to receive advice from him. - In the first meeting you had with him. Did he do a drawing?

- Yep. - Right away. - Yeah, yeah, I can probably tell you what it was. It must have been the shadow, something about the shadow. 'Cause we went over the shadow in the first meeting

and that was like mind blowing to me. I had done therapy my whole adult life. That was more just me kind of sitting and bitching to the therapist. (laughing)

- I mean, I was just fucking guy cut me off and I'm pissed about that, you know, like whatever. It was the first guy kind of broke down, like here's why you may feel this way and like how you spoke to yourself

and we're spoken to in your younger, maybe like plays out a lot in this stuff and just mind blowing stuff

that I had never heard put in a funny and digestible way,

“which is why I thought, oh, this could really work is it?”

- How many different projects are you developing? - I don't know, 30, something around there. And it could be anything from a grateful dead movie that we're producing that I won't be in or won't direct. I'm also the director of my movies.

So when it's one of my movies, if that's what's in production, I have to keep my eye mostly on that. - Can you imagine directing a movie that you're not in? - Yeah, I totally.

- Is that the dream? - Well, in the '90s, I wasn't in. So my first movie I wasn't in and I've directed a bunch of commercials and music videos that I wasn't in.

I really wanted to not be someone who just wanted to be a writer or director. I'd been writing big movies since I was young. So that was nothing new. Like I'd written on the Jump Street movies

and like, you know, all the movies I've been in as a funny actor, all writing and ideas are they come from, whatever you believe they come from.

“- I think we're like, what do you believe they come from?”

- I think we're an open channel. And if you're open, ideas come to you through some sort of whatever you believe in. And what I believe is that I don't come up with anything that I'm lucky enough to be like a vessel

that these mostly comedic ideas come through. And I feel so lucky that the high that I get from this aside solving a Rubik's Cube of really hard work is a moment of creative, a creative joke or idea comes from whatever channel is open.

How lucky are we that we get to be in the room when that happens? - It's a miracle when it happens. - And it's the greatest feeling besides hey, now whether you're son.

- Yeah, totally addictive, totally addictive. - Yeah, and it's just as gratifying to me when the plumbing starts to work. That's why I like the boring, laying pipe of the job also because--

- The craftsmen pass bet. - Yeah, because a great joke or a great idea, you know, a really cool paint color isn't shade if the wall falls down. You know, or the toilet's over below.

You know, you gotta do all that like homework. We call it like all the homework of it in between those blasts of creative like moments are now very gratifying to me too. More than gratifying, I like cherished them

and I love that I get to be a part of that.

“- What was the initial seed idea for the new movie?”

The first thought was, I was paying attention

to what was going on with people with a huge form of entertainment becoming a celebrity getting in trouble for something. And I was watching like we all were all this happening and I thought who's the person

that we'd all be the most bummed gotten trouble for something and the answer was Keanu Reeves. So I was like, God, everyone loves Keanu Reeves. No one, everyone would be so bummed if he was like an ax murder or something, right?

And that was all I had. And I was like, I wanna make a movie. We were Keanu's like a movie star, like a good love movie star. And he gets a call from his crazy crisis lawyer,

Ira, played by me, and he just goes there's a video. And that was the initial idea. And you feel the panic and Keanu Reeves and to Keanu's credit, I called him. And I was all I had and he came over to my house in Malibu

where I used to live. And I pitched him that and he said go, right it, I'm in.

And he never wavered from me from that day forward.

And that was like three years ago.

“- That's why he's the guy you'd be so bummed”

to hear he did something bad 'cause he's that guy. - He's that great of a human being. And he's just an amazing guy. I've never met somebody so hardworking, so dedicated. And it was trippy for me 'cause my first two movies,

one was like a bunch of skater kids that weren't actors. And then the other one was about Phil Stutz, my therapist. So I hadn't directed movie stars, you know? So it was like my first camera test of outcome. It was like Keanu Reeves, Keanu and Diaz,

Martin Scorsese, you like I was like, wow, I'm directing like a big Hollywood movie. And then this next one is the same way with a bunch of stars. And it's like I kind of started implementing stars

into the movie or iconic figures that I love into the movies. And it's become a whole new level of mixing, like more the documentary style or more, like visceral style of things I was making earlier on, to also incorporating all the big Hollywood movies I love

and my joy of those into my work now.

- Do you feel like the best work always feels

like a documentary regardless of whether it is or not? - That's such a complex answer because now everything's different. Every single thing is different. Like somethings cannot feel real in a great way.

Some things can feel super real. You know, you kind of always want like the emotion to be real maybe, even if it's outlandish. Like my newer movie, the one called Cut-Off, is with me and Kristen Wig and we play

to more onic airs that get cut off in their mid '40s by their rich parents, played by Beth Miller, Nathan Lane. - Wow. - And it's more like pressing surges or the jerk. You know, it's like it's total screwball comedy,

but even in that I'm finding as I'm editing it, I'm like, "Wow, when I screed it or when I watch it, "I go, you do want some emotion to really hang this on."

But I used to just view movie making as it should be as real as possible. And then I think of movies like a movie

I always come back to that I love.

And my favorite director's, Mike Nichols. And the bird cages and movie, that I thought a lot about for outcome,

“and I think about a lot of my own filmmaking now,”

which is, there's things that feel so unreal about that movie, but the emotions are super, super real. So maybe an emotional documentary, but not always in its like fixtures. Does it have to feel like a doll?

- The new movie is definitely emotional, and the premise is funny, but the actual interactions are really heavy. - Yes. - From the beginning that you know

what was gonna be as emotional as it turned out? - No. The best advice I've got from Mr. Scorsese was we had dinner with him like before we started and he's in the movie.

And he just said always listen to the movie,

just always listen to the movie,

it's telling you everything, don't be rigid. - He's great in the movie. - I know it's funny to say because he's Martin Scorsese, but he really is phenomenal in the movie.

His performance is heartbreaking. He really gives a beautiful performance. I can't believe I directed a beautiful performance by Martin Scorsese, but here we are. And you know, when he saw the movie

“and told me what he thought that was a pretty special moment for me.”

But no, I wanted it to be more of a comedy with a capital C, and I got to give it up to Apple. They're a great company to make movies at because they loved what it was becoming. They saw it was becoming more of like,

you know, maybe more in the Jim Brooks or Mike Nichols direction. And they didn't say walks towards it. They said run towards it. We'd rate rather make a movie that's funny

and moving than a movie that's just funny. And I was so grateful that they supported us in that. Because it was different than what I even wrote and what we even shot, you know, in a lot of ways. Because it's a comedic premise.

The premise is essentially, he has this video come out. That's gonna come out. That's fearful of coming out. And his crisis lawyer played by me, Ira, makes him go, make a men's to everybody,

apologize to everybody in his life that he hurt, but not to be a better person, but to find out who's extorting him. Which is a very funny, dark, dark, funny premise

was always the premise of the movie.

So he'd go on this immense journey,

“but in no way to like enlighten himself,”

just for really like self-serving reasons. And each one of those apologies when I started like almost writing them to shoot. 'Cause there's the writing he write is a script and then there's the writing he write to shoot.

The truth of it was that Keanu's character, Reeve, had to be surprised about what they were hurt from by his behavior. That each one had to be like a run-fold out from under him. He's apologizing for one thing,

but that's not even the thing they're upset about. Is that you're so far off from being healthy, that you can't even pinpoint the thing you did wrong, was. And, you know, it starts with Marty's character, who's his childhood manager,

who just guy who works out of a bowling alley. - I do come up with the idea of it being out of bowling alley. - Out of bowling alley? - Yeah. - In the valley, there's this pins,

which is like a bowling alley. That was around even growing up in L.A. when we were young. It's near the Oakwood apartments, which is where like the child actors,

you know, I've seen documentaries and of course I'm an actress, so you know all about this stuff. There's just place called the Oakwood apartments, where all kids move with a dream with their moms or dads

or go out to California to try and get on a show or get on a Nickelodeon show or something. It's like these apartments. And there's guys that kind of scout the apartments. And, you know, the character Richie Redrod Regas,

who Marty plays, he's like this sloppy guy who signs kids and some of them turn out to be fucking Johnny Depp and some of them turn out to be, you know, no, nothing of note, you know, or major note. But he knows his inevitability.

It's more like the philosophical characters, the guy who knows if he does his job right, you leave him. - He says it. - He says it. - Yeah, and that's kind of like,

if I do my job right, you leave me. He goes, I know that, and I don't want to act out the same, but it's beautiful. And the way Marty does it is beautiful, and he goes, I know what the fuck I am.

And there's a lot of rules in life. It wasn't just about, you know, the movie's not about Hollywood. It's about people we encounter on our journeys who you know or temporary.

And maybe you or that person who's temporary for someone. Like, I was when when I was growing up, one of my first girlfriend, and she was so beautiful and so smart, even at the time, I was like, you know, like, I'm temporary

until you meet someone that you will like fall for because you're so wonderful. So we've all been on both sides of that. You know, do we discard those people? So the message, a lot of it is like,

it's okay that that is their function,

and in fact, like, you know, my big thing is like,

“it's so hard for me to call like my dad or studs.”

You know, like people who are like father, you know, that whole thing is like it's like, so hard to just pick up the phone and just say like, how are you doing? It's really hard.

I don't know if it is for everybody, but it's like, or when my grandparents were alive, you know, you'd go visit your grandma,

I'd go visit my grandma and always like,

gotta go visit Nanny and I loved her. It wasn't like you don't love them, it's just, I don't know, you know, do you know what I'm talking about? - I do. - It's just that effort it takes to do something

you know is great for you and them, but you don't do it a lot in years, fly by sometimes, you know? - Usually don't realize it until it's too late. - Until it's too late.

And so that was about realizing now to appreciate

“the people you should be calling and going to check in on.”

- Do you think that came from your work with Phil Stuts? - I think a lot of things come from my work and it feels like that one in particular,

he's a figure like that for me that's like a fatherly,

uncle figure or my own dad who I'm loving and close with, but sometimes I just don't pick up the phone enough to say like, how are you doing? - Do you know anyone who's gone on an immense tour? - I know plenty of people who have, yeah.

- Tell me about the conversations you've had with them. - This was a comedic version because it is a tour. It is a tour dates, you know? He's so, um, he's checking them off. - He's so focused on self-preservation

that he makes it almost like a checklist job. - Yeah. - But I found in most cases that I've heard about that, it's usually from a less sinister place than that and just apologies when you get to them.

- In the opening scene of the movie, our lovable hero has shown us too fast. Do you do that to humanize him or to vilify him? So the whole movie is about social media from the beginning to the end.

It's a story based in Hollywood, but it is about how even your 12-year-old niece has turned into a middle-aged, scorched, lifelong movie star, because everyone, because of social media is judged 20 times a day,

about everything that they wear, do or say. The main point of the movie is that, like, you know, my nephew's, I started to see have the same paranoia that I would have as a famous person, about being liked on a grand scale

and how we can value that, which is true in possible, over the opinions of the three people you actually are around. And so when I say a new outlook, I only give a fuck what dines who's sitting right here,

you know, my friends, my colleagues were like family it's strong baby, and the people I live with, my family, I have to say about me, because it is an impossible, lifelong crippling road to nowhere, but as human beings, we all, of course, here so deeply

about what people think about us, know us or not. And so the movie is about that. And so what I wanted to show right away was a guy, I was just trying to throw you curveballs where you couldn't peg him down, he's nice,

he is a movie star, he's humble, he's not humble, he's laid back and casual, but all he does is care about what you're thinking about him and the most uncageable man or ever. And it was an exciting opening for me,

because you know, reminding me of those kind of great, there's one, okay, so Keanu, there's one scene in parenthood, I'm obsessed with, I love the movie parenthood, but Keanu kind of, he's going off a Martha Plimpton and Diane Weast and he's kind of like off the rails,

yelling at them, kind of in it. And that's like, I don't want to make a movie with that guy.

You know, 'cause he's always so cool, he is cool,

he's always so like John Wick and stuff. I was like, I want to see a guy who's like, you can't emotionally peg down and he's not in control of his emotions. So that opening kind of reflects a guy who is just a mess,

he's just a mess, and no idea who he is. He has no identity and through talking to these people that he's hurt, I think he's looking his identities and asshole. (laughs) And then, hopefully by the end, you learn that,

“how do we take some small steps to not be an asshole?”

- Yeah, is Keanu's character in the movie more based

on the real John Wick Hill? - Neither, neither. - Made up character. - Yeah, totally made up character.

“I mean, I'm not like a Tom Cruise type figure”

like Reeve Hawke is, I would say, more, Donna Rickles, Sancio Ponses, character, but there's things I relate to about all the characters in my movies for sure, this is my third movie, but third and fourth movie, really, as you'll see,

I love him relate to all of them, you know? I can surely relate to parts of Reeve, but like, I'm in no way, like, it's like my family met like when they see the movie, they don't go like, wow, that's Jonah, you know, like,

and it's not Keanu from what I've found. The one funny thing that I will say about that, though part is, 'cause the character does have anxiety, which I've, you know, had in my life. Keanu didn't understand what or how to portray anxiety.

He hadn't felt it in a sense that he understood it. - So he experienced it in life, but didn't know how to portray it

because he never had to portray it in life.

- Oh, he's never experienced anxiety. - That was the essence of what I got. Now if I'm wrong, I will immediately take this back. - That's great, but we were working on the character. He did not understand something.

I go, that's called anxiety, like that's called anxiety. - That's like a great conversation. - It was, it was, and every conversation was great, 'cause I go, like, why is he freaking out, you know, about what, like someone, you know,

and he's like, this person really would do this, and I go, yeah, like he always used to hear all these stories about Larry David, like Jason Alexander would go, like, you know, how would you do this?

- Nobody would do this, he go, I did that. And as well, I'm very much not in grief, but I would do, I would care in that way, or spin out about the smallest thing, and you know, it's, it's what I loved working with him.

I mean, there's a million reasons I loved working with him.

I loved working with everybody. Everybody in this movie was just unbelievable. And the making of the movie was unbelievable. So much of today's life happens on the web. Where space is your home base

for building your dream presence in an online world? Designing a website is easy, using one of square spaces best in class templates. With the built-in style kit, you can change fonts, imagery, margins, and menus.

So your design will be perfectly tailored to your needs. Discover unbreakable creativity with fluid engine, a highly intuitive drag and drop editor. No coding or technical experiences required. Understand your site's performance

within depth, website, analytics, tools.

“Where space has everything you need to succeed online?”

Create a blog, monetize a newsletter, make a marketing portfolio, launch an online store, the square space helps you run your business from anywhere. Track inventory and connect with customers while you're on the go.

Whether you're just starting out or already managing a successful brand, square space makes it easy to create and customize a beautiful website. Visit squarespace.com/tetra and get started today.

How do you think fame changes a person? It's like fatherhood. It's like before and after. It's like that day and the day before and the day after. You could buy a newspaper on the day you became a parent

and the day you became famous and it's like that kind of black and white. And then after reprogram yourself. You know, at least for my experience, I can't speak on anybody else's experience.

Mine was like, didn't want to admit it changes your life. It does and then you got to like hopefully catch yourself and be like you got to rebuild from like square one. Figure out who you are now. Just what it is all about from the first square step

from waking up in the morning till going to bed. And if you're lucky enough to have that insight and time or tenacity to do that, then you're blessed.

“When you're doing an acting role, how much preparation do you do?”

It's all writing. It might as well, it's all even if I'm acting. It's basically like writing a book on that person.

Is it always about the language or is it something else?

I say writing a book about that person, meaning what music they listen to, what books they've read, what clothes they wear, it's like if you're writing the book. He wears this, if you're writing the book, you go, he wears this casual beach outfit because he lives by the ocean.

And he likes to relax. And what does that say about him and this and that?

I'm looking forward to like just acting.

If a role came up, it would be really fun. But in the meantime, we're on such a role making these movies that I'm acting and and directing. It kind of all's become one thing. I guess that's the way I would put it.

The really answer to that is it's all acting, writing, it's why I say it's all writing. When I make these movies, it's all encompassing. It's like the whole family's involved, all of our friends are involved. It's like, it's like an employing eyebrow, let's say an outcome.

It's all just much as being the writer or the director.

“Do you remember what I was first line in the movie is?”

Do I have shit on my face? Is that it still or was that an old line? Oh, that's it. Yeah, he had a big one, he had a cream cheese on his face. I love that as an opening line, which was he has cream cheese on his face.

And do I have shit on my face? He gives us a lot of information right out of the box. I was a character, he's taught, he's taught five, if not taught three for me that I've ever played. I love ira, I fucking love ira.

Is he based on anyone you know? His job is kind of based on the icons of that job, like a Marty Singer, people like that who are like historically, you know, if you killed someone you would call if you were in that position, right? So I thought it was a great community character because he's a guy with no judgment.

A guy like that has no judgment. So the me, I wanted to play that character because I was like, wow, imagine a guy who by principle can't judge anybody else, right? His whole livelihood falls apart if he brings an ounce of judgment. So if you sat here, you're his client and you say, all right, I killed someone.

Okay, and he has to just get to the backs of it and where we're at and why and what

“and where are we with it before, you know, he doesn't go like, what the fuck?”

And so I thought there's inherently someone so funny, comedically with a darkly comedic lack of judgment. And what's going to be, he ends up being a surprisingly, the thing I'm most proud of, the movie does this. I would like a miniature part of the movie is the movie does this where you think it's

this thing and it's kind of shallow or whatever and it ends up being surprisingly deep. And I think I was the best burning of that because he's the easiest character to peg is just a quote unquote bad person by what he does and who his clients are and what how he lives his life.

But when you start to peel back the onion, you start to see layers of a guy. Those things can be true what he does or can be deplorable, but like you start to see him as a human being and thought he was fucking hilarious and landish and as outlandish as I could play him, it wouldn't come close to the real life people that are like this. What was the first movie or ever cast in?

I heart hookabies directed by David O' Russell. How did that happen? That happened because I knew the Hoffman family was Dustin Hoffman's family. Their kids, Jake is one of my great friends to this day.

They're all amazing and the whole family is amazing.

And I was starting to do like kind of, I wouldn't call it stand up traditionally. I was starting to do these kind of like plays, one man shows that could kind of like almost spoken word kind of things. Where would you do those? In New York City at a bar called Black and White, they have an open mic every Sunday night.

And they kind of started becoming popular and at the same time I started making these prank call CDs that I would pass around the friends and tell me what would your set be in those things? Uh, like an open mic, it could be anything.

“They were so cool because it was like honestly, I think it was like a spoken word, like”

poetry kind of night, really great people, crispy tea and Johnny tea, really awesome guys. I was 18. I shouldn't have been allowed in the bar. And you know, I would think of the most outlandish premise. I could think of, and it would be more like storytelling, one man shows storytelling kind of.

Would you write it before you got on stage or would you write it on stage? So the cool part that was cool is it would happen every Sunday night, I would start Monday and have to perform Sunday like being on a weekly TV show. Exactly. So whatever you perform is gone and you're left with nothing.

So you've got to find the premise. And the crowd was like, yeah, they crack up and you know, it's fun. He's like, got this moment where I was all kind of like self-serious and like wasn't in the comedy and stuff and it was all rooted and just like not knowing who I was and stuff.

And the second, I got happy in life, you know, the second I like had my first kid and

was happy and like smiling, all I want to do was be funny. And all I wanted to do my whole life was make my friends laugh, you know. So it has been like the greatest couple of years, like three years, four years of making these movies with my friends, with my family, being funny because if I could think of the best memories in my life, they're sitting like this with loved ones cracking up, that's

That's like the thing. So when we do that on set and it's me and Dines and we're at work and our families are visiting us at work and we're all cracking up, making something, I'm like, this is like the next level fulfillment. Are you as funny when it's not work just in life?

“I'm the lost person you should ask that question because I'm not, I'm, I'm, what”

do you think? He's like, I know fifth amendment, dude, I think it's pretty obvious that yes. I think it's extends in some real life, it's not like a form of a thing. It depends if you ask, I'll tell you this, I love it more personally, like if we were at dinner and I was just in a good mood and our kids were there and I was like, I would

be getting more joy out of it than the people laughing and how cool is that man, you know, the making a kid's laugh, yeah, fuck me dude, making my son laugh, like getting him

with a bit and seeing him become funny at almost three, you know, it's amazing.

It's psychotic, it's mind melding, it's better than any, no accomplishment, even should be called an accomplishment than watching your kid tell a joke and have it be funny. It'll be like when he catches his first wave or like I see him doing incredibly congesture for someone, you know, it's like this feeling that's like super seeded, but when you mix comedy in with that, because comedy has taken all these different forms in my life over

all these years. We need to first fall in love with comedy. I don't even know man, it's one of those things like if there were skateboarding or comedy involved in it from the first moment I can remember ingesting like culture, I needed to know and understand and then later was rap music, you know, if rap was in a movie, you

know, like if a famous rapper was in a movie, they played a rap song in a movie, odd

all of a sudden after know everything about that movie, it was always through the reference

of movies. I was a clown, I was a jester, if you asked my parents or man, I'd been friends since we were like three or four, so like I know my mom because my mom tells my son because she tells me your dad was always funny and, you know, would there be like comedians that you would love that you would imitate?

Yeah, I would do Richard Prior and Eddie Murphy later the samaritan albums I would like perform the songs for like, you know, you could tell who's going to try and be a comedian in like Jewish culture is the person who performs it all the family shit, you know, because like I would be performing at every family function. It's like there was no stage or like there should be a event, it should be a venue

when I feel like a lot of my friends like Andy Sammer or you know, people I came up with it's like they were funny and would perform for the family. You see what's about getting acceptance in the family?

“I think it's a million things, that's why I say my relationship to humor could be like”

five books because it's like there's times where it represented something evil to me, there's times it's represented like why do you guys just want me to be funny in my darker phases, you know, like I'm more than that, you know, and then ultimately I'm like no, this is like the most golden light that I was given to love, like it is the most like

maybe the most important thing that ever was given to me was comedy and laughter because

it's like, do when you're like 90, you can't have sex, you can't serve, you can't like can't do your hobbies really, you can laugh, Mel Brooks is still funny, I had lunch with Mel Brooks and Norman Lear may he rest like you know, friends and Norman close to them when he passed he's 101, got a still cracking me up, amazing, making jokes killing a dinner at 101 years old. His mind was blown by YouTube, which mine is too, by the way, but he could

think of any comedy act he ever saw in his life and show me it from like 1940. And I love these guys, I love all the old timers, I love getting close to him because you know, like no one can take being fun, if your mind's still intact, no one can take being funny away from you and the spirit that that brings people, but the truth of his, it brings me joy.

“Why do you think most comedies today are not funny? I think that's a harsh critique.”

What's the last comedy film you saw that made you laugh like crazy? So again, there's the probably starker reality to it, because my main mission of this is to make comedy movies, not bring them back because they're not gone, but okay, they're gone. And then I'm being, I'm being allowed to make edgy comedy, why do you think they're not climate where people are not allowing many people to make mainstream comedy movies and I'm

very grateful for it. And with that responsibility, I will say culturally, it is hard to make jokes in the past, let's say like six or seven years, up until the last like one or two years, because a joke can be misconstrued and you can get a new live trouble, right? That is obvious

Because the consequences were different. I was even thinking about Seth and Evan, who made, you know, they made the interview about Kim Jong-un, and look at the consequences to their movie. That's a comedy about North Korea in the consequences. What were the consequences? A global hack and like a lot of people lost their jobs and like people weren't crazy and everyone's emails got leaked and, you know, Michael Lin just released a book that I was saw among good

morning America today about, you know, who's greenlit that movie was talking about the biggest

“mistake of his career was greenlighting that movie because of the fallout that happened, right?”

So that's the consequences of a comedy. Charlie Chaplin can, you know, release the dictator or whatever, you know, it was edgy and it was like maybe scary or maybe pushing some buttons or any Bruce would push buttons or whatever, but I look at that North book, the cultural like, you know, right left, whatever, all those people going crazy like I'm talking about like even the fact that like North Korea took that movie so seriously that they did something that

could have, you know, essentially an active war and that could have gotten people like a war started, you know, based on Seth and Evan's farce, right? So stakes got bigger, but actually, fuck that, the real reason is they aren't making money like they used to. So like the real truth of it is is that when I came up with Judd and everybody in Seth, our movies made a lot of money,

you knew your, your comedy probably going to open a $20 million if like Judd's name was on

it or I was in their Seth was in it or, you know, and it was like a good ass time for our, you know, Ben and Vincent, the dude's right above me, like Ben Vince Owen, Doc crowd, you know, Will Ferrell, like, they were minting money, dude, but Will couldn't get Anchor Man made.

“I didn't know that. Will couldn't get Anchor Man made, but then look what that kicks off, right?”

Right now is the perfect time to be making comedy, whether, you know, look. There's a void. Yeah, and I, I want to be the guy you come to to make you laugh with films. And it's strong, baby. We want to make funny movies. We want to make responsibly budgeted funny movies because 14-year-olds have nothing to laugh at as does everybody else. And I think comedy got shifted to TV, comedy become a can-be-kindromity, which is kind of what

outcome is. And so I'm guilty of that too of emotional comedies, right? You know, the bear becomes what people consider a comedy, which I love the bear, and Chris is a great friend of ours,

friend of strong baby, amazing dude. I wouldn't say it's a laugh out loud comedy. Just like,

you know, outcome has a lot more serious elements to it. Cut off the next movie I'm making is more like an LOL, the jerk. These are more ons laugh at them. And I miss that. I really, really miss that.

“And so I'm having a blast making that too. And did you first meet, Doug?”

First met Judd through Allison Jones, the casting director. I was a young actor, like 18 or 19, and you did him anything yet. Yeah, I heard how it could be. The David O'Rustle movie, which is a funny first movie to be in, because if you know the history of that movie, it's like, tell me. There was all these videos that leaked of him, like kind of screened David O. Screaming it like Lily Tomlin, everybody, like kind of notoriously outbursting at them. And I love David.

I've seen him lots since then. It was kind of a famous movie where the director kind of yelled at everybody. So for to be 18 and be the first set that you ever were on, I was like, yes, this is crazy. On the set, did you feel like anything was weird or uncomfortable or not at all? I was like, this is what directors you're like. You know, I was like, this is unlike any other job on the planet. I didn't like love the yelling and stuff, but I was like, it's kind of

crazy that the creativity, like there's no like grown-up here, really. Now there are a lot work environments are a lot different on sets. I think you can run a very respectful environment and make a good movie. Do you think that the outbursts led to something that you got to see on screen that was a value? I would say no in that case. Okay. You know, in that case, you're seeing it up close. I wouldn't say it added to the creativity. First thing Phil studs said to me was,

you're not a good artist because you're fucked up. You're a good artist in spite of being fucked up. And so yeah, I think I know artists that self sabotage is a big part of their process, but like studs said, I think if they were healthy and still doing their process, it'd be great

because they're great. Yeah. What do you think? I think so. You never see it be like a tool in the toolbox

really. No, but I think there are some people who don't know how to express themselves very well and it comes out of a frustration of not being able to explain what they want. Well, where it comes from is like, cool, that in the book, 50, you'll get you on the bus. It's the ultimate behavior that matters, right? Yeah. I don't know. When I find about these work environments, that's interesting is like, it is a creative environment, especially an environment like we say on

are making jokes about things that could very make anyone uncomfortable. It is a comedy movie

“that is part of the nature of the work. And I am a writer. I'm writing the whole time. So”

I'm writing at the monitors. I'm writing while I'm in character. I'm writing while I'm out of character and everyone that we work with respects that. And they tell us they love it and they're laughing and they keep coming back. You know, if you get pushed back where like you'll say, try this and it's like, no, that's too far. I won't do that. Yeah, Kiyonu. You know, because I have a microphone. So I have what they call a god mic, which is funny for the megalomini of directors, but it's

called a god mic. So I'm behind the monitors and if like what's a camera Diaz and Kiyonu are doing a scene or a martyenne, I'm pitching lines. So I'm writing, oh, I mean, if you speak

there or you can see your piece. Yes. And you ask their permission first. Like you don't,

you will just spring that on. You have the actor has to be totally comfortable with it. You know, the whole soundstage can hear it. So I'll go, okay. So I say, oh, that's great. He said that. Now you say back to him, say this and he says that and they're that and they're okay, cool. And it's a process. We were fine and rehearsals. So no one's like, it's not

“scrolling on anybody. And if the actor doesn't like that, then you need to be in character”

then of course, that's not done. But everyone seems to love it. And then Kiyonu, what would happen was, I'm so in love with what he's doing in writing new jokes by the 9th joke, he goes to China. Okay. Okay. Because he's just, he's just, he's just because you know that one will stop. Yeah. I'm having the time in my life, like if I think something's funny, I'm chasing that like a, like a hound. There's a long tradition of reading sacred text slowly,

allowing each word to settle echo and reveal meaning over time. Rather than rushing to conclusions, this practice invites reflection, listening and attention. For centuries, this repetition has been used to stay close to wisdom, not by studying words, as information, but by receiving them as something lived and experienced over and over again. This tradition is known as "Lectio divina". Emerging in early monastic life,

it engages scripture through four gentle movements, reading, reflection, repetition and rest. A short passage is read, a single phrase is held. Silence becomes part of the practice, creating space for insight to surface naturally. Lectio 365 brings that ancient rhythm into the present moment. Designed for modern life, it offers brief guided scriptural reflections throughout the day to begin with intention,

pause at midday and wind down at night. The readings are less about information gathering and more for returning to wisdom again and again, letting familiar words meet new moments. A modern way to keep biblical wisdom close, quietly present, steady, and alive within everyday life.

Lectio 365 is a free resource. Find inspiration there, now and always.

Learn more at Lectio 365.com. What's something about the movie business that nobody knows? That it is an industry filled with so many, so many people who work in it and a lot of amazing people that work really hard at a job that's really hard. I'm not talking about acting or directing, and talking about if you're like a grip or something. Sometimes 50 or 100 people on a set.

Yeah, and if you're a grip, you may not be getting paid the most and you be working long-fucking

“hours and you have to love movies and care to do it and you're living paycheck to paycheck.”

And at its best, it's a beautiful industry that I've seen a lot of people experience great joy and what it is getting harder and harder for a lot of people to have good livelihoods and stay in California, which is a bummer. How different are you than the characters you play? Well, I've played a lot of different people. You know, probably most classic, like Seth from SuperBad,

you know, there's like the classic Adam Sandler character. My classic comedic character would be like the

loud foul mouth, you know, guy like Wolf of Wall Street or SuperBad or something, right? So, I can be loud in foul mouth, but I don't know. Those are like caricatures of a person, I guess, like maybe like comedic traits. So, I could have those. I could also be quiet. I could also be like bajillion different things. I guess the main thing is, even as a public figure,

“like how you got to know me, I think we're always changing and are kind of growing and evolving”

hopefully. So, I guess this conversation is what I'm like now. Yeah. What are you reading habits? I listen to tons of books. I'm trying to be better about reading physical books. I think it's good for your brain and I completely abandon it. So, I'm a voracious reader in quotes, but really listener. So, I consume a lot of books, but through audio. What type of books? People's lives, biographies, books about people. I love books about the entertainment business. I love, like,

the book I'm reading now, which is a physical copy, is pressed in surges, biography. I love the lives of people that made the art that I like. You can put me there all day and listen to a book and I'd be happy. Tell me about your musical taste. I love music. It's obviously, well, not obviously, but it's very eclectic. From what to what? Classical to trojan records to hip hop, to, you know, like I was thinking about today, about trojan records and that's my favorite label.

“And it's all over the place in the best way, but it's just like, it's like a movie. Like,”

I don't care about what genre a movie is. I care about, like, whether it hits. If you like, make you feel something great. How do you use music and writing or character development? Everything. I write everything to music. Like, I have to have a playlist for the project. So, the second thing that happens after the notes section, when it becomes a real project with Matt and I, I start the playlist. So, the outcome playlist is like the playlist, what the movie sounds

like or is it about the people? Well, there's two that become one. There's the master playlist, which is anything like, could be vibe of the movie, any one of the characters, that the master outcome playlist. It could be like, it reminds me of the tone. This reminds me of this character, this reminds me of this moment, this joke, this transition. Would you ever think of them as needle drops in the movie or no? Then it becomes the ones that make it into the movie. And when I

always find more fascinating or not, the ones that make it into the movie, but the ones that surround

the ones that make it into the movie. I love listening to those after I've done with a movie. Because those needle drops serve the movie in the story. The other ones served like a theory of things. So, I love reminding myself what that, sometimes I get a song and then you go, why the fuck is too live crew on here? You know, like, you're just like, oh, because this moment, I ragged out of the car. You get to out bombastically. And I wanted to feel like, hey, we was supposed

it. Like, I didn't want it. And you're like, that's just one little moment that I would never have to describe to somebody. But for me, it kept me going in a moment where this is all just in my

“head. In your madach roles, do you have to force yourself not to be funny? No, I've learned as I've”

gotten older. If I were to do it now, like, let's say someone were to approach me and I really wanted to do a dramatic role. I would have more of a sense of humor in between, like, while making it, I refuse to allow the experience to be held at this point in my life. When you're an actor, do you think of your job as making a director happy or doing what's best for the character you're playing? I was the epitome of, like, pissy teenager before I became a director actor. Where, like, I thought

I knew best, all this stuff, and it was like, I was in my own movie and all this stuff that I've definitely taught me a lot of apologies for. And now your job is really to serve the vision of what

the directors do. And it's the respectful thing to do. And I'll never make that mistake again.

Can you leave the characters on the set? What do you leave or do they sometimes work their way into your life? I didn't know how to do that. If I ever were to get a part in a movie that required deep acting, which I've purposely haven't done especially with my family, because I didn't know how to do that. I would bring it home, like, I would not know how to like, kind of exit it, because I don't have formal training like that. I would get training on how to,

like, leave the character at work out of respect to the people I live with.

I would be responsible and hire a professional that kind of like gave me tools to

sign out that, you know, I've heard Emma Stone told me about like signing out of a character at the end of the day or something like that. That's a cool idea. Like she literally, I want to speak for her, but she told me she signs out. Well, it's a physical ritual and when you ritualize anything, it tends to stick in a different way. It's not just an idea. It's like the positive actions list being on a board instead of just in your head. Oh, I thought of that.

Yeah. Yeah. That's cool. Tell me something you believe now that you didn't believe when you were young. I didn't believe that happiness was just like calm and contentness.

“I believe that it was exciting and at like a fever pitch and at a hundred miles per hour”

and as an adult, I believe fun to be at a turtle's pace. How is your taste changed over the course of your life? Change is constantly like your evolution of everything. Some things remain permanence, but change is constantly. And I'm less ingestive now. I don't intake as much stuff as I used to in one of the time. I got like 30 minutes. I'm probably on YouTube once the kids asleep. You know, like I used to have time to watch and listen and read it for the

projects that don't start with you. How do you choose? I just haven't in a long time. It's been over. I don't look up would be the last one. And how do you choose to do that? Okay. It's mostly director. You know, I'd say director's medium and like Adam McCay. You don't have to say anything else. Yeah. Like that one was like Leo and Adam McCay asked me to do it. And I was like,

“I want to work with both of those guys. Yeah. How different is your performance from a take to take?”

I guess out after two takes. Really? Yeah. I do two takes and they are probably 30 minute takes where they go all over the place. I don't know what you mean 30 minute takes. Sorry. Okay. So

I should accept for my first movie. I shoot on digital, which means a film canister ends after like

a few minutes, like probably like 10 minutes and they have to like reload it or like 11 or 12 minutes. I think you could shoot for hours on a digital camera because it's a card. I guess when I say another take, I mean doing the same part again. I don't mean reloading the camera. So what I mean by that is this, now because of digital, I can do it differently. Let's put it that way. If the movie shall film, I do it differently. But I give my best two takes are my first two takes and you probably won't

use anything after. Really? Yeah. Whereas like Brad takes like 10 takes to like get two is good stuff. From what I remember and like famously in the two takes you said they're long takes. I don't know what that means. So then when it goes to digital, it becomes a different thing. Meaning that I improvise so much and change the thing. So what I do is like on a digital take because it can last forever, I'll do two takes that could be like 40 minutes long because I'll restart myself

of try different lines. I'll go off in a different direction and then take it back. You can consider that all part of the first take. Because it still goes from the beginning middle and end of the scene. I see. So when I tell the actors like I don't care if you change my words around. Here's

what how it starts. Here's what happens in the middle. Here's the events of the scene and here's the

end. So in within that beginning middle and end it's probably 240 minutes takes and then we're off of me. Instead of like Kiyaki would do like very exacting takes of unless I was shouting new jokes out out of that would be the exact duration of the page count essentially and he would do probably you know standard is like five, six takes you know but I do mostly like really couple takes. A couple of takes but what you're talking about is very different than anyone I've heard talk about

performances. And then if you asked people who work with me they would tell you I have an orthodox way of doing it that is heavily improvisational and what they would call improvisational. I might have written 40 of those faults. So they're not improvisational to me because I came in with them. I just didn't implement them in the screenplay because they would make the page count go crazy then the studio would call you and say why do you have 10 extra pages today. That's kind of more like

“pragmatic stuff right but like yeah I love that about it and I love to me that's why the”

con brothers don't like get the fuck out. They're like we're better writers than you stop trying to like say a different shit and I'm like oh sorry I just this is what I do you know like I don't think it's better than just saying it. Yeah it's just a process yeah of course if it was going to be

please do it again as an actor yeah either or I usually do my two takes and I probably don't

“ask for anything else like I honestly can't wait to do it again because I it's been so long”

it's been five years you know I'm a different it's a different person we all are five years you know so I'm like man I can't wait to see what it's like what they ask for. Tell me about shooting in 16 millimeter from. It was awesome for that film my big like film nerd like A24 like cinnamon nerd kind of thing is like I don't like that people just love like film stalks or whatever it's like does it serve the movie for mid 90s we wanted to feel like you found an older movie so super

16 was like the best format that we after testing a lot that felt like a mix of a skate video and an old movie and decline a western civilization was shot on that which was like a huge visual reference for that movie so like that worked great for mid 90s but would be terrible for outcome but I loved it

I loved everything about mid 90s was like there's nothing like your first time like I ran into

Ethan Cohen the night before I started shooting mid 90s at a restaurant and I said I'm going to direct my first movie after I worked with them like if you can be any advice you go let me my dinner and I'll think of something good to tell you and he comes over at the end and he says I was so nervous when we were making blood simple I wish I could have enjoyed it more you know he's like just trying to enjoy every day and then I saw him after and he was like well and I was like

no too stressed but now I look back on it and I'm like oh good advice best rose colored glasses yeah but the advice is impossible yeah it's the same reason I get to do the position of directing a

“movie should make you unable to enjoy it as much as you should understood you always know when”

something is funny yes I know when I find something funny I'm surprised in the process of making movies you are constantly surprised at when you test you know we test our movies a lot that nice so like a joke you've quoted made rap sweatshirts out of the joke quoting the joke bombs at the test screen you think it's gonna be like the thing that everyone's quoting like you put it when I say you make a rap sweatshirt with like a quote of that joke and then you have the first

test screening at Burbank AMC they tell you did it wasn't that fucking funny tell me about

test screenings generally they're amazing test screenings are incredible how soon do you do it

the process so again I'm very unorthodox I test early early and often so usually I test five weeks into a director's cut which is in them films infancy you know that's that's the infancy of a film is post right so you have 10 weeks to do a director's cut for the DJA but then you have months after with the studio friends and family getting notes or whatever but legally 10 weeks you have your directors cut so five weeks into my directors cut I test in front of a test screening

to get ahead of what my headline problems are and to really get ahead of what the audience might not understand and not to change it based on this as soon as they may not like something that I may like and I I have to then fight for how that can live as opposed to taking it out so I love that process I love it and that's been around since like Charlie Chaplin like some of the comments you get like for comedy it's the best it's like off with their heads it's like

the joke gets a laugh or it doesn't and if you really want to be bullish you're like I know this is funny there's a reason I mean the reason I'm getting to make comedies well you know what you

haven't set it up properly you haven't set the table for them to laugh so it's almost always

set up yes and so like I'm obsessed it's all big puzzle it's so fun I'll test them to be five weeks and get my nuts kicked in in my teeth kicked in you want to kill yourself you're like you're like this is I'm a failure I've I've ruined it and then you get one day in like bed like one night where I'm like a total bitch to be around and then the next day like everyone has shown me me comes into the office and we're like what was good how do we support what's good and how do we

build on what's good and it's such you know this is our like third would be I've directed a trauma baby starts outcome and now cut off but it's like it's so the process is the reward

“being in the bunker with everyone when you're like you need to like help something get better”

and then to really take that something not working not as a failure but that the test screening is

it's like crowdsourcing an answer yes because I can play a movie to spike in Mike in a whole industry crowd and they get a lot more than someone who you know is not from LA or New York or works in entertainment you know and it's it's an amazing tool to get an audience is reaction to

things when something is funny to you do you always know why I could articulate to you why I found

“it funny I think that's a gift I have is to say why I find something funny but then sometimes things”

are just so funny about life like you know having a kid teaches you like they do something that's so unexplainable that's hilarious and then you'd be a fool to try and even waste your time describing I often will because I like the analytics of comedy but like you can intellectualize this stuff all day but my two year old's funny than you are he is not you really like you know he's nobody of us in any given time you know of course and he's probably not trying now he's starting

to try which is even more incredible because I'm watching him like a sponge learning when to get out on a joke when to you know like he's almost three he's about to be three and so he can like he can tell like I'll say like you said it once get out of there you know the famous album book story no with Rob Ryder may he rest in peace where Rob told me this story that Albert killed so hard at a party one time in the 70s they were all the social event party and Albert just

killed from the jump like was just killing like socially just murder and he's like he leaves like right away he's like he leaves and then the phone rings and they're like someone for Rob like Rob it's for you and it was Albert he's like I left my keys up there you got to bring him out to me and he's like he's like come back and get him he's like I just killed so hard I had to get the fuck out of there there's no way I'm going back in there that's so funny this is

sign-filled episode about that no way well it's not overstaying you're welcome there's a lot to be said for it how is LA now different than the LA you grew up in night and day well night and day not night and day let's say dusk to afternoon it's like it's like the coolest parts about it was that I could go skate downtown or see a punk show or something and then sneak into the main on the moon premiere which I did on my 16th birthday and so like where I met Rodney

wow where I met Rodney which is one of my favorite stories ever I could tell the side which is because we were making the Rodney biopic we were producing it we had developed it with Terrence Winner who wrote Willful Wall Street at Strong Baby and we couldn't end up figuring it out and I wanted to play Rodney and we were producing it I'd still love to play Rodney honestly that's kind of something on my bucket list so I'm 16 years old I sneak into the main on the moon premiere in my

body mark and we're in the back trying to wait for someone to open an exit door so we can go in to the back and a limo pulls up and it's Rodney in a suit when no shoes are socks on

and his wife who's incredible and a six pack of Mickey's bombers and I'm like Rodney

and my favorite man like you're the king and the fucking king and he's like oh wait and it was my birthday and so he was like what are you doing like we're trying to sneak in he's like I'll sneak you you guys in me and he he sneaks in he gives us both of us one of his Mickey's grenades and he sneaks us into the main on the moon premiere incredible cool as fucking thing ever man like

“I'll never obviously never forget it but I have a danger fields ash tray in my office”

from the comedy club with the drawing yeah that's so great the cartoon Ronnie what are your favorite documentaries god how much time you have it's pretty much all I mean it's like you love dogs it's just everything yeah I mean I love the movie dig I think dig is stuck with me a long time that movie really got me like just somehow how that story is told and and the band the one band being like credible but not famous and the other being famous but not as credible it's just like

this Shakespearean parable that's told through these characters that are in Anton's just such an interesting character from Ryan Jones town massacre with the most one the greatest like main

characters of all time the guy who will never be his fucked up and harmful to himself but will never be his

great like oh shit that movie cut me deep yeah she made another great movie on the call we live in public which we were trying to develop it strongly to be into a narrative feature which isn't incredible

“movie you should watch but all day I mean the decline of western civilization dogs are huge for me”

I love your talk about shame or law I love that I've seen that any talk about like the

dogs you know I just I just fucking I eat it up man I eat it up tell me about watching movies

“over and over again if a movie is amazing I don't get sick of it what do you get from the”

repeats I try and learn how it was made and how decisions were made I won't name the movie but a movie that could or is going to win best or you know one of the ones for best picture this year great movie on cut off we have to rethink our beginning and we're rethinking it now in the

edit and I watched this movie for the first time I hadn't seen it this movie and I watched the

“beginning and I texted my editor because of the same sound mixer as this movie and I said”

did you see this movie and she goes yeah and I go I guarantee you people didn't understand understand it and they had to redo this opening and she texted the sound engineer and he

assured me I was right so I like how things are made for problems solving for setting the table

for the audience whether it be for characters or the story or the tone there was some little preamble

“that was additionally made to help set the table for the audience to immediately lock into the”

movie and I saw it and before I was even done I texted my editor guarantee they did this and I was right so for me it's just like a deeper understanding of how movies are made how good movies are made how bad movies are made and all the decisions and fixes it takes to get there because now that I'm realizing this my fourth movie it's not about decisions it's about fixing and creating new decisions to support the decisions that worked and not beating yourself up about the decisions that didn't work

tetragrammatin is a podcast tetragrammatin is a website tetragrammatin is a whole world of knowledge what may fall within the sphere of tetragrammatin counterculture tetragrammatin sacred geometry tetragrammatin the event guard tetragrammatin generative art tetragrammatin the tarot tetragrammatin out of print music tetragrammatin bio dynamic tetragrammatin graphic design tetragrammatin mythology and magic tetragrammatin obscure film tetragrammatin beach culture tetragrammatin

esoteric lectures tetragrammatin off the grid living tetragrammatin alt spirituality tetragrammatin the canon of fine objects tetragrammatin muscle cars tetragrammatin ancient wisdom for a new age upon entering experience the artwork of the day take a breath and see where you are drawn tetragrammatin dot com