Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson Talk to Will Arnett About Imposter Syndrome

Speaker 1 Hey listeners, Ted Danson here.

Speaker 1 If you enjoyed my recent episode on Smartness as much as I did, you may enjoy my new podcast where everybody knows your name with me and my good friend and co-host Woody Harrelson.

Speaker 1 Woody and I were great friends and worked together, obviously, on cheers for eight, nine years together, and then went our different ways. We'd see each other every once in a while.

Speaker 1 We thought that this podcast would be a great way to get to know each other again and to share the friends we've met on our different paths. So we're having a great time.

Speaker 1 You'll hear some great guests on the show like Kristen Bell, Conan O'Brien, Jeff Goldblum, Lisa Koudreau, and Will Arnett. That's right.
We were lucky enough to get Will for our very first episode.

Speaker 1 Check out the clip now.

Speaker 1 Ted, I think about this, about what you've done all the time. Both you guys have gone from

Speaker 1 there from Cheers. You've had no fewer than five hit television shows since then that I can think of.
You had Becker, Good Place.

Speaker 1 Damages. Damages.

Speaker 1 I forgot about damages. The one with the

Speaker 1 Bored to Death.

Speaker 1 Bored to Death. Bored to Death.
I love that one. With Zach.
Yeah. This is a great podcast, by the way.

Speaker 1 No, but it's true. And you made all those movies.

Speaker 1 You made all those curb episodes, not curb episodes. Made tons of movies in between.
Woody, you made a million movies and limited series and comedies and dramas.

Speaker 1 And I get the sense that both you guys don't feel like you've got it figured out. So maybe you had a moment where you thought you were a big shot, but I don't buy it.

Speaker 1 But it's a little bit of the actor's illness. You never think you're good enough.
You always feel a little bit like an imposter. You always don't think you're going to get another job.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I mean, I don't think that goes away.

Speaker 1 Let's heap some praise onto you. Oh, yeah.
Before you heap the praise, can I ask you guys a question? Yeah. Do you want to go?

Speaker 1 Do you ever have that thing when you're like in a room with a bunch of Hollywood types and you feel kind of like the

Speaker 1 life?

Speaker 1 Yeah, you don't feel like you belong. Like you were just saying, like

Speaker 1 totally. I used to imagine that I had a you walk into these parties and I felt like there was an amazing number

Speaker 1 on a piece of paper that stuck to my back, my you know, ranking in Hollywood. Come on.
Really? Yes. And you'd sit there and you'd reach around and go, fuck.

Speaker 1 1,200? Really? I'm the 1,200?

Speaker 1 I, I, no, you. You never had that.
Not really. Like, I belong in this room.
And

Speaker 1 everybody loves me. Not only do I belong, but these fucking people are the worst.

Speaker 1 They're so untalented. I can't believe how lucky all these motherfuckers are.

Speaker 1 This person can barely read. This person can barely speak.
That's so healthy. I love this.

Speaker 1 I own this room. I fucking kill it.
No, you do have those things.

Speaker 1 I mean, I've gone through very, again, I think that it's one of the benefits of getting older that I just put less value on shit like that.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 there was a time coming off of rest of development, if I'm being totally honest, where I thought that I was going to have, where I had a lot of opportunity and I felt like I squandered it,

Speaker 1 which reminds me, I got a firearm manager today.

Speaker 1 And i've had those moments where i was like i could have had this or i could have had that and i didn't and i always remind myself that i'm on my path the universe is always taking care of me yeah so whatever that's going to be and i don't know what is coming for me but it's

Speaker 1 great and it is right around the corner and you know how i know that because it always has been So I just got to bank on that. It's the only thing.
That's kind of the only faith I really have.

Speaker 1 If you want to hear the rest of our conversation, head over to Where Everybody Knows Your Name to listen to the rest of Will's episode now.

Speaker 1 Or you can head over to YouTube and watch it. And be sure to subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts.