"Tony Hale"

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Speaker 1 I got my COVID booster shot today. I'm feeling a little low from the

Speaker 1 side effects,

Speaker 1 but you know what I don't feel low for? An episode of Smartless! Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 1 Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 1 Smart

Speaker 1 Less.

Speaker 1 I was just just in dad hell. Uh-oh.

Speaker 1 You took a deep breath. Yeah, take a couple deep breaths.
Oh my God, I'm all sweaty and my hands are dirty, which is the worst part of it. Look at the way he holds his hands.

Speaker 1 I haven't been able to wash my hands. I'm working on the car.
I just got a 150-pound delivery from UPS, which was

Speaker 1 Maple's new

Speaker 1 I'm Not a Little Girl Anymore basketball hoop. Sure.
Oh, I have that.

Speaker 1 Oh, God. And I just spent the good part of three hours assembling just half of it.
Okay.

Speaker 1 I had to punt and I'm going to have to do the other half tomorrow or after this.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 guys, have you ever had an IKEA injury, you know, where you really haven't screwed in a bolt or anything for like maybe ever and your forearms the next day are just ripped to hell?

Speaker 1 I'm going to have like a,

Speaker 1 this is not Ikea. This is a real big boy hoop.
Why not get, why not get one over the garage? Like, when you just put it on the garage. Well, I'd have to assemble that too, Sean.

Speaker 1 Oh, like the Cunninghams had on happy days. Listen to the Brady Barrett.
First of all, IKEA, I've always said the IKEA is Swedish for argument.

Speaker 1 Because anytime you go into an IKEA store on a weekend, you just see going like, we don't need that.

Speaker 1 Well, we've already cut the one in the other room.

Speaker 1 We've already cut the other thing. I really feel proud.

Speaker 1 There's a certain pride that comes with

Speaker 1 the finishing of the assembly. For sure.

Speaker 1 And this one,

Speaker 1 I always feel pride when I finish.

Speaker 1 We're talking about the same thing, right? Yeah.

Speaker 1 So I'm going to feel like,

Speaker 1 well, I'm not going to extrapolate on

Speaker 1 your metaphor there, but I'm going to feel so good when this is done. But it's made me late.
My hands are dirty and I'm only half done. Again, I think we're talking about the same thing.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 And almost more importantly,

Speaker 1 I have not had the time to do my prep for my guest today. Oh, that's okay.
Yeah, so you're guest. It's my, I think this is today.
This is my guest, I think, right? Yeah, yeah, it is. And

Speaker 1 yeah, and so this is going to be my first raw dog. We're still talking about the same thing.

Speaker 1 Boy, this is a long subject.

Speaker 1 Now we're talking about a different thing. Wait, first of all,

Speaker 1 I missed you guys last night. I was supposed to see you for dinner at a friend's house.
I know.

Speaker 1 Well, you know why I didn't make it? Because I kind of

Speaker 1 partially pulled my back. You did.
And so it's all about old man for me today. That's the thing.
That's a thing. Jason, and then I stopped by Will's house on the way home and I texted you.

Speaker 1 Hey, I'm stopping at Will's if you want to. You did.
I ignored that text because I was so pissed off at my back. That's all right.
And I didn't even answer him. No, you didn't.
I don't do that.

Speaker 1 You're such a good one. Well, it didn't necessarily.
No, here. Guess what? I'm going to read you the goddamn text right now.
Listen to how this does not trigger a response at all.

Speaker 1 Missed you tonight, period. We left because Scotty's tired, period.
Stopping off at Will's to say quick hello if you feel like jaunting over, period.

Speaker 1 Well, I don't. And thanks for the update.
Well, we got it now. 24 hours later, he got it.
Hey, speaking of good friends,

Speaker 1 so Sean did come over last night with Scotty. Always a good friend.
It's not like you just got back from the hospital and everyone's got to stop by. Yeah.

Speaker 1 No, but Will's, your house is spectacular. Oh, thank you.
It is just unbelievable. Very good for you.
Unbelievable. Thank you.
Thank you. I think it's so beautiful.
It's taken a long time.

Speaker 1 But Jay, I think you're really going to like it. And we're talking about Monday doing a hang

Speaker 1 chamois with everybody. Oh, sorry, listener.
Just hold on one second. Will decided to take your time to make some plans.
What is it, Will? A week from today, what is it? Oh, we posted a spin tick.

Speaker 1 By the way, we just talked about you putting together a fucking basketball hoop for your daughter. Oh, but that's

Speaker 1 podcast worthy. I'm not just fucking filling up my file of facts with next Monday's plan.

Speaker 1 Just hoping to fill up your Google news alerts with links about cute dad moment, Jason Bateman, put together a fucking best. I'm self-effacing right now.
I'm talking about how somebody.

Speaker 1 I'm texting Amanda right now. I want to get a photo of you putting that together so badly.

Speaker 1 But all the damage I did to my daughter, I'm trying to do good things for my daughter and the damage I did yelling at her while I'm putting this thing together. She's asking to help.

Speaker 1 Do you think by you asking for help that you're helping?

Speaker 1 by the way that's a great impression of you

Speaker 1 inflections on the wrong words

Speaker 1 all right let's get to it

Speaker 1 it is i love seeing you frazzled our guest has a great daughter that i bet he's nicer to than i am to mine okay or at least assembles more things for so here i am just raw dogging it right now um please stop using our guest um

Speaker 1 I don't have my Wikipedia in front of me, but I should know enough. He,

Speaker 1 okay, so it's a man. That part I don't know.
But you gave it away a while ago, but go ahead. No, no, did I really? Yeah, he has a daughter.
Yeah, that was earlier and then before that.

Speaker 1 But anyway, keep going, man. No, no, no.
Tell me who you think it is. What do you mean? I don't know who it is, but I know that it's a he because you said he.
Okay.

Speaker 1 So it's a he.

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 He's a father.

Speaker 1 He's an actor. Do you know him? Yeah, man.
Okay.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 he's great. Okay.

Speaker 1 He's nice. Okay.
Do you want to just say his name?

Speaker 1 No, not yet. He's funny.
What time today did you hit fuck it? You just

Speaker 1 I spent all I had putting up half the hoop. How's your back now, by the way? And you know what?

Speaker 1 We're going to find out a lot about this guest, and we're going to give him a chance to tell us. But I'll tell you what I do know.

Speaker 1 I love him. Okay.
And Will loves him

Speaker 1 a lot.

Speaker 1 How does Sean feel about him? Sean, I don't know if you've ever met him, but you may have. We're going to find out in a second.
Let's just get on with it.

Speaker 1 Will, it's our long-lost brother, Tony Hale. Come on, Tony.
Hello.

Speaker 1 What's up? What are you talking about?

Speaker 1 I live for Tony Hale. Have you guys met? Many times.
Yeah. Really? With me? No.
Not with you. No.
No. Okay, good.

Speaker 2 Actually, no, we did meet with you because it was at a party years ago at your house. And I went up to you, Sean, and I said.
At my house? no, at Jason's house, okay.

Speaker 2 And I was, I said, Oh, Sean, I'm a big fan, and you said, Oh, I'm a big fan of yours. Come to find out later, you never watched Arrested Development, so you were lying.

Speaker 1 No, well, I'm not a lie. I'm still, I can still be a fan.
He's seen the commercials, Tony.

Speaker 1 You've probably seen Veep, Tony.

Speaker 1 That's another thing I could have put in the intro that I could raw dog. Well, if you had said Veep, I just would have known immediately.
Exactly. But wait, Tony, hang on.
I just got to absorb this.

Speaker 1 tony i'm so happy to be here guys that was really hard not to laugh it's really really hard not to laugh except

Speaker 1 are we talking about the same thing that made me laugh out loud in my mouth in my hand i i forgot when you were just you hadn't revealed yourself i've forgotten what a heavy breather you are and so i just

Speaker 1 well asthma asthma thanks for bringing it up oh really

Speaker 1 i meant that in a good way by the way oh you do oh okay you don't have have you had asthma for a long time? I have since I was a kid. Oh, that's right.
I knew this. I knew this.

Speaker 1 Of course, I did not know. We mean you knew this.

Speaker 2 We talked about it on your podcast. Yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, wait.

Speaker 1 Was Tony on Hypochondriactor?

Speaker 1 Yeah. Oh, no way.
This is a crossover episode.

Speaker 1 He played Gary Walsh on Veep. Uh-oh.
We already did the intro, Jay. We already did the past.
He won an Emmy in 2013 and 2013

Speaker 1 for Veep because I know he didn't win for Arrested. I was sitting next to Tony when he won.

Speaker 1 Yeah, you were.

Speaker 2 But Jason was in front of in front.

Speaker 1 And Jason was in front when they called it. Remember Jay when

Speaker 1 he got his first Emmy. How about that? He's not going to remember.
I don't remember any of them. I know.
Okay, listen, Tony's, guess what, guys? His birthday is September 30th, and he's 51.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 I don't need the Wikipedia to tell me his wife's name is Martell. I love her and I miss her.
And Loy is still your daughter?

Speaker 2 She's not.

Speaker 1 Oh, she's not. I know.
She retired.

Speaker 1 We had a heart breakup. It didn't work out.

Speaker 2 Oh, she's now, she's 16 now. She's a junior in high school.

Speaker 1 She's driving? Yeah. Because Franny's about to start.
She's driving. Yeah.

Speaker 1 How did that go for you and Martell?

Speaker 2 It's been a journey.

Speaker 2 It's the highways that do freak me out a little bit, the LA highways.

Speaker 1 So I was driving home just now.

Speaker 1 I picked up Archie from school with his pal, and I was driving back, and I was coming up Coldwater, and I see these two teenagers trying to make a left-hand turn and cross, you know, in rush hour traffic.

Speaker 1 And so I stopped to let them go because they were trying to take a left in front of me and to go the direction I was going and everybody else coming down Coldwater was not having it.

Speaker 1 And these kids, they pulled out, then they went back and they and I just stopped and I held and I kept flashing my light and I put my hand out the window like, guys go.

Speaker 1 And I could see that they were barely 16. And it made me so nervous for them.
And then they finally, one other person. So confused by your kindness, right? Well, yeah, but the people the other way.

Speaker 1 And I just thought as they went out, I just, I I wanted, of course, as you know, it's single lane, I wanted to pull up to them and teach them a lesson and literally go like, guys, you need to know something.

Speaker 1 Just be careful, please. You're just,

Speaker 1 I was so nervous for them as a dad. We're such old men now.
I know, right? Just a few years ago, you would have just been honking and saying, get the hell out of the car.

Speaker 1 I know. So, so, Tony Hale, so, so, to Tracy, Tony, this is so fun.
This is so fun. This is amazing.
Tony, Tony and I met first.

Speaker 1 I just want to say, and I know Jason, he's your guest, but I'm going to hog this. I want to say, Tony,

Speaker 1 please, I'm unprepared.

Speaker 1 Martell, his wife used to work on SNL. And so our one-Saturday

Speaker 1 Night Live, Tracy, which is a long-standing live sketch comedy.

Speaker 1 Okay.

Speaker 1 When do they shoot that?

Speaker 1 Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 So they knew each other before. So then Tony and I went out to read for Arrested Development, which is a longer story.
And we kind of had a little bit of a, we kind of knew each other a little bit.

Speaker 1 Like, hey, hey, we had that familiarity and we were from uh from the halls of snl because our wives knew each other and it was nerve we were both it was very nerve-wracking we were both staying at what was then the intercontinental hotel in century city and we walked to our test together yeah no way do you remember that tony

Speaker 1 development for rest of development tony and i walked together and you both got it that's we both got it wait so you walked you walked down

Speaker 1 son's just now learning that we both walked in the back gate we went in what's that called the uh the galaxy gate yeah yeah and we went in the back together, and then we walked over and read with you and with Portia and Jessica and everybody.

Speaker 1 Yeah. And then we both got it.
And then we walked back. And then we were like, I guess we're staying for a little bit.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 Did you, correct me if I'm wrong? Did we shoot the pilot right after we had that callback?

Speaker 1 Well, yeah, Tony, remember, remember the next night? I'm good with stuff like this, Jason. We'll tell you.

Speaker 1 The next night we had a reason. What year was this, Will? This is the

Speaker 1 spring. This is late February of 2003.
Tony knows. Wait, how do you know the month, freak?

Speaker 2 by the way, by the way, in this spring, it's going to be 20 years since we shot the pilot. 20 years.

Speaker 1 And when does it come out?

Speaker 1 Turn your camera off right now, Sean. Anyway, so that's Tony's.
I've been shelved for 20 years.

Speaker 1 And then, and I will say this, and I've told this and I've said it high and wide. Frame it up there.

Speaker 1 There is nobody.

Speaker 1 on the set. And Jason, you're there.
And I'm sorry to say, but there's nobody who cracked me up. And I think you'll attest to this too, the way Tony hailed it.
David crossed it on the. Oh, Tony.

Speaker 1 No, I

Speaker 1 listened to it. Tony Williams.

Speaker 2 I listened to David's podcast you guys did with him. And Will, when you said the best joke that he said, and when he said,

Speaker 2 I don't know what you said, Jason, like, how are you doing? He goes, good. And he goes, no, it's going to be good.

Speaker 1 Yeah, that was, remember that?

Speaker 2 That's the best line ever.

Speaker 1 That was so funny. But Tony, Tony would do this thing where he'd be getting ready to, like he and I would both be off camera, ready to enter a scene.
And Jason, you know that's getting into buster.

Speaker 1 And you start getting into buster. So you'd be talking to him about something.
You go to one, like, I think we're wrapping later. And you go, yeah, and then you hear the scene and go, okay, I got it.

Speaker 1 And then you go like, and you bring up the Tyrannosaurus Rex hands. And you bring his hands up like this.
And I would, and then I'd have to come in after him, and I'd be in here.

Speaker 1 Tony, funny. Fuck me, Tony.
You're so goddamn funny. He tucks the chin and brings up the T-Rex hands, and then he's in.

Speaker 1 I took it really seriously.

Speaker 1 Well, now, well, tell me me about that. Is that, because I haven't worked with you before or since, unfortunately.
But was your, are you that disciplined with everything you do?

Speaker 1 Or, or did you think at the time, this is a big deal, a big show. I better keep it tight because

Speaker 1 this feels large. Yeah.

Speaker 2 I was, I think I was so, I think all that. I was really overwhelmed.
I was really intimidated. And I was like, I got it, I got to do the work.

Speaker 2 And so I would go back to my hotel room and I would just like practice in the mirror and all that stuff. And like, because I will say, I went up to Mitch and I asked a very actory question.

Speaker 1 Mitch Hurwitz was the boss on the show, Tracy. Mitch Howitz.
He was a guest. I'm here, too.

Speaker 2 Sweet, Tracy. And

Speaker 2 I asked him, I said, what does Buster want in life?

Speaker 2 And he said, I know. It's a really accurate question.
And he goes, all he wants in life is safety.

Speaker 2 And so then I just kind of like thought everything that threatened his safety, he would just like panic.

Speaker 2 And so he was always in a state of defense, like his chin would go back, his hands would go back, and he was just constantly waiting what's going to come at him.

Speaker 1 That's really funny.

Speaker 1 Sean, you have to know he'd be doing a seat, and then you'd be like, and even when you were rolling, and if Tony was behind you, and you'd be having a conversation, like say Jason, like, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1 And then you'd just hear, oh.

Speaker 1 You could always hear what's going on inside. He'd sort of verbalize it.

Speaker 2 And I have a really fat chin, which actually helped because it would just like

Speaker 1 you, you do not. I have a question about, I heard about, like, I don't know the process on arrest development.
It sounds like it was obviously, I've heard so many. Oh, it was a good time, Sean.

Speaker 1 Yeah, good shows. Good episodes.

Speaker 1 And I'm sure you, I like it as much as you like. Save it though.
Willing Green, you know. So, um,

Speaker 2 have you seen? I mean, have you literally seen anything?

Speaker 1 I saw the first two. I laughed out loud.
Oh, you did see the first.

Speaker 1 That was enough.

Speaker 1 Not enough. You're that person, you're that person, they're that person.
Got it. So

Speaker 1 there's a problem, and it gets resolved. Okay, so, but

Speaker 1 on Veep, I heard that there's a, there's an actual, I don't know if this is true, this, I've always wanted to ask you this, that there is a process, actual rehearsal process, like a lengthy one.

Speaker 1 Can you describe that to me?

Speaker 1 Because I'm kind of really interested in that, where you got to improvise scenes even though they were written, or did you improvise them first and the writers would write from what you came up with?

Speaker 2 I think a little bit of both. Armando Yanucci, who created it, he would give us, he would give us.

Speaker 1 How did he say his name?

Speaker 2 Armando

Speaker 1 okay here's the dad um armando younucci you no armando ianucci isn't it armando inucci how many years did you guys work together yeah this is uh probably seven or eight i think it's our man wait armando this is v

Speaker 1 i think it's armando ianucci you think so he was a passive word

Speaker 1 we would call him arm we would call him arm arm i don't care about his full name

Speaker 2 yeah um but i think it's like i'm pretty sure it's armando um so

Speaker 1 by the way by the way we we just found our promo clip so

Speaker 2 but he would he would he would kind of give us a scenario and the

Speaker 2 because matt walsh was also in veep you know who's like a master improver and he helped create ucb and all this stuff and so all of us had to kind of get in the routine like it's not necessarily about coming up with funny bits it was just kind of he just wanted to see if it gelled and then out of that funny bits would come but as you guys know we never rehearsed on arrested we rarely had any rehearsal on tv no right yeah that's why i was asking just because on veep so you would rehearse what a week before you even started shooting?

Speaker 2 We would shoot, we would fly down, because we shot in Baltimore, so we'd fly down a couple weeks before we'd shoot and just like go to this room.

Speaker 1 For every episode, a week for every episode.

Speaker 1 No, no, no, no.

Speaker 2 No, it was like we would do like five scripts or something like that.

Speaker 1 I just feel those out. Yeah.
Wow. Wait, wait, wait.
Sorry. Sorry.
Totally confused here.

Speaker 1 What happens? So there's a script that's written. Yeah.

Speaker 2 There's a script that's written.

Speaker 1 Ish.

Speaker 2 So yeah, the script is, they have a really good idea of the script and then uh a lot is written but then they kind of throw out

Speaker 1 they they they say ask to kind of throw away the script and just kind of play with the scene so it's like we would do some of the lines and not do some of the lines but it was more of just like if the if the story is working if the relationships are working um if bits do come out but like you guys sound like storytellers yeah so so wait so then so then they would then see what you guys would improvise in addition to what is written and then if that, if the improvised dialogue is worthy of being included in this half-written script, it would.

Speaker 1 Yes? Yeah. Well, thanks for making it sound less fun.
But yeah.

Speaker 1 And then a week later, you then have a complete script, and that's the script that you would then shoot.

Speaker 2 Yeah, but even in that complete script, if stuff came out,

Speaker 2 it was a very open environment. Yeah.
Huh.

Speaker 1 You should see Jason explain to kids on how to get onto Bouncy House. He really,

Speaker 1 So you go and the air is pumped up and it keeps. I want you to unlace your shoes

Speaker 1 because of

Speaker 1 your ligaments.

Speaker 1 Now, Tony, I saw, I remember seeing a long time ago, didn't you do drunk history? Like even more than once? Yeah, several times. Yeah.
I love that show. So fucking funny.
And I learned a lot too.

Speaker 1 By the way, dumb, dumb question, because I know nothing about that show other than it's hilarious and you were great. They really make you drink until you can't.

Speaker 2 Oh, I wasn't the storyteller.

Speaker 1 I know, I know, but I I mean, like the people that are, yeah, yeah, I think they get them really drunk and then they have them kind of retell just like they're totally tell the story.

Speaker 2 And it's, and the thing is, there's stuff that I learned from that show that I never knew. Just the way they said it, it was just

Speaker 1 a great about puking.

Speaker 2 I learned a lot about how you throw up your meals.

Speaker 1 Tony was a Sigma chi for Tony. Okay, look out who's back on Wikipedia.

Speaker 1 He went to Samford University, which was started by

Speaker 1 Red Fox

Speaker 1 and his son.

Speaker 2 I actually, I was, I'm in Nashville right now because I'm doing a movie here with my friend Seth Worley, and it's like two hours from Alabama, so I went and visited some friends from college and then Martel's family, so I was just there.

Speaker 1 Come on. Samford.
Oh, that's nice. Did you go back to the Sigma Chi fraternity house?

Speaker 2 I did not.

Speaker 1 Where you got your journalism degree in 1992? I didn't. Okay.
Well, he didn't get his degree from, you know, he doesn't know how college works. But, hey, Tony, so you've always had

Speaker 1 all I'm here to learn. Both you and Martell are from the South, as you just sort of alluded to.
Do you ever,

Speaker 1 and you maintain deep southern relationships?

Speaker 1 This is so fun. This is so fun.
I receive a lot of credit.

Speaker 1 I don't know why I've done a couple of episodes of Samantha Who.

Speaker 1 Okay,

Speaker 1 we got to get past this.

Speaker 1 This is fantastic.

Speaker 1 We'll be right back.

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Speaker 1 All right, back to the show.

Speaker 1 Tony, so...

Speaker 1 Talk to us a little bit. So you're from the South, you grew up in the South, and then you go, you move to New York.
We meet in New York.

Speaker 1 how did that happen how what was the move from college to new york and what was what was your goal

Speaker 2 uh okay so i moved to new york in 95 didn't know anybody and then i the very first theater show i did in new york was shakespeare in the parking lot where we did taming of the shrew in a parking lot and wait are you being serious i'm dead serious that's hysterical and uh and then we did that and then i i you know i had every job i cater waitered all that stuff actually really liked cater waitering better than waiting tables.

Speaker 2 And so I cater-weighted all these jobs. And then I started doing commercials.
And my

Speaker 2 type was the guy who wasn't all there.

Speaker 2 That's how I was described.

Speaker 1 And now become the Tony Hale type.

Speaker 2 Which really hasn't much,

Speaker 2 which hasn't really changed. And so then I started doing commercials and enjoying it.

Speaker 2 But it took me six years to find an agent who would send me out for TV and film because they saw me just as a commercial actor.

Speaker 1 Well, Sean, you did commercials for a long time didn't you a lot yeah was there a lot of sort of like there was a thing there like a little stigma of being like a commercial actor and the difference between that and doing film and tv Yeah, it was just they were kind of putting you in compartments and it was just tough to get somebody to send me out for TV, film, and theater.

Speaker 2 And there was this casting director named Marcia DeBonas. Oh, yeah.

Speaker 1 Oh, the great Marcia DeBonas.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And she actually, I don't know if you, she's the one who, well, I'd found

Speaker 1 arrested.

Speaker 2 Yeah, I'd found a manager like a year before or something. So I was kind of being sent out for stuff.

Speaker 2 And then since she casts a lot of commercials, she thought about me for this role and brought me in.

Speaker 1 That's right. Marcia did the, she did the, handle the New York casting for arrested development.
Yeah. And

Speaker 2 the whole thing, and Mitch said when I was, because Buster massaged people a lot. And he, and I was, and in the audition, I was, I was massaging my knees.

Speaker 2 And Mitch said, since the camera stopped here, he didn't know what I was doing down there. And it, and it piqued an interest, and he sent me out of the way.

Speaker 1 So it looked like you were doing something else. Yeah, maybe.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 2 But I was, I was just, I mean, I don't, I, I don't, do you guys, I don't know, do you guys have much memory of that, that shooting that pilot? Because I know we shot it at that.

Speaker 1 It was down south, right? And at LA Studios in Manhattan Beach.

Speaker 2 Yep. It wasn't, was it at Manhattan Beach Studios?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Because the only memory I have is I ran out.
I remember running out of underwear and I had to go to Old Navy to get underwear.

Speaker 1 How does one run out of underwear? Is it because you do you have too many mistakes in the day?

Speaker 2 I had I shit my pants five times.

Speaker 1 Start with Jason. I'll start with Jason.
You got to take care of the business before you leave the house.

Speaker 1 Do you shower before or after? Oh, my God.

Speaker 1 You know, Tony,

Speaker 1 it does say here that your father taught nuclear and atomic physics and served in the military.

Speaker 1 Yeah, he did. And he went to West Point.

Speaker 2 He went to West Point. Good lord.
And then he taught nuclear physics after

Speaker 2 he was done at West Point. No, yeah, he taught there after.
And then he was in the military for 20 years. And we moved around.
We lived in Germany and everything.

Speaker 1 Will, do you feel as bad as I do that you don't know this about Tony after all the years we've worked together?

Speaker 1 I feel.

Speaker 2 What if Will's like, not really? I really don't. I mean, I know.

Speaker 1 What if Will said, yeah, and his mom taught such and such? And like that you knew everything about Tony and I don't. No, I didn't know that.

Speaker 1 I got to say, I am a little embarrassed to say that Tony said I did not know that. That's terrible.
I love that kind of stuff. Did you ever get into that with your dad? Like, did you ever talk?

Speaker 1 Like, did any of that interest you? Because it interests me.

Speaker 1 I don't have a dad.

Speaker 2 Being in the military?

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 nuclear physics. Like, you must have, but that's like a double whammy for a military guy and a nuclear physicist to say, to hear his son say, I want to be an actor.

Speaker 2 You know, when my grandfather was an opera singer, so my dad had a real appreciation for the arts. So he always, always supported where I wanted to go, which I do.

Speaker 1 Do you have memories of that of your grandfather being an opera singer?

Speaker 2 He passed away when my dad was six.

Speaker 1 Okay, nice going. Well, you hit too high of a note.

Speaker 1 He's not like Tony's.

Speaker 1 These guys are real jerks, Tony. Sorry about this.

Speaker 2 But like, he never, he always, they always supported me, which I is not always the case.

Speaker 1 So I'm really thankful for that.

Speaker 1 Your mom was the one that really was against the acting stuff. Go ahead.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 she loved it too. She did.
I'm looking for controversy. He wants a real gotcha episode here with Tony.

Speaker 1 God. Wait, let me just go through a couple.
You guys talked to him for a second. I'll find out what mom was doing during all this.

Speaker 1 You know, it says here, let me tell you, let me tell you what else it says. Oh, my God.
Six nominations

Speaker 1 for Veep alone

Speaker 1 there on the Emmys.

Speaker 1 SAG Awards, three nominations, another six for Veep. Tony, how many Emmy wins for Veep? Two? Two.

Speaker 1 Yeah. For you or the show?

Speaker 2 for him for him I think oh for me too yeah but for the show I think it was two I'm not sure yeah that's so great such a funny show it was a really really fun

Speaker 2 ice i watched some of those outtakes between you and julia and i'm die laughing they're so funny it's there's one scene where she has to she has to um she asked me to break up with her boyfriend for her in the first in like the first season and she's so close proximity to me and it's almost i mean i remember all these moments i'm arrested it's so impossible to not laugh you your whole body is just i know is just shaking i wasn't in v

Speaker 2 julia said to me once you know you know you're not watching the show you're in the show tony because i was because i was laughing so hard i couldn't keep it together wait was she fantastic at not breaking she would always dig her nails into her hands to stop laughing i i'd do that i pinch my my thigh skin

Speaker 1 i i but i brought blood a couple you do a couple of psychotic things to not laugh well I used to, I used to not be able to look at Jeffrey Tambour straight in the eyes when he would do scenes with me and he'd yell at me for like, because I'd be staring at like, you know, the side of his cheek or the tip of his nose.

Speaker 2 He was so dry.

Speaker 2 My thing is, though, I don't know about you guys, but there were times that we just trusted Mitch's. the grid he had in his head because there were so many levels to what was going on.

Speaker 2 I had many times no idea what was going on. And I just had to trust his guidance.

Speaker 1 Most of the time, especially the last couple of years,

Speaker 1 just so complex.

Speaker 2 Very complex. There was a joke.
There was a joke. Well, somebody asked me once, what was one of your favorite bits? And aside from Tobias being in the Blue Man group, which always made me laugh hard.

Speaker 1 Oh, God.

Speaker 2 The one joke when Ian Lesser, the doctor.

Speaker 1 Besser. Besser.
No, Ian Roberts.

Speaker 2 Ian Roberts, yes. Ian Roberts came out.
My favorite jokes.

Speaker 1 One of my favorite jokes. And

Speaker 2 Jessica would say,

Speaker 2 is he okay? And he would go, yes, he's okay. And then he says, but his hand has been

Speaker 2 severed. And they would get all mad.
And I just thought that was so hilarious the way he he delivered it.

Speaker 2 Well, then I was on a I was on a podcast like at the San Francisco Sketch Fest years ago in front of an audience and I was saying that was my favorite joke.

Speaker 2 Somebody raised their hand and said, no, no, no, that's not what he said.

Speaker 1 He says, no, he's all right, meaning he has an all-right hand and not a left hand.

Speaker 2 So 15 years after the joke is when I finally get it.

Speaker 1 That's hilarious. And you were in the scene.
And I was in the scene.

Speaker 1 That's hysterical.

Speaker 2 I mean, just so many things I missed.

Speaker 1 I love how they would just so proudly lean into cheap jokes, you know, like

Speaker 1 the C word

Speaker 1 was the name of the yacht, right? S-E-A-W-A-R-D, C-word.

Speaker 1 And then she

Speaker 2 blue handprints on the wall.

Speaker 1 And then we'd call her the C-word,

Speaker 1 right?

Speaker 1 We'd call mom, or she thought we were calling her the C-word.

Speaker 1 I remember,

Speaker 1 you know, you called the great Matt Walsh, who was with you on Veep, who's a hilarious guy and one of the founding members of Upright Citizen Brigade, and Ian Roberts as well.

Speaker 1 And I just,

Speaker 1 those doctor moments were so dry and so funny.

Speaker 1 Ian is so good in those moments.

Speaker 1 I can't imagine anybody else doing it. And he would do the,

Speaker 1 you know, the whole like, yes, or well, we lost him. And everybody starts crying.
And they just literally meant that they lost him. And those, those moments stick with me too.

Speaker 1 Those like guys like that coming in who are just absolute assassins. Yeah.
Hilarious.

Speaker 2 And Mitch just would just go, he would think of stuff that I would never even consider. I mean, obviously, that's sealed a bit off my hand, but

Speaker 2 one is that when Jessica was on house arrest and she couldn't smoke and she needed me to inhale the smoke out of her mouth and then blow it out on the balcony.

Speaker 1 And you had to run out on the balcony.

Speaker 2 And I would run on the balcony and then come back like a baby bird and just, you know, suck it out of her mouth. Just the most disturbing image.

Speaker 1 But Sean, you know what? Just keep watching. Just the two.
Just the two episodes. Don't worry about it.
Okay.

Speaker 1 You're going to love it.

Speaker 2 Sean, how did you get when you couldn't stop laughing? Did you just go for it or did you keep yourself?

Speaker 1 On the Will and Grays

Speaker 1 program? Wait, were you on that? Yeah.

Speaker 1 Sean.

Speaker 1 I've got to see that. No, I would, I would, I had, I'm the easiest.
I can't. I'm not.
I'm the opposite of a rock on stage. I laugh at anything.
That's so good.

Speaker 1 Today, you know, one of my memories of you, one of my favorite memories, and it's still alive today, is, is what a kind person you are and how kind you are to people in your life and people around you.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 1 it's one of the great things about you that makes you such a lovable and amazing person. And I remember being, when we were shooting the show, so many great moments where you were so sweet and kind.

Speaker 1 But I remember when we had first had Liza on the show,

Speaker 1 Manelli. And

Speaker 1 Liza came in and out over the years

Speaker 1 and was very open about

Speaker 1 going through moments in her life and whatever and was just and you and Martell took you know you knew that she was in her hotel by herself and I remember you guys describing you guys went and picked her up for dinner one night what yeah and she was in the back seat with no seatbelt on she like a kid remember like we used to do back in the 70s she kind of leaned forward I remember you describing between the seats

Speaker 1 smoking in Martell and Tony's car as they're driving to dinner talking to them

Speaker 2 she insisted that she wanted to sit in the back seat and rolled the windows and just immediately started chain smoking. And I was like, please, I was like, please don't stop.

Speaker 2 Like, you can smoke as much as you want.

Speaker 2 And she, where'd you guys go? We went to the hamburger hamlet.

Speaker 1 Sure.

Speaker 2 And so she got in the back seat and she was talking about her music and talking about this concert she did at Radio City Music Hall.

Speaker 2 And I was like,

Speaker 2 by the way, I'm still absorbing that Liza Minela is my girlfriend. The whole thing is just incredibly surreal.

Speaker 1 We both kissed her on the unarrested.

Speaker 2 And we both kissed her. And she's talking about this concert.
And she says, oh, I sang. And I said, what did you sing? And she said, I sang the song Liza with a Z.

Speaker 2 And I was like, Oh, and I didn't know that song stupidly. And I said, And so she broke out in the song in the back seat of our car

Speaker 2 and just started singing it. And she had done it so many times that she could hear the orchestration in her head.
And she'd go, Liza with a Z,

Speaker 1 just smoking.

Speaker 2 And I was like, Well, I, well, we can die. It's time to die, guys.

Speaker 1 She's just in the back, hammering darts.

Speaker 2 And I was just like,

Speaker 2 I don't know what's happening, but I'm just going to keep driving.

Speaker 1 I remember you coming back after that weekend being like, well, we had a crazy weekend.

Speaker 2 But then she told it, then she would like go and just talked about her mom and she loved her mom and talk about being, she grew up on the MGM lot. That was pretty much her childhood.

Speaker 2 I mean, but her stories never came from a place of ego. They always came from a place of like, listen to my life.

Speaker 1 like this this was my life you know you guys had some other big guest stars on there too right marty short was on there yeah marty short the greatest shoot me yeah yeah he had lost use of his legs from a tragic weightlifting accident right he was clean and jerking and he got it up high and then too much and both legs went out from underneath them snapped in half and so he hired a bodybuilder to carry him around the rest of his i remember a bodybuilder yeah and he would try to get the nuts he would like shoot for the nuts and the guy would shoot him down so that he could get nuts.

Speaker 1 What was the name of the bodybuilder? It was a great name.

Speaker 1 We had Carl Weathers.

Speaker 1 We had Super Dave Osborne. We had.

Speaker 1 Our buddy Ed Begley was so

Speaker 1 hilarious.

Speaker 2 Yeah. Obviously, Henry Winkler, who's just

Speaker 1 a crane. Scott Bayo, blah, blah, blah.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Yeah, we really. We got to watch them all again.
And we'll do it with Sean. It'll be new to you, Sean.

Speaker 1 It was a real embarrassment of riches, wasn't it? It really was.

Speaker 1 Hey, now,

Speaker 1 well, go ahead, Sean. Yeah, I was going to say, when you're,

Speaker 1 you're always, like Will was saying, always so funny, always working, by the way. And when you're not working, what are you doing? Because I like to know what rounds a person out.

Speaker 2 I actually got into

Speaker 2 making rope bowls.

Speaker 1 Hang on. Oh, I could get into that.

Speaker 1 Can I show you? I'll show you a picture of them. A rope.

Speaker 2 So, a friend of mine, a friend of mine,

Speaker 1 are you currently smoking these? Yeah. Are you selling it or just smoking it now? Just for personal use?

Speaker 2 I started doing them over the pandemic because this, this, uh, my friend Shauna on the show, I do Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney Plus.

Speaker 1 Uh, shout out.

Speaker 2 Um, she uh gave me one of these as a wrap gift, and I was like, oh, this is the coolest thing. And so I started doing these over the pandemic.

Speaker 1 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 2 So look, these are, do you see them?

Speaker 1 Yes.

Speaker 1 See

Speaker 1 now,

Speaker 1 rope, it looked like pottery.

Speaker 2 No, they're made out of rope. Really? And I really, it's incredibly therapeutic.

Speaker 1 Are they malleable? Like, can you move them?

Speaker 2 Yeah, yeah. And you, and you paint them, and

Speaker 2 it's just like the best.

Speaker 1 What is it?

Speaker 1 Like, what would you put in a rope? It's weed. A lot of it.
It's not food.

Speaker 2 It's not a lot of weed. A lot of my weed.
And I just, but it's like a decorative bowl.

Speaker 1 Is it like crochet?

Speaker 2 No, it's like you, you, you, you do like a disc and then you kind of mold the rope as you're sewing it and it becomes a bowl and then you get a leather. So So I got a leather press to do

Speaker 1 to do these things.

Speaker 2 And then you put a tag on there, and

Speaker 2 I like to give them his gifts.

Speaker 1 You selling these, would you sell them maybe on Etsy? Do you have a little site?

Speaker 2 I don't have an Etsy shop.

Speaker 1 How about any farmers' markets that you go to?

Speaker 2 No. For $5.

Speaker 1 Slice off a piece of soap and sell that with it.

Speaker 1 With some

Speaker 2 hunk of soap with your bowl, ma'am.

Speaker 1 Tony Hill, I love you so much. By the way, now, does Martell help with this or does she mock you?

Speaker 2 No, she mocks me.

Speaker 2 But she

Speaker 2 got,

Speaker 2 she likes to do

Speaker 2 these painting things.

Speaker 1 Paint by numbers, yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, and so we

Speaker 2 had a table, and then I would do that, and she would do that over the pandemic.

Speaker 1 And then Loy is doing what while she's watching her parents go off.

Speaker 1 She's shaking her head, yeah.

Speaker 1 I kind of get it. I kind of want to take up crochet or something like that, you know, or like I get like the mindset of like it's really cute.

Speaker 2 I put on these headphones and I listen to music and it's just super meditative. And it's also, I'm not a painter, but I get to paint the rope, so that's kind of fun.
And it's just very like soothing.

Speaker 1 Yeah, Sean, you should do that. Or, or, or you could, or tie like a stone to your, your leg and then, uh, and then go to the barina.

Speaker 1 Yeah, and see if you see how many times you can get back up to the surface. Okay.

Speaker 1 You guys, can somebody give me a lift? Hey, wait, so Tony, so you're doing that, but if you're not

Speaker 1 pressing the leather,

Speaker 1 what else are you doing? Are you reading these days? Are you doing like are you watching Telly?

Speaker 2 I watch a lot of YouTube.

Speaker 1 I like

Speaker 1 Arts and Crafts Station. No, I, okay, this is

Speaker 1 Tony. You are so controversial.

Speaker 2 I'm not a big T. I have to, I do like TV, but sometimes it's too heavy.
You know, it's like, I, it's.

Speaker 1 Do you watch comedy?

Speaker 2 I do some, but Martell, Martell watches really, like, she loves Ozark.

Speaker 1 She loves like

Speaker 2 handmades. She likes heavy stuff.
Really? I have,

Speaker 2 it really, it affects me. So it's, I, it's like, it's like horror movies when people are like, oh, wasn't that great? I'm like, no, someone's after me now.

Speaker 1 You know, it's like, I can't, I can't detach. What about, what about heavy reality shows? Like, these guys are tired of me talking about alone, like these survivalist shows.
I love it.

Speaker 1 I never got into it. It's too heavy, isn't it?

Speaker 2 It's, it's, that's a little, but here's the thing also is sometimes when these stories are so heavy and people are like, oh, well, Tony, it's just, and Martell's like, you're an actor.

Speaker 2 Like, why can't you detach? Because in my mind, I'm thinking, yeah, that might not be happening, but someone's had that same experience somewhere.

Speaker 2 And I'm watching a visualization of that. And it's, it's too, it's too much.

Speaker 1 Paralyzing empathy.

Speaker 2 So I'll watch paralyzing sometimes. I'll feel everybody's feelings for them.
Yeah.

Speaker 2 But it's like, I, I, there was on YouTube, sometimes I'll watch compilation videos of like X Factor auditions or I watch this really the voice

Speaker 1 and it but I only want to see when they win I only want to see like when they turn the chair and they come I don't want to see any of the rejections yeah I get well now talk to me about about this thing because I battle with this sometimes about exposing myself to news yeah you know like nudes exposing yourself to nudes to nudes because if somebody doesn't have a great physical

Speaker 1 news like if I I can take certain news but other news about people that are going through just

Speaker 1 hunger, you know, or, you know, kids that are sick or something like, how do you, do you, do you try to keep yourself

Speaker 1 not the head in the sand or anything, but no, like, I just, I'm,

Speaker 1 I, it just kills me.

Speaker 2 It's too much. For me, now keep in mind, that's me.
I think other people can really absorb it and can detach from it. You guys have to.

Speaker 1 Oh, I thought you were speaking for everybody.

Speaker 1 I'm speaking for everybody. I represent, I represent the human race.
Sorry.

Speaker 2 But you had, you had Bill Maher on recently, and I listened to, and he like the the amount of absorbing i think he can have that kind of detachment probably yeah i just can't shake it so like i'll do i'll do something called um it's like the uh like the skim it gives like a sense like an email it'll give like uh the highlights of the day yeah right and so no review of the news yeah it's like an oh yeah exactly and so yeah i watch david muir every night oh yeah on abc but any deep dive and kind of i just can't like it's hard for me to let it go feel like what well what what else can I do?

Speaker 1 I mean, I'll, I, I, I'll, I'll donate, I can be charitable or whatnot, but if you get into all of the real micro detail of the suffering, it's see, but that's but see, Jason got me into alone, so I started watching some Arctic something, yeah, and so I started watching like five, six episodes, and and a lot of times we would watch it while we're eating dinner, right?

Speaker 1 We would put on

Speaker 1 the next episode, yeah, while they're skinning a squirrel, it's that's exactly right, and the guy, the guy likes, hadn't eaten, like one of the guys hadn't eaten like seven days, and he finally kills this, like, I don't know what it, marsupial badger, I don't know what the hell it was.

Speaker 1 And he cooks it, chars it. He's like, oh, and he eats the whole thing.
And it's just really, and he cooks the head and he eats the head. It's just so disgusting.

Speaker 1 And then, of course, he gets a stomachache, dysentery, and he. So you skipped seasons.

Speaker 1 You didn't start.

Speaker 1 I know where that is. There's no way that you got there.
He started with free seasons. No, I started six.
I started season six. Oh, man.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 I did the same thing. That's what got me hooked.
And then I went and I bought them all over over on, what is it, history or something? They're on Discovery Plus, man. I love Discovery Plus.

Speaker 2 Do you watch it or do you constantly imagine what would I do in that situation? Like, how would I react?

Speaker 1 Oh, I would encourage the helicopter pilot to not even touch down. Are you kidding me? Alone, it's Jason's dream.

Speaker 1 Jason's dream. He's by himself and he doesn't have to eat.
It's like the most amazing. No, no.
I would completely fall apart. I'm so soft.
Well, I can't even put together a basketball hoop.

Speaker 1 Yeah, because the contestants for Tracy, the contestants get dropped off in a helicopter in the middle of nowhere and the helicopter films.

Speaker 2 They have a camera. Someone's not with them with a camera.

Speaker 1 They have a camera.

Speaker 1 They film themselves, yeah. And that's part of the battle.
They talk about a lot is as they go deeper into the day count,

Speaker 1 sometimes it's obviously the hunger, but also it's the solitude gets them and they start feeling. They do lose a lot of great water weight.
I mean, but Tony's, you know,

Speaker 1 I'm too emotional about the animals in there, so that's why it's hard to watch that.

Speaker 2 Not the humans, just the animals.

Speaker 1 You mean that you couldn't kill the animals to eat them? Correct.

Speaker 1 What do you think is happening when you're going over to Chin Chin, man? Yeah. I know.
Well, I don't want to see it. Like you're like Jason's saying, I don't want to see it, but I'll eat it.

Speaker 1 So head in the sand. That's terrible.
How long are they out there for? Well, the longer you're out there, the closer you get to the big prize. I think the longest has been 100 days.

Speaker 1 I may be wrong, but average is probably like right around. 70, 80 days, something like that.
And these guys lose like, they lose like 60 pounds in three months. That sounds interesting.

Speaker 2 How did they charge their phone?

Speaker 1 Okay, well, that's a problem. Yeah, they don't.
They're not having, see, that's the whole point.

Speaker 2 But to film themselves, idiot, to film, like to film their stuff.

Speaker 1 Oh, no, I'm the idiot. Okay.
Well, listen,

Speaker 1 they have a pack. They have like a pack.
They have like a whole pack thing. Well, you know what? I noticed like they keep their food.
They were like, oh, the guy's like, oh, the mice got into my food.

Speaker 1 I was like, you have that airtight pelican box that keeps the camera equipment in. Put your fucking food in there, dummy.
You know what I mean?

Speaker 2 Do they have enough battery for just for that whole thing?

Speaker 1 Tony, I don't know what their battery count is, man.

Speaker 1 Okay. I don't know what's going on.
It's a hand crank battery that they've got to save enough energy for. Your discovery.

Speaker 1 Upon watching your show, I must admit that I was concerned about the battery.

Speaker 1 And we will be right back.

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Speaker 1 Back to the show.

Speaker 1 Tony, what is the you've done like a laundry list of so many movies and TV shows? I've got it here in front of me, Sean. If you're interested,

Speaker 1 what is one of like, other than Veep and Arrested, of course, those two stand out. What's one of the best experiences you've had, like on a set or with another actor? And who was that?

Speaker 1 And like, what are, like, if somebody said, pinpoint the highlight other than arrested and Veep, because we all know how great and special those were.

Speaker 1 Is there like a moment or a person that really kind of, wow, that totally inspired you or blew you? Unless it's an arrested story involving me, go ahead.

Speaker 2 I really, side note, I mean, it was, arrested was so crazy fun and wild and overwhelming and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 But, and Veep, but aside from that, I would say I did this movie called Nine Days with this director, Ed Sonoda. And it's, it was such a beautiful movie.
And he was so good at what he did and so calm.

Speaker 2 And the movie is so beautiful. And that's one of those that really I think about a lot.

Speaker 2 And I just did being in the Ricardos with

Speaker 2 Nicole Kidman and Javier Bardem and watching them really

Speaker 2 boldly take over those iconic roles. That was really cool to be on the sidelines and watch that.

Speaker 1 Really cool. And tell me, what are you doing right now? You said you're doing a show over on Discovery Plus.

Speaker 2 That's Disney Plus.

Speaker 1 Disney Plus.

Speaker 2 It's a Mysterious Benedict Society. It's based on a children's series.
Well, that's here. I'm doing a movie with my friend Seth Worley called Sketch, but I did that.

Speaker 2 And it's based on this series by a guy named Trenton Stewart who wrote the books. And it's just a beautiful, beautiful story.
And I get to play twins.

Speaker 1 Do you really? You do?

Speaker 2 Yeah, I get to play twins on the show.

Speaker 1 An evil one and a good one?

Speaker 2 He's complicated, but he's like, yeah, the good one and like a one that's had a lot of trauma.

Speaker 1 Like a soap opera. Well, wait, tell me about that because

Speaker 1 I'll bet there are certain characters that you would not play. Am I right?

Speaker 2 I don't know. I think, if I'm honest, I think I probably

Speaker 2 would have said that in the past. Like I would have drawn a line, but until I hear the story, I don't know if I can draw a line of like what I wouldn't play.

Speaker 1 You know, because it's would it be, would it, would it, would it be based on whether it's it's gratuitous or unredemptive or, you know, like, could you play a serial murderer yeah i could you answered that really fast but he's got a heart of gold he's got a heart of gold

Speaker 2 no like i i could but it's like and even if it's not redemptive i mean it's an i mean you look at veep for instance she wasn't a serial killer but you see that you see that equation of this is what happens when you live a life of narcissism and never giving away right you end in isolation and you end up you know bitter right and so that's that would be considered redemptive but it's what a what a great scenario to show that, yeah, to show that equation.

Speaker 2 Yeah.

Speaker 1 Right, right, right. What are the, what are the kinds, I mean, you have done,

Speaker 1 you're so known and obviously celebrated and you've won awards for your comedy.

Speaker 1 Well, it's true. And, and you, you've, you've done these sort of, you know, great,

Speaker 1 played these great iconic characters, comedic characters.

Speaker 1 Do you, is there part of you that's like, okay, I really want to do, because we asked this, we talked about this when we have people on the show all the time, like, do you have this thing in your sights of like, I want to do a great this, like a a great dramatic role that really shows this?

Speaker 1 Is that something that kind of burns inside you?

Speaker 2 If I'm honest, I think when I was younger, I was kind of, I would say that, but I, I think I had different motivations of wanting to, I don't know, get attention or I don't know what it was.

Speaker 1 But now I think it's,

Speaker 2 I don't know if you guys feel this way, but the older you get, things just get a little simpler.

Speaker 2 And it's like, and so it's not necessarily about those big markers it's about i would i would obviously love i love working but i like it's so much more about relationships it's so much more about connecting and who you are on set but i mean obviously good stories and you want to i want to be careful is i really believe the quality of the work experience yeah quality

Speaker 2 but that's that's really the stuff that is has longevity to it. I mean, the work obviously is good, but it's like how you impact people on set and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 i i don't know that's kind of as i get older that's where you see the power in that i feel i feel you on that i i i and like you guys i think it's like so i mean your podcast is so fun and just how you guys are with each other and the laughing and just like and even like you touring i mean that's like there's so much so much beautiful like life-giving power to that tony i gotta tell you it's so it's so crazy i mean you know us it's so weird that we're doing but it's like i think it's so fun and just like you can see that it gives you life you know like that's like as you get older like that's the shit that matters and it did come from that pure place that you're talking about where we had we had no idea dream or goal about the end result it was all about well how can the three of us stay better in touch during covet you know sure and so we just kind of got a little bit more official you know yeah and but the element that you have of the surprise Because like there's two of you that are coming in with an energy of like, what's coming.

Speaker 1 Right.

Speaker 2 And it's like that provides that ooh that oh what gift are we going to get today and not as like to build up arrested but that's how i did feel like also unarrested like we never ever knew what the whole show is just one big surprise we never knew what mitch was going to throw at us and it gives you this like it doesn't fit any formula it's always the surprise i i remember tony after after

Speaker 1 between seasons one and two and we were all in um

Speaker 1 We're at a hotel in Century City and we just found out that we won those, that we got nominated for, do you remember that we were doing like the press that morning early, all of us? And

Speaker 1 I don't. Okay, well, I do.
And Tony,

Speaker 1 you and I were staying at that hotel right there in Century City. I remember this.
And then, Jason, you came over the night before.

Speaker 1 And then early that morning, we went and did a bunch of press, and that's when we found out that we had won.

Speaker 1 We not won, that we got all these nominations for the show. And I remember.

Speaker 1 So we're downstairs. We're really, really happy.

Speaker 1 And then Tony, we were talking to mitch and stuff and then we're kind of walking back and you go what's going on goes well mitch just told me that um i'm gonna lose my hand uh to

Speaker 1 a seal and i remember and i was like yeah to a seal for the whole he's like yeah i guess for the whole season

Speaker 2 yeah i was actually pretty i was pretty upset about it i know now since you were talking about i remember now a picture of us down there it was

Speaker 2 yeah we were down there and it was i i i i remember that from a picture Um, but yeah, I remember when he told me that and so you just said to Mitch, you said, So, Mitch, well, so we're gonna do another season.

Speaker 1 No, I had an idea.

Speaker 2 I think I had an idea, a really bad idea.

Speaker 2 I think I might have even said, Hey, what if, like, what if like Buster's on like dancing with the stars or something like that, or something just really out there?

Speaker 2 And he's like, Yeah, I'm thinking about having a seal bite off your hand.

Speaker 1 And I was like, Uh,

Speaker 2 and I just, I didn't even know how to compute it.

Speaker 1 What is, what is the, have you, did you ever have like a massive injury on that or Veep or anything that's like anything go absolutely chaotic and hurt yourself?

Speaker 1 Oh, for real? He means for real. For real, for real.
Oh, for real.

Speaker 1 You got to keep your knees bent with Sean. His questions,

Speaker 1 this guy is a real man. Yeah, yeah.
I love him.

Speaker 1 It's a surprise. These are award-nominated

Speaker 1 questionnaire of Sean's.

Speaker 1 Did I,

Speaker 1 I don't think so. And then start thinking about your favorite theater story.
Anything crazy ever happened on stage. But let's hear about anything ever.
Did you ever hurt yourself, Tony?

Speaker 1 No, but I do remember.

Speaker 1 He's the best. Go ahead, Tony.
Hey, Tony,

Speaker 1 any terrible memories you want to relive?

Speaker 1 I know.

Speaker 1 I'm trying to talk about

Speaker 1 anything other than arrested development. I know.

Speaker 1 I'm sorry, Sean. This is your brain.
No, but you know, it's not a terrible question. Tony, have you ever broken a bone?

Speaker 1 Honestly.

Speaker 1 No, it's a real question.

Speaker 1 I have.

Speaker 1 How'd you do that? Crying a little bit.

Speaker 2 I stubbed my toe.

Speaker 1 Oh, bless it. Walk us through that.

Speaker 1 Was it going for it? Were you going for pee-pees in the middle of the night? No,

Speaker 1 I was stepping over my dog door. Oh, are you okay? Say it again?

Speaker 2 I was stepping over my dog door.

Speaker 1 You can't step over a dog door. You'd go.

Speaker 2 Well, no, because it was locked to keep the dogs in, and then I stepped over it and tripped and fell on it.

Speaker 1 Oh, doggate. Oh, doggate door.
Doggate. Yeah, yeah.
Oh, doggate. Yeah, so sorry.
Doggate. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah. Okay.
All right, that's understandable. Any theater stories?

Speaker 1 Any horrible

Speaker 2 theater stories? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 Never forget a lineup on stage, don't we? Well, I did.

Speaker 1 I did.

Speaker 2 Well, you did that. Yeah, you did that play with Molly, didn't you, Sean?

Speaker 1 Molly Shannon, yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah. But I did two years ago, I did a one-man play in San Francisco Francisco at ACT

Speaker 2 and called Wakey Wakey by Will Eno.

Speaker 2 And I was so petrified that I was going to forget a line. And I remember every night.

Speaker 1 A one-man show, you got no help.

Speaker 2 Yeah, just feeling like I was going to forget everything.

Speaker 2 And then by the grace of God, I just, I, I always had, thankfully someone was off set in case I did, but I, but I started memorizing like six months before because I was so panicked I was going to forget a line.

Speaker 2 But that makes me think, Jason,

Speaker 2 I'll never forget being on set because with lines,

Speaker 2 I have to kind of take some time with them to absorb. I remember you reading the script the morning of and then getting them.
Is that correct? Like you would just skim the page.

Speaker 2 He's like a crazy, he has a crazy imagination.

Speaker 1 My brain works for one thing, and it's that. Willie's really, well, Will has got the Mary Lou Henner dates stuff down, and also

Speaker 1 he can remember lines. So he's got two uses for his brain.
I only have the one. I mean,

Speaker 2 that show really taught me, was pretty foundational for me of just kind of a lot of lessons from that show for me, which was great.

Speaker 1 I'm with you. Oh, me too.
Michael.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I think, and I think for our listener, you have to understand for us and Sean, you're saying it, and you're sort of saying, let's not talk about arrested too much. Oh, no, no, I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 But for us, it was such a seminal moment. And listener is-I love hearing about it.

Speaker 1 If you hear us making it about ourselves or whatever, we're just sharing love because we're so happy and giddy to see Tony.

Speaker 1 And it brings up so many memories memories that are really important big memories yeah from our lives and we had this shared experience in our life that was a really yeah big and we used to spend more time together than our own families and we just haven't been able to do that I know I love hearing about it I really do yeah it's also like it's also I'm sure you can relate to this Sean it's also you think back to that time I mean you know almost 20 years ago and it's hard not to be embarrassed of kind of how

Speaker 2 you know I would react to certain things or because I was in this very overwhelmed state thankfully I was playing a very overwhelmed character. So that kind of worked.

Speaker 2 But just like, I knew I had never been on a studio a lot. I had never, I didn't know, I just didn't know anything.
I never had that much free food offered to me during the day.

Speaker 1 I was, I was just like, what's everything?

Speaker 2 Nothing was computing, you know?

Speaker 1 And I would just walk around and your own parking space. Yeah.

Speaker 2 Yeah, my own parking space.

Speaker 2 Just to kind of, and that thing of like, you give something so much weight growing up of like, that sitcom, that weight and then when you get it you're like why am i still anxious why am i i thought i was going to feel differently i was and it's just from that well why why why did you feel still feel anxious just because you felt that now that i have it now there's pressure to

Speaker 2 now to deliver is that what well i think there's it's it's a it's a few things and you know thank god for therapy but it's like I really don't think I was very present for most of my life.

Speaker 2 I don't think I'd never really, I would always be looking ahead of like, well, that's coming. That sitcom's coming.
That That big thing's coming. Yeah.
And then I got it and I had to go, oh, crap.

Speaker 2 I, because the thing is, if you're present and if you're in that time,

Speaker 2 then when you get something, it's just kind of, you know, it just kind of unfolds rather than carry this, all this weight.

Speaker 2 And I've said this several times, and I apologize if anybody has heard me babble about it, but it's that whole thing of like, if you're not practicing contentment where you are, you're not going to be content when you get what you want.

Speaker 1 And I think that really hit me on Arrested, you know? Yeah, I think that there's a very similar, I was talking about this with somebody the other day.

Speaker 1 You can't be it, you, I try really hard, and not perfectly. I don't do it, I don't execute it perfectly, but I really think about this idea that I can't be at the effect of circumstances.

Speaker 1 And meaning that my happiness can't be pegged to something outside because then it's, you're in for a shit right, because it's going to go up and down, and nothing's in a straight line.

Speaker 1 And you can't, if I'm at the effect of other things, I have to, it's not like I'll see it, you know, I'll believe it when I'll see it. You know,

Speaker 1 it's almost like I got to believe it and then I'll see it. My happiness has to come from here.

Speaker 1 And it doesn't matter if I actually, whatever happens outside of me is going to happen.

Speaker 1 Well, how do you, how do you guys avoid falling into complacency or being more comfortable than is healthy with normalcy or mediocrity?

Speaker 1 Like, in other words, how do you, how do you balance contentment and also staying ambitious and driven and have goals and prepare for future.

Speaker 1 Balance, I think, which is the easiest. But

Speaker 1 how do you know what it is until you have the clarity of retrospection, right?

Speaker 2 Yeah, and I think that's a great question because I'm glad you're really glad you asked because

Speaker 2 it's not that ambition or dreaming is wrong at all.

Speaker 2 In our business, I feel like there's a subliminal messaging of like, you will have value when this happens.

Speaker 2 You will have value if this big thing comes into your life. And the truth is, my value before any of this happened is the exact same as my value now.
Your value,

Speaker 2 your value doesn't change. And so I think with ambition, many times, what I did is associated my value to getting that.

Speaker 1 Or your outward value as opposed to your internal value.

Speaker 2 I connected it.

Speaker 2 Without knowing it, my internal value, I can go back to that reunion and be like, hey, look what you make, you know, whatever. But it's like, my internal value would be better if I got that stuff.

Speaker 2 When in actuality, that internal value is the exact same. Yeah, of course.
But that's not the message you hear, I think, in the business.

Speaker 1 Does that make sense? Yeah.

Speaker 1 No, sure, certainly, because you get, well, and it's easy to fall. It's a trap.
You can fall into it very easily. And it's very easy to, again, sort of peg your

Speaker 1 value, if you will, let's say, I'll say happiness

Speaker 1 to

Speaker 1 outside things.

Speaker 2 Yeah. And you're also, in this business, you're also,

Speaker 2 you're constantly being asked, like, what's next? You know, what's next for you? What's next?

Speaker 2 Which is a great question, which is a great question, but you kind of don't go up to a dentist and say, what's next?

Speaker 1 True, but this is a unique, this business is unique in that, at least for actors and also directors, and I guess anybody,

Speaker 1 it's very a la carte. Like, you don't have one job that lasts 30, 40 years like a dentist would.

Speaker 1 It is sort of you, you're constantly getting hired and fired because the jobs come to an end. So it is a natural question, but it is an annoying one to have to.

Speaker 1 But then sometimes when you do a show, show, when you do a show, it becomes much more sort of a prefix, you know? Yeah.

Speaker 2 And I wouldn't even say it. I wouldn't say it.

Speaker 1 I wouldn't say annoying because

Speaker 2 I didn't mean that. It's not annoying, but it's a challenge for me to not always be looking to next.
You know, it's like it's easy to fall into that when, yeah, it is piecemeal together.

Speaker 1 Absolutely. Is Loy at all interested in going into this business?

Speaker 2 She is,

Speaker 2 not of, no, she's at, but she did just get cast in Steel Magnolias at her school. And she's going to be, yeah, she's going to, she's excited to do that.

Speaker 2 And so, but she wants to, I mean, this could change, but she really is interested in education.

Speaker 1 Oh, cool.

Speaker 1 Would you encourage her in this business if she did go that direction?

Speaker 2 I would be lying if I didn't have promotion and anxiety attached to it and have to do a couple more therapy lessons. But I,

Speaker 2 you know, it's that whole thing of like, you never want to dictate your child's wrath. So I would have to just, I would be curious.
That's the thing.

Speaker 2 Like, that's one thing that we're with parenting is, is rather than being reactive, be curious and just, you know, be like, oh, well, because what I want to do is react and be like, well, let me teach you these lessons.

Speaker 2 Right.

Speaker 2 And I just need to kind of shut up and just listen.

Speaker 1 Yeah.

Speaker 1 It's hard. Yeah.
I haven't seen her since she was

Speaker 1 six, maybe or something like that. She was little.

Speaker 2 You guys, though, made me laugh. So hard.

Speaker 2 Like it is, there's a, I don't know if you guys watch, Sean, don't feel bad because i don't watch the episodes myself much but i do every now and then we'll watch the blooper reels that they gave us because that's this that's the stuff that i remember i watch those and there's a there's one blooper of will and i

Speaker 2 coming in and liz is in the room and we have our robes on and we couldn't even get any two words out and just busted but it was such a organic breakdown that it just gives me so much joy to see all all the time.

Speaker 1 There was love. There was a ton of laughter on that show.
I really, really loved it. Isn't that why we do what we do? I mean, those moments.

Speaker 1 Yeah, I told you, I've said, I said this to David before, and I'm going to say it to you just so you can hear.

Speaker 1 We've talked about it, but that the hardest I've ever laughed, actually laughed in my life

Speaker 1 anywhere.

Speaker 1 This is not just on set, just anywhere at any time, was that scene when it was supposed to be an intervention for Lucille, and we all end up getting drunk, and you're on the piano with your hook, and David went and got

Speaker 1 jean shorts. And he put them, he's dancing next to you, and I'm on the table, and Jason's got the wig on.
He's got Franklin's wig on, and it was just like, nobody said anything, it was just mayhem.

Speaker 1 They just sort of went like, go mayhem. And it was late on a Friday night, and I had tears.

Speaker 1 And you were just, and Tony was going like,

Speaker 1 and he was hammering on the piano, like Buster's all happy. And David's dancing next to him with no shirt on.

Speaker 1 And I was

Speaker 1 crying.

Speaker 1 I remember driving home, and like an hour later, Mitch called me, and I was in the car, and I picked up, but I was still actually laughing

Speaker 1 by myself.

Speaker 2 That's so good.

Speaker 1 Tony, I mean, you guys were there for the hardest laugh I've ever had.

Speaker 1 Oh, man. That was so, so fun.
Anyway, hi, Sean. Hey.
So the show is press development. It's on Fox, what, Thursdays? Sundays at 8.30.
Catch it on Roku. Tony, this is way too much time.

Speaker 1 It's already 5.45. Give it a bonus.
It's so crazy. We went over.
We apologize.

Speaker 1 And again, to our listener, I'm so sorry that we just, you had to hear us just fawn all over Tony and talk about the old days, but I don't know. I loved it.
I love you. We just love you so much.

Speaker 1 You're just

Speaker 1 Tony. You're one of the, you're such an incredible, incredible talent.
And,

Speaker 1 but even above and beyond that, you're such a wonderful, sweet, sweet, just great person.

Speaker 1 Love you so much. Love you so much, man.
Same. Please say hi to Marcel.

Speaker 1 I will. I will.
I will. I love you, too.
Thank you, guys. Thank you, I do.

Speaker 2 I love you, too.

Speaker 1 I'd love to see you soon.

Speaker 2 Let's do it.

Speaker 1 All right. Let's do it.
Hey, guys, we'll do a reunion. Let's do it a reunion special, right? Arrested special.
Do you want to say that? I think we should.

Speaker 1 Would you guys do it, by the way? I'm just. I'd do anything for arrested.
Why wouldn't you do that? Always. Would you do it, Tony? Yeah.
I'd go back to work tomorrow on that show. Yeah, me too.
Yeah.

Speaker 1 Sean, come on. Come join us.
Hi, Mitch. Hope you're listening.

Speaker 1 Tony, love you. Love you, Tony.

Speaker 2 Love you guys. Thank you very much.
Talk to you soon.

Speaker 1 Thank you for doing doing this thank you for having me on bye buddy bye bud

Speaker 1 um guys sorry who was that who was who was that anthony jay jay that was such a great call having tony um yeah that was great i love that man i i again i apologize if it was to uh our own little clubhouse but no it's it's really really fun to be flying the wall i could hear story i wasn't even there and i could hear stories like that all day long just about like who was on what would happen there's also anything that he says i can listen to because he truly is.

Speaker 1 He's so genuine. I think we say this a lot on this show, but I think you'd be hard-pressed to really find truly a nicer person

Speaker 1 that we've interviewed. And we've interviewed a lot of nice people, but Tony is

Speaker 1 just made of all good stuff.

Speaker 1 I've interviewed him a few times on like when I guest hosted like Ellen or I think Kimmel once or something.

Speaker 1 But yeah,

Speaker 1 I've hung out with him a few times.

Speaker 1 He's just so genuine and sweet and nice. And

Speaker 1 he was so funny. He would make us laugh.
And he was a great laugher. And you could really get him.

Speaker 1 I had a really good theater story to share, but maybe I'll do it next time. Let's hear it.

Speaker 1 Is it about the time that you

Speaker 1 got an audition for Bye-bye, Bertie? Bertie. Bye-bye.
Bye.

Speaker 1 That's good. That was good.
Bye, Bertie.

Speaker 1 Bye, guys. Bye.

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