Mario Lopez: Kicks Incorporated
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Hey, everybody. Welcome to Literally. My good friend Mario Lopez is dropping by today. I have such respect for him. No one works harder. No one works harder.

No one is nicer. You know, I have to talk to lots of people, you know, when I'm out promoting stuff and it just always warms my heart when Mario's on the other end of the camera or microphone, but I'm turning the tables on him today. Yes, I am. I'll be asking the hard questions of him today. Yes, I am. That's the new Rob interviews, Mario theme that I just came up with. And I hope you liked it. Here we go with Mario.

What's happening, brother? What's going on, man? Thank you so much for having me on your show. I appreciate it. I mean, how many times have we done this, but the tables have turned? I know. I know. And you know how I feel about you. I've been a fan for years, and you've been so gracious with your time on my shows and radio show over the years. So this is a real treat. Thanks for having me. Oh, it's great. Are you kidding me? I mean, we always have such a good time together. It's always whenever...

I have to go out and promote something. I'm always happy when it's your smiling face on the other side of the microphone or the television camera. How's your summer been going? My summer's been really, really good, really busy, ironically, even though we're in the middle of the strike.

I've been busier than ever because the shows that I do that you just mentioned are under the news division. So I've got Access Daily, which is sort of like my daytime talk show, which comes out at 12 noon on NBC and then Access Hollywood later on that night at 7.30 on NBC. Both of those fall under the news division, so I'm able to still do those every day. And then I also have a nationally syndicated radio show that I do for iHeart called On With Mario, so it doesn't affect any of those things. Yes! And then...

I happened to have squeezed in a game show that's going to be coming out later in the fall. So it was really busy. The only thing I haven't been able to do, and I usually kind of squeeze in around this time, is I do a little holiday film towards the end. And I usually will...

appear in one and then I'll produce another. But that obviously has been put on hold because of the circumstances. But other than that, I've been busy with all my other stuff. I love it. You're so industrious. Industrious is the best word and it really describes you well. I got to hear about the game show. Tell me about the game show. So we just came up with this game shop. I've always liked this space. Yeah, I love it. I love game show spaces. I love them. It's so much fun. But there's no better feeling than giving away money to people. That's

That's the best deal in the world. It's like, I'm always rooting for them and I'm playing along with them. Obviously, I have to be non-biased and can't share for anyone in particular, but whenever someone wins the grand prize, it's the best deal. It is. I've got some stuff upcoming in that space as well and I never thought I would be

in that world, but I love trivia, history, knowledge, words, love all of it. Dude, when I was 15, I was on the, this makes me laugh, the amount of money in the title, the $10,000 pyramid. Wait, that's the one that Dick hosted. Yeah, and Dick fucked up my introduction three times. I was 15 years old.

Oh, wow. And it was Dick Clark. He's the man. And he was like, our contestant, Ron Loeb. Awesome. And then I was like, oh, God. It was the greatest. It was in New York. And it was a celebrity version. I was on a sitcom. So they had all these fledgling sitcom young kids competing against adults in shows. And I was competing against Tony Danza. And I absolutely loved it.

eviscerated him. Every single game. I got to the, I got to the pyramid one. Yeah. I won everything. It was, it was amazing. I love that. And, and, and I love, and I love me some Tony dancing too. And I bet he was dying. This little ratty kid came over here. That's the best story. You have the best story. It's funny that you mentioned Dick Clark because I had the pleasure and

an honor working with him. Oh, wow. A couple of years. We did a show back in

You'll appreciate this. It premiered on the day before 9-11. Oh, boy. 9-11 was on a Tuesday, if you remember. And this was on the Monday. We did really well. Then all of a sudden, the world changed. And that consumed television for the next, I don't know how many months. But we got to do it a couple seasons. And I got to work with Dick. And it was basically the male version of The View. That's at least how they tried to do it. It was called The Other Path. So it was Dick Clark and sort of that Barbara Walters role.

Dr. Jan Adams, who was this Harvard professor turned plastic surgeon who ended up becoming known for being the doctor who worked on Kanye West and his mom passed away on the operating table. And then it was, yeah, then it was Diane Bonaduce, who was wild. And then it was me. I was like the young single guy at the time.

So we did that for actually two and a half seasons. And then we became really close. And because of that experience, Dick sort of changed my mind. He changed my mind as far as my whole outlook on sort of my career, that there are no rules. Why not be able to do it all? You're a natural host. You like people. And I do. I love hosting, whether it's game night at my house, having barbecues or just people over. I want to make sure people are having a good time. And I just like to kind of entertain them. So we sort of switched my...

thinking and everything. And I'm like, yeah, why not? There are no rules. And so I was proud to eventually call him a friend. And then I said to myself, like a light bulb went off. I said, that's it. I want to be the Latino Dick Clark. That's what I want to do. Yeah. Later on. Well, I love because there's nobody like him. People forget Dick Clark Productions, one of the early great legendary. Yeah. I mean, he,

invented the Golden Globes. Yes. He absolutely did. He used to have a van, Rob. He had a van, I don't know if you know, and he gutted the van out and he bolted a desk in there and he lived in Malibu and he'd drive in, his offices were Burbank and he shot the show in Burbank, and he'd drive in and he'd be on his desk working on the way in. It was the weirdest thing.

I didn't realize he was one of the early adapters of the driving desk. Yeah, the mobile office. The mobile office. He was such a stud. He really was. He was. And it's always funny. I always like to watch you and Ryan Seacrest because I'm like...

only one will end with the mantle of our Dick Clark. You know what's funny? With Ryan, I happen to know him for a long time. We lived in the same apartment complex for like five years. No way. Yeah, I swear to God. It was the weirdest thing. So he was from Atlanta in Georgia and he came out. We both used to live in this apartment complex called Park Point in Burbank on Hollywood Way and Raduco. Amazing. And at the time, it was like, I'm putting it out because it's a long time. It still exists, by the way. But-

At the time, there was a bunch of, like, the cast of Fresh Prince, not Will Smith, but the other, Hanvera, Tatiana Ali, they lived there, the cast of Days of Our Lives. It was like a little Melrose place. And I lived there with another buddy named Mark Tenaz, and they were like two doors down from me. And we were all around the same age, and then we all just kind of, you know, became buddies. And then he was doing the radio at the time, so there was a lot of six degrees. I don't think you have been in this way too damn long. It's going on 40 years. Yeah.

This next month. It feels like yesterday when you were, you know, canoodling Fergie on, what the hell was the name of that show? It was Kids Incorporated. Kids Incorporated. God, that was the best. That was so much fun. I'm trying to bring that back like a new modern iteration. I don't know how they, what was Tommy Lynch was the producer. And I don't know how we got away with, there were songs that were on the Billboard charts previously.

at the moment and somehow we were able to go re-record them and it was sort of like Kidz Bop before Kidz Bop. And then we recorded them and then we were able to play them on the show. But we really played the instruments, we really sang and danced. And Martika was on that, or Sean Patterson, another R&B great artist. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Stacey Ferguson. Everybody really sang and it was like the Mickey Mouse Club, but another version. - What was the theme? There's a theme, right?

There was a restaurant. Yeah, like a restaurant. You had a song at the beginning. Kids, kids, incorporate. Oh, kids, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I-D-S, kids, incorporate. We're gonna have that. We're kids, yes, exactly. That was a long time ago. I was 10 when I got that. I was 10 years old. Okay, what's the audition process to get kids incorporated as a 10-year-old?

I remember it actually. I can't believe this, but I remember it. And it was like one of those old school cattle calls and lines around the block, tons of kids. And you had a call back after a call back. We had like, I think at least five. And then you finally, uh, perform for the, uh,

producers. But you had a little scene, then you had to sing and dance too. So you kind of had to be able to kind of do it all. And fortunately, because my mom put me in a bunch of different activities to get me busy and out of trouble when I was a little kid because I was hyper. And it was a sub-scale neighborhood growing up. All that stuff came in handy. So, I owe mom. Explain this to me because look, we both started, you're 10 years old, you did it. At 10 years old, I was in a kids group with a

The worst name ever. Peanut butter and jelly. Dude, I can't believe you remember that. Dude, I read your books. Of course I do. Peanut butter and jelly. I remember. Yes, yes. I mean, listen, Mario's throwing down with Kids Incorporated with Fergie and I'm doing peanut butter and jelly in Ohio with who the hell even knows. She wasn't Fergie at the time. She was Stacy. Stacy. Stacy. I was like, what's that all about? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um,

But doing what I was doing in Ohio at that age, they were my peers, my fellow 10-year-olds and 11-year-olds and 12-year-olds were not having it. I can only imagine you as a young Chicano dude, and you're like, yeah, man, I tap dance. Were they like, yeah? Or were they like, wait one second, you? Because my peers were not, they didn't understand it.

At all. So picture it. I grew up, so I'm a child of immigrants. My parents came from Mexico. They settled in Chula Vista, California, which is the border town, to Iguana. Only a couple hours south of LA, but a world of difference. Not exactly the most upscale neighborhood, especially when I grew up. Being a hyper kid, there was a lot of potential for trouble and going in the wrong direction. So my mom's whole...

was to keep me busy every day after school with an activity so I didn't have time to get in trouble. So I was the only...

dancing, singing, wrestling, karate, theater kid I knew, but I never talked about it at school, Rob. And I was just one of those kids that kind of listened and did what my mom said. And I didn't ever talk about it. Fortunately, none of the paths crossed for my school kids until we had talent shows. And my mom's like, well, you got to perform, you better do it.

Yeah. Hell yeah. Talent shows. And then I was able to do stuff. Everybody was like, Whoa, where the hell did that come from? What did you do? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What was your talent? What was the first thing you did in the talent show at school where people were like, wait, this Mario, what the heck? I remember. I can't believe I remember this. Well, I remember the one is seven, sixth grade. It was, um, a dance to run DMC. My cousin and I did it because he danced too. Um,

It's Tricky. You know that song? It's Tricky! So we danced to that song and we were breaking it down back then. Kids were like, whoa! Because we were breaking and we were popping. That was during that era. Which, coincidentally, Run DMC and the Beastie Boys was my very first concert I ever went to down in San Diego. San Diego Sports Arena, I'll never forget. Run DMC and Beastie Boys. What was your first concert, by the way? David Cassidy. Come on.

Really? Come on, man. David Cassidy, you know. I had his hair cut. Yeah, you did. For years. Oh, yeah. And all my memory of it is he was, it was at Hera Arena in Dayton, Ohio in probably 1974 or 5.

And he was a tiny little white speck in an Elvis outfit. And the screaming, and that's all I remember. Yeah, yeah. I don't know why I remember that. I think one of my uncles took me or something. It was cool. I'll never forget it. So yeah, I didn't talk about it when I was kids. So I know what you're saying. I didn't talk about it because, yeah, I would have gotten teased, bullied, beat up, the whole deal. But after that, then they kind of were intrigued a little bit. I still kind of brush it off. I don't want to talk about it.

I mean, it seemed like, oh yeah, we just kind of made that up.

That is, because I've wondered, I was thinking that had to have been a thing. That's smart. You just didn't tell anybody about it. I couldn't talk about it. So then I started doing Kids Incorporated and I was on a show before that, a Norman Lear show called A.K. Pablo with the comic Paul Rodriguez. I never talked about any of that at school because just in my neighborhood, you didn't talk about it. Nobody liked any kind of, I didn't want them to think I'd be showing off or anything. And if people were to recognize me, I'd just kind of brush it off.

and wouldn't really, I was almost embarrassed by it because I didn't want to be treated any different because I was one of the only kids, at least when I grew up, that still attended like a regular public school. So even when I was doing Saved by the Bell, I got to, I went to my, I got to experience prom. I wrestled for my school and did all the activities that a normal high school would do. I just,

Most of the time, the projects, because they were so many, because we were all minors, they would shoot them in the summertime anyway, because they want to mess with social workers and what have you. That's such a different experience than I had. It's awesome. I didn't get to do, I mean, I loved high school baseball and wanted to play. And, you know, you don't tell the coach you're going to, you got to miss practice to go on an audition.

Well, that's the thing. And that's how I got into wrestling. So I tried to play team sports. Funny that you say that, but it's, it's not fair to the other teammates. Right. Yeah. And, and coaches aren't very understanding because you disrupt this chemistry as opposed to individual sports. All you have to do is beat out the guy in your weight class. But because I had wrestled since I was a little kid, I was pretty good by the time I got into high school. And, um,

I beat out the guy in my weight class and I was able to win the team. That's never occurred to me. That's, I, I, I see, I just don't want anybody fucking with my, possibly fucking with my face. Do you know what I'm saying? It's like, I would be like, don't break, I got my, you've heard your nose broken. I'm a nose broken once. I don't want that ever to happen again. It hurts. And I have, and you know, I, I still box and Uber

We were talking about that. So I've always been sort of partial to, well, listen, when you're growing up dancing and all that and growing up when I did that, my mom was smart enough to at least put me in wrestling and had my uncle showed me how to box and I had to be able to balance it to protect myself. I mean, I had a lot of family, so they were always there anyway. But

I stopped boxing, at least competitively when I was younger because I started getting into acting. But then as I got older, they came up with really cool headgear with the bar and this and that. And now I do it just, it's for fun. And I always say I always do it for more sanity than for vanity. And it's one of those things, wrestling,

boxing, any martial arts, I love the level of respect and the commitment and the discipline that's involved. And it's something you can carry for the rest of your life. You can't necessarily play football for the rest of your life. But a guy, I feel, should know at least how to fight a little bit. You don't need that, God forbid, maybe someday for the rest of your life. For sure. 100%.

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You got to tell me about doing a chorus line on Broadway and who did you play and how did that happen? That sounds flippant.

flipping awesome. And how about this, Mario? I saw the original cast in A Chorus Line. Oh, how cool. It was insane. It was, again, probably 1975. It was. It was 1975. Insane. Such... So ahead of its time, even back then, and it still holds up. So that was one of those bucket list things I always wanted to do was just to be able to say, I've worked on Broadway, and I had a six-month run. I played Zach...

the director, but they sort of embellished his role. So he ended up singing and dancing a lot more and they sort of kind of added stuff, which was kind of cool. Wow. At the time I joined a production that I'd already been going. Yeah. And it was a wonderful experience. A lot of hard work, eight shows a week. And towards the last three months, it became really difficult because I was doing this MTV show at the time.

called ABDC, America's Best Dance Crew that I hosted. So on my dark day Monday, I would fly back. - Oh no, wait, what? Eight shows a week and flying? - Yes, one on my dark day, fly back.

And then sleep and then get robbed. Then I had to land. I went and I had to do a matinee and then the one at night. And then I was so exhausted. It caught up with me. Thank God. But the silver lining there, I met my wife during that run on a chorus line. So that was a nice bonus. And you have three kids now? Is that right? I have three kids. I have a Gia.

Dominic and Santino. My wife's Italian. That's why they sound like the cast of Sopranos. 12, nine, and four. Okay. 12, nine, and four. That's such a great eight. That's such...

Oh, it's such a great age. I'm soaking it all up right now because I know it's about to change. My daughter, she's already a bit of a handful right now, even at 12 going on 19, it feels like. But I'm taking them all. We're all going to the Dodgers game tonight. Oh, you are. I've got my setup ready to watch. Mario and I are huge Dodger fans. Huge, huge, huge, huge. So you'll love this. The other day I'm watching the game. You know the new kid Miller? Yeah. Bobby Miller, right? I think that's his first name.

He was lights out. But I'm watching at home on TV and I can see him changing his grip. I can literally see that he's tipping his pitches on television and throwing, okay, here's going to be off speed pitch. Off speed pitch. Here's going to be another, here comes the fastball. Not during the, in the stretch, fine. From the full windup, I text Dave in the dugout.

I go, Dave, he's, I go, I go, I'm sure you've got people over this. I'm sure. But I just, I'm sitting here and he's tipping his pitches. I can see his pitches at home. He's like, really? That's awesome. By the way, by the way, the guy was lights out. Didn't make one bit of difference, but it was. Did he respond? Yeah. Oh, he said, really? I'm going to put some guys on it. Thanks, man. That's great. That's great. Isn't that fun?

That's fun. You probably do just as good of a job. It's so fun. I love baseball so much. No, me too. I love it. It's great. We go to a lot of team sports, the kids' favorites, and there's nothing like it. We always look forward to it. Dodger Stadium on an August night might be one of the great things in...

the world and particularly for sure in Los Angeles, that, and maybe something at the Hollywood bowl. If you can deal with the track, that's, that's another, Oh yeah. It's the best when it's, when it's nice out and you're able to drink and hang out and push with a great band. I think we usually go over here. We haven't gone this year yet, but we, I think we have tickets to go see, uh,

A friend of mine, Maxwell, R&B singer. Sure, Maxwell, yeah. Yeah, he's great. He's, I think, just coming up this next month, so I'm looking forward to that. Going back to the Dodgers really quick, last night, or I think it's the whole weekend they're celebrating, was Fernando Valenzuela Day. Oh, that was, I am so bummed I wasn't there. Okay, I hate to keep telling this story, like, well, when I, when I bring you back. No, I love those stories. Please continue to do that. I was there the very first time he took the mound at Dodger Stadium.

Come on! Yep. You were? Yep. I believe it was, he came in in relief. He did? I feel like it was a playoff game against the Houston Astros. Nobody got hurt. I forgot who got hurt. Yep. And he came through, but you're right. And then by, and it was lights out in that postseason, and then by the next season was the famous rookie year.

Only player to be Rookie of the Year and win the Cy Young Award and win World Series.

At 18. Well, that's the thing. There was always this thing about how old is he really? Right. Because he looked like it. He looked old from the beginning. He looked old from the beginning. But even that year, Rob, he had five shutouts that year. Well, back then, they used to pitch a lot of complete games, too. I mean, can you imagine if they would use the analytics and the game the way it is today? It probably could have lasted another seven, eight years. He was just, I love they retired his jersey. What a stud.

Fernando Mania. That's right. Oh, so good. How have you not done a sports...

centered something yet or have you and I just don't am forgetting about it so I recently produced along with with Mark Wahlberg who's a friend of mine which we're really happy with the way it turned out produced a doc on another friend of mine Oscar De La Hoya which I would love you to check out it's we're so blessed we've gotten great reviews oh great we're talking HBO is talking about do we want to say

submitted for a regular Emmy or sports Emmy and it's done really well. It's called Golden Boy and it's about Oscar De La Hoya and his life leading up to him being a championship fighter and then post-life as a promoter and all the shenanigans he's got into. And I gotta say, not just because being involved, but it's probably one of the most raw, vulnerable documentaries ever.

especially focusing on an athlete that I think I've ever seen. And I'd love for you to check it out and get your thoughts, but really proud of the way it turned out. Where can I see? Is it on HBO? On HBO. It's on HBO. It's a couple of parts. Um, called the golden boy. I think you'll really dig it. Or now max, I guess they're kind of, I can't believe they had this iconic brand. That's synonymous.

With quality, with awards. Yeah, with awards. Just with the top tier, just greatness. And we're going to go with Max, which, especially us in our era, I keep thinking Cinemax. I can't get it out of my head. Yeah. It's just a weird move. I'm like TJ Maxx. Yeah, right. Exactly. But anyway, that's on HBO slash Max to check out. And that was a wonderful experience and I learned a lot. Yeah.

And it took a lot of time. But because of that, now a lot of other athletes have sort of approached me and us to kind of tell their story. So I'm excited about kind of continuing in that lane. Okay. How good of a golfer is Mark?

Talking about Wahlberg here. Here's the thing. I don't really play. I have the ironies. I have a golf tournament. Um, I just assumed you really played all the time because of your golf tournament. Only because it takes too much time. I don't have any time. You know, I'm doing like three shows a day. I wish I had more time. I don't, I don't have the time and the little time I do have, I use kind of train, right? So I'll get out there whacking around, but I'm not, I'm not a player by all means, but Mark plays a lot. I know that he plays a lot. So I think it's good. I mean,

I mean, I got to say. He gets up early and plays. You, you, Wahlberg, me, who else would be in like the hardest working club? Because I don't think anybody's topping you or Wahlberg. Well, you know, one of the reasons I've been such a big fan of yours, not only just the way you are as an individual, but you've been able to sort of sustain this

level of success for so many years now and continuing to do all these different types of projects. Going back to my Verano rules, whether you're acting or producing or hosting or now doing the podcast, I think that's just awesome. And incorporating your family and the projects you do with your son, I think that's the coolest thing, man. So it's such an inspiration, but

Again, I think at this day and age, you got to be a savage and you got to want to be a hustler and keep that mentality. I'm never one to want to rest on my laurels. And I think especially growing up, when you don't have any money and you start to make a little bit, you can either go one of two ways. You either start to kind of

relax a little bit and become a little more of a of a flossy guy as the kids would say or you always kind of have that train of thought of like you know what this could end at any moment it's show business some somebody you could say the wrong thing okay cancel this and that you know it could all go away so i always have that mentality like it all it all go away so i always like to kind of keep

at it and whatever I'm doing. It's the athlete mentality too. It's like, you know, there's some young kid coming up trying to bust your rice bowl. It's my favorite phrase ever. It's like, you know, it's like there's always some new kid on the block and, you know, use it or lose it. Exactly right. Exactly right. But you know, now you've achieved like icon status and it's different. So now, and now with everything being so diluted,

See, Rob, I'd like to think like yesterday when we started becoming well-known, famous, whatever, it was only like three channels. That was real fame. If you were famous back in the day, that's real fame. Everybody knew the word because there wasn't that many outlets. Now, because of the thousand channels and...

and the streaming services and the YouTubes, all that, it's so diluted. The fame isn't really what it used to be. So we were lucky sort of in that era that that was true. Do you agree? Oh, 100%. And it's funny, I didn't mention it when you were talking about it, but this is, you mentioned AKA Pablo. Not only do I remember it. Oh, come on. Yes. And I remember the font of the title. And that was a show that did not work at all. But in that era,

You could have an unsuccessful show. I'll bet you, I'll bet you,

10 million people probably watched the episode that they thought was a debacle, ratings-wise. You're right. Right. Because you only go three channels and just by default, you're going to stumble upon it and you're exactly right. Isn't that wild? Oh, and now if you did a version of AKA Pablo that didn't work, literally nobody, nobody would see it. You go, okay, I love Succession. Succession is one of my favorite shows, right? It's my Mount Rushmore of HBO shows. Yeah, it's unbelievable. But when you look at who actually watches it in terms of

Viewership?

It's like, it's not, it's not AKA Pablo. Yeah, right. It's not. It's not. Here's the title for this episode. Succession is not AKA Pablo. That's a takeaway. That's what I'm going with. It's all, everything is so different. And it's the same with baseball. Like you said, with analytics. It's, the world is so unrecognizably different. It really is. But,

You know, it's like some of it makes me scratch my head. Some of it I hate. Some of it I love. Some of it I'm ambivalent about. But, you know, it's adapt or die always. Yeah. Have no choice. Exactly right. I mean, what about how are you down with the AI? Here's the thing. You should be rooting for AI because you can license yourself to

And you can do 17 more shows because you'll let the AI Mario do half of them. That's the way I look at it. That's exactly the way I look at it. If they allow us to license ourselves, we can get that locked in and I'm all about it. Let them do personal appearances, let them do other shows. Hologram. You'll be like Tupac showing up at Coachella. Right. Exactly. It is a little scary. And listen, I understand and respect the writers and the actors for that matter.

incredibly valid reasons, but it's hard to argue with, or it's inevitable the technology will start to sort of take over. We have to learn how to implement it, incorporate it, or work with it because we can't fight against it

We're going to lose. It's a scary sort of time, though, in that space. It literally is the, if you, whatever the industrial revolution, I mean, they call it a revolution for a reason. This is going to make the industrial revolution look like a non-event. You're right. I mean, we're going to wake up not even 10 years from now, three and a half, five years as an attorney, and we will not recognize that.

our, any industry. We won't recognize it. You're right, because it's not just the entertainment industry. I think every sector will be affected, and that's the scary thing. I actually think we'll be affected least of some. I mean, you know, people whose jobs are looking at x-rays. Yeah. Pro. Structural, anything. It applies to anything. You know, like, transactional lawyers. Yes.

tax preppers. Bro. It's like, it's like the asteroid is hit and you're that long necked dinosaur. Right. Right. Right. I mean, but it is, it's what it is. And like, you can't be right. I've always heard that phrase Luddite. And I didn't really realize what it meant. It meant the Luddites were the people that tried to stop the cotton gin. They're like, no, no, you can't do that machine. We don't like machines. No machines forever.

and, you know, see how it went for them. You know, you can't be a Luddite. You gotta... Be a Luddite. Yeah, can't be a Luddite. Okay, you're getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. That's very exciting. Congratulations. Oh, thank you. Do you know what your location is? I don't know. I'm sure there'll be a nice homeless in Camden right by here. But I don't care. I don't care. I just think, you know, this little Mexican kid from Chula Vista is going to be there. I mean, my mom and dad brought. I'll be very happy. So they don't care what, who's hanging out, camping out.

Doing whatever, but. It's a real thing, man. Where's yours? Well, now that you asked, mine is right in front. Because listen, you know what it's like. You literally could be a homeless encampment. It's like a, mine's in front of the Jamba Juche on, you know, Las Palmas. Mine's in front of Musso and Frank's. Thank you very much. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Yeah.

That's great. Musso and Frank, man. That'd be awesome. I hope at least I'm on the same block. That'd be cool. Well, the other thing is that I guess now they're doing actually not on Hollywood Boulevard. They're doing like half blocks off of like, you know, Las Palmas or whatever, I think. Well, they're like Hollywood adjacent. Okay. Yes. You better make sure you're not getting a Hollywood adjacent. I don't want to get adjacent. Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to look into that.

Listen, this is my tip. No Hollywood adjacent for you. No, no, no, no. I mean, ask yourself, would Dick Clarks accept Hollywood adjacent? Exactly. No, come on. 40 years? I don't want to be Hollywood adjacent. No. No. And then the other thing is always fun is like, then who are your neighbors? You know what's weird? It's kind of like...

it's kind of like being able to look at your headstone and go, oh, I didn't know they were going to bury me next to who, you know what I mean? It's like, it's right. It's a whole weird, who do you know? Have you thought about who is going to speak on your behalf yet? Um, I thought about it in some friends, um, um,

Because you have to have him in the entertainment industry, right? Yeah, yeah. I asked Mark. He said he would speak. Oh, great. I was going to suggest he'd be great. Yeah, and Eva Longoria, who I'm good friends with, she volunteered, which was nice. Great. So, yeah, I thought about a couple people, but haven't really given it too much thought other than when it was initially announced and people had reached out, which was really nice. But as it gets closer, how long has your little speech got to be?

How long does that have to be? Not long. Okay, good. I feel like it's five minutes. Okay, great. I mean, it really is. I mean, because listen, you're there up there. I think there's like three people. I think I said one, two, three. You know, I think I had three people and then it's you and you're in and out. I mean. Perfect. I like it. In and out. You know what the next move is?

or I don't know, gold, but I think it would be kind of funny. Do you have a wax figure? No. I mean, people have accused me of being a wax figure, but I don't have one myself. See, we got to have a wax figure. We got to get a wax figure going.

Madame Trousseau's. But the question is like, what iteration of you? That's a good question. They're good. Because they've gotten really good at these wax figures. Sometimes we'll get some on the shelf, the Madame Trousseau people come, and it's like, whoa. They're getting really, really good. They're also frightening, right? The Madame, like,

They're like, it's like looking at an inanimated body or something. Have you been to the proper Madame Tussauds in London ever? No, I'm not the one in London. The one in London is the OG. That's the one.

Is it impressive? It's impressive, and it always makes me laugh who they choose to have in the place of honor who's new. Right. And you're always like, really? Scott Disick has a wax figure? Like, no, I'm just making it up. I'm just like, do you know what I mean? It's like they, I want to know who runs their

outreach to what's cool and happening with Madame Tussauds. Because sometimes I'm like, I don't think they really understand. Yeah, yeah, right. I don't understand. But right, it's like the Hollywood star, like a wax figure. Those are like the things that sort of, you know... Oh, bro. No, no, no. You're missing the ultimate. Which one? A bobblehead. Oh, yeah. I got a bobblehead. Absolutely.

I got a bobblehead. I might have one right here behind me. Yeah, because I got a bobblehead. Okay, good. My mom dresses it up at Christmas and puts it on the tree. Amazing. Amazing. Gotta have a bobblehead. I'm very excited to go to Dodger Stadium and get Joe Kelly's Mariachi Joe bobblehead. Yes. I'm so glad he's back. So glad he's back. ♪

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

♪♪♪

Okay, what else are there? What else is our bucket list? I like this. I like the way-

And I think you've made it since everyone knows. That usually applies, though, to musical artists. But I feel like that industry needs to raise its game. I'm like...

The impersonator game? Yeah. Michael and Madonna. That's what I'm saying. For like the longest time. There's been a lot of James Dean still and Marilyn Monroe. It's like, really? Yeah. Come on, guys. Come on. Going back to my whole different fame for back in yesteryear, though. That's right. Impersonator famous, that means everyone knows you, not just Denise Shrout. James Dean had four movies, I think. That's it. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. I mean...

It's funny, I was driving up to Kelly Slater's

Wave Ranch, Surf Ranch is, by the way, one of the great things. It looks so cool. I want to go. That looks so cool. Oh, it's so fun. And all of a sudden, I had this like tingling sensation. Like when you go, wait, I've seen this before and I realized I was going to the intersection that James Dean got killed in. Oh, wow. Where is that exactly? I thought it was in Holland. I know. Everybody thinks it was like Mall Holland or Sunset. No, no, no, no. It's about an hour and a half away

north and into the desert from Santa Barbara. Oh, wow. I'm learning something today. I was, I was, wow. No, and it's, and it's just a, you know, it was just, he was going straight on a road and a guy made a left turn right into him. Never had a chance to do anything, but it's like this super barren, lonely, super creepy, weird, and, and that, and like, yep. And there's like a little plaque and there it is. Wow.

That's interesting. I'm going to have to check that out. Yeah, but they... Oh, I also know. Here's what I also want to talk about. You're a sneakerhead. You've got your footwear collection coming out? Oh, yeah. Thanks for asking. So I've gotten to get into this whole space, whether it's cologne or fitness equipment and a whole bunch of other stuff, products, all kinds of other stuff. But I'm excited about the footwear collection because...

They're really cool, trendy, affordable, most importantly, well-made sneakers that I'm proud of the way they came out. So yeah. Do we have a name for the shoe or a name for the line yet? I did just the Mario Lopez kicks, I think. Mario Lopez kicks? Yes. Okay. I have a gift for you. I have a name for one of the shoes for you. I cannot believe you didn't think of it yet. What's that? Kicks Incorporated. Ah!

Come on. Come on. That's the kids line. Yes. That's the kids line. Kicks Incorporated. Kicks Incorporated. Damn it, Rob. That's good. I mean, you know what I'm saying. Do you have any high tops? I do have high tops.

I will send you some. I got high tops. We've got loafers, but they're mainly like cool, different kind of dressings. I love it. I love it. I mean, people, do you believe how this, how industrious this guy is? It's the absolute greatest. I love, I think a work ethic is the greatest thing

It's one of the reasons that my wife has one of the great work ethics of anybody I've ever met. And like when I was a young guy dating everybody I could possibly figure out. And I was like, wow, this is a woman with a work ethic. And I was like, okay. And it was the thing I fell in love with. But I love that your sphere of vision and the fact that it goes back to Dick Clark. He was the guy that said, do it all.

Yes, he was. And I admire and respect the work ethic more than anything, too. I think that's the one thing that my parents, more than anything, who, by the way, are still together after 52 years, instilled in me more than anything. Again, I think coming here... Oh, you need a work ethic for that. Yeah, exactly. My mom deserves a medal for just being with my dad for all those years. Yep. They both were strong. My dad worked for the city. My mom worked for the phone company. Blue-collar workers, but they worked really hard. My dad, when I was at home...

You couldn't just hang out and watch TV. If he saw you hanging out and watch TV, unless it was like right before you go to bed, he would put you to work. I have to do something. Even if there was no work to be done, he'd make me dig a ditch or something. He just did not like me just being, hanging out and being lazy right there. A friend, if they spent the night, he would put them to work. So nobody wanted to ever spend the night. So I think because of that work, I grew up like that. I've always kind of had that.

sort of mentality. I mean, it's kind of hard. It's hard for me to relax. I just kind of kick back. I don't know how that feels. I'm the same, exactly the same way. I mean, I don't idle well at all. Yes. But that said, I also spend a lot of time, not a lot of time, but I'm really good at like in my own company, daydreaming. It's like...

think it's just in within my thoughts yeah I can for sure real I can do it real easily I'm I'm I love people it's why what you said makes you a natural host is your you love people yeah I'm the same that said I'm a loner does that make any sense

It does. I need to, and I think it's healthy. I need to work on that. I mean, it's hard when my kids are still so small. Your kids, I know, are older and they can do their own thing now. They're kind of on me, right, all the time. And I'm involved in a lot of their activities. But I think it's important. And, you know, other than when I go to

Mass when I go to church because my wife with our little guy, it's hard for her right now. Other than that, that's like my only alone time, to be honest with you. So I'll go on Sundays and if I miss, Catholic guilt, I feel bad, I'll go light a candle and I'll hang out. But other than that, that's the only time I'm ever really alone because I'm either working or I'm at home with the family.

How do you... But then how do you recharge? Because you're giving, giving, giving. And listen, giving to the family is... Recharges you in its own way, for sure. But it's still giving. So, like, for me...

Being alone, like I'm going to go – when we're done, I'm going to go hit just chips and balls and putt and beat. But I'm alone and I'm doing something and I'm with my thoughts and, you know, or then I'll go sit on the beach. And it's the only way I recharge from the giving, which is, you know, being on, right? Like giving the energy, all that stuff. Right.

Yeah, no, you're so right. Like I said, it's, I think, essential. Unfortunately, I just haven't figured it out yet. Other than when I'm traveling, which most times is by myself, I'm alone on the plane or I get to, I'm trying to think, other than the plane itself, I'll go outside, maybe I'll light a cigar, have a little drink, I'll relax a little bit. My wife too is wonderful and very supportive and understands that.

the fluid schedule of this business and, and, uh, all the craziness that it entails. She, she's awesome. And ever since she came into my life too, it's sort of just complimented everything. So I don't, I don't ever want to come home though at the same time and just give her leftovers either. Yes. So it's, it's tough. So that's the one thing that is kind of tough, but I do feel, um, I, that's something I do have to work on. I'll get you into meditation. That'll be the next thing we'll talk about next time we,

All right. Cause I think next time we see each other, I'll be talking to you for sure. That's right. That's right. You know, I mean, because I pray to me, that's essentially meditation. 100% for sure. So I do do that every night. Um, every, every night, every morning, every night I do morning and night. I don't, you know, I don't do morning. I'll do, I'll do it like a quickie. I don't know how to count it like a quickie. Yeah. I have my little, little mantra and I go about my day, but at night,

I have my little daily devotional book. I'll crack it open, look forward to that, pray, and have my meditation, if you will. Well, that's, listen, that's the best alone time you can have. It doesn't get any better than that. So I do, yeah, so that's what? 15 minutes or so, whatever? That's like primo, primo, primo A grade alone time. I do do that. I do do that. Yeah, that's super important. That's awesome.

That's awesome. I like that. Brother, this is fun. Thanks for doing this. It was so fun talking to you. Always the best. It's the best. I love talking. I love when you tell me all these stories, man. It's the best. I love going down memory lane and all that stuff because I'm a fan. I'm a fan of

television and film and music. So that's why I still love hosting these entertainment shows because I'm really still a fan and I love, and especially people that I grew up with really liking and getting like the opportunity to hear their stories and I'm already a fan. It makes it even cooler. Like all these new stories with all due respect.

They're great and really talented and they're fascinating people and I enjoy talking to them. But when I get to talk to somebody that I grew up with that I really like, I go, that makes it really cool and like pitch me moments. So again, I appreciate it and you're the best, man. Thank you for having me. Oh, thanks, brother. What a great dude. What a great dude. I hope that you enjoyed getting to know Mario in a way that you're probably not going to on all his various stuff that he's doing, going a little deeper.

All right. Just one more thing before we end today's episode. Let's check the lowdown line. Hello. You've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep.

Hey, Rob, this is Jason. I'm calling from New Jersey. Big fan of yours, mainly from the West Wing days. My question for you is this. Have you found that a character that you've played has influenced your personality? Like, has Chris Traeger's positivity rubbed off on your life or Sam's politics rubbed off on your life? And that's my question for you. So I hope to hear back. Thanks.

Oh, man, thank you so much for listening and calling in. And the question, it's a little bit of the chicken and the egg thing. Like what comes first, the character affecting you or you affecting the character? And you mentioned the two characters that I would have

referenced about this subject because Chris Traeger on Parks and Rec and Sam Seaborn on the West Wing are not only very close to my heart, and I love those characters, but they are very emblematic of who I am in a lot of ways. And I think it's like when actors say, I was born to play that role. That's really what they're saying, right? They're saying,

There's something that they know they have in themselves that they can bring to that role that no one else could. And that will make that role be memorable in a way that no one else could. And I, and I really felt that with Sam for sure. And Traeger was a little different that sort of developed because that was sort of a blank slate that Mike Schur who created Parks and Rec, um,

kind of came up with this character that changed very quickly from what it was originally written as based on again, what the actor me, um, brings to it. And Mike was smart enough to, um, see the stuff, um, that, that, that I was doing and wrote to that. Um, but yeah, in terms of like taking something from the part and that, and that part too is, uh,

I think it's all part and parcel of the same thing. And I feel like those are the two. You hit the nail on the head. Those are the two that are probably the most like me in many ways. Thanks for the question. Thank you for listening. I appreciate you always. I'm meeting a lot of you out in the world these days, people coming up and saying how much they like the podcast. I love hearing that. It really, really makes me happy. So if you get a chance to go on Apple and

Give us a five star. That would be sweet because I am paying attention. I'm paying attention. I'm listening. Anyway, thank you guys. And I will see you all next week on The Retro.

Our executive producers are Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and myself for Team Coco, and Colin Anderson for Stitcher. Booking by Deirdre Dodd, music by Devin Bryant. Special thanks to Hidden City Studios. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally with Rob Lowe.

All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel. ♪

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