"Elizabeth Banks"
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Hey guys, what's up? Hi. Hi. Oh my gosh. It's a new show. It's a new, it's a new, uh. Oh, this is a, this is an opening for, oh, we're going to do, we have a guest waiting? Yeah, we got a guest. We're going to do the whole thing and people are, people are settling in. They're, they're starting their jog. They're starting their drive. They're, they're getting into the hot tub down in Australia. Yeah, I know you. Some finger sandwiches. What do you think? You think more people listen to us in the car or while they're exercising?

That is a great question. We should do a poll. Yeah. Yeah. I wonder. When I'm exercising, I got to be watching TV. Hang on one second, Jason. This is an all-new Smart Less. Smart Less. Smart Less. Smart Less.

Sean, are you aware of the damage that blue light can do to your eyes? Like these blue blocker glasses? Are you talking about the computer light like at night or something? Correct, yeah. Bennett and Rob have blue light, blue blockers on. Yeah, is that something? Yes, I have glasses that my kids wear sometimes when they're on their screens. I bought it for our kids too and I just don't know or Amanda did. Not our kids. We don't have kids together. Yeah, I keep trying to tell you that and you just keep denying it. No, we don't.

But wait a minute. Is it really true? Because I had a doctor friend of mine say that don't look at the laptop when you're in bed or the phone because it's supposed to keep you up. It makes me fall asleep. We'll see. But Rob just told me that it drains you. So does it just make you tired? Does it keep you up? Does it destroy your eyes? You should not look at a screen like at least 30 minutes before you go to bed. It affects your sleep because it's...

It has to do with brain activity. Although, you guys should be okay. You're not teeing yourself up for an online porn joke here, Will? No, I'm just thinking that we're not going to see a lot of brain activity. If we haven't seen any yet, it's not like we're going to all of a sudden see a surge. You know what I mean? Well, maybe I had too much blue light when I was a kid. That could be it. Maybe that's a problem. Something...

What time do you guys go to bed? I need better sleep hygiene. I need to start going to bed at 10.30. Your sleep hygiene is disgusting. But what does that mean? What, you sleep dirty? What do you... No, sleep hygiene is just making sure you sleep better, like you have a better... Your sleep routine. It's called sleep hygiene. What?

What do you guys sleep in? You guys sleep in... Sean, you sleep in pajamas and one of those kind of like cone pajama hats with a little tassel at the end? With the feeties? Like the night before Christmas. With a candle. I carry my candle to bed. With a hand in front of it so the wind doesn't blow down? Sean looks like a TV... He looks like a TV husband from the 90s in like pajama bottoms and a nondescript T-shirt. Sure.

Right? Yeah. Kids, let's shut those lights out. We're a half hour past your bedtime. No, you're supposed to. By the way, this is what I read. Between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. is when the best sleep is supposed to happen. I don't know how your body knows the hour time, but that's what I heard. It sounds like a weird website.

Well, you know, according to Folgers, the best part of waking up. Yeah. The best. Hey, no, for real, though, what time do you go to bed? I want to get to our guest because we have an incredible guest who's being very patient. We'll see. Jason, what time do you go to bed? I go to bed at probably no later than 1030.

And that's when it's really gotten away from me. Sean? Okay, so wait, listen. Just because you said that, when I did the Kenny Rogers Christmas tour, and he sang... No, I have all the time in the world for this. Make this a long one. And Kenny used to sing, Christmas in America, the sweetest time of year, right? We'd be backstage and he would go, Christmas in America. And we would go, it's Folgers in your cup.

He was right, though. Kenny was right. Here it comes. Islands in the stream. That is what we are. You know who wrote that song? Dolly Parton. Nope. The Bee Gees. Jennifer Warren. The Bee Gees. Yeah. I'm glad we've got some extra openers. So...

I realized that I would describe our guest as an island in the stream. This person is a true Eddie. Brooke Shields. Chita Rivera. No. Chris Atkins. No. Sorry, are we not guessing? Well, it's not just the cast of The Blue Lagoon, man. So our guest is a multi-hyphenate, just a multi-talented person who I first became aware of in a film called

from the early 2000s that was very popular at the time. It was directed by a guy called David Wayne. It was a movie called Wet Hot American Summer. She then went on to play in a million movies, some of the biggest hits, but then became an incredible director. I got to know her during the Lego movies, really got to know her. And then she went on and started directing. She directed what is now the biggest...

gross opening ever for a first-time director with Pitch Perfect 2. This person is the incredible Elizabeth Banks, everybody. Oh, there she is. Oh, my God. Not a lot of people know this, but you are the wife of David Cross, we just learned on our episode with David. Do you guys remember that? I was just listening to the David Cross episode. He said that his wife, I think, Sean, you asked him who he's married to. He said, who are you married to? And he said, Elizabeth Banks. Yes.

That's true, actually. David Cross and I are husband and wife. Wow. It's not legal. It's not a legal thing. Oh, it's not legal. No. Look at the lizard. Haven't seen you for a long time. You guys, I'm sorry. I'm such a disappointment after you're hoping Brooke Shields shows up. Well, listen. It's just me, guys. We have love for everybody. We have love for everybody. I'm so happy you're here. You're one of those people I always feel like when I see you, you make me smile. I'm always happy to see you.

It's true. And you're also one of those rare finds in Hollywood, a girl who's absolutely unbelievably hilarious and unbelievably gorgeous at the same time. I love that you're calling me a girl, Sean, is the greatest compliment that you could be paying.

And listener, this is the first time I think anybody's ever worn something halfway decent to do. I mean, she's got a very nice blouse on. She's combed her hair. This was not for you guys. I'm going to be totally honest. I had to do another thing before this.

I wish I was in my pajamas. Like these? My footed pajamas. What was the thing? Can you say? I was doing a panel with Stacey Snyder, who's another big wig in our business. Sure, huh? Sure. We both went to the same university and we did a panel for like an alumni thing. For Penn. You went to University of Pennsylvania. I will.

It's an Ivy League school. I did. I went to Penn. Yes. I went to Penn in Philadelphia. And so did Stacey Snyder. And so did a bunch of Hollywood types. And Stacey and I... I think you graduated with honors. Did you not? I did. Oh, who's done some research? Will found the Wikipedia page on those banks. Tell us what you... Come on, tell us. Will found the wiki. No, I don't wiki. I don't wiki. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.

Magna cum laude, maybe? That's true. Those are some Latin words that are on my degree. Yes, they are. Was your degree in theater or...? It was in communications and also theater arts, but...

Yeah, the school, they're not a big theater arts program at Penn. Can I ask a question here? Because I did not go to college. This is going to be great. This is going to come as a surprise to a lot of people. This is going to be a great, by the way, this question, Elizabeth, is going to be so good. Yeah. Here it is. This is a good dumb question from a good dumb guy. How hard is college?

And I mean it. What an episode. Thanks for joining us. I do mean it. Now, from what I understand, this is not a bit. This is not a bit, okay? First of all, I didn't even graduate high school. I dropped out of college. It should be noted. But...

it's my understanding that there are two years of general ed, right? Which is sort of the college level history, college level English, college level math. That's for two years, which sounds like a nightmare. Okay. And then the last two years, this is my understanding, is that you get to study your minor and your major. So, you know, I want to become a roofer or I want to become

I'm, you know, whatever the hell it is. I'm just saying you can pick whatever occupation you want and study your nards off about it. And there's no, so that sounds fun. But those first two years sound really difficult. Is that the way it goes? Not really. I mean, what? How do you even answer that question? Don't. No, but let me say something.

Is high school harder? I'm kind of with Jason because, you know, this long kind of idea about is college necessary? Does anybody really need to go to college? Additional voluntary school? It doesn't make any sense to me. I learned, here's what I learned, guys. I learned about what kind of alcohol I liked. I learned about drug use.

I learned how to get into a club in Philly, which was, I learned about, I went to my first jazz club, which was amazing. It's like underground jazz club in Philadelphia. That's the stuff that matters. That's why, you know, I met my husband there.

Sweet, sweet, Max. Well, that's good. That's good. So I liked college because, I mean... But with the arts, I have a scholarship set up at the Illinois State University where I went for theater. Oh, Jesus. Hang on a second. College graduate, Sean Hayes. Thank you. Well, I didn't. I got an honorary doctorate, but I never graduated. But I think it's important for the arts because it's where everybody gathers for the first time to really kind of become vulnerable and learn from each other and grow and figure out...

where your place is in the field of theater and arts. This is where I'm coming from. Like you can't really, you can't fail in college, right? Like it's only, you can, you can learn as much as you apply yourself to learn, but there's no, there's no obligation to score a certain number on a certain number of tests like high school. No, it's all self-imposed. That's the greatest part about it, right? So everything is self-imposed. I think that's maybe everything in life. Yeah.

I mean, other than like you have to pay some bills. So you have to make some money to pay bills. But like really so much of this pressure on ourselves is all self-imposed. Where did you grow up? I grew up in Western Massachusetts, in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. By the way, how many people from your high school went to Penn University?

Uh, just me. I don't know. Maybe a couple other people eventually went there. Sure. Somebody's a real overachiever. I went to public high school, guys. Like in a small town where we literally went into the fields and tipped cows when we drank too many beers. Are you going to want your kids to be academics like you? Or are you going to say, yeah, no, it's not that big a deal. You just learned how to get into clubs and go to like jazz functions. Yeah.

Well, I mean, I did learn some cool things too. I mean, I've never studied certain, you know, and I, and I picked up a love for learning things and I had access, you know, my, my, I really felt lucky to have the access I had to the amazing professors that I, you know, got to learn from. And some of them were total assholes. I remember this one professor who was like, you know,

Just late things that like I needed to miss a class for a family thing. And I love my family. And she was like, too bad you're in college now. Like you're over 18 and you don't get to either this or that. And I remember having to make that kind of decision for the first time. I chose my family. She was right. And she tick nicked my grade. And it was like, wow, OK, this I'm an adult. I got to say, and I think the world of you, but I'm on her side.

You made a bad decision. Because I think we live in a world where there's too much of that, like, especially in our business. Like, I got to go. I got to go visit. Like, too fucking bad. Too bad. No special. You don't get a special dispensation because you, like, have a loving family. F off. Did you go back to Massachusetts after college or did you go straight to L.A.? I did not go straight to L.A. I did more fucking school.

I went to more school. MFA. I got a master's in fine arts. Oh, sorry. You got a master's? Yeah, I went to drama school. I went to drama school. And honestly, I went to drama school partially because I thought maybe I wanted to be an actor. But where I'm from, nobody is an artist. That's not a career. That's not something anybody does. Well, that's not true. Fucking some beer artists. We got some fucking beer artists. There's a lot of that. There's a lot of that.

You're absolutely right. However, you just remind me of something. I went to an event in Massachusetts not that long ago, and this guy got up with the mass accent, and he was like, this is Elizabeth Banks. She, you know, in my high school.

if you were a little different, maybe you went to the acts. You know, you did some acts. The different kids did the acts. They did the acts. Anyway, so I was in the acts. But that was not something you did where I'm from. But if you got a master's in drama school, does that mean that you thought, okay, I might be an actor, but if I am an actor, it's going to be like a serious dramatic actor? Was comedy even on your radar?

Comedy was on my radar, but the degree was because I didn't know how to go to New York City and get an act. I didn't understand what was step one. I'm not even kidding you. It was like, so I show up and I get a job as a waitress.

And then what happened? Yeah, where do I go? Where, is there an office or a phone number that you call? Hi, I want to be an actor. Yeah, like you go to the open calls and backstage or something. So what did you do? So how did you find out? Yeah, tell us how it worked. I didn't have to do any of that because I went to drama school. And when you go to drama school, they do a showcase.

And you meet agents and then they call you and they go, do you want me to represent you? And I go, yes, please. And then you start acting like the next day. And literally that is what happened. So you went on auditions and you just started booking stuff. My very first day. So I did my showcase. And the next morning I got asked.

asked to audition for a soap. I think it was As the World Turns. And then that afternoon, they called and said, do you want to be on this soap opera for two years? And I had not even graduated ACT yet. And so you did it? I did not do it.

Oh, what? I didn't do it. What do you mean? And she's Liz fucking Banks, man. And in her first day, she gets a two year gig and turns it down based on what? Based on part of it. A few things. One, I wanted to finish school. I, they were like, come tomorrow. Like you're on this show tomorrow. I now know as of,

I've spent a long time in the business. I produce things. You make things. I cast a lot of things. And sometimes they're just looking for the person. And if you walk in and solve it, you're literally hired and you show up the next day. Right. That just happens every once in a while.

So that's what happened. They had been looking for somebody to play this role for a couple of weeks. And then I happened to walk in the door and they were like, it's going to be you. And I said, actually, it's not, it's not going to be me. And I remember I was on a pay phone because that's how old we all are. I was on a pay phone in New York city up by Lincoln center. I called my mom. I had massive student loans, like major loans.

And I called my mother and I said, they offered me this job. And I turned it down. It was $250,000 for two years. This is more money than I've ever seen in my entire life. And it would have paid everything. And like, it was, yeah. And I said, I'm not going to do it. And I burst into tears because I thought, I knew it was the right decision, but I also...

I was really scared not to have money because I was eating like a bagel a day. But wait a minute. I'm sorry. I may have missed it. What was the main reason you turned it down? To stay in school? I wanted to finish school, one. But more than anything, I'm not kidding. I thought to myself, if I can get a soap on day one, what can I get on day two? Awesome. Yeah. God damn, that's Western Mass for you. I'm not even kidding. All right.

That is some hardcore shit. Yeah, fucking A. I was fucking hardcore. And then how long was it before your next offer? I got a commercial like a week later. Wow. Oh, good. Good, good. So you just came out. And I signed with the one agent who said to me, like, no, no, no, don't take that job. Like, I think he, because I didn't know anything about the business either. So remember, I went to New York, did a showcase from drama school thinking, I'm going to be like a chorus girl on Broadway. Mm-hmm.

Right. My dream. My dream. My dream was not to be a dreamer. Sean's dream. Sean's dream. Sean's dream. I wanted Sean's dream too. And so when I got offered a soap opera, which was not my dream, but it was just like an amazing money job and a foray into New York and all that. But it wasn't my dream. And I thought, oh, wait, I don't think that's what I want to do. And at the time, everybody was doing, remember like Scream was like the big movie. I remember Party of Five.

was on. Nev Campbell was like my dream. And I remember thinking, I don't need to do this soap opera. I actually do want to keep pursuing the things that I want to do and maybe I'll be on Broadway and then the commercial world was also something I knew nothing about.

But you could make a lot of money in commercials in those days. And I did. I paid off all my student loans with commercial work. No way. Will Arnett would have been fine too. How many goddamn commercials do you record in that booth of yours right there? A lot. A lot. Well, I graduated from no more drama school. You know what I'm talking about? How you doing? How you doing? I'm doing fine. And now back to the show.

What were those first couple of years in New York like? Being a waitress and going from audition to audition and trying to have a social life too. Did the city, was that easy for you? I loved every second of it. I did not sleep. So my first summer after drama school, I moved to New York.

And I was a waitress at Prohibition on 84th and Columbus on the Upper West Side. - Yeah. - And I did some bartending there as well. And I worked with this woman named Bonnie. Bonnie was, she was studying to be a flight attendant. She was like an ex model. - She lies over the ocean. - How do you study? - You have to go to like the school, like the Delta School in Texas and learn how to be a flight attendant.

So Bonnie had a bunch of animals. I never understood anyone who had a pet in New York city, but whatever. So she had a bunch of animals. She had like a dog and a cat and a bird or something. And she started going away and she had a boyfriend that she would stay at. And so she said, you can move into and live in my studio apartment with these three animals and watch my animals. And we'll, we'll, when she is back, um,

So there's a bed and a couch. And if she was in town, she got the bed and I got the couch. But if she was flying, like doing her overnight, then I got the bed. And then after a while, we just were like, let's just both sleep in the bed. And so the main thing that people like to hear about my time. Let's just film it. How long was it before? Let's just film it. Sorry.

I was literally sleeping in a bed with Bonnie, the bartender/fly attendant ex-model and her dog. And we would just sleep in a bed together on 101st and Columbus. And that was my life for like six months. And then my now husband moved back to New York and we moved in together.

Anyway, so those are my days. I lived with a flight attendant. I was a bartender and a waitress. I went on my auditions. I had a roller bag that I would carry around because, you know, and by the way, I walked around in heels back then. This was like sex in the city time. So you felt like you weren't a real woman if you couldn't walk near city streets in high heels. So I walked around in high heels and I had all my changes, all my clothes, my changes for my auditions because I had auditioned for a doctor and then I auditioned for a lawyer. Sure.

And then I just did. And your headshot was in four quadrants that may have had each one of those. This is like, what, like 97, 98, 99? Yeah, exactly. Did you ever see me like rollerblading by? Did you ever see me rollerblading by? Oh my God, I told you.

Totally rollerbladed. I went to Central Park and, like, did the rollerblading thing. Oh, me too. I played hockey, and I would rollerblade uptown, and then I'd go by, and then if I'd see some, you know, a girl on a street corner, I'd kind of slow down, like she is paying attention to the guy on the rollerblade. So what do you do? Hang on a sec. Well, let me paint this picture here. So you got a hard look there, like there's a lot of bunch of smoke in the room, right? So the eyes are real tight. And then what, you're dragging one of your skates behind you to slow down a little bit. I'm smoking a butt. How's it going?

Smoking a butt. And then doing that thing where I look out and I just go, and just answering to a question that was not asked, and I just go...

Probably. Oh, God. And so would you have a plastic hockey stick sticking out of your backpack too? Real hockey stick. Let's get back to Elizabeth. Hey, Elizabeth. So you're doing all this. You're doing a ton of commercial stuff. You're doing, I mean, you're killing it in the commercial world. You pay off your, I was going to say, so you pay off your student loans. Yeah. Best feeling in the world. I paid off a student loan with like one Crest White Strips commercial. Wow.

Wow. Back in the day. These big honking teeth. I have chiclets for teeth. They're ginormous. And I used to really dislike my teeth. And now that, but they paid off a lot of student loans. Grass is always greener. They're very all American. These teeth. Jason did a crest one too. The before shot, right? Yeah.

Go ahead. Well, I was just, I mean, I was going to flash all the way forward to like what the view is like on the top of the mountain. I mean, you're blazing, I mean, honestly, you are blazing trails for your peers. You're top of the world with acting, with directing, with producing, just smashing ceilings all over the place. I mean, do you have perspective on that? And I know it probably makes you uncomfortable to admit it or address it, but it really is amazing.

you know, super impressive what's going on. Very. Yeah. Oh, thanks guys. Um, no, I, I mean, yes, I, I, uh, do I have perception on it? No, I really don't actually. I just, I mean, I don't know. I, I'm not kidding when I say when you've committed to making Hollywood your place of employment, I mean, as you guys all know, I mean, what else are we supposed to do?

You know what I mean? It's frightening. You get to the point of no return. You're like, well, I have no other skill set. I know no other people. I haven't done anything else. Like these are all the people I know. They create things and we put them out into the world. And so I just thought, well, how else can I take advantage of all these dim-dongs that I've met along the way? What else can we do, you know? I'm one of those guys who –

Shocker. I love Pitch Perfect, right? Who doesn't? And one of the greatest signs that your movie is a classic and stands the test of time is that when you see it and when you're scrolling through the guide, you have to flip it on and watch whatever, wherever it is in the movie and you just sit there and watch it. And I do that every single time I see that movie and any sequel of it. And so, but what is the genesis of Pitch Perfect? How did it come about? How did you get involved? Like, what's the story of that from idea to script to screen? And then the second one too. It's great.

Wow. Thank you, Sean. Um, I, uh, so my husband, um, who's my business partner, my partner in all things, Max, you guys have all met Max. Um, sure. Yeah. Max wrote a book about fantasy football, which before fantasy football was really a big deal. He wrote a book about fantasy football and through that he met a really fun book agent and he was out to drinks with a book agent in New York and

who said, yeah, I've just moved over to this imprint. We're doing these silly books. And I think I'm going to put together this book about college acapella. It's called Pitch Perfect. And Max started laughing because acapella was a really big thing at Penn where we went to school. Oh, really? Yeah, there was like 10 groups. I mean, they were overwhelmed. Of course there was. Exactly. Of course there was. It was a little too much.

acapella of course there was exactly so and my husband has will's attitude which is i mean that those people take it so seriously like it's already going to be funny did you see that documentary about everything was aka like you guys i'm really aka mad at you i could be i you know what they use it as an adverb no way yes oh yeah yeah they use aka for everything

So, you know, it was like dodgeball. Remember? Yeah. Was one of you in that movie? Jason was. I'm not sure. Jason was in the blackout when he made that. Yeah. That was actually during a lunch hour while we were shooting Arrested Development. Yeah, true. No, that's great. You were the commentator, right? Yeah, I was a cotton or skeeter or...

You were, you were Akka great. Yes. So we, like dodgeball was actually a good, it was a good model for pitch in that it's about a group of people who take something very seriously that should never be taken as seriously as they take it. Right. And the coming together of a group and it's really a sports movie kind of dressed up. It's a comedy dressed up in a sports movie dressed up in a musical is what pitch perfect is.

And so anyway, so we got this book proposal that Mickey Raffin wrote. He was a writer at GQ at the time, and he'd actually interviewed me for GQ like two weeks before or something. So that kind of synchronicity I always find like it's like a signpost in Hollywood, like, oh, you should probably do this because you just had a signpost.

And we actually didn't get the whole town. Somebody else had the book proposal as well. And somehow we got Universal. And so we took it out and we needed a writer. And I had just started doing 30 Rock. Will knows about that. And Kate Cannon was one of the writers in 30 Rock. And I was friends with Jason, her then husband. They're no longer together. Lots of things have happened in Hollywood with all of these people.

Kay Cannon, who went on to make Blockers. She's now a director on her own, right? She's now a director too. Exactly. She's an incredible, funny writer. So funny. So she was one of Tina Fey's like prodigies on 30 Rock at the time. And they had made acapella jokes on 30 Rock. So I knew that she knew. And so we ended up, I called her and I was like, have you ever heard of acapella? Literally, I think she went, oh, wow.

on the phone and started singing. And I knew we had found it. And she came to our house in LA from New York. We sat around the dining room table. We put together a pitch and we went out with it and we, and we sold it. And that's what happened. That's amazing. Was there ever a moment when you were going to play one of the, one of the singer girls?

No, no, no. I never... I was... We wrote... The role that I play in the movie, we wrote for Kristen Wiig, actually. Oh, really? We wrote for Wiig and probably one of you guys. And then...

And I ended up doing it with John Michael Higgins because I had worked with Michael Higgins. So funny. And he was doing the Chris Guest stuff that he does. It was like a great template for your stuff too. Absolutely. And he did one of the greatest improvs that I'd ever seen live, like in reality. We were on the set of a very not good movie called Fred Claus.

Vince Vaughn starred in that movie and five Oscar winners, just so we're, if we're counting and, um, and then me and John Michael Higgins. So we were making this movie and, uh, the scene was Vince and John Michael Higgins in a bar and Vince started improv-ing about teaching John Michael Higgins how to woo me, um, which is what happens in the movie.

And so there's not a lot of people better than Vince at, at this, what you're about to say, but, but John matched him. So Vince does this whole thing that, so it starts like this. He's like, listen, listen, buddy, you're in a Mexican standoff with this woman and you gotta, you gotta bring her to the table and you gotta, you gotta figure out how to like get it on. And you know how he goes. He just goes on and on. And the Vince way that he does is genius and everything and whatever. And he kind of pauses, uh,

And John Michael Higgins, like, looks back at me. I'm off camera, like, over here. He looks back at me and turns back and he goes, gosh, she does not look Mexican. LAUGHTER

He did not yes and it. Did Vince pick up the ball there or did he just say, well, you just ruined the bit. You ruined the improv. We kind of all fell out, honestly. The whole crew fell out. I mean, it was just the perfect, it was like he held it, you know, in improv when you grab it and you hold it and you go like, where's my opening? Where's my opening? And he just held onto it the whole time and he dropped it right at the exact moment. Right now Tracy's nodding, nodding. Perfect setup. Oh, I know what you mean. That's exactly what that means, yeah. Aw.

It was beautiful. That's really cool. That's such a great story. Waiting for the perfect joke. Sorry. So here's the other thing that you may be surprised or not surprised. So Scotty, my husband Scotty and I, we love. Wait, what? Yeah, he's gay. Oh, yeah, sorry. Elizabeth, Sean's gay. Okay.

Well, can we pause our record for one second? Yeah. So we like game shows. We're old people who like game shows. We watch stuff all night long. And, you know, and it goes without saying, we watch you and press your luck all the time because we just can't get enough. And you're so great on it. And we love it. And I want to ask you what made you want to do it because you're so good at it. And also, what do you think about this trend of,

of big talent like yourself doing games just like Will Arnett, Jamie Foxx, Alec Baldwin, yourself. Yeah. A lot of people are doing these and it all works. Like, I love all of them.

I did. I actually was inspired partly by Will and his, and when he did relaunch the show, which was, I was on. Yeah, the gong show and I was on. Very kindly. The Mike Myers of it all was so incredible. I feel like we could tell stories about that forever. Spoiler alert. That was pretty wild. Mike Myers was disguised as the host. Was there ever an episode when he pulled the mask off, like dug his finger into the prosthetic and peeled it off? No, and it was so cool because we were like, obviously we thought it would be great to get Mike

And then he was like, I'll do it, but I want to do it in this character. And Sony's like, he wants to do it in the character. I'm like, yeah, great. Fucking say how, I can't say yes hard enough. Yes, let's go. But they were all really cool. And at ABC, where you do your show too, they were all really cool about it. And of course, I got to feel like at some point, people are going to look back and go, you know, Mike Myers hosted a game show in character.

And everybody's going to go, what? Right. Nobody's making a big deal, enough big, anyway. So you did come and do it very graciously. I did. Came and did it and were awesome and participated in that and then-

But you were already talking to them about doing Press Your Luck at that point. Well, I was talking to them about doing a Name That Tune and like rebooting Name That Tune, which didn't end up coming to fruition. But then it's out now. Yeah. And now, yeah, not with me, though. Right. We started talking about it.

And then, yeah. And then Press Your Luck came on. I loved Press Your Luck growing up. It was like, I was a latchkey kid. So to go home after school and like get to watch the No Whammy thing. And I loved it.

So I was already a fan and I went to work. I remember the first day I really didn't know what to totally expect. I was in the same block. I was told you're going to be in a block with Alec Baldwin and Steve Harvey and me and Press Your Luck. And I love those two gentlemen and I love their shows. And I thought, OK, well, I can't. That's pretty good. I can't. I'm not the loser in that. And I went to work the first day.

We shoot like three shows a day. It's exhausting. Yeah. And I came home and I was in the shower, remember, and my husband came in. He was like, how was it? And I... You're like, I'm naked. Can we talk about this later? I'm in the shower for fuck's sake. Just wait five minutes. Guys, we had a conversation about pressure like while I was naked in the shower. Wow. And I was starting crying in the shower. Yeah.

And I was like, it was the most amazing day of my life. Oh, that's great. Yeah.

We had given away like $700,000 to a bunch of people whose lives were completely and utterly changed by game show money. I think you forget when you're watching it, the real people that show up, that go through the motions to get there and that are hoping to win. And then you're like, here you go. Here's a car and a bunch of money. I cry at that shit.

I cry when people win all that money. It's so great. Has anyone ever done a follow-up on how that all went for these folks, this life-changing influx of money? Yeah? We do. I mean, everything gets tweeted and Instagrammed and all that. So we had this one contestant.

Um, no whammy for Pammy. Maybe Sean remembers. Um, so Pam was a big Cher fan and we gave her an all expenses paid private jet to Vegas three Cher nights in a row. I saw that show. Cher is an unbelievable show.

And this woman lost her mind. She got to bring her friends. She also won a guest wardrobe. That was her favorite clothes. And so she wore her guest clothes and went to Cher and like posted it all. It was amazing. And like, that's like, that's all she ever wanted in life was to go see Cher on a private jet with her friends.

And we were like, here you go. And that all happened. Yeah. Yeah, you make it happen. It's incredible. I absolutely love hosting a game show. I love it. It's one of my favorite things. So that's so interesting. Now, is there something that you... Thank you for watching, Sean Hayes. Of course, I love it. Is there something that you kind of... You know, it seems like you've been immersed into the world of Hollywood, like you said at the beginning, where it's once you're in it, it's like, what else...

Do I do? I don't have any other skills. Is there anything you always wanted to do or that you still want to do? Or is it 24-7 Hollywood directing, producing? Like, you just love it so much. I mean, I don't know that I love it so much. Yeah. But it's the only thing... I mean... Everything? It's... I don't...

Sean really made it out like Hollywood should just be loved up. No, I just meant like... Like I'm rubbing up on it all the time every night. No, just because of your journey from school to then getting a master's to then New York to just working all the time. Is your life fulfilled in that way is kind of what I meant. Or is there more that you've always wanted to do?

I mean, I'm one of those people. I feel like you guys are. I mean, why did you start this podcast? You know, it's like, what else is there to do? You know, honestly, we're all very similarly aged, too. I have come to the point in my life where I'm like, all right, I mean, 50 more years. Like, what are we doing now for the rest of it? Right. Right.

Do you guys ever let your imagination go to that, that whenever that fork was in your life, you know, whether it was college or before or a little bit after where you could pick, um,

where you're going to kind of put your energy. And if you could switch that and point it somewhere else, what, what was close to maybe going to be your career? Or if you could go back knowing what you know now and what you love now, would you have put your energies into architecture or politics or anything that's even remotely interesting to you that can compare?

Nope. No, I think being a storyteller is an incredible job and I love it. And I remember, I remember being taught in college that storytelling, you know, that it's the oldest form. It's not just entertainment, but like, you know, they used to sit around the fire in the caves and

And someone would get up and be the storyteller and be like, there's lines and this is how you avoid it. You know, it's literally like how we, why we are humans is because we have storytelling, because we have imaginations, because we create characters. Right. And so to me, it's such a, such a gift of a,

job to do every day. It's incredible. Right. But if that guy who got up, he's telling a story. Well, if he falls over into the fire, he burns himself. He's going to have to sue the guy that didn't put the rock wall up. Who's going to represent him? So, you know, lawyers came around and, you know, eventually things filled out. That's right. We had to fill out civilization around that particular guy.

I just mean to say like, it's an old tradition and it's being carried on by all of us. And, and it's a fun responsibility, I think. And I don't take it too seriously as you guys know, I really am just trying to entertain people at the end. I would say the, so one of my favorite things about you is that how you don't take it. And you mentioned that and, and, or yourself too seriously. And it's always the, one of the most sort of, it's, it's almost disarming how, how sort of open and, and, and,

genuine you are as a person. I always sort of, you sort of forget because you're, you do, as Jason said, you do have this incredible career and you've done so many amazing things. And then anytime I spent any time with you, I was like, oh God, you're so down to earth and so normal and so funny. And I felt comfortable enough to listen to you.

Let you in on my, when I was on the dating app and everything. And we remember that whole thing. And you checked up to see how it was going. Let's pull over here for a second. So, so, so there you are on, so you're on Raya and you swipe and you see Liz Banks on there and you're like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,

Sure. Raya being the main one. Okay. And I was like, I want to look at some of these ladies. I want to swipe. And I, one of the things I found fascinating was how every dating profile is the same. So like every girl is like in a bikini, but eating a pizza or like,

Or like holding a dog. They're always like in bed under the covers but with a dog. Sure. Like they're all the same. Like there's no bad ideas. Yeah. And they're all listed like their job, but they're all philanthropists too. They're all like, well, all the dudes say that they're philanthropists because what they're trying to say is like, I got a lot of dough.

Yeah. And every guy's with like, with like a kid, but it's usually like, look at, I'm a great uncle, you know? So it's like, you're great with kids, but you're hot, but your abs are out and, but you eat pizza, but you love animals, but you're cool. And you'll lay in bed and you'll like a photo and you have messy hair. Like it was amazing. It's amazing. We went, so we were on, we were on this, we went on this trip to promote the second Lego movie and it was me and Liz and, um,

Chris Pratt. Well, Chris Pratt and Corden. Oh, yeah. Oh, wait. You guys went to space camp? Yeah, we went to space camp. Oh, my God. I saw that. That was hilarious. And so we were there. First of all, I don't know if you remember this. So Corden says, I was like, I had the app open. I'd just gotten it. And I was like, okay. And you could kind of message to people who you matched with or whatever. And Corden said, whatever happens in this next one, you have to message exactly what I say. Do you remember that? Yeah.

So I was like, okay. So Gordon says, this girl's like, hey, how's it going? And he's like, you have to answer, well, I just stepped off a helicopter, so it's going pretty well. Put that in there. Imagine being on the receiving end of this girl being like, okay, you dick. That's right. Oh.

I'm in Ireland right now, you guys. What? Right now? I forgot to mention. You're in Ireland right now? You guys, I live in a cottage by the Irish Sea. Like, that's... What is going on? Okay, you guys. I'm making a movie called Cocaine Bear. Yes! You're making Cocaine Bear. Yes. Have you started shooting yet? Are you in pre-production? No, I'm in prep. We start shooting in August. Are you directing this? I am, yeah. I'm directing the movie. Oh, that's great. Who's in it? What's it about?

It's based on a true story, Sean. This is an incredible story about an infamous drug runner whose whole MO was that he would drop drugs out of an airplane, like a Cessna that he would fly up from Columbia with Coke in it. He would drop it over fields to get picked up along the East Coast, and then he would parachute out of the plane and then dump the plane into the Atlantic Ocean.

So, you know, they would do drug runs worth like hundreds of millions of dollars. And these Cessnas are like $2 million planes. So it was cost of doing business. They would get rid of the plane. So if anybody had tracked it or whatever, it's the equivalent of like lighting the car on fire where the crime had occurred. And he was able to do this because he was a paratrooper in the army and he had a whole special set of skills. And so one day, you guys will love this story. He flew the plane back from Colombia and

He had brought to Columbia his karate instructor. And the two of them had had parrot while they were in Columbia. They were sick on the plane. They were puking everywhere. They decided they needed to ditch this plane. And, um,

The karate instructor jumped out and landed and was fine. And then Andrew C. Thornton II, the infamous drug runner, jumped out, apparently hit his head on the plane, never deployed his chute. His emergency chute deployed. He ended up dead on the ground, surrounded by drugs with like Gucci loafers. This was all in 1985. Yeah.

And, um, the police and the mob suddenly were like, he just, he just dropped a bunch of drugs because the police never had any clues about where he'd done anything. So now he falls from the sky and like, we got to go find these bags of drugs. And, um, they never found the drugs actually. And we don't know if the mob picked it up or what happened. Um, but three months later they found a black bear in the Chattahoochee National Forest in Georgia, um,

surrounded by bags of drugs and he had died from a massive drug overdose. He had eaten $17 million worth of cocaine. The bear. The bear did. The bear did. Yeah. And he's now, he's now. That bear was called Jason Bateman. Yeah.

There are a lot of jokes about who the cocaine bear was in 1985. It definitely could have been me. Are you in the movie, too, or just directing? No, I'm just going to direct it. And who's in it? Ray Liotta plays the mom of Boston. Oh, my God. I love Ray Liotta. Yeah. Carrie Russell. Love Carrie Russell. I love Carrie. I love her. She's so good. She's one of my all-time faves. Oh, a delightful human. She's the best.

I did. I know her very well. She's a good friend. Say hi to her for me, please. I will. I know. I love her and Matthew. Matthew's a great guy, too. All great. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, I think, is going to be it. Fantastic. Because we're very old friends. He's hilarious. He's hilarious. Hilarious.

Alden Ehrenreich is going to be in the movie. You know, he was Han Solo. Sure. Oh, he's fantastic. I love him. Very good actor. Yeah. So it's got a really fun cast. And a bunch of young kids. It's like a bunch of young kids that go into the movie. That's fun. It seems like a kid's movie. Yeah. Very stand-by me in this movie. Yeah. Really? Yeah. God. So Liz, you're off doing this movie, this Cocaine Bear. I heard about this. I'm so excited. I just, I can't, I just, I

I told you before, I just think the world, I just think that you're just so funny and cool. Here comes the but. No, there's no but. I was going to say, I just want to do something. I want to be at your disposal at some point. I want you to tell me, I want you to direct a movie with me.

Not with Sean and Jason. I just want to be a supporting character. I just want to be there to have fun. Sean and I are holding out for a Pitch Perfect 3. Is 3 on its way? I think there was a 3. 3 happened. Let me finish. Is 4 on its way? Maybe. We'll make a deal right now. I'll self-tape right now. I

I think we're self-taping. This is it. We're doing it right now. We're self-taping right now. Sing right now, Jason. Sing for real. I sing the body electric. Which was a song that was great and wonderful because if we don't talk about a song, we have to pay for it. So that's a fantastic song. I celebrate. It's something else. It's fame. What is the song? It's such a wonderful thing. Stop singing and start talking. What is the song?

That song is from, is that from Hair? No, that's from Fame. Fame. That's what I meant. Yep. By the way, hey, how about you remake Fame? I remember that. Irene Cara, right? I remember that. Was that Alan Parker? Oh, that's so, you have no idea what a great segue that is because I talk about Fame on my podcast, My Body, My Podcast, exclusively on Audible. And they, because Fame really,

literally rocked my life when I saw fame in so many ways. And not because it was about a group of people who like really wanted to pursue the dream that to live in the ads, to work in the ads. People who wanted to live forever, who wanted to learn how to fly. Not because of those things, even though I was inspired. No, it was because Irene Cara,

is topples in that movie. I don't know if you guys remember that part. Oh, we do. They, they, I never knew that. Well, they, you know, there was always the TV version that I feel like we got to watch. I got to watch it on HBO back in the day when HBO was like a new thing. I was old enough. I was in the theater. And we say, and we got like, we, I, my family could never afford HBO, but we would get the free weekends, you know? And I'm pretty sure that, that, uh, it was on one of the free weekends. So I watched it.

And Irene Cara is topless. And I do an entire podcast about this. I'm not joking. Every episode is about fame? Yeah. I was being about Irene Cara specifically. I was being bullied back then. I was really skinny. And I was very behind in puberty. I still am. It's coming along nicely. It's coming along nicely. No, it never... This is the whole point. They never came along. Your voice still hasn't dropped. They never came along.

And I was being bullied by this girl named Erica. And she heard the insult that she hurled at me after school when she would bully me on the way home was you're going to have cone boobs.

And I didn't know what that meant. Like, like, like Madonna's. Madonna, truth or dare. Come out. Yeah. That wasn't the thing. I didn't know what a cone shaped boob was at the time. Cause I just looked at sports illustrated swimsuit edition. Those were all round. Nobody had cones in sports illustrated. And, and then I saw Irene Cara and she, she has very, she had, I don't know. I haven't seen her body in a very long time, but in fame when she was topless and,

She had some very adorable small breasts that were a little conical. And I kind of freaked out. I was like, that's what the bully means. And I was like, that might, okay, that's going to be me. And at the time, those were unacceptable boobs. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, but wait, why? I mean, what? Well, of course, it makes sense.

Makes no sense. It's so dumb. It makes no sense. Of course, everybody's gorgeous, everybody beautiful. And so that the podcast really is about how like why these things seep into our brains and why we get this messaging that like you should look like the cover of Sports Illustrated. And I've never been able to fill out that bikini top.

You're doing okay. Well, you guys, my very first big movie that you mentioned was What Had American Summer. I show up and David Wayne's like, we wore this bikini, I guess. And I put it on. And then the first...

agent I ever met in LA, not because I had a New York agent, as I said. When I went to LA and I interviewed this agent, I won't name him, but he was like, have you ever thought about getting a boob job? Oh, Lord. Wow. Is he still in the business? Yeah, he is. He's still in the business? Wow. And I was like, well, the gig's kinda,

up because I made this movie about Hot American Summer that I'm sure tons and tons of people are going to see. By the way, no one saw that movie for like 20 years. So I was like, everyone's going to see this movie and I'm already in a bikini top. So like now I think it would be weird if I like suddenly like pop a D cup after just showing off these little babies that I have here. The New York Times is going to write a story about it. Exactly. Like it's going to become

I'm a thing and I can't have that happen. Meanwhile, all I was thinking to myself was, no, I'm not having surgery and I don't know why we're talking about it in a meeting. Yeah, no fucking kidding. We live in such a fucking... But, yeah. It's not even just Hollywood. It's just this environment we live in. I have, like, body dysmorphia myself. Show us your cones.

Will, can we see your cones? Anyway, fame. Fame. Remake it. Fame. No, don't remake it. No, it's perfect. No, don't remake it. It's perfect. But don't you think that like, you know, for people who hold on to things like that, obviously that had an effect on you and somebody said that to you and you held on to it for such a long time. Isn't it funny at some point, at some age, I don't know what it is, where you go,

why was I holding on? Like, who gives a shit about any of that? I know. Like, who cares? I like me. I like my body. Whatever I have. But it's hard. I mean, luckily, you hit fuck it like 15 years ago, right? Yeah. I hit fuck it. I'm still working on fuck it, but I'm almost there. Oh. By the way, I remember one of the first places I went on the Warner Brothers lot. I was walked past all of your Porsches on Will and Grace. Yeah, how about that? And I was like... People didn't hate us already. Yeah. I know.

I thought, man, that's the life. I sold mine. Do you remember that? That was like 19... Sean sold his. But it was like 1999. Yeah, just to give... So Will & Grace became a hit. The same thing happened to Will & Grace as it happened to Friends, which was we became a hit when they had

reruns over the second summer. So it was the network recognized this and to, to award us, reward us, they gave us like four Porsches for the cast members. And you're like, Oh wow, that's, it's, it's incredible. And then you add up how much it costs for an ad in the USA today. And it was, it'd been to buy us four Porsches was cheaper than an ad. And we got more press from getting the cars.

Yeah, of course. I always said to our friend who ran, to Silverman when he ran NBC, I was like, go back to giving dumb actors cars because it's way less than a fucking raise and they're going to thank you forever and every time you negotiate, they're going to say like, yeah, but Ben was kind of nice to me so I'm not going to, I don't want to push it. You gave him that car that,

I must say, though, it was a very nice, generous thing. Sean, I remember when you got those, when you got those Porsches. And as actors, I was in the same position. I was living in New York, kind of coming out to L.A. to work when I could and whatever. And then I got a pilot. I was on a show, and you guys were on the air. And I did a show for, like, we got canceled after two episodes, two airings called The Michael Malley Show. So we were at the upfront with you guys. Love Malley.

Yeah, the mic's the best. Yeah. First of all, just a second for Mike O'Malley, one of the all-time greats. He's the best. Boston strong. Boston strong. Boston strong. Is this a moment of silence? Is he not with us anymore? No, no. He's still in praise. Believe me, he's...

He's a minch's minch. But anyway, we were at the up front and you guys were the toast of the up front, Sean, Will and Grace. I don't think we've ever talked about this. And I was like, oh, man. And then somebody's like, they all got Porsches. I was like, oh, man. And then they go, Porsche Boxsters. And I was like, eh. Yeah.

I swear to God. And I had nothing. I didn't have a fucking pot to piss in. And I was like, eh. But just to be clear, though, I couldn't pay my rent at that moment. Even after, you know, sure, we made it through one season. I was like, oh, I can kind of pay my rent now a little bit. And then we get this. It's like, no, I'm not holding on to this. I'm selling mine immediately so I can pay my rent for the next year in case this doesn't get picked up. What do I need two cars for? Thank you. It's very appreciative. But I'd rather a raise or something. I don't need a car.

You were still on a commercial. I remember you were still on a Bud Light commercial while you were on Will & Grace. Yeah, at Super Bowl. That's a true story. At Super Bowl, yeah, at Super Bowl. I have to say, I went to a taping of Will & Grace and I was... You did? Yeah, and I still, I tell people about it all the time. You know, when people are like, what makes a great TV show? I'm like, the actors have to be

fucking great. You're so sweet. And they have to be written for their special thing and then they have to have amazing chemistry. Like, it's not easy. It's what you guys had on Arrested Development too, but... Yeah, for sure. You guys were maestros. I mean, it helps to have gym bros there. Yeah. Thank you. But man, you guys were so...

It was magic to watch. That's so sweet. Did we meet? How you guys worked together. The four of you worked together. Sean, you were fucking great on that show. No, you really, really were. That's very sweet. I appreciate it. So funny. Everyone was virtuosic. Truly on that show. I feel the same way about everybody talking here today. I'm dying to do another sitcom. Let's do it. I miss that routine and the audience. Same. I think we're kind of doing one. It's called Smart Money. Let's go.

Why don't we just, the four of us, let's do one. Let's do a sitcom next year. Hit record.

We have taken, God, we've taken up way too much of your time. You got an industry to uphold, you know? I mean. Here's what I want to say. I want to say thank you for dressing up for your other thing that you had today and keeping it on for us. Keeping it on. Instead of changing into. That's a great point. You look gorgeous. And you kept your hair on too. I've seen you bald. It's not fun. No, no. I have to. The wig is beautiful today. Thank you so much. This one's named Doris. I think Doris is the winner. She's so pretty.

You guys are the best. Thank you, Elizabeth. You're the best. We love you. Love you guys. Say hi to Max. Love you. I will. I will. Love you guys too. Bye. Oh, man. I've been waiting for her to come on. Yeah, she's great. I love her. She's the best. You know what I love about her is she's the perfect example of picking something when you're younger that you're drawn to and you follow it through.

You're inevitably going to be successful the earlier you pick the thing that you love, right? I suppose. And she went to high school, college, all of those things, master's degree. So of course she's successful because she knew she wanted to do it from day one. We didn't even really talk about what a successful director she is and about her experience because we were talking so much about her. We're so into her life. She's so...

She has so many layers that you're like, you're just like, yeah, I want to hear more about that. She's also just got a great spirit. You just want, like, I just found myself just listening to her, not wanting to cut her off as I've got a bad habit of doing. She's just, she doesn't keep a conversation going and she's just infectious. I really, I really like, and plus the fact

I mean, what Max and she has done with the 29-year marriage, I think is like incredible. That's a really hard thing to do. Specifically in this business, we spend so much time away from one another. I think that that can't be overlooked either. And they work together. What do you love about that? They work together. What? The continuity of it all? Yeah. The marriage is that it's... Why is that important to you?

Oh, God. Don't make me cry, Will. No, you tell me why it's fucking important to you. Because it's hard to do nowadays? Yeah. I don't know. I don't know. Don't look at me. I never pulled it off.

The fact that they've been together for so long and that they work together as well. And it's just, they're fun to hang out with those two. I love her. She's so great. Yeah. All right. Boy, how do we work a buy-in to this? Bicostal? Bicostal, no. You can't workshop it. Can you hear my thoughts right now? We could also change it up and not Dubai anymore.

Oh, you know what? That reminds me. There's a great place to visit if you ever get out past the Middle East called Dubai. Did you just said? Oh, for fuck's sake. We almost made it. We were so close. We almost pull it off. Bye, the skin of our teeth. Oh, there you go. You saved it.

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