cover of episode "Rose Byrne"

"Rose Byrne"

2023/8/21
logo of podcast SmartLess

SmartLess

Chapters

The hosts discuss the meaning of the slang term 'Shoddy' and share personal anecdotes about their microphones and underwear.

Shownotes Transcript

Hey, guys. Good to see you. Sweet-looking microphones. Anybody wearing underwear today? What up, Shoddy? Where'd you guys get those microphones from? What up, Shoddy? What's Shoddy mean? Let's not. Why is that? Because it's cool, man. What does Shoddy mean? Shordy is the... No, it's Shoddy. I think Justin Bieber says Shoddy, doesn't he? Oh, my gosh. Shordy? What does it mean? All right, it's an all-new SmartList. SmartList.

Hey, Sean, do you have an understudy?

I do. He's great. Max Roll. He's amazing. Now, have you given Max a chance to get up there and do his thing? Yeah. Well, so one night, remember, I chain smoked, right? I chain smoked on stage. Right. And it made my vocal cords just massively inflamed. And I couldn't barely talk. So I missed one show and he went on. He was fantastic. Oh, my God. So now I took out all this stuff from the cigarette. So now it's the vape pen that lights up when you suck in, but it's just air.

So I took out all this stuff. But you're still sucking. I'm still sucking. I just wanted to get that audio clip in. Guys, can you copy and paste that and put it in the file that I've got going of these guys saying stupid shit? Is that a sound meme? I'm really punchy today. I took a Valium last night just so I could sleep. Are you still up? Did it not work? No, it worked. But I'm just like, hey, how's everybody doing today? So wait, you just have a loose bottle of Valium hanging around? Yeah.

Well, I understand. Is there like Uber drugs that you just pop over? Do you not understand how prescriptions work? Yeah. No, I take one every few weeks. What's the prescription look like on that? What do you mean? It's a Valium. Yeah, but why do you have it?

Because, like, if I have trouble sleeping, like, every several weeks, like, I take one every couple months just to get back in the sleep habit. That's a sleep aid, huh? For me, it is. Do you know what a sleep aid is, JB? Yeah, it's called, what's it called? Um...

Gummi. Ganja? Ganja, gummies, Ambien, Xanax. I had not heard of the Valium. I thought Valium was for pain. Last time I called JB, last time I talked to Jason after 7 p.m., he was like, Irie, man. That sounds Irie. Let's talk tomorrow. Greetings in the name of his Emperor, I, Celestia. I'm like, buddy, can you play golf tomorrow or not?

No, Jay, Valium's like... It's the same family of Xanax and all those. Oh. That's a real fun family, by the way. It's like the Manson family of drugs. It's the only family that would accept me. Oh, we're saving a seat for you, Sean. Oh, Sean, good luck, buddy. Hey, listen...

I'm feeling really punchy today, too. It's so hot out here on the East Coast. It's unbelievably hot. Can you get it cooler before I get out there, Willie? I don't know, man. It's so, it's so, so hot. Is it thick? Very thick. And I was just riding my bike into town and I was like, halfway there, I was like, this is a bad idea. It's really hot today. But anyway, I'm really excited, though, to be back here, to be back inside the

to be talking to our guest I'm excited our guest I I

I am such a fan of our guest, and I'm also a personal fan of our guest. This better not be a classy guest. This is a funny person. This is a funny person. Well, she is. She's both. She's very classy, and she's very funny. And I think that she started much more sort of serious, just based on her credits in the movies she did and the shows she did, and then started to get into comedy, and was just an absolute home run when it comes to comedy, but then can kind of flip back.

Still do the serious stuff, which is really if it wasn't so admirable. It'd be annoying You know that's right all the while being like a really cool person. We've never really worked together Except for we did represent a country once together and I'll explain that in a social she's Australian. She's Australian. She's the pride of Australia Roseburn Hi Rose

How's it going? Is that a cute short haircut or we got it all up in the back? No, no, I'm just like a top knot. Well, look how good you look in a bob. You look good in a bob. It does look like I've kind of got a bob on, doesn't it? How's it going? Hi, you. I haven't seen you for so long. Rose Byrne, where are you right now? Hi, friend. I'm in Brooklyn. Oh, okay.

Brooklyn, New York. Yeah, Brooklyn, New York. I'm on the East Coast. Yeah, I just got back from Australia. Yeah, yeah.

the country we both represent. Sure. How'd that come about? Can we stop there for a second? Well, she allowed me to come along for the journey. She was really representing. Well, tell people what you're talking about. Rose, there's no shortage of really talented, handsome, funny men that are actually Australian. So how far down the list do you go before you hit American and then to get to Will Arnett on the American list? Uh-huh. Just do well being Canadian. So we just go through...

-Canadian? -Yeah. It's a spot that you both did a commercial that you did for travel to Australia, right? It was a campaign for tourism in Australia. Thank you, Sean. Just in case our audience was confused. Who gives a shit if they know what we're talking about when it comes to this? They don't need to know everything. How do we cast Will Arnett in that, Rose? It was just my voice.

- Yeah, it was playing an American. The character is this foreign American who comes in. - Oh, got it. - And it's just, he's a unicorn. - Yeah, truly? - I am. And my character is too, yeah.

So you play an animated American unicorn. What a commercial. That's true. Do you do an Australian accent, Will, at all? Yes. I mean, I don't really. I don't. A very good one. Can you do one? You probably can. Yes, he does a very good one. Do it. Just a little. Give us a little. Come on, you're in front of the green screen. There's a...

Oh, that's a knife. You love doing the knife one. Oh, yeah, that's not a knife. This is a knife. Yeah, that whole thing. That's not bad. I mean, I get into it, but then it becomes a whole thing about the dingo and it ate my baby and all this sort of stuff, and I don't want to get off track here, you know, because then... Wait, what movie was that from? Was it that Nicole Kidman? No. No, Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep. Meryl Streep said with a straight face... There's a really famous but very infamous case in Australia about a woman who was jailed for...

- Murdering her child, Lindy Chamberlain. - And she tried to blame it on a dingo? - Yeah, well, and they didn't believe her and it became this sort of national kind of witch hunt for her and then she eventually was acquitted many years later. But it was a famous film with Meryl Streep. - And that big line was, and her big defense was a dingo. - And the big thing is, yeah, defense was a dingo. - A cry in the dark. - Yeah, a cry in the, that's what it was called. - It was sort of an Australian equivalent of Where's the Beef, I think. - So it was not a comedy?

She said that seriously. Oh, she found the laughs. Meryl found the laughs. But it was a very serious case, and we're not downplaying the seriousness of what happened. No, no, no. So again, spare us your letters. No.

We don't want to hear it. We were just joking around. So Rose. So that's where Rose and I met, and I was absolutely immediately delighted to work with Rose. She's so professional, but forget the work. She's such a cool, you're such a cool, fun person. And so exactly what I hoped you would be, which is like super down-to-earth and cool, and I was like...

and super talented. And you're like, wow, some people got it all. And then, you know, I work with these guys and some people have none. So, but the point is...

It was just such a delight to get to know you. And I'm such a fan of everything you've done, which is a lot. And when I start to go through all your credits, I'm like... I thought he was going to say, except for... No, I was going to... So what happens is when I knew that you were coming on today and I'm going through all this stuff, I'm like, oh, yeah, Rose was in that. Oh, yeah, Rose was in that. I mean, you have made countless films and television. Making the hay, guys. Making the hay. You got to keep dancing. You got to just...

- Crunch it up. - So what was the first, what was the first one? What was the big, what was the first professional gig that you can remember? - The first job I got paid for, I did this movie called, pretty strange little movie called Dallas Doll, not to be confused with Debbie Does Dallas. - No. - Sure. - Or North Dallas 40. - Yep. - Dallas Doll. - Dallas Doll. - I'm seeing a pole, it's a gold pole, it's shiny.

No? No, it was a cool little script and Sandra Bernhard came out to do it to Australia in like the early 90s and I auditioned and got this part. But I had started acting classes at a youth program here in Sydney when I was like eight years old and then a casting agent came to one of my classes and cast me in this.

So you had this, and you ended up going to, you did this acting class. Did you end up going and studying acting as well? Like in like an academy? Well, I didn't get into NIDA, which is like the sort of, you know,

sort of well-known Australian, the National Institute of Dramatic Art, which has, you know, very famous alumni. Right. But I didn't get in, guys. Didn't get in. Oh, they're lost. So I just... By the way, they're kicking themselves now. And by the way, if you know in Australia, they kick themselves the other way. Yeah, they kick the other way. Not a lot of people know that. Not a lot of people know that. They kick the other way. But you know, I've worked with Jason too. I've worked at two out of three of you guys, which is pretty cool. This is where I leave you. Yeah. Oh,

Oh, this is where I leave you. That's so nice. How long was that now? That was the comedy about sitting Shiva. Yes. That's right. With Jane Fonda. The Sean Levy vehicle. Sean Levy, the great Sean Levy. Adam Driver, Corey Stoll, Tina Fey. Amazing cast, wasn't it? Yeah. That is an amazing cast. Yeah. We had a great, great time. So to go back, so you go back, you get this movie with Sandra Bernhardt. She flies all the way to Australia.

You do this movie, then what happens? That movie comes out and you're like, "I'm set."

Yeah, I'm done. Literally just stared at the phone. Ready to roll. Then, no, like I finished high school and I started auditioning for other TV jobs and stuff in Australia and I got a few bits and pieces. And then when I was 18, I got cast in this film called Two Hands opposite Heath Ledger, directed by this wonderful writer-director, Greg O'Jordan, and that film was a really big hit in Australia and that was like, you know, a great...

sort of turning point, I suppose, for me back home. So that was in like 99, 98 or something. I was like pretty young. So I was Heath who was like a teenager. So you have this big hit in Australia and you're like, I'm out of here. Then I did the classic thing of going to LA to just try to audition for years, like trying to get an agent. I remember I got my first agent.

And I was so excited. I was like, I'm all set. I've got this agent. She's really great. She's got a great client list. And she signed me off the movie. Went back to Australia. Never heard from her again.

- Never heard of her again. - Name her right now. - Really? - Name her right now. - Where's the great Bobby Cannavale this morning? - Bobby, he's unpacking. 'Cause we just got back, so he's like in the trenches with the kids unpacking. But he says hello to all of you. - Yes, and Bobby Cannavale, who was on Will & Grace forever, playing Will's boyfriend. - Yes, yes. - And he played my superhero boss or super villain boss in the thing with Melissa McCarthy where I had crab arms.

How did you guys meet? Bloody funny.

We met through an actor called Tate Donovan. - Yeah, sure, of course. - Who was on "Damages," which is a TV show I did with Glenn Close. - Yes, you did. - For a long time. - Yes. - And Marty Short was on that too. - And Glenn Kessler. - Yes, yeah. - And Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman. - Dan, Zelman was one of the creators. - Dan Ramessi used to be married, yeah. Look at all these connections. - Look at all the guys. We're just crunching it out. - Guys, wow. - Look at this.

Now, where are – is Bobby juggling – you have two young boys, right? Yes. Yeah, and he has a third boy, Jake, who is 28. Yes. Oh, my God. So he's got boys, boys, boys. Yeah. How do you guys do it? You guys both work so much. I mean, I'm sorry if you get this question a lot, but it is just – I don't know how people do it where you've got two young kids and both parents are working all the time out of town. Mm-hmm.

It must be tough. But are they both now in kindergarten or first grade? Yeah, they're both like sort of in – but they've been – it's like I've had a job. It's harder, right? It's hard, yeah, because then they're in school. But it's a little bit case-by-case basis. I don't know about you guys with your families and children and stuff, but a little bit case-by-case. Just do your best.

of like trying to trouble it. Right, sometimes in the summer they can come, but yeah. A little bit. And they've gone to schools in LA on and off, you know, so it's like a little bit of that. But it gets harder as they get older, right, Will? It does get harder. It does get harder and it's a lot more of a negotiation because what happens is they have friends. Jason knows this too. They have friends and they're like,

You're like, hey, we're going to do this. And they're like, no, man, I want to be with my buddies. Right. And we don't care about your thing. Yeah, craft service is great, but... I know. That's such a drawcard, right? They love that. They talk about that. They just go, I want to go back to the table with the snacks and things. I'm going through a thing right now where my 14-year-old is on a trip and I haven't talked to him for three and a half days now because he's not allowed to use his phone. Oh, wow. And...

I am suffering. Yeah, I bet. He's having a great time and I am going crazy. Wait, Will, you have no idea, you have no way to check in with him yet? No. Don't they have like a chaperone? When he got there, when he got there, he was able to check in and he FaceTimed, I FaceTimed him and it was great. And then he checked in again later. He was like, hey, we got to give up our phones now because the deal was on this trip that everybody gives up their phones and that these...

these sort of counselor guys take them. And so we're like, "Yeah, this is really good." Meanwhile, my ex and I were like, "This is great. This is great for him." And now, three days in, she and I are texting each other, being like, "How do we--?" What about the chaperone? Can you text the chaperone? I mean, we can. We know that he's okay. We've gotten word and stuff. He's fine. And right before he gave up his phone, later the first day,

I tried to cram another FaceTime in. - Bless. - And he was like, "Dad, I can't pick up the phone. What are you doing?" And I was like, "Sorry." - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I know, just making sure. - Aw, Will. - I know. - I know, that's a-- - A little Archie. - Aw. - He's a big boy now. - Guys, Will's sweet. I know he doesn't seem sweet, but this guy got a real soft, chewy center. - You're all sweet. - All right, Rose, what's going on this summer? Do you have any time to take any family trips aside from Australia? - Australia, well, this was

It was a pretty big one. It was like a month. I was in the Outback, Will. I thought of you. You were? I was in the Outback, yeah. Were you in Uluru? We went to Uluru, which is this gorgeous, I mean, incredible...

very sacred spiritual site out in the middle of Australia. It's wild. If you ever get a chance to go, any of you, please, please do go. So what's so funny is when Rose and I did this thing, we actually had this friend of hers who directed it, shot all this incredible footage all over Australia. And then we kind of narrated our way as our characters went through with this great footage. So I think...

It feels like Rose and I have been on a tour of Australia together before. That's why she's like, we were in New Orleans. I know. I was like, remember when we went there? Do you, I have dumb, dumb questions. Do you miss it when you're not there? Like just to have family, just to go back a lot? Oh, I do. Have you ever been? I've never been. I want to go. I've never dragged you out. Sean, you've never been to Australia? I've never been. It's a very long flight. Have you, Jason?

I have a bunch of times. Yeah, I love it. I love it. I love Australia. I would love to go there. I will say, though, and this might be controversial, when you fly that long, you would love for it to be...

you would like the distance, you would like the difference of the locale to be equal to the distance of the flight. You know what I mean? Like, in other words, it's very similar to the U.S. in that people speak English and they look sort of Anglo and they're all kind of, except they drive on the other side. It's a little bit like Canada to me, which is great. I love Canada, but I can get there in an hour. Yeah.

You know, just I can go north into Vancouver. I feel you were underwhelmed. I'm getting a feeling you were underwhelmed. No, but I guess in fairness, I was in Melbourne and in Sydney a lot. But I haven't been to the Outback. I haven't been up in Brisbane. I haven't been to Surfers Paradise. You were in the city and that makes sense. And I feel, look, this is a problem that we have in the world in general, which is all the cities have become so it's the same stores in every city, right? Like you can go. Yeah.

you can go to Paris or you can go to Tokyo or you can go to London or you can go to St. Louis and there's a Fendi store. Yeah. And Sean, good news, there's a theory there and a couple of shim shims. Oh, fantastic. I'm in. I don't mind the flight. So wait, Rose. You can get into a Vince. Go ahead, Sean. I've never seen a Vince in Australia. I don't know, that's a stretch. We'll be right back. All right, back to the show.

But Rose, like when you go there and come back, what is the culture shock? When you first moved, like what is the difference between? I mean. We'll still go on other vids.

What is the thing that you notice the most? What are the differences you notice the most? About Australia and the US? Well, Australia is a little more laid back, I think. In general, the people are probably a little bit more laid back. And it's just a bigger, it's a bigger, this place is just, you just can't compete with the scale and the amount of people and like, you know, things like Australia feels, it's just a smaller population. It's like, and then culturally. It looks hotter. And it's hotter.

It just looks hot. Yeah, it's hot. But only during our winter. Only during our winter. It can be, but also like the people, like there's just in that same sort of way that the English have the same sort of thing. And I think Canadians have this a little bit as well, maybe a Commonwealth thing.

There's just... People have a better sense of taking the piss out of each other and themselves. They don't take themselves as seriously as Americans do. Yeah. On the whole. And I know that that's a very sweeping generalization. So again, hold back your fucking letters. But I think that there is that thing about you don't take yourself too seriously. And that's fun. There's a kind of... It's very fun. All the people I know in Australia...

I guess a lot of them are sort of actors and comedians and etc. But there is that kind of fun vibe. Do you feel like they're more a united country than we are?

Ooh, that's a good question. Oh, look, it's definitely... Why'd you get real with her, dude? Because it's smaller and everything you're saying will... I just thought like... I was going to say, though, it sounds like there's a lot more common sense sort of policies and way of living there than perhaps we get into here just because of the...

the opposite sides of things. It's very separated here, at least right now. - Yeah, I think the vision here at the moment is pretty extraordinary and pretty like, it's not as extreme. Australians are used to government in their life a lot more than Americans are. So for instance, you all have a speed limit, everyone took the vaccine without any, things like that. There's just more use to that involvement.

you know, healthcare is free, all those sorts of things. So it's like, it's just a very different mentality of government in your life. Very similar to Canada. Rose Byron, by the way, I saw you and you can't take it with you. You were fantastic. Yeah, I love, I love that show. It was my first show I ever did in high school. Oh, really? That's what everybody would say to me. They're like, I did

- Yeah, but to see it professionally done like that, it was fantastic. James Earl Jones, like, it was such a great cast. - You've done a lot of theater, in fact, and you and Bobby did Medea at BAM. - We did, we did Medea at BAM. - To great acclaim. And do you have any great theater stories? Sorry, Sean, I'm stealing your thoughts. - Yes, yes. Yeah, I wanna know what went wrong on You Can't Take It With You. - Say favorite color for Sean. - Go ahead, Rose. - And also your favorite color.

My favourite. That's what my six-year-old asks me. My five-year-old, sorry. Sounds about right. God, any theatre stories? I mean, I've had that person, like, you know, have a heart attack in row three, you know, and the paradigmatic paramedic. This was in Australia and I was doing a play and they had to come in and, like, we were still, like, doing the scene. It was Three Sisters, the Chekhov play, and somebody, you know, all of a sudden the person just starts going, like that. No way. And just bumps over and...

And did you have to go? We kept going. It was really weird. Yeah, I was going to say, do you finish the show? It was so weird. Not only did we finish the show, we didn't stop. Keep going. We didn't stop the scene. It's Australia. Unless you're bitten by a snake, you just keep going, right?

It's the snakes that stop things in Australia. Ten of the most powerful. But did you keep going with the play? We kept going. We kept going. And this poor old gentleman, I think, yeah, they came in and they took him out and everybody stood up and they put him on the stretcher and took him out. Sure. Did they check him for an overdose of Vegemite? Because I know that that can be sometimes. High sodium content. Do people still say fair dinkum? I mean...

I don't think so. I mean, I'm sure they do. It used to be a big one, right? Yeah. It's a little bit dated, the slang. What does it mean? Faradinkum means like really or is that right? Isn't that a replacement for that? Remember, Rose, when we did that thing, we did that Q&A and they asked me some Australian and they asked me Faradinkum and I said that Faradinkum is a term that's used to describe like somebody who's okay to hook up with. It's a Faradinkum. You know what I mean? Yeah.

That I've never heard, but I like it. I thought Fancy Kim was like... Early 80s. Yeah, like more like, oh, do you... Yeah, it's a little 80s probably. It's a little bit dated. Fancy Kim. Rose, I got a good one for you. Yeah? I think I told these guys. What do you call a chicken staring at lettuce? What? What?

chicken sees a salad yeah i've been using that the last 48 hours and getting a lot of folks rose jesus will do you have any dad jokes i i don't have any dad jokes not right now i'll have more by the end mine are more just in the moment like just but here's how great sean is sean just facetimed me uh in the middle of the day or night the other day i couldn't tell um and uh

I was like, okay, I'll pick up the FaceTime. I know. A lot of work. And he said, I picked it up. Hello. Hey, so just real quick, just for a quick, quick joke. And then he tells me that joke and I laugh and he hangs up. That's right. That's the kind of socializing I enjoy. That's a little hit and run. And that's exactly right. I know you. So good. I love you, Sean. We came up the other day with, I told Sean this, that somebody who's had just a little bit of, just a little bit of,

of surgery done to them, you know? Just a little bit of work. Somebody? Just anybody. Anybody who has, you can just go. We look over there and go. They've just said, oh, somebody had a visit from the youth ferry.

Yeah, see, I like that. Just a nice little visit from the youth fairy. I like that. But here's the thing. Rose, what do you use on your skin because you look like you're 12 years old? Yeah. Your skin is flawless. Wow. Oh, my gosh. You look great. Thanks, guys. Congratulations. What do you do? What do you do? What do you do?

Do you do all the scrubs and the peels and the thing and the thing? I think it's the lighting in here. I'm not trying to be. I think it's all lighting. It's all lighting, buddy. He wants to know the name of your toner. You go to sleep early. You eat right. You kind of do all that stuff. All those boring things, I guess. But it is very dark in here. It is dark. It's got a soft light. It's a really soft light. What do you pig out on? What do you just love to pig out on? Drinking this. Look at this.

Same. Look at this. They're both having Coca-Colas. But this is because I got food poisoning on the plane on the way back. Yeah. Nothing a Coca-Cola can't solve. Filthy. So I got the black doctor. Don't name the airline. I know. I know. I didn't. Did you guys go through? Did you stop in LA? We just stopped in LA. We changed planes and then on the way from New York to JFK. Just recently? Just yesterday you got food poisoning? Yesterday I got it last night but I was like throwing up the whole time. Last night? Yeah.

Oh, how do you feel today? I can't believe you're doing this. Oh, no. I feel okay. Yeah, I feel okay. Yeah, okay. But it was so gross. Like the tiny bag on the plane. Oh, no. Oh, no. It's so gross. Food poisoning is the worst. Food poisoning takes over your whole brain and your body. Yeah, it's like quite...

It's like your whole body. And you guys had the kids with you as well? It was you and Bobby and the kids? Yeah, the kids. They were asleep though because it was the last leg of the flight, so it was okay. I've just never had it on a plane before. Yeah. How much longer have you got left, Sean, of the show? How long has it been? August 27th is our last day. Oh, wow. Okay. August 27th is the closing night.

And how do you guys know each other? Like, how do you all know each other? 23, 24 years ago. I was his acting teacher. Wait, how? No, I...

Yeah, and I still go to them. I'm still working on it. No, we used to play poker. I met Will actually before the poker thing, but we didn't get close until we all started playing poker like regularly every week. And then with Jason and with everybody and with blah, blah, blah. And then, yeah, we were just... Years and years ago. Years and years. And in that time, we've done two shows together. We never even talked about it. We've done two shows together. Isn't that wild? Yeah.

We did Up All Night on NBC with Christina Applegate and Maya. And then we did The Millers on CBS. Oh. Remember, Sean, we went on that trip and then Sean called like a week later, called me back, he was like, I think I'm going to do the show with you next year. I was like, oh my God. Isn't that wild? Sean, did I see that you've got a compression sleeve on your right arm? On both, yeah. Oh, from playing piano? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

No, from lifting weights. Yeah, exactly. Did you lift up a heavy egg salad the other day? Did you, but it's not, how are the wrists? Your wrists. The wrists are decent. They're decent. Do you still have to ice your hands at the end of every show? I ice them before and then twice after every day. Oh my God. Did you, so are you a piano prodigy? Sure, no. No.

No, I started playing when I was five, and then I thought I was going to be a conductor and compose music and be a concert pianist, and then I got the acting bug, you know, early on, and then I became a music director, you know, out of college. That's what gave you the food poisoning, right? The acting bug? Yeah. Nice. Speaking of ice in the hands, I took my first cold plunge the other day. Rose, have you been doing that? I'm so into it.

I'm so into it. Oh, my God. I'm like, I never get into that stuff and I'm addicted to it. Rose, tell me about the first time. Tell me about the first time because what does that feel like? It's really... I want to... It's like, yeah. I mean, I don't know how you... I'm very... I didn't like it. Yeah, no. I didn't like it. So do I end up liking it after two or three or four times? You kind of get addicted to it. I got it. I'm addicted to it. It's like you just... It becomes like something you have to overcome and the high afterward is just...

It's not even high, you just feel really, you're relaxed, you sleep really well. I found it really helps me fall asleep. And your skin looks amazing. Like it does something amazing to your pores. So, but I imagine. I can't believe you guys, you know that I built my first cold plunge 10 years ago before anybody else did. I'm now building my third one out here.

And I swear to God. So hang on a sec. When you say you built it, you're slapping together all the ceramic on the tub there and running the pipes. I'm doing a lot of like, yeah, I should go there. Hey, keep working while you guys are sitting around. Like I do a lot of that.

Get up, aim. Wait, I want to ask, Rose, when you first put, because I kind of want to try it because I do my arms every day. Yeah, yeah. But I want to, when you first put your toe in, I feel like it would be, my body would be so sensitive. I'd be like, I'm out. I can't do the whole, I can't go anywhere. Well, if you start in the sauna, right? If you start really, really hot and then you get in it. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

But, like, you know, I'm from Australia so we swim in the ocean in the winter. It's a winter back home now, right, and I was swimming every day in the ocean and the water's freezing. And so cold.

Pretty cold, but I go straight in. It's a cold plunge. It's just the original cold plunge, just having a cold swim in the ocean. I do the same thing. And I go back home in L.A. I start every day with – I have the sun as well, which I do later in the day with the cold. But in the morning, I do just straight into the cold plunge. Yeah. How long? How long do you –

Like the other day, you know, if I can make it three minutes, then that's good. But usually about two minutes in the morning. Oh, that's it. I was told you've got to make it four. And I felt like a loser at two. I was told 30 minutes. Three minutes, but I keep my...

I keep mine at 39 degrees, so it's very cold. Mine's not that cold. Mine's probably 45. It's not 39. Is there a way to do it where you build up the tolerance to the cold? Yeah, just do it for 30 seconds. That's even cooler. But it does everything. It reduces inflammation. The benefits of it are so if you can do basically, if you can build it up, I forget what the actual number is, but it's something, it's not even that much. It's like if you can do 10 minutes, cumulative minutes per,

per week, it does X benefits. And inflammation is the root of all... God, now we sound like Huberman. Hey, but can you do like a frog boil type of strategy with it where it starts sort of room temperature and then you progressively get it colder and colder and you end up staying in there for 20 minutes? You know, because you don't really notice it getting colder? Theoretically, I guess, man. I don't know. I don't work for the fucking pool company, dude.

- All right, back to Rose. Let's get back to Rose. - How long have you, can you do it for, Jason? - It's just the first time. I think it was two or three minutes. - Okay, yeah. - It felt all right. - How did you handle that, Jason? Like, going, did you go junk right away or did you go slowly?

No, I went right away, but it was after the sun, so it was deep sweat. I was-- I've never been hotter. And then right-- That makes it-- So, like, as I've been building-- So by the time, Jay, you get here, the new one will be built. So as I've been waiting for it for the last year, I have-- this is true-- I have this big inflatable temporary tub out here. And I go and I'll get like eight, ten bags of ice.

and I fill it in with water and I make this big slushy ice thing and I do it like that. I sit in the ice. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. Rose, I want to talk about your family. So listen, when you... What was it like growing up? Did you get pushed into this? Is it something you wanted to do? How did you get exposed to doing the thing you love to do? Well, I grew up in a neighborhood called Balmain and there was a lot of kids in my neighborhood who used to go to the Australian Theatre for Young People, which is called ATYP. And I...

a friend of mine was like, "I think you'd really like it." And I was only little, I was eight. And that's how I started was just doing these classes after school and just loved it. - Oh really? - Just loved it. - Anybody else in your family into it? - No, none of my siblings, not my parents, anything. The neighborhood we were in was somewhat bohemian, I guess. There was sort of a lot of artists there at the time. It's a bit more gentrified now, but that was it. Yeah, that was how I started was going to ATYP. Yeah, doing classes. - Has your favorite part of it changed at all? Or do you still love the same things?

I mean, I still get nervous. I still get nervous before every job. I still get panicked and think how am I going to do this? How am I not going to screw this up? Like I feel like the nerves are still there about it. Like I don't know if the actor's condition is sort of you can't really change it, right? I don't know. You guys feel like that?

Yeah, I mean, anytime I'm calm, I end up doing a terrible job. A little bit of nerves keeps me focused. I think so. I think so, too. You know, but... But, you know, it's funny, though. But, you know, for somebody who you say that you get nervous or whatever, I mean, and I mentioned this before, like, you're always working. You have three... You have two shows and a movie out right now as of the time of this broadcast. Like, you've got...

Physical, your show Physical, right? Which is your thing set in the 80s where you play this sort of like a housewife who's kind of discontented. I mean, there's more than that, but that's the log line I'm going to give you. And then you've got Platonic with Seth Rogen, right? The show where you guys play best friends who are having platonic. And then you have Insidious.

And I'm like, this is like, that's, to have three major things out at the same time. I mean, it's unusual and it's a lot. Please, you have freedom to complain. Go. Yeah. That's a lot. Well, all the press. And do you feel, yeah, the press, exactly. So the press alone that you have to do for that stuff. And a little bit is like, be careful what you wish for. Do you ever feel like that? I mean, I, it's,

I'm honestly such like you've got to make hay a little bit. It's such a sort of – but I feel like when I get – it's job by job, right? Like when I got the script for Physical, this was a few years ago, but it was just such an interesting premise and pilot and like a character I'd never really seen before set in this really specific world of like, you know, how the wellness industry really began, you know, sort of reverse engineering that and that –

and really looking at this illness of bulimia, which is something that's never really been examined before on screen in a way that wasn't like a punchline or wasn't sort of, you know, and this was doing it in a way that I thought was really interesting. And it's really Annie Wiseman's story. She's the creator and she's been very much a touchstone for me in terms of like how we represent it and, yeah.

But I don't know about you guys, but I just always feel like the last job you do is maybe the last job you'll ever get. Oh, 100%. Always. Like, I don't know. I just do. I always feel so fortunate to, like, get another job. Yeah. We all do. It's just so hard, you know. It's this business that does no one anyone favors, really. I know. So I very much have that. We'll be right back. And now back to the show.

And then, like I said, you started and you did a lot of dramatic stuff and you did a lot of huge movies. I'd sort of forgotten that you had done Troy all those years ago, which is so crazy. It must seem like a different lifetime ago a little bit, right? Oh, yeah. I was so young. Talk about working on that. That was in Malta, right? Yeah, in Malta. Jason's Maltese.

Yeah. I am. No. My grandma, yeah, on my mom's side. Are you being serious? Yeah. Really? I didn't know that. Oh, my God. Look at his fingers. Show us your fingers, Jim. Look at those big fingers for hauling nets. Yeah, so you've got to have them a little bit fatter so when you pull in the fishnets, you don't cut through to the bone. Yeah. That's funny. And I've got webbed feet. If I fall off the boat, I can swim. Have you ever been there?

Yeah, once when I was a little kid. I would like to go back. Will, you're thinking about going, aren't you, Willie? Mm-hmm. Yeah? We were supposed to go a couple weeks ago, and then we bailed. But yeah, yeah, I am going to go, I think...

They used to shoot a lot there. They shot, yeah, they shot there. They're going to do more. They are, yeah. Yeah, they're about to do more. So you go to Malta to do Troy with Brad Pitt. With Brad Pitt. I mean, how old were you when you did that? I was like 12. I don't know. I was so young. I was like 23 and just it was pretty overwhelming. I was extremely shy. Like I was very, very shy and I play like a –

I played Briseis who gets like captured and thrown to him as like a toy that he can, you know, do what he wants with. So it was pretty funny. It's a lot of, you know, me tied up like, excuse me, sir, I don't want to talk to you. No, like beast, you know, like that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't you kiss me on the mouth. You know, and...

And yeah, I was just really shy. How did that come about? Like what was the process of that? I auditioned. I had done this movie called Wicker Park, this movie with Diane Kruger and Josh Hartnett and Matthew Lillard like in Montreal. And from there I got an audition for Troy. And weirdly, Diane Kruger also, she played Helen of Troy. So we like spent two years together back in like, you know, 20 years ago. Wow.

And, yeah, it was just such a huge, insane budget and so many extras and so many it was just, you know, Peter O'Toole was in the movie. I remember he would be smoking. He was incredible, you know, this legendary actor and he was very fond of us, of me, and we hit it off. We kind of got along really well. I remember him climbing the stairs of like one of the ancient ruins that we were filming at and really breathing really hard. Really?

you know, like going up the stairs. And one of the PAs saying to him, I think you might have to give up the ciggies, Pete, or something. And he was like, oh, I should just give up the stairs. Uh-huh. Yeah.

And you're fired. That's so good. What an answer. I know. It was good. One of my dumb questions is how hard is the American accent? I like asking people that. I know. I love that. Do you have like a word that clicks you into it? Because you have such a great American accent. Thanks, pal. We had a lot of American TV in Australia. So I grew up watching –

Seinfeld and family ties and stuff like that. - So you learned the American accent from my sister. Is that what you said? - Sure, yeah. - I mean. - You sound a little like Justine. - Well, I don't know. But I had this really hard dialogue once when I did "Damages." And I still say it to try if I'm having a problem. Patty hired 24 hour security for Katie.

- Wow. - And that's what I said. - So it's the Rs. - Patty hired 24 hour security for Katie. - Wait, what is that from? - It's from damages. - Damages. - Wow. - So Rs are tough. - Yeah, and hired. Patty hired. That's a hard one. Hired. - How do you say hired in Australian? - Hired. - Hired. - Hired. - Hired. - Hired. 24 hour security.

- Freaky. - Yeah, we just sound sort of efficient and, right? Just sort of like that, that is true, right? - We sound like a bunch of knobs. - Yeah. - Let's be honest. - That was really, that's my go-to when I'm done. But I love it. I kind of, if I don't have to do an accent, I feel a bit strange. Like on "Platonic," there was this whole, Nick Stoller really wanted me to be Australian.

And I was very much like, "I'm not sure, I don't know. I just wanna, you know, I'm quite..." And then, anyway, I agreed to do it. - You did Australian, but you were kind of, there were moments where you sounded not totally yourself, kind of American. - Yeah, a little bit, right, yeah. - In platonic, I noticed that 'cause I watched it. I noticed that. - Yeah. - God, and you're so good in it, Rose. You're so, so good. - Thank hell.

With your countrymen, Seth? I know with Seth. We love... And a friend of the show. We love Seth. You must love working with him. You've done a few things with him. Yeah, you guys have done a bunch. He's Canadian. That's what I always say. I know. He's like... He's a great dude. Yeah, he's a great guy. Rose, a fan question. Were you...

Was Bridesmaids as much fun? Oh, are you getting emails from fans right now? Yeah. Was Bridesmaids as much fun making it as it is watching it? Because I remember I went opening weekend. Oh my God, you did? Yeah, back in the day. What a great movie. It had just come out and not too many people were talking about it. It was like the second day it was out or something. Oh, you discovered it? I'm the one who told everybody about it.

No, and I remember emailing Wig and I'm just like, oh my God, I love that movie so much. And it was just, and then it just became this huge thing. Exploded. But it just, it's one of my favorite movies. It's one of billions of people's favorite movies of all time. But it was, it looks like it was a blast and you laughed every single day. Yeah.

We did. It was one of those jobs where it definitely had no idea that it would become such a beloved film at all. It was like a, you know, mid-sized film. It wasn't, you know, it was like... Right, yeah. What was weird was acting with that many women, I must say. That was bizarre. Like the big days when we had all those set pieces and it was just like eight women or, you know, all of the girls together. That was really unusual because usually...

if you're in a film, there's not often you're the only woman or you're doing a scene opposite a guy or it's very rare to have that and that was, I remember thinking in those days were so fun because we all really hit it off. It was like not, it was a very good vibe on set and everybody was really fun. How often do you and Bobby get to work together? We've been

A lot, Jason, actually. Yeah, we did Madea together at BAM right before the pandemic hit, which was pretty wild because we saw that kind of coming in, like the audiences starting to...

and New York starting to shut down and this word about what's happening? Is this thing? And then we, you know, had our final show and then three days later the whole of Broadway shut down. I remember hearing, oh, there's a Nasha Haddad and someone else and then New York just was like the apocalypse. Were you guys in New York? We're during the pandemic because me and the guys on the other podcast, we have like real, you know, heavy-duty opinions about it. LAUGHTER

The planned death. The planned death. All the dudes on all the other podcasts, we got real opinions about what you think. Oh, my God. It was such a crazy day. We were all in L.A. We were all in L.A., yeah. Yeah, we were all in L.A. And birthing this thing, trying to figure out a way to keep talking. Guys, I'm sorry it didn't work out that well for you, huh? It's been a real, real...

failure hasn't it it's been a bummer but you know kind of and I love I love Bridesmaids too I mean Bridesmaids is so so funny and obviously Wig is you know we love Paul Feig Jason and I worked with Paul before a number of times he's such a great dude and always in a suit always in a

Always in a suit, always the sharpest dressed guy in showbiz. He had one of those VW Bugs when they first came out. And you remember the little vase that they have in the front? He had a little flower in his vase.

Yeah. Yeah. Right on the dashboard. He's just a classy guy. He's a classy guy. And his wife is awesome. And he's just a cool dude. But everybody in that movie, and obviously Melissa and everybody, just such a great cast. And Maya. So you've done that. Let's not forget about Ben Falcone. And Ben Falcone, the great Ben Falcone, who we love. I know. Now we're going to get texts from Ben Falcone. How did you not mention me? We did. Barely got it in there, Will. All right.

"Well, I know. Well, now Ben doesn't have to text us." But then-- but then-- so you do that. Then you do-- you start doing more and more comedy, and then-- but you can also seamlessly go back. My question for you is, is there something that you haven't-- because it feels like you can kind of do everything, is there something that you're like... What's the big thing that's out there that you haven't done yet that you're like, "I want to do something like X"? Is there something that kind of-- in the back of your mind that's-- Or stuff they don't call you for. Yeah.

Why don't they call me for that stuff? Oh, my gosh. I mean, I... For me, I feel like...

comedy and drama, like the stakes are even higher in comedy. Don't you think to make something funny is like, it is fun and all that stuff, but it's also, it's hard work in a different way, you know? Like it's. But what's great about you is you never ask for any laughs, you know, you're always so great about, you know, some people when they, when they, some dramatic actors have tried to play comedy, they, they just sort of like speak louder and make faces. You, you just keep it all very relatable and grounded and real and,

Your brand of humor, just for me, I love it. Oh, you're very sweet. Well, that's... But what about like playing, what about somebody with a limp and a lisp and old age makeup and like that kind of character acting? Guys, Hamlet. Are you excited about that? I would like to play Hamlet. Hamleta. We could arrange that. Hamleta. Hamleta. Let's do it. Hamleta. In the park. In the park. In the park.

In the park. Hamletta in the park. Actually, all jokes aside, Hamletta as a comedy something is a really funny idea. It'd be called Hamletta and Cheese. Oh, wow.

I think we've figured it out, guys. I'm going to call CAA. We're going to put it together. Bobby can play Ophelia. Ophelia. Yeah, Ophelia. A little wig and a little dress. He'll be cute. Ophelia. Ophelia. But there's nothing that you're like, oh, man. You don't like sit there and like talk to your friends and be like, mate.

Why am I not getting this? I imagine that you're always talking to your friends saying, Is there somebody like a historical figure you'd want to ever play or somebody like in the public eye or some part you're ever like really aching to do? Well, I did this show...

Mrs America and it was set in the second wave feminist movement and I played Gloria Steinem and that was extraordinary, I must say, and a lot of pressure. Obviously she's still reactive and, you know, she's extraordinary but that was really nerve-wracking and that was definitely something I tried to get out of because I was like,

- Really? - Was that the first time you played a real person? - Screw that up. I have played Duchess de Polignac in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. - Oh wow. - Kirsten does, but I played a very, it was a very, very small part, but she was a real person, yeah. She was like a good time girl. - But nobody can really reference her and go, "Hey, she didn't talk like that." - Right. Yeah, yeah. - You know what I mean?

She parted her hair on the right side. She's a little more obscure. Oh, yeah, you're right. You haven't heard of her? You haven't heard of her? So were you pressured, like having to do an impersonation or an accurate one, or did you kind of like do your version of her? Well.

Well, she's so different from me, where she came from and grew up in San Francisco. So it was a lot of technical work like that, but it was really fun. Eventually it was really fun. And her look is just so specific. Like her silhouette is so iconic, you know? So it's just like trying to get that silhouette. She's one of those few people that you know immediately kind of who she is.

So just by her silhouette. So that was really nerve-wracking trying to kind of get that right and the voice and how she walks and all that was very, very specific but really fun. But, I mean, gosh, I'm inspired by so much stuff I see. Like I loved everything every once. I thought that genre was great. I'd love to try that kind of wild genre, something I've never really been part of. That would be really – it's all about directors, right, guys? Yes.

Guys, guys. What do you do to... What's your thing you do to just sort of goof off? What's your downtime thing? Yeah, are you watching like dumb TV to unwind? Are you... Yeah, I mean... Are you a bike rider? Are you going to the... Cold plunge. Cold plunge, guys. Oh, yeah. I do the cold plunge. You do the cold plunge? I try to do that two or three times a week. Yeah. And I'm...

God, what else do I do? Are you a book reader? Yeah, I do. I'm a book reader. I'm a book reader. And I'll watch bad TV. Like Bobby thinks I'm pretty trashy. He's like, why are you doing that? Why are you watching that? Yeah. You ever pull him down into your little cesspool of reality TV? No, he just wants to watch sport. Yeah.

What's he addicted to? I get caught watching golf all the time and I'm very embarrassed by it. He's got a big live draft he does with like... Oh, football. Fantasy. Rudd and... Oh, sure. Ham and all those guys. They do a big live draft every year. This year they're not sure if they can do it because there's some...

Some scheduling issues going on. So he's deeply unhappy. He's very unhappy. That's right. But he loves the football. He loves the footy. And I've grown to like it. I don't quite understand it, but I'm, you know, I try to get into it. I think it's good to get into sport. It's a good TV product, that football. It's designed around advertising, right? Mm-hmm. It's a moneymaker. Yep.

But I've been loving going to the theatre. I saw Good Night Oscar, obviously, and that's been great to get back. I just felt like it was so quiet, right, for a while, Sean? And then it feels like that's what Bobby and I loved. We just love to go to see shows. So that's been really fun to like... It is one of those great things about when you live in New York, just being able to go and see. Yeah, when you live in the city, yeah. Can I...

Can I ask, have you had, Sean, have you had people on their phone texting, phone calls? Yeah. Yeah. One time. What do you do? Do you do anything? Have you said anything? Yeah, one night, it was the perfect timing. It was, oh, shoot, I can't remember the line. Some phone was going off and I had a line. I told you guys, I can't remember what it is, but yeah.

And the line had to do with being quiet, and I delivered it straight to that person in the audience. Wow. Whatever the line was. Did they laugh? Yeah, I got a little chuckle and claps. I love it. It's so annoying, but right in the middle of...

The last part where me and June, the girl playing my wife Emily, we were crying together and the phone's... What? And so we're just like... And everybody in the theater's like, what the fuck? How did you... So it completely ruined the moment. But what are you going to do? Yeah. Anyway. Anyway. It's been fun having Sean on the podcast.

Exactly. Rose, it is so fun hanging. Actually, in a lot of ways, it was like, all of a sudden, like, Rose is just kind of like the fourth member of the crew. Yeah, thanks for letting Will and Sean and I catch up. Exactly.

It's just like we're just hanging with Rose. That's the name of the episode. See, she's so easy to get along with. So Sean and Rose, you guys don't know each other, right? No, not really. But you guys would be great friends. I believe that. Don't you think, Jay? Yeah. Yeah, well, they're going to have a great time tonight. Rose is going to go back to the show and go backstage. Jump on the subway. Yeah.

Help him ice his hands. She's going to get there. She's got a bag in front of her. She's holding a bag on the subway. Yeah. Just in case. I would love to see Bobby again, too, so we should grab a bite if there's time. Oh, yeah, yeah. I'll tell him. Yeah, for sure. I know. Send Bobby our love. I will. I will. He's one of the great guys. And thank you, Rose, for coming and doing this. I'm very, very flattered. I was nervous. Talk about nervous. I was like, oh, my God. Yeah.

Oh, please. And drink a lot of electrolytes from your food poisoning. Good advice. Thanks, Doc. Thanks, Doc. Okay. All right. We love you, Rose. Lots of love, Rose. Thank you. Nice to see you guys. You too. All right. Thanks for having me. Bye. Bye. Thank you. Bye.

Isn't she sweet, y'all? She is so sweet. Very nice. Very nice. She's very nice. She's such a talent. She's done like a hundred movies. I know. She's been nominated for like Golden Globes, Emmys, for everything she does. Boy, is she like stunningly beautiful. And she's gorgeous and she's smart as hell and she's, and above everything else, she's so cool. Yeah.

and down to earth. Yeah, she seems like, I wonder what the blind spot is. Yeah. Like, what's she doing? She probably just got done with a podcast and threw all the equipment against the wall. Maybe. She's nasty to babies. Whenever she sees a baby, she just triggers something in her. I said to somebody recently, I said, I was talking to somebody, I said, you know, so-and-so, he's got a real blind spot. And they go, you know, everybody's got a blind spot. And I said, I don't see mine.

Nice, Jesus. That's very good. Yeah. Anyway. But you know what? I love. Here goes Sean. Here goes. I know. Get it, Sean. Sean, get it. Jesus Christ. I love her. I love her. Let's hear it, Sean. I love her so much. Sometimes I wonder if she thought that I might go. Bite? Bite.

Take another bite of my tuna sandwich while I'm interviewing her. There it is. Sean, go ahead. Was that it? No, that was fine. Take another bite of my sandwich. Everybody can go in the corners now. Were you going to use bite? No, I was going to say it's nice she lives in Brooklyn because it's so near. Nearby what? Oh, nearby you. Yes. Oh, nearby you. Yeah, yeah. Okay.

I feel like you did use nearby recently. I probably did. What's the name of that one bay in Australia? Oh, yeah. Here's the thing. We forgot to ask her if she spent any time growing up at Bondi Beach. Bondi. Not even the word. No, no, no, not Bondi.

Oh, bye. Oh, wait, wait, wait. There it is. Guys, we're back. Who wants it? Who wants it? Sean, you know. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.

SmartLess is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarv, Bennett Barbico, and Michael Granteri. SmartLess. This episode was recorded on July 7th. If you like SmartLess, you can listen early and add free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.