Steve Carell | Good Hang with Amy Poehler

Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Good Hang. We have a comedy legend on today, a hilarious leading man, box office giant, and sketch comedian who I first saw on the stage at Second City and, you know, wanted to be like ever since. Steve Carell joining us. Steve and I are going to talk about a lot of things. We're going to talk about Second City.

We're going to talk about Anchorman. We're going to talk about The Office. We're going to talk about the smooth tones of the baritone horn. And we are going to talk about his new HBO show, Rooster, out now.

So we get into a lot of fun stuff. And before we talk to Steve, we talk to someone who knows Steve so we can speak well behind his back and get a question for me. And we are joined by his old Second City buddy, his old roommate, a person who was there from the beginning and who is also another hilarious and famous Steve. And that Steve is Stephen Colbert. Hello Stephen Colbert, bonjour. This episode of Good Hang is presented by Subaru. Some cars go the extra mile, long range Subaru hybrids take that to a whole new level.

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♪ Get up, what do you say? ♪

♪ All I ever wanted was a really good hate. ♪

I just want to start by saying, you know, you were the senior to my freshman when I arrived at Second City in Chicago. And it was you and Amy Sedaris and Carell and Paul Nello, and you are all getting ready to go do Exit 57, which was at the time,

just the thought that you could go and be like the captain on stage and then go have your own sketch show. It just felt like such a dream.

We had no idea what we were doing. And we thought that the answer was, what if we just worked 24 hours a day? Wouldn't that make things funnier?

And it made things weirder

because you would fall into a chemo psychosis and not have any sense. And I go back and I watch those sketches. Now I go, pick up the pace.

What are you doing? Oh God, yeah. I look at our old sketches and I'm like, you want to go six minutes on this? You really got it? You're going to stay up all night fighting for cuts? I think it would play a little better if it was half the time. Was Second City where you and Steve first met?

Yeah, I remember I was there. I got, I mean, I was, I worked there in the box office because I didn't have any job. I had gone, I'd done a gig overseas, and then I came back with no money. I mean, literally, I was sleeping on a friend's floor. I didn't have a dime.

And my friend, Ann Libera, said, she was the box office manager, and she said, you can answer phones here like two days a week if you need like basic cash. So I started answering phones and then I found out that you could take classes for free if you worked there, even if you're like part time like I was. And so I said, well, I mean, I never imagined that I would be at Second City because I was

I was real improv. I was I was I had done, you had done I.O. I had an improv Olympic and those people talked a lot of shit about Second City.

Yeah. There was a fun East Coast, West Coast thing happening.

A hundred percent. It was like Lincoln Avenue, Northwell's situation going on.

Yeah.

I was very much cross-currents. That's where I did a cross-currents.

Yeah. Old school.

On L. I was like, no, man, I do. And then I went there and I saw the show and I went, oh, everybody here cares just as much as anybody else. They just happen to be sold out every night. And there's liquor.

Right. And I'm like, I kind of like this. And then I took classes and I didn't know Steve. Steve had gotten there a year, year and a half ahead of me, something like that. He was a little bit ahead of me in that, you might call it process or like kind of rep system there. And I didn't know him at all. A year later, a year after I started working there,

I was invited to audition. And I auditioned and I got into the National Touring Company which was like a red letter day in my career. I got into the tour co and I think I got hired like on a Thursday and then like on Saturday they said, can you go in at Northwest? Cause it used to be the theater at Northwest. And I went, uh, yeah, sure. I, I, you know, I learned whatever I needed to learn as quickly as I could. I went up there and I met Steve kind of like from backstage, watching him on stage. I met him in rehearsal. He's so gifted.

You know how gifted musically he is, right?

I did not know that.

If it's made of brass, he can play it.

You're kidding me.

I did not know that.

He can pick up a tin whistle or recorder. He can play. He plays the... I understudied for Steve when I was in tour co, I finally said, like, you're either gonna let me understudy or I'm gonna leave. And Joy said, don't threaten me.

I don't respond to threats. I'm like, it's not a threat. I've been here for four years or almost four years at this point. And I love doing it, but I gotta go figure out what else I can do.

I hope this isn't a threat. And so literally the next day they said, I understudied like ETC or something. And then they said, Corral's gotta go, he's got like a Brown's chicken commercial.

Yeah, big deal.

Or something like that.

You could live off that for years.

Oh shit, man. Yeah. We were all jealous.

Oh yeah.

Wait, he got a bacon bit spot? And so, he's selling funeral insurance to children? Jesus, that sounds like a great gig. And I, so anyway, they said, could you, could you go in for Correll? And I said, he plays the euphonium. He played the baritone horn, which is like a little tuba.

And he goes, he plays the baritone horn in that. Do I have to play the baritone horn? And they said, yeah, yeah. I said, I don't know how to play the baritone horn. And they said, okay, we'll

ask Adzid to do it. And Scott Adzid. And I said, no, no, no, no, I'll learn it. I'll earn it. When do I need to go in?" They said, six days.

Wow.

They wouldn't rent me a horn.

No.

I got the horn.

Too expensive.

It cost like 250 bucks, which is like what you get paid in a month at Second City. But I had to go in at the main stage. I went to Carell and I said, I can't read sheet music. Can you please write out the fingering for the horn and teach me an embouchure?

What's an embouchure?

Oh. That's the thing that makes the sound in the horn. You can get three different octaves.

I knew I was going to learn a new word from this interview.

I knew you were going to teach me a new word. Embouchure is a great word, especially if someone cuts a fart in front of you. A nice thing to say is you go, oh, nice. You know, really tight on that armature and French horn. And so anyway, I was dating this girl now, my wife, Evie McGee in New York, and I was supposed to go see her that weekend. What did we do all weekend? We sat in her apartment and I learned Anchors Away,

Pretty Woman, and Taps. Oh, you're hitting those drums?

Wait, no, who is, listeners, I don't know if you can hear, but there's some drums happening in your house. Is someone playing?

That's my son.

Oh, that's so cute. Wait, you're talking about music and your son is starting to play drums down in the

basement?

My son is practicing because he's going into his brother's band. They got a gig next weekend in Brooklyn. And so he's going down there to practice because their drummer's out for the week. He's subbing in for his brother.

That's kind of like...

Which is all you want. That is all you want. That's exactly I was gonna say the sound of your son practicing to sub in for your other son. That's like a dream.

Yeah, I met Corral. I met Corral at Northwest back in 1988. And

so when you guys were on the Daily Show together, it was like jackpot Harvey together. That's right. You weren't. By the way, that viral clip, I'm sure you've seen on your phone of you guys reacting to the incredible ad for the Dana Carvey root beer variety special hour is so...

I don't want to die.

For people that don't know, that show that you wrote on was incredible and so ahead of its time, but there's a really funny moment where both you and Steve are shown an ad from that time where you are following a very special episode of Home Improvement. And in it, Jonathan Taylor Thomas' character, I believe, thinks he is going to die. He thinks he's ill or sick and he says, like, it's very sweet. And him and Tim Allen are having a moment and he says,

I don't wanna die, dad. And then the next voiceover is.

And the Mugroot Beard Dana Carvey Show tonight on ABC.

It's so funny.

It's so, and watching you and Steve laugh is so funny. It's so, it's, and to me, that's like I don't know how to explain it other than the joy of that to me sums up what it feels like to have funny friends and get to make things with them.

The joy of failure. Yes. Was something that I said early on at Second City that I realized, oh, I think I should do this for the rest of my life, meaning comedy, because I was kind of fighting whether I was going to do drama or comedy because I was doing straight theater in Chicago at the same time. And I but we'd laugh so hard when we or someone else on stage would fail. But the other person on stage who was failing would also laugh. And I went, if it can be this joyful

in failure and there's also another joy in success, then I'd be dumb not to pursue this for the rest of my life.

That's so beautifully said that it is joyful in failure. That is beautifully said. That's

exactly it.

Yeah, and also it's almost like, because there's so much empathy for what's happened to the person who's eating it.

But if, you know, just to extrapolate on that even more, there has to be a belief that you'll be okay.

I know you asked for me to think of like what I would want to ask for.

Yeah, what would you want to ask Steve?

Thank you.

The amazing thing about Steve is his ability to do anything. I know a lot of talented people, but I don't know many people who can do almost anything. First of all, I mean, I remember one of my really early impressions of Steve

is, wow, he can make anything funny.

Yeah.

He can make any moment very full, not funny, but funny, but also very full, very full of presence and energy and what we would call tensiveness, like like a scenic tension. And I see that same ability. Like I marveled that ability and also how he would never fuck around. He was always very professional.

And I remember looking at him backstage at Second City and going, why is he so good? And I came up with this conclusion and I wrote it down on a piece of paper with a calligraphic pen. And I taped it on the back of my little locker area to remind myself. And it just said work. Because what I saw at Steve was that he worked really hard and he never phoned it in. And I'm curious what his process is like when he does drama or what people would perceive as drama versus comedy

or what people would perceive as comedy. And the reason why I say perceive is, is it all the same to him?

Yeah.

Or with a different character intention or with a different energy intention? Or is he really just approaching it in a totally different way? He's like, well, that's, you know, that's a sketch or that's something incredibly broad like Anchorman or, you know, Dinner for Schmucks or now I'm doing Foxcatcher. Like, does he do it in a different way?

Because I admire him so much in both directions. And as far as I know, he's never talked about his process. So I don't, I've never seen him do it. So I don't, and I've worked with him since 1988. I mean, we roomed together practically for 10 years. And I don't know what it is.

That's a great question. And I mean, you're really good at this. You should try to make this your job, asking questions.

Are there any of these jobs left?

No.

Are there? No? Okay.

No.

Podcast it is.

Well, thank you so much for this time.

What a pleasure. Thanks so much.

Do we know what song your son is playing down in the basement before we go? Is it an original?

He's either playing Bossa Nova or he's playing Deep Space Nine, which has one of my favorite lyrics in any of his songs, which is, your head's in Deep Space Nine. I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving. Vape Clouds destroyed your mind.

I'm not taking you to family Thanksgiving, which is really tells a story. It's like you're a Swiftie with your own children. Like you're just trying to break down all the lyrics.

I got the bracelets.

Yeah.

Everything.

I mean, I think Steve's gonna be so happy that we talked because, and we could talk about your relationship a lot today and I hope we do because it's very special.

The fact that I'm associated with him, that people still come up to me and say, Steve Carell, like they'll still get the name wrong.

Yeah, sure.

I just love it.

I feel that way about like, I feel like you and Steve have a little bit of what Tina and I have, which is we're just like people put us together all the time and I couldn't be happier about it.

Sure.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I still will someday I'll do something someday. I'll do something with him again. Ask him what he's doing cuz tell him I need a gig. Okay, great. Yeah, we'll we'll let corral pick your next gig. Okay, perfect. All right. All right. Thank you Thanks, so nice talking to you and see you okay, take care. Bye This episode is brought to you by allstate checking allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking the meaning of a word all the kids say before using it yourself, not smart, not slay-worthy. Yeah, checking First is smart.

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With all six essential electrolytes, Ultima provides balanced hydration that fits right into your day without the junk. I'm talking no sugar, calories or carbs, and it's not loaded with salt. Shop Ultima on Amazon or in-store at Target and Whole Foods Market. Thank you for doing this. Mike, thanks for having me. Steve Carell is here. And Steve, I feel like you always feel the way you feel about somebody,

like based kind of on the first time you see them. Like, you know, you just get like imprinted with when you first meet them. And I first met you when you were on stage. I never really knew you in Chicago. I just watched you perform. And you were the senior when I arrived with my bags,

being like, am I going to try to do this business? What is this? And you guys were the cool seniors.

Well, we also, you hear about the people who they've just hired too, and you're one of those people that stuck out immediately. People were talking about you super early on and you always kind of keep tabs, like, well, who's next? Who are the, you know, who are the up and comers?

Yeah, yeah.

And you were definitely one of those people.

You were in the very, like, you were in that class of people that number one were crushing it on stage and then also went on to do things. Like you had jobs, you got hired, you made money, you got commercials.

That was always so exciting to meet. You remember Ken Campbell?

Yeah, sure.

So Ken Campbell was the first one of like our group to kind of step out and got, he got a show called Herman's Head.

Oh yeah.

Where they were all these components.

Some could say a precursor to Inside Out.

That's right. Yeah, exactly. He was the first person to have a job and it was astounding.

Yeah.

Like, oh my, he's really doing it.

Yeah, he's really going to get paid to do it.

He's getting paid and he's in Hollywood and he's a big shot. He's getting him insurance, everything. I remember coming out and visiting him and we were doing a little, I don't know, some weird little theater show, like one night, and he and his wife were there, just watch. And I remember he ordered steak and I thought, oh man, that guy, he's got it, he's made.

He's rolling in it.

He's sitting in the restaurant, ordering steak, watching the show.

Well, speaking of steak and speaking of restaurants, before I go any further, I need to point out, you're the first guest that technically my father booked for me. Bill Poehler.

They are-

Okay, let's tell the story.

What happened? The nicest people. So back in Massachusetts-

We'll see how this story goes.

We...

Okay.

You have issues.

Clearly you have issues with the press.

Well, you were in, my mom said...

I don't wanna open a can of worms.

All I know is I got a phone call saying, good news, we saw Steve Carell at a restaurant and we told him that he should be on your show. So we think we've booked him is what my parents said. And I was like, my dad, and I was like, what did you say?

That's exactly, no, he's, you know, Amy does a podcast, like I know.

Let's set the scene, you're in Massachusetts at a nice restaurant.

A nice restaurant out in the burbs.

Like we were deep- Gibbbet Hill or something like that.

Gibbet Hill Farms.

Gibbet Hill Farms.

Out in Groton, Mass. Yep. Like it was nowhere near where we live either. We just, I was meeting my brother out there.

Yeah.

I don't know why my parents were out there.

I know. They were with their friends, Tom foursome. They introduced themselves and we got to, they were very charming, lovely. And I know that surprises you. And your dad brought up your podcast and your mom said, you should be on.

And I was like, I've never been asked to be on.

You were like, I think I have to be on. And I was like, I've never been asked to be on.

You're like, I think I have to be asked.

Hey, I want to be on the show. Did they get awkward? And they were like, Ooh, there must be a reason why.

They retreated.

They were like, forget it.

Oh no, no. Well, maybe she doesn't have a plug. I don't remember what she does. Maybe, no, no, that's not right. It was somebody else who were thinking that had a plug. They were so nice. Yeah. So I think maybe that planted the seed.

I mean, I forget that you're a Boston boy.

Yeah, I grew up in Acton.

I know. And why do, I mean, you don't seem very Boston to me.

How so?

Well, you're polite. And thoughtful and considerate.

There's a different, I will say, politeness registers differently in Massachusetts. That's true. When you go back and people recognize you, do you have a different experience than you do here or in New York?

Yes. I mean, I love Boston. I love where I'm from. I love the directness. I love the, like the real loyal, like, like just really, really good, honest people. But there is a definite, how would you say it?

There's a brusqueness to it. There is a brusqueness. and honestly, I'm gonna say it, there's just like a, you're not better than me quality about Boston.

That's exactly it.

That I love, but it's sometimes tough

to be on the receiving end of it.

If you know, if you can anticipate that, it's actually very charming. Very true. And you just kind of take it at face value. Yeah. Because I remember going back and, you know, shop around. I was in the supermarket.

One guy came up to me and said, hey, Steve, I know you. That thing you did was good. Don't get cocky. Don't get cocky. It's all that. Love ya. Don't get cocky. Oh yeah. Don't get cocky. It's all that, love ya, don't get cocky.

Oh yeah, don't.

Don't, you're one of us, don't embarrass us.

Don't you dare grow or change.

Mostly change.

Yeah, where'd you go to college?

Denison University in Ohio.

Oh yeah, and then how did you, Ohio, and then how did you find out about Second City?

Touring company. They kicked you. Came through Ohio State University. Oh, that's so funny. And we bought tickets. And right then and there, I thought that's,

it's funny, Nancy and I were just talking about this exact thing. Yeah. That the touring company seemed like, and she saw a touring company too, it seemed like the most fun job to have.

Yeah. Of any job I could even imagine. Yeah. Of any job I could even imagine. Yeah. And you, you know, you roll into a college town, you do all of these great sketches that are bulletproof because they've been tried and true and have been at Second City for years and years and they always work. Yeah. So you feel like just you're on top of the world. You're going, it's not even your material, you're just

going out and performing someone else's stuff and it's making people laugh. And it just, I thought that's it. That's what I want to do.

When you were in college, you were thinking about being an actor?

I was a history major.

Ah, that makes sense.

So I was not allowing myself to kind of consider that seriously.

Because you probably didn't know a lot of people

who were actors growing up who had that job. Yeah. No, it didn't seem, I mean, in Massachusetts, I mean, you're neck of the woods too.

Yeah, it just doesn't seem like it's a real, it didn't seem like a real job.

Exactly. It's like, I'll either be that or an astronaut. You know, it didn't seem like a plausible final destination in terms of a career. I thought maybe history, maybe law school, something. Something that sounded good to my parents, honestly. I really wanted to, after all they invested in me and my education, my brothers,

I just felt like I owed them something.

So they could like, when you're older, they could go up to someone in a restaurant and say, you should join my son's law school. They could bother someone in the restaurant.

They never got a chance to say that.

And so then you're in Denison, you see the touring company, you think I'm going to go to Chicago.

Two friends of mine from Denison, after we graduated, they gave me a call randomly and said, we're moving, we're going to Chicago.

Wow.

And I don't think I would have had the guts to do it myself, just by myself, but we're getting a place. We're going to start an educational theater company, which will help pay some of the bills and we'll get jobs and we will pursue careers as actors. And that's, and I was in. What

year was that? Then you arrived? 85. And you just were living in a cheap, do you remember the rent of your first apartment?

$600 split three ways, all utilities included.

Fantastic.

What was your job then? What were you doing?

I waited tables at Hoolahands in Chicago.

Oh yeah, that was a hot spot, Hoolahands. Hoolah hands on division. Yeah. That's, I mean, it was so fun back then to be in that city. That city felt like it was, I don't know, maybe just because I was young when I was there, but it felt like it was something

was crackling and happening. I mean, when you think back about those Chicago times, what comes up for you? I mean, it's such youthful, exuberant, enthusiastic times, but what feelings and thoughts come up for you?

I think, well, like all of the things we learned in class at Second City, having that freedom to fail, and there were very few constraints in terms of what you could try.

Yeah.

And at Second City itself, it was the same thing. Like being on stage every night and working it out and figuring, you know, that audience is such a great barometer. Yeah. And if you're not doing it well or right, they'll tell you. Yeah.

You'll feel it. And it was so much fun.

So much fun. And also, you know, I think about it now as you're talking about it is, I think sometimes when I think back at Sketch and Improv, I kind of like, I don't know, I think like, oh, I wasn't working material, like a standup or something, but that's not true. We really had to, we had different audiences every night, rowdy audiences expecting stuff from us. Yeah. And like, you had to learn how to kind of be hung out

to dry a little bit on stage and be okay with it.

Did you embrace that? We used to-

Let's talk about this.

We used to challenge each other.

Okay.

Embracing the awfulness of the scene and like challenging each other not to leave, because it's so easy if something's failing, you just want to bail. Like during an improv scene. But it was sort of a badge of honor. We're going to drive this into the ground.

It's an exquisite feeling to look at your partner and be like, we're bombing.

And let's hold hands and let's do this together. And sometimes you'd be able to pull it out of a nosedive and other, a lot of times it just, the lights just slowly faded.

Slowly faded.

But what do you like about it?

I know what you mean.

What is the thing about it?

I don't know. I think it's, I guess just throwing everything off of you, like throwing all of the worry, all of the concern of this isn't working and getting into your head about why isn't it working? We have to make it work.

Everybody gets sweaty. Everybody starts trying too hard. But sometimes when you can just allow it to kind of wash over you, the things that you might find are really interesting.

I mean, is it like a little death?

Is it the closest?

It feels like you are, I mean, I'm trying to think, because when you're explaining it, I'm getting this like feeling of what it felt like when it was, when you, I mean, one thing is we weren't usually alone. No.

We weren't bombing alone.

And that's, I can't imagine. Did you ever do standup?

I occasionally, like when I would be asked to do small shows and I didn't mind it. I kind of liked it, but I never really like honed a set. I bet you would be, I bet you were great at it. I found it easier, or I liked doing it as I was older. When I was younger, I just didn't think I understood. I had like a lot of respect for the art form and I didn't,

and I wanted to be with people. I wanted to perform with people. Me too. So I think that that's what I mean is the bombing with people was like a special joy. I completely. Completely. But the one, well, of the many things at Second City, I know it like created lifelong friendships

and like, you know, you got your, we all figured out how to like get our 10,000 hours on stage and all that stuff, but you met your wife.

Yeah.

How did you meet Nancy Walls, the great, hilarious Nancy Walls?

So, this is going to sound super creepy, but I was teaching class at Second City. Okay. And she was in my improv character class.

Dang.

And she was hilarious and super smart, beautiful. Like I-

I have to remember, she was a real catch back then because Nancy is so funny. Great. And also beautiful. And I remember everyone being like, this is not quite fair.

This is not quite fair.

How tall and pretty and funny she is. Like you usually get, you don't get,

you can get about one.

And she's so nice too.

And no, so nice.

And cool.

And cool and nice and sweet to everybody.

You really snagged the babe.

Tell me about it. Yeah. And we, so, but I thought she hated my guts because I'd be teaching and talking and I'd look over at her, nothing, like dead eyes, no affect in her face at all. And I was like, boy, she is not buying any of this. She hates me, hates this class, knows I'm a phony.

And it turns out she was just nervous.

That's what she told me later.

And when she gets nervous, she gets like stone faced.

She just doesn't want to show anything.

That's a powerful move to do because it really makes the other person work for it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And she worked across the street. She was a waitress across the street at a bar called The Last Act. Oh yeah. So after shows or after class, I used to go over and I used to sit at the bar and I'd order a Diet Coke

and we'd talk, but it took so long because we both kind of talked around the whole thing forever and never, like finally one day, the conversation went something like, you know, if we're talking about people that we like, or like, what's your, who would you go out with? Oh my God, that's such a funny convo to have. And it was all just, just this circuitous, you know, someone down the bar is just saying, get to it, like, come on, you know someone down the bar

is just saying, get to it, Mike, come on. You're annoying everybody. And I think I finally said, you know, if I were gonna ask somebody on a date, it'd be somebody like you. Like you'd be like that template of somebody

that I'd love to go out with. And she's like, you know, somebody like you ask me out, I would love it, It would be fantastic. Then there was a pause and I said, do you want to go up?

It was so lame.

It was so super uncool. Like, yeah. So we went two doors down to the other bar, you know, like then that was the beginning of it.

And then you could, when you left Chicago, were you, you weren't married yet?

No, we were engaged. We got engaged a week before she got SNL.

Wow.

So yeah, we went on our honeymoon and came back and moved right to New York for her start rehearsals.

Man.

So you, people know, like way ahead of its time, Dana Carvey show that you and Colbert and others, Smigel and Conan were all writers on? A bunch of people, yeah. Incredible cast of writers. And you were also in the rep company? Like did you, you did stuff?

Yeah.

And I mean, I was.

As Dana called us the sketcheteers.

Can we talk about Dana Carvey for a second? Because Dana Carvey was so, was really important to me. Like he was, you know, you always kind of fall in love with that, that, that cast that when you're like 13 that you see in SNL and it was Dana and Phil Hartman and Jan Hooks, like Dana is so funny.

He is so funny.

He is so funny.

I don't know if there's anyone funnier live too. Like to be in a room with him is incredible. He's just a super funny, incredibly nice guy. Like I owe him and Smigel everything for that opportunity on that show. Because I was at a point in Chicago,

my agent had told me, if something doesn't happen for you soon, it's not gonna happen. My agent. So, way to build me up. I was feeling very good about myself.

Dang it, that's harsh.

So I moved, I moved to New York. Yeah. And was able to, the next thing I got was Dana Carvey.

Yeah.

And that really changed everything. Yeah. That was my first kind of step into something other than Second City.

Yeah. I mean, that show, I remember it being this, it felt like an experiment.

Yeah.

And it felt like it was like, you guys got an opportunity to make whatever you wanted with other people's money. And then they noticed you were doing it and they said, stop.

They said, stop doing that. Well, you heard

about the first episode. Did you hear this? Tell us again. The first scene of the first Dana Carvey show was Dana playing Bill Clinton. And he was sitting at a desk in the Oval Office, talking about how he is the nurturing president, president. And at a certain point, he opens his shirt to reveal a prosthetic breast plate, like teats, if you will. And I think he had eight nipples.

And they brought, which were rigged to lactate. And so they brought a bunch of puppies and stood them on the desk and the puppies started suckling because he was the nurturing president. And so we started, we were following home improvement.

And they said the ratings went from home improvement

and they could chart it. And they said the ratings went from home improvement

and they could chart it. Like at the beginning of this sketch, it just, it-

Like you could hear the drop off, it was so sharp.

It was done. It was, the show was over. And that was the first episode, first scene.

Oh God, that's funny.

And at that point, ABC was not happy. No. It was...

But somebody had to approve that that was the first sketch.

Somebody had to...

I mean, it was not a surprise.

Yeah, to their credit, ABC allowed it to happen. Yeah. Yeah, they took some huge swings. And it was fun because, like, Colbert and I shared an office and we could and and we worked together a lot at Second City. We were in a bunch of casts together and

we come up with an idea and go down to Smigel's office, Robert Smigel, and just pitch something and he'd say, let's yeah, let's go. Yeah. And we'd do it on the show that night. I mean, it was the kind of, it was as close to live as you could get without being SNL.

Yeah, you really did work on a bunch of like, really specific, interesting places. Like the Daily Show is its own system that kept changing with different kind of versions of the same thing. But what was it like, what was that feeling like

when you were all there young working on that and it being so well-received?

It was similar to Second City.

Yeah.

And I think those are the, I guess those are the kind of environments that I am drawn to.

Yeah.

That everyone is just in it together.

Yeah.

And there's a spontaneity to it and we don't know if it's gonna work, but we're gonna give it our best shot. It was a lot of improvising on that show? You know, in the field pieces, yes. Yeah. Because you just had, especially early on, they didn't know that we were a comedy show. So we were kind of undercover.

Did you ever feel bad when you were tricking people?

I did not. I did not like it, especially at first, because I was new and I was kind of following the template. Yeah. And I never felt good about mocking someone who doesn't deserve it.

Yeah.

So I tried, and I know Colbert, Stephen gave me great advice, which was come up with a character. And that will make it much more palatable. And my character was someone who didn't quite understand, didn't quite get it,

but was super serious about everything he was asking. But it was not, the onus was on me to be, I was the idiot.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

And to take that off of the people. I remember doing one field piece, which were, it was a Klingon speakers convention. And you know, you go, and obviously the idea is let's make fun of people who meet and learn how to speak Klingon. And they were the nicest, gentlest. I really, I really like these people a

lot. Yeah, they were very kind. Yeah. And I thought, well, what who are they harming? No one. I mean, it's, it's just harmless fun. It's just people enjoy each other's company and have a shared hobby. I mean, how is it any different than a woodworking club or a photography club?

It's just, it's what they did. It's where their interests lie and it made them happy. I thought, no, it has to be about what an idiot I am.

Well, you're really good at that, Steve. You're so good at playing someone who's frustrated by their own lack of understanding.

Comedically.

That's such an interesting way to put it.

Just like,

God, I'm like,

just get this right. It's so-

Why is the world so wrong?

It's so, and that energy of that is so funny. It's so funny.

But Stephen was right. And Stephen, that took a lot of it, a lot of that strain away. Because then it wasn't making fun of people. And there, you know, I just, there's no, I don't like playing pranks

in terms of being unkind or trying to make someone look stupid, unless they deserve to look stupid. But more often than not, these people didn't. Some of them were just eccentric, but who cares? Like that's the spice of life.

And so do you think that Adam McKay, who wrote and directed Anchorman, wrote Brick with you in mind?

I don't think so, no. No, I don't, not at all.

Because, I mean, we've all seen the audition. It's so, that character is chef's kiss.

That might've been the most fun I've ever had, professionally. Like, with those guys. He definitely can tell. Well, one of the things we do every day when we were shooting, and it was really like my first big, it's one of the first things I ever did.

And I just, I couldn't believe my good fortune. I thought this might be it. You know, this might be the one that I just, this might be one and done. And I'm going to enjoy it.

Yeah.

But what we used to do during, they used to do dailies every day.

And watch them, and you'd watch them?

Everyone would watch them. Wow. They'd have a dailies trailer on set and it was all on film still. So you'd watch from a few days before they develop the film and you just see selections from a few days earlier.

And so we'd have lunch, this was every day. We'd have lunch and then the four of us and other cast members too, and the producers would go into this trailer and we'd all get hot fudge sundaes at catering before we came in. So we all

sat eating hot fudge sundaes and watching the dailies. Oh my god. Acting is so hard. I know. I know. I mean, I thought this, is this what as a little kid, this is what you would dream that acting would be. Yes, it's what you would dream. And it was just pure joy.

Oh, and you would just laugh at what you had done a couple of days before.

And most, you know, I'm sure you're the same way, watching yourself, you're like, nah. But get to somebody else's stuff. Totally. And it's just to watch what everybody else is doing. Because you can't really watch while you're in it, while you're doing it. But to kind of watch objectively.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Like sometimes I've known, like, I don't know if I nailed it, but I'm going to be in a funny movie. I don't know if I'm going to be the funny one in the funny movie, but I'm gonna be in one.

If I cannot detract from everyone else being funny, that's usually what I feel my job is. Because I feel like when people, you can tell when people wanna be the funniest thing and are trying, when it gets sweaty, and they're trying super hard.

And I don't know how you feel about improv as used in film.

I have a strong feeling about it, actually. Well, cause I feel like, especially during that time. So I was in Anchorman. I got cut.

You were in the fight, the battle scene.

I was in the, um- Weren't you in one of the big fights? No, in the original one, in the original Anchorman, there was a whole other, if you remember that giant-

Oh, the alarm clock?

The alarm clock.

That's right.

So there was, I wasn't in the alarm clock, but there are people who have the DVD extras, no, there was like a whole other world of like bad guys that got cut out of that movie. I think an hour's worth of material. I never saw. Maya Rudolph, Chuck D from Public Enemy, because of course. Kevin Corrigan, they were like the weather underground. They were this like, you know, feisty group of rebels,

you know, trying to upset the city. I don't know how it had to do with you know, feisty group of rebels, you know, trying to upset the city. I don't know how it had to do with you guys, but it was pages and pages and months and months. And I was, I did a scene with them where I was like a bank teller, you know, like a bullet journal bank teller or something. But I went and worked for a day. And so I have a picture of me and Chuck D and me and Maya in a great outfit. And we're like, we're gonna be in Anchorman. And then McKay was like, we're not gonna be doing it.

I don't, I don't.

There's a whole other movie out there.

Well, there was another, like a flashback scene that I don't know if we shot or whether, it's kind of a blur, but the idea was, it's a bit of a brick backstory, origin story, that he was their platoon leader in Vietnam. And he was like the biggest badass.

Oh, wow.

And then like, follow me, we're getting this shit done. That kind of thing. And then you cut to now he's their trusty mascot. But you don't know what happened in between.

That's really funny.

That's really funny.

But in terms of, there was a lot of improv.

Yeah, so during that time, there was a lot of like, and Adam loves to improvise. Totally, great. And I used to love it, because I felt like I could do it well. But it also, it did wear me down a little bit

as the years went on.

Yeah, no, I see that.

Do you feel this way about improv? I do, which is sometimes people are like, it's great, you can improvise. And I'm like, oh. It's, here's my take on it. Yeah, what's your take?

I think it's a great tool, but I don't think it is the, I think it's a means to an end. I don't think it's, let's just do a big improv thing. Yeah. Because, and I think this was true on The Office,

the scripts were great on that show. Oh yeah. Like really strong, every episode. And can I ask you a question? Yeah. About Parks and Rec. Yeah.

So you led that show for so many years. Did you ever, how did you maintain the dignity of that character? And like, how did you, how were you able to center that character all the way through?

Because I think it's very easy for, you know, when writers turn over, when staffs turn over, sometimes new writers are more fans of the show and are kind of writing to the most obvious elements of a character, as opposed to, you know, people who were like the creators of the actual,

the writers who created the character. So how did, do you feel like you protected your character going through?

That's a good question. I feel like the short answer is Mike Schur, who really was the best captain and just kept everyone's characters very sacred and safe and really paid attention to what we would and wouldn't say. I think we started off like a little wacky

and we had to adjust on the fly. So we did some like early adjusting on that show and then locked in after that. But I know what you mean. Like there would be times where I would have to say like, I don't know if, I don't know if this is too far. I don't know. But not a lot. I feel like everyone was in flow there. Everyone really got it. But it's funny that you bring up that exact thing, because Parks and Recreation came after the office.

And there's really only two people that I've been told I am a poor man's version of. And one of them is you, which I take that as high compliment. But like we came-

I would take that as a huge insult.

We were all, you know, Parks and Rec had the worst launch ever. Everyone was like, this is not the office. We don't like this. I just remember being like, and we're like, you're not Steve and you're not, we don't like it. And I remember being like, oh, I think I just dissociated and was just like, well.

Our pilot, you heard about our pilot.

I know, and I want to talk to you about it.

Our pilot was the lowest testing pilot in the history, I think, of NBC. People, people really hated it. Like not just kind of-

They actively hated it.

They actively hated this show. And I don't quite know how it got legs after that.

I remember the moment. So Mike Schur, who was running Update, and I wasn't doing Update then, but I was just a cast member on SNL and we were watching the British office like everyone else and loving it and I remember they were going to make the American version and everyone was like this is a terrible idea, this terrible idea. No one can be as good as Ricky Gervais, no one can do that show and then we heard it was you and we were like oh, oh whoever's making the show wants it to be funny.

You know, like it was this thing of like, oh, that's a very, very good choice.

Well, Greg Daniels is a great producer. And he's also kind of, he's very adept at putting together casts. Yeah. Like the alchemy and the chemistry between those people.

Yeah. And we all got along so well. Yeah. Like the alchemy and the chemistry between those people. Yeah.

And we all got along so well.

Yeah.

We all bonded instantly, and we all felt like we were a part of a team. There was no, there were no hierarchy at all in that cast. So I attribute that to him.

Yeah.

But, you know, I'm a poor man's Ricky Gervais.

But you never watched the-

I didn't.

And never have watched the UK.

No.

Even now.

No, I've watched all of his other shows, but I've never watched The Office.

I know what you mean. I don't know if I would have wanted to watch either. I just would have felt too stressed about-

I watched like a minute of one of the show of him, and he was so good and so specific and so funny, I thought if I watch a second more, I'm just gonna go on an audition with that. I won't be able to even imagine it a different way.

And I mean, are you like me? I mean, I don't enjoy comedy.

I don't.

No, no.

I never have. Especially with me.

And comedy that's done well, no. I never have. Especially with me. And comedy that's done well, no.

No.

Pass.

Yeah, so you went in not knowing, you're not watching the, no. No.

Yeah. And it, well, it's funny that you guys all heard, oh, oh, the, you know, they're doing an American version and everyone had the same reaction. And I remember Rudd. Rudd pulled me aside and was like, don't do it, man. Don't audition. I'm sure. Don't audition. It is like, there is no, there's no way. Yeah. Everyone was

like, don't even touch this. Don't touch this. 10 foot pole. And did you have like a major premise or theme about Michael's arc? Like if you were to sum it up, would you say, what was like, what was his, what was kind of his simple mission statement as a character?

Early on, this was like a dream come true for him to be in a documentary.

Yeah.

And be able to not only be in charge of all of these people, but to have the ability to perform and be watched and be loved. So I think so much of who he is was about being loved, just being wanting-

So good.

I wouldn't even say respect. I think he just wanted to be loved. And the last, like a year before I knew I was going to leave I talked to Greg about like what potentially the last arc for him would be. And I did want there to be a sense of growth for him.

Yeah. That I said, one thing I'm gonna pitch is that the last day is not the last day. Like everyone thinks that they're going to have a party for him, but he leaves the day before. Oh, God.

Because he doesn't need it. He wants to say goodbye on his own terms and he's sort of beyond being celebrated that way. And that I thought would be an interesting way for him to go out.

The Office is a show that people watch

when they're stressed, when they're sad. Well, Parks and Rec is exactly the same way.

I'm sure you had this happen to you, like during the pandemic, everybody re-watched those shows. They went back to it. You have provided, and everyone in that show has provided this feeling of safety and security in a time when people are very, very anxious

and they return over and over again. What does that feel like when people tell you that?

I've provided a public service, really. And in that way, I think I'm more than an actor.

Uh-oh, you got cocky.

You got cocky.

You got cocky. Don't get cocky. Don't get cocky.

No, but it's true. But it's true. It's nice. Like, we fell in love with the journey of Michael. We really, really, we do. We love him. And I will say, like, what your, what the office did for me and watching it with my kids is like exactly the way in which they enjoyed and learned this feeling of what the

kids would call like cringe, but the sparkly, weird feeling of like, oh no, like tension and a little bit of stress about what is Michael gonna do and say, and how is he gonna do it? And then watching him swing and miss over and over again while still being loved is like,

they just, they didn't know how to put that into words, but they loved that. They love that about him. It's such a, I mean, congrats on a great show. I don't know what else to say. I have no question here, you know.

What did you say to Pam at the airport? Tell us what you said to Pam.

I leaned in and I went,

rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah, rah,

just to make it look like I was saying something. You did, you didn't? No. No, you did. No, we had a very emotional shared moment.

I love that moment. Such a good moment. Okay, so we do something on the show where we talk to people who know our guests and who are friends of our guests to get a question asked them and we talk well behind their back. And so we talked to Stephen Colbert today.

Oh my gosh.

I know. He was in his living room. It looked like a Earth study. I was so psyched to talk to him because like you, Steven, you both were, you know, I kind of only got to know you later. I didn't know you in Chicago and you were both these examples of like, you know, aspirational performers who I wanted to be in any way like. And Stephen talked a lot about those early times,

the two of you, and what it was like to watch you on stage. And he talks about how you can do almost anything. You know, like that you have this ability to be really, really big and really small. And you can have these characters that are really shallow and really deep. He told us that you can play any instrument, which I did not know,

that you're like very good at brass instruments.

Is that a lie?

It's pretty amazing, isn't it?

Did you learn?

Did you take lessons?

I took lessons.

Like what was your instrument of choice?

Baritone horn.

Oh, dang.

I know, right?

You were like ladies. I don't. You were like ladies?

Yeah.

I've got a baritone one.

Hey, I play the baritone horn in the marching band.

Why'd you pick the baritone horn?

I love the tone.

I wanna know what it sounds like.

It's sometimes, it's also called a euphonium. It's basically a small tuba. I know, sexy. Baritone. I play the small tuba.

And.

And I also play the fife.

Would you like to go on a second date?

The fife, do you like that?

The fife?

Yeah.

It's a little bit. Sorry, I gotta get commercials off of my YouTube. YouTube, if you can find a way to, okay, here we go.

Yeah, somewhere between a trombone tuba and a French horn.

Oh, Tony is a trombone teacher.

I'm telling you, this podcast is going to elevate baritone horn players like never before.

I love Tony, here we go.

Oh. Oh. Oh.

Right.

Young players starting with euphonium,

you'd probably need.

Euphonium or baritone horn. Right. Well, it's quite a large instrument.

Yeah, you hold it like this. Yeah. You hold it like this. Yeah. And I had the bell that went out like this and. Did you play in the band? So, I played in the band. I played in the jazz band. I played. Yeah. I played it. I played it at Second City. Stephen Colbert had to learn how to play the baritone horn cuz he was my understudy. Yes, he mentioned that he had to

understudy and he had to learn the baritone horn in like six days. Unbelievable. And he did.

Talk about somebody who can do anything. Like, I mean, I played the baritone horn since I was in fourth grade. He learned it in six days. So, yeah.

And he told me that he also taught me a word. I've completely forgotten it. It's a word that describes when you make the sound of What do you remember about meeting him for the first time? Wow. I just think, you know, I think about him a lot,

to be honest. I just, I have, I'm in awe of him. He's so smart. He's so funny. He is someone who can literally do anything. He can sing.

He's a great writer. One of the funniest people I know. And a wonderful father and husband, like just like one of these straight arrow, I would trust him with my life kind of guys. And we got along, working with him,

you know, when you work well, you and Tina, when you know someone can finish your sentence.

I mentioned that to him, that like there's a feeling as we get older, when people knew us when, that feels really like beyond special and valuable. It's like, you just have been through a lot with someone. And when you've met them at the beginning

of what eventually will be like The best thing about your life other than your family. Yeah, and your partners is is Like you just they knew they knew you when you were struggling like in that you just they they have a part of your life In them and you and theirs. Yes, and that's what it feels like with the two of you. Well, for me too.

Yeah.

To learn at the same time. Yeah. And to be going through, and I'm sure, you know, certainly you and Tina experienced that and others, to have that, as you were saying,

like those sort of formative years when you don't really know what you're doing.

Yeah. like those sort of formative years when you don't really know what you're doing,

but you're having fun and you're all having fun together and you're trusting each other. And I think that's one of the great things about Second City was just learning how to trust other people. And I just trust him.

And as a person, as a performer, He's just fun. He's a, I can't wait to see what his next thing is because-

Well, we were talking about it and we think you should decide.

What his next thing is?

Yes.

Well, I'm always pitching the two of us doing a play.

I love that.

That's a great idea.

I'd love to do a play with him. I think it would be, or anything, honestly. Yeah. That's a great idea.

I would do anything with him.

His question for you, because of course it was, was very thoughtful and interesting, which was, you know, he was saying like, I've known Steve for so long, but I don't really know his process. We've never really talked about it, in terms of like, is there a difference between when you're doing something dramatic and doing something comedic? Do you think about it differently? Do you approach it differently?

I'll preface this by saying, whenever I hear an actor start to talk about their process-

I know, you know what, and we're gonna cut the answer.

A character doesn't know if they're in a comedy or a drama. They're just living their life. Right. And so if funny things happen around this character, then the movie or the show is a comedy. But if it's tragic or scary or whatever, it leans towards drama. Sometimes it's a mixture of both.

But I think if you can tell a character knows they're in a comedy, it's intrinsically less funny. Yes. Like I look at somebody like Alan Arkin or Peter Sellers, and they always seem very true to their characters. They were never, like you couldn't tell

whether Alan Arkin was doing something intensely dramatic or something crazily funny. It was the same, like not the same, like, not the same kind of, not the same acting. He'd play different characters, but he was equally committed to both of them

and never letting on. He was never winking, like, I'm in a comedy.

Here we go.

Watch this joke. You're gonna laugh. Do you ever sense actors sometimes waiting for the, waiting for the laugh in a movie?

They're like, look around like-

Like a punchline, like, wait a second, where-

Also the other thing that makes me so stressed out and like sweaty is in real life when people say like, I'm funny. And I'm like, oof, I don't know. I don't know if you got to say it out loud.

I don't know.

Have you ever had an executive, I had an executive once say, listen, I know comedy.

Okay. Like, all right.

I know it.

I know it.

I know it.

I've studied it.

Okay.

It's such a subjective thing.

And reverse it, right? Like if I went up to Merrill and I was like, I'm pretty dramatic.

Like reverse it and be like,

I'm pretty good at being pretty sad.

I'm pretty deep.

I can get pretty sad and people will buy it.

I think when I cry, I'm gonna make other people cry.

So I've cried. A lot I'm gonna make other people cry. So, I've cried. A lot of my friends have seen me cry. But Steve, I mean, I'm gonna glaze you for a second. Beautiful boy, Foxcatcher, The Patient. You're so good at that. That series was so incredible.

I loved you in four seasons. I loved that series and I look forward for season two and your ghost, obviously, haunting the set.

I don't know.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I just think I should be in background. I think I should just,

Just be in it.

Just deep, deep background. Just like where's Waldo? And I just like try to, but like almost, almost inscrutable. You can't tell if it's me or not.

Yeah.

But I love what she said about the two of you working together, because I do think that you both have similar qualities. You work really hard. You're very professional. And you're shyer than people would think, both of you.

Yeah, well, we talked about that.

Like we worked together before,

and it took us 15 years after that to become friends. Because it is true. Yeah. I'm very, I think closed off is the word you're looking for. I'm not shy. I'm just impenetrable.

Closed.

But are you?

I'm pretty shy, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's just impenetrable. But are you?

I'm pretty shy, yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I guess I bet people think like you're going to be the life of the party.

Oh, no.

Yeah.

Do you remember coming to my house for the...

I loved your house, but tell that story.

So Nancy and I had a dinner party for the Oscars one year.

That was so fun.

And had a few couples over and it was really fun. It was fun to have everybody over. But that's very unlike us. Like we don't, I don't know, we're not, I think we're more social now that we're getting older,

I guess.

Time's running out. I have to solidify some of these friendships. But, so the Oscars and we had a very nice dinner and we taped it. We put it, you know, we were taping the Oscars.

Yeah, we ate first like civilized and then we were gonna be like, let's go skip through the commercials.

We're gonna sit down and then we're gonna go in and we're watching, we can fast forward through the awards that we like. And we looked at the tape and we hadn't added the extension and Oscars always go long. So like the big awards, we completely missed.

Yeah.

And we were frantic, like, I think somebody got online, we just started announcing, like,

who won the awards.

Yeah, we were.

Kind of acting it out.

My memory of that time and feeling was that it was really fun. Like, so I can only imagine the stress of like, oh shit, we didn't record the Oscars, but also, I mean, you also. I mean.

That was just fun.

That was so fun. But yeah, I think that people probably assume that you're gonna be kind of crazy.

Yeah, I'm pretty, yeah. Yeah. I'm not out there. Know who I really envy, envy, admire, is Will. Yeah. Like he just owns it. Will Ferrell. Like he'll show, yeah, Will. Yeah. Like he just owns it.

Will Ferrell.

Like he'll show, yeah, Will Ferrell. He'll show up at a Kings game. He was wearing a ref's uniform the other day, just sitting in his seat. He came as his character from Elf year before last and was just smoking a cigarette and drinking a beer.

But he just kind of owns it. I know.

And people love it. He loves it. And I'm way too introverted to do that. Yeah. I one time, and I would never do this, but I thought, I'm just gonna do it. I was in Beverly Hills, I was driving around

and a tour bus went by. And I thought, I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna wave. And I went, hey, everybody, not a person.

They were like-

You acknowledged, they were like, what?

Who's that?

And I shrank into this little ball, like last time I'm ever doing anything.

They were like, what have you been in? And you were like, um, what do you?

You just start listing your resume.

Oh man, I was like, why did I even do that?

Yeah.

Like, it was certainly no gift to anybody. Oh God.

That was like, no.

Oh God, oh God. That was like, no. Oh God, oh God. I mean, that is what I love about you, Steve, is like, I feel like, well, for many things. One is that I feel like you're just such an incredible actor, performer, and collaborative person to work with. And I do look forward to being in the play

that you and Steven do together.

Yes.

How about, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Wanna do it?

Yes. All right.

Two things though. I like to go to bed early and I don't wanna do as many performances as they make you do. I think about our times when like the hardest part of our day was at the end of our day

when we would do our shows and it was like in jeans shuffling out there. Be like, can we get a word to get started? Like a bunch of lazy motherfuckers.

Shout a few things out. Shout it, just shout it out.

Where do we work? Where do the two of us work?

What's our relationship? What's my first line? What's my last line? And what are some of the lines in between?

But you have been killed off on a couple of shows. Morning show you were killed off.

Morning show, The Patient. The last three shows. The Patient,

the last three shows.

The last three shows I've been killed off.

What's going on?

People love to see me killed off.

It's a thing.

Yeah.

Now your new show, you're not. No. Okay, let's talk thing. Yeah. Now your new show, you're not. No. Okay, let's talk about Rooster.

Yet.

Season one, so far so good.

Okay, it just came out on HBO.

Yeah.

What is it about?

It's about, my character, Greg, is a writer, not unlike Carl Hyasson, whose daughter is a professor at a prestigious East Coast university. I go to that university to just do a reading. My daughter kind of gets into some trouble, and the president of the university—this is a long-winded version,

president of the university asked if I'll stay on as a resident, you know, a writer in residence. And so I become the writer in residence at this college that my daughter, and so it really changes the dynamic between me and my daughter.

And it's like you stepping into this like academic world. Yeah. I like to see you as a professor. I like that a lot.

Yeah, it's fun.

Yeah, I bet.

I think it's really, and the cast is such a good, good group.

What's it like doing another show with, like how does it feel?

Really, it was great. Yeah. It was, it had that sense of freedom and that sense of anything can happen at any time. We can try stuff. Everybody's a great improviser.

People, you know, talking before about improvising in character on point, everybody's so good at that.

So great. It's very good at that. So great.

It's very well written and funny. I love it. I really love it.

Congrats on that. It's great. It's gonna be my parents' favorite show.

I hope to run into them at that restaurant.

Well, I was hoping actually. Would you mind if we just FaceTime them quick?

Oh my gosh.

Do you mind? No. Because I told them that we were interviewing you and my mom texted back, okay, it was the Gibbett Hill Grill in Groton, Mass. Now when I called my dad before, when I texted my dad and said, where did you see Steve Carell? He didn't answer me back. And mom said he was at the gym.

Let's see if we can get a hold of him. Hi, mama. I've got Steve Carell here.

Oh my God, how are you?

How are you?

Good to see you.

How was your meal?

It was very nice. I believe I had the stuffed scrod.

Scrod!

Stuffed scrod. Now scrod is a Boston accent.

We were talking about how, Steve doesn't seem like he's from Boston. He doesn't have any kind of accent, but neither do you, mom.

Oh, don't even make fun of me.

I know you're gonna ask me to say something.

Cops are cops.

Like that.

How mad is dad gonna be that he didn't answer the phone? He's at the gym. Well, he's right here. Steve, do you mind? Of course. Steve Carell's on the phone here. Sit up, Steve Carell. Hey! Are you just lounging on the couch? Lounging on the recliner. He's in his recliner. What time is it there? Hi, Pop, look who you secured for me.

Yes. Do I get any benefit from that?

Yeah, like a, what do you call it?

Like a finder's fee?

Yes, finder's fee.

Boston.

You know what? Are you, when you go out to restaurants now, are you just gonna be like scoping for people for the show?

Yeah, yeah, that's what we try to do.

You'd be interested to know what I said after you left. I said, his wife is beautiful.

Weird, weird, thanks dad.

Yeah, what's that about? Hey, Mrs. Poehler, that's not right. That's weird. Don't let your husband talk. That's

gross. I'm filing for divorce now that I think about it. Well, thanks you guys for the assist. We had a great interview and dad, I owe you a couple bucks. Bye. So Steve, thank you for being with my parents. And before I finish, I got to ask you my most important question, which I almost forgot to ask you, which is what is making you laugh these days? What are you watching, reading? Who's making you laugh? What do you like?

I, Nancy and I just started, we're late to it, but just started watching The Righteous Gemstone.

And that first season was such a joy. Loved it. Danny is incredible. But can we talk about Edie for a second? Edie Patterson on that show.

I'd never seen her before.

Oh my God. She's so funny.

So, see that's when you start, when you see someone that just comes out of the blue.

Yeah.

And unexpected and like a completely different approach to yeah a character so unique and

Specific. Yeah, I know and talk about like improvising in character. Mm-hmm. She Did not like everything she's saying is tumbling out of her mouth. It seems like yeah I don't know how much is written or improvised, but it looks like a lot is improvised But I don't know but everything is kind of tumbling out of her mouth, but it's never ever a false note. She's just staying in that. Yeah.

All those characters are nuts.

Yeah.

I really like it. That is an amazing cast.

John Goodman.

I love John Goodman.

I do too. Adam Devine. I, I, and it's one of those, I just, I, it just kind of slipped by. Like it didn't, um, was under, under our radar and on a whim we just said, you know, I've heard good things

and started watching it. Let me call my parents and see what they

think. Okay. Let's see. Thank you, Steve. Thank you for doing this.

Thank you, Steve Carell. Thank you for talking to my parents. You know, for this Polar Plunge, I just want to reiterate how grateful and lucky I am to be a Boston girl. You know, me and Steve are Boston kids who made it big. And it is really nice always to feel like you are part of a community. And that's what being from Boston feels like. So don't come at me, Boston, if I said one thing that made you mad. All right.

Let it roll off your shoulders. All right. Because you're still the best. Number one. Don't forget. Boston forever. Go Sox.

Okay. Thanks for listening. And we'll catch you next time on Good Hang. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam

Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.