Welcome, welcome, welcome to armchair expert I'm Dan Shepherd, I'm joined by Emmy nominated Monica Montu. Hello there. Hello, sir. What a day. What a day. There's no air conditioning right now in the attic. Yeah, we're feeling the heat. Feel the heat.

Emily Mortimer, we just really were charmed by Emily, aren't we?

Yeah. I mean, it's like so cliche to be charmed by, like, a cute, dainty Englishwoman. And we were.

Yeah. It's irresistible. Yeah. You know, we're powerless. Emily Mortimer is an English actress and screenwriter. She was in Mary Poppins Returns Doll and Em the newsroom. That's where I fell in love with her Shutter Island, Lars and the Real Girl Matchpoint.

And she has a new movie that has a hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes. It's a horror movie and it's called Relic. So check that out.

But after you check out Emily Mortimer, we are supported by sleep number and my sleep number is currently 75. Now, in this time of quarantine, it's important to keep the family moving. Sure. Right. Yeah. So we got a couple tricks. We got him on roller skates and currently I just left the house. And both daughters are roller skating in the driveway. They're going around some cones. And then we were doing our friend Charlie Chris's workout class endorphins.

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He's not. Lovely. Now, Emily, nice to meet you. I'm DAX. This is Monica. Lovely to meet you guys. And you resplendent pink.

And you're not in Brooklyn. You're in London. I'm actually in Bath. And where is baths?

I hate to be ignorant, but I need to know, whereas Bath OK so far is in the west country of England. It's nearly on the way to like Somerset. And then you would sort of come up and go west and on your way down to like Cornwall and Devon and and I'm in this estate badminton estate, which is just hundreds of acres on this Bede's full property. And I'm staying in this house that was built in 1784. And I'm getting ready to maybe maybe shoot this TV show that I wrote.

But but who knows what's gonna happen. It's sort of just I'm playing it by.

So what, you're there now just in preparation of the maybe starting again? Yes.

I was in New York about a week ago and then I got the cool. I was about to start shooting a show that I had written and was to direct when the well shut down. And so I was about three weeks out in Prague. And so I flew home to be with my my family in America. And then I got the call saying, come back about a week ago. So here I am in Bath. I normally would be in New York City with my with my husband and my two kids.

And you live in Brooklyn? Normally, yeah. Yes. Now, obviously, Corona was much, much worse for so many people than us. But with that said, I got to imagine because I was I was in the middle of production two, but I hadn't written it. I hadn't gone through notes sessions. I hadn't pitched the studio. I like the amount of work that would land you on the set. Shooting something you created is immense. Right.

And it all takes place beforehand. So I have to imagine it was particularly brutal to have the plug pulled.

Initially, it was kind of brutal. But I don't know about you, but I feel like as an actor, you're kind of a bottom feeder anyway, like you're just used to life being kind of sort of like things just going wrong and being the best laid plans of mice and men just sort of fucking up all the time. Like, you just think you're gonna be doing one thing and then that doesn't happen or you'll think you're not gonna be doing anything.

And you've planned some holiday that you'll once in a lifetime trip with your family somewhere. Perfect.

And then the cool comes and you have to just up stakes and go off to sort of bum fuck somewhere and shoot the movie. And as an actor, anyway, I am just used to life's never knowing what's going to happen next and not being both wonderful and awful.

Yeah, it was really a bummer. It was really a bummer. And then you started realizing, wow, this is one instance where you really can't sort of take it to pass and you'll feel too sorry for yourself because the whole world is going through a major component of a situation. And once that realization sunk in, I, I started to really enjoy it. Actually, I felt like this kind of reprieve. It got scary yet again for me when it started getting back to sort of like the half life that we're in now where it's like I am I meant to be in the world.

Is this weird that I'm here? And how is this going to work exactly? But the time that I was in sort of full lockdown, I really enjoyed that part of the performer's life of the never quite knowing what's gonna happen next. It was gone. It was like, you know, what's going to happen for the next at least few months, you'll stop. It was an amazing feeling, that slight buzz in your ear that you're aware of.

Yeah. What is brewing? Something brewing. And I don't know what it is, but it's about to change everything that was go on. And I was able to just be kind of chilled. And also I realized in London and I have real social anxiety that I don't think I knew until all social life was taken.

The odd occasion that we would go and have a few drinks and things just very socially distanced with our neighbors in a place where you couldn't be in close confinement.

I would come home feeling really sort of like, oh, God, was that. That was embarrassing. I made stupid jokes and I made a fool of myself, which is what I realized. But I think all the time through my life, like, that's what I think every second of every day I'm thinking I made stupid jokes. I made a fool of myself, but in lots. And I was able to realize that when you take away the people to make this change to, it's kind of great.

Well, yeah, it's all misleading, right?

Because there's like a sweet spot for us. There was a sweet spot where it's like, oh, my God, I'm getting so much time with my kids that I would normally get. And, oh, this is quite lovely. And oh my God, I'm relaxed and I'm sleeping better, blah, blah, blah. And then all of a sudden I had this panic of, like, wow, life's just blowing by and nothing's happening. And what do I need productivity to have any sense of?

Purpose and self-worth and all this stuff, so, yeah, it's been a great time to really get in the hamster wheel and just spin around a lot. I know.

I mean, there's loads of existential moments. I'm painting a very rosy picture of it that is completely sort of not right, obviously.

But I mean, I think that there's this moment now that I'm experiencing, which is full of a new kind of sort of terror of like, is this thing really going to start up again and are we all gonna be okay? And so I've got rose-tinted spectacles, but I do remember the existential sort of waves of like, I can't wait for it to get back to normal. But then you're thinking, what is it that I'm really missing? Like, I couldn't even put my finger on, you know, what it was I wanted to happen.

Like what? I wanted to be different.

I think I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wanted and then choose to be doing what I was doing, quarantining. I think it was just a very radical notion that I was I had no say in the situation was discomfort.

Yeah, yeah. No, it's it's been a real ride, man, really.

Now, when you go back to England, I wonder, like for me, I'm from Detroit. Right. And in Detroit's drastically different from Los Angeles in the men first, I don't know, five years in L.A. I hated L.A. and I wanted to be home. And then something weird happened where I was home and I was like, oh, I miss L.A. and I very much love my home. But when I'm in my home, I realize I have drank the Kool-Aid of Los Angeles and then compounded right when when you re-enter your family orbit, you're like, oh, right.

I played this role in my family. I don't play it in my adult life, but I have this role in my family. And now I got to play it again because it's Christmas. I wonder when you go back home and I gotta imagine it's more intense for you because we sound different. Right. So it's like you're reminded very viscerally that, oh, you're back home. Does when you go back home, do you feel like you have to swing back into who you were when you were younger or.

No? Definitely. I think that's just true. Fair? Yes. For everyone, as you say, you kind of regressed to who you were when you were like twelve. I love the feeling of coming back to England after America because basically you come into people's kitchens. Normally, if there's no covet and somebody offers you a gin and tonic and a cigarette and then you know your home, you know what I mean? That that didn't happen this time.

But I did go and see my mom, who actually is the last of the great, changed my because my mother smokes, I should think definitely 30 cigarettes a day at least. Oh, God. And she starts at eight in the morning. She doesn't finish till ten o'clock at night. And someone has told her on reliable, you know, assurance that they've proved that smoking is very good protection against Gorell.

That, ironically, is true, it appears. And people also on nicotine supplements. So I did the lozenges and stuff and apparently I'm safe guarded in some way as well.

I know she told me that giving a Kovar patients nicotine patches you found. Yeah, I went. She'd seen it.

So friends, right? My mom is.

Yes. She's just determined smoker. She smokes when she plays tennis.

Oh, it's an art form for her. She's taken it to the next level. Yeah. My husband is playing tennis with her in Italy one time on our summer holiday, and he said he was serving and he smelled smoke and he was like, how could that be some smoking when we're in the middle of the night?

For country said the middle of nowhere. And he looked over and that was my mom, like in redis position.

Well, you ask her to please smoke in the swimming pool this summer just to really go for it.

Let's take some laps while smoking. Do you have to go?

I think I remember smoking in the shower when I was hung over. I got to admit it, my remaining days when I was an addict. Yeah, I remember smoking in the shower for sure.

Then you just lean over and throw it in the toilet when you're done. That's pretty cool.

That needs to be in a movie. Someone's smoking. I've never seen that. Or thoughts, in fact, before. No. Yes. And my mom, when I got home about a week ago and night, I'd sort of you know, you feel that you risk life and limb getting on the airplane. And I had my end ninety five mask and all my sort of gloves and wipes and everything. And I managed to get through and I did go in and stay with my mom.

We were trying to social distance, although she is so convinced that she's protected from kind of a virus because of chance making that she was like it doesn't come me. But anyway, there was a culture clash and also a feeling of of being a child again, because I'm promoting this movie, this coming out. So I did one other of these interviews on the ZIJN.

And so I was being into the audience and my mom, you know, came into the kitchen and a 90 was about 11:00 at night because that was in L.A. and I was you know, I so I had to wait up for this thing. And and I was trying to do this interview and and the girl was very honest and very sort of sweet and asking me very intense questions about my craft and everything. And my mom walked into the kitchen. She went, you were talking incredibly loudly.

It's going on and I'm. I said, Mom, I'm turning to an interview. Really? What do you mean? She started lighting up and the smoke was billowing onto the screen. And finally I was like, Mom, can you stop smoking? And she said, All right, I'll go over there. So she went and stared at the other end of the kitchen. And literally it was like something answered the shining or something. Was this my mother in a nightie but smoking, but not looking at me, looking down at the floor, listening to me for like she stood there thirty minutes while I finish this.

I've never been more subtle in my life. That lady interview me was like, so tell me about that special spark inside you. Asian Emily, you and I having to talk about all this.

But I don't even know what I was saying because all I was thinking about this woman in the night was just judging me and hating me on the other end of the kids.

Most parents. Right. Your mom's right. Oh, my God. This is so adorable. Look how serious they're taking my child. Look, I was serious. My child's taking herself. It could elicit some fraudulence. I feel like if my mom was staring at me, I'd be like, mom, I do this thing. I've become this thing. And I know it's preposterous. But here we are now. Just I need to do it without you staring at me.

Exactly. Exactly. Well, anyway, I got off the thing and she went, no, I mean, it's amazing. And I thought maybe she's going to say, it's amazing how wonderful you are. How far you've come.

It's me saying that people are interested.

Right. Right. Right. Yeah.

Yeah. Can you believe you've duped the world into being interested in you and your process? What is this world coming do?

But I did sort of know what she meant. I am sure.

Yeah. Now, you grew up in London and I don't know of Wikipedia is wrong, but did your dad married to Penelope's? Yes.

My mom is Penelope the second and his first wife was Pin-Up. Now, is Penelope a more popular name in England?

Because the odds of you wrangling to Penelope's here in the States would be very hard for your dad. Did find those two?

Yeah. Good point. No. I don't know any other. Penelope's either in England or America. A friend of mine once invented it. Penelope. She invented a friend. Penelope. Well, she was courting this guy and being courted by this guy who she then married, that she was invented. Franco. Penelope. So that she could see more interest. She can't sort of standing him up every three dates because she was going off with her friend Penelope because she didn't wanted to be a guy, because she did want to make him.

And she's jealous, but she wanted to make herself seem more sort of mysterious. So she invented a Franco Penelope. But I don't really know any other Penelope's than my mom and my dad's first one fleabag.

I think there's a Penelope and that is English. Oh, that's true. There's something serendipitous going on. Now, your dad was in again, forgive my ignorance, but your father was a sir or is a Serb, presumably. And he was a barrister. What is a barrister?

Okay, so I'm loving this. This is safe fun being asked these questions about says and I don't give a shit about this special light in you or your brother.

I don't know. That's not comedy. I don't care.

I'll redo your voodoo. That's up to you. Just keep being good. I don't want need to know the sausage is made.

I wish my mom was. This was the bunk cause she was listening to as she stood when her nights when I got you out of here and had her sit down for sure.

I know. Anyway, so barista is a lawyer. My dad was a writer first and foremost, but his father had been a lawyer and my dad always wanted to be a writer, but his dad said, you know, you've got to get something to fall back on. You gotta get the sort of proper job when the writing sort of dries up or whatever. So he trained to be a lawyer and he became a criminal defense barrister. They call it in England and say he only ever defended.

He defended a lot of Magin as he defended a lot of pornography. He defended those of every kind of buddy need to quit out of Seminole. Important cases, especially in light, the free speech kind of arena. He defended the Sex Pistols. Never mind the bollocks. No way.

You didn't meet Sid Vicious or John Liden or anything, did you? No, I was about four.

That's a perfect age for you to be turned over to John Leyden. It's a great time.

Yeah. Yeah. Sid Vicious and the gang, he hardly met them.

I think he told them that if he was going to fight the case, they had to go as far away as possible from the courtroom and not really show their faces. They wouldn't stand out. But he got them off. His defence was brilliant because instead of doing some big speech about free speech, we should probably irritated the judge. He got them all. It was the album that was being prosecuted on the obscene publication for the use of the word bollocks.

I mean, it's unbelievable now to think that there was seven 1976. It wasn't like the 30s. There's one thing, and I'm the bullocks, which is the English word for bulls, you know? But so they be prosecuted for the use of the word bollocks. But my dad got a Church of England Vic, a clergyman who was an entomologist, to come and say that bollix was the the raking on a 17th century man of war ship and that it wasn't anything to do with anything that was obscene at all.

And the judge was like, oh, yes, quite Write-Ups equals.

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. Exactly. He said, my dad. That's what he did kind of on the side in his mind, although I think he did a lot of really cool things with it. But then his main job was a writer and he wrote plays and novels and television dramas. He was Knights Heads, which happens like sort of Judi Dench becomes Dame Judi Dench. Right. It's like a thing that happens. The queen gives you a title that you're being honored for your contribution to the arts.

So he became a star as a result of that.

How serious is it? Can you. Is there anything here stateside you can relate to do it? Like did he take great pride in being Sir Sir John?

I think he did take great pride in it because, well, we, of course, was so proud of. I mean, I was so, so proud of him. He died about 10 years ago, my dad. But I loved him so fiercely.

And he was a huge influence on me in every way and everything. But he was a big, like socialist, supposedly, and very left wing and very kind of anti-establishment. And so for him to kind of be as delighted as he was by being made a bad thing.

Yeah. Yeah, it was all good. I mean, he he deserved it.

It's an interesting transition in life when you recognize you're the establishment.

My mom said something funny that you remind me of. When I was complaining to her, I was like, Mom, I've become the establishment. I'm so depressed. I'm the establishment. And she says, well, imagine what it's like to be the mother of the fucking establishment.

Oh, my gosh. Your mom said, I know.

Yeah. You would love my mom. You would love my mom.

Could you find out her policy on dating married men? Oh, yes, she'd be down. So you went to Oxford and you what you were doing plays, but you were also pursuing writing. Had you, in your mind, declared what path you were more interested in or were they equal or. I don't know.

I wasn't thing I was gonna be a writer or an actor. I was feeling like I needed to go and do something kind of worthwhile with my life. I had studied Russian at university and I wanted to go to Russia and I I didn't know quite what I wanted to do, but I thought was it's gonna sort of work for the U.N. something I don't know. I thought I would basically do something to justify the money that my parents had spent on my very expensive education.

Yeah, but I always just did act. I did what was right, too. From when I was a really little girl. I did. And I think it was parts of that thing of being very shy. Like to go back into a social anxiety thing. So I always kind of would be, as a child, very frightened of any kind of social situation. And my mom would have to force me to go out to parties and things like that when I was little.

So but I would stay at home and sort of act out things on the stairs to my parents. I'd act out anyway. I'd like perform like a person automatic, you know, washing powder advert or a cookery programme, or then sometimes I'd write play or something.

That's I had a very active imagination that would take the pace of the kind of real life that I was too scared to sort of deal with. And so it was acting and writing and all that kind of stuff was always something that was a great escape for me. But I never really necessarily thought that was what I was going to end up doing. I thought I was going to do something as a set, sort of, in inverted commas, worthwhile.

And I was kind of feeling like I needed to be sort of serious and that those kind of things weren't serious enough or something like that.

Do you still speak Russian, though? Yeah. Give a new bottle of whiskey. Oh.

Couple more.

Tell us what you think of our matching pink sweatshirts. Oh. Oh, Chin Crest. S.V. privily cuttingly c30.

Oh. You know, no matter what you say, it's a private matter. It sounds like work. You're going to kill us. Yeah, like I felt very scared. Yeah, it's very. Maybe it's because that's the only representation we've ever seen in states.

Russians, they're all evil. But I was like, this motherfucker's going to kill us over these things better.

Did you watch the Americans and go, why the hell am I not on this show? Did you watch the American show?

No, because I don't watch any television. I really am so bad and lame. I've got real sort of failing in that department. But I did know that it was about them. Thing. Why the hell? They have been a while.

It's truly a fantastic show and everyone says it's incredible.

And I really feel that's a big gap in my knowledge and experience of life. OK.

So despite wanting to be an ambassador to Russia, you did find yourself with a pretty steady employment, first in television in England, and then you ended up being in something that your father wrote. Yeah, yeah.

That was sort of right off the bat. I got a joke from complete nepotism paying a teenager in a TV show that he had written. It was a really stressful experience because I was desperately trying to pretend that I hadn't got the job that way. Sure. And there were all these kind of really I you know, knowing sort of jaded, like stage school school kids who were my friends in my school, friends in the thing. And they were onto me immediately.

They were like they were testing me by asking questions about like, did did I know what my equity rights were on? Like, if he you know, I don't know, your meal breaks and all that. And I just didn't know any of my I had managed to sort of vaguely pull the wool over that eyes. And then my dad, of course, arrived on the set and I hit him and then he did see me, but he sort of managed to sort of stay quiet.

And then it came to him leaving and he waved at me and yelled from the other side of the room by envy. Darling, we're all so proud of you.

And I like that. Wasn't that fun? I guess it didn't stop me and didn't stop me. I was always doing it somewhere.

So you an only child? I wasn't any child until I was about 12.

And then my sister Raisi was born. He's my full system. But yeah, we're the only two with so close. It's such a nice relationship. She's twelve years younger than me.

Monica similarly has an eight year gap with her little brother. Yeah. Do you guys get along? I wouldn't say get along is the right phrase. We just never grew up in the same world. We basically grew ups totally separately and now as adults, we have a new relationship as adults.

I got to say, if you're going to have a gab like that, it's best to go all the way to the 12 because you probably fell in in ways like you had a baby, right, where Monica had a just felt annoyed, like it's kind of the sex gap if you're going to go beyond five years.

My son and my daughter are six years and he feels like just really like his life just got so brutal.

He was arrived and he's not really ever corrected that opinion. Yeah. Because you're old enough to remember the difference between what life was like when you were the only one. But by the time my sister was born, yeah, I was just like a little baby is like little Dolly or something that I was helping to bring up. And I always just adored her and felt really protective of her. And then now it's so funny how the age gap just sort of stops, meaning anything as you get older.

And I mean, it's still very annoying that she's twelve years younger than me right now, especially as I was really starting to just feel, Gould, about how like how few wrinkles she has and how good sort of faker is and things. But she had a baby the same time I had my second baby. So her first kid is the same age as my second kid and their best, best friends. And that was really such a sweet thing.

Yes. So we're really good friends.

But you're right, when she's 80 and you're 92, you're both will just be old as far as like it may well be.

Right.

Right now, it's kind of not that great. She's thirty six. She's just thirty six. And she's just so gorgeous and sort of in a prime. And I'm, I'm, I'm twelve years old and that he thinks I'm not going to tell you the max answer to that, but it's not nice.

Okay. Now once you started acting, did you have dreams of acting in the States. Is that something that is like an inevitable north north star?

Did you not care? Like, I guess what I'm asking you is when you got the ghost and the darkness where you're like, oh, here we come. I'm in an American movie.

I mean, maybe a bit. Yes, but not here we come. Because I never felt like I didn't think I had a plan, honestly. I just was sort of going along with from one thing to thanks. I think I felt like at some point I'm going to give this up and do something serious, like going to Russia. I just went along with it. Yeah, it was it definitely felt like that one felt like a big old number.

And it was like sort of Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas in the Beano. I was going to say the outback, but that's not what it was. It was Africa and it was like huge numbers of extras. And he sets in and I, you know, twenty five costume fittings and incredible everything. I remember that experience very intensely because I guess it was my first experience of it, like a huge, huge movie. It was only like my third or fourth job or something.

I mean, the first take I did, I was Paul Kilmer's wife. The story revolved around a lot of man eating lions in Africa. It sure does.

Have you seen it? Oh, God, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was a Val Kilmer disciple when I was younger. I saw no matter what he did, I saw it. Were you smitten with Val? Because he was powerful in his heyday, right?

Yeah, he was really powerful. I mean, I was playing his wife. We had one scene together and I only had like three scenes in the movie. And one of them, I get eaten by a lion, you know, and the scene with him was right at the beginning. And, you know, I just sort of met him to say hi and do the scene with. And then that was it. I didn't really see him again after that, but it was kind of intimidating.

And I did think he was brilliant. I mean, he's a genius. But I remember that first scene that was my first moment on a big, big studio movie. And I'd come all the way to Africa to meet my husband. And in the time that I'd been we'd been apart. I'd had his baby. So I was bringing his baby to him. And what was this great big romantic scene on this huge railway platform in the middle of Africa and everything?

And I finished my first take and I sort of was all the sort of a jitter in that. And the director came over and said, I'm, you know, that was amazing, was so good, you know. Well done, Emily.

You have a slightly sleepy left eye.

So could you could you open it a bit? And I was like, yeah, cool is cool. Cool, cool. Totally. Oh no. You have cause so he went home and I was like, oh wait, I'll see what you mean. I'm thinking fuck, how do you open.

The whole point is it's a slightly sleepy left. I don't know how to do what he's just. Ah so it's like I can't open it. And then I thought maybe if I closed the other one a little bit that's their job area.

So my father's big close up with Val Kilmer and this Hollywood really was me like yeah I, I like that.

But the nicest thing that anyone has ever said to me still to this day. Came as a result of doing that movie, which was so amazing, it's like I got eaten by the lion and it was all this big thing, and then it came out. And then I when I went back to my normal life and I was in Dublin, I was late. I had flown, stopped him from London to do an audition for a film. And the man that picked me up from the station, I had to tell him I'm late.

The me mate. I'm late for my audition. Please can you go as quickly as you can? And then, of course, he got fascinated by the fact that I was an actress known as Late for an audition, and he asked me what he would see me in.

And I said, oh, no, nothing. I don't mean anything. I said, I've been in one film. And he said, Well, what was that? I said, Well, it was Booth. Val Kilmer actually in Africa. And he said, What will happen to you? And I said, Well, I got eaten by a lion. And he thought for a second and even some lions get all the look I got.

That's the best thing anyone's ever said to me. And it's still the best thing, like 20 years later. Anyone's ever.

That's pretty close. Did you have a cocktail with him after the audition? I feel like this guy had some some rhythm, some game. Well, all Irish people are like that.

So you have to be Cathleen's up because you fall in enough with everyone.

The same guy on the same trip said he was trying to get me to the audition and we went the wrong way down a one way street and there was a car coming the right way. And he was like, beeping is on and the drive ends up going. It's a fucking one way street.

And my taxi driver went back and went, I'm only going the one way charming guy on the planet a time today. I know I should look at my life.

Stay tuned for more armchair expert, if you dare.

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OK. So I want to zoom to my favorite thing, and the way I really came to fall in love with you was the newsroom, which my wife and I were deeply addicted to such a fantastic show. And you were so, so great in it. My goodness. Monaca love.

NEWSROOM as well. Thank you. That's very daunting to me. I watch it both as like spectacle of my acting fear. To have to save that many words coherently seems impossible that Aaron Sorkin kind of musical dialogue scares me to death. Was it impossible then? Got easy. Did it never get easy? Was it always easy?

I guess it got easier. But it was always really scary. And I think that in a way was maybe was parts of what was great about watching it. It was so was that there was a kind of an adrenaline. It was just it was like giving a life performance often because it was 19 theater or something. I can't explain it. It was just like you would have to sort of pronounce these monologues and you didn't have many goes, like because it was television and we were doing sort of an episode and in just over a week mean you had to have really lines and you had to be able to rattle it off.

You had to know it like the back of your hand long before you were standing on the set because you only had two or three goes. And it was just like pages and pages and pages of words. And it's a whole new language with him. I mean, it's brilliant, but it's kind of slightly stylized. It's like a whole he's like he's writing in a different language almost. Yeah.

I would I would imagine, like, generally when you're acting, even if it's like, okay, well, I've never held someone hostage. I don't really know in my own life what I can compare this to, but I can go, oh, who's the person I hated the most in my life? Now I imagine that that's who's sitting in that chair. OK, well, that's my way. Yeah.

Well, there's really no way until I was that time, I made the most distinct speech ever off the cuff thing and everyone changed direction.

Like, that's just not really. Some people have a lot of experience with. There's nothing to ground.

No, no. There was nothing that grounded that. That's exactly it. I guess it was almost like doing a musical or something because I feel like he writes instead of in. Thus it's always like he writes in in this kind of rhythm and this vase that is his own. And so it's honoring that at the same time is trying to make it real and give it some reality and everything as the same time as just, you know, being just scared you're going to humiliate yourself and all things gonna be a disaster.

And I, I remember in the lining of the lines was just so extreme. And I can remember at the very end of the third season when it stopped sitting down in my trailer and realizing that I think I was lying down on the little sofa thing and looking at the trailer and thinking, God, I don't think I've ever seen my trailer from this position.

And I've been in for three years. And it was because I was just always just fucking pacing. I never really sat down and I sat down. I suddenly didn't lay down. I was just pacing, pacing, pacing, trying to get these fucking lines in my head. And then I always think of the journey from the from the trailer into the studio. Is it Sunset Gower that we shot it? The A.D. would come in and he'd come out of the door and follow them.

And I would just be scared of moving my head even like an inch. You sort of think that the words are going to fall out of your ear, like tilt your head one way or the other. You just got to get there and say it.

And then generally they shot that show in a similar way to, say, West Wing or something. Right. So they're hoping for a one take, you know, one shot, a walk and talk of you doing this whole monologue. So there's no way to bring it up or reset you. You've just got to stick it.

Yes, exactly. Yeah, it was quite high octane and intense. And also, he's a real stickler, which you understand why? Because he does write in kind of vice or very rhythmically. And so, you know, he he wants you to get the words out, how they're written on the page. And I didn't really get that fast, just sort of just my bad. But I'll never forget the time that I realized that which was in the shooting of the pilot.

And I was doing a scene where I had to say to Jim, John Galica paid my sort of my second in command, my news producer sort of assistant. I just had to stop him leaving the room. And I was going, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim, Jim. You know, like that. And I had auditioned with that scene. And then we'd done it, you know, and rehearsed it a lot because it was the pilot.

We drafted a lot. And then finally, as we were shooting it, we did the scene and Aaron just exploded. And he was like, Emily, there's that. Yes. And he went, How many gyms are written on that page? And I said, I don't know a lot. I don't know what you mean. I said, a few. And he said, How many are you saying? I said, I don't know. I think it's different every time.

I'm just saying how many it takes to stop him from going out the room. And he was like, there are five. Jim's written on that piece of paper. You are saying you've said it for you said for gyms. You've said six James. You said H.M.S.. Nine gives, you have never once said five, Jim. How could you? So I say, okay, yeah. So.

And then it came the five Jim's and I bet it really went way better than six gyms.

But then the next episode, the second episode I had to do it was a scene where I had accidentally sent some intimate text or email to like a hundred people in the office. And I realized it and I had to go, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.

When I got this script, when it's arrived and I opened it, it said under my character, Paul Mackenzie McHale, and it said in parentheses just above the noon and no, a note. Aaron had written exactly this many Emily in many Nizamettin on the note. So I've I framed that piece of paper and put it in my name. Oh, that's great.

But I do I do really think it was music to him. To him, it was it was beats in a song kind of thing. Right. You would fuck up if you don't say how he's had it in his head. Yeah.

So hard, though, because you immediately go from being in a scene to counting, like if your next take I have to do five then all you're thinking of is counting. I like the. How does that produce. It's such a high. I mean I got just. No, literally. No, no, no, no. My thing. I know. Keep them out of frame.

I feel like you have to be such a strong actor to be able to do both of those things at once and be somewhat believable and be believable. Yeah.

Yeah. I think I was counting on my fingers on the gym one, but then I learned from that. I've got to do it exactly as it said in the thing. And then you just practice it like that. So you're ready.

So I'm gonna guess that you absolutely loved the show and you were so happy when it was canceled.

Yeah, I love the show. The funny thing is about that is that it didn't get canceled. Aaron didn't want to do it anymore. Oh, really? They were begging him to do it. They kept saying, you only need to write five or whatever. And he just was not so down. And I keep thinking maybe one day he'll bring in lamb and do something.

We'll just. You feel like this moment is just fucking all right. Yeah. In such a big way. And so much of what he was saying at the time that we were all just giving him grief because he was saying such prophetic stuff about the Internet that we were like thinking he was just some old granddad that was down on the Internet, because at that time, this whole fake news stuff wasn't really the thing that it was in his mind. He was like, you can't get the news from the Internet.

You know, the news has to be taken incredibly seriously. It has to be verified and double verified. And everything has to be backed up twenty five times before it should be presented to the public as fact. And how can you have that kind of control kind of conscientiousness about the truth if you're getting your information online? And we would just like get with it granddad, you know? But I think he was dead, right? He was just dead.

Right. Become the biggest problem in a in a democracy, in a way.

Yeah. Undermining the fourth estate. Yeah. OK. Let's talk about Relic. It's a movie you're in. It comes out in July. It has a 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Does it. Well, I didn't know that.

I have such a ethical quandary to promote that because I hate Rotten Tomatoes, but I am excited that one hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

So does that actually mean anything? Well, I hate Rotten Tomatoes, but in some ways it does. I think one hundred percent said something. Yeah. But anything else maybe doesn't mean very much.

Okay. It's definitely a really good movie. I know that. I mean, I feel that I had nothing to do with me. I feel that I know that Natalie James is a great director who directed it and is her first movie.

Now that you've been doing this for a while, what's your general appetite to work with a first time director?

Hi, I love working with Fast and Direct. You know, I mean, as long as you get the vibe that they've got something to say, I think it's really cool. And often the first time out is amazing. Everything that they've been boiling up inside them to sort of save for the first 20 or 30 or 40 years of their life, it's all that, you know, whereas the second one is often the harder nut to crack. But, you know, I love working with Festen directors, and I knew that Natalie was good because I read to her script because she wrote the script.

So, you know, she's a real hauteur, I think. And you could tell from reading the script that she was a filmmaker. And that's really exciting.

And it's a psychological horror thriller.

It's a horror film, but it's about the horror of real life. It's about three generations of women, that older woman.

I'm in the middle and then my daughter is in her sort of 20s or whatever. And her grandmother, my mother has got. Alzheimer's. And as the movie begins, she's gone missing from her house and we've had to go home to my childhood home to try to work out what's happened to her. And then she reappears. And then it's just a sort of examination in the horror genre of, you know, the real true life horror of watching someone you love or that you may have a complicated relationship with because they your mother and everyone has complicated relationships with the people that they love most in the world.

And she is kind of disintegrating both physically and mentally. And it just really gets to it. It really gets at the horror of that situation. If anyone's ever been around someone they love and watch them die. I think that is truly a horrifying experience.

And it is physically, it's seen what happens to people's bodies when they die is horrifying. And having to see people that you love look at you like they've never seen you before when they've never known that you would love is horrifying. It's worse than any horror film I've ever seen that feeling.

And so what this director, this filmmaker, Natalie, did was to kind of somehow bottle that feeling and make this brilliant, entertaining, like you can't believe what the shit that she does in that movie. It's so it's so kind of audacious, I think ends and yet really emotionally kind of beautiful. And by the end of it, oddly enough, there's something really cathartic about it. You know, emotionally, like you really feel better even though you've been forced through this horrifying journey.

There's something about the kind of coming to terms with death that happens towards the end of the movie, which is also what happens, I think in real life, when people die, you know, there's a kind of catharsis in the coming and acceptance that can be really beautiful, despite all the horror that you've gone through, witnessing it being by their side as it's happening.

So anyway, that's the way the movie is a fact.

You did a brilliant job. I also dig this idea of exploring societal things in horror genre like get out. Yeah, I think it's kind of a really cool way to look at these things.

I hope it's like a pattern that sustains me to what I like about the horror genre is that it can be really funny if someone is to say, sit and watch a movie about somebody dying of Alzheimer's. I would have a really hard time with the older that have been wonderful, beautiful movies about that, that are very straight dramas that are incredible.

But this is so it's weird because it manages to be so entertaining and funny and kind of outrageous at the same time is getting at something and being really moving. There's something about the horror genre because it doesn't take itself too seriously at Cons and they're entertaining. Yeah.

And I think you have an obligation to make whatever story you're trying to tell entertaining. And I feel like you're right.

There's like there's a safety or this cover fire and calling it genre or horror that you're not gonna be judged the same way. So you can play with these different elements and get out was at times hysterical, at times profound, at times terrifying.

And I think also because in horror movies, you can't check out emotionally, like if you're watching a drama, you could maybe like check out a little bit. But with horror, your adrenaline is literally pumping. So you can't sort of remove yourself. You're just totally immersed in the whole thing.

Right. Exactly. Exactly. And then I just notice that you did a movie called Don't Look Deeper with Cheadle. Are you head over heels in love with Cheeto like we are?

Yes, I love him. What a Genz. What a cool guy. Is it a show or movie? It's a quippy you know, it's a quippy show. It was meant to be coming out around now. And I think they've moved it to like a month from now.

Don't you feel so terrible for this gal, Natalie, who's probably spent two years plus on Relic and the notion that people can't go to theaters? There's got to be heart madness.

Yes. Yes. So they just announced it's going to be in drive in theaters.

I just was looking for Drive-Ins close by, like three days ago. I was Googling Drive-Ins near me. Really? Yeah. Yeah. I want to get my kids to a movie, but I want to do it safely. Yeah.

Did you find the driving that was near you? Yeah. Yeah.

There's there's a few within like 15, 20 miles. So yeah. This is now a summer time goal. I have to go in my our old station wagon to watch a movie. No.

God, that sounds really nice. I don't think that any drive in movie theaters near Bath.

I'm I'm pessimistic about that. To be honest, if you found Brooklyn to be a wonderful home, is Brooklyn the spot?

Do you miss England? Like, where do you want to be? I don't know.

That's a really good question. I asked myself that question all the time. I. I want to be where I you know, I want to be when my my husband and my kids are ready and when my kids both leave.

Home in Britain. I'll be interested to see whether that's where I want to end up being. I don't know. I love Neil. I love L.A.. We lived in L.A. for about five years before we moved to New York. And I really think English people really like lakes is so exotic. Yes, Sunny. It's sunny. And there's some avocado and cheese and hummingbirds and Katey's. You can't believe it. And so I do really miss L.A. and there's the feeling of sort of life being.

Well, up until now and way everywhere feels perilous. But that was a feeling that you could sort of you might not die. It was a feeling in L.A. that if you sort of took your pill and went to your Yanka and drank your wheatgrass, you could sort of just live forever for me. And then because life is so easy and and Ênio, you just feel like that the victory at the end of each day is that you didn't fucking die.

Yeah.

And that I like that, too. Yeah. Although in that I'm going to live forever. Place zone that occasionally every kind of three months is in the US was looking like. Yeah. Campbell under your feet and you'd be like we're all going to fucking die. Why is everybody pretending we're not.

Well that's because the simulation has figured out you need to get scared every six to be able to enjoy the fake environment. That's all. They've all figured it out.

Last question has nothing to do with you but your husband, Alesandro.

Yes. He's going to be in a prequel to The Sopranos is. Yes.

I'm so excited. It was my favorite show of all time. And the notion that there's more from that world for me to see is thrill.

Yeah, I know. I think it's it's really going to be amazing. And he's amazing in it and then circle it.

So it's so exciting. But of course, then that's all an unknown about now when that's going to come out and things, because that really should come out in the theaters, because it's such a as sort of, you know, a spectacle and a big deal and and it was made for the cinema. So I guess they're waiting for when it's safe to go back.

Yeah. Well, Emily, we adore you. I loved you so, so much on the NEWSROOM. And I'm excited to see Relic. I'm excited to see that topic explored in that paradigm. I think that's gonna be really fun.

And I hope the hundred percent stays. And I wish you a ton of luck and, you know, enjoy bath. I assume you must drink a ton there.

I think he is. Everybody's drunk from morning till night. Yeah. Good, good, good. Oh, we adore you. And I hope we get to do it in person sometime. Me too.

I really love to. You guys were really awesome. It was really fun talking to you. My mom would definitely have to tell her.

Tell her she's next on our list. Sure. Okay. Okay. Take you.

Stay tuned for armchair expert if you dare.

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And now my favorite part of the show, the fact check with my soulmate, Monica Padman. Do you think they'd be off putting off.

In the intro I said, Emily Mortimer.

OK. I don't think that's fun. You know, Delta's got like four bonafied characters now. Tell me.

Well, she's got her, like, Lofty Queeny.

You've heard her do her English accent. Yes. Yes. OK. So she has that, obviously. And then she has. NIST. Oh, yes. Right. Tiffany had a shash borderline NEA. I mean, she has a nose.

So it's not borderline, but it is borderline. Huh. If I go I wonder if anyone can relate to this in the rest of America where your kids they're watching a cartoon and it's being voiced by a black actor. And Tiffany Haddish is case in a very specific manner. Yeah. But my five year old is a no. She's black.

So she's just trying to imitate precisely what she's hearing because she likes how it sounds so much.

Yeah. And then I'm listening, going from, like, tell her you shouldn't really imitate black people.

Yes. Practicing her voices. And she's doing all the voices. You don't know who is what. But it's dicey.

Yeah. I mean, it is tricky because it is it is an opportunity to me like. Okay, so let's talk about it is what I am wonder.

In general, I like to think generally I'll run right out those things, you know, other acts or this or that.

But I'm pessimistic about trying to explain to her, you can do these voices cause these people are white, but you can't do this person because it's she's black. But then she'd be like, no, no, she's a cat. Well, I go, well, yes, it is a cat, but there is a cat being played by a black person. You really can imitate black people as kind of a weird concept.

It is. It is. It's a deep chord. It is. It is. To me, it seems more obvious like if she was doing a generic Indian accent, I would go like, oh, that's kind of making fun of, you know, but Tiffany's is her. He's not put non.

But what a stereotype of. Right. You know, I'm saying. But what if it was just an Indian person. And then she was doing it. What would you say?

Like there's a skill set I'm impressed by and I'm encouraging of. I'm someone who believes in doing characters at the Groundlings.

So the more practice, you know, she doesn't need to practice doing any of these accents of people of color because she can't ever use them. She can't.

But it's just more control, right? We're more practiced, more vocal control, more. And then and then I feel like there'll be a time to explain.

She's not going out and performing as if she was doing an Indian accent in front of me, I would tell her, you can. That's great. Yeah.

And again, hard to tell her, but I would feel like now's the time. Aha. What? But what if the Indian accent was coming from a frog in a cartoon?

I don't know how I would say it, but I would I would feel obligated in that moment to course correct what is starting to happen out of fear that maybe in her little friendship group she'd start doing it and she's smart enough.

And she's was. He's very woak. Well, yes. Well, she kind of rising oil with me. That's right. That's right.

But she's sweet enough to know she she doesn't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

That's true. I'm sorry. I'm distracted laughing about. Oh, that was Lincoln.

I know you love that story. Well, it's just so recent. It's just so innocent and it's so offensive.

OK, so the story is, if you haven't heard it, the story is that Lincoln I was in a cab with Lincoln in New York City and the next star cab was two horses pulling a carriage. Yeah.

And one of the horses was white. Yeah. And one of horses was black. Yeah. And she said, look, the armonica horse or that horse looks like Monica. Yeah. And I was like, there's a lot of things you could say that you just immediately have a little bit of panic.

Like I'm like I don't immediately know what I'm supposed to say here. Like, of course, Monica is dark. We talk about that. Monica's brown. That horse is dark. And that one's like you. Probation cop compare humans to animals. There's a bad history of comparing black people to animals, you know.

How far do you take it? Yeah. Well, it's funny, it's funny, OK? This gets so complicated. So Carly texted me that, OK?

And that too was triggering. Yeah.

Aha. Not the story. Aha.

The fact that like, oh my God, this hilarious thing happened.

Rhye, you felt you were mean laughed at. So anyway, it's like really Lincoln's been laughed at in that story.

Yes. But but the point of it was Troian of the joke is that because Lincoln is not making a joke. No. It's just literally noticing the difference that were white collar. And you're brown.

Yeah. And there was a white horse and there was a brown horse. So that's the monarchal horse.

I would have maybe said. Although she was so young. Yeah. Yeah. And then that one looks like you. I actually think I did that.

Yeah. I can't say for certain, but I'm pretty sure that's what I did. Yeah.

Because also like this whole conversation right now about color blindness, like she's right. There is a difference. And those two colors. And she's not saying you. Right. Well, she's excited. Yeah.

So that's fine. I think that's totally fine for her to, like, notice the differences. As long as it's not like this one's different. It's that. Oh, these two look different. Yeah, but but but the dolt saying, oh my God, this funny thing happened. This crazy thing happened is more vagary. Yeah.

Yeah I see that. I see that. I think equal parts that the adults laughing about it is dicey and uniquely triggering to you.

The notion that your your otherness is being pointed out so is probably more weighted for you're receiving it a little more weighted and it's a little flawed to begin with.

Yeah.

I mean, I don't know if it's more weighted because I can tell you it tickled me in the way of what do I say right now. It's very interesting that for sure we have a loved one in our family that is brown and then those easy two horses and.

And that's maybe seemingly all fine. It's just like, oh, do I need. What do I do? Of course.

That's what's funny about is like this is just a very gray area of what am I supposed to say back to this? Totally.

But also when you're saying I don't know what to say to that, if I'm being honest, I get that text. I'm like, I don't know what to say to this sha like cha cool areas. Yeah. Yeah. I don't think it's hilarious.

You either have to lie to you and make you feel fine about sending me that tax a ha or you know it's like OK.

Yeah, I don't know, it's just not that this was not a big deal at all.

No, no, no. But I told you about it. And why did I tell you about it. I just thought because it was just a clear feeling for me. Totally. And then so I shared it with you cause you were part of the queer feeling total of me.

And. And then and I wasn't like, they keep talking about this or, you know, I was not even thinking about it.

It's just like one of the many just small things of like.

Well, I guess the point the real point I'm making about all this is that we're all in a zone where some of the most commonly held things that I thought were no big deal. I am learning our big deals and I'm not quite sure where that line ends.

Like, I'm in a like, you know, can kids imitate voices from cartoons? Right.

I think in the future they will be like in a utopian society where black folks are as as empowered as white folks. I think white kids can do that. One hundred percent. We're not there yet. But then that's a very complicated conversation in its own, like, you know, Delton Ten. Yeah. Yeah. Hopefully in 30 years you can do this. Currently they're marginalized and that's why you can't. This is a pretty big concept.

Oh for sure. Ah yeah. Emily. Emily. She was so cute.

Emily Mortimer forgot to ask her if she's related to Emily Berger because she lives in Brooklyn. Her name is.

Yes. Right. You know, we've met Emily and we know the answer. We did want to pretend that she owns Emily. Yeah.

Or that she is somehow like the queen of it or something.

I am very regretful that we didn't bring up Emily's simply just if she hasn't eaten in there. Either we could have bonded over it because if she has, she would certainly be obsessed with it. And then if she had it, we would be saving her life by recommending the place. Hi, Emily. You're so cute.

You're so cute. We had the best time talking to her. We wish we had a little more time with her. We really want to meet your mom. And we thought about trying to contact her for this fact check, but things didn't. We got lazy. Got one.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, you. We. We got lazy. It was a shared idea. I certainly didn't write it down yet.

It was my fault. I should've executed it but I didn't. I wanted to hear light up a dark on the call. I know she sounds like a real who. She sure does.

And then I started since we recorded this. I started re watching the newsroom.

Oh, right. I think because of that, we had talked her as I was on your radar. I guess so. I mean, every time the newsroom comes up, I always think, like, I'd like to re watch that. I love that show. But then since you were talking about it so much, it I think it was better my half wheezing lesion.

We've interviewed now several people that have worked for Sorkin.

And it's really funny because every time we ask them about what it's like to do that dialogue and you can tell they're being as diplomatic as possible, what they really want to say is like, I'm grateful to have been on a show that he wrote because he's so brilliant. Yeah. And I mean, it's fucking miserable. I think that's what they really want to say.

Although I thought that when she was talking about that, having to say it five times and stuff, I think I would feel really triggered at first. And then I think for me, I would love it.

Yeah, I do too. That's more your personality. Yeah. I would love feeling like I aced it. Yes, I got it. Perfect. You know, I love it. I mean, all, all I do is improvised. But there's something nice about just go see.

I don't have that. I have the opposite kind of ego maniacal drive of making something better than I get it. My main goal is to add some sliver of me for sure, cause I had the experience once.

I got to read for the Coen brothers. Oh. And I went back like I read for them. And then I didn't hear anything. But they they were laughing and I was like, that was awesome. I don't care if I get this. I just I'm so glad I got to perform in front of my heroes. And they laughed. Yeah. And then like probably a month or six weeks went by and I didn't hear anything.

I thought, well, I'll go out and get that. And then I get a call, hey, they want to see you again. But they they've rewritten the scenes you auditioned with. I was like, oh, okay.

And then I went there and they said, which is so flattering. They go. The only thing funny about that scene was what you were adding to it. And we realize this age needs to be funnier. He's like, wow. So you you showed us that that scene was supposed to be funnier. And I said, well, my acting does have the ability to shine a light on bad writing.

That's my right. As my acting so limited that if the writing's up precise, you can't make it good.

Yeah. Yeah, exactly. I can't elevate. So.

And then I read and again, it was really, really fun. And then they hired Channing Tatum, which I loved Channing. So there we go. But it was at real.

So I wanted to make them happy so much the whole time was like, don't push too hard, don't push.

Be funny but be funny in a couple of minutes. So you were you were improvising.

You know, I did this scene straight. I was doing this crazy. I had to do a Swedish accent, which I never tried. Oh, my God. And I just watched YouTube videos, the Swedish accent accents.

I was doing a full blown Swedish accent. They brought me back. I was so fearful of doing an accent. Well, obviously, it wasn't so bad that they called me back.

Well, you're good at accents. Well, my soulmate, you know, some she is.

She gets really embarrassed when I do them, so I don't do them as much.

Well, you do have any who. I did it straight as hell. But then after I was done, I made a couple jokes before I left the room. And then I got them laughing.

Yeah. From me. Oh, you were just chatting. And I was chatting. And I made him a few times and I got out before. I overstay my welcome. And then that's I guess when they decided you're really funny.

That should have been funny or seen. That's fine. That's so flattering. It was such a highlight. Yeah. You know what? I take that back. They did not give the role. I auditioned for the Channing, but might my scenes would have been with Channing. I was the Swedish director and all of Channing scenes.

Oh, I forget who I think they are ultimately hired. An actual Swede. Oh, well that. Yeah. Yeah.

But it's something specific about Sorkin because his language is so specific and SNL, Allenton like that.

No one time I'm terrible in that because I'm going for the opposite thing. Right.

In general I'm trying to figure out how I would exactly be or what I would exactly do in that moment. In your real life, you've never made a five minute speech.

I know, but off the top of your head, you wish you could. That's the thing about him, is not you. No one talks like that, but everyone wishes they talk like that.

That's the big appeal of him. I know. I love that. Yeah.

But I just don't know what you anchor that to. Having never really done that in real life. No. One. You've never made this impromptu, fucking amazing eight minute speech that sums up global politics within that eight man.

So it's just like you. What are you recalling back like? Oh, I remember that time I made that amazing speech and I remember feeling this way and I gotta remember to feel that way.

But that's only one tactic of acting. What you're saying you're dead. Right. And it just happens to be the only one that works for me. Yeah, we were we were told not to do that. Oh, really? Yes. Because, like, sense memory. And yes, we were top.

You can't rely on that 100 percent of the time, so you can't have that in your arsenal. It was way more about motivation. So like breaking down the script into verbs basically. So like this line is, I'm trying to get you to agree with me. This line I'm trying. You know, it's like you break it up into motivation, right? Right. And then you can work off that always. But you can't always work off of like when I was five, I was sad about this, you know, anyway.

But there's just so many ways to do it.

Skin a cat. There are any who. So.

All right, before we start recording this, we were just talking about The Fighter.

I happened to re watch The Fighter last night and Christian Bale.

Holy fuck. Couldn't be better. Oh, my God. He's an acting genius. Yeah, he's a FENA. Another acting genius. Sean Penn worksite.

We're all over the place, but it's fine. Sorry. I think Sean Penn is an acting genius.

Yeah. And he was just recently on Stern and he was so. But not.

He was brilliant. He was bright am. Marry him immediately. Did you. Oh yes.

Yeah. I've always been to be honest. I'm always like, what's he doing in full disclosure, eh. I fucking love him as an actor. Yeah. He's just the best. I'm like, why is Haiti.

I've had these theories. Right. I'm gonna be really brutal right now. Oh, I have such a war perspective because I look at things as Addicks, right. So there's so many things that feel very addictive to me.

Sean Penn, I'm like, why is he in Haiti? Is he in Haiti? Because he woke up. Super hangover's like, I'm a fucking piece of shit. I gotta go do something productive and then got on a plane and then figured it out when he got there. That was maybe one of my theories. And then hearing no answer, I'm like, no, this guy is exceptional. Yeah. And it's all intentional.

And he's not actually trying to create such a big explosion over here that he can. Nor the explosion he created on the left, which is kind of like what addicts will do, right? It's like they're searching for something much more attention grabbing than their addiction. Oh, I see.

And you might be doing some projecting. I'm certainly doing check and at all times. But anyways, he has the Stern interview is incredible.

He's incredible. He's so articulate. He's brilliant.

He said one thing that I thought was so good. He was talking about pessimism. He was saying that he's generally a pessimist, but he is realizing that pessimists are cowards. I think you said pessimists are cowards.

They're afraid to win. Mm hmm. But he was lumping himself in that category and saying, I'm coming out of that. But because that's what this is saying. Well, yes, I loved it.

I loved it. I would recommend it. I mean, immediately called Monarchos.

Like, you have to listen to this interview. Yeah. And we were in a fight, so I wanted to say no. Yeah. Yeah. But I had because I knew I was going to be.

You're going to have to change your profile age to 60.

Now you gonna got to get up to 55 to include Brad Pitt. But now you're gonna go all the way to 60 to include.

But remember when he was outside my door. Yeah. That was so exciting. Yeah. Yeah. I was really taken aback.

Okay. All right. Okay. Emily Mortimer, you know how her mom thinks smoking is a defense against Corona virus? Well, it is.

No, it is. It is. It's not. I will read some stuff.

Okay. I have a few things. So I knew you were going to really push back.

I'm so pro smoking. Killed my father. Just love it.

Smoking doubles your risk of getting sicker from Cauvin. In review of five studies published to date, smoking is most likely associated with getting sicker with Koban 19 in the largest study of 1090, nine people with Koban, 19 people who smoke or two point four times more likely to get really sick, admitted to an intensive care unit needing mechanical ventilation dying compared to those who did not smoke. Smoking can cause chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other problems that may contribute to serious illness.

An April study out of France suggests that smokers are less likely to be infected with COBA 19 than nonsmokers. But in a media briefing May 8th, the World Health Organization leader said the research has important caveat and that smoking is known to lead to a higher risk of severe disease. Still, researchers are looking into whether nicotine delivered via a patch may be somehow protective against the virus.

So I think it is possible in this case right now that both things are true, that it's harder to get if you smoke. But if you get it in, you smoke, then it's deadlier. Both those things could be true.

In one study, 391 health volunteers had one of five respiratory viruses, including a coronavirus dropped in a liquid into their noses. The volunteers who smoked were twice as likely as those who did not smoke to develop an infection. Smoking is known to weaken the immune system and the body's ability to fight infections. But it is saying they don't know yet about nicotine.

You can do some cider as well if we're going to fight. We're not going to again. I just want to. I want to. I want to ask one specific question.

It is saying that there was a studies. That's why a lot of people think this.

So I'm going to I'm going to separate it just right now from smoking and to say nicotine. I just want to find the lab rat. That's like a New York Times article, I recall. But that's that's a different thing.

That is a different thing. Does nicotine. Lower chances of catching Korona. Is that how you would've phrased that search? Jeff? I think so much of life has become how good you are at asking the right question to get a bang for your. Yeah. Or Poor World or Real World Whores Organization. Here's how that rumor that smokers can't kick Koven got started. Thank you.

So the rumor is that smokers may probably put you at greater risk less. OK. Well. I did know in this room. I'm glad you didn't win, right? Because what we don't need is a bunch of people starting to smoke.

No, but I want to win because I like you a ton of nicotine. And I like to think that maybe I'll get some benefit.

But nicotine, again, there's in this it says they're still looking into it. So potentially, which is probably where the thing gets confused because.

Because there's nicotine in my delivery system. OK. Does Relic have 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes? Yes. Wonderful. Still has 100 percent. Great. OK, is Penelope up more popular name in England. America. I'm so glad you're finding this out. I know I didn't find out too much. OK, great. But listen, anecdotally. They do. They do in my head. OK. OK. But because I don't know any Penelope's.

Do you know. Not one. Yeah, not one. There's a Penelope character in Fleabag and Emily has two Penelope moms. And this. OK. There are twenty one thousand five hundred seventy two people in the U.S. with the first named Penelope. Statistically, the one thousand three hundred eighteen most popular first name. But I couldn't find it any English dad.

OK, well, but listen. OK.

Penelope was first used as a name in Britain in the 16th century. Here we go. So it means we've ver.

But it's actually a Greek name originally. Yes.

So we we can conclude that there are more per capita Penelope's. Yeah. It's a really cute name.

I know the my mom's best friend's name is Penny, so I can assume her name is Penelope. OK.

But oh, Penny Marshall Hohner. She was Penelope.

She probably was. I look it up, but she's obviously British.

Laverne and Shirley? No. Her name is Carol Penny Marshall. There we go. So so maybe your mom's girlfriend. Her gal pal is was Carol.

Penny was Carol. Penny Marshall.

Oh, my God. Your mom's friends with Penny Marshall. Oh, my gosh.

Any who. So it's a beautiful name. That's all for. Oh, for Miss Emily. OK, great. Well, again, he really enjoyed.

Really funny, cute stories. I know about that lazy eye.

That was tremendous. So great job. Really good take. I just love what you're doing. The character. I'm so your left eye is lazier than you're right. So I don't know. Do the exact same thing, but open your eyes.

So that's so acting like it has nothing to do with either. It's that's where the rubber meets the road. They don't tell you that in acting school. I can't imagine.

They do not. They do not. Yeah.

Like one class which would be like overcoming your real physical ailments.

Highly tiny professions. They do like, you know, you take a movement class and first, like whole half of the class is trying to get to neutral. So you spend like a long time trying to neutralize your body, your walk elements so that you can then add sugar stuff, but.

Yeah. All right. I like acting one to one.

The only walk I could ever do in a movie would be justice, which I hope to one day do.

Bye bye.