Transcribe your podcast
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It's good to be here. I have nothing. It turned out. I thought that I had an open will.

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Thought he had a nice.

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Well, let's weigh in. But this isn't. No, but this is it.

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Yeah, this is. We're podcasting right now. We've got absolutely nothing, by the way.

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This is the. We've got. We've got Bennett and Rob and Michael. Everybody say.

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And we're trying to think of a way to start the show here. Before we get into the funny music.

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Something to some suggestions.

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Let's pick up that line from Des Moines. That's on line three. Caller, welcome to Smartless. What's your question?

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I just want to know how old you guys are.

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Okay, I am.

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Where'd you go? Fuck yourself.

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Okay, we lost that caller. We're picking up from Denton, Texas, on line five. Good morning.

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Good morning. I love it when you talk about food.

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Yes. Welcome to smart list.

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Smart less. Smart less.

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Smart less. Hi, guys. I think that this. Is this our first chat and giggle of 2024?

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Well, we don't want to date the episode, but.

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Yes, well, but I mean, for us personally, the listener don't listen to this part. But I think. Hey, Sean. Will, this is our first of the year.

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Isn't.

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A full year older.

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Wait, what?

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Nothing. What did you guys do?

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How was your new year?

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Will took a lesson in socialism.

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No, socialization. How have you been enjoying your personal life, Shawnee?

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Do you feel rested?

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I'm just getting sick, I think. Unless it's allergies. I don't know.

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It could be Covid. Covid's flying.

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I tested. I tested. I don't have it.

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You had it before, right?

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I had it the first time ever. A year ago. Yeah.

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And, Willie, you still haven't had it, right?

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No, I've never tested for it. I've never taken a test.

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Are you serious?

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But, no. What do you mean, am I serious?

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Of course.

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I've taken a million tests. No, I've never tested positive. I've had the flu, but I've never tested positive. But remember in the summer we thought that maybe I had it?

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Yes.

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When you guys were out in Long Island. JB.

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I love Long island. Wait, who was I just talking to? Somebody at the Globes the other night who has got a fancy house out in the Hamptons pretty close to yours. And they're like, oh, boy. Every time I hear Annette call it Long island, trying to keep it real. Listen, Will, just admit it. You're doing real well. You've got a big ass summer house. You got six cars, you got a bunch of gold bonds down in the seychelles, got six bicycles.

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Did I tell you this? I think so.

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Last summer or the summer before, I was pulling into the Sag harbor and I was in my GMC pickup. It says Sierra at four x, by the way.

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Okay.

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And you're trying to keep it real by saying you're driving a pickup truck. But let's be clear, it was a freebie because you are the voice of GMC.

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Well, it's been over 24. Over 25 years. It's been over 25 years that I've.

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Been the voice of GMC trucks with the drive featuring the GMC Sierra with.

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The six function multi pro tailgate. Anyway, this guy comes up to me as I'm putting Danny in his car seat and goes, oh, you really do have a GFC. And I go, what, man? I don't know the guy. Total stranger. It was pretty absurd. Wait, Sean, so you think that you're getting sick?

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Well, I had an endoscopy yesterday.

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You had a colonoscopy yesterday?

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No, endoscopy.

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Is that above the belt or below the belt?

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That's above the belt. So I don't know if my throat is sore because there's something shoved down.

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Of course.

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Careful with the jokes right now.

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It's very early in the show.

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No, Sean's talking about going to a place where he paid money to have somebody stick something down his throat, and then he got an endoscopy, by the way.

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I can't even believe I walked right in.

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He sure did.

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That's what he said.

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What did this fella tell you was the problem?

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And he claimed he was a doctor. Did you check his credentials, by the way?

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By the way, he's the best doctor in the world. Dr. Traison at Cedars.

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Oh, here we go.

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And wait. And Jay's going to love this. I had my. Oh, where's my invisalign?

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Oh, let's wait for your invisalign.

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Funny, it's hard to find the invisalign.

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You should just paint a stripe on it.

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Stop losing.

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Don't put in your invisalign for the podcast. Ding.

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No, I have to. I have to keep it wearing. No, I do. I have to keep it on.

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He's got to wear it all.

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Anyway, so his name is Dr. Trazon. And I said, he goes, do you have anything, like metal in you? Do you have anything. Blah, blah, blah. You're all good. I said, no, I just have my plastic teeth lining thing. I go, I guess you could say I have my trays on.

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Oh, my God.

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Yeah, it's really good.

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Did he think you were?

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No, but he was so sick of me making jokes. I just made bad joke after bad joke, and I was sitting there. Have you had an endoscopy with the thing down your throat?

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Yeah, I did it at the same time that I got my colonoscopy.

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Yeah. So they put you like I did.

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They used the same tool.

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Are they offering a twofer right now?

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It's the best time to do it. You're already out.

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The devil lies in the sequencing. You'd really want to do the endoscopy first?

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Sure.

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Is that correct?

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I guess something. I don't think it.

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So I had this thing. They make you bite down on this thing on your mouth to keep your mouth open, right?

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Sure.

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So they can stick the camera down there. And so I'm sitting on my side with pillows in a gown with this fan, and I said bad joke after bad joke. I go, I haven't been like this since college, or something like that. And he goes way in the back of the room. He goes, yeah, we're probably going to want to stop talking for a little bit.

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Yeah, he's had it with you.

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He's totally had it.

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He couldn't get that propofol. He's like, double the propofol. Let's get this guy under. How the great is that? When you wake up from that propofolia.

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That little twilight, you're just like, I've.

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Never felt so good in my life. Yeah, I get real chippy.

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I got a bunch of jokes for the doctor.

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Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I can't stop cracking chips.

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But the thing is, you come out.

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Of that thing and you feel light because you haven't eaten for 24 hours, right. And you feel rested. You've just had a 45 hours long.

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Nap, to quote somebody the likes of which have never been seen.

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Oh, boy.

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Oh, God. Okay. Sorry.

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Okay, that's it. Ten minutes of patter. Let's please get to our guest today.

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You fucking wrote down ten minutes of patter, too?

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No, I just looked up there.

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Ten minutes of batter.

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Today we have with us a seasoned people. We have a seasoned veteran of the industry. But she's not old. She has an Ivy League education with a degree in psychology, but she's never practiced. She is incredibly funny and can light up a room with her smile and her warmth. But she's known as one of our best dramatic actors. She's been a major movie star for over 30 years, but it has always been second to her interest in academics and activism. She's got an Academy Award, a couple of globes, countless nominations. She can even explain the Middle east to you or sell you some perfume. And, Sean, she can even swing a lightsaber.

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Gang. Wow. What?

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Natalie Portman.

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What?

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Got it.

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No, Natalie.

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I knew it.

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Good morning.

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Oh, my God, you guys. Yeah, literally, as I revealed myself, I got a thing on my computer that says low battery.

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You're plugging in soon.

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Yeah, 1 minute.

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Excuse me, 1 minute. She's grabbing.

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Oh, yeah. Go get it.

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All right, so, Sean, here's a little. You better watch it on the Star wars stuff. She doesn't want to talk about it.

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Okay.

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Star Trek.

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I got shit for giving you shit with the Adam driver episode.

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Keep Scotty out of his fucking.

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And don't start going like Scotty's got a question for you from down deep.

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Are you all plugged in?

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We weren't talking about you.

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I'm going to do a whole move.

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We're changing the background.

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Oh, it's so pretty.

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Yeah.

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What we're exposing here is that pretty nice zoom she's created at the house.

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Yeah, you got a nice flare going.

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Beautiful flare coming in.

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There she goes.

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We lost her.

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And we've lost connection.

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All right.

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Stand by.

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Good till there. As Jason would say, good till there. Always go. Good till there.

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Good till there.

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Never.

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Robbie, we lost her on. Yeah, so it's probably the battery just so it's going to be a second, guys.

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The battery just.

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Yeah, battery just. If you want to keep chatting, you can, but we're probably going to need her. Walk her through. So.

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All right, we're back.

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Do you hear us, Natalie?

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I do.

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Oh, we do, too.

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One last thing. It sounds a little bit more echoey in this room. Do you mind just pulling the mic a little closer? Maybe just a little higher? If you have some books on the desk to put it on.

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All right, that's not better. I'm really sorry.

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No, you're a real problem.

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But are we going to title this episode? How dare you? Natalie Portman. Is that true? We're not going to do that.

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We workshopped that while you were gone, Natalie. I just don't think it's sticking.

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We're rolling, guys.

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Not a problem. Okay, so we lost you for a second, but it was just like driving over a canyon. And here you're right back.

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Yeah.

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Oh, Natalie. Hello there. Good morning.

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Oh, I love.

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She called him Bateman.

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Yeah. Well, you know, we've worked together, so we can do last names.

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I could even go, have you good memories? We did a movie in which we had the same hair due.

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Oh, my God. That's right. So this was a family movie called Mr. Magoriam's wonder emporium.

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Oh, yes.

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It came.

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Did you really?

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Yeah.

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It was a great script. Zach helm, what a writer.

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It was a good script.

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And Dustin Hoffman was in it. We had a great time with him. We were in.

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Where were we?

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Vancouver Toronto.

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Toronto in Toronto. That's the same thing, right, will? Vancouver, Toronto. Kind of the same.

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How dare you say Vancouver Toronto. Same thing.

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How fucking dare you?

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We're not kidding. The people of Toronto loathe you. Wait, when did this movie come out?

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This.

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Was it 90s or 2000?

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2000. I want to say six, seven, something like that.

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Boy, how are you with dates? Arnett's just incredible with it. I swear to you, I can't tell the difference between 97 and seven. I have no idea what's going on between the two.

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I'm with you.

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Yeah.

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This year, I was like, if it was 2014, I would be like, Natalie.

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Where are you right now?

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I'm in Los Angeles.

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Oh, you are? Okay. Very good.

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Yes.

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I didn't get to run into you the other night. We were at the swanky globes, and you were amazing up on stage with you. What about doing the presenting stuff? How do you like that? There's always some patter, some little quippy joke you got to do, and it's so stressful. I never like it.

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What about you?

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I was very lucky that they didn't try and make me do anything, like, funny, quirky.

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Right.

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We just kind of said the nominees banter because I get really uncomfortable with that.

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Yeah. That's the safest way to go because some people who try to do something that they don't feel comfortable, it shows, right? Yeah.

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I once had to carry a Z onseri out on stage at Golden Globes once. That was part of our bit. I don't remember what followed that, but I just remember carrying him out and literally smelling my sag card burning in my back pocket. Just felt like, that's over. There it is.

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What year was?

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He doesn't know.

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He doesn't know. Natalie Portman. My God, it's so great to have. You mean, where do we even start with?

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Oh, I've got a series of questions.

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If you want me to start a lot of things.

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I've done some prep.

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The last time I saw you, Nellie, I was interviewing as the guest host of the Jimmy Kimmel show.

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Yes. And it was super fun not so long ago.

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I know. It was like a year.

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Wait, wait, so you were the guest and Sean was the host?

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Yeah.

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Come on.

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Yeah.

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And how hard was it masking the disappointment that Jimmy wasn't there for the entire.

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Well, she's got skills. She's got an award.

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It was a delight.

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It was for Thor. And if you remember, Scotty, my husband did some bit with you. He was dressed as Thor in the audience.

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It was great.

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Oh, what a highlight for Natalie.

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Jesus Christ. You were probably like, oh, God, I got to do a bit.

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I think about it often.

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Yeah, I'm sure.

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Do you remember your questions? Do you remember your questions for her, Sean, at don't.

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I was enamored. I'm enamored. I'm such a massive fan. And so many things you've done. She's good, but, yeah, I think you.

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Asked me about how I got my muscles for Thor.

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Oh, yeah.

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How did you get your muscles?

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Tell us.

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We didn't see the episode CG. No.

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Really?

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No.

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Yeah.

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No, I don't buy it.

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Didn't you, like, I worked out you.

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Didn'T have Thor level.

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Well, they made me 64, which is pretty.

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Or they made you six.

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Great to know that that's possible. Yes.

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Now, that reminds me, during my incredible research for this, when you did black Swan, now, you studied ballet when you were a kid, but you did, like, six months of training for that, I want to say.

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Yeah, it was actually almost a year of training. And, yeah, it was really fun because.

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You had to or you wanted to. What kind of actor are you? Do you love to do the research, or do you just like to kind of wing it?

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I think it depends what the research mean. If I'm lucky enough to get to work on something that I want to learn all the stuff that's, like, the.

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Most fun, like, Jackie, that was a huge responsibility. You had to study, study, study and make sure you got that as accurate as possible.

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Yeah, that's super scary. Have you played real people before?

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No, I'm too much of a coward. I'd say no to all of. I mean, even things that are even close. Although in air, I played a real guy, but no one has any tape on him, so I could just kind of do whatever I wanted to do.

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You do a real great impression of your uncle, too, right? That nobody knows, including me. He doesn't even know who he is. How do you expect him to play another person?

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I feel like we kind of glided over that too.

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His name is John and he's a fantastic band.

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Remember Pete, Sarah?

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Federer just made me think. Remember Pete, Sarah? Federitz did that thing years ago where he did 50 impressions in one under a minute and they were all of fictitious people. Which is the best.

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We'll be right back.

[00:16:02]

This show is sponsored by Betterhelp. I have a lot of friends. I'm not bragging, I just do. Over the years I'm, I'm a gentleman who's. I'm gonna break it here. I'm over 40. But the point is I've had a lot of friends over the years and I'm really proud of my relationships with my friends. And just like anything relationships, any kind of relationship, there are moments where it takes a little bit of work and sometimes that requires me doing some work on myself and looking at my role in things. And that's been a really important part of my relationships, my friendships evolving and expanding and getting deeper, et cetera. And sometimes that takes talking to somebody else to look at my role in things. A common misconception about relationships is that they have to be easy to be right. But sometimes the best ones happen when both people put in the work to make them great. Therapy can be a place to work through the challenges you face in all of your relationships, whether it's with friends or work or your significant other or anyone. I have benefited from going to therapy and doing the work in talking with somebody about my relationships and that goes across the board.

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And now back to the show.

[00:20:20]

I want to ask just a question about the globes again, about the award shows in general, because you look so. I loved your dress on the Golden Globe. It's beautiful. It's a common question, but do you like the dress up and all of that as far as globes or were you like, you know what, I do it, but I'd rather be home in my sweats, or do you enjoy it?

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I used to think it was kind of oppressive and like, why do women have to spend all this time discomfort and the men get to roll out of bed and wear something they're warm in and aren't sucking in their stomachs or whatever. And now having kids, I feel like it's pretty fun to have people make you feel good. Go glam, go glam.

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After you're just like, I don't think you own sweats.

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I own so many sweats.

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Do you really?

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Yeah, and I really kind of only wear them in real life, which has been. We moved to Paris last year and you really can't wear sweats in.

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You do get kicked out of the country.

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You just get your visa taken.

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Do you live in Paris now?

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I live in Paris now, yeah.

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Wow.

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Yeah.

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What a switch.

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Yeah, it's a really different lifestyle now.

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How many languages do you know?

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I speak Hebrew and English, obviously. English. And my French is fine. I can do everything I need to do. It's just not grammatically correct or sophisticated in any way.

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That's okay. At least they're not judgy.

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Did you know any of it before you moved there?

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Yeah, I took it in high school.

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But, like, how many years? I took it in high school, too, but I can't.

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Yeah, I took it like, four years.

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Well, that's good.

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Yeah.

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You didn't do it like I did, where you take French one and French two twice because the first time you took them, it didn't count towards your credits. And then I was like, oh, you know what? Now that it's credits, I'll just take the two years that I already know so that my class is easy. That's a dumb guy.

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That's smart.

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Yeah.

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It's a complicated language. It is. Why?

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Will you know it fluently, don't you?

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I do speak a lot of French, yeah, but I don't want to listen. It's not here.

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Ask her a question. Ask her a question in French.

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No. Yeah.

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I want to hear that.

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She lives in the seven.

[00:22:55]

But when you come back to LA, do you love LA? Because I feel like I don't love LA when I'm here, but when I come back here, I'm like, oh, I'm just used to it here. I'm used to a good thing here. And I'm reminded how much I really do enjoy this city.

[00:23:11]

I do love, I. I love La because I feel like you discover there's. It's not an obvious city because you're always driving. Yeah, but you have to find the good stuff. A city like Paris or York, like, announces itself here. You've got to kind of search and find the good, interesting stuff, and there's lots of it.

[00:23:37]

You're like, oh, I've been driving by that cool little restaurant my whole life and I never stopped.

[00:23:41]

Yeah. Have you ever been to the Huntington gardens in Pasadena?

[00:23:44]

I was there yesterday.

[00:23:45]

You're kidding.

[00:23:46]

Don't you love that place in the city?

[00:23:48]

Yeah, mine too.

[00:23:49]

Wait, I've never been. Will you guys take me?

[00:23:52]

Yes.

[00:23:52]

And I'm kind of a garden nut.

[00:23:54]

You've never been?

[00:23:55]

Oh, my God, Jay, I think I have.

[00:23:57]

So exciting. You're going to have, like, the best discussion.

[00:24:01]

Wait, don't you think that's weird that you just said that and I brought up the garden?

[00:24:04]

Jay, don't sell yourself short. You're not a garden nut. You're just a nut.

[00:24:08]

Yeah, that's true. Many different nuts.

[00:24:10]

But, honey, gardens are beautiful.

[00:24:12]

Do they have a japanese garden there? Because I may have been there to look at that.

[00:24:15]

They do. And, wait, what's the.

[00:24:17]

No, truly, because there was a moment where I was so into a japanese garden that I went to go look at a few, and there's one at UCLA I went and looked at, and then maybe it was the Huntington gardens, the other one.

[00:24:29]

What's the Chris Farley Beverly Hills ninja?

[00:24:34]

Yeah.

[00:24:34]

Remember that shot at the japanese garden when they go to. Just maybe have a rewatch before you go.

[00:24:49]

I will brush up.

[00:24:50]

But, Natalie, I sometimes go there alone just because I love it. I love walking around.

[00:24:54]

It's the best place in the city.

[00:24:56]

I know.

[00:24:56]

There's so much. The desert garden is like walking on the moon.

[00:25:00]

And then you know what I do afterwards? I go to the pie and burger for a burger and a piece of pie.

[00:25:05]

Clever.

[00:25:06]

Only a few blocks away.

[00:25:07]

Call me before you do these semi suicidal walkabouts. I'll walk with you.

[00:25:15]

Okay. Come. I'd love it. I would love it. It's so peaceful and beautiful.

[00:25:19]

Sean, what do you think about? What?

[00:25:21]

Do I think about what?

[00:25:22]

When you're walking through the garden, what.

[00:25:24]

You'Re going to have on the bird, what's running for your kind of pie? What is your go to pie?

[00:25:28]

I think about Natalie Portman. I think about what she's doing right now. Why aren't we together?

[00:25:32]

Yeah. We should do this together.

[00:25:34]

Yeah. I would love it.

[00:25:35]

So funny. Sean, Jason, how great would it be to be walking in the japanese garden and hunting Garden and run into Sean and Natalie?

[00:25:43]

Walking, holding hands, walking through the japanese garden.

[00:25:46]

I would look around for. Where is the camera? What are you guys shooting?

[00:25:49]

Yeah, right. Sure.

[00:25:51]

All right, Natalie, let's get into the teeth of this interview here. God, it's going to be hard hitting.

[00:25:55]

Let's see here.

[00:25:56]

It's all.

[00:26:00]

Because mom nor dad were into the business, right?

[00:26:04]

No, Dad's a fertility doctor.

[00:26:06]

Oh, yeah.

[00:26:07]

Mom's a painter.

[00:26:09]

Right.

[00:26:10]

Did you see our father?

[00:26:12]

No. Is that like one of those bad fertility doctors?

[00:26:17]

Oh, no, that's not your dad. I'm just saying it's a really interesting documentary.

[00:26:21]

I remember there was a tv movie when I was little where everyone, they realized that the fertility doctor was, like, messed up because everyone had the eye patches at the playground. And they realized that there was, like, no one genetic donor for all of the children in the neighborhood. All the kids had eye patches. Nightmare. Wow.

[00:26:51]

Wait, so you were minding your own business? Somebody saw you in a store or something. They said, hey, do you want to be a kid model? You were like, no. But you did think, well, maybe I'll go get an agent and start doing commercials.

[00:27:07]

Maybe.

[00:27:07]

Jason, you know so much about me.

[00:27:10]

But that's not accurate.

[00:27:11]

Right?

[00:27:11]

It's like kind of I'm around the facts, but not really nailing them.

[00:27:14]

Yeah. No, I really liked. I was ten years old. Yes, and I like. I'm from Long island. I'm from the real Long island.

[00:27:23]

Not out there where all you elites are, are you?

[00:27:25]

I never went to the Hamptons until I was like 35.

[00:27:28]

Me neither.

[00:27:29]

Johnny Range Rover.

[00:27:31]

Me neither.

[00:27:31]

By the way, for what it's worth.

[00:27:35]

I grew up in the mall.

[00:27:37]

Yeah.

[00:27:39]

And yeah, a lot of kids I grew up with were like auditioning and doing commercials and stuff to make money for college. And I told my parents, like, I want to do that too. And they were very reluctant because they are just like kids who are actors.

[00:27:55]

End up in Robin liquor stores like me.

[00:27:59]

End up in trouble.

[00:28:01]

Look at it. With a golf addiction.

[00:28:03]

Yeah. And I convinced them to let me and then they let me.

[00:28:07]

But it was purely to finance a future education. You didn't have like some.

[00:28:11]

Not even. It was just because I wanted to. I mean, my dad insisted on paying for my college and stuff anyway, so it was just really fun for me.

[00:28:25]

Did you start selling cereal?

[00:28:28]

I never got commercials. I always tried out.

[00:28:31]

Really?

[00:28:32]

But I never got anything of the children's things. I just got straight into the professional. That was number one.

[00:28:41]

And that was Luke Basson.

[00:28:42]

Wait, was that your first job? That was my first job. Did one. I was an understudy in an off Broadway musical before that.

[00:28:54]

What was it?

[00:28:55]

One thing called ruthless.

[00:28:57]

Wait, and you want to know else, who else was cast as the understudy in that? Lindsay Lohan.

[00:29:02]

No.

[00:29:02]

Correct. No, sorry. Britney Spears.

[00:29:04]

Britney Spears? No, Britney Spears was the under. I took over for her.

[00:29:10]

Wow. When I was ten.

[00:29:11]

And then I got. Yeah, that's crazy.

[00:29:13]

I didn't know.

[00:29:14]

Have you seen her since?

[00:29:15]

Wait, so you were eleven when you did the professional?

[00:29:19]

I was eleven. I turned twelve while we were shooting.

[00:29:21]

Oh, my God.

[00:29:22]

You've seen Britney Spears since.

[00:29:24]

Yes.

[00:29:25]

And you guys did a little high five about. Look how far we've come.

[00:29:29]

We did. We threw a new year's party together when we were 18.

[00:29:33]

No way.

[00:29:34]

Wow, that's cool.

[00:29:35]

Yes way.

[00:29:35]

Hang on a second. That sounds like a good party. It was a good party, you guys, at 18.

[00:29:42]

That must have been, like, 1999 good.

[00:29:47]

Must have been an enormous party. Was it huge, that party?

[00:29:50]

What month? What month?

[00:29:53]

What month was.

[00:29:54]

What month's your birthday? Yeah.

[00:29:56]

Oh, my birthday. June.

[00:29:58]

June.

[00:29:58]

I thought you were asking what month they had their New Year's party.

[00:30:01]

New Year's.

[00:30:02]

Oh, it was New Year's. I thought you said it was birthday party. It was a New Year's party.

[00:30:05]

It was a New Year's party.

[00:30:06]

Okay, so 99. Okay.

[00:30:07]

I used to love throwing parties. God damn it.

[00:30:10]

Right? Remember parties?

[00:30:11]

Remember we used to throw parties. Now the only parties we throw is for the kids. Yeah, that's it. Bouncy houses. Yeah.

[00:30:18]

Were you worried at all when you became a young actor and you're doing the professional, your first film job, which is still insane to me. Were you worried that you would end up. Were your parents worried that you'd end up, like, on a camping trip on mountain bikes with Leif Garrett? Was that a concern for you?

[00:30:38]

He's taking a shot at my trajectory. By the way, that was a fun trip.

[00:30:45]

It was a fun trip. I know, but were your parents legitimately worried? Did they think, like, oh, this is going to peel you away from work, from school? I'd rather. I mean, not work, but from school and that kind of thing. Is that what it was?

[00:30:58]

Oh, yeah. They were very concerned. My mom was with me all the time and made sure that no one got near me. And I wasn't allowed to miss school, so I always was shooting on vacations. And then, yeah, when I went to college, my dad was like, okay, that was cute. Time to move on, really. Let's find another job, a real job.

[00:31:26]

And then when you majored in psychology, was that because that was the occupation that you wanted to go into, or was it just like, no, this is something that I'm interested in.

[00:31:36]

Yeah, I feel like it was more like most people who study psychology, which is like, I want to know why. I'm crazy.

[00:31:44]

Yeah, I'm fascinated by it. I wish I'd studied that.

[00:31:48]

Yeah.

[00:31:48]

I'd have some answers.

[00:31:49]

I don't know. But don't you think, like, acting and the thing that we do is kind of a form of psychology. Totally. Because it's the study of human behavior. That's all we do.

[00:31:59]

It is very similar.

[00:32:01]

Did you have a specific role model, mentor ideal when you did take the time off kind of while you went to school? And the one that comes to mind potentially is Jodie Foster. Did you ever talk to her about it?

[00:32:19]

I talked to her much later, which was amazing. I did a speech at a women's march about being sexualized as a young actress, and she reached out to me after that, and we talked and it was amazing. And she's still a role model.

[00:32:40]

Pretty cool.

[00:32:41]

Yeah.

[00:32:42]

Now, are you also, like, just going back to the whole comment that you said about being sexualized as a young actress and how awful that must be, do you now have all these years having worked in the business, do you recognize a personality when they walk into the room as a dangerous one? Now that you have been around it for so long, you've like, you know what? I can see that man or woman coming towards me, or we're going to work together or maybe something else, and you recognize it. So you've learned to adjust or how to deal with that.

[00:33:13]

No, I haven't. It's perfect. I feel like it's still surprising that it exists, but I feel like that kind of projection of seriousness protected me in a way because I feel like it was almost like a warning signal. Like, oh, don't do shit to her.

[00:33:31]

Yeah, she'll sniff you out and call you out.

[00:33:35]

Not that anyone ever deserves it or is asking for it, but I felt like that was my unconscious way of doing it. But with people, yeah. I feel like the biggest sign is when people talk shit about women. I'm like, if they talk shit about anyone, even if they're just like, oh, she's really difficult, or that's like a flag for me. I'm like, there's more to that story.

[00:34:06]

And when I walk away, what are they going to say about me?

[00:34:09]

Yeah. Talking shit in general.

[00:34:13]

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah.

[00:34:15]

And now a word from our sponsor. Thanks to Ziprecruiter for their support. Our friends at Ziprecruiter conducted a recent survey and found that the top hiring challenge employers face for 2024 is a lack of qualified candidates. But if you're an employer and need to hire, here's good news. Ziprecruiter has smart tools and features that help you find more qualified candidates fast. And right now, you can try it for free@ziprecruiter.com. Slash smartless all you need to do is post your job, and Ziprecruiter's powerful matching technology shows you candidates whose experience match it.

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[00:36:36]

The subtle art of not giving a and obviously the beep is longer than the two letters that it's replacing in between, but it's or three because the c as well. So it was Uck, in case you didn't know. Anyway, I'm listening to that on Audible and it is absolutely fantastic because not only do I like to read books when I'm not reading, I like to listen to books, guys. I'm very popular. Anyway, as an audible member, you can choose one title a month to keep from the entire catalog. New members can try audible free for 30 days. Visit audible.com smartless or text smartless to 500 500. That's audible.com smartless or textsmartless to 500 500. To try audible free for 30 days. Be sure to visit our URL so they know we sent you audible.com smartless.

[00:37:43]

All right, back to the show. You want to get to Star Wars? Sean?

[00:37:49]

I know I'm not going to.

[00:37:50]

I was going to apologize, but in advance and then say, natalie, we're really sorry, but Sean has some shit that.

[00:37:56]

He no, no, that's okay.

[00:37:58]

It has to do with the planet Voltron or.

[00:38:02]

I. I. You know how much I love you and I love everything you've. I just. I just will say, like, a blanket statement about Star wars and the Marvel universe and any kind of big movie that you're a part of, because I grew up in Chicago with big dreams of going out to LA and working as an actor, and so you get here and I still have that awe of, like, oh, my God, I can't believe I'm on a lot. I can't believe I'm on a. Like, it never goes away. And so my question to you is, having grown up in it, and Jason, too, when you're a part of Star wars or the Marvel universe or whatever it is, are you still at all like me? The little kid from Chicago is like, I can't believe. Or are you just like, I got this job. Here's the work. I'm going to show up on time and do my job. Do you know what I mean? Can you separate it at all or are you still in awe?

[00:38:51]

I'm pretty in awe. I feel like it was luckier to do the last Thor because it was like, I have done so much now that I can understand how different it is. Like, the technology and stuff makes me amazed. And also having kids now getting to bring my kids to the set and they get to fly on wires and watch me.

[00:39:16]

How old are they?

[00:39:17]

I have a twelve year old and.

[00:39:18]

30 and 4012 and six.

[00:39:21]

Is that what you said?

[00:39:22]

Perfect.

[00:39:23]

Love it.

[00:39:25]

Yeah.

[00:39:25]

So now they're starting to. Well, do you think about them when you consider parts, too? Like, oh, this one I'm going to get major credit for.

[00:39:33]

For them, main consideration is what they'll think.

[00:39:40]

Yeah. Who in the room at the Globes do you think a selfie with would have given you the best points with your twelve year old? I mean, would have been Taylor.

[00:39:51]

No, my twelve year old's a boy. I'm like, no soccer players in that room.

[00:40:00]

Right.

[00:40:01]

He's a big soccer fan.

[00:40:02]

Oh, massive.

[00:40:04]

Hang on, who's his team now?

[00:40:06]

He loves Real Madrid and he loves Arsenal.

[00:40:09]

Really?

[00:40:10]

And PSG, of course.

[00:40:12]

Of course. PSG. Sure, sure. And he loves Angel City here.

[00:40:17]

Yeah, sure, sure.

[00:40:18]

Oh, right. Wait, you're part of Angel City?

[00:40:20]

The part owner in a soccer team, Willie.

[00:40:22]

Yes, I know that.

[00:40:23]

Women's soccer, right?

[00:40:25]

Yes.

[00:40:25]

You're a huge soccer fan.

[00:40:27]

Massive. I'm a massive Liverpool supporter. Yeah. And I watch every. I don't want to get into Mbappe. Maybe going to Liverpool or Real Madrid.

[00:40:37]

Is that right?

[00:40:37]

Yeah, that's what the word is yesterday, according to Sky Sports.

[00:40:43]

Hope not for us in Paris.

[00:40:45]

I'm like your twelve year old. For me, it's about athletes. You meet all these people, but then.

[00:40:52]

You see an athlete and you're like.

[00:40:53]

Oh, my God, what would I say if he talks to me? I got to meet Jurgen Klopp, who's the manager of Liverpool, and I nearly cried. That was recent, too. And I'm over 50.

[00:41:09]

I got like that at the Globes. I was like all those famous people. And there's Neil Katiel, who's like our old solicitor general. Right? I got as tongue tied as I am right now. Talking about talking. He's just a real smart lawyer that is on MSNBC.

[00:41:31]

He's argued lots of big cases in.

[00:41:32]

Front of the supreme court. That's really cool. I could study those people for hours.

[00:41:36]

And that's all I wanted to talk to.

[00:41:37]

Okay.

[00:41:39]

All right, moving on.

[00:41:41]

But you will be excited about this Star wars story from the Globes. I met Mark Hamill for my. For the first time.

[00:41:50]

Are you kidding me? No way.

[00:41:53]

He called me his mother.

[00:41:56]

Wait a minute. Wow. Wait. I can't believe you didn't meet him before that.

[00:42:02]

Never.

[00:42:03]

But why wouldn't he have been, like, a consultant on phantom menace and all those other ones?

[00:42:08]

They never brought him around.

[00:42:13]

Did somebody get a photo of that?

[00:42:15]

We got a photo. His daughter took a picture of us together.

[00:42:18]

That's no way.

[00:42:23]

That's her next appointment.

[00:42:26]

That's crazy that she met him from the first.

[00:42:29]

Yeah. I wonder if anybody.

[00:42:34]

Okay, it's a UPS delivery guy.

[00:42:41]

Did you bust them in?

[00:42:42]

I think they can just leave it.

[00:42:44]

Sign only.

[00:42:45]

Okay.

[00:42:48]

So then you met Mark Hamill.

[00:42:49]

The guy was like, hello, medman. We're here with your cannabis. We have the whole truck. Where do you want us to put it? Your high powered weed. Your stinky butt is what?

[00:43:02]

So no one got a shot of Luke with his mother, except they did somebody. No, but just Luke's daughter. Right. There wasn't, like, any media that got a shot of that.

[00:43:11]

No media.

[00:43:13]

Wow. That's like a money shot, man.

[00:43:15]

Wow. Now talk to me about directing. Do you love it as much as acting? Do you love it more? Less?

[00:43:24]

I do love it. I think I love both things. And I feel like it changes the way I act after.

[00:43:32]

In what way?

[00:43:33]

I try and do more different options because I feel like I was always trying to hone my performance, do the same thing, just better each time. And then when I had to watch myself back in the editing room. I was like, it's the same thing over and over again. I want a choice. So now I try and do different things. So a director in the editing room.

[00:43:58]

Can be like, but then you've only got one take of you doing that particular choice. You don't have seven good versions of that choice that you can play with the editing room.

[00:44:08]

Yeah. I mean, you can try and get that main choice when you get the camera work and acting right and then do it again.

[00:44:20]

This is now the code.

[00:44:21]

Forgot to drop off the lighters we have. Here are your lighters.

[00:44:27]

Let's listen.

[00:44:30]

Okay.

[00:44:31]

Yeah, go.

[00:44:32]

Yeah, you got to go side.

[00:44:37]

I called it.

[00:44:39]

This is fantastic.

[00:44:42]

This is the best.

[00:44:43]

This is the best.

[00:44:48]

Hi, you guys. I need to fix my life. Any pointers?

[00:44:53]

I'll be over at noon.

[00:44:54]

You might need a house manager that can cover it. And deliveries.

[00:45:00]

Great.

[00:45:00]

Awesome.

[00:45:01]

No, I like you keeping it.

[00:45:03]

We love the little pauses. Now, listen, speaking of take after take after take, directing, may December. You're so brilliant in that movie, and I'm going to jump all around with the movie because it was fascinating. And the very last scene, hopefully. Spoiler alert, stop listening if you haven't seen the movie. But the very last scene, were you as the actress within the movie, the part doing take after take after take? That was so interesting. So what was going through your mind that must have been, like, so surreal for you to have what we were just talking about, being a director and an actor and then doing that?

[00:45:39]

Well, that last scene was very. I didn't really realize while I was reading it that there was going to be, like a 17 year old kid in the scene all of a sudden. And there's this actor and his mom, and then there's like a snake, like a real snake. And I was like, didn't think about that either. And I was just like, oh, boy.

[00:46:11]

Yeah. So that was written that you do take after take, right?

[00:46:14]

Yeah, it was written that way. So that's what I was thinking about.

[00:46:19]

Yeah. I mean, the whole tone of the movie, too. I think it was the first music cue when she goes to the fridge and she opens the door and there's this push in with the music. I was like, wait, what's going on? And then you're along for the ride. And it was so fantastic. And the one scene that you should win every award for, and I'm sure everybody comments on it, so. I'm sorry, is the monolog straight to camera in one take? It was just a class in a master class in acting and the craft and everything. It was just perfection.

[00:46:55]

Is Tod Haynes as stunning as I think he is?

[00:47:00]

I love him. Like you were saying, the music choice on that refrigerator scene is so key to let everyone know that it's okay to laugh because you're kind of not sure, and then it's such a tension release. Right. He's just the most brilliant. I love him. And he's really awesome person, too.

[00:47:24]

But think about all the incredible directors that you've worked with. It does set you up to be, like, an incredible director because you can just cherry pick from all of them and toss out all the stuff that you don't like. It's amazing, too.

[00:47:40]

Right?

[00:47:41]

Well, I haven't worked with the level of directors that you have.

[00:47:44]

Your first film you ever did was with Luke Besson. I mean, that's insane.

[00:47:48]

It was very lucky. It was very lucky.

[00:47:51]

What a way to start.

[00:47:52]

But it's a real time suck. And directing. Yeah, I mean, you got all the prep, the shooting, and the post instead of the shooting part. But needless to say, more to come from you with directing.

[00:48:07]

I intend to.

[00:48:09]

Yeah.

[00:48:09]

I am actively working on it. What about you?

[00:48:13]

I would love to.

[00:48:14]

She's gone.

[00:48:14]

Oh.

[00:48:15]

Bye.

[00:48:15]

She's gone. Hey, listener. Well, it looks like we lost Natalie for the final time, and we decided that we weren't going to call her back. Right, guys?

[00:48:25]

Yeah, we're not going to torture her anymore. She's clearly having some Wi Fi issues, but we got more than enough from the incredible. She's. She's just amazing.

[00:48:41]

She's a powerhouse. She can do it. Wait, she's a mom.

[00:48:45]

She's a mom. She's an actor, an activist, a director, a Harvard grad. She's just, like, the nicest, funniest person. I wish you guys could both work with her.

[00:48:58]

She's such a know. I use it sometimes. She's one of those people.

[00:49:01]

She falls into the mega talent category. Everything she does. She's never been bad.

[00:49:09]

Never been bad, always been classy.

[00:49:12]

Yeah.

[00:49:12]

Never gotten all tangled up in the nonsense of this business.

[00:49:17]

No.

[00:49:18]

Don't you think it's weird that she was talking about discovering places in Los Angeles? And the one place I say she was just there yesterday. Don't you think that's weird? Yeah.

[00:49:25]

You think she's lying? What are you accusing her of?

[00:49:29]

No, I'm saying that's so wild that I called that.

[00:49:32]

Kidding.

[00:49:32]

Of course.

[00:49:33]

Yeah, it's bonkers.

[00:49:35]

So, Jay, I'll take you to the Huntington Gardens.

[00:49:37]

You will you get the sense, Jay, you know what? You know what I like? You get the sense that, and you've done an admirable job, considering that you've not only grew up doing this stuff, but that you still stayed living here.

[00:49:47]

And this was your life and that.

[00:49:48]

You ended up quasi normal and that she's done it in a way that she was very insulated by it. By going back to school and continuing with her studies and going to college. She seems to have held on to.

[00:50:02]

This kind of like, this sort of sane center that she has.

[00:50:06]

That's what she rate. You know, she says that she projects like a serious friend. It's not that she projects this person who seems very centered and has a.

[00:50:16]

Solid, yeah, she's self contained. It doesn't seem like she needs anything from this business to become.

[00:50:23]

Well, you don't need validate when you.

[00:50:24]

Don'T need to be validated by what you do. First of all, we've talked about this.

[00:50:28]

Before, but certainly by this business, forget any business, but certainly ours. If you need that to make yourself.

[00:50:38]

Feel better, you're fucked.

[00:50:40]

Yeah, totally fucked.

[00:50:41]

Anyway, she's one of the great ones.

[00:50:44]

But it's wild that she lived in Paris and here, which means she's.

[00:50:50]

By coastal Paris, not on a coast, in a different country.

[00:50:55]

By continental country.

[00:50:57]

By continental.

[00:50:58]

By country.

[00:51:02]

Smart less.

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History, what do you think about horses.

[00:51:51]

And buggies and dust and a bunch of white dudes riding their horses and buggies in the dust facts?

[00:51:57]

Definitely not enough Melanin on all those history books. But we are about to flip the script on all of that from wondry. This is black, black history for real.

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Together, we'll weave black history's most overlooked figures back into the rightful place in american culture and all over the world.

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