Hello, listener.We're in the middle of a songwriting operation here with Sean P. Hayes.Okay, here it goes like this.
We are three guys talking today.Hey, hey.We, one of us, just might be gay.
There's just two that might be straight.
Can I just stop?Wait, can I just?Yeah, yeah, yeah.Sorry.
Might be gay?Yeah, because nobody knows which one of the three of us is.
You think that nobody knows which one of the three of us is?
No, one of us is definitely gay.Can you work that?Okay, so five, six, seven, eight.
What are you talking about?We are three guys talking today.Uh-huh.One of us is definitely gay.Hey, hey.
So Sean, you're still in New York City.Yeah, I am.Would you ever consider living there full time?
It's funny you say that.No, because Scott and I had a long conversation about it.Can we have the short version?Yes.I mean.
This is what, uh, this is the rhythm of the question-answer dynamic.
You're sitting in a chair, Scotty brings a couple Pop-Tarts, he puts them in front of you, he says, John, I want to talk to you about something.
Yes, all right.No, I, I, for the first time ever, I've been kind of getting used to it, like, I understand. Because I associate the city with work and work only.And because I've had some extra downtime, I was like, oh, I finally get it.
Like, I'd never walked through Central Park.I walk through Central Park all the time now.I was like, God, this place is huge and it's beautiful.By the way, you know what I do when I walk?I started walking in Central Park at dusk, you know?
And what I do is I flex my lats and hold my head up really high because I'm scared somebody's, you know, to make myself appear bigger than I am.You know, so I don't.
And you think the lats will do it.
Yeah, because you think it's your lads are scared.
Yeah It's like a cobra, you know, you flare out the back right?That's exactly right.
You make yourself seem bigger.Hey, I'm gonna fuck here We got one right here.We got a live one, right?Oh fuck.Are you crazy?Look at the lads on this guy like a bat abort abort
The great Will Speck knows how to flare out the whole back that way.
Yeah.Sean, quick question.Yeah.The blanket that's draped over the chair behind you, who did it? I did it.You did that.
You fold it and then you drape it.Yep.And you did the drape.
It's nice, yeah.Do you punch the pillows?
You're not a pillow karate chopper.
Yeah, thanks.Sorry, JB.Yeah, you're not a karate chopper.Scotty probably a little bit more than me.I don't care about that as much.
Well, but a little bit more.So you're saying you're both going around chopping pillows.
Yeah, that's not a euphemism.
Well, listen, but, you know, Sean and Scotty have nice things.Look at behind him there.
We've got stuff on the bookshelves other than books.
JB, have you been to their apartment in New York?
No, never invited.That's terrific.Oh, that's great.I invited you.You had to work, but I said you and Franny come over when Franny was in.Just the once.
Have you been in New York recently at all, JB?
Since January.Yeah, since January.Okay.
Oh my God, please come over anytime.
No, no, no, no.Why start now?Will, you've been there a couple times?I have, yeah.
After you guys got back from Istanbul, did you go through there?I keep a few things there.Just because I'm there so much.Do you really?No, I don't, you fucking dummy.
Hey, wait.Sean, what'd you just pull up in the frame there?Is that... Oh, that's what we're talking about with scotch.Is it apple juice?It's apple juice.
So good, right?With a lot of ice.
You have a real, I don't know, I'll bet you a half a dozen max of our listeners know someone that drinks a glass of milk or three every day and apple juice on ice. That's right.I mean, you are, you are absolutely, you are Mr. Americana.
Yeah, you got it.Not just that, it's like, it's like 1973 in your house.I have Pop-Tarts too.No, we know, man.
And then you have, you guys have a... I got JB.I got JB a pair of these.Yes, you did.
Wait, we've got a guest waiting.
You know what?Sean, we do have a guest.I do want to say this, Sean, you were the first person and now I do it.This is years ago and he was wearing slippers and I go, hey man, are you wearing slippers at dinner?No way.
And he wore them out and I kind of went like, I guess it's okay to wear slippers out.I've never done it.
Because I'm just going to my house to go sit down and eat and then go back to my house.
Sweatpants is the universal sign for when you've hit fuck it, right?When you're wearing sweatpants outside.
Well, JB, we live in an era now, though, where everybody, you know, they call it athleisure to try to dress it up.So, and it's a huge, obviously, it's a huge industry, athleisure.It's a huge quarter of the... Stop saying that.
Well, I've never heard it before.
Yeah, so when you see people out during the day, and you're at the fucking Beverly Center, and they're wearing stretchy pants and a stretch up, and you're like, are we in a workout class together?
and they're like, no, I just walk around the world like this.Right, but it's so comfortable.No, I know it's comfortable, man, but so are my fucking pajamas.But like, what am I doing?
You're not allowed to walk around naked.Yeah, we're not at your house, man.
I could never do it, but I get like, I don't like jeans or pants that are super tight, you know, that they're constricting.So, I get wanting to wear athleisure.
He's saying he needs a lot more room in there than most people.
I just think that the whole, I think that there's an entire segment of our population that it's hit, fuck it.
It's not even fuck it that they think that it's appropriate to like, by the way, you know, I wear shorts out sometimes and a t-shirt, but I'm not like...
Jason, how much longer do you have to go on the show?Two weeks.
Oh, that's it?Can you believe it?And then it's all coming on now.Is it beard and hair at the same time?
Yeah, over the course of two or three days.Yeah, because we've got to do the... I can't wait to see you clean shaven and clean.I know.I can't.I'm gonna look so weird.Will you miss this look?I'll look old probably, right?Yeah.
Do you think I'll look older?
Sorry, I meant to say durr.Right, because... Our guests liked it. Yeah, she seems like she's in a good mood.
She's in a very good mood.You know what, let's get to her.She's so much fun, because I want to hear what she has to say about your face and your beard coming off and stuff.
I'm really excited because I love having a good friend on here, especially like an old friend, somebody who likes to laugh and have a good time.
Do we all know her?Do we all know her?I don't know how well you two guys know her.She and I have been friends for a number of years, and I'll tell you why, because you'll guess once I say why.
But she is, and I don't like it, you know, there's this thing now where people say in the world all the time, oh my God, you're my favorite human.That expression drives me crazy.It's almost up there with wearing fucking stretch pants to the store.
There are dogs that outrank you, but as far as humans go...
People use that.You're my favorite human.Just say person.You're one of my favorite people.You don't need to say human.But anyway, she is one of my favorite humans.So I'm gonna use it.
I'm breaking my own rule because I'm a hypocrite through and through.And she's just such a wonderful person.She's so fun to laugh with and talk to.She's so... Super smart, super cool.
But then when you look at... So I want to say that I love her as a person, and I also love and respect her as an artist, as a performer.She's so amazing.
She's been nominated for umpteen Emmy Awards, and she's won Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards for lots of different stuff.You might remember her from... You know, from the Mickey Mouse Club.You might know her from Honey, I Blew Up the Kid.
She was nominated for a Young Artist Award for that.She's gonna kill me.You might remember her from a lot of different things.You might remember from her two episodes of Roar that she did with Heath Ledger back in the day.
but you're definitely going to remember her.Definitely.
Hand on buzzer.Hand on buzzer.Yeah, yeah.
You're definitely going to remember her from her show, which is going to a second season soon, The Diplomat.You also know her from The Americans.You know her from Felicity.
You guys, this is my friend... It's a Margot Martindale!
Sean, did you say Martdale?Margot Martindale.Yeah.Margot Martindale.
Oh my god.Hello Carrie.Oh my god it's so great to see you.
Margo Martindale would be my favorite guest.
Margo was busy, so we got Carrie.
Understood, understood.I get it.
But, and I didn't even want to mention, and I couldn't mention Matthew, because if I said, once I say Matthew, then the gig is up.So I had to like work backwards, and I know you're gonna kill me.You're not gonna kill me for the Mickey Mouse Club.
You were on the Mickey Mouse Club?
Were you on when Ryan... With like Britney Spears and all that?
Wasn't Ryan Gosling on that as well?
Oh yeah. No way, with them, all of you were on the same thing?
Ask me anything.This is, I mean, that is gold.That is pure gold.
Wait, Carrie, hi.First of all, hi, Carrie.
Hi.So nice to see you.It is so nice to see you.So nice to see all of you.
I just got home.I've been, I've been filming in London and I just got home just a few days ago.So I'm home getting kids ready for school.My teenagers helped me set this, all this stuff up.
Are you good at, are you good at adjusting time, uh, different time zones?Are you like still on jet lag?
I'm jet-lagged, but I really love the early morning, so even though I'm still getting up at 4, it's, like, such a quiet time in my house, so I love just, like, pitter-pottering around.
Let me tell you something about Carrie.And, Jason, you're gonna appreciate this.It goes to your question, which is, she's so disciplined.It's crazy.She can just, like, kind of do anything.She's like, what's the task?Okay, so I'll do this.
So I'll get up early and I'll do the thing.Like, she just does stuff.
Are you a Capricorn, Carrie?
I don't know, that's the end of me.All I know is about my own sign.
Out of the not shocking department.Mom, my wife can come in here and break you down.My wife would ask you, you're rising, and you're moon.
I don't know any of that stuff, but I'm into it, but I don't know any of it.
Wait, Carrie, do you remember that one time?This is like decades ago.You know what I'm going to say.You were with an acting coach and you came out and I was going in and that's when we first met.This is like 25, 30 years ago.
Like a super long time ago.Which acting coach?I don't remember. But it was her house, it was this acting coach's house, and it was like a back, it was like a guest house in the back.And you were coming out and I was going in, I was like, oh my God.
Be careful, because a lot of people listen to this.
It was that, well, no, she's like a really intense teacher.She did like Al Pacino and stuff like that, right?
Maybe, I don't know.It was behind in her house, like, not Venice, but like kind of adjacent Venice, right?
Sean, you don't remember her name either? I don't.Sean, do you wish some of those classes had stuck?Like, do you wish some of the... I fucking wish some of those classes had stuck.That would have been so fun if some of that had worked.
Sean, I wish some of those classes would have stuck.
Now, Sean... No, for me, I mean... Sean, what type of stuff, like, would you go in there with a specific set of sides for an audition that's coming up and you'd work on it?
Yeah, for sure.Or I got a monologue.I need a funny monologue and a dramatic monologue.
Yeah.Carrie, do you remember what you were doing it for?Were you auditioning?
I have no idea.Maybe a movie or something that... I don't know.I mean, I did it, like, once or twice.Probably... This is right after Felicity.Oh, so it was probably, like, just once or twice because a friend of mine was going... Anyway. See, yeah.
Now, what about, you know, Will is threatening to move to, I can't keep up, it's either, it's usually England, I think now it's Portugal, but he would like to live in England, I think, as would I, I think.Where did coming back from there leave you?
I mean, would you go back?
So I've spent the past three summers filming there, which I know is, you know, a little bit of a unique existence.Like you have a nice place to live, you know, you're working, you have a job.So there are a lot of things.
that are extra nice, you know?It's not like you're... But it is... London in the summer is a delight.I mean, it is so, like, breathtakingly beautiful.
I tend to live north and, like, by the Heath, and I wake up early morning and I just walk through the Heath.
I have said Heath is such a great area to live in.
It is magic.It is so magic.
And we've... I've loved it.I've really, really loved it.And actually, I don't think, well, I don't know.
I don't think I'm telling tales out of school, but my last week there, we had this, so I'm doing, I'm on the show called The Diplomat, and it's about the ambassador in London, who's the, I'm friends with the real one, Ambassador Jane Hartley, who's just- Wow.
amazing and smart and cool.And the last week, she said, we were like, let's go to dinner before I leave.And so we went to the River Cafe and that great actor, oh fuck, what's his name?On the Bear, who plays the cousin, Eben.
Eben joined us and we just had this, like, it was just such a fun, raucous dinner.And Rufus Sewell, who's on my show too.And it's just full of, Everyone who was, everyone was at this restaurant that night.It was like one of those magic, wild moments.
Could you see yourself living there full-time?Like, would your whole family?
Well, I don't know, because I wonder if it's... You know, I love coming back here, too.You know, fall in New York is so good.And I ride my bike everywhere.Are you in New York now?
But if you... She's in New York.
Not the same.Sean, you live at Zabar's.Where are you, Sean?
Where are you living in the city right now?
He lives in Zabar's.If you take a left at the Plain Bagels... You're uptown.But if you... If you lived in London, I don't know if you could, because first of all, Matthew, as a Welshman, I mean, he'd get in too many fights.
He's at the pub.I know Matthew, he's at the pub, and then all of a sudden, before it's all over, he's in a fight with a bunch of Englishmen, right?
Yeah, there's definitely a rivalry, but he loves London too, but I don't know.
What about your teenagers?Have they done some time there?
They like it.I mean, but they've kind of, like you guys probably, you know, they travel wherever we work.So, you know.
So in the summer they can be with you.Yeah.And would they or would they be like, cause I, you know, I've got a 12 year old and 17 year old and they just.
Oh, I have exactly the same. Plus an eight-year-old.Yeah.
Yeah.Lucky you.But they're like, you know, they've got their lives, you know, and they got their friends and they got their places they'd like to go.It's like, well, great.I'll see you when you get back, Mom, Dad.
It's hard to get them away, nor do you really want to disrupt them.Jace, your kid's name's real quick.
Sorry, this is a fun game.Fun game.This is a fun game.But wait, wait, by the way, Jason and Sean, have you guys, have you guys spent any time up in, like near Hampstead Heath, like in that area?No, I love London, but no.It would blow your mind.
It would shift everything you think about living in London.What's it called?Hampstead.Because it's like, It's like a massive, I want to say park, it's kind of doing it a disservice by calling it a park, but in effect it is that.It's super green.
And it's got a bunch of little lakes in it and stuff where you can swim.It's wild.
It's incredible.Yeah, it's so beautiful.
Carrie, could you live there?Or no, you're happy there?
I really love it.I really love it.But I have to say, you know, we shot there.
When the strike happened, we had to make up for things, so we shot there over the winter.And it's different in the winter.Sure.
Because New York in the winter, even if it's snowing or it's freezing, it can be sunny and it's bracing and you can still ride your bike.Yeah, London's just gray all winter.But it's raining every day.And rain all day is different than
And cold, right?That kind of cold that gets into your bone.Even as a Canadian, I'm like, fuck, I'm freezing.Yeah.
So I do love it.It's so lush and it's so green and the people, there's a real, I don't know, it does have a different culture than we have, but it was just a delight.
Where did you start?Where did you grow up?
I moved around a lot.So I was born in California.
The law kept catching you.
Then I grew up, I spent 13 years in Arizona and then Colorado. and then my parents moved to Texas.So I moved, I moved around a lot.
Where was the first place you said? Arizona.California.California, then Arizona, then Colorado.Sorry, are you getting an email coming in or are you distracted?What's going on?She said it like a second ago.
Wait, so Carrie, so you grew up and so, and I knew that about, I always think of you, I always associate you with Colorado.
And probably that I dated a hockey player for half a second from Colorado.That's probably what you remember.
That's what I remember too.You know I remember all the hockey stuff.
And we will be right back.And now, back to the show.
How did it happen that you became part of the Mickey Mouse Club?Yeah.
So I was a dancer in, like, with all my little dance friends in Colorado, you know, like...
preteen teenage years and that was my sport and that's all I did and a bunch of my friends went to like a giant casting call and we stood outside of like the Denver Convention Center with thousands of little kids and their moms or something and we just stood in line.
Some dude like said, hey, do you want to read a little script of a mermaid brushing her teeth with chocolate or something?
And was he part of the audition, or was this just the back of a van?He just rolled the window down.
I was willing to do it, and yeah.No, so... And that's what I did, and they called me back.
Wow, I mean, that is really, first of all, that gives a lot of hope, I think, to people who are like, oh, should I bother going for that thing?There are thousands of people.Well, you could end up being Keri Russell.I mean, you can't be Keri Russell.
Nobody else can be.But, I mean, you've built an incredible life with really impressive credits.You've done amazing things.Was that audition something you wanted to do or did your parents tell you about it?
I wanted to, I mean, I don't think I knew what it really was.I just went with a bunch of my... best friends, pals who were going and they're like, let's go do this thing.And by the way, I can't sing.I had never really been an actor.
And so they said, do a little dance, like do a skit and sing a little song.All right.Because I think they wanted kids who weren't so, yeah, they didn't like it.
Still waiting to hear, yeah. waiting to hear.Her friends, like, years later was like, she didn't even want to go.I was the one that won.I was the one.
And she got it.Wait, I want to ask you something, Kev, because it has to do with how Will introduced you, which is like, you do, when you came, you just came on, you weren't Margo Martin.
By the way, you haven't been Margot Martindale for a minute.
By the way, there's no one better than Margot Martindale.
She's the best.I love Margot Martindale with all my heart.
Me too, me too.But your energy and your work ethic and you're like... You do have so much energy even talking to you now and with the kids and working and traveling and getting up at 5 in the morning and working 14 hours.
Like, where do you get that drive?Where do you get the energy?Youth.It's youth.Methamphetamine.
Because you do have to find it.
You do have to find it.Even though you're tired, you have to find it.
I think, well, number one, I don't work all the time.I like long breaks, and I spend a ton of time on my own.I like to be alone a lot.I have amazing friends.I have a group of quora friends that I love, and we do stuff all the time.
But other than that, I work.I have a ton of downtime.So for instance, The Diplomat.I'm not going off to do tons of movies in between or on a Broadway show or something. That's my time to just be home and, like, wander and read books.
And that's what keeps me sane, I feel like.
But it is a good question because, you know, so Carrie and I did this show with the great Mitch Hurwitz years ago.Yeah.Yeah, called Running Wild, which was... And we had a lot of fun.That's how we got to know each other.And... It was crazy.
We were trying to make this thing happen, and we were shooting just crazy hours out on Long Island, and... And, Carrie, I remember, we were legitimately, like, the first couple weeks, we were shooting, like, 16 hours a day, trying to get these fucking, you know, and get this thing off the ground, which, and...
I remember Carrie, like, going either before work or after work to the gym, and she had a little kid at home.She had, like, a three-year-old at home, and doing all the things, and had all this dialogue, and doing all this stuff.
And I was like, it was so impressive how hard, how dedicated she was to just... Like I said, like, she's just a doer in this way that JB... I can see the smile on JB's face.He's just like, yeah.
Why?Because you are as well?Is that what you're saying?
It sounds like you.It's either going and really trying to accomplish a ton or just total power down, being by yourself, just like staring at the wall, doing something really inane and refilling the tank.
I just clean out closets.I listen to my little nerdy news podcasts.Oh, he doesn't do that.
He doesn't do that either.He goes, he watches TV and he locks the door and nobody's allowed to bother him.And you're probably not grumpy, but I will say... Amanda serves his food under the door. Yeah, yeah, nobody can talk to him.Read me things.
Yeah, yeah.And he's not interested in anything.But the question is, Carrie, so you do the Disney stuff, and then that leads to what?That's like three years, I want to say?Uh...
Teenage years, yeah, teenage years.And this seriously is the truth.Like, whenever the girls looked like they were having sex, they were like, get that one out of here.And the boys stayed till they were like 25.They're like, that one, she's out.
Oh, wow.Really?Yeah, seriously.
She looks like a breeder.Get her out.Yeah, she looks like a breeder.Yeah, get her out.
Yeah, and, but it was, it was so fun.I mean, it was, it was so cheesy looking back, but it was so fun.And all those kids.
Did it lead to anything tangible?Like, like, or was it just a great thing to have on your resume and you just started to do more sort of traditional auditions and?
Yeah, I mean, from that, like, because you're under this old-school, like, Disney contract, I had to do some movie, like, the sequel, Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, which was a sequel to Honey, I Choked the Kid.
So that was part of your deal for... Ah, interesting.
You know, it was like the old-school system, like, we hired you under this umbrella, so if you record an album, if you make a movie, like, you are ours, you know?
Yeah, it was a little bit like that. You know, like the kids now, like all those... American Idol kids and whatever, yeah.Yeah, or whatever all those new Disney shows are.
Now, Felicity was quite some time past that, but that was also on ABC.It was under the same umbrella.That wasn't part of the same deal, was it?
No, that was... It wasn't on ABC.It was on something else.It was WB.Thank you, WB.
It was WB.I remember, because it was their big hit show, and they were a young network, and then all of a sudden they had a hit, like a legitimate hit that was... And that's where you met the great, our friend, the great J.J.Abrams.That's right.
Yeah, J.J.and Matt.And you guys created, you guys made that network in a way.Yeah, kind of amazing.You legitimized them because it was a great show.J.J.got heralded, you got heralded.I mean, everybody kind of went like...
Kerry Russell, you were, you were, you exploded onto the scene.I remember, you guys remember.I remember, yeah, for sure.Every magazine.
Everybody knew who Kerry Russell was, just like that.
Yeah, that must have been, even though you'd been doing it for a while, since you were a teenager, having that kind of thing happen must have been... Startling?
I don't want to put words in your mouth.And at an age where things are challenging already at that age, right?Kind of like figuring out who you are.
First of all, the reason the show was so good was that what JJ and Matt did, it was so sweet.It was like such a sweet little something of a show.And it was their writing that was so good.But yeah, for...
Luckily, I mean, I can't imagine the kids now with all of the social media.Back then it was just occasional paparazzi weirdos, you know?But yeah, I am sort of a nervous person anyway around people I don't know.So that only made that worse.
People coming up to you on the street and stuff like that, yeah?
Well, I mean, people were generally pretty nice to me, but I just think if you're an anxious person, it doesn't help, like, yeah, having more people looking at you all the time.So I think that was something to sort of navigate a little bit.
Um, but then it all worked out because after that show ended, I took a big break and I didn't, um, act anymore.I didn't think that that's what I wanted to do anymore.Really?
So was that, was that a conscious decision?You were like, hang on a second.I need to.
And where did you think you were going to go?
Well, I thought I was gonna go back to, or go to school, because I hadn't gone to school.And because I graduated early from high school, because I was on the Mickey Mouse Club.You mean college?
Yeah, because when you're on the Mickey Mouse Club, like if you're a kid, you're tutored on set, so you can finish as quickly as you can.Same with Mr. Bateman.Yeah, we know about that.
Sometimes they have buses to do that too.
And then, but so, God. Most kids, me, part of it, like as soon as the kid show is done, there's a panic, like, okay, what's the next show gonna be?Like, what's my career gonna be now that I'm kind of like almost an adult?
And you're dying to get another job and get back into that television series cocoon, you know, the safety of employment.You were the opposite.You were like, not only do I not wanna work, I don't even know if I wanna do this occupation anymore.
Yeah, so doing that show, that was back in the old days when we would do 22 episodes.Now, you know, the nature of television tends to be like eight or 13 episodes, but we were still doing network, 22 episodes.
especially back then, we were working, because Matt Reeves was one of our first directors and set up the show, we were shooting it like film.We were shooting on film in the beginning.Really?Yes.Shooting on film?Yeah.
We were working 18-hour days, five days a week.So my Friday as a 21-year-old would end about five in the morning, and then I would start again at five on Monday. I loved that job, and it was great, and I'm so thankful.
I'm still really close with a few of those people.But in many ways, it was life arresting.I wanted to be with girlfriends and whatever, kiss boys, or do simple, stupid things that I knew I was sort of missing.So when it ended,
I had no time to spend any money or do any of that, so I took the money I had saved and rented this amazing apartment, one-bedroom apartment in the village, which was really great still back then.And I had no furniture.
I moved to New York with two giant boxes of books.I got mattresses, I put them on the floor, and I did all those things I wanted to do.I had two really great girlfriends there.
And we would go out dancing and get drunk and like walk home drunk in the snow.And we would watch The Bachelorette and eat shitty food.And like, I mean, it was everything I wanted it to be.And I got to just fucking be a kid.
And I think that's what I wanted.
Did you end up going to school?
I didn't.So I thought that's what I was gonna do.And that's probably what I should have done.I still think about it.But I think I just sort of, did it myself.Like, I just read what I wanted to read about and, um, and took all that time off.
I took, I think, a couple of years and then just slowly started inching my way back in.You know, I took a job where I wasn't the lead.I took, I was like a part of a family.
Uh, and actually we shot in London, um, with Mike Binder and I was just a part of these sisters and Joan Allen was the lead.
And I was like... Was that the upside of anger?
Yeah.And I was like, you know, she's cool and smart and classy.And if I can watch her, if she's managing her life, okay, you know, maybe it's possible.And, and she was.And so then I slowly dipped back in.
What was, what was the other industry that you were thinking about maybe going into?
Oh God, I don't know.I think I just wanted to learn.I think I wanted to just go to school.I think I'm interested in every, I feel like I could do lots of things.I'm curious, but I'm generally agreeable.I'm curious about a lot.
But you didn't, like, start, like, one particular career that you were thinking, maybe I want to kind of go in, and then, like, that was kind of like, eh, it's not that great, and then you went back to acting?
Yes, you never really started anything.
Okay.No, I didn't.You didn't get into, like, microplastics or anything.That's a big industry, apparently.It's a growth industry.Yeah, it's a growth industry.
Wait, this is kind of to carry NJB, because I'm always interested, curious about people who start performing when they're younger and are able to sustain it.
when you were doing Mickey Mouse Club or JB, you were on various shows when you were a kid, were you cognizant of, and did people talk amongst you and your peers and your friends and your families, like, hey, how can we make the jump to adult actors?
Yeah, how conscious were you of that?How conscious were you that there's a sort of a bar there, that there's a separation between being a kid actor and then making it a life and a career?Were you aware of that?
No.Yeah, I was scared shitless of that transition.You were?Yeah, yeah, I thought no one's gonna, you know, you're a kid actor, so why would anybody wanna see you do adult acting when you're an adult?Like, you gotta start over.
You know, there's not gonna be an easy transition, and it wasn't.There was, all through my 20s was just a barren waste field.
And that's why you shaved your pubes till you were 22, right?
And I did for different reasons.
Guys, I can still play young.Hey, it's me, JB.Check it out, I don't even have puke.Oh my God.
That is really funny. Wait, so Gary, so you go, you do Upside Down.
Wait, wait, Jason, wait.Have you read, because I actually, speaking of the creepy kid actors, which by the way, all kid actors, the whole thing is so creepy.That's so funny.There's this amazing book that someone gave me, which I loved.
Are you familiar with Sarah Pauly at all?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Now she's a director, but you know, kid actor.She wrote this book called Run Towards the Danger, which is a collection of stories.And it's sort of unraveling her time and the kind of understanding what that was all like. Of being a kid actor, yeah.
And a lot of other things, but I do think it affects you and speaks probably to a little bit of what Will is saying, like what he's seeing as like work ethic.But I just think when you're a kid actor, you know, you are, you have to show up.
You're not allowed to have the flu.You're not allowed to, you fucking show up and you do it and you, you know, you don't complain.You don't go.
Got all this adult responsibility, yeah.
JB taught me a lot of, I will, this is truly, and I've mentioned this a couple times, early on, we were doing Arrested Development, and the first season, at one point, I was like, I got to the point, it didn't take long, where I was like, hey, what time were you rapping today?
Like, you know, I got in early in the day, I'm thinking like, what time am I out of here?And Jason turns to me and goes, we got you for the whole day, right? And it really, as funny as that was, the timing of it was perfect.
His delivery was amazingly shitty, and it was perfect and hilarious, and it broke me.But also the truth of it was, yeah, man, you're here to do a thing, and you've got this, like... Yeah, you're doing the thing you wanted to do.
And it really, honestly, I never forgot it, and I carried it with me for the rest of my... And to this day, my working career, which is like, I'm there to do the thing that I gotta do, not to fucking get out.
And I feel equally pissed off when I feel like... Yeah, I feel equally as pissed off with people when they're, like, trying to get out.And I'm like, fuck you, dude.Yeah, yeah.
It's what you signed up for.
We'll be right back.All right, back to the show.
So, Carrie, about the anxiety thing, because I have a little bit of that too.I'm much better at it.But how do you deal with it?I mean, sometimes, these guys know.It comes up quite often.But how do you deal with it?
Like, do you have tools that you—your go-to tools?
I wake up in the morning and I do something immediately.You know, I do hopefully like something outside, even if it's cold, some kind of physical activity really helps me.
Even if I'm, you know, sometimes it just overtakes and you're like, fuck it, here I am.You know what really helped me?
One of the first times, this is absolutely true, right at the beginning of Felicity Times, before I had ever had to do any of that stuff, I had to go on a talk show.My first talk show was, Rosie O'Donnell had a talk show back then.
I think it was like a daytime talk show.I had never done anything like that.I kind of am a nervous person in that situation anyway.
And it's like, it's a lot of energy coming toward you and the stage and all the people and blah. I got back there and the stage manager is like, come over here, come over here.And I was like, uh-oh, uh-oh, it's overtaking me.Here it comes.
And the stage manager must have told Rosie O'Donnell, who was so lovely, like she's nervous.So she came back and was like, hey, are you nervous?And I was like, oh, no, no.And so I went out.This is really absolutely true.
I went out, she was being completely nice.But as I was answering questions, going, yes, I'm from Colorado, a tear. And I watched the interview, I'm smiling and I just gently wipe it away and I'm from Colorado, but I'm having a full like panic.
I go back to the hotel, which was, you know, they flew you to New York and did the whole thing.And I locked myself in the bathroom and I was just mortified that I had done such a bad job and was so embarrassed. and beating up on myself.
And my awesome friend, Canadian friend, Will Arnett would love, we had gone out for drinks after or like maybe the next day.And I remember Alana said, I said, oh my God, I did such a bad job on this thing. You know, I was so bad.
And she said, you know who I just saw on David Letterman?Kim Basinger was on David Letterman.And she was so nervous.And I remember I liked her so much because I thought I would be nervous on that thing too.It's very real.
It made me like stop hating the nervousness about myself so much.And I went, I'm nervous.Like, what are you gonna fucking do?
And people who are like so, no offense to everyone who's so funny and good, but you know, because you guys are all so good at it.You guys are so good, but not everyone is so good at all.
But the dirty little secret is that even the flashy sort of funny sort of, I don't seem very nervous person is petrified underneath.They just have this flashy coping skill that is basically, acting.They're just able to act twice.
Well, you are very easy though in front of people.
He is, but he's a fucking mess inside.He is a mess.
We would admit it right now, just like I am a fucking disaster inside and so is Sean.We're all, we're fucking nut jobs.We're all crazy.Crazy.And you just figure out different ways to fake it.
And then you get comfortable with that and it kind of becomes a part of your personality too.Like, all this little suit that I put on to kind of deal with it is also just kind of me too.
Well, I'll get real with you.So my version, Through a lot of kind of work and exploration over the last few months, this is totally honest, is... I first went away to boarding school when I was 12.
You did?I didn't know that.Wait, where did you go?
I went up in Canada and I went to all boys boarding school.Where?I'm not going to give them the benefit of telling you.
Okay, but like what area?Sorry, where in... North of Toronto. Like, up by Muskoka?
A couple, yeah, a little east of Muskoka.
North of Peterborough, Ontario.Okay, okay.That's them to come pick you up again, right?Yeah, but south of Finland Falls. Oh, right on.So you could just to narrow it down, eh?Like right near Stony Lake, but I'm not going to say where, eh?
So, um... So there you are.So there I is, age 12.And I think that one of the things... I didn't know that.Yeah, yeah.And one of the things about that is when you're that young, I can't imagine my sending... Can you imagine?No, I can't.
Or seven when they go?Seven?
Well, my roommate, first year, when I was seventh grade and I was 12, my first roommate, he had just come from England, and he had been at boarding school since he was seven. So he'd been there for five years.
I mean, I know it's a way of life, but can you imagine?Yeah.Sending your kids?
And he was very, and by the way, he was a very sort of troubled kid, and I felt badly for him.But my point was, at that age, and I don't know if it's dissimilar from... you know, being out on your own and working at that time.
You, I learned to, how to cope with being, you know, with not having my mom and dad around and how to manage, certainly in a situation, um, with other, basically other boys my age.You know, there's a lot going on.
It's kind of very Lord of the Flies-y in a lot of ways.Not, wasn't that bad, but... You know what I mean?I do, yeah.And so I think that that skill or whatever that thing that I put up, I carry over into my life.Yeah.I think that's what it is.I do.
I've sort of been spending a lot of time breaking that down this summer, which has been interesting.Well, whatever it is, I like it. I like it, too.I stayed vague enough that I didn't start crying, so... That's after the show.
So, Carrie, so you do all that, and you think you're gonna quit, and you think you're gonna do it, and then you go... Because you have... Not only do you carry over from, excuse the pun, from being a child actor to then having success in your 20s,
But then you decide that you're gonna maybe shift gears, or not do it anymore, or whatever, or go to school, or try something else.
And then you end up having a third act, which you're in right now really successfully, which is you start doing a bunch of films, and you have two really successful television shows.
It's really unusual to be able to sort of carry that on in all these ways.And I would say that you two, I pointed to Jason and Kerry, you guys are very unique in that way, that you've managed to carry that on.Yeah.
What was the thing where you went like, okay, now I'm in gear, I want to start doing more and kind of... Was there a job, was there a particular thing that kind of fired you up?
Well, The Americans was just, the writing was so, I have to say, even in the beginning, it was a slow burn.It was, you know, I really think the show became good about episode five in the first season.
And then it started becoming this other thing, which was really this dark, kind of unravel of a marriage.And I always thought the spy stuff was just a way to push and pull the marriage, like sleeping with other people.
So when you went into it, then you were thinking you were going, hey, we're going over here, and you ended up kind of going over here?
Yeah, I didn't know.I was like, first of all, why do you want me, like, to play this, like, tough Russian spy?What?Don't you want, like, Rocky's wife?That, like, lady with the short blonde hair?
Like, whatever her name was.
I'm like, me?What the fuck?I was like, oh god.That's hysterical.
But she's not available?I'm getting drunk with my friends walking in the snow.Why do you want me?
I don't want fucking this shit.
I'm still hung up on that image of you and your friends drunkenly walking down Seventh Avenue.
It was, you guys, it saved my life, it really did.
So, that was just lucky, total luck, just getting to do that show and then meeting Matthew and all of that, you know, that was just good writing, so fun to be a part of something that, you know, was well-received.
And then I took another long break, I feel like, That's what keeps me in it, is I go in and out.I take little pockets where then I'm just home doing laundry and, you know, seeing my friends and taking the kids to school.
After the Americans, you do.
And it's on the Americans that you met Matthew.
And the great Matthew Reese, who we've had on the program, who is just an absolute delight.Yeah, love that guy.He is.I love Matthew.So cool.I just, I always just, I just love seeing his face.I love hanging out with him.
I had a nice lunch with him about a year ago.
With our mutual friend Chris Tikia.Yes.
Oh, my God.Who's equally as delightful.
And that was a lot of fun.And so you meet Matthew and you guys are on the show together.And then, of course, it makes sense.And you guys, it makes sense to me, by the way.
Yeah, he's great.He is really, really great.
You guys had never met before the show?
We had met, which he reminded me about, which I don't know if he told you guys on the show, but he- I think I remember this.Yeah, we had gone to fight training or something in the first week.
Well, you know, we screen tested everything, blah, blah, blah, did the fight training. And so I'd known him just like that, you know?And then we were having lunch after doing some kind of crazy fight training and he said, we've met before.
And I said, no.And he said, yeah, we have.And he said, we, you know, we were at that kickball party in Rustic Canyon.And we were the last people at the barbecue or whatever.And I was trying to get you to stay.
And so I was trying to open a beer without a beer.He tried to do it with his thumb and I knew exactly, I said, oh my God, God, of course I remember.You left a drunk message on my machine.And I was moving to New York that day.
And so it had been 10 years had passed.
And then, yeah, and then game was on.
Isn't that so crazy?Well, so Sean, don't feel so bad that she didn't remember seeing you in the garden of the acting teacher.She didn't remember meeting her husband.I get it.I get it.I get it.
I have one of those faces. But I love a good love story, so to the extent you feel comfortable, what changed from the, you know, when you try to open the beer for you.
You had the kickball party.And you didn't clap.Did you do a lot of other hipster stuff at parties?Like playing kickball that are like ironic games?
No, but like what changed for you 10 years later that didn't spark for you the first time?
Who knows, Sean?Who knows, okay.Okay, I'm trying to think, I'm trying to think.No, you don't have to answer.There's probably a haircut.
Number one.Matthew had his haircut better.
Number one, you know, I don't ever want to go back to my 20s.I'm not saying... There are certain things about our bodies now as they're aging, but I like who I am so much more now.I look at my girlfriends, I think they are so beautiful now.
I don't ever want to go back to 20s.I love our age now.And I think in our 30s or when I met him again, which would have been in my mid-30s or about then, I just was a different person.You know what I mean?I was... And I wanted something different.
I also think that, Carrie, and this is a compliment to you, Carrie, which is that, like, you probably don't remember because you're such an authentic person.And I don't think that, like...
I think you'd remember somebody if you actually had a real conversation, you really connected in that way.Yeah, and that drew a pair of eyes.You're not distracted by shiny moving objects at all.You're really a real person.Go ahead, Sean.
No, I'm distracted by shiny objects.Anything with frosting on it.Oh my God.
Shiny, pretty things are nice, too.
Right?But Mission Impossible, Incredible.I'm a big popcorn movie guy.
Did the mission end up being possible because they didn't do it, right?
Well, you never knew what the rabbit's foot was.
You never knew what the rabbit's foot was.No, but I kind of want to like, I want to be like, well, it turned out it was.It's kind of like a never-ending story.Did the movie end?
It sure did.So, I mean, class action lawsuit much?I mean...
But I loved I loved that and then when you were when it was revealed that was you in In Star Wars.I mean I was blown away like that was the No, I mean we I Was watching it and even Scottie and I were like, who is this?
I recognize your voice, but I couldn't because we didn't see your face.I was like, oh Did you ever reveal yourself?I don't think you did.
Well, JJ never wanted me to reveal my face, or I never wanted to reveal the face.And then at a certain point, I think it was the studio, or someone said, you have to show her face.And JJ was like, no, it's my whole idea.That's what's cool about it.
It was like that girl, there was some cartoon with a girl on a motorcycle from when he was a kid who always had a helmet on.And then he was like, well, what if we just show her eyes?And so that was, but I think they wanted me to take the helmet off.
Yeah, the studio's like, yeah, we got Keri Russell, we're not gonna not reveal her.
Yeah, yeah, but with such a kick-ass, amazing, amazing character.
That must have been cool.And Sean, just knowing, Sean, that she was from Endelur, I mean, that must have been, for you, right, knowing how many moons it was away... Yeah, yeah, it was incredible.
...from Tatooine, you must have been, like, just freaking out.It was so fun, dude.I mean, as an adult paying attention to a kid's story, it must have been so cool for you. I loved it.I loved it.
And then I haven't seen Cocaine Bear and I really, really want to see it, but I heard it's great.And it's been out for a while.
It's so stupid and crazy and nuts.And Margo Martindale is... I mean, you guys, what she did, it's ridiculous and wild and it's such, it was just an antidote to COVID and everyone being stuck in their houses.
And the great Liz Banks.And our friend Liz Banks, we love her.She's so funny.And you guys were in Ireland, I want to say?
Yeah, she just called me.She was pitching me this completely other legit, serious, really good idea for this limited series.And, you know, we're just on with these writers and having these serious conversations.
And then text me the next day just says, Hey, or I've got this. I'm drinking this crazy movie called Cocaine Bear.Do you want to read it?"I was like, sure.
And I told my girlfriends, I have these few girlfriends in New York here, and I was up in the mountains with them, and they said, I told them, I pitched them the idea for the story, and they said, if you don't do that movie, we're not going to be friends with you anymore.
And it was so fun.Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Margo Martindale, and I traipsing around Ireland out of control.We were out of control having the time of our lives.Why did you guys shoot in Ireland?
Because the COVID numbers were down.Right.And because it's an island, I guess.And because it's a good match for that forest we were looking for.
Margot is one of those people, she's so... Years ago, she wanted... Krasinski was doing a movie and he wanted her for this before, like, the don't talk movies or whatever, or... Quiet Place?Quiet Time?
No, I think it's Look Who's Talking.
Look Who's Talking 2.In place. Um, and he said, and so I said to Margo, I said, hey, John Krasinski wants to get in touch with you, is that okay?
And so she talked to him and stuff, and she, then she called me, she goes, I'm gonna do this fucking guy, I'm gonna do his movie, before she, it better work out, because you better not have fucking put me on with this fucking guy, and it's gonna be a big, she literally like...
Kind of like pseudo threatened me and like I was like, I just put you in touch with him It's not my fault.You didn't have to do it.I'm doing it because of you.
When I read Cocaine Bear, that next day she texted me and it just says Margot and she says, are you fucking doing this movie?I was like, are you fucking doing this movie?
What?I was like, now I'm definitely doing this movie.Margot's doing it.
One of the hardest laughs I've ever had in my life was doing that series, The Millers, with Margot.And we did this episode, it was this thing where Beau Bridges was doing this, saying this thing.
And Margot and I started laughing, and she got me laughing.I couldn't, it's the first time in my life I was like, I don't think I'm gonna recover from, I don't think we're gonna get it.I don't think I can do this, I think it's a wrap, I have to go.
And I couldn't look at her, she had me laughing so hard.She's a delight.
I care what are you excited about that's coming up other than the diplomat?What are you gonna do the rest of the day?
So, I'm gonna be honest, I stayed up late, too late last night, so I woke up in the morning, I had leftover Indian food.It was fucking delicious.I'm having a beer with it.Oh, I love that.
I'm gonna, we made our first, it's kind of chilly here in New York this morning, right?So we made our first fire and it was just nice.
And you don't even have a fireplace.Yeah.No, sorry. That's great, yeah.That's fun.What a fun day.So, the rest of the day is gonna be kind of... Cozy....kind of cozy.
My kids start school for the first day tomorrow, so I'm getting everyone.I'm gonna make a nice dinner, family dinner, early dinner for everyone, early to bed.What are you gonna make?
What are you gonna make?Yeah.
I'm gonna make skirt steak and a bunch of vegetables and rice and... Yes, yes.
Oh, it's so good.Yeah, I love that.By the way, I've never been to Brooklyn.I want to go check it out.What?
We could have you.We could have you.I might go walk around there.
Kerry, I'm coming to New York in a couple weeks, for real.
Will, remember when I ran into you?
No, you were shooting something.
Oh, yeah, we were shooting in Brooklyn, and you were coming home, and you were drunk.
And I was wandering home drunk, and I was like, Will, what's up?
Oh, boy.Dude, dude, I was shooting, and there was a whole, like, the crew were doing, and she... What were you shooting?One of those Ninja Turtle movies.
She just blew right by the lockup, huh?
Now I know him.And we were shooting right on the river overlooking the city, and here comes Carrie.And of course, nobody stops her.Nobody in the crew stops her, because they're like, oh, it's Carrie Russell.
And she just walks through, basically walks through our set.It's like, what's going on?
Hammered just walking home walking home.
I know but I was gonna say I'm coming in a couple weeks Let's have dinner and or lunch you me and Matthew.
I would love love love love it fucking done.
Yeah.Oh God Carrie, I wish we would just hang out for we will I would love to see you I we have chance encounters from I know mutual people satellite people, but I would love to see you.
Okay?um Well, Carrie, you've just brightened up our day.It's so great seeing you.It's always a delight.
Always a delight.Let's all see each other.Yeah, I would love it.
Let's do it.Say hi to Matthew for us, please.Yeah, please say hi to Matthew, and I'm gonna reach out.I'm gonna reach out to you in the next couple weeks.
Please, please, please, don't.Please do, please.I won't hesitate.I would love, love, love it.Okay, bye, guys.Thank you so much.Bye, Carrie.Thanks, Carrie.Bye, Sadie.Bye.
Just a delight.Just a sunny delight.
How cool is she?She's just a Sunday afternoon.She's just drinking a beer.Drinking a beer and eating some leftover Indian food because she's a little hungover.
She seems like one of those people that everybody wants to be friends with.
Sean, she's so fun.When we did Running Wild together, she would be... We had so much fun.She's the kind of person doing her off-camera would be throwing shit at me.Like a super easy fun hang.Really, really fun.Really prepared.Really in it.
Really just disciplined and professional, but cool and real.You could laugh with her and then you could tell her,
You know, she and I both, there were times where we were both going through stuff in our personal lives, and we were, and she was such a good friend to me, and we would talk about stuff, and it really, just... Awesome.
I love it.Awesome.And she, and by the way, she drives her entire career.Like, she makes the decisions.And by, speaking of driving, by the way, I sent you guys a video when we were in New York of a, of an Uber driver.Do you remember that?
And he was really kind and he was from China.And his real true, this is a true story.His real name is spelled B-A-I-Y-I.And I got in the car and I asked him how you pronounce it and I sent it to you.Wait, wait, spell it again.B-A-I-Y-I.Yeah.
And how would you pronounce that?
And how did he say that he pronounced it?Sean, I'm glad you brought this up.How did he say that he pronounced it?
By-ee.By-ee.There it was.By-ee.
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