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G-E-I-S-T. Thanks for your

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help. Hey

0:42

guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of

0:44

the Sunday Sit Down podcast. My thanks is

0:46

always for clicking and listening along. Got another

0:48

great one for you this week with

0:51

Chris Pine. Broke out

0:53

as a huge star playing Captain

0:55

Kirk in three blockbuster Star Trek

0:57

movies. You probably saw him as

0:59

Steve Trevor in the Wonder Woman

1:01

movies. Also massive hits. Also played

1:03

Jack Ryan. Received

1:05

big critical acclaim for his role in

1:07

Hell or High Water, playing alongside Jeff

1:10

Bridges a few years ago. And now

1:12

he's out with a passion project. The

1:14

most personal movie he's ever made. It's

1:16

called Pool Man. Why do I say

1:18

it's personal? Well, he dreamed it up.

1:21

He wrote it. He cast it.

1:23

He produced it. He directed it and

1:25

he stars in it. I'll let him

1:27

explain to you the main character named

1:29

Darren, which is grounded. It turns out

1:32

I didn't quite understand

1:34

or realize this grounded in

1:36

young Chris Pine. So what he says here and you'll

1:38

hear it in a minute is a

1:41

lot of people see him and know him now as this leading

1:43

man, this extrovert, this movie

1:45

star. And boy, was he not that way growing

1:47

up all the way up through college. So he

1:50

said it's kind of a funny twist that he's

1:52

become a film actor in such

1:54

a public job given the way he

1:56

is naturally, which is a little bit

1:58

more reserved. Great. Irritation. Really thoughtful

2:01

smart guy. He's so excited about

2:03

this project. he's done every these

2:05

do in Hollywood. Start and all

2:07

those big movies. gotten the raise

2:09

her, his performances and some smaller

2:11

movies and now this one is

2:13

just his baby. Great cast. Danny.

2:16

Devito Senate Jennifer, Jason leaves in it. Annette

2:18

Bening is in. It's a small movie they

2:20

shouted in twenty one days for. I think

2:22

he says seven million bucks or something like

2:24

that which by Hollywood standards is not much.

2:26

They had to work fast and he said

2:29

he loved the pacers. Com like being at

2:31

Cedar can't they huddle up are right. That

2:33

was good. Let's go on to the next

2:35

scene. I'm so you can tell you listen.

2:37

You'll hear the past and he has about

2:39

this films. Great guy to have to say.

2:41

oh here's his sense of humor. Great stories

2:44

in here comes from a pair of. Actors:

2:46

His parents. In fact his father start

2:48

on the hit nineteen a series Ships

2:50

was not Potter John, he was the

2:52

sergeants so he was an actor. Chris

2:55

his mom also was an actress but

2:57

not big movie stars like Chris. So

2:59

he talks about house kind of a

3:01

grind in their house when he was

3:04

growing up. So. I

3:06

will be quiet, sit back, relax

3:08

and enjoy right now Chris Pine

3:10

on the Sunday Sit Down podcast.

3:12

Chris Thanks man State and so much Ram

3:14

and with the see I'm so happy for

3:16

you because I just saw for men. And.

3:19

People are gonna love this. I'm curious for

3:21

you what it feels like may be different

3:23

than other movies. To. Be sitting

3:26

here a few days out from the

3:28

world beating your baby. And by that

3:30

I mean how it's you wrote it

3:32

directly murray as a terrifying and is

3:34

absolutely terrifying. It's. Ah

3:36

I don't have kids but I can

3:39

imagine it's like holding your child's hand

3:41

going all the way up to the

3:43

preschool. gets back from. asked her to

3:45

greet the world and all of their

3:47

their wildness. know it's great fun and

3:49

lox I wrote it you know. In.

3:52

A sign Them cove the

3:54

quarantine once. I

3:56

think all this were feeling a bit alone

3:58

and in this. My own

4:01

feelings as alone as some

4:03

and kind of meditating on.

4:05

My. Experiences with that and I

4:08

was very kind of i'm. Scared

4:11

kid and of fear for

4:13

and I would often times

4:15

silvery alone even and rooms

4:17

full of people and. So

4:21

that. Really? Is

4:23

the central focus of the story but

4:25

them? instead of going out at making

4:27

it some sort of sad sack story,

4:30

I wanted to go in the opposite

4:32

direction and I thought on you know

4:34

I love screwball comedy and and this

4:36

is a story about our poor man

4:38

detective realize there's like shades a chinatown

4:40

and and I put all of those

4:43

together and this is what came out

4:45

of the really that the impetus of

4:47

that was from the kids. Even something.

4:52

For at least for daring your

4:54

is like investigating what he he's

4:56

all about and when he's all

4:58

about turns out to be there

5:00

some sad stop there but with

5:02

his much joy in delight and

5:04

ah kind of grace as possible

5:06

bumbling grace by grace them lot

5:08

of people have seen the posters

5:10

around the I've seen the press,

5:12

the lights Zoc Chris Pine okay

5:14

that's Chris Pine. What is he

5:16

up to see? Ah so I

5:18

do you explain what this film

5:20

is to love The. Of it's

5:22

funny it's such as I think I've

5:24

made his phone for approximately fifteen that

5:26

people us and they're all my closest

5:28

friends because I think seen an advisory

5:30

the have yeah ah. A third.

5:35

Because like this in many ways is closer

5:37

to me than anything else I played. You

5:39

know, I think when I started getting cast

5:41

as the leading man and the handsome guy

5:43

and these storms it was such. A.

5:46

Joke to me. So deeply ironic,

5:48

so kind of a sense of

5:50

that. I would be like me,

5:52

you know? So this character of

5:54

the innocent who's i'm not the

5:56

coolest guy in the world and

5:58

is not shot on dates and

6:00

is kind of terrified of girls

6:02

speaks more to this part of

6:04

me. This kind of this child

6:06

in mean is this their dinner

6:08

this teenager and say think my

6:10

friends concede a bit more soaps

6:12

the way that I explained. You

6:14

know people have. In a

6:17

press release of I Think We Sets An Ode to

6:19

Los Angeles and in many ways it is no to

6:21

Los Angeles a love letter. But

6:23

really, ultimately, it's an ode to

6:25

this part of myself on trade

6:28

With Me Always. Which is this:

6:30

Oh, this. Awkward. Boy

6:32

that I've suffered enough so

6:34

long. And it's It's me.

6:36

I'm. Giving

6:38

him. The. Hero's Journey. Instead

6:41

of the guys I've been tasked with

6:43

playing or of more fully formed and

6:45

cooler, I could just as kind of

6:47

sick of playing. Cool

6:50

guy. In.

6:53

This, you know there's an archetype to

6:55

the character I played there and it's

6:57

you. We've seen it all the way

6:59

from Buster Keaton, it's and Peter Sellars

7:01

played a beautifully In and Being there.

7:03

And there's a bit of Fisher King

7:06

in their ah the wildness of imagination

7:08

and not really thought the appealing to

7:10

me was a character that I am.

7:13

That. Really came out of be quite.

7:15

Actually it's funny. I'm thinking of people watching.

7:18

This is on what is Chris Pine talking

7:20

about That He was awkward. Say. Down

7:22

because really what they know is

7:24

you as Steve, Trevor Dr. Ryan

7:26

are all these leading man So

7:29

who was that kid? yeah before

7:31

we met this movie star who's

7:33

the guy you're talking about the

7:35

well as I am a real

7:37

I'm was very sensitive child them

7:39

so pretty sensitive guy. Said.

7:45

Deftly and social anxiety for many years

7:47

and so can a deal with that

7:50

think I'd I'd classify myself more is

7:52

probably isn't introverts and and as an

7:54

extrovert which is. May

7:57

be startling. Forgive will be here given the

7:59

choice of my. profession. And

8:04

yeah, I was just, you know, I was an

8:07

awkward kid, had bad skin, had to rely

8:11

on my brains and making

8:13

people laugh more than anything

8:15

else. You know, a lot of things that I have, that

8:19

as I've gotten older, I have such a deep

8:21

appreciation for, that the skill set that I wouldn't

8:23

have had if I didn't feel that way, you

8:25

know. So

8:27

I guess that's what I'm saying is when I started

8:29

in my beginning of my career getting cast in these

8:31

parts, literally the

8:33

print. The

8:36

sense of being a fraud was so

8:38

deep that it was kind of waned

8:41

over time just by virtue of time.

8:44

And I'm kind of in on the joke

8:46

now, but I feel

8:51

much more authentically myself in a

8:53

character like Darren

8:55

Behrmann. And I

8:57

think really what I've, I

9:02

think exactly to what you said is like people see

9:04

it, they're like, what the hell is Chris Fine doing?

9:08

And it's been very difficult for me to,

9:10

to the cognitive dissonance of for me looking

9:12

at that, it seems so natural. You

9:15

know, it's like me and my buddies playing around.

9:17

In many ways, I mean,

9:19

to say that Darren's an outsider sort

9:21

of understates his life,

9:23

but in many ways you relate to that

9:25

because you were an outsider. Yeah, I know

9:28

I deeply relate to it. Yeah,

9:32

I just have distinct memories of not

9:34

feeling like one of the, like

9:37

one of the in crowd. Going

9:40

back as far as I remember. So this

9:43

story right about what you know is

9:45

writing about a Los Angeles that I

9:47

know, writing about places that I know,

9:50

Langer's Deli, Pianberger,

9:54

bemoaning the destruction of the Garden of Allah

9:57

on Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard, which is this

9:59

very, The famous hotel. The My parents would

10:01

always tell me that when we drove onto

10:04

the canyons. These are all parts of my

10:06

history, but also in terms of the community

10:08

that I've centered in. This are. All.

10:11

Of these Hollywood Boulevard of dream adjacent

10:14

folks they've either didn't there or had

10:16

a taste of it or so want

10:18

to taste as at my character is

10:20

making a documentary in his best friend

10:22

is an older director of used to

10:24

make B movies a paramount in the

10:27

eighties and then in hasn't worked for

10:29

thirty years and still waiting for his

10:31

agent to call the My girlfriend used

10:33

to be an actress but is now

10:35

applaud his instructor but as thinking of

10:37

dying or her to get new headshot.

10:39

So there's this sense that of. Giving

10:42

these people finally there starring role.

10:44

Ah in the sense that the

10:46

whole movie in some ways is

10:49

this creation of this one outside

10:51

are putting all of his friends

10:53

finally as that the center of

10:56

the spotlight. So you as I

10:58

mentioned you wrote this because, wrote

11:00

and produced directed darn it. Is

11:03

is something even thinking about for a long

11:05

time, I'm ready to step away from this

11:07

huge movie that I've had some success doing

11:10

and do something a little more intimate. says:

11:12

mind that you want to write did you

11:14

want to direct. I. Can

11:16

see that I consciously had any of

11:18

those thoughts. I, if this really began,

11:20

is nothing more than like two couples

11:22

in a pond. And it was this.

11:24

Poor. Man and Occupation in the title

11:26

for the phone and the character named

11:29

Aaron Bearman. And

11:31

they just as they. Collided.

11:35

Just made me smile and the pebbles

11:37

got dropped the my brain and two

11:39

years went by and they were so

11:41

caring down and my neural network and.

11:45

I had some time on my hands

11:47

we all did was covered in quarantine

11:49

head and it just starting to come

11:51

out and I started writing and let.

11:53

The voice came through me and the

11:55

visuals came through me and damn. i

12:00

would say on two fronts what I found is

12:02

that the, I tend to

12:04

be a pretty analytical human and

12:07

really rely on this probably so I don't have

12:09

to feel so much because I am sensitive. And

12:12

I think if I look at it

12:14

now, I

12:18

can see that really the exercise of a lot

12:20

of it was what

12:22

would it be like to have an

12:24

artistic experience where you yes

12:26

relied on the analysis of your brain

12:28

to get you through structure and composition

12:31

and narrative and all that but

12:34

really relying on the feeling of it and

12:36

this idea of instinct and this idea of

12:39

creative instinct and not letting the

12:41

sensor do so much work. So

12:43

that's one thing that I found appealing and then the

12:45

second is in preparing

12:47

for this and watching a lot of films

12:49

and watching a lot of the silent films

12:51

particularly Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin and seeing

12:53

like my God, these artists, that

12:56

is their work. They wrote it, they

12:58

directed it, they cut it, they production

13:00

designed it, they came up with their

13:02

characters, they dressed their characters. It is

13:04

a complete and utter composition on which

13:06

they have their imprimatur, you know? And

13:09

there's something really satisfying after a career of

13:11

20 years where you're a hired hand to

13:13

be like no, this is my work, you

13:15

know? It's deeply vulnerable and it's been terrifying

13:17

I would say a lot of the time

13:19

especially after it came out

13:22

to TIFF and now

13:24

onto the world but it's been

13:27

deeply gratifying, deeply

13:29

gratifying. Yeah. It's

13:32

yours, it's yours. Yeah, I can own all of it. That

13:34

is where the vulnerability comes in. I would

13:37

imagine it's the most akin to being a

13:39

comedian on stage or something. Which

13:41

I can't hide behind anything because an

13:44

actor you can hide, my God. Marketing,

13:46

editing, writing, directing but the

13:48

point the movie comes out, you're two movies down the

13:50

road anyway. So, you know, but

13:53

this is a different experience for sure.

14:00

Hi Rina from the brick. Usa

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helping members at Usa A.com/bundle.

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Restrictions apply. Welcome back! Now more of

14:18

my conversation with Chris Pine is the

14:20

story True Christmases Pebbles started to drop

14:22

when you are sitting on set of

14:24

Wonder Woman with Patty Jenkins kind of

14:27

bouncing. Some things have heard as he

14:29

was less bouncing and more like you

14:31

know. As an actor

14:33

an iphone federer really eminent told you

14:36

said the matter you're working for vs

14:38

ten hour days. In.

14:40

The majority of that time

14:43

college sixty sixty five percent

14:45

said the person is waiting

14:47

and waiting for people to

14:49

set up. See can go

14:51

do these little brief spurts

14:54

of work. So you're doing

14:56

anything ten to amuse yourself.

14:58

you're setting languages room, crossword

15:00

puzzles you or whatever you're

15:02

doing. And so I as

15:05

like a court jester first

15:07

because I love seeing Gallon

15:09

Patty laugh. Because they both have great

15:11

last a just like to amuse them and

15:13

I'm coming up with bed since and this

15:15

is one of the things that came out

15:17

of meals. Oh. That's his little

15:19

bit more gold and then the other that

15:22

I was set. To

15:24

me out within yeah, but it wasn't

15:26

if there was nothing deeply conscious about

15:29

the rammer you're pitching and I noticed

15:31

that the with kind of briefing on

15:33

C got if you get an idea

15:35

script and very go cast the same.

15:38

And my God did you land some

15:40

incredible. Actors. And like

15:43

you were saying early for we started

15:45

to come and kind of play in

15:47

a theater almost environment. Yes the financing

15:50

this was a truly independent from we

15:52

had ah we ultimately at about seven

15:54

an ass. To. make it and

15:56

we shot i'm film in los angeles

15:58

over twenty one day is the height

16:01

of summer, the height of COVID. So

16:05

a lot of stuff working against getting

16:07

A-list actors don't wanna come out and

16:09

play. We sent

16:11

it to Danny and I'd known Danny

16:13

kind of from afar. His

16:17

kids went to the same high school I did and were a

16:19

couple of years younger than me. But

16:22

so I knew of him and was around him

16:24

a bit. And I

16:26

had known Annette through Warren and a

16:28

little bit socially. Didn't

16:31

know Jennifer at all. And

16:33

I used my typewriter

16:35

and typed up these letters to him because

16:37

I love looking at, there's a great book

16:39

called Letters of Note. And

16:41

it's just all these old letters

16:44

written on beautiful stationries, one did back in the

16:46

day. And it would usually have like a header,

16:48

either your name or your location. And then I

16:51

just like, I love the formality of it. It feels

16:53

it speaks to such a different time. And I wanted

16:55

them to know that there's

16:57

something very easy about an email or a text or a

16:59

phone call or whatever. And I was like, no, I want

17:02

them to, so

17:04

I typed up this letter and I

17:06

sent it off in the

17:08

snail mail and with a copy

17:10

of the script. Because back in

17:12

the day you get these scripts with your like

17:14

agency letterhead on it. It just felt all very

17:16

formal and cool. And

17:19

I was lucky, I was really lucky. They responded right

17:21

away. And

17:24

we lost funding at one time and so

17:26

many months went by and I thought I

17:28

was gonna lose them. And then finally everything

17:30

kind of coalesced magically as it seems to

17:32

do in independent filmmaking. And we

17:34

were off to the race. I'm so glad it did. And

17:37

they love those letters by the way. I was reading some

17:39

interviews where they said, did he type this? Yeah. He

17:41

got their attention at the very least. Yeah, I

17:43

love a typewriter. I just, there's something

17:46

about the, architecturally

17:48

I find them gorgeous. Tom Hanks, I

17:50

had a little brief

17:52

talk with him about it because he's obviously a big fan and

17:54

collector of him. They're pieces of art.

17:56

They're like, I don't

17:59

know, they're gorgeous. heavy pieces of crafted

18:01

material and I love the sound of

18:03

them and the key strokes

18:05

and uh, factors

18:08

into the movie. You won't give up. Yeah, exactly.

18:10

There's a cool element in the film. Um,

18:12

I was reading some of the ways you described the

18:15

movie and I realized it helped me sort of articulate

18:17

what I was feeling while watching it, which is there

18:20

are moments of humor and it's tragic

18:23

in some ways about lives

18:25

that maybe didn't turn out the way they hope they

18:27

would. And that's so relatable

18:29

to almost everyone. Yeah. So

18:32

what I guess the question is, what is this movie

18:34

about to you? Is it about love? Is

18:36

it about family? Is it about, it's about

18:38

love and family. And it's about coming to

18:40

terms with, uh, again,

18:45

I lead with the silly and I

18:47

lead with, I lead with screwball comedy for the

18:49

most part and they're Coenesk

18:52

and Lynch and Malek

18:54

and all these Ashby. I throw a lot of sauce and

18:56

pepper into this. I figured if I was going to make

18:58

one move, I may as well just try

19:01

it all. And I probably tried too much, but that's

19:03

part of the joy of it for me. And hopefully

19:05

if you dig the wavelength of the film, what you'll

19:07

dig, um, for

19:11

me, it's about the fundamental idea that in

19:13

order to fully know how to love, you

19:15

have to know how to love yourself. And

19:19

again, I decided not to make a

19:23

Schmaltz film. I just decided to go all

19:25

the way the other direction. And

19:28

this is really a man who's a detective pool

19:30

man who goes on this search

19:32

for the corruption that's having at city council that

19:35

does it or not involve water. When in

19:37

fact, really the journey was all about him

19:39

finding out the deepest parts about himself in

19:42

order to have a cathartic moment, Individuate

19:44

become fully whole so that he can now

19:47

go on and know how to be actually

19:49

relational. I Mean, a lot of the film

19:51

is dense with people talking and it's chaotic

19:53

and reminds me very much of what it

19:55

was like growing up when you're just kind

19:58

of looking up at the world. It's

20:00

just noise, a lot of it, and

20:03

the music of it. I really wanted

20:05

to have that kind of complexity, and

20:07

that's. That David

20:09

or Russell family neurosis quality to

20:11

it that really has than one

20:13

silent capsule of the scene where

20:15

the antagonist protagonists are like two

20:17

eight year old boys on a

20:19

schoolyard apologizing to one another. Ah,

20:21

so they have a real actual

20:23

moment of like oh my god,

20:25

This is what it's like to

20:27

be This is being human. So.

20:31

That's what it's about. So

20:33

ultimately it is about families

20:35

about joy. It's about ah,

20:37

It's about forgiving the parents

20:40

that you had in order

20:42

to ah, In

20:44

order to accept the parents

20:46

you do have. Ah, Sienna.

20:49

It's about a lot of stuff, but

20:52

it's ultimately again. Or thing about that

20:54

one beautiful scene in the dressing room

20:56

with Blanche spread as such a beautiful

20:58

human. Right? And it's. Is

21:02

supposed to be written as if it were an eight year

21:04

old. It's like. I often think

21:06

the whole song was written from the

21:08

perspective and even directive from the perspective

21:10

of the main character Deron. It's like

21:13

this little tableau diagram of his vision

21:15

of what l a look site cause

21:17

the really is no time and place

21:19

to it. It's here now. it's a

21:22

be the past the no cell phones

21:24

but they. Have.

21:27

And. This is a vision

21:29

of what it would be like is if you

21:32

were You know. I. I

21:34

for I was writing the cel mai was

21:36

watching lot of data on the spectrum. It's.

21:40

Like oh my God Daring in the

21:42

scene when he's having his date with

21:44

is beautiful woman in this new are

21:46

day because she speaking in all the

21:48

subtleties of new are speak you have

21:50

is deeply literal person and as deeply

21:52

non literal person and they're like two

21:54

ships and the night they don't have

21:56

any you know they don't have any.

21:58

am. They're

22:01

not speaking the same a language

22:03

to cover up to full circle

22:06

is that? then. That.

22:08

Is almost like an interaction where his mother

22:10

had taught him how. This. Is what

22:12

you do you say? Can I ask your

22:14

forgiveness and someone says yes you can and

22:16

I'm sorry to can ask your forgiveness and

22:19

a Psych. The. Simplicity and

22:21

earnest purity of that spoke

22:23

to me in of. You

22:26

mention the Cohen Brothers? Forgive.

22:28

Me from prep same yeah penis

22:30

did I see some of the

22:32

sued in there was. You

22:35

know we were worried about that. I

22:38

say worried lox. The Basque is like

22:40

you know of one of my Citizen

22:42

Kane. So did such high praise as

22:44

people think and as that quality But

22:46

I think the really distinct differences that

22:48

while the Basque is a deeply passive.

22:51

He rejects action at all costs

22:53

and yet is forced to be

22:55

in action there in the character

22:58

I played like all without. Actually

23:00

he's like deeply passionate. He's too

23:02

passionate, He's to action oriented, he's

23:04

just doesn't really know what to

23:06

do or how to do it

23:08

well. And he doesn't smoke pot,

23:10

he doesn't drink, he drinks and

23:12

creams. ah I think you know.

23:15

From a character Logical simply, they're deeply

23:17

different. but there are definitely a lot

23:20

of similarities. I you know there's there's

23:22

dream sequences, there's weird stuff, and lizards.

23:24

There's a he's being stalked by the

23:27

image of a tree. He's You know,

23:29

there's a lot of there's a lot

23:31

of there's a lot there is there

23:34

and leading the caper labelle. Yeah, gonna

23:36

get drags out here and exactly exactly.

23:38

Stick around for see some time right

23:41

after. If

23:43

you ever need to be for sweet. Journey

23:48

with us. we

23:50

must see them and

24:00

the group's most appreciated to listen

24:02

as we subscribe to Dayline Premium

24:04

on Apple Procter,

24:07

Spotify, or daylinepremium.com.

24:10

Great storytelling with a twist

24:13

from the true crime original. Welcome

24:18

back now to the rest of my conversation

24:20

with Chris Pine. So you talked

24:22

about this being kind of a love letter to LA. You

24:24

were talking a little bit about what kind of kid you

24:26

were. You also were the child of actors. Uh-huh.

24:29

I was fascinated to see that that wasn't

24:32

really on the radar for you to become

24:35

an actor yourself, much until

24:37

you got to college, really, to find

24:39

a group of people to be with. I

24:41

played sports in high school since I was

24:43

five in basketball and baseball, and

24:46

that was really my life. I didn't really... I

24:49

loved reading, but I didn't really think about school. I did

24:51

well in the school because I was taught to do well,

24:54

but not out of any distinct

24:56

passion to learn. I just wanted

24:58

to do well for my parents because that's what I was

25:00

taught. And then realizing

25:03

at 15 that I was a pretty mediocre baseball

25:05

player and wasn't going to become Don Manningley. We

25:07

all have that moment. We have that moment. And

25:09

I went to a small private school. Then went

25:11

to a giant university at Berkeley that was like

25:13

30,000 undergraduates and trying to

25:17

just navigate socially that experiment

25:19

was deeply difficult

25:22

for a shy kid. And

25:25

then finding an outlet with theater. So

25:27

theater really came to me in this

25:29

holistic way of providing

25:32

me an outlet for my extra version

25:36

and for validation that I had

25:38

gotten from sports. And

25:41

that really was it for me. I

25:43

didn't have any other prospects coming out

25:45

of college, legitimate

25:47

prospects that I felt I could pursue. And

25:50

for a kid, your parents are

25:52

just going to work, right? They're not elevating

25:54

what they do. It's like, oh wow, they're

25:56

actors on this huge show. Well,

26:00

it sucked quite frankly most of the time

26:02

growing up in terms of the

26:04

instability financially that my family

26:06

experienced. I get such

26:09

a kick out of all this Nepo talk, which

26:12

my family laughs about because if anyone

26:15

had any look into my family growing up,

26:17

that was the farthest thing

26:19

that was happening as if

26:22

we were some sort of wealthy cabal

26:24

of entertainment folk that were like, and

26:27

you and you, you're an entertainment scion.

26:29

It's like, come on. My

26:32

father was on a really successful TV show until 1981. I

26:35

was born in 80 and then he was working on

26:37

Bold and the Beautiful and I mean the rest of

26:39

my mom, they quit acting, but then, you

26:42

know, gigs started not coming around so

26:44

much and auditions Peter out and then

26:46

the real estate crash of 87, 88.

26:50

It was a rough like 15 or

26:52

so years where I

26:55

saw how absolutely

26:57

brutal and fickle and

27:01

just really hard the business can be. The

27:04

business of acting when it's good, the life

27:06

I've had is like, it's

27:09

ridiculous. It's .001% of

27:11

the population of the

27:15

actor community or the community at large. So

27:19

I'm very aware

27:21

of the

27:24

rarity of my position because I know more

27:26

often than not, it's what my parents went

27:28

through for a long time. So none of

27:30

that deterred you though, did your parents? No,

27:34

my parents saw

27:36

me in a play in college and

27:38

my mother, I remember, this is

27:40

not hyperbole said, are you sure you don't want

27:42

to become a lawyer? And

27:45

she didn't say it jokingly. I

27:48

said no, and she took a moment and

27:50

she said, okay, very

27:52

seriously, because my mother, you know, that was,

27:56

she knew what I was going up against, you

27:58

know, potentially going up against. It's

28:00

my parents have been nothing but supportive

28:02

nothing but support I

28:04

was very blessed in terms of I

28:07

grew up in art You know showbiz showbiz

28:09

I grew up in showbiz, you know And

28:12

you remember the first gig the episode of

28:14

ER how exciting that was that wasn't my

28:16

first Well, I got my Taft I got

28:19

Taft Hartley Taft Hartley this right you

28:21

get your screen actors guild card when

28:23

you're a nonmember It

28:27

was a Hardee's commercial and then I did a

28:29

then I did a Heineken commercial and then I

28:31

did ER and I had a couple lines with

28:34

with Sally Field and More

28:39

Tierney and then And

28:42

then I did this episode of the Guardians.

28:44

I did episode of American dreams And then

28:47

I got the same point I

28:49

started booking these things back to back in this very short

28:52

span of time and then I got Prince of Starry's

28:54

too And then I was started working So

28:56

that felt like was Princess Diaries to a

28:59

point which you said, okay, I'm gonna miss my

29:01

life This is what I'm gonna be now. I

29:03

was driving on the freeway and I was in

29:06

my 1972 BMW

29:08

2002 that I had since I was 16 Had

29:12

no air conditioning. It was the height of summer and I

29:14

was getting off at Magnolia Now

29:17

it was on my little like Verizon

29:21

tiny little flip phone my silver one And

29:25

I got a call from my agents and I booked

29:27

a job and I pulled over onto the side of

29:29

the freeway And they

29:32

said you're getting paid $65,000

29:34

and it was like They

29:38

just told me I'd made 50 million dollars

29:41

It was absolutely earth-shattering Earth-shattering

29:44

I and I kept for a long

29:46

time. I was had an overdraft of

29:48

my bank account It

29:50

was like $400 over I was

29:53

gonna have to ask my parents for money And

29:56

then I got that 65 and I

29:58

just remembered distinctly knowing

30:00

in that moment that my life had

30:03

changed somehow, even though 60

30:05

at the end of the day turned out to be about $15,000. They

30:08

don't tell you that. They don't tell you that.

30:10

Oh, my parents' rent money. But

30:13

that is a, you know, it's a

30:15

wild, it's a

30:17

wild, so I'll never forget that. That was

30:19

the Princess Diaries, check. You

30:22

never forget that moment. Now it's all

30:24

possible. I can do this for a living, right? Yeah,

30:27

I mean, and now, you know, I get

30:29

checks sometimes that are like, are so, there's

30:31

almost like monopoly money. I'm like, I can't

30:33

even, this is how, like

30:37

how did this happen? I live this

30:39

incredible life. I get to play pretend.

30:43

Even the marketing stuff that we're doing for Foreman is

30:45

like, my buddies and I are coming up with stuff

30:47

that makes us laugh for a

30:49

living. It's

30:52

like, this is real? So

30:56

anytime I'm a bitch and complain and I love to

30:58

complain, I really try to take a step off

31:00

the gas pedal and remind myself that the

31:03

luxury of what I get to do is profoundly

31:07

cool. And

31:11

remembering what my folks had

31:13

to go through when that

31:16

Maslow's hierarchy is real and when you're

31:18

worrying about the real, you

31:21

know, time to play, you know, time

31:23

to do stuff sucks. So

31:25

I'm living, you know, living a dream. Yeah,

31:27

it's fun to walk from the outside. It's

31:30

how proud they are of you. They're on

31:32

a red carpet or giving an interview. I

31:34

mean, it truly feels like they're

31:36

all rooting for you. I think so, you

31:38

know, look, my great

31:40

uncle was an actor on Broadway. My

31:42

grandmother was an actress. My grandfather was

31:45

a movie producer. My father was an

31:47

actor. My mother was an actress. Her

31:50

nanny was in vaudeville. My sister was an

31:52

actress. I was a production work for Tony

31:54

Scott. Then was a

31:56

casting director. I mean, so

31:59

I come from a, line of circus

32:01

performers basically. And in circus performing,

32:03

it's a weird gig and sometimes

32:06

there's a lot of work and

32:08

there's money

32:10

falling from the sky and sometimes it's really

32:12

not. So

32:16

I think they're proud because they know how hard it

32:18

is. I don't have kids

32:20

so I don't know what that's like but

32:25

I know I'm blessed to have a social

32:27

needle with my father that he's

32:30

just the most gracious, loving

32:33

and he means it.

32:35

He couldn't be any more proud

32:39

and I feel it. They

32:41

watch the whole journey from the shy kid,

32:44

the introvert, all that. They probably can't believe

32:46

it sometimes either, right? Yeah, I

32:48

guess. My mom will say when I was a

32:50

kid, my

32:53

next door neighbor, Paul Lickman,

32:55

his father, his father

32:58

had given him a fedora from the

33:00

20s and I loved this fedora so

33:02

much because my favorite movie was Bugsy

33:04

Malone and Indiana Jones. So

33:07

he gave me this fedora and the moment

33:09

he gave me the fedora, I was dressing

33:11

up like Al

33:13

Capone and doing bits for my parents

33:15

and I love to

33:17

dress up and do these bits. So

33:20

it's definitely been in my blood. I

33:22

do think though

33:25

that I could be very deeply introverted

33:27

as a kid so I would imagine

33:29

they would be partly stunned by what

33:31

I've done with my life.

33:35

So how did you, as a guy

33:37

who was

33:39

introverted and maybe still is in some ways,

33:42

when you become Justin Kirk and Jack

33:44

Ryan and the Wonder Woman movies make

33:46

you so known and such

33:49

a star, how did you deal with this

33:51

stuff off screen which is everybody knows

33:53

who you are and everybody wants a piece of

33:55

you. How do you manage that part of it?

34:00

Uh, I

34:04

will say this. I, I have

34:08

managed to retain a certain level of anonymity

34:10

that is still kind

34:12

of stunning to me. I

34:14

don't, people

34:17

recognize me, but it's never a big

34:19

deal. And I have a

34:21

very normal life. Say I remember I saw

34:23

Keanu Reeves on an airplane once. He was

34:25

in first in business, like 30 people.

34:28

There's Keanu Reeves, like Keanu

34:30

Reeves. Reading a book, no

34:33

one's paying attention. I

34:36

have this feeling that it's a partly an attitude

34:38

of how you go about the thing. If

34:40

you are, if you're, if you

34:42

have a security detail around you, yeah, people

34:44

are going to be like, who's the schmuck,

34:46

you know? And if you don't, you don't.

34:49

I think it's partly that it's also partly because I,

34:52

I do, I have made these big films, but I'm

34:54

not a Tom Cruise. I'm not a big

34:56

mega movie star. I've been, I've been in

34:58

some movies, so I have some recognition,

35:01

but I don't have. And

35:03

I also have this kind of

35:05

white man face that people are like, I

35:08

got this yesterday, someone was like, Hey, Jim Carrey. Jim

35:11

Carrey. I got Jim Carrey in the past

35:13

week. I've gotten Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels. And

35:15

I take them both with incredible

35:18

amount of pride, gentlemen. Jeff

35:20

Daniels, I can see because of the current look.

35:22

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I

35:25

did get, uh, George Hamilton and this

35:27

is no, George Hamilton.

35:31

It's just the age disparity. He's like, it's

35:34

a little rough for me. My

35:36

ego isn't super happy with that one. Handsome man.

35:38

But he's a very handsome man with incredible tan.

35:41

Great tan. And a good head of hair. Great

35:43

tan. I don't know who you're running into in

35:45

the street, but they're not even close. A lot,

35:47

a lot of people. Yeah. I mean, I had

35:49

a whole encounter with this woman in Washington DC

35:51

and she was from, uh,

35:54

a tourist, she

35:56

was convinced that was Matt Damon. I didn't want to let her down.

35:58

Did you go? with it? Yes, I didn't want

36:01

to let her down. She'd already like put down her bags

36:03

and I called her family over and I was like, all

36:06

right, let's do it. How deep did you get in?

36:08

Were you talking about the born identity and all your

36:10

movies? I didn't think she, I don't think there was

36:13

a lot of verbal communication. I don't think the language

36:15

is really there, but it was like whatever

36:17

language she was speaking, Matt Damon pointing at me

36:19

and I was like, okay. And you

36:22

got the picture and everything? Sure,

36:24

you know. You know it's great

36:26

she's gonna get home and someone's

36:28

gonna finally tell her. I know.

36:30

Yeah, I know. Who? Yeah. Last

36:32

thing and I'll let you go,

36:34

the directing for this movie. Has it inspired you

36:37

that that's something you'd like to do more

36:39

of? Yeah, for sure. I directing and acting at

36:41

the same time. Precisely for

36:44

the what we discussed earlier is the waiting it.

36:46

There's no waiting. I love that. Feels like what

36:49

I want it to be, which is like let's go

36:51

make, make, make, make, make. And it's

36:55

also true because it's the only time

36:59

you haven't been in this business a long time and to

37:03

finally after so long be like have

37:06

complete ownership over a piece of art. Cinema

37:09

and TV is not an actor's medium, it's

37:11

a director's and an editor's medium. So

37:14

you go in and you paint some pictures and

37:17

then they collage it in whatever format they want

37:20

and it's oftentimes deeply disappointing because

37:22

it's not what you had mined or

37:24

whatever. So to have

37:27

ownership over it is really incredibly deeply

37:30

fulfilling. You know it's finally being like a

37:32

painter, a true painter. And

37:35

I just have to work on being a

37:39

little bit worth next game because this process

37:41

has been has been a difficult one. A

37:43

great challenge emotionally. I really want to thankful

37:45

for but hard nonetheless. You're putting yourself out

37:47

there that's gonna come with some shots

37:50

as well right? Yeah shots I

37:52

mean what I've heard so far is I

37:56

haven't read anything but there seems to be

37:58

some some deep delight. delight in

38:01

the verbiage used to criticize

38:05

a film. Criticism

38:07

is what it is, but the

38:09

deep delight in being toxic I'm

38:12

not a fan of. But

38:17

again, as I say, there's two

38:19

ways to look at it, and

38:21

I think I'm really

38:24

grateful for the experience

38:27

of being vulnerable publicly in this

38:29

way and being

38:32

able to go walk through it and come out the other

38:35

side and be like, I'm

38:37

still here. I'm

38:40

still laughing. I'm in New York. I

38:43

just had a great meal with my best friend. Okay.

38:47

I'm not saying it's easy,

38:49

but it's doable

38:52

and I'm

38:54

looking forward to walking that path. Well,

38:57

I enjoyed it. I think people are really going to like

38:59

it. Thanks, Papa. Get it out to the public, and it's

39:01

been an honor to talk to Matt Damon. I

39:05

love you, Abner. My

39:10

big thanks to Chris for a great

39:12

conversation. Fool Matt is in theaters on

39:14

May 10th. My thanks to

39:17

all of you for listening again this week. If

39:19

you want to hear more of my conversations with

39:21

our guests every week, be sure to click follow

39:23

to never listen up. And don't

39:25

forget, of course, to tune in to

39:27

Sunday today, every weekend on NBC, where

39:29

you actually can see these interviews as

39:32

well. I'm Willie Geist. We'll see you

39:34

right back here next week on the Sunday Sit

39:36

Down. He

39:43

would lie his way into their

39:45

dreams. He was looking for James

39:47

Bond girls. How fun would that be

39:49

to be a Bond girl? Then twist

39:52

them into a nightmare. This guy has

39:54

done this before. He'll do it again.

39:56

Until a group of women banded together

39:58

to put him behind bars. and

40:00

keep him there.