"Amanda Peet"

hey everybody hey um oh my goodness are we in a good mood today we are i mean you were shut out of a cannon i'm all fired up we get to do some potting today yeah um and i'm so excited you two are here for this you're gonna have such a hoot what we do is uh that little foam thing in front of your mouth you just speak into that we're gonna have somebody of interest uh coming on soon you're gonna be able to uh ask any questions that you might have and they should respond uh in a somewhat informative way nobody's left nobody's gonna listen you think they've turned the dial well then let's hurry up and get the guest out here come on welcome to smart list what is that from well hi hi that's like a new smart list oh my jesus isn't that a um isn't that don't they use that in sport sports things uh yeah hey sean yeah are you doing this right now i'm doing this right now i'm doing this right now i'm doing this right now do you want to get an ad for all-american guy you just took a big gulp of milk and now you took a bite of an apple yeah i just got what happened you ran out of pop tarts dude hit the horn again there you go yeah hey did archie give you that app or something is that is that next to the fart one no man i i've had it for a long time embarrassingly enough did i tell you somebody gave me a box of pop tarts outside the stage door did they really yeah it was the greatest gift it was a crowd there was there was a bowl around it there's a book and i thought that was the nicest gift ever and did security tackle them no remember when we went on tour and that somebody handed me a sandwich and i ate it and jason was like i kind of do i remember that we got in the car you're like why would you ever eat a sandwich from somebody off the street you're trying to remember the time that you ate a sandwich no no no i just kind of heighten it if it's if it's not if it's dragged across the needs a little punch i know by the way it should be noted i texted jb i'm gonna embarrass him the boys and i are jabe and i watched that first episode of dts louis he's so good wait sweet man jason you're so good listen this is simple go ahead sean you're so good at playing a simp go ahead sean you're so good at playing a simp go ahead sean i mean i just i i almost j it's like one of those incredible powerful performances that i felt like when i saw willie do his movie too where i'm looking at you right now i've known you for 75 000 years and i don't i don't know who you are like it was so unbelievably a different person that i did not believe i was watching you finished it last night i finished the whole series yeah last night how do you have all the how do you have them all he i gave him mine right we we finished we finished the first episode and i turned to the boys and i said i literally looked at my go how many episodes away are we from jason getting pegged jay i mean pretty close i could go on and on i was so good i was in tears at the end because i was so proud of my friend jay's very nice about really good everybody's really good everybody's really good everybody's really good everybody's really good great linda cardellini is amazing our david harbour really great david harbour everybody's great i'm not comparing anybody but jason you are so good in this part honestly appreciate and it's so i mean what were you and it's not surprising it should be noted too because you know when people go you were really good always hurts but but i texted jason yesterday last night about like what a huge swing it was to to do this i mean will wait until you see i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't say it in another word i don't what i knew a new one came out last night and i couldn't watch last night so right i mean it's this guy steve conrad this writer director we'll leave the subject sorry listener um uh but this guy steve connor this writer director he's just so incredible yeah and like daring and yeah daring but like without being obnoxiously like oh look how avant-garde and and you know it's like it's so serves the characters it's so relatable that it makes it absolutely possible to watch because it's so cringy and real and awkward and so much so i woke up today i started doing just regular whatever tasks thinking about dtf st louis and these characters and i'm like were you sitting on scotty's face those are his regular tasks wait a minute wait a minute yeah yeah that's a little precursor what happens in the show but anyways uh you're very nice thank you men uh willie it's nice to have you back in the states you made it was there any issues at the border or was it was it pretty smooth still good still good still good yeah okay yeah all right so i'm in good i'm in good standing your bronzer still you haven't run out of that uh no no it's good it's a little streaky fresh i can't get behind i can't see and my feet obviously my feet are always a mess when i get sprayed i used to go to that thing all the time did you used to go to i've never done it no i've literally never done it do you remember that episode of rest of development when david cross had to uh blow himself or blew it he says i just blew myself he had to put on his own blue man makeup yes um i just read this morning david's got a brand new comedy special uh his ninth one uh is self-releasing on his on his website and on youtube i forget the date but it's probably on david cross go see it on that yeah click it click it and forget i love d um d cross wait one time really quick i went i went into this dc remember remember he used to sorry just when dc especially first year we do something and david go like that's so late like we discussed jason i was would describe something we didn't go that's pretty lame and we'd go we'd go oh sorry street cred oh yeah we started calling him street cred which which he actually ended up liking it made him laugh hey street cred coming up fella yeah anyway god i love him shall we yeah i was gonna say something shawnee will come no it was too that subject went too far away it's about this tanning thing bring it back because i used to um i was so white when i would have to have an event to go to or something my makeup lady from will and grace she would come over and cake on tanning stuff on my face but she forgot was it patty yeah patty bunch yeah yeah yeah she's the best and she forgot to do my hands oh so and i won a sag award and so you know you do the line the photos i'm holding up the sag award and my hands are as white as snow and my face is as orange as the sun that's up there with uh with um sometimes in the uh and in a particularly unemployed summer i will play a bunch of golf and and the tan difference yeah i see it now the between the glove hand and the non-glove hand yeah that's funny it's very uh ugly um all right great super hashtag relatable yeah first world problems uh extreme uh we just lost 50 000 listeners today we have one of my favorite actors she always has been i've had the great fortune of working with her a couple of times and it is as good in person as it is on film she is not only an actor but also a producer and a writer but not just any writer this is a playwright and recently a columnist which we will talk about it's very exciting after more than 25 years of doing great work it's even greater right now she's got a new season of her hit show on apple starting this spring she's got a brand new film being released has a very fancy publication of her essay dropping and has successfully gotten through yet another year of marriage to a real ding dong she's a unicorn folks and here she is please welcome my longtime nearest and dearest friend miss amanda pete boy do we have stuff to talk about hi shawnee hi honey how are you i'm okay oh my gosh you got a mic set up and everything you guys i did almost did like 25 spit takes and i wasn't sure if i was she is prone to a spit take with a microphone look at you oh should i put that down no no no no no no you guys all have yours we're not doing video this is just that's the one we sent you i've just never seen you in this environment so it's all new to me it's so great to see you i know she was like she sent me a text she said she sent me a text she said can i look like a slob i go yeah i'm on pjs i'm always in my pjs the only thing being recorded is your voice how do you think he only travels in pjs wow you are really tan well i know i know i get that a lot um as you know smoking and sun not good i know yeah okay wait wait is it still happening well we're still chipping it's still it's still really annoying that you're so good with uh with with addictions now i guess You've got it all handled. You can just chip away at the cigarettes and it doesn't take over? Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty good. I go through phases. I can't do a little of anything. I know. Me neither. I can't either. I generally can't either. Amanda, how are you with sugar? I'm really bad with sugar. I mean, it's not great. It's not great. What's the one thing. I need it out. If you could go to an addict's, what, circle, meeting, whatever it's called, what would it be for, Amanda? Oh. What's the thing you want to kick? I can't say it. Oh, you can't say it? Really? I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. We talk about porn here all the time. That is something I don't have a problem with. Yeah. No, what is it? I'm addicted to exercise. Really? No, for real? Guys, I'm kidding. Are you kidding me? Right? JB, do you know me at all? Sean, it would be sugar for you? Oh, my God. I can't not go a day without eating tons of sugar. Have you tried to just get it out of the house? Like, have you tried the thing where it's like proximity? Well, and then like I eat an apple. Yeah, that works. Okay, well, that has sugar but the good kind. But then I'll have a Snickers right after this. Who has Snickers? Just a full-grown Snickers. I haven't had a Snickers since Halloween when I was 14. But you know what? I texted these guys the other night. I came home after doing two shows and I had a plate of spaghetti and a donut. On the same plate? On the same plate. On the same plate. Don't you think you're burning enough adrenaline That's what I'm saying. that two shows, like it just probably just doesn't work. It's a one-man show, too. Yeah, that's what I'm saying. You earn it. You earn that spaghetti. He sent the photo of the pasta of the spaghetti bolognese and then a chocolate donut with a bite out of it. So then I FaceTimed him just because I wanted kind of verification because I thought that he had said it for the photo for effect. And sure enough, donut is on the plate. He's eating them both simultaneously. Yeah. I really was. Spaghetti with donut chaser. And a glass of milk, yeah. I often think how when, you know, I have an 11-year-old, I often think of how one of the greatest people in the world one of the great, great pleasures of being an adult, a grown-up, is that you can eat your dessert before your meal. Sure. Yeah. There's no rules. Well, actually, if you remember, Sean, I said to you, are you at an 11-year-old's birthday party? Yeah. And I said, I stopped by on the way home from work. Yeah. Amanda Peet. Southie. Yes. Oh, my God. Amanda. You worked with Amanda. Amanda and I worked together first almost 30 years ago. We did a film called, I know, sorry. Sorry to say that. I don't know that number right now. Jesus. I don't feel good about it either. 30 years ago. Do you guys both still have your Boston accents? Sad cards? They almost took our sad cards away. They came on set. Was it not good? Wait, what did you work on together? Southie. It was called Southie. It was a film? Oh, Southie. It was a film about South Boston. Oh, I didn't know that. How are you? Good to see you. Good for you, Amanda, huh? Hey, Peet. You're doing good, huh? Wait, Amanda, did you do the accent too? Do you still have it? I think I might have. Do it just a little bit. Just do a little bit. Honestly, I can't even fucking remember because I was living in Denmark at the time. They're going to kick me out of the condo. They're going to kick me out of the condo soon. That was terrible. Wow. No, that was good. That was good. The condo is good, though. Condo. Still rolling. Still rolling. Still rolling. City of Boston. Rude. Rude. Wait, was Donnie Wahlberg the star of that film? So Donnie Wahlberg was a star. Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan, you, me, and Donnie, directed by John Shea. And Mira. And Mira. Who, by the way, Sean, I was saying, I was about to do a play after Southie, and I was telling her about how I have terrible stage fright, and I was trying to just chat with her about it, and she had, you know, she was the chain smoker, and she just said, as soon as you want to be good, you're dead. Wow. By the way, good advice. Wow, that's a good quote. Isn't that deep? Yeah, she was cool. She was, she was, no nonsense, she was cool. That's kind of cool. As soon as you want to be good. Yeah. Wait, wait, tell me about the stage fright. I guess I have that. I guess we all have that a bit. Yeah, I haven't ever done it. Figure out how to not flip out at an early stage. right before you get on. Is it, well, yeah. You know what I do? My little sort of trick I've always done for a long time, especially when you're going to do something kind of live or whatever, and like you're like, I gotta get out there, and I just go, I am where I am, and literally use it. This is energy. Okay. And I just flip it. So don't try to get over it. No. That's incredibly annoying. Welcome it and bring it in. Just flip it. Just flip it. Flip it and forget it. Yeah, flip it. No. I don't have those kinds of nerves, dude. Honestly, that's a good impression of me. Now, has it always been like that? Here we go. Let's go back to the beginning, Amanda. Do we have to? When you were a kid, yeah, when you were a kid, was it, was it always going to be this? Like, did you have a plan? For this? Or did you just kind of wing it and like, the entertainment world kind of came your way? Or was it like, no, let's set the oars in this direction and start rowing? I think both parents were. That's good. That's enough. Thank you. And we'll go to our first break. No, both parents are. Off crowd. Both parents were as far from the entertainment business as you could possibly be. What kind of? Corporate lawyer. Yeah. Yale undergrad, Harvard Law School. My mom was a social worker, psychotherapist. Wow. And I feel like they saw acting in the beginning similarly to just, oh, so you want to, you want to start modeling. You want to join the circus. You want to be a hooker. Right. Yeah. Wow. And, and, and, sex worker sorry sorry sorry sorry sex worker did you work to um sort of convince him that that that that wasn't the way you were seeing it and what your intentions were or did you just kind of like hide your pursuit yes i think i was constantly trying to make it appear less frivolous and but interestingly apropos of what we were just saying i think because i had terrible stage fright it was much easier for me to book things like a chapstick commercial or days of our lives like as soon as i was lucky enough to get an audition for something like a clifford odette's play or something like that i was like this just shaking and i couldn't i couldn't do what i was doing in class you know in real life so so literally stage was was like that that was your kryptonite but being in front of camera was was less um no no sorry i didn't explain that right so anything highbrow ah i was like terrified oh god so and then anything that was like considered more lowbrow right you killed i could kill it and so then i was undoing what i wanted to portray to my parents yeah right i'd be like well i'm on a skittles commercial and they'd be like i arrest my case right right well how about how about that that's a good strategy to overcome you know like don't overvalue something maybe like find something about whatever you're going to be doing that's giving you the nerves that that sort of undercuts it well yeah i mean not to get too like deep about it but both my kids were you know given offers to go play and then you know you have three oh sorry the two that are home and play soccer at different times in their soccer careers were offered to play in a higher soccer team and we're like no oh why why because they were too nervous oh really so it's catching gave them my fucking anxiety does ding dong david come along with some really helpful fathering advice to these to these young nervous you know anxiety riddled kids yes i feel like he doesn't help no it's a good love david we do love david yeah just because he's not in front of the camera for my sister tracy david created game of thrones your husband yeah are your sisters with sorry i don't understand the conceit my my sister every once in a while we have to remind the audience good thank you will yeah helpful but wait amanda did you when you were growing up oh go ahead no you know willie go no no you guys are so polite to each other um wait amanda when you grew up with a with a mom in that field um did you did she did to try to psychoanalyze you all the time like did you did you have somebody to talk to was it therapy constantly in the house you know what i mean okay to be honest i was yeah i was very very close with her and very very similar and was sent to the therapist right when i came out of her vagina. Wow. Wow. As an infant, I was like, talk therapy, let's go. Yeah. You came out with the car keys, you're like ready to go. Did you ever feel like you were getting a free analysis from her or was it like, I can't really share with her my feelings because she's just going to psychoanalyze me? I think that she. Like was it a plus or a minus? Okay. My sister would disagree. For me, it was a plus. I didn't feel like she was looking at me as like a test dummy for her psychological theories. And she was even in psychoanalytic training in the 90s when I was in college. And I thought it was really intellectually interesting what she was talking about and really, really helpful. And I think because she felt like her mom was a clinical narcissist, she was hell bent on being a good listener and seeing my sister and me for who we were. That's how I feel. I think my sister felt a little bit more like there was this like psychobabble orthodoxy. That's older sibling. Oh yeah, my older sister. Did you think about, did you think about through that process, did you think, oh, maybe this is an area that I want to go into? Did you consider doing that yourself? Well, I always think acting is a little bit of that area. Sorry, that question was for Amanda. Sorry. No, Sean, go. Yeah. No, no, go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I think when I look back, I was in, this is very unusual. I was in psychoanalysis at age 13. So I went to the shrink four days a week. Wow. Talk about, you know, first world problems. And I think the idea of psychoanalysis that there are these inciting incidents that set you on a path, on a trajectory. Right. And that's storytelling. You're basically creating a narrative. Yes. I mean, old school shrinks would say you're not creating it. It's, but I think it's very similar to storytelling in every way. And then we create, and then that, create that narrative and those sort of neural pathways get deeper and deeper and deeper, those grooves. And if you're, the danger is, that if you don't do that, I'm not advocating either way or whatever, I don't have really a position, but that if you, that those things get so deep that that becomes your story entrenched in your mind about who you are, I am this, this is the way, and you can, that can often lead to, I think, as you get older, you know, you, I know I speak for myself, the story that I've been telling myself about who I am for the longest time has become this thing that I've, I'm like now at this age, almost 56, and going, I'm like, I'm going to do this. I'm like, wait, I gotta, I gotta look at that because I've been, I've had this narrative and I'm not a reliable narrator on this. And, you know, truly. Nor is any 13-year-old, by the way. And so it's, it's blame, there's a lot of blame, right? When that idea that there is an inciting incident that happened, that something happened to you, it, it takes away, what it doesn't count is style of thinking. How you, you know, it's nature nurture. How were you born? You, I was born. I was born with a much more anxious mindset than my sister. And I think the idea that in your childhood, this A, B, and C happened, it's, it can involve a lot of blame. And so I think it's maybe for some people harder to take accountability. I don't know if that's sort of what you're saying, Will. Like you're sort of like. Yeah, I think so. I just think that we all have, first of all, we, everybody is, has their own sort of chemical makeup. And so, you know, I would, you can have two people, like you were saying, you and your sister, you can have two people who grew up in the same environment with the same parents, with the same thing. And they're completely different. We see it in our own kids. I certainly see it in mine. And they react differently to stuff. And then, and, and this is true in my experience that I've grown up in a, and I take, do things differently. And, and I'm only now at this age started to go like, wait a second, all the stuff that I thought, like I didn't do that early on. I didn't go to psychoanalysis when I was young. Thank God. Well, maybe. Maybe, but also, but also now, now I got to sort of retroactively, like I'm much more actively really searching to try to unlock a lot of the stuff that made me who I am today, good and bad. And trying to understand it a little bit and go like, why do I do that? Why do I make the same mistakes? Why do I do this stuff? And good man. Yeah. It's better to be self-aware enough to want to figure it out than just float along. Right. And maybe you just wouldn't have had the emotional intelligence that you have now to really do a lot of deep and honest analysis and introspection, you know, so it's, it's, you know. Yeah. Good time. You're ready when you're ready. Yeah. We'll be right back. And now back to the show. Well, Amanda, speaking on keeping it, keeping it deep and heavy now. Oh, shit. Sorry. Yeah, no. What about when you're. She's a laugh riot. What about what you're doing? What about. What about when you're playing parts and stuff like that? Are you, are you enjoying and exploring and utilizing all the different parts of you and injecting them into these characters where it's appropriate? I am so fucking into acting right now. Or, or do you like playing completely different people? Oh, I'll do anything. I like both. Right. But I mean, what, what is, what is, what's like your, what's like your strategy? Like, are you, are you. Do you think about, okay, how do I create an entirely different person? Or, okay, I recognize a part of myself in this character. And so let's explore that part of myself and we'll just call her whatever this character's called. Well, I'm mostly given parts right now at this moment that are more, probably more like me. And yes, sometimes when, right before I do a take, if I catch myself thinking about how to, trying to be good. Right, right. If I think, like I'm trying, if I. Is that similar to, is that similar to trying to be good or thinking about how to play it? Yes, like orchestrating anything. Orchestrating a result. Yes. Right. I try to pretend that David or Sarah Paulson are there at the video village. They'll call bullshit. And that, and that they'll call bullshit. Oh, interesting. So I say, okay, now you have to do one where they have to. They're going to convince them. They're going to have to guess whether it's real or not real. That's awesome. Whether it's really you or not really you. That's awesome. And that's the strategy for this moment. Yeah, because a lot of, a lot of actors work so hard to let you know they're not acting that it looks like acting. Oh, you're right. Yeah. You know? Whereas, whereas if you focus on just like performing for one microscopic lens that for some people it's themselves, right? Like for me, it's, it's, it's that case. Like I know I'm going to watch my performance here and I'm not going to be able to get it done. I'm not going to be able to get away with anything. Yes. You know, I'm not going to give myself any sort of, you know, relief. Like it's, it's got to be super, you know, like I'm, I'm watching. For you, you're, that, that, that, that microscope is David and Sarah. It's never Amanda. Huh? It's never my best friend Amanda. No, I can, I can trick Amanda. I can trick her. Stop it. No, you can't. No, I can't. The other Amanda. Sorry, just to be clear. The other Amanda. Oh, sorry. I'm married to Amanda. I'm very close with Sarah. She's J.D.'s wife, Amanda. Can we talk to the other Amanda? Amanda Panda. No, Amanda and Jason were in what movie together? There were two, right? Was it just two or was it more? Oh God, oh my God. I forgot about the, I forgot about the person. I mean, she came out of the gate with Southie and she forgot about your shit. Yeah, thanks. Which one did you forget about? Which one did you, did you pour cement over? I forgot about the, I forgot about the wheelchair one. You don't remember the title? Oh. Oh, I know that one. We'll wait. Oh my God. In fact, I think it was. I remember that one too. Yeah, wait, what was it originally called? With Armisen's in that too, right? Is that the one in Charles Grodin? Yes. I couldn't act with him because he was too funny. It was released as The X. Oh, that's right. But what was it called originally? I think it had a better name originally. What was the director's name? Jesse, Jesse Peretz? Yeah, Jesse Peretz. Look at me. I can't believe you know that. Look at you. I know. Well, Amy was in it, right? Amy was in it, yeah. Sean, you didn't see it? I have to tell my cue. I played an asshole in a wheelchair. What? And Amanda and I play. About a week away from that. We play. We play ex-boyfriend, girlfriend, or kind of I wanted you to be my girlfriend back in the day, but now we meet up later in life, and we were on cheer team together when I wanted you to be my girlfriend. Oh my God, Sean laughs. Yeah. Wow, Sean. There's a moment in the film where I'm in my wheelchair and we see each other and I go, hey, do you, hey. And I say, hey, remember the move? And I lift you up over my head with one arm as a seat. You're sitting on my hand up over my head as I'm sitting in the chair. Did we, we did that for real, didn't we? Or were you on cables? I feel like we may have done it for real. Cables, why? Because your hand, your arm. I mean, I've seen your nearly atrophied arms. I don't think. Yeah, I couldn't do that with my children. But I feel like we may have. No, we rehearsed over and over again. And we did that for real, didn't we? Yeah, we did. You mean there weren't a couple of grips wearing green suits holding her? Nowadays they'd have to, yes. But it was not. That's great. That was great. That was, that was very fun, that movie. Yeah, Charles Grodin. He was, I love Charles Grodin. And then we did Identity Thief. Yes. Remember that one? I sure do. Oh, Identity Thief. The thing I remember about that the most is Amanda breastfeeding Mapes in the hotel. Yes, yeah. That's what I remember. Jason's Amanda, not you. Again, again, says a lot about your acting, J.D. That's what she remembers. Yeah. That's a great, that was a great movie. I love that. - I love that identity thing. - Yeah, it's a great movie. - I had so much fun on that. Ms. McCarthy, all right um let's get let's get back to the beginning let's let's roll through this a little bit we're gonna pick up the pace here we're doing so much time bullshit you grew up in new york city you were born in new born in new york grew up in new york right went to school in new york where did you grow up in the city in manhattan in manhattan yeah oh we're 11th and 5th oh look at that what is there is it what what is it what is the most new york thing that is still a part of your everyday behavior yeah what do you think you you because you lived there for a while right yeah what what would be the thing that that city gifted you um in your persona psychoanalysis of course yeah yeah everybody's looking inside over there bagels yeah what what what do you when you when you leave new york city what do you miss the most just the whole mcgillicuddy the subway the rubbing shoulders with other people yeah um where are you right now that was by mistake oh god i'm in the bedroom i mean are you in new york or los angeles oh sorry oh sorry jesus i'm in los angeles yeah we live in los angeles now yeah yeah yeah yeah um all right so you're starting out um jb are we on a snack break i'm sorry that's the last bite i thought i'd move the microphone far enough away i apologize what is happening so you're you grew up you grew up in new york and you say to your parents and your parents are a million miles from showbiz and you go hey yeah i think i'm gonna be an actor now were you doing any sort of like jobs before you got started that that that maybe you could say well but i'm this has kind of taken off for me and i won't have to be doing x anymore what no i was doing school plays i did a lot of school plays did all the school plays and because i went to a tiny quaker school i was you know one of the best singers there which is saying nothing right and it was a short order not a tall order and um and then as soon as i got to college i started i sort of walked in confidently to all these auditions and i never got a single play i auditioned for 20 plays yeah oh wow really it was as if they had already decided they already had their own click yeah they're like no no these parts are reserved for people who are good but were you not studying drama did you had but i i took a teenage acting class that my mom found for me starting when i was 13 too as as well as being in psychoanalysis no but what about where was that where was that where was that where was that acting school with 13 that was that was at hb studios so eventually my teacher hb studios yeah what's that yeah it's a lot of actors so eventually my teacher said you know you really need to study with utah hagen and so my junior year at college i auditioned for utah hagen now what about in in so in in college did you were you studying drama no i was studying american history yeah so never went into the drama program because i bet if i had you joined the drama program they might have felt obligated to put you in there wasn't a drama program what's happening sean that's scotty oh he's just striking the set he's just striking all right so then you start auditioning well well okay so college starts to beat you up a little bit and tax your confidence meanwhile you're like i'm not i auditioned for 20 plays i'm not getting anything this is for me like what's what's yeah did you go out and get an agent how did you start i hadn't really admitted it quite yet i i still think and i had it's almost like you know what people say like you know like a self-hating jew or something like that i was like a self-hating actor right i couldn't quite admit that i wanted to actually do this as more than a hobby and was it the same for you sean oh no i'm just enraptured oh i thought you were like yes i relate to that yeah um no i'm just like yeah oh no sean was a prodigy yeah no no i mean a little bit yeah like well you know when you're young you you never think you're good you know like you're just like hanging on by a thread i mean i've never been more confident than when i was young and then i go old enough to realize oh no jason you're full of shit but also because you you were you worked all the time like i had a similar i moved to new york and i didn't get anything for years like why the fuck did i keep doing it yeah nobody wanted to hire me but amanda you went out but amanda at some point you went out and got an agent right you started auditioning so then once i was in utah's class all the p i was in an adult class at age 18 and i was in an adult class at age 19 and so people had headshots and agents and they they taught me what the um the what's backstage magazine but also the ross reports where you could look up there was a little booklet and it had every agent in new york city and i just would start crossing them out and i would take the subway and go to make a day make submissions yeah and i would go in person with like full makeup yeah you had wanted it right and i did the same thing my headshot under yeah and they'd be like thank you we got it stop pushing it under the door stop pushing it yeah we don't take unsolicited headshots you know what i've never i've never told anybody this story this is absolutely true when i was like 23 and i had like a headshot it was just terrible and like nothing a fake resume and did you look worse than you look now can you put your hands through your hair please sorry fix it it's off your forehead there you go thank you and uh i went i went up to 30 rock this is before the advent of like high security and stuff and um and i went to 30 rock and i went it might have been even 92 and i went in and uh i got on the elevator and i went up and i put my uh resume on the desk at 8h at snl at snl honey not everybody knows what fucking 8h is wait to be to be a uh you do you spoken by studio 60 i actually didn't know that and have they called so you thought you were funny i don't know i mean you're right but i i just i didn't talk about confident and unwarranted so you wanted to be on snl early i i thought about it but i had no i didn't do sketch or anything anyway this interview is not about me but i i did go and do that same thing i went i put the thing on embarrassingly enough and i i just had this image of me sliding my just like you said amanda sliding my headshot and resume underneath the door waiting three seconds and it just comes right back with a bunch of piss on it no just a big on the outside of the envelope and and you guys you guys not only that but eventually so i auditioned for agents you know like i did monologues in their offices and eventually i got repped and the teen rep walked me to the corner of 57th and 7th with one of her colleagues and said and we were she was saying congratulations we want to rep you and sort of giving me the lay of the land and then was like um and the other thing we just wanted to know so for your you have a little bit of you got a you got a mustache a little bit here we're just wondering what can we do about that oh my god oh my god was she right she was right really oh my god wait a second so how old are you name her but what agency what agency was that um it was ste at the time it became how old right 18 19 19 and you had a little bit of a fuzz there and um and so i think it must have been more than a fuzz because i've seen a fuzz okay what was the strategy on removal was it bleaching or waxing she's like she's like no what she's like no watch this i'm gonna grow it out take that handlebar strategy jb no i want an answer to that did we bleach it or did we wax it we did everything we did nair we did bleach we did laser fucking you fucking name and i did it yeah wow yeah isn't that something i would pay so much money to see my face like and see myself try to handle that yeah like uh-huh and be like oh yeah yeah was that so so i had an agent recommended nutritionist to me once uh yeah and i was like this was last week got it got it about 18 months ago i know the guys have it did a lot for me and i was like cool hey um i i had i had a i had a a really big shot agent not too long ago pitch to uh another person that i work with uh say hey uh if it's ever appropriate um uh and you feel like you can kind of squeeze it into the to to the conversation ask jason if he'd ever consider highlights highlights it would really open things up for sort of like real sexy kind of leading man and i was like motherfucker are you do it studio exact No, no, agent. King, king agent. And did you do it or no? No, I did not, Shawnee. I have not colored my hair since the incredible Frank Stallone vehicle Philly Boy on CBS in 1990. You have so few grays, too. You have so few grays. It's so annoying. I know it is annoying. I do feel like they're coming. There are a few that are trying to fight their way. Okay, so wait. Now, so you get this note about the stash. You're addressing it. You're feeling like, yes, this is great. This is a good thing. Or wait a second. Is that what this business is going to be? My feelings are hurt. hurt I'm not getting a lot of stuff even though I just got a new I should quit did you ever feel like quitting at any moment in your career I think more later I think it was more later I think because because the opportunities weren't what they were what you wanted or was just like oh I'm good I have nothing left to prove to myself I've had incredible success and next it sure wasn't that Jason well it could be an incredible success well I'm gonna go rest on my laurels I completed everything take another look um yeah I think um well you know like once I started writing a little bit and when I was shooting the chair which you know when I was behind the camera and all the ladies like Sandra Oh and everyone had to get there earlier and I could roll in in my snow pants with my mustache and you were like oh my god I'm gonna go to bed and I was like oh my god I'm gonna go to bed and I was like oh my god I'm gonna go to bed far ahead i was just like this can't be that common i mean not that like i you know the weekend from hell yeah the weekend from hell was sort of what i was thinking yeah um and we meanwhile my mom was also in hospice so both my parents were in hospice at the exact same time so you know i just saw all this past year just now six months now yeah and i was very lucky everything's you know i'm clear i did radiation i have extremely lucky the cancer they found it was cancer it was cancer yeah yeah i'm so sorry i didn't know yeah oh thank you yeah so i was like i said like very very lucky um no one knew this right i mean it is in the article is the your first mentioned first time you've gone public with this yes yeah i think because you know we didn't tell the kids right away because um you know frankie we had dropped frankie off at at college the week before so we and as some people know this but cancer most types of cancer it takes a while to find out what where you are like what is your treatability what kind of breast cancer do you have how big is your tumor and that tells you how to treat it yeah but and you know i found i found out later now i know so much more about breast cancer that and other cancers too i mean there are types of pediatric leukemia where you don't find out for a year whether you've whether you have a treatable you know um course but um the waiting is insane making yeah it's just insane making um so yeah uh i we didn't want to tell the kids for a while until we knew whether i was going to do chemo and what what the course of treatment was going to be so um we i wanted to keep it a secret because i wasn't even telling my children so yeah wow and then and then you're you're you're and then your dad's house while you were waiting for the while he's on the plane yeah he actually passed yeah but you got there in time to say goodbye um and yeah it's all it's all in the article it's the essay it's like it's so it's so well written um so wait so then then now you now you get home you're starting your treatments your your your mom um you're being a saint she's living with you um in yeah jason jason has come and seen my mom many times so she yeah she's saying she was single my parents got divorced and she was single and um living in new york and so she has parkinson's disease so once she was wheelchair bound we um david being all jokes aside the mensch to end all mensches uh moved my mom here and we took her in so she was living here for the last seven years i mean your stuff that you write about your connections with her right there at the end or just uh just everything um that's that's so beautiful i had no idea all yeah i mean you years that your mom was living with you you never yeah talked about it in any way and you're like managing this you know vibrant uh career that is after all these years even more vibrant and and writing writing and doing stuff and you're shooting that show in new york right you're shooting your show with ham in new york yeah at the same time with him yeah they're been they were really lovely like last summer when my before i found out i had breast cancer um tropper and john ham were pregnant and i was like oh my god i'm gonna die i'm gonna die i'm gonna die i'm gonna die we're very beautiful about my mom being in hospice and letting me go back and forth all the time like i have very special bosses i have to say well this is really amazing because every time i didn't know any of this was going on so every time i see you i always laugh i was such a great time with you and you and you always so positive and have so much light about you and around this annex you guys and no it's not just on a trip it's not down or dripping no it's like you're always you're always laughing she does a sidecar of ritalin um as well but sidecar sidecar really it's true though like you're such a you're such a joy like it's just amazing that to to know what just like just goes to show you have no idea what anybody's going through at any point yeah i think my mom thank you first of all but yeah my mom is um is that way like very jewish sense of humor like very do you we're asking about what i miss about new york like she has that very new yorky sharp neurotic jew sharp witty um sense of humor and throughout her parkinson's you know um i mean it's a horrible disease i know you guys probably know a little bit about it and she would she never really lost her sense of humor that's amazing never never right so i have a good model for all as as um carrie fisher said always look for the humor yeah yeah for sure um uh all right so we're going to take a look at that essay for sure um are we going to a clip or for the yeah it did sound like you were about to go to a clip for the folks who don't know how to read um and just enjoy uh their dose of amanda pete i can't wait on the screen they've been enjoying uh your friends and neighbors um uh quite a lot yeah um as i would uh imagine uh as i did you you are too amanda notwithstanding the um the the hours spent with john ham um because that because that can be tough you know this guy that would be trying he's a nightmare let's face it let's face it um yeah well you know maybe this is um people catch on people catch on and uh and we'll finally be rid of them but um until then you guys are uh great on this show the second season uh is uh is coming up here in the spring as well as your new film let's talk about your new film it's called fantasy life um released march 27th you are a producer you're so cute you are a producer on that and also um the co-star um and you were awarded what were you awarded for that hold on i don't know i don't want you to have to say it yourself here i believe it was uh some sort of special award at south by southwest um the film won the audience award as well i mean this is and i saw it the other night and it's effing great it's a it's a real naturalistic um you know let's put it this way if you loved uh will arnett's film and i know all of our listeners did uh you will love this film too it's got a lot of the same really great naturalistic sort of texture to it and it's if you will um no one's swinging for the fences with some like when does it come out performance crap um it's really effortless uh quality um when does it come out amanda i was swinging for the fences um but no you always you never ask the audience to watch your performance you know you're never screaming um like hey look at me act it's it's so easy to watch i'm screaming deep inside look at me whatever it is it's working deep inside look at me act whatever it is it's um was that uh a great sense of accomplishment because you've been doing great work on uh this is what your first film uh in in 10 years was that can i just say something back to movies people keep saying that can i just say something yeah it's not like i chose to not work in a movie for 10 years i just couldn't get arrested yeah but you're no longer you know pushing your head shots under doors and stuff i mean as you said you've got this uh healthy sexy indifference guys yeah um and you um you're you're busy doing things that uh are a little bit more important to you i would imagine yes honestly it's really just what is the writing good and in this particular case this indie writer came to me with this idea of this was before baby girl it's basically like a sort of uh upper crust mom who has this is matthew sheer the upper crust mom yeah yes but matthew sheer it's like um you she has an affair with the manny basically she has it for her kids yes and um when i read the script on about page 15 this neurotic speaking of neurotic jews from new york he has a scene with his shrink where he's talking about his ocd with judd hirsch where he and he's having these self-hating jew intrusive thoughts where he sees like a jewish guy on the subway with a big nose like david and he says hook nose hook nose hook nose and he thinks he's gonna say it out loud and i was like well this is brilliant i want to do this it's really a lot funnier than how i'm pitching it right now it's it is it's but but again it's not asking for laughs it's really tasteful uh alessandro navola's in it with you as well um how funny is he yeah he's great he's great wait when does it come out uh march 27th march 27th which i believe has already passed we're doing this a little bit ahead of time um but yeah we are no i know that obviously go out there and grab it y'all um now uh what is my next question here i come i'm coming here jb just go off script a little bit just you know what do you do for fun well you know what she does for fun yeah dense and busy dense and busy dense and busy oh no that's what will does for fun wait a minute what does the rest of the day look like today no that's a great question yeah let's do that one this is the most hard-hitting journalism boring no you're not are you out of your mind i'm really boring no i want to know i want to know because i i want first of all i didn't know anything that you've gone through in this past six months or year and now i want to know like what what what do you do all day because the kids are away right what do you do all day like because you're about to start are you about to start press for um for uh for both the film and the show yes yes and is that something that you like do you like going out there and doing all the uh chat and giggles what do you guys think i feel like when you're proud of it it all depends on sleep if i slept i'm great i'm going to do anything i'm tired i don't want to do it do you have trouble sleeping let's talk about sleep because yeah yeah i think as you get older and smarter and the brain works better uh and there's more stuff to think about sleeping gets harder yes i also and i just read somewhere that it used to be but i read you mean tiktok uh-huh by the way it's true i think i did see it on tiktok where the where you sleep it used to be hundreds of years ago people only slept for three or four hours got up and then there was a second sleep yeah says who tiktok that is true yeah he's right and then so that's kind of what what happens to me i sleep for a little bit this is there was a time in new york you can look it up where people used to go and they'd walk around and the middle of the night it would be i remember reading this there was a book about it about these and people would walk around sort of at like 1 a.m and there'd be there'd be like a kind of a night life that people yeah because sort of before the advent of widespread they gotta get your eight hours electric bulbs and all that kind of that people would go to sleep earlier and then often wake up in the night and they would have like a reprieve from their sleeping and i am definitely looking that up go for you are you guys um are you ruminators when you wake up how do you sleep you keep your brain from being like death we're all gonna die and catastrophic thinking do you have catastrophic thinking yeah you do i mean i've been i've yeah but so how do you stop yourself sean when you so you have two sections of sleep with a thing in the middle so what are you able to put your toe your phone away no i i play games or i'll read or do whatever on my computer you know like i'll look read i'll read stuff that's i find interesting or but most of the time i'll play games but doesn't the blue light didn't people tell you not to put i have glasses that that's soft in the blue light no that's so that's a great look you've got the glasses on the c-pap and the um and then you got the the what's it called the beetle juice what's the jewel jewel heist what's what's the game you play candy candy that's hot that is but it's more about it's more about what that's doing the sort of firing all those things in your brain instead of in that moment if you were to wake up and pick up a book you might find it easier i know but i but i don't know will is constantly pushing reading books i know on this i'm sorry i'm sorry mostly about world war ii though not not recently i've no i've no world war one now or are we into vietnam which direction you're going the last you know what the last couple weeks i've been into a more sort of modern noir okay which i and i uh i did one of those things right i said what are the best modern noir books of the last 10 years what would you say what they say yeah and they sent me a list of books and i just uh-huh i know sorry sean hang on sorry sean a little late a little late on the draw there um wait is that fiction or non-fiction fiction it's been like fiction crime and yeah yeah it's been interesting it's so good that you read all that well that's so good do you read a lot amanda i try yeah i try to read a lot i um david reads a lot david reads a lot david and i've exchanged books we i know we've handed each other books and now he's listening to the rest is history do you know that yes he's obsessed yeah it's very good is that it's really fun i feel like a book like an audiobook or something it's a podcast and they they talk about history but in a very accessible like for dum-dums hilarious for dum-dums like way for dum-dums like me yeah like i'm doing the one on on iran right now and they're so uh they're aren't will don't you think they're so funny very very interesting they're not as funny as you guys but they're funny but where how where do people have the time to listen to podcasts like where are you in the car i you do the news when i'm when i'm on the thing but jb if you look well look about look at look at it this way you you you dedicate i'd say 80 of your time that you watch tv which is about 80 of your day is you're watching news yeah the other 20 you're watching sports i keep waiting for him to get caught you know no no my point is if you were to if you were to delegate some of that time to to sitting in a chair in a room with headphones on staring at the wall while you're on the while you're on the exercise machine or i do it in the car well in the car yeah in the car and listen to these guys i think that you'd find it pretty interesting but i can't finish it my car rides are like 15 20 minutes is that okay and you just pop in i feel like i do that with them especially if you're interested in one section will it hold my place i don't want to have to start over when i get back i just take a screenshot of where i am and that's how i know how many minutes have gone by and then i return to it of course you do you can probably do it in an easier way i love that you do that boy that says everything really yeah that taught me a lot in a great way i'm scared no no no it's very you're just you're you it's very methodical and i really appreciate that well she's a capricorn i'm a capricorn you know we think shit through that i need to give a shout out to amanda anka and say that i'm a capricorn yeah yeah no what are you guys sean she knows you're rising and you're and you're no she still needs more information apparently to tell me exactly what i am i am cancer how about that oh wow in every situation yeah that fan fan fan should be like a modern day fred nor i'm like a you know like a low-rate fred norris from howard yeah um hey sean what's your rising i don't know what that means okay me neither i will what about you sean you don't have a joke for what's rising and sean something in my will you know what your rising is i forget but amanda amanda she's got it all on us she's got amanda needs to be here so she could yes you could tell us what's what in the coming you're right i i had to send amanda uh anka like a year ago or whatever like what time i had to ask my mom exactly what time of day i was born i did all this stuff she needed to have all this information she wanted to know if you were a good match for her or not she already knew she already knew yet she's sticking with me i love her so much and you don't want to know who else i love so much yeah the other amanda in my life amanda pete today's guest and we want to thank you for your hour uh and eight minutes um uh we love you we certainly do i love you i love all three of you so much i love you so much too we love your husband your three kids the whole thing i love you um and your talent thank you go out there read that essay in the new yorker watch her movie and i'll see you next time fantasy life watch your show your friends and neighbors and um and stay tuned for uh for the the next half of this incredible woman's career and life oh my god i'm gonna start crying i'm gonna cry i know that was so nice we love you have a great rest of your day and i'll see you so much i love you gentlemen so much you're such a light i'm gonna hug you so hard when i see you is that yeah squeeze me okay love you all right bye love you guys bye that was amanda pete one of my dearest longest friends i know she one of my all-time faves yeah right person super funny yeah and like i said she's always so bright no one would ever know anything's going on ever she's always not that that like you know it's just somebody who knows how to i know always walk in a room and light it up yeah for sure and on screen too like i just she's just always sort of ground stuff that i watch um and uh always kind of elevates it kind of smarts it up you know what jb i have a recollection of before you guys were friends before you'd work together that you always admired you used to talk about her in this way that she was for you like kind of the gold standard and she was like one of those people you wanted to work with her really bad yeah you know in the best way yeah tay leone was like that for me too yeah um and still to this day like i just think there's there's a julia roberts is like that too there's there's there's a strength and a style of of humor and also of drama that um i don't know they all kind of remind me of each other yeah um but yeah she is a treasure um and uh sean right about now is when you start to say hey guys i'm looking do you remember the time that i do you remember hey guys you want to know my favorite film of hers was and then he kind of works it in that way oh god wait we're gonna pause we're gonna stop this pause and waiting oh are we yeah uh you know that uh that that david benioff uh husband of hers you know that's um they've got kind of like a dual uh it's a it's a it's a um double barrel shotgun over there of talent and um and uh accomplishments and they're sort of um you know yeah sorry and you know what you know uh yeah i thought that - It'd be a great tea up there for one of you guys. - I know. Wait, yes. Oh, God. We've got a caller. A caller is, oh, you know, one of my favorite jobs that I've ever done, and Amanda Peete happened to be in it. We talked about it earlier. A real treat. Yeah. My friend, my favorite, Amanda Peete, played my wife in Bidentity Thief. Bidentity Thief. That was pretty good. Smart. Less. Smart. Less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry, Rob Armjarv, and Bennett Barbico. Smart. Less.