"Linda Cardellini"

i'm gonna i'm trying to read your minds both of you right now okay right now okay i'm sending i'm zapping you something right now sean i anticipated that and me i'm thinking of an animal it's a safari animal animal hey man listen we've talked about drinking before the show before we talked about it it was a zebra let's do this an all-new smart list jesus man enough with the drinking oh will's enjoying a shake hey will uh handsome place you're in is that the new spot in new york this is atlanta oh somebody went ahead and took care of himself during his work in atlanta and he's drinking a shake because he's got an on-camera job okay well i've been this has been part of my uh my thing for the last few months now this this particular thing i got going in here do you want do you want ingredients cool it but you look great so we lay a base of banana sorry what have you started filming yet no how did the table read go no great chunk um what's up will have you started yet shank is actually my nickname that is um no not you're there they're for fittings and rehearsals yeah table reads rehearsals all that kind of stuff and when do we start actually rolling a week wow oh my god are you are you excited you nervous all of the above man very excited very nervous really cool really excited about the the cast and remind our listener what this is again this is uh the challenger um um it's all right limited limited series for amazon and uh the great christian stewart is playing sally ride and she's a great christian stewart yeah who's a friend a friend of the pod yeah so that was at the challenger disaster um do we all remember where we were yeah i was in i was fifth grade right what year was it well did you still no no no do we were 10th grade listen should we just we'll come back in five minutes when sean's done with his breakfast sean what is it by the way what is it what do we have a sandwich and let's go it's not even it's not even it's not 10 yet it's 9 30 in the morning tuna fish sandwich in his defense he's been up on and off since four so right um guys i've been sick thanks for asking um i'm just getting you have been yeah i'm getting over a uh a two or three day uh situation was a it was a light illness and i feel like i'm i'm on the right side of it now oh good it's a bit of a like a cold type coffee yeah a little tight throat you might hear a cough here or there during our time together this morning i would have never known from the when we recorded two days ago or number three days ago yeah it was it was coming on hot i almost canceled today yesterday um but i woke up this morning and felt okay and i'm a big fan of our guest today so um i uh before we get to her though i uh i did want to i i did want to say um that during my illness here um i had uh some soup i'm uh i'm a big big big soup fan okay um but then but i'm so fucking glad this is getting out yeah but um but now but i don't feel like i'm as big a soup fan as i was a few days ago because somebody ruined soup for me they said to me hey you know having mushroom soup and they said hey what is that is that uh is that the bachelor's gravy so what are you talking about bachelor's well cream of mushroom cream of mushrooms a bachelor's gravy like what are you talking about well yeah yeah when you were a bachelor you didn't just like heat up cream of mushroom put it over uh chicken breast and stuff like that it was like you know no so what they did for me they've now classified soup as sauce and they're right and they're right have you ever thought about that you're spooning out of a bowl you're spooning sauce into your mouth and now i don't think it's fucking ruined for me no but that but that's true a lot of soups are like like sauces you know it's runny sauce yeah but but but you know well certainly certainly creamy soups if you're having a watery yeah if you're having a of course cream of tomato and mushroom you're like a cream base what do you have now didn't i once see you chugging hollandaise out of a travel mug is it am i wrong sean that was okay yeah but what about like remember i just had another can of peas last night because i like i like him as a i mean you've got unless i think you told me you have 20 000 cans buried downstairs in the bunker right is that i do but jay like that's like pea soup to me yeah yeah you know what i mean yeah so that's yeah yeah yeah there's another one pea soup cream of cream of pea well pea soup's always kind of creamy yeah it's so good it's so great that's it's sauce and i'll tell you next time you can't get it out of your head it's ruined when you dip a grilled cheese in tomatoes who said to you in the bachelor's gravy who said that i won't say okay remember kids i hate you know you got to consider the source remember we did the uh the tour and that guy was married to somebody that we know that you you guys know and he said you're like hey how's your reality show going that fucking asshole yeah yeah and he was and then i couldn't get out of my head i know he's always got a smart fucking remark and i'm like hey you know what this guy's a fucking dick so consider the fucking source that goes for everything i try to do that in my own life consider the fucking source and where it's coming from you like it and so he says that who gives a shit yeah i mean life how much we're on the back nine here okay well why don't you break something real quick yeah i haven't insured the place yet so i want to make sure that i um but you're right you're right now listen talk about the source guys our guest today is someone i know i love i've worked with she is as kind as she is talented and she's very very kind she's been in your hearts and minds and on your tvs and movie screens for over 30 years in 1994 she won a fireplace on the prices right but things got even better for her yeah things got even better in 97 when she graduated from loyola marymount she started this fantastic career you've liked her in step by step and third rock from the sun but you've loved her and you've loved her and you've loved her and you've loved in avengers films mad men bloodline dead to me and her latest emmy winning role in the show we had weird fake sex and dtf st louis folks it's one of the best folks linda cartolini wait wow get it on out here linda guys linda it's so nice to meet you hi yeah nice to see you guys you can ask jason i went on and on and on about you in that show dts he did you were just phenomenal he never told me no it was after it was after it was done and it wasn't it wasn't jason cedric enough i don't think that you'd weave me in enough but uh and she's got a big head you don't want to pop that thing you know yeah she gets she's she's it looks bigger than your guys is right now um but uh yeah we are fresh off uh um an incredibly exciting enormously well-deserved emmy win uh a few oh congratulations yeah wow that's great she and david harbour both yeah um and uh it's a david harbour one steve conrad one for both writing and directing amazing yeah i mean it's just uh rdp rdp one exactly our editor incredible editor it's uh yeah it's um we're gonna talk about dtf we're gonna we're gonna start a little earlier okay okay okay that's good yeah yeah let's go it's one of the best shows it's honestly i i was on the phone with jason like an hour or two hours after i said it was one of the best shows i've ever seen you were very very sweet wow it's it's very so gripping and so different and so i mean that that's what i said it's on now i can look at i can watch it now you can watch man on hb i'm kidding you know i saw it but you know you try to find you try to find like new things that you haven't seen you know you know that's the hardest thing it's coming coming up with a concept that people haven't seen before and when i watched it it was so different and you're like it's just it was just incredible steve conrad's in incredibly unique brain voice gifted director writer gifted talented nicest guy too oh my god yeah talk about as kind as talented yeah um all right so here we are here we are hi guys thanks linda cartellini i don't know you i don't think we've ever met before likewise right have we ever met linda i don't know i don't think you're supposed to know that dick i know i am that's why i know i but it's like have you been around for a long time i feel like everybody meets everybody at some point but hold on i've been around a long time where where where are you from i'm from northern california in the bay area oh yeah in this city in san francisco or like no born in redwood city down the peninsula oh wow kind of like stanford university sounds so you know they i just read something that's like the coolest place to live temperature wise in all of the country in redwood city there is an arch and it says climate best by government test is that right it's the big thing i bet the people in alaska would take issue with that with sean stat oh yeah well maybe we're talking continental maybe no not cool like like like like most like temperate like just like the best right is that what they're saying it's got great weather so not too cold not too cold not too hot not too cold it's the porridge colder than la though if you're used to la yeah which i am it's it's always like 10 degrees colder yeah so you're so you're up there so you're you're in you're in you're in norcal as a kid and you're thinking huh what should i do was it did it happen acting That sounds easy. Right, but like were you so young when it struck you that you. really weren't thinking about a career were you one of those the one of those turds like me or was it was it were you were you already kind of thinking about a career and then this thing kind of sparked your fancy and you thought well could I make a living in this when did it start I was 11 and there was a teacher who came to our school she was a new teacher and I was the baby of four so I was always like trying to get attention yeah um and I would always be doing shows and I was very emotional as a kid so I didn't know where to put all those things so I'd put them in these emotional wait wait what does it look like when you say you're very emotional what does that mean what does it look like are you breaking things at dinner because they didn't they didn't know just like felt things incredibly deeply and always you know cry at a commercial you know very everybody's problems were I felt them a million times you were a deep empath yeah yeah told I was too sensitive yeah right and still still to this day I'll bet kind of a cry baby in a great way thank you yes right in a great way I'll bet you're still listening and I'll bet it makes you a great actor I mean I know I'm not a great actor I'm not a great actor I'm not a great actor but is that part of it I think it was the one thing I could feel like oh I could put that there yes this is a problem but it's not a problem in this in this industry so that will help so that was part of the thinking when you started kind of playing around with you were like oh this is a great way to kind of just uh put all this get it out over here yeah yeah and so like do you you cry easy on camera yeah in life in general what are some of the triggers and we're not going to say anything I mean you tell me if I feel too deeply if I get angry like it just like that's the first thing but then I realized that it actually I actually have to do it sometimes so if I haven't cried in a while I literally have to do it so something will come along and make me cry and then I feel better after that so if you were to yell at me if you were angry at me you're one of those people that while you're screaming at me you start crying yes perhaps that's how it's helpful for me you know because yeah they'd be helpful that cues you because you're not sure what you're supposed to respond like how you're supposed to emotionally yell that oh yeah I'm crying and now I feel like when you're like oh brain tells me this emotional moment I have upper hand yeah yes this is the moment I will feel this particular emotion um all right so then what was what was the first what was the first thing you started doing up there that was like okay well this is I don't suck at this okay so this teacher came and she made everybody sing and so I had to sing and then I got called in after class and she said I'd like you to do the play and it was a I think I was like what was the name of it I'm kidding I think she wrote it she wrote it it was great let's talk about Kenny Rogers and playing an elf she did this community theater and I was an old lady in the music man at 11 years old yeah mrs peru giant stage and and then I fell in love with it I was like oh this is for me okay yeah all right and then I didn't know how I would do it wasn't like anybody in northern California so far away from southern California in terms of the industry especially at that point I was like oh this is for me okay yeah all right and then I it was like nobody was doing that for a living yeah I didn't know how I would do it but yeah how old were you when you were in that 11 11 do you remember pick a little tiny little pick a little oh yeah and I was very very um tiny I didn't like hit puberty till 16 or so so I was extraordinarily small so I was kind of the smallest kid on the stage dressed like a little old lady and I stuffed my bra really but you know so I did all these things for laughs and then it worked out that's great and you still sing to this day yes I do I am asked to sing so you know sometimes in things and uh it's funny to me because I'm just sort of an actor who can kind of sing but not totally right so if you were cast in something that or if you were you if you were if if if the great rick kurtzman called and said we have a we have an opportunity for you to do uh either uh a musical comedy right on on broadway or or film that was music you wouldn't shy away from it oh yeah yeah I can I can I can sing I can act I mean you'd like like I would love to do that that I would love to do how would I don't know if I'd be great at it but I would love to do it how would the call go from rick rick's an agent for tracy no no no it'll be like this uh hello linda I've got rick kurtzman calling yeah and you'd be okay great yeah and you go on hold yeah what do you he's he's not you know what's great about rick he wouldn't start with like hey cartolines no no no no no no he jumped right in he's an he's he's an adult and he's classy yeah we love rick Kurtzman. We love Rick Kurtzman. Yeah, I love Rick. Alright, so then. So then. So then. We gather a little bit of momentum in NorCal. Sure, sure. I don't know about that, but sure. Are you hating this, Linda? No! No, I'm so. I'm excited to be here. Thanks, guys. But Jason's. The way that Jason goes about it is a little nauseating, right? I love Jason. You guys, come on. I love him. He's the best. He's the best. Okay, so. Stop saying he's the best. He is. He's great. That's why I'm on here. To say he's the best. But you love them, too. Alright, so then you strap on the back. Now that I've met you, I love you. You strap on the backpack. You start walking down the Pacific Coast Highway. A California incline. Yeah, down to Los Angeles, because you want to make it. And you see the biggest studio in Hollywood that you stumble upon there coming off the Pacific Coast Highway is CBS Television City. You walk in there and they're doing The Price is Right That's right. Oh wait, you were on The Price is Right. I used to watch that all the time. I was on The Price is Right. She won a fireplace. She won a fireplace, Shawn. Wait, you were on The Price is Right. That's so cool. Yeah, walk us through that. Why were you on that? And I bet you've told this story a million times, but we're new. This story never gets old to me. I love it. I don't know it. So, I was in college and I needed money, of course, and I was like, let's go on The Price is Right. I also watched that show religiously with my grandmother. Same. That and Days of Our Lives and Wheel of Fortune. We're like our shows. So, the idea that you could stand in line all morning long. I mean, you had to get there at crack of dawn. Stand in line and wait and possibly be on the show was a dream come true. So, we went with, you know, we all ditched class and there was eight or ten of us. Did you have t-shirts on that would have sort of like a pick-me, pick-me? Well, in a way. They told us that you should either wear your college shirt or your, like a solid color. So, I wore a solid green shirt. And funny enough, like in my hair, if you look closely enough at that, I have, like, the drama masks. No. Comedy and tragedy. Wait, in your scalp? Yeah, that's the kind, yeah. Like, I had, like, a clip with the drama masks in it. Your hair tie. Yeah, yeah. No, Linda. I know, right? God bless. Oh, my God. So, that's how excited I was about theater. And where did you skip school? I missed that. Where were you going to college at the time? Loyola Marymount. Oh, Loyola Marymount. Sorry. Go ahead. So, I came down to L.A. to be an actor under the guise of school. Yeah, and you're studying drama. You graduated with a drama degree. Eventually, yes. It took me a long time because I started working. Sure, and you get distracted, you know? All right, but wait. So, you're sitting in the audience. Yeah. No, no. So, you have to go through this huge line. Yeah, right. And we were with all these people, and we were with this guy, and they were really talking to this guy that we know, and he was, like, yucking it up with them, and I was like, oh, Jeff's gonna get on the prices, right? And we're not gonna get on the prices, right? Fuck yeah, Jeff. So, and they scattered us all around. Jeff with a G? Sorry, just. Nothing but J. Yeah, of course. And then, when they said, come on down, you know, they sat us all separate from each other, so nobody was sitting next to each other, because there were so many of us. And then, they called my name, pronounced it incorrectly, but I didn't care, and then. How did they pronounce it? Cardellini. Cardellini. Mm-hmm. Yeah. But now, so that's just a random, they. What do they. Do they kind of interview you as you're walking in to know whether you've got spunk or not, right? Yeah, I guess so. Yeah, but isn't it true, though, like, the stage where they film it is so much smaller than you think? Yes. Because I walk down there a long time. I walk down there a long time ago. Sorry, Sean's still in awe of showbiz. He can't believe we just told him that tattooing's not a real planet. Go ahead, Sean. What? I really. I know. I really am was blown away. I was like, wait, so the big wheel that you spin and everything fits on such a small stage, and the camera angles just make it look like it's huge. Is that right? Yes. True. I will say, though, the noise level of people screaming that you're an idiot because you don't know the price of something, that cannot be. That cannot be felt through the television. There's a lot of smack talk there. That, in real life, is enormous. Fuck you. What do you fucking know? People screaming at you, yelling at you. It'd be kind of funny to do right now, as Price is Right, and just have the contestants be some of these oligarch billionaires, you know, and just. And then just do things, but the price they have to do is, like, price it like a loaf of bread or something. They go, a million dollars? They have no sense. They're so open. A stick of butter. I don't know. Ten grand? What's up with a stick of butter? Ten grand? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. And we will be right back. And now, back to the show. Okay, so they mispronounce your name, and holy shit, you shoot up out of the chair. Oh, the greatest feeling of all time. Like, I actually compare anything great that happens to me to the moment my name was called on the Price is Right, because that moment of being chosen by that show at that moment in my life was the most present feeling of jubilation I have ever. And let me ask you a question. Just a few nights ago, was that the first night your name has been called since you were sitting in that chair? My own specific name like that, yes. Wow. And it was a very similar feeling, except for that I worked for that one, you know? So it was like. And tell me about that moment when your name is called to what's going through your head as you're walking up to the stage. This is on Price is Right, or - At the Emmys. - Well, Sean, as you pointed out, it's a short walk 'cause it's so much smaller when you get there. The Emmys looked bigger, actually, to me. The Emmys, that staircase was long. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right. But on Price is Right, you've got a short jaunt down there. You're pumped, right? All your friends are screaming for you. I mean, I'm hugging strangers. I'm jumping up and down. You're tightening your hair tie. Yeah, yeah. And what did you bid on that got you up from down there? Okay, so I was, okay, first of all, when you get picked, they give you instructions. I mean, back a million years ago, they gave you instructions, which was the camera finds you and you run down to the— They do that snap zoom. Or you walk down or you do whatever. Sure, yeah. Snap zoom on you as you get up. Yes. And so then I just started running and jumping. And then in the middle of it, I realized I'm supposed to be running, you know, waving my hands. So I'm running down the aisle, waving my hand. Oh, my God. I can't wait to dig it up. Yeah, like a moron. And then hugging a stranger, jumping up and down. So you get down there. You've got four stalls. I get down there. I'm terrible, terrible. Do not know the price of anything. I'm totally nervous. I just am awful at the game. So you missed, what, two or three? Oh, I was—I think you get, what, six tries. There's six people they call up. I was called up in the first four, and I was so awful at it. And so it took to the very last—the very, very last— Oh, my God. It was a sweat. Yeah. Yeah, the last opportunity. And what was the item? It was a gas fireplace. Okay. And so you've been on that, and you won. Yes. I had—my friend was in the audience, and she yelled, my friend Molly was like, it's your last chance, Cardellini. And I thought, oh, my God, I'll never— because once you're on, you can't be on again. And I thought, oh, my God, if I don't get to spin that wheel, if I don't get to talk to Bob Parker, this is it. So then what was the game when you got up there with Bob? Oh, it was awful. It was some game that had no kitsch to it. It was pick a price and then just subtract that price from a dollar. It was all math. It wasn't like a yodeling person or a dice. Yeah, the Swiss Mountain. The Swiss Mountain with the goat. No, it was nothing. It was over the cliff. No Plinko. It was just add and subtract. You know when there's like four great games, and there's two that are kind of like, meh? Yeah, because they're running short on time or something. And then I didn't understand it because I was so overcome. Yeah. And I had looked up Bob Parker. He's like, do you understand what you're doing? And I was like, no. And then he's like, explain it again. And so they explained it again. And when the lights went down, he turned to me and goes, just nod your head and say yes, kid. And I was like, okay. No. Wow. Was he ever looking right? I just nodded my head and said yes. And then I was terrible at the game. I lost. Wow. And it was a black lacquer bedroom set that I could have won. It would have gone great with a gas fire. Which I had already had because it was the 90s. Right. Okay, so then you didn't get to spin the wheel, but your friends must have been. I did spin the wheel. I did. And I got 90 cents. Oh, that's pretty good. But it didn't matter because the woman in front of me got a dollar. Ah. Yeah. It wasn't your day. It was not your day. I mean, it clearly was not my day. It was partially my day, but not totally my day. All right. So now go back to the Emmys. My question about when your name is called, and you're walking down the aisle, what's going through your head as you're walking up to the stage? Oh, my God. This just really happened. Yeah, like it's surreal, right? It's just it. Like, oh, my God, this is really happening. Like, it sort of is, it was just sort of out of body. Yeah, yeah. And then also, just it was so great because Jason and Amanda and Steve and, you know, David, they were all sitting right in the front. And Richard, they were all sitting right there. So I could see you guys. Right. So it felt like that kept it, like, a real moment instead of being so. But as an actor, as you were walking up the stairs, did you immediately start thinking about your speech and basically your lines? Like, oh, God, I don't want to forget my lines. I got, like, did you have something prepared? And were you starting to think about that? Like, how you were about? Because I would just imagine that as you go up there and as you turn at the podium, it's effectively like you're going on camera there. And just as actors, we're trained, like, okay, now it's go time. Like, you know, it's time to talk and kind of get it all together. Or were you able to, like, kind of just be present and just be raw? Or what was that like? Well, I had, somebody made me write it down. They're like, you have to write something down. So I, like, wrote it in my phone because I didn't want to have to wear glasses. I needed the font to be big. Now I have to wear glasses. And so I had it on my phone and I was going to try to read it. And then when I got there, I just wanted to be there. Right. And I wasn't really, I'm not great at speeches. It's not. It's not my thing at all. Like, I'm great if somebody writes something. No, I'm not great. I won't say that. I can do it if somebody writes something for me. No, we're actors. But when it's my own personal self, I never feel like it's enough. Yeah. I have this thing where I have a lot of thank you cards in my drawer and I don't actually send them because I feel like it's never enough of what I want to say. So I have a block with a speech. Right. So I got up there and I just felt like. You were awesome. I kind of wanted to just, number one, say my parents. Like, that was my biggest dream was to be able to say thank you. Thank you to my parents. And both of them had been kind of not feeling well recently and they're older. So I was, just wanted that to be the number one thing. So I figured if I get that out in my family, then at least I've got that. You guys would all understand if I forgot something. Yeah. That's the big fear, right? You forget to thank someone. So you think, well, maybe I shouldn't thank anybody then, you know? Too many people to cover. And it doesn't ever, it didn't go the way I thought it would go. And I was really overwhelmed and my hands were shaking. And I feel like I should be. Can you imagine if you were calm and together up there? No. And people do that. That's amazing to me. How people can be super calm. I know. Nonchalant. I just had none of that. And it was a little embarrassing. But as I was walking up and you were saying, what are you thinking about me? I was like, don't fall and don't cry. And then, of course, I was shaking and crying. So, you know, it's like you. But that's kind of, you know, at the end of the day, it's like those moments where something is totally unexpected or undiscovered. Messy. Those feelings are messy. Yeah, it's what we want when we're watching, you know. You want it to feel real. And that, to me, is like the great joy of being alive. You feel present. So, it was like I sort of just tried to have to, I mean, I walked off stage and I'm like, oh, God, what did I say? Well, you were amazing up there. And then I thought, well, I'm lucky I got to say it. Was that your first nomination? No, it was my fourth. But first win? First win. Wow. That's so great. You have a couple, Sean, right? Well, yeah. I mean, I don't know. I stopped counting. Yeah, go ahead, Sean. How many? Come on, how many? No, no. Walk the camera. I see one in the background there. Yeah, that's just the one. That's so stupid. It's like just to put. It's not stupid. I just put Junker out. All right. So, but, so you got, so what were the other ones? You flustered him. You flustered him. What was the one that you got nominated for that you were like, I probably have a good chance at this and you didn't? None. None. I don't, I'm not that person. So, it's like. But you're proud of, you have to be proud of some of your work. I'm so proud of everything. I mean, I'm proud that I even get to do it for a living, to be honest. Yeah, yeah. So, it's like, you know, we get to do something that you play at as a child and you get to continue it as a job, but that's unreal, you know? You're so damn good at it and having done it for so long and to be still going stronger than you've ever gone and you were doing freaking great work and super strong momentum with your career even early on. So, it's just awesome that you're still like ascendant and like it's better than. I just, I think it's pretty awesome. I revisited Freaks and Geeks a while back and just looking at you there like. That was great. I mean, you look like you were freaking 12 years old, but you were, I just looked it up this morning, you were 22 on that? I mean, talk about playing young. My God. 22. I can't believe you were 22 and playing, yeah, that was. How old were you on Step by Step? Younger than that, but I don't know. Yeah, that was like a long time ago. When Jason said that in the intro, I was like, Step by Step. What was Step by Step? I don't remember that. It was Suzanne Somers. Suzanne Somers. Suzanne Somers and Patrick. Yeah, that guy. Yeah. What's his name? Duffy. Duffy, yeah. That show, so I had to play, there was a time where I played like plucky tomboy friends a lot on sitcoms. Right, yeah. And it was live audience and I had to play somebody who's a pool shark, basically. Like somebody who's real cool, who's a bad influence on Stacy's character. And they had a pool shark teach me how to hit the shot. And so I had to bank, I had to hit three balls. And bank them and then get it in, in one go. Yeah. And it was in front of a live audience and I practiced and practiced and practiced. And then I nailed the shot. And that was also very much like a Price is Right moment. Wow. Where it was like, the audience, yeah, it was really fun. That's cool. It was like a sports moment. You know, like sometimes in our job, we get a sports moment. Yeah, what are those things on your resume that when, as you were growing up through the business that you had to just like, yeah, I can, like Jason was saying earlier, because I wrote like, yeah, I can do this. I can do horseback riding and do, I can bounce up tennis ball on a racket 250 consecutive times. Did you ever have to do any of those things? No, no, no, no. But I mean, like. That was on your resume? Yeah, I could. You had to put special skills. What was that? Well, it was just basic, basic great ball skills, I think is what it said at the bottom. Ball skills. But did you ever have to have any other kind of skills that like, other than singing? Oh yeah, I would write on there like skateboarding or, you know, and I would be moderately good, you know, not even really good at it. I just dabbled at it. And then if anybody ever called you on it, it was terrifying. And then I put like fluent in Esperanto. Yeah. I would put at the bottom, I'd be like, accents, I can do Southern, British, and like, I couldn't do any of them. Right, right. Well, let's hear your Southern accent real quick, Sean. I can't. No, I want British first. Do your slate and your Southern accent. Yeah. I used to do, by the way, you can't see it, but on video, I used to do this in commercial auditions. You know how you'd say your name, you'd slate your name and you'd say, hi, I'm Sean Hayes. And they'd want you to do profiles. So you turn right and then you turn left, right. Because they want to see what you look like on camera on the side. So I would do this. I'd go, hi, I'm Sean Hayes. And I'd go like this. this and then i go like that like i was completely deformed on one side but you couldn't tell if you're looking straight ahead oh my god all right so uh talk about uh uh faking stuff on your resume did you put at the bottom of your resume that you are fluent in medical terminology to get the gig on er oh yeah all the way over there to er an incredible show that was already up and running and was a huge hit going on to that show was that intimidating walking into that to that structure yeah that was huge i was i was just excited they were you know they sent me these episodes of i had a meeting and i was i was meeting with john wells and it was for different shows and they were talking about different parts they had on different shows at the time i think there was west wing on at the time and er on the time and they talked about this part and she was a nurse who had a young son and i had been playing you know i looked very young and i had been playing sort of really young people so i thought oh here's a single mother like i haven't done that at all right and um they sent me these episodes where noah and goran and makai their characters went to africa and they shot these these episodes in africa and i was just it was unlike anything i had seen yeah on tv at the time and i thought oh my god this is beautiful what these actors are incredible and this writing is so amazing and it's a procedural but i'd never seen anything like that happen on a procedural and they were taking it you know just just the stakes were so high and so i went in for a meeting and uh jonathan caplan who's a great director was in there and a bunch of people and we had such a nice meeting and it was such a lovely group of people um and i was meant only to stay for a year because i was kind of just sort of i had come off scooby-doo and i had had some i just wanted to sort of stay and i had been traveling a lot and i was like okay i'll stay and i think my contract was like a year and then i just loved it there i stayed and stayed and stayed it must have been uh you must have still my friends great having like did you see noah the other night i did i mean it's so great what's going on with him right now yeah it's fantastic yeah um jason you you you touched on it but actually i always think i get stressed out when i would watch er and see all these actors uh spitting out all these medical terms and like and really quickly and really offhand and delivered so brilliantly and within these long things that i think like fuck man i would be so stressed out yeah trying to remember that trying to get it right did you ever have those you'd be terrible at it yes no you'd be good at it but we did a lot of wonders back then too so it was if you were at the end of the wonder with some kind of medical terminology yeah yeah yeah that was like three minutes of like a shot going through i mean the whole set was already pre-lit and it gets to you and then it gets to you and you're like manage a cockle pneumonia and you say it wrong you're you just ruin the whole thing yeah but it was fun it was really fun and we did a lot of wonder so it felt sort of like theater in that way so it was really it was great we had so much are you good with line with memorizing lines like that like just in general sometimes the hard part about i will say the hard part about that show specifically because it's medical was there's sort of like i had never you know people come up to you as an actor like how do you memorize all those lines and you're like oh i just do it like you don't really it's not the thing you think about first right yeah that was the first time i thought oh how do i do this because it is there are numbers that seem arbitrary to me somebody's blood pressure memorizing yeah you know whatever that is i don't even realize what's a good or bad blood pressure really but to those numbers that counts the the choreography counts and it's really specific so there's like sort of different levels of memorization on a medical show that i didn't realize that was a thing there's choreography there's sort of like numbers that make that have no emotional connection to remembering anything right and then did they have medical experts right there with whomever was directing that particular episode to me oh yeah yeah yeah which i'm a little bit of a hypochondriac so those poor guys had to hear about everything i ever had i was like what is this is this what is this spot um just touching on dtf really quickly again how about learning those lines was that was that difficult for you because steve writes in such a beautifully specific way you kind of want you want to honor that and you don't want to mangle it up like i know david and i you know running lines together all the scenes he and i had together you know just run it and you know i think that's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that i think it's a really good way to do that no i know um which typically shouldn't be that much but because the way he writes i mean i think the thing about it like even listening to you and watching you in it jason it looks so it looks so normal and like you're just in conversation and it goes back and forward and pauses and going to an idea and then jumping to another idea but that's all written none of that is improvised yeah that's that that's what i asked jason yeah that's the way he writes like usually we as actors are just looking at a block of dialogue and it's up to us to put in the ellipses and and find the rhythm changes etc etc steve actually writes those in just based on punctuation and and uh just structure and and whatnot and so it's that's you sort of have to kind of uh back into that and to some extent um and it's a different it's a different way to work and it was super challenging um for me at the start uh but um i really kind of got into a really good way to write it and it was super challenging um for me at the start uh but um i and you know you you the reason i'm asking you is because yeah we were in a ton of scenes together but our scenes didn't have a these long dialogue scenes we had one i think that had a really long speech i think i had to give um but yeah you had that one about canada right most of your long stuff was with was with richard and joy right and and with david um but anyway yours you're obviously we had a couple in the bedroom where i'm talking about insurance yeah that's true that's true yeah i don't remember those bedroom scenes at all um so all right no it's great it's juicy the way he writes i mean i think because he's a musician it almost feels like music in a way and if you talk to steve if for two seconds it just seems you just hear the rhythm i remember meeting him in the first meeting and thinking oh that's what the rhythm is because i could listen to the way he spoke and a whole thing it is in his voice in some ways did you read for it was an offer to you or like how did you auditioned you auditioned yeah i flew myself to new york and i auditioned it's pretty cool that's right great great story yeah it's a really it'd be pretty funny if steve conrad when he spoke he said all the punctuation out loud who's that yeah period ellipses on the other hand comma space i was new paragraph yeah we'll be right back and back to the show all right so then um broke back mountain happens before or after mad men what year sean uh that was i'll tell you right now it was i'll tell you right now it was 2005 or six okay we'll have our fact check i was doing er when i did that while you were doing bro am i right with the year linda what do you remember what year i mean you would know better than no willie knows i'll bet i'll because i just had a baby oh linda you were you were great on mad men you were so good on mad men i loved that uh yeah despite getting over the hurdle of working with john ham how did you how did you navigate that um how'd you deal with the ham sandwich every day yeah he directed too it was great oh jesus christ um but boy did you power through that look at you huh you landed on your feet um you land on your feet you go right into um you land on your feet you go right into the avengers sean sean yeah i don't know the avengers as well but scotty does okay um what was that like like getting a getting a call for that um i don't know i would be like stunned if i was uh invited to be a part of a marvel film yeah that's huge it was fun and especially because i show up and i'm in there with everybody she's like a secret character then she they come to her house and she's like i'm in there with everybody and she's like i'm so it's all the avengers are there so it's kind of nice because sometimes when you come into something that's a big production with a lot of different people you only have one or two people but every time i went there i was in with with everybody so it's that's pretty fun and did you have to deal with those goddamn russos on that one yeah they were great oh my god people you have managed to oh um joe and aunt joe and aunt joe and aunt um all right and then and then we go to bloodline yes maybe i mean i don't know the chrono i mean i it's all a big i think avengers was after bloodline really also a great one yeah i mean we'll talk talk a little bit about working with that cast kyle chandler ben mendelsohn sissy spacex sam shepard and what was cast yeah it's unreal like it just was every time someone else got cast you're like oh this is amazing i can't wait to get can i just tell you something as an aside can i just say i i love that kyle chandler yeah yeah who doesn't everybody right men women children they all love that dude reunited with the great chris mundy on on lanterns you watching lanterns willie uh i'm not get on it i'm not get on it i gotta get on it yeah this guy our uh uh james hawes directed that uh yeah who i'm working with now yeah it's doing very it's great i hear it's great kyle's always good he's yeah he is he is an incredible and talk about a nice guy yeah kyle yeah um okay and then he's like a rich he's like a rich man's jason bateman you know what i mean oh You know what I mean? Yeah. You know what I mean? Sorry. Anyway, Linda. So, Linda. So then we just, that's a fact, and then we're moving on. One time my daughter, we were in Florida, we were shooting that, and we were on a boat, and my daughter had this wand, and she accidentally dropped it. She was tiny. She dropped it into the ocean. And Kyle jumped into the ocean, swam, and retrieved it for her. And I had never seen, I was like, that is the hero worship that everybody has. That's amazing. Would you guys ever do that? Would you think to take your shoes off before you do that? Because that's the key. Jason, you're already thinking about taking your shoes off. That's how you sink. If you don't take your shoes off jumping into the water, you can't stay afloat. I'm telling you. But I bet you Kyle kicked through that. Especially in the ocean. He could do whatever he wants. He was, of course, already swimming and fishing and doing stuff. He wasn't in a tuxedo. But remember he was on that, his first big thing was, early edition. It was a CBS show where he'd get the newspaper the day before and he knew what was going to happen the day before. Yeah, he bet on the ponies. Yeah. Good idea. All right, so then we go across the street with Christina Applegate over to Dead to Me, right? Dead to Me. Dead to Me. You're dead to me. A great show, went on for years. Great accolades, a great audience. With her old friend, Christina Applegate. Great Christina Applegate. So, I mean, I think it's a great show. I think it's a great show. At this point, are you thinking, do you have any time to sort of pat yourself on the back and look back at that moment where, you know, hey, I was this little girl doing, what was the musical theater show, Shawnee? She was doing at 11? Yeah, Sweet Charity. Sweet Charity. I'm the girl that did Sweet Charity and now I'm on job number X. Oh, you? I thought you meant the one that Linda was on? Yeah, Christina's Sweet Charity. No, she was on, no, Linda was Bye Bye Birdie. No, Music Man. Oh, no, no, no, sorry. Music Man, sorry. Yes, Music Man. And you're thinking back. Wait, what the fuck is happening? You know, it seems like it's just yesterday. I thought you guys were pretending you were there when I was 11 watching it in the audience. What is going on? I mean, do you have any time to look back to the, remember walking down the Pacific Coast Highway with that backpack on? Yeah, right. Going down to Los Angeles trying to make it big. Like, you've done good, Linda. Yeah. I really did literally rip one of those things off of a telephone pole, you know? You know, those phone number things where it's like, be an extra. I really literally did that when I came to LA. What were you in an extra in? Anything big? Oh, my God, you guys. I was an extra in, I didn't know what, like, union or non-union meant, and I was a teenager still. And I was maybe 17, 18, just got here. And, probably 18. And I was an extra in a movie that turned out to be kind of one of those movies where everybody takes their clothes off, but I didn't know. And it was like a late night, cable kind of thing where women were in jail and they got sold into prostitution. I bet we'll see it. And then, but I didn't realize. So, I showed up at the jail by myself in downtown LA, like some closed down part of it and was an extra. And there was like 40 girls my age there, and we were in these short little shirts, and we had to sit in this jail cell for 12 hours. But there was like no food, no real heat. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't like a union job, so they didn't really take quite care of it. - Right. - No, it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that bad. It was like on the road to that, but not that. - All right, so that was an extra. You were an extra in that. - So, anyways, yes, I do sometimes think about, I'm happy I didn't have to keep ripping those things off the telephone pole. - Yeah, you're killing it. Fresh off the stage at the Emmys. Now you've got this new show coming on, an A24 show on Peacock called Crystal Lake. It's a prequel to the Friday the 13th. Yeah, she plays Pamela Voorhees. - Oh, I can't wait to see that. - Yeah, tell us about that. - Wait, wait, wait, wait, what? Yeah, yeah, man. I don't know anything about this. - Crystal Lake, Friday the 13th. Remember Friday the 13th? - Yeah, prequel, prequel. - The mother's the original killer. The whole first movie sort of operates like a whodunit. - I do. - You play the mother with-- - Remember in the first one when Betsy Palmer comes out and she's like, you let my son die. So that's, yeah, mm-hmm. So it's a backstory to Pamela Voorhees. - Pamela. - Which then, of course, is, you know, it's Jason's story. Everything's about Jason, so it's his story. But it's seen through her. - Reminds me of, for any of the listeners that haven't heard this story, my most cringey slash most proud Halloween costume I ever put together was Jason Bateman, whereby I put a hockey goalie mask on my face and then hung a net over my body and tied fishing lures to it for the Bateman part. - Uh-huh, this is great. - And I was just so excited to tell everyone on Halloween, what, hey, guess what my costume is? - We need like the Legs Avenue version of that where it's sexy. - Oh, God, with a pocket. - With a pocket full of white, making runs to the bathroom stalls. - Sure, yeah. - Jeez, man. - Is there the hockey mask? - Guess what I am? - Oh, it's the fucking worst. - Crystal Lake, when's Crystal Lake coming out? I'm excited. Is it out now? - Yeah, it's already out, 'cause today's November 2nd. - Right. - Oh, right, yes. - Come on, you're so good with dates, Willie, come on. - Yeah. - Now, are you a fan of horror? And if you weren't, are you now? - I used to love horror. I mean, I really loved it. - Then what happened? - Horror, right? Is that what we're saying? - Like, I got scared of life, and then I was a little less a horror lover. No, I liked it a lot growing up. Like, it was really some of my favorite stuff. - You probably went and saw "Friday the 13th" when it was out. - Yes, yes. And I remember seeing "Freddy vs. Jason" in the movie theater. - Yes, totally. - Universal CityWalk, and it was wild. - But what about working, what about, you probably saw Carrie. I just watched Carrie the first time in a long time. - Sissy Spacek, the best. - And then you worked with Sissy Spacek. I mean, wasn't that wild? - Number one, she is the nicest, most wonderful human being. - Sure. And she loves questions about Carrie, I'll bet. - Oh, she's so good. That performance is so, I mean, she's just-- - Yeah, she's incredible. - She's just the best. - What about Raggedy Man? Remember Raggedy Man? - I can't say enough amazing things about Sissy Spacek. I love her so much, and I think she is exquisite. - Wait, tell me some more horror things you love. - I loved "The Shining." - Loved "The Shining." - "Shining" is incredible. - Oh, yeah, "Shining" is incredible. - I used to watch that to kind of unwind, and now I don't know how I did that. - Yeah, did you ever see the outtakes or like the making of behind the scenes of "The Shining"? - Some of it, yes. - I wanna see that. - Interesting, really? Oh, it's fascinating with Shelley Duvall. - Is it on Netflix? - No, I don't know, I don't know. You probably gotta see it on YouTube. - Yeah, I guess they just put it in the old search thing, right, it'll tell me where it is, right? - Yeah. - The old granddad over here needs help. All right, now, so you jump over another hurdle in your upcoming show called "Way of the Warrior Kid," that Chris Pratt, that Chris Pratt. - What hurdle is that? - Yeah, Chris Pratt, how did you, how did you do something like that? That seems like maybe the toughest. - No. - I know him from a while back, and then we were in "Guardians of the Galaxy." He and I play like a character in the third one, so we've known each other a little, but it was fun. - Now that's coming up on Apple TV. Tell us about "Way of the Warrior Kid." - "Way of the Warrior Kid" is this book written by Jocko Willink about sort of this kid getting bullied and his uncle who's a Navy SEAL sort of helps him with these like tenants that they learn as SEALs and sort of gets him through feeling bullied, and this kid who I play, played by Jude Hill, who's such a great actor, and I play his mom and kind of Chris's quirky little like sister, so. - Where'd you shoot that? - We shot that in L.A., I think. Yeah, L.A. - Ooh, lucky you. Do you think about that? Do you think about locations when you pick a job? - I do, a lot, yeah. - How are you doing with fame? Like, you know, I'm sure you get stopped, have been getting stopped for years. - Yeah. - On the road, but it's happening probably even more and more and more, and are you comfortable with that? Is your family comfortable with that? Or do you kind of keep a pretty low profile? - I am a low profile kind of person in general. Like, that's probably why I don't like, I don't go out tons. I, you know, I'm sort of- - Yeah, you like to nest. - I just, that's me, you know? But- - I like to nest. - I, yes, I mean, I definitely get, noticed at times, and that is, people are generally pretty generous and kind. - Nice, yeah, nobody's gonna walk up to you and go, I hate your work. - Well, you know, you never know. But, or like, oh, you look this, you look more this on camera, which is like, sometimes is that a- - Yeah, Sean would probably say, boy, you look so much bigger on camera. - Yeah, like something like that. You know, you're like, oh. But, you know, I've been very lucky. I've done a lot of things that people have liked over the years. They're kind about them, you know? Especially now, it's a funny thing, though, because back when I did, let's say, Scooby-Doo. - Yeah, yeah. - The recognition, even though the movie had a big, I was sort of costumed, and I could stand right next to the poster, and nobody paid attention, right? - Right. - And it was really great. And meanwhile, like, you know, I sort of just, I kind of go under the radar, which I love, 'cause I just like that. - Yeah. - But now, those kids have grown up, and they've seen me so much that I get recognized more for that now than I did back then. - Sure. - But the recognition is interesting. It ebbs and it flows. - Right, exactly. - And it's, I have a pretty, I have a really, the best of both worlds. - Do you ever get recognized for Freaks and Geeks? You know? - Yes. - 'Cause like, I wonder, like, you know, you look at, like, Seth and Jason on that. Like, you can't really, and I mean, James Franco kind of looks the same, but like, Seth and Jason, and you. - Different people. - Yeah, it's pretty amazing. - Yeah. - Seth is completely unrecognizable. - Well, he was only six years old. - No, he was 17. He was a kid. - God, isn't that amazing? - Unbelievable. - What are you doing on sets, because you work, What a career you've had, by the way. Just incredible. Thank you. It's insane. And kind of just getting started. Yeah. And what are you doing in your trailer to kill the time? Do you knit? A lot of people I know take something to do because there's so many hours. Yeah, what's the sneaky little. Are you like a closet crossword fiend? I like a wordle. You and David and I are on our wordle thing. Exactly. I don't know. I like people. I'll just sit and talk to people. That's really kind of my thing. Okay, good. I need better hobbies. So wait, you'll just walk up on a stranger and ask them, hey, that's a fun sweatshirt. Tell me about that. Sometimes, sure. Really? Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, why not? Why not? I like people. I really do. I do too. Which means you like playing them, right? Do you like. Yeah. Are you playing other people or are you playing versions of yourself? We've talked to actors about this before. I don't want to get into a boring process conversation, but do you. Do you like. If I were to say, you've got to pick between two reasons why you like acting. Are you playing other people or playing versions of yourself and exploring kind of the borders of who Linda is to you? Other people. Other people. Right. Morphing into someone else. Which inevitably has yourself in it because you're only yourself. But hopefully, which is sort of what I tried to do is just try to play as many different versions or people of my. I can. Well, yeah. And on DTF, just watching the whole thing and being blown away and watching you like, wow, just as the character, I'm like, whoa, she's rough. You know, man, it's not a very likable character at first. And then you completely feel for you. You realize why she's being like that. Yeah. I mean, it's so well done. Well, she had to do it that way because you had to be communicating a little bit of a mislead about being a murderer. Like there had to be. My character the same way. Like there had to be just odd enough where you would buy them as the possible killer. Right, right. I love the Empire outfit thing. I thought that was great. Would you please tell us your experience? Because we've heard from Jason the first scene that you guys shot together. Oh, yes. The first scene. That was the first one. Yes. I'm bad having sex. Can we just hear your perspective walking into shooting that day? Yeah. Tell them how we met. Okay. Well, reading the script, everybody was like, oh, God, how are you going to do that? Because I have to. There's a thing called weight placement. Do what? What scene are you talking about? Weight placement, which is a thing that people like. Which when I first read it, I did not know weight placement was something that people did with their underwear on. So that was kind of a relief when I figured that out. Okay. I thought, okay, well, at least I'll be wearing something. Okay. But yeah, weight placement is where I put some weight and sit on Jason's face. Sure. And that was supposed to be much later in the schedule. And I had been like, I'm going to train and I'm going to tan. I'm going to do all these. I'm going to eat right because that's finally when I start to do it once I get the job. I'm in between. I'm like, not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. And then once I get it, I'm like, oh, God, I'll do it now. And plus, we'll know each other. It'll be super giggly and fun and comfortable. We'll talk about it. Sure. And then the schedule changed and it came up right away. It was the very first scene that we really shot together. The very first scene we ever did. And you didn't know each other. First thing in the morning. Well, we had met in the parking garage of the apartment building we were both staying in in Atlanta a couple of days before that. Yes. That was it. And then she said see you tomorrow when I sit on your face. Basically. Yeah. And then, yeah, first thing in the morning. Hey, so good to see you again. Hey, take a seat. Yeah, just met you a couple of days ago. And she was incredibly, you know, I was incredibly nervous. I'm sure she was too. The intimacy coordinator was fantastic. Steve was really cool. And it was surprisingly, I guess not surprisingly, most intimacy scenes, although I haven't done a bunch, but the ones I have, they're pretty, you know, kind of mechanical. Exactly. Like you have to kind of hit this mark and you have to kind of say this line here and watch out for shadowing here and all that. Like it's. Amanda has said that. She's said it's very mechanical. She says it's very. That was the exact word she used. It's funny you should say that. It's very mechanical. And afterwards, she always goes, cut. And cut, yeah. And cut. And I say, should we check playback or just move on? Yeah, it was. I was happy because both of us are a little bit germaphobe. Yeah. And so that was a comfort. Yes. Exactly. That was a comfort. Because you knew he was clean. You knew he was clean. We're both addicted to breath strips. Oh my God, yes. So that was all the whole shoot. We were addicted to breath strips. We both are like. Although we never kissed. No, no, no. The only people who ever kiss in that show is David and Peter Sarsgaard. That was part of Jason's negotiation for doing the show. I heard that. But right, it's like people think, oh, this is going to be a real salacious show. It's like, yeah, there's not really that much sex and not even kissing and even the sex that we do is just like so weird and kink that it's kind of funny and off-putting and it's not salacious at all. It's just another kind of. Another one of those sort of subversive kind of elements of it that. It was just so surprising. Anyway. Well, if anybody hasn't seen it, they have to see it. Now it's an Emmy-winning performance that people have to see. Check it out, Arnett. It's a good watch, man. It's really good. Oh, I've seen it. Well, Linda, God damn it, you're the best. I'm so excited I get to see you in a couple of days. Yes. And then no doubt see you again, hopefully, fingers crossed. Is that for. Are you guys doing DTF Minneapolis? What's happening? That's DTF Minneapolis. We all get in a boat. I wish. I would do that show a million times over. It was so fun. I know it. I know it. It was one of those things where it's like the show was so great to do with everybody that the fact that it's also getting the recognition it's getting is beautiful. It feels nice. It feels very good. Good. But also, I'm going to go have some soup. I heard you guys talking about soup. Yeah, go get some sauce. Enjoy that incredible family of yours. Yes. And we are looking forward to seeing you coming up on Crystal Lake and Way of the War Warrior Kid. I'm looking forward to seeing you at the fancy thing in a couple of nights. Yes. We'll eat snacks again in the front row. Yeah. Love you so much and thank you for doing this. Love you guys. Thanks for having me here. So nice to meet you, Linda. Love you guys and I just met you. Love you. Yeah, likewise. Love you too. Very lovable. We love you too. Thanks, you guys. Take care. Have a great day. Bye. Bye-bye. That's Linda Cardellini. Linda Cardellini. Linda Cardellini. She's one of those actresses that like literally can't chameleon and you were naming all the things. Oh, yeah, that's right. Oh, that's right. Oh, that's right. Oh, my gosh. She can do anything. All of those things. She's been on a lot of the stuff that you love for a long time. For a long time. TV shows and movies and things and big like, you know, like the Avengers type stuff and then like cool just like everything. Yeah. Every sort of What if she if she was on Star Wars, Sean, would you have Oh, yeah. Would you be Where would you cast her? That would be something. Then she'd have your respect. Would she be part of the Rebel Alliance? What do you think? Of course. She's too nice. I wonder if No, but like I'm an Avengers fan but I'm not like a massive fanatic. You know, like I am Star Wars. What if like a blow dart just came in from the right side of frame from Scotty right into his neck? Yeah, exactly. You son of a bitch. Yeah. No, but she's been in all those great things especially that sitcom you mentioned with Suzanne Somers. What was it called? Oh, the Pat Duffy vehicle Step by Step. What is it called? Step By Step Smart Less Smart Less Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Michael Grant Terry Rob Armjarv and Bennett Barbico Smart Less Thank you.