Mason Gooding Eats a Rotisserie Chicken Everyday

- You know what Dylan and his brother Cole do that drives me insane, that I cannot, they all be in the middle of telling a story and then want to pivot back onto another subject line with the same rhetorical vehicle, and that is a word that does not exist. They'll go, "This person did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Irregardless, they do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do. And the problem is-- - You're right about that. - Irregardless. - You're right about that. - I could see both of them saying that. - Irregardless is a double negative. But also, you draw so much attention to the fact that you're saying a non-existent word. It drives me, irregardless. Just so everybody knows, last episode, you can open your eyes. - Oh. - Not a surprise. - It is a surprise. - I'm not gonna just put it in your hands. Last. - This episode was your birthday. - Yeah, wow, yeah. - Okay, so I have three items here. - I don't like getting guilty. - The last one, I'm really excited, but also nervous about. - Okay. - Well, first off, let me give you these two. So this is the one I told you about, which is the dill pickled buffalo sauce. - Buffalo dill. - Which I just think you're gonna like. - Well, I like Secret Aardvark already. - Well, you don't have to have it now. - Why not? - Honestly, fair-- - Oh, it's really good. - Fair point. - Here, try a little. - Yeah. - Oh, it's spicy. It's hot. - Oh, that's pretty good. - It's good. - It's hot. - This is just chocolate with potato chips in it. - Oh, I love that. I used to melt Hershey bars over Lay's potato chips. - Okay, now this one-- - They taste great. - Oh, this is awesome. - Thank you, Dylan. - This though, okay, let me start by saying that I do truly think I'll never be able to get you something better than what this is. And the reason is it covers a lot of bases. Okay, I think the thing that I find the most compelling about it is that it's a major piece of weird American history. - Oh, cool. - Okay, and it's 100% authentic. - Uh-huh. I'm nervous. - And I need, I'll explain it once you see what it is. - Okay, can I open it? - Yeah, you can open it. - I don't wanna read, I hate when I open packages. - You gotta, yeah, open it, that's the side. - And you can read, like, the thing. - Yeah. - Uh-huh. - What the? - This is, this is, this is insane. - Okay. - It is a graded baseball card of Osama Bin Laden. A guy I never liked. - Okay. Okay. - It's number 268 out of 911. - Okay, well, wait, wait, let me-- - I wonder why. - Okay, let me explain this, all right? I'm gonna explain it for you. - Oh, it's Robert O'Neil. - It's signed by Robert O'Neil. - I mean, that is fantastic. - Okay. - The man who - Osama Bin Laden. - Wow, thank you. - Okay, but listen to why it's so weird, and I think you'll love it. First off, it's a PSA-graded 10. - Oh, it is, it's a Gem Mint 10. - It's a Gem Mint 10, all right? - Which I just graded my own comic book straight from the factory, and it got an 8.5. - Okay. - So big 10s are hard. - It's a very well, it's very well-graded, okay? - I'm gonna open it. Void of damage. - Yeah, do not open it. - Oh, don't open the plastic? - Oh, you can open the plastic. - Okay. - Yeah, you can, you don't have to open the actual case. However, in 2001, Topps did their only ever time doing this. They created a series of cards that were outlining everything that happened immediately after the tragedy of 9/11, including the major players that were involved inside of this, and weirdly, Osama Bin Laden was the chase card. Okay? - Well, why not? - 'Cause he was-- - I did, I feel very dumb I thought it was signed by him at first. - No, I feel, I mean, that would be crazy. - Which would've been, which would've been shocking. - But what does it say on it? - He's in his cave, oh, man. - What does it say on the bottom of it where it says-- - Osama Bin Laden, the suspected ringleader. - Okay, the suspected ringleader, right? - Yeah, so they don't wanna get sued in court. - All right, so immediately after they released this, now, there's like-- - 6'4", 266, approximately 160 pounds. That's a small frame on a guy like that. - Wait, he's 6'4"? - 6'4", 266. - Damn, he was tall as hell, dude. - He's a tall guy, I know. 160, he weighs less than me. - Okay, yeah, so he's skinny. - I could beat him up, yeah. - Yeah, he's way fish. Well, historically, he got the hell beat out of him. So, this being said, Topps released this to immediate backlash by the country. - Well, I was about to say, I feel almost bad laughing not to make light of a terrible event. - Terrible event, and they released trading cards about it. People were upset, obviously. Historians, as well as Topps, have tried to get their hands on as many of these as possible to recall it out of the public eye, all right? Most of it has been taken off, except this guy who I hit up on eBay, who was like, "Dude, I got one of the Robert O'Neil signed ones." Robert O'Neil eventually went around on a signing tour and signed these, particularly, as you can see, he signed 911 of them. - Yes. - In honor of the tragedy. However, you now have one of 911. - Did you tell anyone you got me this? - I told your sister. - Which one, Violet? - Eleanor. - Oh, Eleanor, what'd she think? - And she was so jealous. - She was, I mean, I don't wanna put it on set. I'm gonna take this home with me. This could pay for my kid's college. - It is, honestly, Brendan, I'm gonna tell you now, I'm never gonna buy you another gift. It's far and away the most expensive one I'll ever get you. - You got it. You can put it on your wall. - I appreciate it. You've made my birthday very special. - You ever feel like you have a podcast and maybe you're looking forward to having a few beers for it, but you don't wanna feel kinda yucky the next day? - I'm flying to Albany tomorrow, and I hate flying even a little tired. - So you know what we should do? - Crush some of these, Ryan? - We're gonna have a couple beers on the pod. We might as well have one of these now. - This is Z Biotics Probiotic Drink. It is the first genetically engineered probiotic. - Pre-alcohol. - Cheers. - Knock it back. - Oh, it tastes good. Kinda lemony. - Yeah, I like it. - Yeah, that's nice. - Fresh. - I guess it was invented by a PhD scientist to tackle rough mornings after drinking. - Here's how it works. When you drink, alcohol gets converted into a toxic byproduct in the gut. - I have a lot of toxic byproducts in my gut. - I always do. - I think that's just-- - And these are gonna clear it right up. - What? How? - It's a buildup of this byproduct, not dehydration that's to blame for rough nights after drinking. - Pre-alcohol produces an enzyme to break this byproduct down. The byproduct apparently is called acetaldehyde. I was actually really intrigued by this because I like all of the alcohol science stuff. Acetaldehyde, and it's the leading contributor to that bad feeling after a few drinks. - Most people think it's dehydration. It's just not. - It's just not. - No, so you know what I do? These are small enough to carry around. Throw one in your pocket. Friday night gets a little wild. You have this before, boom. - I want a little arm holster. - Arm holster. - You're like sideways. - Yeah, sideways, like a bandolier. Is that how you say that? - I'd be, you know, my bachelor party's coming up. We're gonna need a lot of these. - Great time to bring that. Great time to bring that. - It'll be very fun. And you don't have to refrigerate them. - Just remember, like if you're at a bachelor party, just make sure that pre-alcohol is your first drink of the night. Drink responsibly and you'll feel your best tomorrow. July is packed with barbecues, fireworks, late weekends, and late nights with friends. - I had all of those except the fireworks. - Really? - Late nights. - Late weekends. No fireworks. - Barbecues. - I missed it. Oh, I had a couple barbecues, yeah. - Well, keep the good times rolling into the next day. Drink pre-alcohol before you go out and wake up ready for whatever Sunday brings. - Remember to head to zbiotics.com/wildman and use the code WILDMAN at checkout for 15% off. - Now we can talk and-- - About who we have next? - Yeah, our guest. - One of my favorite guys. - Mason, who I've worked with on now two different movies. I met Mason through my brother. Who he had worked with previously as well. He's just a great dude, very funny, young guy, and probably like, I would lobby maybe one of the highest working actors for his age in the game right now. - Well, after I saw him in Hard Eyes, Hard Eyes to me, his performance of that was like Glenn Powell in the baseball movie, Everybody Wants Some. - Yeah. - He's in about, you know, 80% of the movie. His performance was so good. I walked out of the movie, I saw it in theaters in like 2000, it was probably 15, 16. I go, that guy's gonna be a massive star. It was kind of his first big one, and of course he goes on to be a massive star. And then closest thing to that was Mason in Hard Eyes. And I walked out of that and I go, holy shit, Mason is great. - And the other funny-- - And it's a fun movie. - Funny thing that you mention Glenn as well, because having met and hung out with both of these people-- - Cool dude. - Yeah, I'm sick. - Not to brag. - I'm sick as hell. - I'd love to hang out with Glenn Powell. - He's just a-- - Is he a cool guy? - Just the nicest dude. - Handsome. - Similarly, so is Mason. - Both handsome. - Both handsome. But Glenn and Mason have the same thing, which I've noticed, everyone who works around them, works with them, or is in the vicinity of them-- - Gets pregnant. - Says, this is the nicest human being I've ever worked with. It's really funny that in the industry, that's still such a thing. - I think the first time, I met Mason when we went camping with Tanner, remember? We pull in, we're camping, and I just saw Talk To Me, I think. Oh, yeah, he was in Talk To Me, too. No, he wasn't in Talk To Me. Oh, he wasn't in Talk To Me? I just don't know what he is and isn't in. He's kind of in everything. I said, I saw Talk To Me, the best horror movie this year, and I hear from across the campfire, he goes, no, it's Scream 6. I like that Mason's like a diehard fan of Scream. I was like, oh, cool. Sick, dude. Didn't even know who Mason was at the time. I was like, this guy's kind of weird. He's an intriguing guy because he's got a lot to say, I think, about a multitude of different subjects, but he's also like a very, he's had a very interesting run with like injury and like body, his own body, and then to go into like working as an actor, and he's one of the, I'll say, like I've heard him talk to his team before. He is so professional with his team, and he handles his business so well that even I was like, dude, I'm not going to do that. I need to shake my shit up, dude. I need to lock this up. So I think, you know, maybe we've hyped him up enough, but you guys will all see what we're talking about. Well, we, last time we hung out with him, we were going to see Werewolves by the director of your guys' debut together, Under Fire, and it was like three days before I got engaged, and I was like about to go and drive and pop the question, and we're sitting there having a Guinness with Mason, and Mason was talking to me, and I was like, and I couldn't even respond. I was so nervous. I'm like, I'm so nervous. I'm going to get you. He goes, oh, that makes sense. So now hopefully he sees I'm a little more relaxed now, and we can be friends and stuff. I thought you were saying you were just nervous to talk to him. I am usually. You're kind of nervous to talk to everybody. To attractive men. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Attractive guys. What about me, dude? You're not nervous to talk to me. What the hell? I can talk to myself fine. It doesn't bode well for either of us. Well, without further ado. Here's Mason Gooding. You always cut me off. I could never say it. Welcome, Mason Gooding, my good friend. Thank you. You made it. Thank you for having me. Cheers, cheers. Cheers, Mason. Cheers. You don't have to lower your octave when we talk. No, I thought this was way cooler. How are you doing? How's it going, Mason? So anyway, guys. There we go. That makes me feel more comfortable. Look, we just want the real you here. I don't even know who that is, so that's fine. We'll figure it out. He's been an actor for so long. I'm just too invested in this character I've crafted. He's also doing an Elvis accent. It's insane. Yeah, no, I'm really a jack-of-all-trades. Have you ever. I actually do think about a lot the quote I think Robert Redford made in an interview where. See, he's doing it already, dude. I like it. Yeah, dropping my voice and sounding more thoughtful. Yeah, he's doing it already. No, there's this old adage that a reporter was amongst a throng of other journalists yelling at Robert Redford. And as the elevator doors are closing for him to go up to his meeting or hotel room or whatever, and they shout, Are you really Robert Redford? And he. And he responds, Only when I'm alone. And doors close. The rest is history. And for me, I think about how much of ourselves we're capable of giving unto other people, whether it's parasocially, through our work, or personally. It's just. It happens to be that I'm sitting next to the one person who's managed to bridge that gap, that our work professionally has bled so lovingly into our personal relationship that going to set with Dylan feels like I'm. I mean, it feels like. We're playing in the back yard with lightsabers. Hopefully. Yeah, I mean, in Under Fire, you two, if anyone was to say it's a fantastic movie, but they play two buddy cops. And I was really pushing for you guys for Miami Vice. Could you imagine that? Would have been way better. God damn it. It would have been way better. So sick. You guys in some tight polos. There's still time. They haven't started shooting yet. I can't wear a tight polo anymore. Maybe during. Maybe during Aftermath I could wear a tight polo, but Under Fire. After we have a. That was not. That was not. Okay, so I guess a little bit of. A little bit of backstory. I've worked now with Mason on two movies, right? It's been two. Yeah, you've funded my house. Yeah. You pay my mortgage, which I really appreciate. Yeah. Yeah, it's good. And I met you through my brother. And I was telling Bea, what was interesting is you're one of the only actors, I guess, post Cole and I doing The Suite Life. With the privilege of. Who have worked with both of my brother and I independently, never together, but independently. That's right. And I do find that very fun and interesting. You might be the only one, actually. Which. I'm trying to think. I think is really impressive, personally, to be able to curate a career around the Sprouse brothers. I mean, what's funny is I could attribute all three projects, because I did one with Cole and two with yourself, as cornerstones of a lot of transformative or insightful moments in my life and career that I look back at those projects and think of a then versus a now. Yeah, and you were like, never again. Never. Yeah, you learn both by doing and through failure. No, I feel like I was sort of whisked away into the idea of like what it is to have community on set and something that I don't know if it's like a family adage or something that you guys just have in common is like you don't allow another person on set to not feel involved in the process of making films. Brian, I'm sure you do the same thing for the people in the podcast. I don't know. I feel bad. At least everyone at home does. Yeah. So anyway. But really and truly, like the debt of gratitude I have for not only the way you make films, but the way that it feels productive to like collaborate, not just with you, but also with the people that you seem to surround yourself with. It truly felt like a change from, you know, what I thought filmmaking was into a standard I hold now is like, I don't eat my trailer. I eat with the crew. I, you know, try. I try to make sure all people feel supported and cared for, which is crazy because you would yell at people for making eye contact. I know. I know. I was like, I just cry. You water things big for me. Well, I will say also to reverse that a little bit as well. And I really appreciate you saying that because that is one thing that I am very, I'm always trying to be very active thinking of on set. To reverse that, that doesn't land on everybody. Right. So I will say you're unique in that you could sense. Yeah. That that was a thing that was happening and you were open and willing to invite that into yourself. There's plenty of people who I've worked with who just went, nah, I don't give a shit. That's right. So, I mean, in the same degree, I think you bring with yourself an openness that allows for you to grow and learn. Thank you. And it was really cool. Thank you. I did a movie, 72 Hours, that comes out on Netflix July 24th. And it's full of comedians. It's Kevin Hart, Marcelo Hernandez, Ben Marshall. Cam Patterson. And then me. And something I take pride in, especially, you know, I've been boxing my whole life. Done a lot of CQC training and like martial arts. It's like. I can still kick your ass, but you're okay. No, by the way, I heard on the news. I'm a little tougher. Yeah, no, absolutely. It doesn't translate to real world. No, sure. It does for you. The CQC stuff, dude. See you later. But it was funny being able to end something like an under five. It's like keep up with you on the physical side or trying to like, you know, bolster or find a way to complement the movements and the rhythms that you sort of find yourself in naturally, whether it's because you had been doing it for as long as you have. I was a lot slower in under five. Keeping up with Dylan physically must be a real challenge. I'm trying to bridge this triple star athlete and lifelong boxer. He played football at NYU, which I didn't even know existed. There is no football at NYU. That's not even a thing. So I didn't do that, but that's okay. We were looking for the school. Yeah, we were like, what? Although they do have NYU football t-shirts, which is so funny. They do it ironically. You think it's an ironic thing? Yeah. No, it definitely is. They used to have a pretty good team, though, in the 40s. Did they? Yeah. It was weird. They played in the Meadowlands. Before they let black people play, their team was really on one. It was really. Dude, there's no way that was a good team. Let's just put that. They may not be brass tacks, but then they started this thing called integration. And it was a hell of a lot better. They were like, oh, this game is no fun anymore, Charles. Yeah. I don't think Chucky Silvertips was like the best RB, dude. But he had one hell of a kick. Yeah, I don't think. Coming in from South Idaho. Smokey Smalls, dude. I don't think. Smokey Smalls had to be a black player. There's no way. That's actually fair. There's no way. Smokey Smalls is probably a black guy. But I digress. Finding a rhythm amongst comedians, I knew. I knew. I knew. I knew. I knew it was going to be a challenge because of their wit and their ability to string together. It's like a video game. It's like a combo. But in terms of comedic technicality that I, my response to was like, well, my character is just going to cry a lot. So the premise of the movie is. Are you playing a straight guy kind of? So my character is getting married. Gotcha. And his best man, played by Marcelo Hernandez, is throwing a bachelor party. They have a group chat. And they accidentally invite. Kevin Hart's character, Joe, who is the lead of the movie. So it's kind of told in a reverse order. And then he flies out, spends the 72 hours with us in Miami and hijinks ensues. And I noticed because they were so capable at crafting jokes in the moment and on the spot, my only way of creating like a form of creative integrity was to drag the scene into a level of drama that I know I was comfortable with. It's your role. - Yeah, you can take over there. - Eventually, 'cause they're all on snl and that's their comfort zone and i told them from a creative standpoint i think it's admissible to admit that you will naturally as artists as performers will try and pull a scene or a moment into your comfort zone which for them is comedy i was like you have to understand because i grew up training in theater or like drama is my comfort zone you have to understand i will if you let me i will yank this scene with all of my strength into a dramatic moment which really works great you're a great crier i think well especially especially if i think it's funny yeah because they have to be funnier to pull it back out then so you're making them do their jobs that's where someone who's as brilliant as kevin hart is where what you're doing is this push and pull yeah where kevin acts as conduit in order to like manage uh each tone shift at a time while also having individual scenes with each of us and you know he is actually a very technically savvy actor yes so it feels like you're getting those dramatic moments that imbue heart and no pun intended do you not enjoy looking back on photos or looking back on videos in a bit of nostalgia to recognize what was influencing you at the time you could tell immediately just look at i have so many photos of myself in red converse because i watched sin city and i guess to this day had manufactured a lot of videos and i've been watching a lot of videos and i've been watching a lot of videos and i've seen a lot of my identity i still struggle not wearing converse i'm not at the moment but it for the longest time all i would wear is converse and as i became an adult and i saw so many memes about like guys in their 30s wearing converse i was like what i can i will say this though like we also i mean you grew up in la you grew up in california but like converse in general have like a history with los angeles that is like very scary vibe yeah it's very tied to us so if there's any group of people who are going to be on the show i'm going to be on the show i'm going to be on the show so if there's any group of people growing up in a place i feel like that's yeah we're more okay i think so no i think so too it's converse and vans i had well on that point so would you say that that's your cringy thing that you wore because i've noticed every guy has one thing like they went through a period of like maybe two years wearing button-down shirt mine black and white japanese no i guarantee black and white japanese bun down shirt in third grade in london my mom hated it and i'd wear a sweatshirt and i go guys don't worry check pull it up to my friend take it off when i got to school might have dragons on it that was so sweet wait wait that's still got it it's just black pants with the most like leather hooks and stuff hanging off of them yeah just like big oh no i want to know what you were gonna say i guarantee you mine's worse i don't know we might have to have like guarantee you mine's worth though dude i was i'm by the way i was too old for this and there's pictures of this people are gonna find this once i say this i had a derby phase derby hat like a with a round like i know the hat i can picture the picture i know the picture it's bad and you liked video games and anime you're just leaning into so bad oh man are you trying to get bullied yeah there it is yeah yeah you did dude bro and i have one that's even worse you know what sucks about that is you had a team of people at that time no one told me bowler hats in for this 11 bro that's not even the worst because right before then and there was a period where they overlapped okay i had oh this is so bad i feel like it's hard for me to even say it right as i was like getting into puberty and i was getting like i did go into puberty 16 which is fine it was great man i was getting pimples i would cover it up and i thought creatively by putting band-aids on my face like nelly oh that one was really it's not a bad idea though i like the thought i use i put makeup on mine once and girls at school caught me they go why are you wearing makeup i like big zits right here on both of your cheeks i'm like yeah like a chipmunk see what's and what's like why are you wearing makeup brandon they're like brian is wearing makeup i'm like i'm not wearing makeup i go in the bathroom i was like why is your face all wet and you have more zits now and what sucks is you clearly wiped it off right right right but that's what i'm saying is like it's hard because kids will do things to like hide their insecurities and not know that it's actually making it work like literally they're like the nelly thing was hiding the derby thing was me because i thought no for sure no but i'm talking no but yes no no the derby thing i unfortunately have no comment on that yeah yeah certainly a fashion anecdote that you will live in on your own by the way the first day i met barbara i was like i'm just going to get this out of the way and tell you what i did and i told her the derby i told i showed her the pictures she loved you immediately yeah she ate it up you don't think i lead with my little boy scout photos of my cheeks and oh my god my lady what are you talking about you were truly adorable yeah you're like the the chubby mason in school boy scout little chubby oh he was a big fella he was a big boy yeah you're a big fella you were one of the craziest fitness journeys out of like how tall were you i've always i i grew up yeah it didn't it didn't come like before i think when i was like 14 or 15 i hit six yeah feet but i didn't hit 300 pounds until i was uh 20 no 18. oh really okay so it wasn't it wasn't a growing phase no it was i played football so i would dominate in jv it felt great and then i moved up to varsity where everyone's like around my same size and there's video footage i like jump for the quarterback and this kid pushes me down and i remember my foot hitting my face that's not right and i tore my acl mcl pcl and meniscus in one go and that from that so i was 265. before then and then me and my friend um made a habit he stopped playing i was injured so i would go to practice and then while they were practicing we made this habit of i was in a wheelchair and he would roll me over the bridge to burger king and we would just up the menu my god at 260 you could put down a lot of i could but it eventually turned into a 300 pound uh by the way like at 300 pounds a little less just that appetites and that's even more burger king like that's more than 30. yeah no and you know i it wasn't necessarily something where i was happy to be that size which is why i was happy and grateful that eventually i made the decision to like really dial in uh my diet to be exactly what i want like to look the way i wanted to when i first met you you were eating an entire rotisserie chicken a day and it was sick delicious he was shredded and it was like pure protein but it was disgusting to watch like he would just have this put it down well that's i dip in mustard or anything sometimes honey mustard you were on the trough back then i remember trough trough was a big moment my biggest conniption was when there was an article that got released about this guy who ate a rotisserie chicken a day for 40 days in a row while i was on what must have been day 100 and something so i was way past 40 40 and had been eating a rotisserie chicken and that was like where's my article like yeah yeah but serve this no i eventually it took a while to learn nutrition in a way that was actually beneficial but also i do because haftor bjornson who i've told you i'm friends with he's the strongest man in the world yeah like just empirically he's huge he's huge he's the nicest guy you have to be he told me about his diet once and he told me that he tries to eat like when he's in really bulking period he tries to eat a lot of icelandic food because it's very you know it's very bad but one of the things that he would eat is uh icelandic ram testicles oh yeah and and listen actually no i'm not gonna let you guys do what you just did now you're not just gonna say that and then be like oh yeah okay yeah no listen when a six nine 500 pound man i'm sure he eats ram's testicles you're not like how much did you drink you go like dude you're awesome you know like sick that's so much however it works in the same way in the same way that you ate all of those chickens no no no wait a minute you destroyed an entire population of bird and he has he has neutered an entire population of animal what age do you think is that do you ever quantify that okay okay yes there was a primal version of my consumption that correlates to an understanding that this chicken lived its life to be consumed by me my chickens yeah that's a lot of yes but okay at least i know where the entirety of the chicken went which was my stomach if you're just eating testicles i know dude imagine killing an entire lamb and being like give me those he just he just rips them off with his hands do you think that they could still be alive though because you could just neuter them and eat them i think and then go meet them he did try to explain this to me and i was like i kind of don't want to know he was like godzilla huh i know dude you couldn't rip his balls off no but i'm sure he'd eat them if he how long did it take you to get into the shape that you felt like i am satisfied now because you had a past of being like yeah because i feel this way myself i was a chunkier kid i've always tried to work it off never did a success i feel like that you've had because you really committed hard you mason's a sexy guy he's a sexy guy sexy guys you also like you also really do you you buckle the fuck in like when you want to you buckle the fuck you know it's funny because when i i don't know if this is something we can all commiserate in because i feel like everyone has their own life that's something i learned when i got older is that even the kids that were naturally physically very fit and things everyone has insecurity especially at that time yeah i took i studied psychology in college i understand it to be a social arena what's he thinking right now a genius is uh my insecurity about my by the way couldn't be more unanimous that's day one in the psychology course actually but um i remember being at that time like i would talk to people about my weight or things and they would talk to me about wanting to either get bigger or get smaller and i didn't know how to articulate a desire to simply want to like disappear like to to be so small to be so small to be so small that i fold in on myself and not be perceived by other people yeah that once i was able to kind of extricate that mental you know disposition of trying to eradicate my own identity or ability to be perceived that it was actually about like what made me feel good yeah yeah and because that doesn't happen overnight years like through once i got to college i was like i'm gonna lose weight because this is a new chapter and i'm gonna lose weight because i'm gonna lose weight because this is a new chapter in my life it was a unfortunate routine of like not eating and then overworking and then uh you know things that ultimately led to maybe being less weight but being certainly less healthy as well and then i discovered like a love for um physical activity or like self-improvement i started boxing a bit more i had been boxing since i was a kid but but uh i got into that and then i met my trainer mike khan who's amazing and brian feel and they restructure my understanding of nutrition as well as strength and conditioning and i would say it was a two-year span from when i met them in like 2021 till i got on set for scream six where i was like i i feel like i'm i feel like the kid in me would be proud of who i've become at least physically yeah and then you take that and you're like oh my god i'm gonna lose weight i'm gonna lose weight like time and you you start to poke around under the hood psychologically and you're like oh there is definitely still stuff to learn so like i got to a point maybe like last year where i feel like i was able to say i'm proud i contextualize it through my mother because i love her and she was trying to teach me so many things about self-improvement growing up that just didn't quite land i realized that like pursuing the idea of being a good man which i like to think we all do every day in order to be that good man you have to first be better and i was taking one step at a time one aspect of living at a time and trying to improve on it on a way that like yes i've made mistakes and yes i've done uh things specifically in the pursuit of being better that i don't know if i would do again especially when you're talking about fitness um that like now i can say i'm proud to have done it because i have such a healthy understanding of not just my quality and my um fitness but also with my identity and my ability to relate to other people i i will also extend that even further to your presence on set and your ability as an actor because one of the reason i even brought this up to begin with number one is because i'm interested i do think it's genuinely an interesting story you've got a very interesting run from like the injury to feeling out of your skin to coming into your skin becoming an actor doing all this but the one thing that i noticed even in the anecdote of you pushing the car was that the issue was never the car right he's like sisyphus the issue was the length by which you're pushing the car and i and i found what was so cool about that moment for me watching you do that is because to you one of the things i'm i'm interested in asking you just in general is is there anything that you think you cannot do and what do you think you can't do and what do you think you can't do and is there anything that you think you cannot achieve as a character in acting because when i work with you i genuinely don't ever get that impression from you and it's really cool to see and i think part of that is informed by your history with yourself by your history with your roles that you've done and i think it's really cool to see that in a way and that's a positive outcome of maybe these things that you viewed as negatively because you have changed a lot in your life yeah and you've done it so well that's bar for bar one of the most thoughtful questions and it was the nicest thing but well i do mean thoughtful in the sense that it not only required thought to ask but to answer that um i think a lot of what we do as actors and as performers is as it is for uh the human condition that like what you can't do if viewed as like an insurmountable challenge means that if you don't even try you're right you you indirectly make it a true statement it's like if you view it as something impossible then it must become that way since you're not willing to try and for me i've been able to recontextualize things that i would at an earlier point in my life or in my career say i couldn't do that to something i might not know how to do yet and i think because of how thoughtful i try to be generally socially but also professionally i'm always willing to do the thing that scares me in a way that means if there's a version where i can like overcome it i'm going to find out what that is whether it's right now or in the future or after rehearsal or after talking about it with people that i trust and a funny thing i think of now like culturally is this uh understanding of the term humility yeah and i feel like a lot of people at least that i've spoken to have an understanding of it as being like shitting on yourself is like to exude humility you have to put yourself down self-deprecation to be self-deprecating uh which i i do especially in comedy because it's like you have to right i i it shows the self-awareness of like things that i find funny about myself i don't think i'm perfect i have an interesting question for you both which you know depending if we want to because i'm amped with this because we can we can get into it or we can land the plane or we can do whatever but i i will i will ask you this because i i think i have my own insecurities as we're as you were saying you have insecurities being like hey the rejection of it all that's an insecurity every everybody especially actors has an immense fear of rejection um from multi because that's all we do really you go out and you get rejected until you get accepted and that's so that happens happens all the time. I'm interested to know from both of you, is there an insecurity of acceptance? Because both of you have. I hate compliments. Well, like, before you got here, we were talking, you know, we did a podcast meeting. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You're like, guys, you know what? Brennan, you're really doing great out there. You know, you seem very comfortable in front of the camera. And you just threw up immediately. I know your line. I'm like, there's no f***ing way. Sorry. I, and for me, like, people outright, like, they'll just, I lean much more rejection than I lean acceptance. And let me break this down even further and jump right into the point. Because you guys both come from families with names, okay? The common thing to call you guys would be considered nepo babies. I am having a nepo baby as a child. Hell yeah, you are. Which is. Yeah, you often do. Crazy. But the fear of accepting me for the wrong reasons has never been a thing. Both of you are some of the most talented people I know outside of whatever perceived notions people bring in to you. But there are those things that. Yeah, as a kid, it sucks, you know, like, when you didn't know if someone was being nice to you for the wrong reasons or not. I never had that. See, but. People were just mean to me or that I got rejected. I knew myself. I was going to say that and stop them from being mean to me. I got made in front of all the. You know what? Scoop. I'm sorry. No, but I mean more so in the act of, like, on being accepted for what you perceive as your own merit being misinterpreted. I see what you're saying. This is a hard conversation because at 29 now, not that that's like, I'm really getting up there, but I can't necessarily speak on my feelings about lineage or acceptance based off of the merits earned by another person without. Yeah. Without. Yeah. only looking at it from how I understand it now. I could tell you about my experience as a kid, but it would be textured with how I don't necessarily think that's much different from, like, a lot of the issues that kids deal with today, especially, you know, online that most people can have followings at 13, 14 and be perceived in a way that, like, most other generations have not had to engage with. In other words, this is not going to be a big woe is me conversation where I'm like. Yeah. There's a lot more to be happy about than sad about. You don't want to come off about, yeah. No, but my point is the way I view it now is, as I would tell you. in relationship to having a child, is something I would tell most actors, entertainers, who can't help but come up to me on set and ask a very polite version of, how do I not up my child? - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - And my answer always comes out the same as like, you recognize, I would hope one would recognize their public persona as being capable of being consumed by their child the same way an audience does. And I'm not saying that means you have to alter your public persona or behave inauthentically, though that isn't kind of a name of the game. It's just understanding that that dissonance between who I get at home and who you are on camera will actually be a factor in how I parse out our relationship moving forward is like, I know, as a kid whose father was an actor and grandfather was a singer, I have probably a stronger relationship in understanding based on who they were publicly than who they were privately. And it wasn't until I was older-- - Oh, that's intriguing. - That they could, not my grandfather, God rest his soul, but like my dad would have been able to articulate like a lot of the lessons, I learned as a kid. 'Cause when you're a parent who's an actor and you're gone for so long and then you come back, you try to like, the word would be like, speed parent. - Yeah, pack it all in. - You come in for a week and you're like, what the is that broken? - Baseball game. - Why are you failing in school? Why are you fighting? And at the time I know what it, I didn't really understand that relationship 'cause I was like, you're so positive and charismatic in these interviews and then you come home and it's a different guy. - Yeah. - And I didn't get that correlation or lack thereof, and now I understand it as like an actor's worst fear, and I know socially and online will say it's rejection. No, you wanna know what an actor's worst fear is? Categorically, is that you leave your home for three, three, four months out of the year, and you delve into this character, maybe you'll talk on the phone to your wife or your husband or your kids or whatever, but while you're gone and while you're doing those things, time does not stop. - Yeah, everything else continues. - Back home, everything continues. And you'll come home and people will be like, oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, this is what you missed and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I know for a fact, - You go into this major milestones, yeah. - I think of, my dad's one example, but I think of all people who fear, the creep of time and how it affects their relationships. - It's not just father-son, I watched my brother experience this on Riverdale. I remember things would happen in my life. - Oh, when he'd come back, yeah. - And he'd be like, how did I miss this? - Okay, so break us down with this. - That's right, and the most devastating thing from a psychological standpoint is seeing the discomfort that that breeds in how, this is worst case scenario, which it is not the case, but it's how you contextualize it, is how, how willing the rest of your life is to move on without you and then simply mend you back into the fold once you've arrived back home is, I mean, it's destabilizing, 'cause it's like-- - It's temporary and then you're back off again, yeah. - But it's conflicting, 'cause you're like, I want this. I want this to be this way. I want everything to run smoothly. I want everyone to be okay. But then you come back and in my dad's case, it's like, these are things I have to do because I'm here now and I had all this time where I wasn't able to do it and I need to do it now. And it ultimately means, 'cause we're talking about lineage, so I'm like, we're gonna kind of blow this conversation out of proportion here. But I remember in the beginning of my career, the one question I was always afraid to get asked was like, oh, you're gonna be, you're compared to so many other people, whether it is your father, your grandfather, or other actors in your peer group. - Take it from me, brother. - No, exactly. - I get compared a lot. - A lot. - And I think specifically from like a parent to child relationship is like, whether I am or am not is really not the question for me because out of respect of like generations before me, especially someone as close to me in lineage as my father is like, it'd be disrespectful to say, I'm not going to be better than him because the amount of resources I have at my disposal means, I would be wasting whatever it was that he had to do, both good and bad to get to where he is, to allow me to be in the place where I am to grow thereafter. And I imagine that goes beyond entertainment, that goes beyond acting, is that we as parents want better for our children. We want them to have more access, more resources that they can then use. - The other thing I think of too, kind of to what you're saying is that like, and I'm just gonna just say this straight up to you, because I know you already hate acceptance. Brendan, when we first met and I was reading through the scripts that you were holding onto so tightly, I was like, structurally and classically, you're one of the most talented writers I've ever met. - Thank you Dylan. - Especially script wise. Then you went into comics and you started doing this and I was like this, if I would only see one 10th of your scripts hit my desk as auditions, I would be so much happier. I remember thinking that and looking at it. And then I started thinking and I go, well, also, you've been surrounded by talented people in that environment doing that. Like your dad's incredibly talented, your sisters, every one of your sisters. - Well scary as hell, I'm at NYU, my dad sold his first script junior year at NYU. - Right, I know what you're gonna do right now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And so he sells his script called "Jocks", a football movie. Next movie he writes is "Gremlins". And I'm like, and that's, he's what is he, 21? - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - And I'm like, holy shit, it is a lot to think about. - But that's, but it is, you know. - But naturally I feel like there's a way, it's the same way that like 90% of businesses or families have operated forever, which is to say, okay, if my child is raised in a piano family. - Joseph was a carpenter. - Jesus Christ, first nepo baby. - First nepo baby, that's right, that's right. - You're gonna, I'm the worst nepo baby. I can't even sell a script. Crucify me. - Current society that we have, at least in the United States, which is, you know, very different obviously from everywhere else on earth. Like it facilitates a certain thing being successful or working that our past generations did not have. Like for example, when your father was selling scripts, this was at a time in the industry where they were throwing $35 million at the wall of anything. And this is not to like downplay your father's immense talent. - Yeah, he's gonna, I'm gonna get a call to him. - He's gonna, I'm gonna get a call to him. - He's gonna, I'm gonna get a call today. - No, because your father was empirically talented. But at the same time, the environment around taking risks was different back then, right? The risk taking environment's dead in this generation comparatively, and it's starting to come back. - But now we're seeing the risk, yeah, with curry and- - I know, see, 'cause I don't know if I would equate it to like a willingness to take risks. It's more the- - All I'm using it as an example of is to say that the stage hazards have changed. Stage hazards are different now. Everything's different from the way that, I mean, we were, our parents were playing on "Final Destination" and we're playing in Hyrule Temple. Okay, so it's different, dude. - Wow. - It's a very different playing field. And the other, like when I- - But then, how do you account for something like an obsession? - Yeah, exactly. Like those guys are just super talented- - Which I'm like, yes, no, it's positive as hell. - Oh, I see what you're saying. You're finding the like silver lining in the- - Oh, 100%. - Yeah. - But also like that doesn't contradict what I'm saying. Like Curry Cooper and the gang, like that movie was $750,000 to make. They have said that number. That is not the same number that in our parents' generation budget, that wasn't even the lowest budget that a studio would buy something for, right? So back then the numbers were just very different. Talent is still always going to supersede everything else. - And those guys are talented as hell. - Talented. The resonating, the thing that you guys have where you resonate with the people that either read or watch you or do the thing, that is always going to take precedence over everything else. - Why do you say you guys? Like you don't, you haven't made a career off of defining generations. - Dude, that was a given. - Oh, okay, it was a given. - All right, all right. - Such an asshole. - Just ran it right back to being an asshole. - Of course. - 'Cause that, it's funny, 'cause, you know, 'cause that, it's funny, 'cause, you know, I feel like a lot of curiosity culturally has been sort of positioned onto lineage or nepotism in this case. - Yeah. - If that's the word we want to use. - I don't think people care about it as much as they think they do. - Sure, but I do find your position of being an identity that people not only grew up with, but can denote aspects of their life coinciding with your life and realizing that they're also, entering a stage in life that means they're maybe having kids. - Yeah. - That will go through an experience that Zack and Cody did. - Mm-hmm. - Like, it's funny that you've basically basically had to reinvent the nature of your career at the same time you're reinventing your own identity as we do when we get older. And I know you worked at, was it a coffee shop? Yeah, Mud. Mud Coffee. Was it Mud? Yeah, it was. Oh, no way. Is Mud still around? I love Mud. Oh, yeah. Still kicking around? It's kicking. They even got a truck. I think they got a truck again because it went down for COVID. Yeah, because they had that truck, yeah, for COVID. And then it's back. Once they hired him, they just stopped. Yeah, they just stopped. They were like, dude. No, then you worked at the ramen place. What was that called? I am going to. I didn't work at a ramen place. You did. I am trying to go. I never did that. Dylan. Oh, you knew the guy. You got a reservation there. I worked at Meltdown Comics when I was younger. Oh, that's cool. I am trying to go Dylan into telling stories because he is the most gifted storyteller. He's the finest storyteller. It's not just funny. It's the way, which is why I'm shocked you haven't directed more than you might have. Because I think it's a real, I'm like, everyone who's going to hear this is going to hate me for saying this. No, go for it. I think it's a really kind of egotistical thing to be an actor and be like, the logical next step is for me to direct. I'm like, shut the f*** up. Those are completely different things. But what I'm identifying is a separate talent that you have. An eye for content. Sure. I like story. Here's my thing. I love storytelling. It's my favorite thing. You get into producing, so that's along the lines. I do prefer, I think if anything, I prefer writing over directing. And part of the reason is too, is because I am still like a jaded guy a little bit in my own way. But I also love supporting people who have things that they're really passionate about. That's one of my biggest things. So I see a lot of young directors who are like, I really want to direct. And they're dying hungry for it. Yeah, exactly. And I go, I'm not dying for that at all. So why the f*** would I do this when you should just do it instead? Right. Instead. And I'll help you with that. Right. Which, if I may like alter, make an addendum to what I was saying before, is like, I actually love that if you are lucky enough to know Dylan and to get to have access to the side of you that tells stories in big settings. I'm happy today, dude. He's complimenting the hell out of me. But I mean, if you earn them, it's like, I love that about your persona, that your ability to encapsulate a sentiment at a time and then share it with people feels like, Baal Wolf, back when it was Baal, like it feels. That's the sickest thing you could have said. Barbara's going to ask me when I get home. She's going to be like, why are you glowing? Why are you glowing? But I cannot tell you, maybe it was you that even said it, because I was going to say, oh, someone told me once, but it sounds like something you would say, is like, one of our gifts as a species is to be able to tell stories and to impart lessons unto each other through storytelling. Meaningful through dictation and also through resonance and narrative to real life is like, I feel like people will often be like, you should direct a movie because when they speak to you, it's so compelling that they just want to see it in all of its grandeur. But I do like and do now that I've said that out loud and want to make an addendum, is like, I love that about all people, but that you all might have like an innate thing that makes you really, really special or talented and not choose to share it or commodify it in a way that like, you'd have to now to be, to become a director. I'm like, or one of my favorite qualities of Dylan is just that like, when you hang out with him, he tells you a great story. He's just good storyteller. It's a great beer guy. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I sit down, I can have a beer. I mean, I could imagine you at the table, you know, just in the beer hall. The bardic tradition. He's singing a little bit. There's a little musicality to it. I'm not going to do that now. I haven't warmed up. Yeah, no, please. Yeah. We've talked about a lot of subjects, I feel like today, whether it's insecurities or- We ran the gamut. Yeah. That's not how you say that, right? The gamut. Is it gamut? You were thinking of Gambit, the X-Man. No, it's gamut. Is it gamut? No, no, no. Mason's correct. Yeah, you f*** me. He's thinking of Gambit, the X-Man. First off, Shannon Tatum was gambit. I thought it was- I know you thought it was gambit by the way that you so commonly- By the way, learning something today, I've been saying it for years. Hey, great. But I've also been saying- Wait, hold on. Hold on. This is actually so important. Run the gamut. I need to tell someone. You know what Dylan and his brother Cole do that drives me f***ing insane, that I cannot, they all be in the middle of telling a story and then want to pivot back onto another subject line with the same rhetorical vehicle, and that is a word that does not exist. They'll go, "This person did blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." Irregardless- No, no, no, no, no, no, no. And the problem is- You're right about that. You're right about that. I just see both of them saying that. Irregardless is a double negative. But also you draw so much attention to the fact that you're saying a non-existent word. It drives me. Irregardless- Irregardless, Chad, I think we've run the gambit here enough tonight. Should we thank Mason, Chad? Let's thank Mason for coming in here. Oh my God. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you.