"RE-RELEASE: Charlie Day"

(upbeat music) - Hi there. This is Will Arnet, host of the Will Arnet FunZone Podcast. - Fantastic, I'm Will. - This week, what we've talked about this man, we've been over this like so many times. - Okay. - But we are doing it though, right? We are gonna do that now, right? - No, we're not. - This is smartless. - Okay. - FunZone, I know. - Well what are we doing today? - All we need is a super simple welcome to smartless. - All right, I'm gonna dig deep for this. - Welcome to smartless. (upbeat music) Now listen Jason, before we get too deep into the show, we need to talk about the crew, the crew color. And now you've, tell us what walked us through what happened this morning. - Well, I went ahead and I got showered and changed prior to our record for my golf engagement, following this record. - Oh, you golf? - Yeah. - I'm not proud to say, but chuckles over there does it too. So, yeah, so I put on my collared shirt as you're required to do and then it's a little chilly here in Los Angeles. I put on a nice wrap over the top of it. A nice cash mirror wrap and the collar on that crew neck was a little tight. So, it took the collar of my undershirt there and pushed it up and then Will was hurting me calling it a mock turnal neck. So, that sweater's gone. I'm gonna go to a V-neck. - And Will said we were talking about money for the producing the podcast and Will said, - What's the budget for a mock turnalex? For Jason, for the, I would come here with a budget. - Jason, it's a, it's a fair question. - First of all, you're allowed to mock a mock turnal neck. It's built into the name, okay? - But by the way, I will never, you'll never see me in a mock turnal neck. You'll never see me in a turtleneck for sure because I've got probably, you know, they ask you sometimes, you know, what's the one thing you change about your body? It's probably my non-superhero jawline. I've got sort of like a, sort of a diagonal. A diagonal from the end of my chin to my Adam's Apple as opposed to a 90 degree. So, if I wear a turtleneck, I then have the turkey goblet hangover over the edge, the cascades, the skin, the cascades over the edge of the turtle. I can't have it. - Yeah, no, I can't. I disagree, you both have nice, nice silhouettes. - Go back to the thing though, about being called, it's called an LA. I came down the stairs day. I'm not, not making this up. I came down the stairs and Scotty had the heat on, on the first floor of Los Angeles and the heat. And I was sweating by the time I got to the bottom of it. - You come down the stairs, your Hollywood house. - Every day, like Gloria Swanson, right? - That's right. - Like the Hollywood blowing and a flowing house coat. - Yeah. - Ready for my close-up? - It's so great to see you guys. - This is really exciting. I'm excited for you guys to talk to our guest today. - Oh, I am excited to listen. - Because our guest is, this is a mega talent. This person is a person who's been doing it for a long time. This person is not just an actor, this person is a writer. This person is a skilled musician who started playing violin at the age of three. They can play the piano, accordion, trombone, guitar, harmonica. And has written and improvised music a lot in a show that they've done now for many, many years. This person received an honorary doctorate from performing arts from Maramette College. This person, you know, was active at Williamstown Theatre Festival back in the day. This person has gone on to a huge career in television. And I guess the longest running TV comedy of all time. This person has, I want to do some guesses here. - Well, this is my guess and it makes sense 'cause this is my friend and I'm so happy to have my friend. And I want you guys to start trying to guess. This person has done lots of movies. This person was in the Lego movie with me. - It was a really long-running comedy. - The Lego movie too. - Yeah. - Pacific Rim. - The longest running choral bosses. - Horrible bosses and it's sequel. - Well, it's got to be Chuck Dei. - It's Chuck Dei. - Yeah, it's Chuck Dei. - Oh my god. - Oh my god. - That's right. - You're scraping the bottom of the barrel, Matt Boyle. - No, I was trying to wrap the show up. - So Chuck, what about, this is, now I think the reason you've taken so long to book on this is your schedule. - Really a long time for someone to ask me. - I can't believe Rob McLean beat you onto this show. - What does that say about us? - Here's my favorite part. Is that Bayman and Chuck Dei have been friends for many years. They've done a few movies together and I was so happy to steal Charlie as my guest from under Bayman just to really point it. - What had him on too? - I know. - I think maybe you did ask me. - Yeah, definitely. And then you were saying, yeah, gosh, you know, I don't know. You're saying a podcast and I think he gave me a little bit of a run around and I don't lie and don't like to crush your people. I know you were looking to get paid quite a bit of money for today. - Yeah, I was waiting for you guys to make money so I could start making money, which is cool. 'Cause Will cut me a great check for this. - I had to send him over cash, a guy with a rucksack full of cash. - Yeah, and that's a pick up for me, guys. - 'Cause you're not doing that well, right? You know, that show is not paying you. - I've made a lot of bad decisions though. You know what I mean? I've made a lot of sketchy calls. - Wait, we had Charlie, we had Michael Haney on it. And is it really the longest running sitcom in history? - Yeah. - Yeah, well, years. If you don't count episodes, I think you did more episodes of Will and Grace and like two seasons. - I know, right. - But how many years is it now? This is something we don't want to gloss over because this is, this is, you should be, and I'm sure you are so proud of how long this show has been on the show. - Yeah, it's so cool. - This isn't just made up. - Of course, about all of a sudden, you can fill it up. - It's 15 years. We just, we just have 15 years. - 15 years. - And you're about to do another one or two? I don't know, at least another one. And we'll see after that. - Look at the way he's positioning right there. - I know. - He knows Fox is listening. - Of course. - Or whatever the hell it is. And he's gonna jam him again. He's gonna get to 20. - You know what it is? We've done a lot. We've done a lot of these. I don't know how long we can keep on. - Nothing adds more zeros than a foot out the door, right? I mean, let's just sketch them. - That's true, yeah. - So Charlie, let's talk a little bit about it 'cause we were talking about all of a sudden in Philadelphia, which is a huge long-running show, longest by years. Could you have imagined, take us back to the day when it actually became a TV show? 'Cause we had Rob on here, we talked about it. You guys made some videos and stuff and you shot some stuff. Is that, am I remembering that correctly? And you took it to FX? - Yeah, that's basically it. I mean, we were shooting in my apartment, which was on the corner of Western and Franklin there. I lived in, I think it paid 600 bucks a month for rent. - You got Rob. - Quick aside, quick aside, Jason, last time you were east of Kuehenga. - Five, four, four, three, two. - Back in the drug days, four, yeah. I think I might have seen you scoring on the corner. - Yeah, it was a pay phone, I'd like to. I had to run you down a dime bag or something - It wasn't there. - It wasn't sure what it was. - Oh my God. - So you're in your apartment? - Right, and was there a phone call from your agent or a manager or something that said they bought it? - You know what it was? So we had shot this thing and it was like pretty good but we knew we'd sort of not hit the nail on the head. And we had nothing really going on. So we redid the whole thing. And we were doing it so cheaply. We were holding the cameras, we had a little boom. It was real low rent. And our second go around was pretty funny. We thought, "Are there something here?" And we were all at three arts management at the time. So like Nick Frankel and Michael Rogenberg took it to WME and they kind of sat on it for a while. They're like, "Yeah, maybe we'll hook you up with a big producer." And we waited forever for John Favreau to watch it. And he just, I guess he never got around to it. - The one that got away. - I know, well, I mean, I'm so glad I'm not cutting half a check to John. You know, I mean, I'm sure he would have helped a lot, but it's nice not to have to be paying him anything. But eventually we got kind of bored and we shot a third episode. - Literally, you shot it because you were just in this waiting because the agencies are on their timetable. - Well, that and the only thing to do on Western is either move blind bags or shoot another episode. - It should be noted. Can I just take this, am I right? I've been saying this and you guys can agree or disagree with me. The agent thing in show business is hilarious because you can't get in touch with your agent in the first thing in the morning because they're in a staff meeting. Every agent takes lunch at one o'clock, no matter what. So they're out of the office for two hours. - They need an hour or so to get there. So they leave at 12. Sorry, we lost him, he's on his way to a lunch. And then he's back at three. Then they do the thing is like, well, he's not in the office, why not? Well, because next week is Thanksgiving. Yeah, next week is Thanksgiving, not this week. The fuck are you doing? - And then the month of December. - And then month of December, sorry. It's the holidays, sure got it and then they go. And then obviously Sundance is at the end of January. So nobody's back till Feb 1. It's the most ridiculous racket of all time. - We were getting a lot of it. - Yeah, the end of the day goes like this, well, the end of the day goes, sorry that we're closed. He's gonna start rolling calls and then they call. you're not going to pick up. Yeah, or they call you at seven o'clock and you're having dinner with the kid and you're like, "Why are you calling me now?" Yeah. Sorry. Well, basically, no, that's it though. We lost sort of patience with that kind of thing and we said that. It's a bit. We're going to leave you guys and we're going to go to a different agency with this and that sort of prompted them setting a bunch of meetings and Rob went around because we thought maybe we'd be too much to have all three of us in the meetings. So Rob went and we had an offer from FX to shoot a, you know, a real pilot. With a real budget. Rob's the closer. He's the closer. He's better in the meeting. He's a, he's a better salesman. Where? Now, how are you in meetings? Because I don't think I'm great in meetings. I don't enjoy them. I feel like I'm trapped in an office. I feel like I'm 45 minutes from getting out of these walls. So it better not go bad in the next minute or two because I'm stuck like all those things I start to feel I start to think about and then it's just the walls start getting closer and closer like Star Wars. How are you? Do you look at it as like an arena like I'm on stage or this is fun? Like let's win or are you looking to get out of there? It's tough. It's a tough part of this business. You know, it depends. They're all very different. You go into a meeting and you just sometimes you just get cold stares and. Yeah. Well, I do have that vibe sometimes of like, well, here's the idea guys. Do you want to buy it or not? Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If you have that indifference, what's it called? Sex. Sex. You know, about his sexy indifference, right? Yeah. It's one of it. It's still working on it. Major terms. Yeah. But yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's, you're either selling or you're buying. The buyers usually look at you with absolutely no expression because they can. The sellers us have to go in there like, you know, circus clowns because we're selling. And that's really what we do in this business. And in a good year, you're selling, you know, you're selling yourself six, seven, eight times and, and winning like in other words, you get fired, you know, half a dozen times and rehired half a dozen times if you're killing it. So I mean, how many people in, in other industries have to sell themselves or get fired or rehired maybe three, four times over the whole life? I mean, we got to do that all the time. It's tough. It's, it's, it's, it's hard. It is crazy. But then you look at the flip of it, Charlie. So you guys, you guys go through this process. You make this thing. You wait. You make this thing. You have to threaten to leave the agency finally FX buys it. You guys are kind of a little bit hat and hand. And now all these years later, you're at the position we asked you were in it. Like, are you going to do more? You're like, maybe I'll do one more, whatever, like you have the, the tables have turned a little bit. Yeah. Well, I bet a lot. Yeah. I mean, I think the thing is though, when we were shooting that pilot, I was 27 years old. Right. And I'm 46 and so I feel like, you know, I put in my time with this one. 23 though. I know. It's a reliable age. Yeah, it's a good one. Yeah. Let's be a real stress free set there. But, but we all make, we all make stuff. We all produce or write or direct or act whenever. And Charlie, kind of what Jason was talking about, is there a point where you, like, are you getting to a point where it's bothersome that the grind is getting to you about getting all these knows? Because it seems now to put together a package to sell something you have to really stack the deck high before anybody will even consider you to hear about Merrill Streep getting past or on or what were these big stars go out to pitch these shows and they get past well, if they get past and I'm stacking these deck and we're getting those, what does it take to keep a production company going? I like to get everything done independently of a partner. So, you know, like, I'd rather, if I'm going to be pitching a movie, I'd rather have the whole thing written and say, you know, and and a director in place and an actor in place where like, here's we're going. This is what it is. So all they do is write the check. Basically. Yeah. Yeah. You know, as it should be. Yeah, but then that means you got to do a bunch of work for free ahead of time. Which is cool. If you've got the time and the and the funds to bank on yourself and work for free for a little while. Yeah. Look, at some point, you're going to have to do that work anyway. Yeah. So I'm usually, it depends, right? There's other things I'll pitch and I'll know, okay, I want to get a ride around this and I want to get that person paid, so I'll put, but even then I'll work with that writer. I'll develop a whole outline. So that movie is basically ready to go and I'll attach a few people to the movie and then I'll go and it'll be like, here it is. This is what it is. Here's who's acting in it. Here's the director. Now please pay this guy. And Will and Sean, you got to understand this guy is, he's so fast and he's so good. He wrote horrible bosses to on a five hour plane ride from New York to Los Angeles. That's. He's exaggerating. He did the complete rewrite page one rewrite on it and we used most of it. And out of deference to our writers that wrote the draft before, I'm exaggerating a little bit and, but Charlie deserves a great deal of credit for that. Well, I appreciate that. I don't want to take credit away from, from, you know, the guy's, he's fast, but he is fast, I'm fast writing, I'm real slow in names and we will be right back. And now back to the show. Wait. So speaking of names. So you and obviously you have a long time relationship with Rob McLean. How did you guys first meet? What was that? I met Rob on a plane. So we were both being flown out to test for a pilot for the same role. And it was one of those things where, you know, you're in the airport and you're like, oh, this guy's got to be an actor, you know, he's got that look. And the show is called "Mathor House" is about college kids or something like that. And you know, I think, I don't know when I said hello, but maybe after the plane landed. Where were you coming from? From New York? From New York, yeah. We both lived in New York and we're flying out. They, you know, they put you up on, like in the Hilton or something right off the 101 there. Oh, yeah. Universal. Oh, many times. And then you used to find Jason on the sun, yeah. I used to remember pilots. He's the nice to come out there and stay there or the Sheraton or the Intercontinental over by Fox, which is where Tony Hale and I stayed for the rest of the test. Anyway, keep going. It was my second time that happened. It happened to me. I tested for something called "Weird Henry." And they liked me for "Weird Henry." And they flew me out and then they did one sort of, you know, round of notes with the producers. And then the studio was like, this show is not going to work and they can, the whole thing. And then the same thing happened with Rob. Rob and I both went and tested and I remember thinking, like, I got this guy and he doesn't have the charisma. No, I'm not worried about him. Look at his stupid face. Look at his dumb face, man. He's, he's never going to make it in show business. He'll never own a football team with Ryan Reynolds. Yeah. Yeah. He's too handsome. I was like, he's too modally. You know, you need someone real. And then the same thing happened, they canned the whole show while we were out there. And we just kind of bonded and stayed buddies and, you know, now I can't get rid of him. You know, every year I'm like, well, maybe we've done it with the show. He's like, come on, one more. Let's go. And then so not only can you not get rid of him or we'll tell you, then you guys create mythic quest with, it wasn't just the two of you, it was somebody else too. It was Megan Gantz. Megan Gantz, yes, of course. Yeah. No, I can't get rid of this guy. And, you know, I go on podcasts, I'm just talking about him. I'm like, wait, I hear him. He barely talks about me. I'm talking about this guy constantly. No, no, he talks about you quite a bit. We just can't repeat it. Oh, okay. And you guys started a podcast together, too. Now you've got this all with silly parts. And now we're talking about the show and people are listening. But we're not here to plug that. We're not going to talk about it. No, let's plug all everything you got. Yeah. I think what we should really, if we really want to get this cooking, we should just talk about golf. I mean, let's go. First of all, when we were doing horrible bosses. Yeah. And I'm a bit of a golf nut. I would say, oh, Jason, you know, I heard you used a golf and you said, yeah, I don't do it anymore. I was like, well, you should come out with me, you know, maybe sometime and just, you know, dust off the old sticks and hit it. You are the most golfing man. I know now. Yeah, it's incredible. Non-stop. And back then, I was very disciplined. I didn't want to dance with the dragon again. You know, I've got addiction issues. Yeah. Like, no, no, no. You are fully addicted to golf. Yeah. Dance with the dragon. Yeah. And then during COVID, you know, we'll just threw me a life line. He said, listen, buddy, you got to step away from Rachel Maddow, take your PJs off and let's get out there, do something socially distant. Let's, let's play golf. And two weeks later, we were in Pebble Beach. Yeah. No joke. Yeah. Put it right in my arm. Yeah. I love it. I love that you do it. I hope you don't give it up. No, no, I don't. Look at me. I'm dressed. Look at my shirt for Christ's sake. I'm half hour from the tee. Because they know you've got a tee toe. Yeah. Let's go. Charlie, I have Sean. I know, I know your question is going to be, Hey, Charlie, how long in straight are you off the tee? Very. He's very consistent off the tee. It's unbelievable. This guy's a single digit handicap listener. Anybody who's into golf, this guy, this guy doesn't show over 80, okay? He's a natural athlete. That's that. He played a lot of baseball when he was coming up. This is the most you know about, man. This is surprising. Wait. So Charlie speaking of growing up, so I mentioned in the thing that you play piano and you play all these instruments. What's up with that? Because I don't know. Look at Sean Perk. Sean doesn't want to talk about a long off the tee, but let's get that harmonica in his mouth, huh? Let's do it. I probably have one lying around. I don't know where the violin thing came like I was ready to go. Yeah. Anytime. There's a bad joke. Hey, where's that keyboard we're going to introduce? I know we're going to Sean. Yeah. I know. I'm too lazy to lift this up and go in there because they got to hook it up. Charlie, do you still play violin? Do you still play these instruments? No, I never play the violin. That's why that was not true. No, I think I played the violin from like three to three in one month, you know, where my parents were like, "Well, this is too young." "This is very accurate. Is there an instrument that you excel at or that you stick with?" "Keep it clean." "I don't excel at any of them, but I can play a little piano and a little guitar and that's that." You know, I can write like a goofy song that we put on Sunny, but was that something that your parents like incurred? Like, did you take piano lessons and guitar lessons? Yes, yes. I took piano lessons, maybe till I was ten, and then I switched to the trombone. I used to have a little sweatshirt because I was in the school band. It's a Charlie trombone. So that like became my nickname. You know, the problem with the trombone is if you leave in the rain, it gets rusty, you know? It's true. It's true if you leave it in the rain, clean it up. Well, you keep it clean, you get some kind of brass cleaner or something like that. Charlie, when you write and produce or direct or whatever you do, do you think about music when you're doing it or is it an afterthought? It's a big part of how I write something. I'll be just listening to, you know, a style of music and I'll have an idea. The Pesh mode. Yeah, be listening to the Pesh mode and I've been thinking, "I got to do a movie with Bateman where he, you know, wears eyeshadow and trench coats." Yeah, you should see me. I got great goth skills. Yeah. Yeah. I do love, I do love the Pesh mode. We Charlie, I know what it is. So little about, so it says that you're born in New York, in the city. Yeah. True story? True story, because my parents, my parents both met at Columbia where they were both with music, getting their doctorates in musicology and then they were like, "Wait a second, wow." So your parents, so you kind of blew, brushed through the whole music thing and your own involved with me. Your parents have degrees in music from Columbia? Yeah. Yeah. My parents are very smart, as is my sister. She also has her PhD in musicology and what happened here was that, you know, I'm an idiot and I was like, "I got to get away from this music thing." So, you know, I'm taking Trombone lessons and all my buddies are outside playing baseball and I eventually, you know, walked away from it all and gave it up. But then when I got to like maybe a senior in high school or college, I picked up the guitar and I was like, "Oh, this is maybe, could be cool or a way to meet a girl and then I got back into it." But I, I didn't want to be, they had no money and I didn't want to, I didn't want to be a music. Right. So, they're at Columbia. They're both taking, they're both in programs, music programs at Columbia. They meet, you're born in the city and then what happens? How long did you live there? Not long. And then my dad got a job at a college in Rhode Island and my mother's family was from Rhode Island way back, way, way back and they went and never left. They're still there. And so you grew up in Rhode Island? I grew up in Rhode Island. Yeah. How did the acting thing hit you? Was it like a high school drama thing? That's a good question. I mean, I did plays like a, like in third and fourth grade and I always enjoyed it. And then I wanted to do the school plays in high school, but I was kind of too nervous to join the group. I thought, "Ah, I don't, I don't, I don't." But with the musical background, wouldn't you think that you could combine the plays and the music and do what, should I, what would we call that? The theater that's, but that's good. There's a music based theater out there, I'm not quite sure, I don't think there's a term for it. Sure, sure. What would be an example of something that you might do when you look at it? Five, six, seven, eight. No. No, no, no, no. No, no, no, no. You guys are going to have to take that slide whistle away from, like, I mean, I'm sure. So then Charlie, so then you finish high school and you say, "I'm going to go to New York City and I'm going to try to become a professional guitar player or actor." Yes. I did have that thought. I was like, "Well, do it." Which one? I didn't know. I was like, "Maybe I want to write music or maybe I want to do a. " But you knew your future. It wasn't in Rhode Island. It was probably in Manhattan. Yeah. Well, first I went to college, Jason. Where was I? Wait, hang on. What's college? It's a school after the studio school. Voluntary additional school? I don't understand it. Vah? Yeah. That's a part I couldn't compute when I was in school. What trailer was that in on the motor lot? Yeah, one with a flat tire. And he said, "Happen, I went to the voluntary additional school and they had a theater program, but they also had a baseball team. And I didn't make baseball team and I thought, "Well, I'll go join the theater club." And then I just got hooked. I was like, "I'd like to in the place." And it seems to me. Was this school in New York? This school was in northern Massachusetts called Marimat College and you could get in if you had a pulse and they let me in and. And my favorite thing in the world is swapping horrible theater stories. Did I tell you guys about the wheelchair? Sorry. You got to go. Did I? Let's go. Okay. So just pull the interview over to the side. I think I'll do that. No, really quick. This is a horror. I was in a sophomore in high school and I was in charge of changing the scenery, right? The batons that would lift the scenery. So in between we had like, we were doing one act. So in between each act we had like, you know, 15, 30 seconds to change the big, huge scenery and pull them up. And I was in charge of all those hydraulics. So the stage manager pointed to me and she was like, "Go!" And I didn't realize there was a rope hanging on the side that somehow hooked onto the wheelchair that the guy needed in the next scene. This is going to be so much fun. This is going to be so much fun for my cartoon, I saw. No, I swear to God, this happened. And I raised it and the hook pulled the wheelchair. So the curtain goes up and the wheelchair is just swinging, hanging in mid-air. And the guy's first line was, you know, sending like, "I don't know if I'll ever walk again." But he had to, it was awful. Oh, godly. Back to "Smartless," "Hey Charlie!" So you come down out of the junior college and you come to New York City and you don't just knock on a door and say, "I'm here, I'd like to be an actor." Do you look in the paper for auditions or an agent or what was your first step? Yeah. I did all that crap. You know, you get the village voice and you're looking through all those things. I had a really lucky break when I was in college. There was a guy there named John Fouceman and he was one of those guys who was like 35 and in college. And just hanging out just outside the school grounds. Basically. Yeah. He had tipped me off to a place called the Williams Town Theatre Festival. And I went there to sort of, you know, empty garbage cans and maybe say one line in a play and just in turn. And they had like a program where you could audition and be part of a non-equity group. And after my first summer there, I was still in college. The next year I auditioned and I got to be part of that group. And a bunch of agents go up there. You're right? Yeah. You're there. I got an agent. Sean, did you ever do that? I'd love to do Williams Town. Did you ever do that? I would love to. No. But I would love to. But, you know, Charlie, I was going to ask you, like, there's, when we were all young all four of us and other people like us that are actors, there was a definite path to what you wanted, right? You got your headshots and then you had your resume on the back and then you would submit them to agents and then agents was there. But now it seems so different. Do you have friends, like, does your sister have friends and be like, hey, Charlie, can, you help my friend out? They want to get into the biz and they need advice. I mean, do you ever get people coming to you and what would that advice be now for kids rather than when we were growing up? Weirdly, I don't get too much of that. I don't know if I don't give off a vibe if that'll help or I'm not sure why, but do you feel it? No, but let me rephrase that. Do you feel shitty about yourself that nobody wants acting tips from you? Or career advice. I had that, Sean, you know, when I was a kid, this is true story, when I was living in New York and I was, I didn't know anybody in New York and somehow my mom knew through somebody from, like, Winnipeg knew the actor Lenn Karyu, do you know that guy? Sure. Lenn Karyu. And so somehow she's like, you should call him and I was like, okay. So I called him poor guy because now I sort of 30 years later I get that flip, which is like, he's like, hey, what, what can I do for you? I'm like, well, I'm just in New York and I'm going to theater school and like, okay, I'm ready to be successful. Yeah. And like, I get now that position, I even felt it at the time where he's like, I don't know what you want me to do for you, buddy, but, you know, I've already, I'm worried about my own day to day over here. Right. So you do get those calls sometimes from friends of friends and they go, hey, our kid is 18 and he's moving to New York and can you call him and give him, give him some advice. And there's really nothing you can say to anybody. I actually like it. I actually don't mind it. Yeah. It's all about timing, but yeah, actually, actually, you tell people, you know, because getting an agent like you do have to get into kind of a showcase situation. Yeah. It's really tough for everybody. I think you have to create your own path. You know, go on are the days of relying and waiting on phone calls and agents and all that to do it for you. You have to pick up a camera. You have to write the thing, direct the thing, act the thing, put it on YouTube, all that kind of stuff and Instagram is that that's how is every Instagram star wants to be an actor and every actor wants to be like, have the most fun. Well, Charlie, you guys were kind of like the first people to really do that in a way that has been not just successful, but also had longevity. you guys created your own stuff that was not the. the norm before you guys did that. - No, that's true, yeah, although, you know, in some ways, doesn't everybody do that? Like somebody else. - I guess the lonely island guys did that too. - Yeah, like, well, but they were already part of an infrastructure there at Saturday Night Live. - No, no, no, no, before, those guys made videos and stuff when they did the anti-Sammer. - Andy and Akiva and Yorm did that. Yeah, they made some videos at Lonely Island and they made a pilot called an awesome town that Phil and Chris, Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced. If you ever seen that, it's really, it's really rad. And, but they did the same thing, which was, but again, that was around the same time that Sonny started. It was back in that. - What was unique about what we did is we did it for television where, you know, like, there was a lot of that in independent film. If you're the Cohen brothers, you know, you raise money, you do blood sample and then you, you know, you go do raising Arizona, whatever it is. And we, I guess we just took that model to television. He said, well, we'll, you know, we'll do the first one real cheap and down dirty. And then hopefully someone gives us money to do this more legitimately. - But going back to your question before, I often do promote Williams town, which for me was like a showcase situation or if you're really serious about acting, go to grad school, which I wish I'd done. But because that place was, was not only bootcamp for acting, it was bootcamp for, you better show up and shine. Because in that group, in that non-equity group, it was myself and Catherine Hahn and Sterling Brown. And I mean, the competition was so fierce. And Jimmy Simpson and these people were going to outshine you. And not, they weren't trying to outshine you, but they were going to do their work and they were going to be, you know, they were going to come to rehearsal and that's that. And just blow it out of the water. So you had to learn how to, I feel like my first summer there, I did well in some plays and I thought the next year, I thought everyone would be like, well he's the man, let's get him everything. And it wasn't that way, you know? It was a rude awakening of like, well, you did that. What are you going to do now? So that was such a good bootcamp in terms of like, do your work, work hard, make sure you make sure you're not wasting anybody's time. - It's funny you say that I remember having one of my acting teachers years ago, he was saying like, look, all the process you do, all the work you do, whatever. When you show up on set, they don't give a shit. You got to deliver in the moment and that's it. And that was the only sort of piece of advice that I've ever given young people, which is just like, you got to be on top of your shit. You got to know your shit like you said. You got to be ready to deliver in the moment because that's what matters. - Yeah, and it's a bit exhausting, right? You do, like you put all this work into this. Years go by, you develop whatever, fame, success, and you kind of think, okay, well, now I can coast, but you know, the phone doesn't really ring. Maybe it does for DiCaprio, but for nobody else. Like you have to, like, you got to put something together and you have to, and then when you, when you are in it, you can't stink, right? You got to, you got to shine. - Your son, is he too young to know that he wants to do what Dad does, or? - There were mom does too, both you guys are actors. - Yeah, Mary Elizabeth has this great part in Paul Thomas Anderson's film right now. - Oh, she's great at it, and that move is amazing. That guy. - Paul Thomas Anderson? - Yeah, talk about a guy, I think he's, things are gonna work out for him, I think. - He's gonna make it. - He has gonna make it. - Paul Thomas Anderson is the greatest director of all time. - And go. - And ignite, and ignite, right. - How about he's my favorite, for sure. - I know, me too. - He's the greatest. - I got to go see a screening of that movie at his house, which, you know, he has these, maybe he doesn't want. But he has, like, these film projectors. He's got, like, this barn that he's converted into, like, a screening room. - And for Tracy, the name of the movie is Likros Pizza. - Likros Pizza. - Likros Pizza. - Which is the name of a record store that was all over the valley when I was growing up. - Right. - Anyway, so he's got this cool. - Well, that's why you're crying. (laughing) - So, and your wife, Amy, Mary Elizabeth Alice, whom I know, she and I did a pilot together years ago, as you know. - Yes, yes. - And she's a tremendously talented actor, and she's in, Paul Thomas Anderson's movie, Likros Pizza. - So, you went to a screening at his-- - At a house. - Screening Bern. - Yeah, just to kind of end then to get to hang out with my Rudolph. - And that was a-- - Who's our pal, you know. - I just didn't want to blow it for my wife. I'm like, just keep cool, man. And don't, don't get drunk and don't act dumb. - Did you stand up with a bunch of notes at the end of it? (laughing) - Had a couple notes, but he wasn't listening, you know? - That's the problem with these artists. - Yeah, we were locked. - Pop Charlie Day is for a couple scenes. That's really gonna make this movie pop. - We'll be right back. - All right, back to the show. - Now, listen Charlie, for your new podcast, which I think is becoming really popular, isn't it? - Yes, we do. - You guys have guests on, or is it just you three chatting? - Right now, it's just us chatting. I mean, that kind of caught us off guard, you know? This was my gripe with Michael Henning. About two years ago, I was like, we should do a sunny podcast. We should just talk about the show. The fans would probably want to hear that. And he's like, "Oh, everybody's doing podcasts, you know?" Like, you know, we're too late. Then this year, he shows up, he goes, "You know what we should do? A sunny podcast." - Oh boy. - I'm like, "This motherfucker, I'm like. " - Yeah, I know this guy. - But here's the difference. And here's why I've benefited so greatly from a partnership with Rob. When I said it, it was just Galilee Cook talk. And when he said it, he already had the mics and the producer lined up and ready to go. - He's an action guy. So it's been good for me to unite with an action guy. - Being on that side of it to you, and we all know this as actors, promoting and marketing and all that stuff, having to do talk shows and whatever, podcasts or whatever. The thing is, do you have a preference of being a guest or a host? - Well, I guess we're not really hosting anyone. So I don't know. - Yeah, I mean, you're hosting a podcast, but yeah. - We're really just kind of, shoot the shit. - Shoot the shit. - Okay, well like I see no one listen to this. - But I think that one of the things, we're all talking about the same thing. We obviously have, there are a lot of similarities, which is, you talk about, we create our own weather, we do our own thing, and we do a lot of different things. You're doing a podcast, you do your show, you've got this new movie on Amazon, which was, that was a sexy segue. - That was a good segue, yeah. So I did a rom-com, finally, a rom-com. - So you did a rom-com, yeah. - Like as rom. - So talk a little bit about, 'cause I want to get into, you do do a lot of different stuff, and you've got a lot of different gears, which is commendable. And you're a talented guy, so you go and you do a rom-com. What was the, were you just like, yeah, fuck it, I could do a rom-com. - I was always dying to do a rom-com, 'cause I actually really enjoy them. And I sort of wanted to have my, Tom Hanks moment, or Billy Crystal or whatever, and-- - Was there a sex scene? - No, there's, there's, you know-- - Is there a kiss? - Hey, cool. - Hey, take it easy, man. - What are you imagining, Jason? What are you imagining? Talk to what you're imagining? - Well, because some people can go their whole careers, or a large portion of it without ever doing a sex scene. And then all of a sudden, the day shows up, and it's like, oh my god, I've been in this business 30 years, and I've never had to fake love making. Did you have to do that? - No, that's a good question. No, I have-- - Have you ever had to do that? - Yeah, I have a, I have a very graphic one on, it's always sunny, where we did a ski episode, and we were making sort of fun of like 80s ski movies and over the top sex scenes, so, you know? (laughing) - How'd that go? - Yeah, how'd it go? - It's fun, you know? - You don't have to ask him in a whisper will. - You don't just walk us through it. (laughing) - I mean, you know, it's always the case with me with the sex scenes, I'm always, I always feel bad for the other person, you know? I'm like, hey, look, I'm sorry, it's just me and this, you know, I'm pasty and-- - Sean, you had to do one? - Yeah, and there was this cult show, which is fantastic, called "Campus Ladies" with Carrie Asley and Kristen Susson, and "Worth-day" was on it, and a bunch of funny people were on it. And Jonah Hill, that was Jonah Hill's first show. And I played somebody who wasn't the brightest who always wore a backpack. - How'd you get into that character? - Wow. - Well, so I just put a backpack on it, and then I had to wear no clothes, except the backpack, and have sex with, and literally have intercourse with Kristen Susson. - Oh, oh, okay. - How did that go? - Jason, fine. - Oh, sorry, go ahead. - Sean, finish. - How was it? - That was it, Jason, what about your sex stuff? - I've got a loose connection. Can you guys hear me okay? Is that what you said in the sex scene? (laughter) - I'm not flying. - Why are keeps coming in? (laughter) - And can you hear me? - Yeah. - And is it in? I guess that's the big one. - Hey, Charlie. - Wait, you didn't answer Jason if you've done a sex scene? - I have, and I don't like them. And it's just, you know, all the cliches are true, you know? You have a, is a very, there's a very difficult line one has to ride, which is, you know, if you're into it and you're being passionate convincingly, things start to move, guys. And if they don't move, what there's that classic saying that one of the actors said, "I apologize if I get aroused and I apologize if I don't get aroused." Or something like that. It's like, it's a concern. It's a concern. We did this movie called Horrible Bosses. It was a massive global hit, well. And. - Well, you had a little sex scene with Aniston, right? - That was the first thing. - Like, it sounded you. - Yeah, it was the first thing we shot. - Oh, wow. - And that was basically my second time meeting or I met her at the, at the readthrough. It was like, okay, well now take all your clothes off and we'll take these provocative photos. But I only found it humiliating, you know, because I was like, oh man, I should like go to the gym or like, [laughs] I was like, I'm so sorry, I'm really pasty and doughy over here and you know, you're probably not used to an image like this in your sexual scenarios. I had to do a scene in Brother Solomon with Forte where he comes to where we make up at the end of the movie and I'm in the shower and I come out so I've just got the little sock on and then nothing else and then I got to turn in he and I have to hug while I'm basically. Now let's for Tracy, let's explain what the sock is. Go ahead. Well, it's basically that. Like it's a sock that you put over it's the thing you put over your junk. All your meats and cheeses get covered. Yeah, it's like it's a little coin purse that's got a couple of pieces of fishing wire on both sides that go around you in a as a call. Yeah. Okay. But it's a nude purse. It's a nude colored and it's made out of like pantyhose and with fishing string on it. So you can imagine it's just it's not it's not comfortable. It's not far. It's not a good looking thing and it's it's difficult at times to fill out. Will and it's well that was not an issue. It was more of an issue that like it was kind of the like you said like I'm sorry if I get it arous and I'm sorry if I don't and I just saw a boy this could go either way with Forte. I have no idea which way did it go? I don't want to I don't want to say but I just I will have to watch the movie. Let me just say this. I love the guy and you can tell. You've said plenty. So Charlie when you so talk so you're doing this romance in comedy you've you decide you want to do it. What is the movie? Well the movie's called I want you back and it's with Jenny Slate and myself. Oh mega talent. She's very good. And she's pretty good. Our producing buddy John Ricard produced this movie. Another mega talent. Yeah. And we've worked together in horrible bosses and fist fight. And I was talking to John. I was saying you know we should find something to do. And he says he said I got these two scripts and you should look at them. And he said but one's a rom com. So you probably don't want to do that. I said why would I not want to do that? Same in the rom. Nasty nasty thing to say. Nasty thing to say. And I loved it. We put it together. It's it's a really sweet and funny movie. By the way I did have to take my shirt off in it. And I had this sort of conundrum where the character doesn't work out and then he starts working out in the story. And I thought well which body do I go with? Do I go with the guy who looks like he's not been working out? Or the guy that looks like he has been working out? And what would the guy who has not been working out? Yeah it was. Did you look at the shooting schedule to sort of plan out what kind of shape you'd be in? Because I do that. I mean for Tracy these these projects they take at least six weeks to shoot sometimes 12 or more. And if you know you got a topless scene on as Will likes to call it. You know you want to make sure that you're not having a whole lot of soy sauce a few days out. You know. No I let that go. I was like now that's not that's not what the audience wants from me. They don't they don't want me to pop that shirt off and have rippling abs. They don't want it they'll be disturbed if they see it. There's nothing funny about a six pack. There's nothing funny about it. And this is a comedy. So Charlie any any recent vacays as we call it in the biz any vacays with the fam. I went to Hawaii. I knew that. I knew that. You sent a shot of that beautiful. You sent that pick on our little chain. Oh yeah I did. I did. That's right. So you went to Hawaii. Did you go by yourself or did you bring your wife? No of course I brought my wife and child and and I played a bunch of golf and we hung out and relax and went to the beach and and I reset it was good. I was coming right off a bunch of things and it was nice to take a break. Charlie 2022. What are you most excited about? Oh man. I don't know. I'm I'm always pretty just excited to be doing this. I mean I don't know. I'm still grateful to be doing it. Yeah. I've been polishing up a movie for a good four years that I directed that Bateman was kind enough to be in. Yeah. When do we get to see that Charlie? Any minute. I'm right around the corner but I was going to sell it. I was in the process of selling it to studio and I was having some conversations with a very talented man Mr. Guillermo Del Toro and I had to change a heart and I took the movie and I reshot about 20% of it. Am I still in it? You're still in it. You made the cut. That's been a maddening long experience but I'm really happy with the movie so hopefully I'll get it out to the world this year. I'm excited about that. I'm excited about this romcom. I'm excited about maybe getting some golf in with the boys. Yeah. Yeah. And Horrible Boss is three. I think we can announce. Well, no, why didn't we do it? You know. Well, because no one wanted it. Yeah, because Horrible Boss is two, just basically, you know, cratered. Did it, did it should the bed? By today's standards, it's a huge hit. Oh, that's true. Yeah. It didn't do as well as my first pandemic standards. Yeah. That's right. But the standards about the standards of everybody staying home and not going into theaters. Well, I would like the third one because I really, really like to collect those sets. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Things do happen in three. Maybe we just make it for a price, you know, but it did turn out. People just didn't give shit about about a second one. So they're really not going to want a third. It's not really a story that needed to hear me out. It's Horrible Boss is three, but there are two new Sean, right? Two new guys who look, they're kind of they just go, they're having my boss is terrible. My boss is bad too. Are you a boss or you're an employee? Exactly. But the catchphrase is my boss is bad three. Yeah. Same here. I get it, Sean. I get it. So Charlie, listen, you're just, you're such a talent. You're such a good guy. You're a theater, you're a major, you're a musician. You're a great major. You're a musician. You're a great, great man. I'm trying little kids. You're a new movie. I want you back. Your romcom is out. I can't wait to see it. And it's on Amazon now. It's really good. I actually love this movie a lot. Charlie, I love you. Charlie, thank you for being here. We see you on the golf course probably in the next few days. Well, you're taking off in about what? Yeah, this is already six minutes into my heart out. Yeah. Okay. He's kind of hurt. That shows how much he loves you. He never does this if he's going to hard out for golf. I appreciate, I appreciate the six minutes over. That's good. You know how personality Jason is about everything. My range time. I need my range time. Yeah. Well, we can come back. I can come back. We'll finish this off. And next time you're on the podcast, we'll talk about that time when we were coming down 18 and the guy had charged Jason's Tesla. I had a two hour drive ahead of me. You made it well. You made him give him his like my 20 back. We never just 20 just because I felt bad. He got yelled at so much. Jason, you don't know this, but Charlie and I both tip the guy after you took the job. Are you kidding me? No. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we still bad. Well, we don't want the story like fucking Jason. Fuck me. You are his hero. He's fucking good. At least 20. I should have taken more out of his pocket. Son of a bitch. I will say to your credit, you did preemptively tip the guy and say, hey, do you mind taking care of this is great. And then he didn't do it. Right. So it's like, well, I'm going to pay you for the valley parking, but the extra juice for doing me a solid, which you didn't do. Yeah. That then means that you no longer need the money for that. Yeah. Let me ask you this. If you had shot like even part of that day, like your best round ever, do you think you wouldn't have cared? Do you think you would have been given him a ride wherever he wanted to go and all the money in that pocket? And that is Jason Bateman. Guys, we'll be right back with another son of smart. He loves his golf. He loves his golf. Charlie. Thank you. You're the rest of your day. Great to see your face as well. Sean, let's hang out some time. I don't I'm right here just for you. Not worth it, Charlie. No, no, it's got to be better. Bring the slide whistle next two weeks. Texas. Let's get out. Okay. I'm busy, but you know, we'll see. Yeah. Okay. All right. All right. All right. All right. He's about to wrap up. He's going to do the he's going to do the good out. I was going to do it because Sean Penn did it. And then I remember I was listening to that. I was like, wow, Sean Penn did it. That's how I'm doing. That's the way I do it. I think I've done it every ever since then. I was like, well, I'm going to slam it down. Yeah. So I'm going to slam it down. Bye. Bye. Oh, look, he really that Charlie day is he said always a breath of fresh air. Isn't it? Every time you see him, you feel better. He's like a we could change his middle name to sunny, right? So just to Charlie sunny day. Yeah. Oh, he's a sunny day in Charlie. So Sean, you don't know Charlie. You've never met him personally. I never met him. I did that one voiceover monster's university with him about of course, you know, as you know, when you do animated films, you don't really see the other actor because you're doing what? Yeah. So I never really met him before. Right. But I'm a huge fan. And I don't know if you've seen monsters. University, but he steals the movie. He's hilarious. Yeah, of course. First of all, if you've got, if you're a fan of comedy or you're a fan of animation or you've got kids, you've seen monsters. University, it's a great movie. He is great in it. And you are, but he is, but no, it's a great movie. And he is such a, I met him. The first time was through his wife through M.E. Mary Elizabeth Ellis, who's such a talent and so cool. And he's a super nice guy. Super real. And he joked about being down to earth. He legitimately is. And then he goes, and then he's incredibly talented. Yeah, I love him. And prolific writer and just everything. And he's so funny. He's so naturally. You guys got that, you guys both have very unique voices. Yes. Yeah, he's got a very unique voice. I don't know if I consider myself to, but he, he does. Wait, nobody ever bites, nobody ever bites my. for my theater stories, 'cause I-- - Huh. - Number one. Shall we save it for not just no one wants to listen to. - Okay. - What's funny is that you don't take from that, like maybe I should stop asking you. - Tell you what. - Your takeaway is nobody-- - No, I'm telling you somebody's gonna come with a really funny theater story. I think they're always so funny. - I like that usually your question about funny theater stories ends up with you telling a funny theater story. (laughing) - I know, it's just a self setup. - Jason, you missed you on the other day. - Robert and I kept pimping him out to tell funny stories for everybody at dinner. - Funny theater story. - So he kept, so he, funny theater story. And he kept getting up and telling these hilarious, they were legitimately hilarious. And he got so worked up he had to go to the hospital. - I did. (laughing) - That's the true story. - It's a true story. - It's a true story. - So all of a sudden, Jen comes and goes, "Sean, just went to the hospital." I'm like, "What?" - You know, next time I bring up a theater story, maybe someone will bite, bite, bite, bite. - Bite, bite. - Oh, bite, yes, got it. - Yup, note that, works that qualifies. Love you guys, bye. - Love you, baby. - Great smarts. (upbeat music) - Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjurf, Bennett Barbaco and Michael Grandterry. - Smartless.