Adam Scott, Vol. II

Adam Scott takes us into the bizarre and mesmerizing world of SEVERANCE, a show he's as obsessed with as all of us. Here he chats with Josh at the 92nd Street Y about his surprising comedy career (STEP BROTHERS, PARKS & RECREATION) and why SEVERANCE is a dream job. Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Quince -- Go to Quince.com/happysadco for 365 day returns and free shipping! UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS 1/23 -- Michelle Yeoh In NYC -- ⁠Tickets here To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 0:59Speaker 02

  I find calzones confusing.

• 1:04Josh Horowitz?

  Why?

• 1:04Speaker 02

  And often when I go to Italian restaurants, they ask me if I would like to try the calzone. And sometimes calzones are sent over.

• 1:15Speaker 02

  And every time that happens, I text Mike Schur and I just say, again, thanks.

• 1:22Speaker 04

  Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, sad, confused begins now.

• 1:30Josh Horowitz?

  Hey guys, it's Josh here. Freezing in New York City. Hope it's a little bit warmer where you are. Happy to say we have another edition of Happy Sad Confused, our second episode of the week after Sam Huen earlier in the week. You gotta check that one out. It's a blast. Do yourself a favor. This episode is Adam Scott returning to the podcast after 10 years. 10 years flew by. He's one of the early guests on Happy Sad Confused, and he's back. And it's for a very good cause, talking all things separance. More on that in a second. First up, a couple reminders. Remember, hit that subscribe button. It's the only way to get the good word out. Really, the best way to get the good word out on Happy Sad Confused. So do that if you haven't already. At our Patreon page, patreon.com/happy sad confused.

• 2:15Josh Horowitz?

  Somewhere up here, there's a graphic that tells you where to go. There's so much cool stuff there. You get announcements of upcoming guests. You get early access to every single episode. You get bonus features. You get discounts to live events, pre posters, autographed posters. Check it out. There are different tiers. Do yourself a favor. If you like what I do over here. Do us all a solid and check out what we're doing over there at patreon.com/happy sad confused. Also, one other reminder, if you're in New York and you're watching this before the night of April 23rd. We have another great live event. It's me and Michelle Yeoh. Epic Academy Award winning Michelle Yeoh, talking all things Star Trek Section 31.

• 2:58Josh Horowitz?

  It's also someone for co-stars from the film and we're going to show Star Trek Section 31. This new Paramount Plus feature presentation in the Star Trek universe. So cool. So tickets are still available. A link is in the show notes. You know what to do. If you're looking for something to do to escape the cold and enjoy some Star Trek, some Michelle Yeoh, some me in New York City. April 23rd. That's the night. Okay. Onto the main event. Adam Scott, as I said, he's back after 10 years away from happy sad confused. And there's a lot to talk about. Most of this conversation is about Severance. Light spoilers. If you haven't seen the new first episode of the new season, you might want to do that. But this is a deep dive into Severance and a bit about his career.

• 3:44Josh Horowitz?

  Parks and Rec, Step Brothers, bouncing comedy and drama. For my money, he is one of the most versatile and affable actors we have working today. He's always a delight to talk to. I think you'll sense the good energy, the warmth in the room. That was the nice second street Y. If you can't be there in person, the next best thing is to experience the podcast in this way. So I hope you guys enjoy this chat with the one and only Mr. Adam Scott. Hello, everybody. Welcome. I'm Josh Horowitz and today on Happy, Sad, Confused, we're live at the 92nd Street Y with Adam Scott, everybody. Welcome. Thank you.

• 4:26Josh Horowitz?

  Severance is back. They made us wait, but it was worth the wait, wasn't it, guys? Nearly three years after the amazing first season, Severance is back. This audience in New York City has just seen the first episode. It's awesome, guys. Come on, am I right? It's packed in a big way.

• 4:43Josh Horowitz?

  You ain't seen nothing yet. Yes, the trippiest workplace comedy-dramedy-mystery on television is back. We're gonna dig into that show, but we're also gonna talk about this guy's amazing career. He can do drama, he can do comedy, Step Brothers, Parks and Rec, he can do it all. He's a gem of a human being. He's finishing up a ginormous press tour in New York and he's finishing it out in style here in New York City on this stage. Please give a warm New York City welcome to Adam Scott, everybody. There he is.

• 5:26Speaker 02

  Well, thank you.

• 5:34Speaker 02

  Don't worry, I'm not gonna do it again.

• 5:37Josh Horowitz?

  He's a succubus. He needs it.

• 5:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:39Josh Horowitz?

  Take it in, Adam.

• 5:40Speaker 02

  It does feel nice.

• 5:42Josh Horowitz?

  It's well deserved. It's good to see you, man.

• 5:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, great to see you. Thank you for having me. Thank you for coming.

• 5:48Josh Horowitz?

  Adam Paul Scott. Not one, not two, three first names.

• 5:52Speaker 02

  I know, I know.

• 5:53Josh Horowitz?

  Your parents were psychopaths. What's going on?

• 5:56Speaker 02

  Well, my parents, originally my middle name was going to be Skiles, which is a Sicilian family name, and I wish they had kept it because what they realized was my initials would be A-S-S.

• 6:11Josh Horowitz?

  Destiny.

• 6:12Speaker 02

  Would have been great.

• 6:13Josh Horowitz?

  Would have been amazing. What a gift that would have been. We'll take what we can get. Congratulations again, man. The show is fantastic. You have been doing a big press tour for this. And this is about wrapping up the New York portion, correct?

• 6:26Speaker 02

  Yeah, this is it. This is it, going home in the morning.

• 6:29Josh Horowitz?

  OK, so, by the way, the last time you were on my podcast

• 6:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 6:33Josh Horowitz?

  was 10 years ago, and you were promoting Hot Tub Time Machine 2.

• 6:36Speaker 02

  Ah, yes. Thank you, thank you. We should hold for applause, right?

• 6:44Speaker 02

  That was very generous of you to have me on. Did we talk about that movie the entire time?

• 6:50Josh Horowitz?

  It was a three-hour podcast. I had so many questions.

• 6:53Speaker 02

  We had to dive in.

• 6:56Josh Horowitz?

  I was asking you about this backstage, but, I mean, were you worried? It was a bit of a break. It took a while, between strikes and everything, to bring the show back on the air. And the short attention span of our small brains nowadays, you never know if the audience is still gonna be there. Were you concerned that the audience would still be there for season two of Severance?

• 7:15Speaker 02

  100%. I mean, we were kind of astounded by the reaction to season one in the first place, just because we loved the show. We loved making it and loved the result after it was all cut together and everything. But you just never know until it's out there. And, you know, while we were making it, we felt like it was really weird and just had no idea if it would connect with anybody, or even if anyone would care, if it would be embarrassing, if people would make fun of us. We did not know. And then when the billboard started going up, at least around Los Angeles, it was like, "My face."

• 8:01Speaker 02

  And I, you'd think that's the big moment you've been waiting for.

• 8:06Josh Horowitz?

  This is what you wanted.

• 8:07Speaker 02

  Yes, and it was. But when it happened, I freaked out. I had, because I thought, what if this is, what if people think it's stupid and weird? And, you know... No, you just don't know. Again, we loved it, but you just don't know. So Ben, who's had his face up on many a billboard, kind of talked me down and was like, "Listen, we love the show. We have no control over anything else. We just put it out there and you'll be fine."

• 8:40Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, at worst, you've made the cable guy, and in 20 years, people are gonna realize you did a great piece of work.

• 8:45Speaker 02

  There you go.

• 8:46Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. You have been making the rounds. You've had everything from a... You know you've made it when you've got the New Yorker profile. I mean, you're a serious dude now.

• 8:53Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 8:54Josh Horowitz?

  Surprised you're here with me. But you also did this amazing stunt, for lack of a better term, in Grand Central. Did you guys see this? We have a photo.

• 9:07Josh Horowitz?

  So you kind of recreated the workplace with some of your coworkers.

• 9:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:13Josh Horowitz?

  When you heard this idea, what did you think?

• 9:16Speaker 02

  I thought it was an incredible idea, and we just... We had a great time. It's our actual desk from the show, our computer terminals. So Britt Lauer and Zach Cherry and I first walked out and sat down and just started working because we know how to refine. We've spent...

• 9:36Speaker 02

  We do, and we started doing it. We spent so much time in those chairs, at those desks.

• 9:43Speaker 02

  You know, so we just started working, and then they started messing with me like they do on the show. They refused to work, and I just tried to get... We just kept improvising in character, but the greatest thing about it was our improvisation was unheard because the audience couldn't hear us. So they just assumed everything we were doing was incredibly clever, yeah.

• 10:09Speaker 02

  It was fun. And then Patricia Arquette and Tramell Tillman come in. About an hour in, they walk in, and the entire crowd that had gathered got silent.

• 10:21Speaker 02

  It was wild because they're scary. And they came in and Patricia was kind of going around to each of us and scaring the shit out of us and it was just a blast. We were in there for three hours.

• 10:35Josh Horowitz?

  Is that the most avant-garde kind of piece of performance art you've ever done? This is like what Tilda Swinton does, like she'll lock us in like a glass box somewhere.

• 10:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 10:42Josh Horowitz?

  You're entering that echelon.

• 10:44Speaker 02

  I guess so. I mean, it was certainly exciting and again, not knowing how people would react or if they would react at all, we just kind of thought it sounded like a great idea. Let's go give it a shot.

• 10:59Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so let's backtrack to the origins of this show, at least with respect to how you kind of became involved in the first place. Where were you at? Were you actively looking for another show, a drama, a comedy, anything in your mind? Or was it just sort of like this came cold and it seemed interesting?

• 11:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, after Parks and Rec, I really made a concerted effort to try and find something different, something maybe more dramatic. And the first chance I got was an audition came up for Big Little Lies. And so I really went after that and really wanted to be a part of it and luckily got a role on that. And that really kind of helped, I think, just because before Step Brothers, before Step Brothers, I was purely always kind of envisioned myself as a dramatic actor.

• 11:54Josh Horowitz?

  This is the secret of Adam Scott. You all think he's like, oh, he came out of the womb, he wanted to do wacky comedy.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  No.

• 12:00Josh Horowitz?

  It was a late kind of thing for you.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I really kind of, I mean, I grew up a comedy nerd and loved, you know, all that stuff. But like my guys were like Albert Brooks, Steve Martin, David Letterman, you know, but I kind of just always felt I was destined to be a dramatic actor. And I was on an HBO show called Tell Me You Love Me, which is a wonderful show and incredibly serious. And right around

• 12:31Speaker 02

  From that time is when Step Brothers came up. It was actually in between seasons of Tell Me You Love Me, the second season of which never ended up happening. I went and did Step Brothers. And it was just a complete fluke. Someone had the role and had to drop out for one reason or another. So they had to cast the role quickly. And I just happened to go in there and for whatever reason, I got the part and found myself on the set not knowing what I was doing, you know? Adam McKay, who directed the movie, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly obviously were the stars of it. And they have this anarchic way of working

• 13:13Speaker 02

  that's really exciting that I had never experienced before, which is, you know, they do maybe a take or two scripted and then they just screw around and see what happens. And, you know, I didn't, I wasn't a member of UCB. I didn't know really what I was doing. So I kind of equate it to learning how to like, throw the javelin at the Olympics.

• 13:44Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 13:44Speaker 02

  Like with all the cameras and the stadium of people watching you. So I sort of learned on my feet there. And by the end of the, you know, four months of shooting, I felt like I was maybe getting my arms around it a little bit and having some fun and loosening up. And by the time the movie ended, all I knew was, I never wanted to work any other way.

• 14:09Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 14:09Speaker 02

  This was, this was it.

• 14:11Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 14:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:13Josh Horowitz?

  We just had, we had Catherine Haunt here very recently.

• 14:14Speaker 02

  Oh, sure.

• 14:15Josh Horowitz?

  So was she your anchor? Like who were you looking to to kind of like get through? Because McKay and Ferrell are just on another level.

• 14:23Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 14:23Josh Horowitz?

  In that realm.

• 14:24Speaker 02

  They are, but also incredibly collaborative and inviting and just lovely people. But yes, Catherine and I were the two people were just kind of kept looking at each other like, holy shit, what are we doing here?

• 14:38Josh Horowitz?

  Are we allowed to say that?

• 14:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:40Josh Horowitz?

  This seems wrong.

• 14:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was just, it was amazing. So, um, yes, 100%. But Catherine really caught into it pretty quickly and just was scoring three pointers after three, the entire time. And I, I kind of stumbled off the blocks a little bit, or at least that's how it felt. She was brilliant right out of the gates, of course. Um, but yeah, so by the time that ended, I had kind of caught the bug and really loved it and really felt like, you know, it just felt really creative and collaborative in a way I hadn't experienced before. Um, and then that sort of led directly into Party Down, which then was, oh, thanks.

• 15:26Speaker 02

  Which, uh, sort of fed that some more. Even though that wasn't particularly improvisational show, it was, uh, we were all sort of together, uh, in it together, you know, because no one was watching, so we were doing it for each other.

• 15:43Josh Horowitz?

  So, and that obviously then goes to Parks and Rec, so you accumulate this insane, like, out of nowhere, considering your background, comedy resume.

• 15:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 15:52Josh Horowitz?

  So then, by the time, and you had done, uh, a show with Craig Robinson, more recent years, so you were still like in the comedy sphere, though. You were doing Big Little Lies, you were kind of mixing it up more and more.

• 16:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:02Josh Horowitz?

  So when this comes around, and is it true that this was actually written with you in mind?

• 16:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, Dan Erickson, who created, the brilliant Dan Erickson, uh, created and, and writes the show, um, he, uh, he says when he was, you know, first writing it, he was thinking of me, and, and then when it came to Ben, uh, Ben said he first thought of me, you know, I'm still, you know, just, I'm so lucky that these guys thought of me. I'm still not exactly sure why, but I'm very glad that they did. Um, yeah, Ben called me in January of 2017, uh, and, uh, just kind of gave me the elevator pitch, so to speak, of what the show is, just a quick, like, three-sentence, this is the idea.

• 16:51Speaker 02

  And it just stuck in my mind. And I read a script probably about a year later. But that entire time, I just couldn't get this really sticky, fun idea out of my head.

• 17:02Josh Horowitz?

  Is it true that essentially after that, and kind of being offered and saying, "Yeah, we have you in mind for this," you then unfortunately were forced to essentially audition for the part you thought you already had?

• 17:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right. That's right. And you know what? It was fine because I, at that point, I was, you know, I started acting professionally in the fall of 1993. And so it's been a pretty long road. And the kind of pride-swallowing situations I've found myself in over the years, this was nothing. Like, "Oh, I have to audition for this role that I..." I mean, honestly, the first time I actually read the script, I, my first, my gut instinct was, "I'm never actually gonna get to do this."

• 17:49Josh Horowitz?

  Why?

• 17:50Speaker 02

  Well, just because it was so good. And, you know, through Ben's utter faith in me, I was able to get in there and audition for it and fight for it a little bit, and I got it.

• 18:06Josh Horowitz?

  I would imagine you and Ben, I mean, there are some major similarities in your careers. Have you bonded over that, in that he, for a time, was defined by comedy? And then kind of like has gone back and forth throughout his career? Does he see in you, I mean, not to speak for Ben, but I feel like he must see in you a kindred spirit in that realm?

• 18:26Speaker 02

  Perhaps. I, you know, we've never actually sat down and kind of talked about this, but we, our tastes align. And we work together really well, I think. We, I love working with him, and we have a great time. He's someone who I can just trust 100%, 100% of the time. I just trust his taste above all else. And I think when it's something as micro-specific as Severance, trusting each other is essential.

• 19:07Speaker 02

  Because we're constantly kind of walking out on the edge and closing our eyes and jumping off with one idea or the other.

• 19:15Josh Horowitz?

  When you think back to the first days and weeks of season one... What was the, did you feel it was working? Did you feel like you were kind of finding it as you went? What do you recall as the first moments of kind of finding what the show was?

• 19:29Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's where a lot of the trust in Ben comes in. From, from me to Jeremy Hindle, our production designer, to Jessica Legonier, our cinematographer. You know, all of us, everybody and the actors, all trusting Ben because we were there and Dan had written this beautiful script. And, you know, the first day I walked on the actual set, and it is exactly as you see it on the show, I was like, oh, okay. This is gonna do like 70, 80% of my work for me. Because I'm actually here. This world is fully alive and realized.

• 20:12Speaker 02

  And Ben and Jeremy had been working on that for quite some time. Yeah, and so those first weeks were really, we were really finding the tone and the feeling of the show together, led by Ben. And so he would be like, um, yeah, but what about this? Maybe this? And it's like, yeah? Okay. And then we just sort of all, and then eventually it was like, yeah, this feels right. This is weird and different, but that feels like what it should be. And it was this sort of intangible place that we found, where the, where the world really lives.

• 20:57Speaker 02

  And Dan's script really helped guide us there as well, because there's all that really kind of specific nomenclature of the, the, the culture of Lumen and Kier and all of that stuff that really kind of helped us, kind of worked as like a real compass for us as well.

• 21:14Josh Horowitz?

  Was it clear from the start how you were going to differentiate any mark, an outie mark? And like what, how physically, how vocally, how extreme to go in kind of differentiating it?

• 21:25Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, you know, the, the first sort of instinct For any actor, maybe, at least for me, was like, oh, OK. One of them should have, you know, a special walk. And the other one should have like a mustache and a hat and, you know. But, you know, we kind of felt from the beginning, Dan and Ben and I really, that it should feel like the same guy.

• 21:49Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 21:49Speaker 02

  But just like different sections of the same guy. Sort of like how you have, you know, you behave differently if you're visiting home with your family or if you're at a party with complete strangers. You know, everybody has a few different sort of personas you can just throw on at a moment's notice. And this is sort of that, but also sort of not. It's just the same person. So, yeah, one of them has had forty odd years of life experience and joy and sorrow and all the things that go with a full life. And the other one is, for all intents and purposes, two and a half years old.

• 22:27Speaker 02

  So we kind of had to find, it was kind of a matter of just like subtracting experience or adding experience. And, you know, finding the kind of that transformation in the elevator and sort of figuring that out really helped, you know, define the corners of each of the sections of the character.

• 22:50Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, so let's talk about the elevator transition.

• 22:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:52Josh Horowitz?

  Because some of that is achieved through what I guess you guys call a Zali.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, Zali, yeah.

• 22:57Josh Horowitz?

  Right, which is, I assume, a Dalian, a Zoom.

• 22:59Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:00Josh Horowitz?

  Traption combined.

• 23:01Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 23:01Josh Horowitz?

  But part of its performance too.

• 23:03Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:03Josh Horowitz?

  So, again, did you go through different iterations? How extreme to go?

• 23:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:08Josh Horowitz?

  And what are you doing? Like, in your head, when it's time to do it, what do you do?

• 23:12Speaker 02

  Right, it was a big question because it so easily could be corny and not work. So we tried it probably a couple hundred times. I don't know, just kept experimenting till we found what worked. Ben just had this kind of mini elevator set off to the side wherever we would be shooting, where when we had time, we would go and just try a few out and see. See what started to gel and what started to work. And it was, it is that zoom dolly shot that, you know, it's very famous in Jaws when Roy Scheider kind of first sees the shark for the first time, where you're dollying in while zooming out,

• 23:55Speaker 02

  or dollying back while zooming in. So it creates this effect. So we're doing that. And Ben sort of had the idea that kind of maybe we flutter the eyes back maybe then. So we tried a variety of different things. Many of them did not work and were corny, but we did eventually land on this thing. And for me, just going from one to the other, it's just a matter of, it's sort of like a math problem. It's just kind of scooping out a certain amount of experience and feeling and kind of, I don't know, distilling it down to the basics.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  And then going up, you're just kind of adding all of this stuff and kind of weighing down with everything that comes with living in the outside world. I don't know, it's a hard thing to sort of put into words, but I usually need to do it several times before I feel like it's any good or not weird.

• 24:58Josh Horowitz?

  Have you had to teach new members of the cast the art of going up and down the elevator?

• 25:03Speaker 02

  No, everybody's really great at it and probably got it way quicker than I did.

• 25:15Josh Horowitz?

  If I had a dollar for everybody in my life who's benefited from therapy, I would be a very, very rich man. Therapy has certainly helped me, especially when I was a confused teenager. And thankfully, that's not a shameful thing to say anymore, right? It's okay to seek help. And need help and talk about it. We're all doing our best. We're just trying to get by, right, guys? Unfortunately, the reality is that getting help is still harder than it should be. That's why I'm thrilled always to have Rula as a sponsor of Happy, Say I Confuse, because it's very obvious to me that online therapy should be both accessible and affordable for everybody. So let's make it easy for anybody who wants help to get help. That's where Rula comes in. Here's the thing, a lot of online therapy platforms don't actually

• 25:57Josh Horowitz?

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• 26:42Josh Horowitz?

  Thousands of people are already using Rula to get affordable, high-quality therapy that's actually covered by insurance. Visit rula.com/happy to get started. That's rula, R-U-L-A dot com slash happy. You deserve mental health care that works with you, not against your budget. You guys know the best stuff in your closet is the stuff that you actually wear, right? The things that you just keep coming back to, whether you're going to work, you're going out, you're just hanging around. Well, with the holidays coming up, Quince makes it really easy to find great gifts for everyone on your list. This year, I'm doing a lot of my holiday shopping at Quince, and yes, that includes a few things for myself. That's okay, right? One of the things I love about Quince is that you're getting really high-quality stuff

• 27:23Josh Horowitz?

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• 28:06Josh Horowitz?

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• 28:43Josh Horowitz?

  What do you think the lesson is of something like this succeeding in the way it has? Because I think it's like, it is so wonderfully weird, so specific.

• 28:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:51Josh Horowitz?

  And in these times when everyone's trying to kind of like, I feel, chase mass appeal.

• 28:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 28:57Josh Horowitz?

  The fact that something like Severance has clicked with an audience in this way. I mean, there's a good takeaway here. I'm not sure what it is.

• 29:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:05Josh Horowitz?

  Do you?

• 29:07Speaker 02

  No.

• 29:09Josh Horowitz?

  Does anybody here know?

• 29:11Speaker 02

  I don't know. I feel like the more specific you get, I feel like sometimes the feeling, and I've certainly had it many times myself, when you're trying to kind of come up with something or find your way with something, you feel like broadening something out and making it as accessible as possible and keeping in mind an audience and wanting everyone to get it and understand and connect with it, usually, or not usually, sometimes, has the opposite effect.

• 29:44Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, water it down where it's...

• 29:46Speaker 02

  Yeah. Whereas the more specific you get and the more personal you get and the more of yourself that you're willing to pour into it and more of yourself that you're willing to share with an audience, the more the audience will connect, I think.

• 30:03Speaker 02

  What is there a saying, the more specific you get, the more universal you get?

• 30:08Josh Horowitz?

  Something along those lines.

• 30:09Speaker 02

  I don't know. It also depends on the world and the project. You know, it's always somewhat of a crapshoot. You never quite know what's gonna work. But I feel like this, we were all really lucky to stumble upon that Ben and Jackie Cohn and Nicky Weinstock, his company at the time, came upon the script. And the script, by the way, was a writing sample. He wasn't submitting it to get Severance produced. He was submitting it just to say, hey, I wrote this, I can do other stuff.

• 30:47Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. No, Dan's story in and of itself, you should look up. It's just amazing because he did not have this resume. This is a guy just out of nowhere, seemingly, with this.

• 30:55Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 30:56Josh Horowitz?

  How was your barometer been over the years when you've done TV or film projects? Like, do you feel like you've had a good sense of what's gonna click or not? Like, when you're making Torque, are you like, I'm gonna make seven Torques? I'm all set now.

• 31:10Speaker 02

  Yeah. I don't know. I mean, you always feel like you know how something's feeling. And then when it's all cut together and everything, there's so much beyond an actor's control, honestly, that I've learned to just disconnect as far as trying to predict or guess how something is going to end up.

• 31:33Josh Horowitz?

  We were talking backstage, I brought up David Lynch with you. I mean, were you like Twin Peaks guy, a Lost guy? I mean, this follows in a lineage of these great mysteries and kind of dole out just enough and keep an audience going. What kind of shows have intrigued you, have brought you in like Severance is for the modern audience today?

• 31:51Speaker 02

  I am, I was at the time and still am a huge fan of Lost. I just love that show, yeah. It's so amazing. And they were making 22 to 24 episodes a season. And you go back and watch that show, particularly the first season, when they were, they didn't know if anyone was Gonna like this, it was super weird and that show is just so ambitious. I mean, towards the end, there's people, some of them are out on a raft, some of them are digging and, you know, trying to get the hatch open.

• 32:26Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 32:27Speaker 02

  And I have no idea how they were able to do that.

• 32:30Josh Horowitz?

  Are you the kind of fan that has theories? Like when you were watching Lost, did you have your own theories?

• 32:35Speaker 02

  Oh, absolutely, yeah, for sure.

• 32:36Josh Horowitz?

  What did you think, what, did you know that they were all dead?

• 32:38Speaker 02

  I don't remember.

• 32:40Josh Horowitz?

  Reddit, did Reddit exist? Was there a blog?

• 32:43Speaker 02

  Man, if Reddit existed back in the Lost days, wow. Wow.

• 32:49Josh Horowitz?

  That almost sounded like Christopher Walken, that was gonna be my next question.

• 32:52Speaker 02

  Wow, yeah.

• 32:53Josh Horowitz?

  Do fans want to know more about Walken or the goats when they come up to you?

• 32:57Speaker 02

  That's a really good question. I think I get the goats more often, actually, which is crazy. I would ask about Walken.

• 33:04Josh Horowitz?

  Same.

• 33:07Josh Horowitz?

  What have you learned from working with Christopher Walken? He's a unicorn, he's one of a kind.

• 33:14Speaker 02

  He really is, and he's just such a sweet, cool person. And, you know, I, you know, when you're working with Christopher Walken, and in season one, I didn't get to work with him, you know, all that, I had a couple scenes, and so what I was able to notice right off the bat is that there is absolutely zero difference between him, pre-action and post-action. Meaning, meaning that his presence is so relaxed and so, he's so present.

• 33:55Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 33:56Speaker 02

  That, that he's able to bring a full understanding and full life to what he's doing on camera, which is what we're all trying to do. We're all trying to get there.

• 34:11Josh Horowitz?

  That's the name of the game.

• 34:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:12Josh Horowitz?

  Shut out the noise.

• 34:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, man, he's just, he's as good as it gets. That's why when you watch him, you believe every nanosecond of it, because it is, it's real. He's managed to, and he's always been that way. You watch Annie Hall, he was that, you know, he's just one of our great actors.

• 34:35Josh Horowitz?

  Start eliminating punctuation. Does he do that? Is that real, that he actually gets rid of all the punctuation in scripts?

• 34:41Speaker 02

  I don't know. I don't know. I heard that, you know, heard him say that on James Lipton, I think.

• 34:48Josh Horowitz?

  So, okay, season two, this audience has just seen the first episode. For those that haven't seen season one, just catch us up in 30 seconds. What happens?

• 34:57Speaker 02

  No problem.

• 35:01Josh Horowitz?

  There is an amazing bit of exposition done in this episode, thanks to the voice, as it were, of the Lumen Building. Did anybody recognize that voice?

• 35:11Speaker 02

  Yeah. Keanu, yeah.

• 35:13Josh Horowitz?

  Keanu, we can say that now.

• 35:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:15Josh Horowitz?

  Keanu Reeves.

• 35:15Speaker 02

  I know.

• 35:17Josh Horowitz?

  When, how, what do you know?

• 35:20Speaker 02

  Ben, you know, I guess he just reached out. I actually don't.

• 35:26Josh Horowitz?

  It's perfect.

• 35:27Speaker 02

  I know.

• 35:27Josh Horowitz?

  On so many levels.

• 35:28Speaker 02

  It is. I remember when he told me on set who's gonna do the voice, and I was just so unbelievably happy, and first thing I did was text my wife Naomi, who's just enormous, an enormous Keanu Reeves fan, as am I. I mean, good lord. So great, and did an incredible job.

• 35:52Josh Horowitz?

  Could he show up in corporeal form, in human form?

• 35:56Speaker 02

  How great would that be?

• 35:58Josh Horowitz?

  Have you shared space with Keanu Reeves in your life, in your many Hollywood adventures?

• 36:02Speaker 02

  I have, actually, once, yeah. Got to eat dinner next to each other once, yeah. It was.

• 36:09Josh Horowitz?

  Magical life you lead.

• 36:10Speaker 02

  It was as magical as you would think it would be.

• 36:15Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so.

• 36:15Speaker 02

  Great table manners.

• 36:16Josh Horowitz?

  Of course. Infamously the nicest guy in showbiz.

• 36:19Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 36:22Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so again, this is one of those shows, it's hard to talk about going forward, because we're not gonna spill any secrets.

• 36:26Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 36:26Josh Horowitz?

  But the journey of Mark this season, obviously, we ended on a hell of a cliffhanger in season one. How would you define Mark's journey through this season?

• 36:36Speaker 02

  Well, I think that, you know, the show really, we kind of widened the aperture of the show in season two, and I think also the characters, their worlds get a bit bigger, and we, you know, we watch them all expand. And, and so, and Mark is no different. We get to see.

• 37:05Speaker 02

  You know, Mark's INI and Audi.

• 37:09Speaker 02

  You know, Mark's INI obviously is dealing with this vital explosive piece of information. And whether or not his Audi is, you know, becomes privy to this information.

• 37:23Speaker 02

  The INI and the Audi, do they have similar interests?

• 37:29Speaker 02

  Will their interests, you know, join together? Will they collide? We don't know, but.

• 37:38Josh Horowitz?

  You know.

• 37:38Speaker 02

  You can, I do know.

• 37:41Josh Horowitz?

  So you could just solve it for us very quickly?

• 37:43Speaker 02

  You can rest assured that it will be quite a journey. I don't know.

• 37:47Josh Horowitz?

  Turned into promo guy.

• 37:48Speaker 02

  Let's stop saying journey.

• 37:54Josh Horowitz?

  But do you guys, I mean, I would think you, Ben, Dan, everybody that works on the show, you, again, the lost analogy, I think, is a good one. Like, there has to be that discussion of like, how much to dole out? How much to keep an audience kind of asking questions, asking new questions? What's satisfying for an audience? Is that an ongoing kind of debate?

• 38:11Speaker 02

  Sure. I mean, I think it's a legitimate thing to be thinking about. And, you know, I think that it's good to kind of be thinking about, you know, we don't want to keep every, the audience in the dark. I think, you know, somewhat of an unofficial rule is for any question that might be answered, there should be a few new ones asked, you know? But I think that, yeah, I mean, there certainly is a reason for everything occurring on the show. It's all rooted.

• 38:49Josh Horowitz?

  There's been a lot of talk, obviously, the opening scene of season two premiere is you running.

• 38:54Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 38:55Josh Horowitz?

  Have you ever discussed your physical activity this much?

• 38:58Speaker 02

  My God.

• 38:58Josh Horowitz?

  In the course of your press?

• 38:59Speaker 02

  Well, I've never run this much, that's for sure.

• 39:01Josh Horowitz?

  Period, in a show or just in your life?

• 39:03Speaker 02

  Never, no, in life, nothing.

• 39:07Speaker 02

  My god, yeah, it was, it all started because as Ben and Dan were figuring out the beginning, you know, how we, the season gets kicked off, Ben asked me, you know, what would you do if you were, if this happened to you, what would you do? And my sort of knee jerk was that I would just start running. I would run and try to find Miss Casey. Because I just found out, you know, it's been three years for us, but for the character, it's been 10 seconds since the end of season one.

• 39:45Speaker 02

  So, so that kind of got Ben off on this kind of creative, set him on this creative path where he came up with this running sequence that we ended up shooting bit by bit over about five months. And has everything from me kind of, you know, in the elevator with this big kind of robotic arm spinning around me and going around and where I had to be, we had to choreograph it very carefully because once the robotic arm is set in motion, there's no stopping it. And this thing is huge and could, I don't know, take off your head.

• 40:27Josh Horowitz?

  What a way to go, though. What a story.

• 40:29Speaker 02

  Oh, fantastic way to go.

• 40:31Josh Horowitz?

  Imagine the ratings.

• 40:32Speaker 02

  And all on camera.

• 40:33Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 40:35Speaker 02

  And then at one point, I'm running on a treadmill while on a harness in case I trip, I can just kind of float there. I knew more running was coming whenever a P A would come up to me and say, hey, which color Gatorade is your favorite? I forget. That meant within the next couple of days, there would be some more, more running.

• 40:59Josh Horowitz?

  And yet, it wasn't the running that caused the concussion and the bloody nose?

• 41:03Speaker 02

  It's not the running that caused those things.

• 41:05Josh Horowitz?

  What's happening to you? Are you falling apart?

• 41:07Speaker 02

  I guess so.

• 41:08Josh Horowitz?

  Thank you. It's okay.

• 41:10Speaker 02

  Is that, is that what Jeff Goldblum screamed at?

• 41:14Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, I warned Adam, I called the Jeff Goldblum rule because we get audience questions. And Jeff reacted, he was a little extreme in his reaction, that's scary. So I warned Adam.

• 41:23Speaker 02

  Okay, that's why I did that scream.

• 41:26Josh Horowitz?

  But I saw fear in your eyes.

• 41:27Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 41:29Josh Horowitz?

  But no, the concussion and the bloody nose.

• 41:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, you know, it was.

• 41:34Josh Horowitz?

  Just macro data refining.

• 41:35Speaker 02

  That's right, and I just like hit myself.

• 41:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, the bloody nose, I didn't know why that was happening, but it wouldn't stop. So we had to shut down production. I had to go to an emergency room and get the inside of my nose cauterized. Have you had this done?

• 41:55Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 41:55Speaker 02

  You gotta do it.

• 41:58Josh Horowitz?

  Everyone in Hollywood's doing it now. It's Ozempic and cauterizing.

• 42:01Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 42:04Speaker 02

  I asked the doctor if it was gonna hurt, and he just said, "Well, yeah."

• 42:11Speaker 02

  But the far more challenging aspect is that it's gonna feel like I'm shooting pepper up your nose. Don't sneeze. So he, it did feel like there was a lot of pepper in my nose. And he had to cauterize. Meanwhile, Ben is in the corner taking photos.

• 42:30Josh Horowitz?

  Sure. For posterity. Yeah, for research.

• 42:34Speaker 02

  But it stopped the nosebleed.

• 42:36Josh Horowitz?

  Does, you, speaking of the physical activity, you've worked with a number of co-stars who have gotten like the eight-pack abs and turned into superheroes.

• 42:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:45Josh Horowitz?

  Whether it's Pratt or Rudd.

• 42:47Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 42:48Josh Horowitz?

  Adam, it's your time.

• 42:50Speaker 02

  It's time.

• 42:51Josh Horowitz?

  The running was the beginning.

• 42:53Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 42:53Josh Horowitz?

  The nose story doesn't help the cause necessarily, but are you willing to?

• 42:59Speaker 02

  To get the eight-pack?

• 43:00Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 43:01Speaker 02

  How do you know I don't already have an eight-pack? I don't understand.

• 43:06Josh Horowitz?

  Show it off. We're ready.

• 43:09Josh Horowitz?

  What a twist. The first time at 92Y, someone just raised their shirt.

• 43:13Speaker 02

  That's right. Very different culturally for those.

• 43:18Josh Horowitz?

  You did dabble in the superhero world. You're Peter Parker's uncle, apparently.

• 43:23Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 43:23Josh Horowitz?

  According to Canon now.

• 43:24Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 43:25Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, he was, of course, in Madame Web.

• 43:27Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 43:28Josh Horowitz?

  Anything to say about Madame Web?

• 43:31Speaker 02

  I mean,

• 43:33Speaker 02

  what is there left to say?

• 43:37Josh Horowitz?

  I left it open-ended for your.

• 43:38Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 43:39Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 43:39Speaker 02

  And I appreciate it.

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• 45:47Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so this one. Your involvement in this. You're a producer now, I believe, in season two, correct? So, does that change the... It must change the job. Or is it, once you're in production, you get rid of the producing hat and you're just wearing actor hat? Is that tough to kind of go back and forth when you're in production on something like this? That demands a lot of you as an actor?

• 46:07Speaker 02

  No, I love it. I, you know, I've, again, I've been doing this for 30 years now, which is so weird. And I've found that, for me, I am at my happiest when I get home and I've worked all the hours of the day. The three-hour breaks and stuff are nice and, you know, but I like being able to fill my time as much as possible. And creatively, I love producing and I love being helpful where I can. And that's essentially what I try to do as a producer, is just be as helpful and be available as much as I can

• 46:52Speaker 02

  to help solve problems or just discuss something creatively if it needs discussing.

• 46:59Josh Horowitz?

  Day-to-day in your life now, is Parks and Rec just always a part of your life? Like, are there quotes, references from fans every day, pretty much?

• 47:07Speaker 02

  For sure, yeah. And the Parks fans are the best fans, always, always. Just the sweetest, smartest, kindest group of people. And, yeah, and, you know, the whole cast is close. We're all on a text chain together and everything. So it's all, it's all, it's all great. We're all buddies.

• 47:31Josh Horowitz?

  Who's the best texter in that chain?

• 47:33Speaker 02

  The best texter?

• 47:34Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, who delivers the best gifs, the best commentary?

• 47:38Speaker 02

  You know, Red is an excellent texter. Yeah, Red is, Red is great at everything, so, you know, texting is no surprise.

• 47:46Josh Horowitz?

  I'd love to just show a clip from Parks and Rec just to reminisce.

• 47:50Speaker 02

  Sure.

• 47:50Josh Horowitz?

  We're here anyway.

• 47:51Speaker 02

  I love it.

• 47:52Josh Horowitz?

  If you guys can play the Parks and Rec re-ation clip next, that would be amazing.

• 47:57Speaker 06

  Hey, man, you wanna go for a jog? Just sort of kick out the cobwebs, get some dwarfs going? Oh, no thanks, Chris. Kinda tearing up my...

• 48:05Speaker 02

  This claymation video, a new one right now.

• 48:08Speaker 06

  You know, Ben, I really think you need to take a step back here. I think getting some perspective would be good.

• 48:13Speaker 02

  What are you talking about?

• 48:15Speaker 06

  I've known you a long time, and right now, you need help.

• 48:19Speaker 02

  With my claymage?

• 48:21Speaker 06

  With your life. You are wildly, insanely depressed.

• 48:26Speaker 02

  Depressed? I'm the furthest thing from depressed. I mean, look at what I've accomplished. Do you see him? Do you think a depressed person could make this? No.

• 48:43Speaker 02

  Well, I haven't seen that in a really long time. I mean, I've seen the meme part. The depressed part.

• 48:48Josh Horowitz?

  Does it take you back? What do you remember?

• 48:50Speaker 02

  Well, I haven't seen the show in a long time, honestly, because it makes me sad to see the show. Because I miss them, and I miss, I miss all the actors, even though we're constantly in touch and stuff. But I, I miss the, the time of making, it was a really just joyful five years for me, the seven years for the show. Getting to go work there every day with that group of people. We had so much fun, and it, and we're making something that, that, you know, meant something to, to people. It meant something to us, and so, so yeah, I haven't, I haven't really seen it in a while, but, but I should, because that was fun, just seeing that.

• 49:34Josh Horowitz?

  It's a good show, you should watch it, yeah. It is one of those shows, you're going to your dying day, going to be asked about.

• 49:39Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:39Josh Horowitz?

  Going to be asked about getting back together.

• 49:41Speaker 02

  For sure.

• 49:42Josh Horowitz?

  In, in your mind, is it the kind of show that you want, like, every 10 or 15 years to, like, do something together, just to try it? Or does it feel like, leave well enough alone?

• 49:51Speaker 02

  I don't know, I mean, that's entirely up to Mike Schur and Amy Poehler and Greg Daniels, who created it with Mike. I, I mean, but, you know, we did something during the pandemic. We made like a new episode where we, we were all in our, in our homes. But the show itself, the, the, the series finale kind of took us to the end.

• 50:12Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 50:12Speaker 02

  It jumped pretty far ahead in the future, so I'm not sure what else there is to add, but, you know, it's entire, not up to me at all.

• 50:22Josh Horowitz?

  Is it harder to describe macro data refining or cones of Dunsshire?

• 50:26Speaker 02

  Oh my god. Honestly, probably macro data refining is probably easier.

• 50:33Josh Horowitz?

  Easier, okay.

• 50:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, oh, easier, yes. I think cones of Dunsshire is impossible.

• 50:41Speaker 02

  Didn't we play cones of Dunsshire at one point?

• 50:43Josh Horowitz?

  There is video evidence somewhere on the internet.

• 50:49Josh Horowitz?

  So what are you doing when you're refining? What's the directive? How have you figured out to how to macro data refine?

• 50:56Speaker 02

  You mean like technically?

• 50:57Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, literally, what are you doing?

• 50:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, those computer monitors and the keyboards are specifically designed for the show, and they really do work. And so, the sort of mouse-type device that you're using, you're grouping numbers together, but it's entirely based on feeling, and you're kind of selecting a group of numbers and then binning them,

• 51:25Speaker 02

  one group at a time, pretty much as you see it on the show. That's what you do. And we're all quite good at it.

• 51:32Josh Horowitz?

  You've had, you put in the hours.

• 51:34Speaker 02

  You sure did.

• 51:36Josh Horowitz?

  You are hopefully going to be embarking on yet another new adventure in your career. You want to direct a movie. This is an aspiration? Has this been something on your mind for a while?

• 51:47Speaker 02

  It has been. I've been looking for something for a long time.

• 51:52Speaker 02

  And yeah, we hope to be doing it sometime soon. But yeah, we have an incredible cast. And yeah, I mean, I couldn't be more excited. It's just a matter of finding the time to do it. But yes, we hope to be rolling ASAP.

• 52:16Josh Horowitz?

  Do you feel like you've found some kind of balance? We talked at the outset of kind of like the odd nature of your career, of kind of finding yourself in this comedy realm, and then kind of backing into drama and back and forth. It feels like now people know you for both, thankfully. And that's quite an achievement, to know that you can do both and can do both very, very well. Do you anticipate it's always going to be the case of like, as soon as you've done one, it's time to try the other?

• 52:41Speaker 02

  That's an interesting question. Or as Zach Galifianakis said when I was on Between Two Ferns. He said, "Comedy, drama, what can you do?"

• 53:00Speaker 02

  I think so. I mean, I think that it's always, it's always fun to kind of vacillate back and forth. But at the same time, it's also just project-specific. And what kind of makes sense for me at a particular moment. It's all material-based, I guess.

• 53:19Josh Horowitz?

  We don't know officially yet. Hopefully, we'll get more severance. But do you have a, do you and Ben and Dan know if the audience is there? I don't expect you to answer this, by the way. How many seasons? Like, do you have an idea of like what this would be in your perfect world?

• 53:36Speaker 02

  Pretty much, yeah, I think so. I think so.

• 53:38Josh Horowitz?

  Three to five? Five to seven? No, it's worthless.

• 53:44Speaker 02

  Less than 70.

• 53:45Josh Horowitz?

  Oh. It's an exclusive. Okay. We're gonna end here with the Happy Second Fuse profoundly random questions, Adam. Are you ready?

• 53:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:54Josh Horowitz?

  Dogs or cats?

• 53:56Speaker 02

  Dogs.

• 53:59Speaker 02

  But I really-

• 54:00Josh Horowitz?

  Don't qualify.

• 54:01Speaker 02

  I know.

• 54:01Josh Horowitz?

  We hate cats.

• 54:02Speaker 02

  But I do love cats. But dogs, I, yeah. I didn't have a dog until about eight years ago, nine years ago, ever. I always wanted one. We got some dogs and it's just unlike anything else.

• 54:17Josh Horowitz?

  What do you collect?

• 54:19Speaker 02

  What do I collect? I mean, I used to collect Blu-rays and CDs.

• 54:24Josh Horowitz?

  Don't say it like that, be proud. What do you mean? Physical media's still around?

• 54:28Speaker 02

  It's still around, but it's in, you know-

• 54:32Josh Horowitz?

  Boxes.

• 54:32Speaker 02

  Bins under my house.

• 54:36Speaker 02

  I guess, maybe clothe, I enjoy clothing. You know, because all that has kind of gone out the window.

• 54:44Josh Horowitz?

  What's the best video game of all time? Or a video game you spent the most time playing?

• 54:51Speaker 02

  Uh, maybe, um, boy, I was never the biggest video game person. But when I was a kid, I played a lot of Castle Wolfenstein.

• 55:04Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 55:05Speaker 02

  The original Apple IIe version. Do you remember that?

• 55:09Josh Horowitz?

  I don't know if I remember the specific version you're talking about.

• 55:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 55:12Josh Horowitz?

  I remember Castle Wolfenstein. Are you killing Nazis in that?

• 55:14Speaker 02

  Yes, yes. Which is always...

• 55:16Josh Horowitz?

  Always good.

• 55:17Speaker 02

  Always good.

• 55:18Josh Horowitz?

  Never goes out of style.

• 55:19Speaker 02

  Get rid of them.

• 55:20Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 55:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 55:21Josh Horowitz?

  Gonna take the controversial stance that I'm anti-Nazi.

• 55:23Speaker 02

  That I'm against Nazis.

• 55:27Josh Horowitz?

  What's the wallpaper on your phone?

• 55:30Speaker 02

  Oh, it's a picture of my kids embracing.

• 55:34Josh Horowitz?

  Wow.

• 55:35Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 55:36Josh Horowitz?

  Aww.

• 55:39Josh Horowitz?

  Last actor you were mistaken for?

• 55:41Speaker 02

  Oh, that's a good one. Boy, I don't know.

• 55:47Josh Horowitz?

  Has it ever happened? Have you ever signed someone else's photo? Have you?

• 55:52Speaker 02

  No.

• 55:55Speaker 02

  I don't know. I don't know who the last actor I was mistaken for.

• 55:58Josh Horowitz?

  Was there ever appeared? Because you've known Rudd forever.

• 56:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:01Josh Horowitz?

  I would imagine there were some parallel parts you were maybe up for along the way. Did you have that at all?

• 56:06Speaker 02

  Really, he was always... He kind of became a big deal right away.

• 56:10Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 56:10Speaker 02

  Like, when I was in acting school, he had graduated.

• 56:15Speaker 02

  He graduated, I guess, two years before I did. But we all knew about him because he had gotten a Nintendo commercial and was already a huge deal. But, yeah, early on, he got clueless, which was like, you know, we were just like in our twenties and he suddenly got this big thing. And, yeah, he was always a big deal, rightly so.

• 56:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yes. What's the worst note a director has ever given you?

• 56:45Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh.

• 56:48Speaker 02

  You know what one that I am never able, I never know what to do with, and it's not a bad piece of direction. I just can't, for whatever reason, I can't turn it into anything good, is when they tell me to just have fun with it.

• 57:08Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 57:09Speaker 02

  I don't know what that means. I don't know how to just have fun.

• 57:16Josh Horowitz?

  That's a bigger issue for you.

• 57:18Speaker 02

  Yes. That's actually a good sort of peek inside my process.

• 57:24Speaker 02

  So that one, it's not bad per se, but for me, it won't get us anywhere.

• 57:31Josh Horowitz?

  Right. And in the spirit of happy second views, who's an actor who always makes you happy? You see them on screen, you're in a better mood automatically.

• 57:40Speaker 02

  Harrison Ford.

• 57:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 57:42Speaker 02

  Yeah. He's, he's, you know, everything to me.

• 57:50Josh Horowitz?

  Have you told him this?

• 57:51Speaker 02

  I've never met him.

• 57:56Speaker 02

  But we went to the premiere for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and, which I've seen many, many times now.

• 58:07Josh Horowitz?

  It's pretty good, yeah.

• 58:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know.

• 58:10Speaker 02

  And so we were sitting there getting ready, John Williams and his orchestra was playing, and then Kiwi Kwan came down and sat right in front of me. And I know, I know him a little bit, and so I said hello, and we were both excited to see this movie.

• 58:32Speaker 02

  Now, Temple of Doom is my favorite movie.

• 58:35Josh Horowitz?

  I love it.

• 58:35Speaker 02

  Okay?

• 58:36Josh Horowitz?

  Opening sequence of Temple of Doom, all-timer.

• 58:38Speaker 02

  Unbelievable. Everything is unbelievable, just, and I was 11 when it came out. So it was made for me. It was perfect, and I, and I, and I, and I still feel that way about it. But I was sitting behind Short Round, watching the new Indiana Jones movie, and that was one of the great moments for me. But still, I did not go and meet Harrison Ford. I think it was too, I would be too freaked out, probably.

• 59:09Josh Horowitz?

  Well, I'll be Harrison, you come up to me.

• 59:12Speaker 02

  Hey, kid.

• 59:16Speaker 02

  Can I get you anything to drink, sir?

• 59:21Speaker 02

  I'll be right back.

• 59:24Josh Horowitz?

  A movie that makes you sad?

• 59:26Speaker 02

  That makes me sad? Boy.

• 59:31Speaker 02

  You know a movie that makes me sad every time and is wildly underrated and excellent is the Curtis Hansen movie, "In Her Shoes."

• 59:40Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 59:41Speaker 02

  It's very good and just beautifully acted by Tony Kletten and Cameron Diaz. But the ending of that movie is heartbreaking.

• 59:53Josh Horowitz?

  And finally, a food that makes you confused.

• 59:57Speaker 02

  That makes me confused?

• 59:58Josh Horowitz?

  You don't get it.

• 1:00:03Speaker 02

  You know what I'm gonna say, and this goes directly to Parks and Rec, is for all the hubbub about Ben Wyatt and his favorite food, I find calzones confusing.

• 1:00:22Josh Horowitz?

  Why?

• 1:00:23Speaker 02

  And often when I go to Italian restaurants, they ask me if I would like to try the calzone. And sometimes calzones are sent over. And every time that happens, I text Mike Schur and I just say, again, "Thanks."

• 1:00:41Josh Horowitz?

  People are trying to give you bread and cheese.

• 1:00:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, and it's delicious, but I still find it an utterly confusing food.

• 1:00:50Josh Horowitz?

  It was a love fest for you. We all loved you up until that moment. Now you've lost the crowd.

• 1:00:54Speaker 02

  I turned on the calzone.

• 1:00:57Josh Horowitz?

  I think that's a good note to end on. Severance, season two. It's just getting started, guys. I would say, spread the good word, but everybody knows about Severance. But tell your friends. Thank you so much for coming out tonight. Give it up one more time. Adam Scott, everybody!

• 1:01:28Speaker 04

  And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate, and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

• 1:01:47Speaker 04

  You've got your favorite blanket, a freshly poured drink, and a cold case burning a hole in your streaming queue. You're not just watching true crime, you're running the investigation from the comfort of your couch. Welcome to Murder She Watched, the podcast where we recap, dissect, and slightly overanalyze some of the best and craziest true crime documentaries on our favorite streamers. Did the spouse do it? Why is the shady neighbor wearing leather gloves in July? Why did this guy agree to be interviewed in this documentary? We ask the tough questions that you're often just screaming at your TV. So every week, we break down the twists, red herrings, and absurd documentaries that have kept you up all night.

• 1:02:31Speaker 04

  It's high drama, cozy vibes, and absolute couch detective energy. Grab your throw blanket and hit subscribe. Search Murder She Watched wherever you listen to podcasts, and let's solve this thing together.