Adam Scott

Adam Scott is kind of tired from doing all that running on 'Severance.' Amy hangs with her former 'Parks and Rec' co-star and talks about driving barefoot, hosting a U2 podcast, and his favorite Ben-Leslie moments. Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Nick Offerman and Adam ScottExecutive Producers: Bill Simmons, Amy Poehler, and Jenna Weiss-BermanFor Paper Kite Productions: Executive producer Jenna Weiss-Berman, coordinator Sam Green, and supervising producer Joel LovellFor The Ringer: Supervising producers Juliet Litman, Sean Fennessey, and Mallory Rubin; video producers Jack Wilson, Chris Wohlers, and Aleya Zenieris; audio producer Kaya McMullen; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and booker Kat SpillaneOriginal Music: Amy Miles Get anything delivered on Uber Eats. www.ubereats.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

• 0:00Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by eBay Live. Here's how it goes. First, you're watching the eBay livestream telling yourself, I'm just looking. And then boom, you see a vintage Rolex go for an absolute steal. Suddenly, a rare Beanie Baby pops up. Adrenaline hits and you're bidding. You might lose that first one, but you bid again and win. And that winning rush? Incredible, because you beat everyone to it. Meanwhile, on eBay Live, you don't just watch the action, you're in it. Download the eBay app to stream and shop live. eBay Live, things people love. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. I am so excited to talk to my TV husband, the father of my triplets, Adam Scott, AKA Ben Wyatt, Leslie Knope's dream come true.

• 0:44Amy Poehler?

  Adam Scott, incredible actor, friend. He's just, I just loved talking to him today and we really get into it. We talk about his love of U2. We talk about how he weirdly likes to drive barefoot. We talk about Parks and Rec, of course, and we give you a lot of juicy stuff there. And I try to figure out the crazy ending of Severance. And honestly, I don't know what's going on. So I try to have him help me understand that incredible show. But before we start, we always like to talk to people who know our guests and who want to give us a question. And we're going to keep this Parks and Rec reunion going today by talking to the one, the only Nick Offerman. Nick, are you there?

• 1:29Amy Poehler?

  This episode of Good Hang is presented by Walmart. Now, everyone's talking about back to school outfits and we all know how expensive that can be to get the shoes and the pants and the whole thing and the shirts and all the things that you need. But Walmart has the latest back to school styles for boys and girls, starting at just $4. Who knew? So they've got graphic tees and joggers and colorful backpacks, Spider-Man hoodies, keychain charms, flannel shirts, flare jeans, Crocs. Flare jeans are back! I love it. Who knew? ShopWalmart.com to score their favorite back to school styles, starting at just $4.

• 2:16Amy Poehler?

  Hi, Nick.

• 2:17Speaker 01

  Hello.

• 2:18Amy Poehler?

  Nick, you know what I love? Every time I see you, I never know what kind of hair situation I'm gonna get with you. And you and our guest today, Adam Scott, great heads of hair.

• 2:30Speaker 01

  That's the main thing we have in common. Super, super cute guy in one instance and donkey with great heads of hair.

• 2:42Amy Poehler?

  Stop it. You are so handsome. I love to see you. Since I've seen you last in person, it's been a minute. And one of the best things about this podcast is getting to like, talk to everybody again and spend time with everybody. And today, I'm spending time with the great Adam Scott.

• 3:00Speaker 01

  The greatest.

• 3:02Amy Poehler?

  Well, you know, we're gonna talk about this when we're in person someday together. But I think that, you know, I know that the character of Ron Swanson is iconic. And it is in no small part to the way that you transformed yourself and the way you approach your work. Because I met you in Chicago back in the day, and you were coming to this work in a much more, for lack of a better term, like more prepared actor-y space. And you're such a fine actor, and I can't wait to talk to you about it. And Adam, very similarly, like, kinda came into the biz from that space, too.

• 3:44Speaker 01

  He did. Thank you. By the way, I did not expect compliments today.

• 3:49Amy Poehler?

  Well, your people emailed me and said I needed to start with them, so.

• 3:52Speaker 01

  I thank you, and please thank them for me as well. Yeah, I love that about Adam. I love his, they hilariously asked me to write a little thing for Time Magazine for like, the 100 cool people right now. And it was so funny, because they asked me to like, sum up his thing, and they gave me like, 650 words or something so brief, and then they even cut...

• 4:25Speaker 01

  Paragraphs where I was like, come on, you guys, like this guy's career is hilariously varied and astonishing and also risible. Like, he has literally done everything.

• 4:38Amy Poehler?

  I'm just gonna look up risible real quick.

• 4:42Speaker 01

  It's, it's, you'll, you'll love risible, R.I.S.I.B.L.E.

• 4:46Amy Poehler?

  You love words. You are, you've taught me a lot of words. Risable, such as to provoke laughter. I should know that word.

• 4:58Speaker 01

  You know, I love about him that he, he has done like Piranha 3D. It was wonderful, like B-movie schlot kind of stuff. Also crazy, what was that HBO show where he had, apparently it was in his contract, he had to show his balls every episode?

• 5:17Amy Poehler?

  Tell Me You Love Me. He had a prosthetic penis. It was the first thing I saw of him.

• 5:21Speaker 01

  My god. And, and he carried it off.

• 5:24Amy Poehler?

  He sure did. Literally carried it off.

• 5:26Speaker 01

  I guess, I, I guess you could have to say he pulled it off. He really pulled it off. I've known him for a long time. We did play workshops together, like 20 plus years ago. And he was just this cool, funny guy. Like, if you get to step aside with Adam anywhere, he's just immediately the cool kid where he's, whatever he says to you, you're like, oh, I just want to hang out with you, whatever this event is. I mean, getting to work with him finally on, on Parks and Rec, I always said, and to this day, I still feel like, he's my favorite leading man that I've worked with. Because he's so authentic, he,

• 6:10Speaker 01

  he lets the dorky parts of himself shine, even in Severance, he-

• 6:16Speaker 01

  You know, Adam's pure, sort of youthful, juvenile otter-like persona comes out, even though he's like our romantic leading man. And I agree, it's so gorgeous to see him leading this massive artistic achievement.

• 6:36Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I'm going to talk to him today about, obviously, when he joined our show and how, what that felt like to jump onto a train that was already moving. But I realize, I never talked to you. Look, you and I, I think, had such similar first day goals for the show, and it was to make good work and have a good time. And I feel like we, you know, you more than anyone at times really were my partner in that every day. And I'm so grateful for it. But was there, when you remember him and Rob joining the show, was, what do you remember feeling about that at the time?

• 7:19Speaker 01

  There was an excitement, for sure. Adam was just coming off "Party Down," which Megan had worked on with him.

• 7:25Amy Poehler?

  Right.

• 7:26Speaker 01

  And I was a really big fan of.

• 7:28Amy Poehler?

  Your great wife, Megan Mullally, people should know. Your Tammy, wife in life and on the show.

• 7:34Speaker 01

  Tammy 2+, I remember being excited at the talent, but also having a little bit, where we had maybe eight series regulars at the time. We were like, um, do we need to, can we service two new hunks?

• 7:55Amy Poehler?

  Do we have enough, do we have enough hunk room?

• 7:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:58Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Okay, so I'm asking my Zoomers to give me a question to ask my guests. So I was wondering if there's any question you think I should ask Adam today?

• 8:08Speaker 01

  If I was just hanging with Adam, this is what I would ask him is, he's, he's, he's one of those guys who has a few dozen stories that I've never heard, even though I've heard dozens, of just like luminaries that he's, you know, Scorsese put him in the Leo movie. Like, he's, he's done so much and casually and quietly been in so many great arenas. So I would just say. Tell me, tell me a story about somebody who you would be starstruck with that I haven't heard, that you've worked with.

• 8:51Amy Poehler?

  That's a great question, Nick. I love that question. And you're right, there, there's a quiet experience that Adam doesn't brag about certainly, but that like a lot, he's been on a lot of different sets with very interesting, to your point, luminaries.

• 9:08Speaker 01

  He's been, he's been everywhere.

• 9:10Amy Poehler?

  Well, friend, I hope I, I can't wait to get you in this seat. And it's a hot seat, man. And, and when we get, when you get here, I do want to talk more about facial hair because I do think you've had to switcheroo so much in your life. And your, Ron's mustache is, I'm gonna put it up there in the Mount Rushmore of mustaches. And I miss you very much and love you and so appreciate you doing this.

• 9:35Speaker 01

  Well, I, I miss you and love you as well. And give, give my best to the gang and we'll be in touch.

• 9:42Amy Poehler?

  All right, buddy. See you soon.

• 9:44Speaker 01

  Cheers.

• 9:45Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by Uber Eats. Summer is here and you can now get almost anything you need for your sunny days, delivered by Uber Eats. What do I mean by almost? Well, you can't get a summer blockbuster delivered, but you can get a block of cheese. A cabana, that's a no. But a banana, that's a yes. You know what I like to order from Uber Eats? Batteries. Don't eat batteries, but I often need batteries and you can get batteries from Uber Eats. Get almost, almost anything delivered with Uber Eats. Order now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details.

• 10:28Amy Poehler?

  If people haven't seen this, you can't, you can't hear it, but you can, listeners, this is a heavy peach. You could kill someone with that peach. That's why I like it.

• 10:39Speaker 02

  Why is it, is it a paperweight?

• 10:41Amy Poehler?

  I guess it probably is. Doesn't smell.

• 10:43Speaker 02

  Does not, you know what it doesn't smell like is a peach?

• 10:45Amy Poehler?

  Nope.

• 10:48Amy Poehler?

  Listeners, Adam Scott just come into the studio and he's checking out all of the fake food. I knew you would love it.

• 10:54Speaker 02

  Peach still looks like a butt, no matter what.

• 10:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, peach is butt. I mean, that's why you give, send someone a peach emoji. You're like, you're like, hey, you're like, I like your butt.

• 11:07Amy Poehler?

  These are the miniature.

• 11:08Speaker 02

  I love it.

• 11:09Amy Poehler?

  Uh, this is, doesn't get enough play. This you might like. This is a felt sandwich, but you guess what? You can take it apart.

• 11:16Speaker 02

  You can also take a bite, if you want. I love a, you know, you know what we don't talk about enough is how great a, a good sandwich is.

• 11:26Amy Poehler?

  What is your favorite sandwich?

• 11:27Speaker 02

  Uh, I like-

• 11:28Amy Poehler?

  Like, if you were to build a sandwich?

• 11:29Speaker 02

  Okay. First of all, it would need to be felt, all of it. I just say, if sandwich feels good in your hands.

• 11:38Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 11:39Speaker 02

  Those two different cheeses, I mean, this is-

• 11:41Amy Poehler?

  I don't know, this might be too much information, but I have a little bit of TMJ.

• 11:46Speaker 02

  You do?

• 11:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. So it's hard, it's hard for me to open my mouth to eat a sandwich.

• 11:51Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 11:52Amy Poehler?

  I get nervous that I'm gonna get locked.

• 11:54Speaker 02

  Sure. Like this? And your arms too, locked like this?

• 11:59Amy Poehler?

  And so a giant sandwich.

• 12:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:01Amy Poehler?

  But check this out. Bread.

• 12:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, tomato.

• 12:06Amy Poehler?

  Tomato.

• 12:08Speaker 02

  Some onion.

• 12:09Amy Poehler?

  Onion. The heck, what are we, in California?

• 12:12Speaker 02

  Ovo. I don't like ovo on a sandwich.

• 12:14Amy Poehler?

  I don't either. Let's talk about it, because I feel like ovo makes it soggy.

• 12:18Speaker 02

  It also slides out.

• 12:21Amy Poehler?

  That's what she said.

• 12:21Speaker 02

  It doesn't cooperate with the rest of the sandwich.

• 12:25Amy Poehler?

  Speaking of ovo.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:27Amy Poehler?

  Adam Scott is here and he's a California kid. You're a California kid.

• 12:30Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 12:31Amy Poehler?

  You grew up in California.

• 12:34Speaker 02

  You love giving me shit about being a California person.

• 12:37Amy Poehler?

  Well, you grew up in Santa Cruz and tell people how you used to drive.

• 12:40Speaker 02

  If you're wearing, this is a universal thing.

• 12:43Amy Poehler?

  It definitely is not.

• 12:43Speaker 02

  If you're wearing flip flops.

• 12:46Amy Poehler?

  Okay, yeah, that's already, eighty percent of the world is already now-

• 12:49Speaker 02

  And you have to drive a car, it is unsafe to keep the flip flops on. You have to kick them off and drive barefoot.

• 12:57Amy Poehler?

  People in Santa Cruz drive barefoot.

• 13:00Speaker 02

  Ridiculous.

• 13:01Amy Poehler?

  And Adam one time casually was like, you know, when you're like driving barefoot? I said, is your house on fire?

• 13:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did you forget your shoes?

• 13:10Amy Poehler?

  But Santa Cruz, people drive barefoot.

• 13:12Speaker 02

  If you keep your flip flops on, they can easily get like caught under the the gas or the the brake and then you're, you know.

• 13:20Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I, I, that has happened to me when I'm driving a golf cart on vacation. I don't wear flip flops in life.

• 13:26Speaker 02

  You, oh, so you've never entered a car with flip flops on?

• 13:30Amy Poehler?

  I don't know if I ever have, because like, I feel like.

• 13:33Speaker 02

  I'm gonna call bullshit on that right now.

• 13:36Amy Poehler?

  Well, first of all, I don't like, uh, flip flops that have the thing, you probably, you know what? Santa Cruz probably loves this. The thing between the the big toe and the first toe.

• 13:47Speaker 02

  How else does a flip flop function? What kind of flip flops are you wearing?

• 13:51Amy Poehler?

  I like a flip flop that, well, I guess it's not a flip flop that has the thing over the foot.

• 13:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's a sandal.

• 13:56Amy Poehler?

  Okay, I like a sandal. I don't like a flip flop.

• 13:58Speaker 02

  All right, all right. Agree to disagree.

• 14:00Amy Poehler?

  Santa Cruz, it feels like you guys walked around in flip flops all day and obviously all.

• 14:05Speaker 02

  I remember I sent you a photo from Hawaii once, that's why I thought of Hawaii, where I, I sent you a photo of my barefoot on a gas pedal and you were just like, nah.

• 14:16Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, so gross. Also, truly like, um, bare feet in general, like, I'm a, I don't know.

• 14:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, listen.

• 14:26Amy Poehler?

  How do you feel about bare feet?

• 14:27Speaker 02

  Okay, I'm, I don't like, love bare, bare feet. And I don't wear flip flop, like, I feel like in my twenties, I was fine with like jeans and flip flops.

• 14:40Amy Poehler?

  Sure, sure.

• 14:41Speaker 02

  Which now I feel like should be illegal.

• 14:44Amy Poehler?

  I mean, we spent a lot, both of us spent a lot of time in New York City, like, flip flops in New York City is absolutely now, it's disgusting.

• 14:50Speaker 02

  It doesn't work, it's gross.

• 14:51Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I guess Santa Cruz is nice, but how can you run away from those vampires?

• 14:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, in flip flops, you can't do it.

• 14:57Amy Poehler?

  My first introduction to Santa Cruz was the movie Lost Boys, where there were hot vampires.

• 15:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, Jason Patrick in 1987.

• 15:05Amy Poehler?

  So how were you, how old were you then?

• 15:07Speaker 02

  I was.

• 15:08Amy Poehler?

  When that movie came out.

• 15:09Speaker 02

  When they filmed it, I was 13 and my next door neighbor, Joe Ferrara, he owned the comic book store that they use in the movie. So I got to go on the set of Lost Boys as a 13 year old and I met Joel Schumacher. And I stood outside Corey Haim and Corey Feldman's trailers and watched them walk to their trailers. And it was super exciting.

• 15:34Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 15:35Speaker 02

  Pretty much, but it was my comic book store. It was the comic book store I go to all the time. So I saw like how they made it look different for the movie. It was just, it was cool.

• 15:44Amy Poehler?

  What were comics were you into when you were a kid?

• 15:46Speaker 02

  I was into, I was into like the Freak Brothers and Fat Freddy's Cat. Do you know what these?

• 15:53Amy Poehler?

  Nope.

• 15:54Speaker 02

  So do you think I just made those up?

• 15:56Amy Poehler?

  Fat Freddy's Cat.

• 15:57Speaker 02

  Fat Freddy's Cat and the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers. They were like stoner, they were comic books about stoners.

• 16:05Amy Poehler?

  Oh, interesting. So it wasn't more, it wasn't like the Marvel Universe, was it?

• 16:09Speaker 02

  I did that for, I dabbled in that, but I was kind of more into the weird like Zippy, the Pinhead. And do you know who that is?

• 16:17Amy Poehler?

  I think I remember that a little bit, like when I was older.

• 16:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:20Amy Poehler?

  There was, it was like alternative comics.

• 16:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know why I was into it, but I, I loved the Freak Brothers and I wasn't smoking pot when I was like a little kid or anything. I just loved these comic books. I know.

• 16:35Amy Poehler?

  You weren't? You heard it here first, guys. Adam was not smoking pot.

• 16:38Speaker 02

  I mean, Santa Cruz, I guess it's a kind of a toss up.

• 16:40Amy Poehler?

  They just blow it into your car, I'm sure.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  Right. They blow it into your car and make you take your shoes off.

• 16:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, you just, flip flops are made out of weed, I'm sure.

• 16:48Speaker 02

  That's right. You have to smoke your flip flops.

• 16:51Amy Poehler?

  I have now interviewed Rudd and Ham.

• 16:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 16:55Amy Poehler?

  Ham, I haven't gotten into the studio yet, but I did, he did, he, he.

• 16:59Speaker 02

  Oh, he did Rudd's thing.

• 17:00Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, he zoomed in from a hot air balloon.

• 17:02Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 17:03Amy Poehler?

  Um, but we talked a little bit about you guys all meeting and being like, you know, young bucks at the same time, which is really wild.

• 17:13Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:14Amy Poehler?

  Where, and they've talked about you. Where did you see yourself in that trio? What, how would you describe, because you're, what would you, how would you describe yourself if you, like which angel are you?

• 17:25Speaker 02

  That's so funny. It's true. I always kind of feel like sort of the little brother in that trio a little bit. Cause I'm quite a bit younger than both of them. Obviously that's like.

• 17:36Amy Poehler?

  Burned, that's such a burn.

• 17:37Speaker 02

  Pretty good. Um, no, I feel like.

• 17:41Speaker 02

  Rudd I knew, Paul I knew first because we met, I met him at my graduation from acting school. He was, he was a speaker at the graduation and I-

• 17:53Amy Poehler?

  He was?

• 17:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:54Amy Poehler?

  Talking about acting?

• 17:55Speaker 02

  No, he was giving out an award and I was wearing like this polyester red suit. Just because I, you know, you're just kind of looking for attention wherever you can get it, I guess, if you're graduating from theater school.

• 18:10Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's so, that hit me really hard.

• 18:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 18:13Amy Poehler?

  That's so true. You're just like, I'm gonna wear, I'm gonna dress like a cowgirl or something.

• 18:16Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 18:17Amy Poehler?

  And you're like, I'm really, I'm really out there.

• 18:19Speaker 02

  Everyone's gonna just cheer for me just because I'm wearing this thing. But yeah, we, we, I remember we hung out afterwards and he was like, "Nice suit."

• 18:31Amy Poehler?

  So it worked?

• 18:32Speaker 02

  Totally worked. But yeah, so, so, so that was like 1993. So I've known Paul and then we did a play together, which I think he brought up on your show, in the fall of 1993. And I remember I got my first acting job while I was rehearsing that play and my beeper kept going off while we were rehearsing and the other guy in the scene kept turning it off.

• 18:58Amy Poehler?

  Passive aggressive?

• 19:00Speaker 02

  And it was, yeah, yeah, turning it like, turning off that acting job for me.

• 19:05Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, he was like, "No."

• 19:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 19:07Amy Poehler?

  He's like, "We need you to be here presently."

• 19:08Speaker 02

  Trying to stand in front of that acting job.

• 19:09Amy Poehler?

  Exactly.

• 19:10Speaker 02

  Uh, that guest spot on Dead at 21. He didn't want anyone, he wanted to get that.

• 19:15Amy Poehler?

  And that guy was Leonardo DiCaprio.

• 19:17Speaker 02

  That's right, that's right. And was never heard from again.

• 19:21Amy Poehler?

  Nope. Never worked again.

• 19:22Speaker 02

  Um, so yeah, so I knew Paul then and then I met Ham like a few years later.

• 19:27Amy Poehler?

  But I mean, that is, that's a very, that's a very like Outsiders, Young Gun kind of vibe that you guys were all acting to get, like trying to audition.

• 19:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:39Amy Poehler?

  I mean, and in, in the world, and, and, in the world, you're very different, but I imagine like there was, I don't know, you could have done a lot of similar parts and probably auditioned for similar things.

• 19:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I remember one- John and I were each doing a different CSI. He was doing regular CSI. I was doing CSI Miami and we were shooting like near each other in Culver City or something. And like met up to go get a beer afterwards. And I remember just kind of sitting there and just being like, how much longer do you think we're gonna need to be like doing CSI Miami? Cause it was years and years for both of us.

• 20:20Amy Poehler?

  I know. I think it's super satisfying to talk to you about this stage of your career. Cause like a lot of people I know, frankly, you had so much experience before a lot of America knew you. Like, and I was talking to like Nick about this earlier. Oh, I talked to Nick Offerman.

• 20:40Speaker 02

  Oh, you did.

• 20:41Amy Poehler?

  I'm Mrs. Price. But he wanted to know when, like when in that, in that part of your career before we all met. And I think he was specifically talking about when you worked with Martin Scorsese. But like what, what was, when were you really starstruck during that time?

• 20:58Speaker 02

  I was always starstruck and never felt comfortable, partially because, and maybe it's similar for you, like not growing up in Los Angeles or in show business at all, like having zero contact with it. It being on a TV show or being in a movie felt like going to the moon. So once you're there, it's just so crazy that there's a camera and there are lights and a famous person sitting next to you that I sort of, it took me a really long time. And I think probably hindered me, it's probably one of the reasons that I, that it took me a while as I just never was able to relax because I was so freaked out by all of it.

• 21:44Amy Poehler?

  Really?

• 21:44Speaker 02

  I think so.

• 21:45Amy Poehler?

  Were you really anxious?

• 21:47Speaker 02

  Really anxious, but really nervous.

• 21:49Amy Poehler?

  Nervous.

• 21:49Speaker 02

  And.

• 21:50Amy Poehler?

  How did it manifest? Did it manifest?

• 21:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, it manifested in me not being, and I think a part of it is, and it's something that I saw you doing pretty immediately when we started working together is you were like.

• 22:06Speaker 02

  You were good with all of it and comfortable with all of it. And you were able to share yourself with the camera, which is something that took me a long time to even realize was something you needed to do. Beyond figuring out what the scene was or the characters or anything like that, you just have to be able to to open up and share yourself with it. Does that make sense?

• 22:32Amy Poehler?

  It doesn't. It's so interesting because it's kind of like what we talked about, like the way into like when you and any job, the way the way you enter can be kind of the thing that you identify with forever.

• 22:46Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:47Amy Poehler?

  I'm this kind of person. I'm this kind of performer.

• 22:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 22:50Amy Poehler?

  And I always found like when I was in Chicago and it's funny like Nick is a good example. Nick was in like the like serious theater scene. And there were the improvisers and, you know, people that came the comedy road. There were the serious actors who studied acting.

• 23:04Speaker 02

  Right.

• 23:06Amy Poehler?

  And I used to find that they were so trained and so good. And I felt a little inferior in terms of skill. But I also thought they took things very seriously.

• 23:17Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 23:17Amy Poehler?

  And because of it, they were missing that like play.

• 23:21Speaker 02

  Totally. So like it was all their work was done when they got to set.

• 23:25Amy Poehler?

  I said this about you and Catherine Han, two very skilled actors who who who studied. You, first of all, you knew your lines, which is important.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  You knew your lines.

• 23:37Amy Poehler?

  I did, but I mean, I just mean, but I mean, you would you would both prepare in a way that was, you know, part of the process of you working. And the preparation was really impressive.

• 23:50Amy Poehler?

  And what I really loved about working with you and still do is you are one of those rare people that you maybe it was learned, maybe it didn't come right away. But you do have a big sense of play. You do not come in with some preconceived notion of how things should go.

• 24:05Speaker 02

  Right.

• 24:06Amy Poehler?

  And you can straddle that like really good, deep acting and really dumb, fun shit.

• 24:16Speaker 02

  Right. But that's because, yeah, yeah, sorry.

• 24:19Amy Poehler?

  No, why do you think that's because?

• 24:21Speaker 02

  Well, I think that's because I was doing it with you.

• 24:24Amy Poehler?

  But you were doing it before then, too.

• 24:26Speaker 02

  Not really. I mean.

• 24:27Amy Poehler?

  Really party down. Right.

• 24:30Speaker 02

  But Party Down.

• 24:32Amy Poehler?

  Step Brothers.

• 24:32Speaker 02

  But Party Down was more scripted. I mean, we didn't have the like fun runs and stuff like we did on Parks.

• 24:40Speaker 02

  I think Martin Starr would improvise more than anybody. And Step Brothers, I was just like trying to keep my head above water. I'd never really improvised before. So I was like, it was one of the reasons I, looking back, I was, I, I once started really doing Parks and it's like, this is the way to do it. This is like so fun and and it's no less satisfying than some serious thing. It's, it's all in there. The characters are bone deep. It's so funny. Everyone cares about each other and it's super fun.

• 25:19Speaker 02

  So it, it made me kind of think like all those years I was wasting trying to like get three lines on NYPD Blue. I could have been trying to do something at Improv Olympic or it's just, it's just, you look back and you never know.

• 25:34Amy Poehler?

  I can remember all the, those years that we all did those movies, big and small parts in them where improv was so important to make those movies come alive. But I remember there was like a tipping point for me one time in a movie that I did where like there was just like 10 people like shouting jokes at me.

• 25:53Speaker 02

  Right.

• 25:54Amy Poehler?

  About like, do this and that. And I remember going like, oh, I don't even know what my character's name is. I don't, I don't even know what my character is.

• 26:00Speaker 02

  Right.

• 26:01Amy Poehler?

  Like it's so, I kind of.

• 26:03Speaker 02

  It's so interesting you say that because like it's around that time from like 2005 through like 2013. That was the overwhelming culture on comedy sets was just a bunch of people screaming jokes at you. And you're just being like, yeah, okay.

• 26:19Amy Poehler?

  Who, which one of us says? And they're like, either one.

• 26:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, who cares?

• 26:23Amy Poehler?

  Cool. Yeah, I've done a good job with my character. If either one of us can say this joke. No, I know. And I feel I, it's, it's, and you, like, your career is so interesting. You have done so many different things. I think it's what is, I, I know for me, like so exciting about this moment for you is that it's just, it.

• 26:48Amy Poehler?

  There's just really nothing you can't do, Adam.

• 26:50Speaker 02

  Oh, stop that.

• 26:52Amy Poehler?

  It's so true, dude.

• 26:55Amy Poehler?

  Have, but, but I think people like to know these things. Was there ever a part you auditioned for that you got close on that you didn't get?

• 27:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, uh, Six Feet Under.

• 27:03Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 27:04Speaker 02

  Yeah. That, that was the one that I didn't get and it's good that-

• 27:09Amy Poehler?

  It was for Michael C. Hall's role?

• 27:10Speaker 02

  Michael C. Hall's role. And it's good that I didn't get it because-

• 27:14Amy Poehler?

  Oh, my God.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  It wouldn't be nearly as good if I had done it, because, um, he was perfect and incredible. He was incredible. And I wasn't ready.

• 27:25Amy Poehler?

  But you mean like it was between you and two other guys?

• 27:28Speaker 02

  He and I tested for it and I believe-

• 27:31Amy Poehler?

  That hurts.

• 27:32Speaker 02

  I, it was, it was the one where I was like, I might stop doing this. I think that it's time for me to, like, read the tea leaves and walk away.

• 27:43Amy Poehler?

  I don't think people understand that enough. When you, we all have, when you lose a part and it's so close and then the show is this hit and you watch it, it really is like-

• 27:52Speaker 02

  It's painful.

• 27:52Amy Poehler?

  Someone fucking your girlfriend in front of-

• 27:54Speaker 02

  Yeah. 100%.

• 27:57Amy Poehler?

  And you're just like, oh, my God, this show is so good and he's so good in it.

• 28:01Speaker 02

  That show, and that show was everything. Like, it just kind of like eclipsed all other shows. It was the, I went and did a couple of episodes as Michael's boyfriend.

• 28:12Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's right.

• 28:13Speaker 02

  Like in season two and-

• 28:15Amy Poehler?

  And Michael was like, you want to see the trailer you could have had?

• 28:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, exactly. Everything he showed me is, uh, his bank account.

• 28:23Speaker 02

  No, he, he was lovely, of course, and, and it was fun and stuff. But, yeah, that was a blow. That was hard. Um, but, you know, that's, it's also important that you have those, those experiences.

• 28:38Amy Poehler?

  Are you good in auditions, do you think?

• 28:39Speaker 02

  No, no, no, no. Terrible.

• 28:41Amy Poehler?

  Me too.

• 28:42Speaker 02

  I hated it so much. I was so nervous.

• 28:45Amy Poehler?

  You were nervous?

• 28:45Speaker 02

  Yeah. What, what about you?

• 28:47Amy Poehler?

  Well, I was nervous too. But the way I masked my nervousness was, which is not a great quality, is I would get kind of like, um, I would seem kind of ambivalent.

• 28:56Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 28:56Amy Poehler?

  Like, I would get kind of, you know, when you get nervous, you get sleepy.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 28:59Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm.

• 29:00Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 29:00Amy Poehler?

  So I would be very nervous and just like stomach in knots and, and, and really psyching myself out of like, just go in there, just, just, you know, just do what you can do.

• 29:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:12Amy Poehler?

  But that would tip over into-

• 29:14Speaker 02

  I don't care.

• 29:15Amy Poehler?

  I don't care.

• 29:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 29:16Amy Poehler?

  And- What was your audition like for Parks? Did you audition for Parks and Rec?

• 29:19Speaker 02

  No, no, I was lucky.

• 29:21Amy Poehler?

  You just got it. They just gave it to you.

• 29:23Speaker 02

  Yeah, cuz Mike.

• 29:27Speaker 02

  I remember the day that my phone had you and Mike's names on the voicemail thing. And I was like, whoa, is this, is it finally like happening to me? Cuz I, and I showed someone like, look, Mike Schur, Amy Poehler. And then there was someone else that was calling me. It was like suddenly, for whatever reason, people were, there were incoming calls asking me to do stuff. And that had never happened before. I don't remember why that started happening on one particular day. But you left me a voicemail and that was a huge deal. I'm sure I still have it.

• 30:05Amy Poehler?

  Really?

• 30:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm sure I do.

• 30:06Amy Poehler?

  We should put like a techno beat to it.

• 30:08Speaker 02

  Totally.

• 30:09Amy Poehler?

  Put it out on the internet.

• 30:10Speaker 02

  When I first heard it, I was like, this would make a great song. This would be a hit. This is catchy. How is this voicemail catchy to me? So wait, just, yes, can, I just want to interject so I don't forget. Cuz that's what I do. I always forget shit that I was going to say. Every single day, someone tells me Parks got them through the pandemic. And I heard you mention it on a previous episode.

• 30:34Amy Poehler?

  Every single day. People say, I watched it during COVID. I watch it with my kid. My kid's going through a hard time. I like to watch it at night because I get, I have a lot of anxiety. Like, I cannot believe the way that that show continues to be a medicine for people.

• 30:53Speaker 02

  It's so nice.

• 30:55Amy Poehler?

  Awesome. And Ben and Leslie.

• 30:57Speaker 02

  I know, I know. We just, you remember we were texting just a couple of months ago? And just kind of commented on how nice they are?

• 31:06Amy Poehler?

  They're so nice. They're so much nicer than us.

• 31:09Speaker 02

  So much nicer.

• 31:10Amy Poehler?

  And they're so nice to each other.

• 31:12Speaker 02

  I know.

• 31:13Amy Poehler?

  And every, every woman deserves a Ben. Every woman deserves a partner like Ben who roots for you and like, looks at you. And it's just like, that's my gal. Like, everyone deserves that kind of relationship.

• 31:28Speaker 02

  Leslie from the word go.

• 31:32Speaker 02

  Loved Ben.

• 31:33Amy Poehler?

  Oh, beyond.

• 31:34Speaker 02

  Like, now looking back, it's like they were just in love with each other.

• 31:39Amy Poehler?

  I know.

• 31:40Speaker 02

  Immediately.

• 31:41Amy Poehler?

  And their arc was such, so juicy. The writers, Mike and the writers, because they meet and they're just like, well, what's your deal?

• 31:48Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. It was like.

• 31:50Amy Poehler?

  Hot.

• 31:50Speaker 02

  And then, and then they like each other, but then they can't.

• 31:53Amy Poehler?

  They can't be together.

• 31:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was great.

• 31:55Amy Poehler?

  They can't be together, which is like, really? I mean, they probably could have been together.

• 31:58Speaker 02

  I know, it didn't matter, but.

• 32:00Amy Poehler?

  And then they had to break up.

• 32:01Speaker 02

  And Mike was like, this is totally fake and whatever, but we just need to have Rob care about you two being together. And it worked and it was like, made it even hotter.

• 32:11Amy Poehler?

  It was. And then Ben was like, I want you, like Ben kept putting Leslie's, you know what it is? They kept putting each other's needs over their own. They cared about what the other one needed and they respected each other. Like, they really liked what the other one did. And it was the best thing about that relationship is how, you know, with the exception of Anne, who is.

• 32:32Speaker 02

  Of course.

• 32:33Amy Poehler?

  Leslie's number one.

• 32:35Speaker 02

  Of course. I've accepted that.

• 32:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Is the way that they, they just rooted for each other.

• 32:44Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 32:44Amy Poehler?

  They really rooted for each other.

• 32:46Speaker 02

  I, I haven't seen a ton of, it makes me sad to watch the show because I miss it.

• 32:51Amy Poehler?

  I've heard you say that.

• 32:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:52Amy Poehler?

  Why does it make you sad?

• 32:54Speaker 02

  Because I'm, I miss it. I, like you were saying, like, we really appreciated being there every day and it was so fun. And also just sort of walking in that building and then suddenly you're there and the hallways and the.

• 33:08Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 33:09Speaker 02

  It was so fun and the people, just loved everybody, but I guess maybe it just, that's a good question. Why does it actually make me sad?

• 33:17Amy Poehler?

  I think I know is because you're stuck in that fucking weird office.

• 33:21Speaker 02

  The white hallways.

• 33:22Amy Poehler?

  And you're running in a white hallway. I told Adam, I was like, too much running.

• 33:26Speaker 02

  Too much running, yeah. I know. I was so tired.

• 33:29Amy Poehler?

  I mean, just, and there's, you don't even know where you're going. I mean, every hallway looks the same.

• 33:34Speaker 02

  I know, I know. Get lost. Get lost every day.

• 33:37Amy Poehler?

  That's why.

• 33:38Speaker 02

  Exhausting and confusing.

• 33:40Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 33:42Speaker 02

  I know. Pawnee hallways.

• 33:43Amy Poehler?

  People are dying in your new workplace. Like, they're getting killed.

• 33:47Speaker 02

  Pawnee, everyone's nice. There's a graphic painting of a massacre on the wall, but it's covered up.

• 33:55Amy Poehler?

  That's true.

• 33:55Speaker 02

  That's okay.

• 33:56Amy Poehler?

  It was a terrible massacre.

• 33:58Speaker 02

  But something I saw recently is our very first scene in that bar when.

• 34:03Amy Poehler?

  Love that scene.

• 34:04Speaker 02

  Me too.

• 34:05Amy Poehler?

  So well-written, that scene.

• 34:06Speaker 02

  Yes, and then we're having a beer and I say, Ben says, "Yeah, but you wanna, you're gonna run fraud." And like immediately just knows that Leslie has these ambitions.

• 34:19Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 34:20Speaker 02

  That it seemed that you'd never even said out loud before, but is 100% what you planned on doing. It was just such a great little.

• 34:29Amy Poehler?

  What they saw, they saw in each other, the dream for the other.

• 34:34Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 34:34Amy Poehler?

  They just, they kept, like, they assumed the best and they saw the potential in each other, basically. I know, it was so fun to play that. And I was saying too, that I, for this interview, I re-watched your first scene, which it's so good because Nick and I are on the, you know, Ron and I never sat on this, we never even sat down next to each other.

• 34:57Speaker 02

  Right, usually you were at loggerheads.

• 34:59Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, we were across from each other. And so it's like, you've got the kind of like Pawnee side.

• 35:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:05Amy Poehler?

  And then you and Rob come in with suits.

• 35:07Speaker 02

  Right.

• 35:08Amy Poehler?

  And it's like, who are these whippersnappers?

• 35:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 35:11Amy Poehler?

  And I can remember that day because it was our first day of work. I think that was the first scene that we did. And it played really well because it was like, who is this new person?

• 35:21Speaker 02

  Who are these guys? Yeah.

• 35:26Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by All Free Clear Detergent. Are you trying to be a bit more mindful of the things you buy for you and your family? You know, reading the labels, checking the ingredients, trying to understand what all those letters, numbers, and long words mean? I get it. Sometimes we don't really know what's in the things we buy and we want to feel good about our choices. So when it comes to laundry. Detergent, choose All Free Clear. 100% free from dyes and perfumes. All Free Clear detergent uses only essential ingredients that tackle tough stains and odors, and it's gentle on skin. It's a powerful clean you can feel good about. So go on, pick up a bottle of All Free Clear for your next laundry day.

• 36:08Amy Poehler?

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• 36:50Amy Poehler?

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• 37:35Amy Poehler?

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• 38:05Amy Poehler?

  What was it like to join a show that was in motion?

• 38:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:09Amy Poehler?

  That you had watched already on TV?

• 38:11Speaker 02

  It was so weird, but immediately fun. Like even the first table read, I remember I was like, I got, I walked in the room like one minute after I was supposed to be there. So I was already like thrown like, I'm fucking late to my first, Jesus Christ. And, but it was immediately so warm and welcoming and super fun. People, everybody's laughing at the incredible jokes in the script. But then when we started shooting, I mean, you, you know, it was a, it was a welcoming place that immediately kind of fostered, encouraged your best.

• 38:53Speaker 02

  But also to take swings and shots without any sort of fear of doing the wrong thing. That was just never really there.

• 39:06Amy Poehler?

  And then that short season was kind of short when we started because I was preggers. And it's not always easy, like getting chemistry going with a gal who's like hiding her stomach behind a plant.

• 39:18Speaker 02

  It was so easy.

• 39:19Amy Poehler?

  But it was, I remember just being like, oh, bless your heart, Adam. The other thing I just like that I feel like I am proud of during that is the way in which, and I said it before, but I feel like the way in which in real time, it's a job that I felt the most present in. SNL felt like a, you know, a speeding train, an emergency room. And I learned really fast and hard lessons really fast. And for everyone on Parks, I felt like we were all kind of in this tender bubble because we often thought we were going to get canceled. Where.

• 40:00Amy Poehler?

  We just kind of knew what we had. I don't know.

• 40:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, I think that you guys did a really good job because all this stuff about us almost getting canceled, I think we all kind of sensed something, but I don't think any of us, except you and I think you and Mike protected us from a lot of that, which is great producing and really taking care of all of us. I don't think we were ever quite, I've kind of heard all of it since, but it was pretty tenuous there at the end of the seasons.

• 40:29Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 40:30Speaker 02

  Which is scary.

• 40:31Amy Poehler?

  You're a great producer. What do you like about producing, speaking of producing?

• 40:35Speaker 02

  That's nice of you to say. I learned a lot watching you work and working with you, both as a producer, but also as the lead actor. Like you really kind of set the template for me, truly. How everyone should and deserves to be treated, cast and crew and all of that. I always kind of, directing specifically is like, because you're looking at a monitor all day, it's like getting to watch television, which is like one of my favorite things to do, except you get to go in and try to make it better. And producing is somewhat similar in that you're spending all of your time just trying to nitpick and find all of the

• 41:16Speaker 02

  things that don't work and find solutions for all of them. Or making sure everybody's happy and feeling good about what they're doing. That's another important component that I really learned from you and Mike, too. It's so important that everybody is feeling like they're a part of it, like a useful cog in the machine and that it's a satisfying job for them.

• 41:40Amy Poehler?

  Now, do you guys have, for Severance, which by the way, congratulations.

• 41:45Speaker 02

  Thanks.

• 41:46Amy Poehler?

  And get that Emmy speech ready, baby. Get that Emmy speech ready, honey.

• 41:51Speaker 02

  God, please.

• 41:52Amy Poehler?

  But.

• 41:55Amy Poehler?

  Get it ready. But when you shoot that show, is it? I just feel like it's a really, I mean, it's so beautifully shot. You have such great set design. You have tons of, like, it just seems like it's a long. How many days is one episode take?

• 42:18Speaker 02

  Well, it depends.

• 42:19Amy Poehler?

  It's long, right?

• 42:20Speaker 02

  It's long. The season two, I think it was 186 days.

• 42:25Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 42:25Speaker 02

  For the season, which is a long time, you know? I mean, I think like one episode took like six weeks. And then I think it's kind of averaged out because we shoot them like three at a time, all mixed up together.

• 42:38Amy Poehler?

  Crossboard is the term? You do that? Okay.

• 42:41Speaker 02

  Yeah. Season one, we shot the entire thing at once. So like in month nine, we were still shooting scenes from the first episode. But the thing that that did, the accidental thing that that did is, you know, the first few episodes of any show are a little shaky and everyone's finding their tone a little bit or characters or whatever. It spread that out over the entire season. So it kind of felt more or less fully, you know, in a way, fully realized from the start. But the shaky scenes are kind of distributed over the, over the course of the season.

• 43:17Amy Poehler?

  You have to do so much switcheroo in that show. I mean, like you have to act against yourself. You have to figure out versions of yourself truly that change mid scene, let alone mid sentence. Do you have a script supervisor or a graph or someone that keeps that? How do you keep track of that?

• 43:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's a good question. In season one, I remember I had heard that Michael Keaton had this big, like these big poster boards for multiplicity, where he kept track of all of his characters. And I got large, like, construction paper. I remember I was staying in Aziz's apartment in season one. And so I was like, I remember putting it out on the floor and getting like a marker and drawing a line and like trying to like mark down like the scenes and the episodes. And eventually it was like, I don't know what I'm, and I just stopped doing that. I just gave up. But.

• 44:14Speaker 02

  I think it's, you just sort of map it out and then just like a math problem, you just try to kind of lock in what's going on.

• 44:23Amy Poehler?

  Mm hmm.

• 44:24Speaker 02

  Particularly if you're shooting it all at once, you have to sort of make some decisions and, and we would go back and forth between characters sometimes in, in one, like in the morning, we would do any stuff and in the afternoon do outie stuff.

• 44:37Amy Poehler?

  Ah, interesting.

• 44:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, and so.

• 44:39Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's interesting.

• 44:40Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 44:41Amy Poehler?

  So you'd like any before lunch, outie after lunch.

• 44:43Speaker 02

  That's right. Which is good because you're slowed down after lunch.

• 44:46Amy Poehler?

  And you want to let it outie.

• 44:47Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, you gotta get it outie.

• 44:48Amy Poehler?

  Get it outie.

• 44:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:49Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 44:50Speaker 02

  You let it any, then you gotta get it outie.

• 44:54Amy Poehler?

  I mean, it's such, such an indication of how well that show trapped us because in the, in this last season, it's so incredible, the finale was so incredible.

• 45:06Speaker 02

  Thanks. What?

• 45:09Amy Poehler?

  Your wife.

• 45:10Speaker 02

  Right.

• 45:12Amy Poehler?

  She went pretty hard to get back to you.

• 45:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know.

• 45:16Amy Poehler?

  Dude.

• 45:17Speaker 02

  I know. Were you pissed?

• 45:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 45:20Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 45:22Amy Poehler?

  And Britt is incredible. I got to do a movie with Britt.

• 45:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right. You guys did.

• 45:27Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, we did this movie Sisters and she was so fun in it and so funny. She's great in the show, but.

• 45:34Speaker 02

  Well, what other choice was any Mark and I made?

• 45:37Amy Poehler?

  The choice whether you go with your wife.

• 45:39Speaker 02

  So walk out the door and like end your life and.

• 45:42Amy Poehler?

  Yes, you go to the door.

• 45:44Speaker 02

  That's the choice you would.

• 45:46Amy Poehler?

  What do you mean, end your life?

• 45:47Speaker 02

  He walks out that door, he doesn't know if he's ever coming back. He, he walks out the door, he becomes his outie. He doesn't know if that outie is ever gonna walk back in that building.

• 45:58Amy Poehler?

  But that building is not great.

• 46:00Speaker 02

  No, but it's better than not existing.

• 46:02Amy Poehler?

  But is it?

• 46:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know.

• 46:06Amy Poehler?

  It was such a good ending. It was like standing up, shouting at the TV ending. It was so good and you played it so well. And it was so exciting to watch that ending. It was so satisfying.

• 46:16Speaker 02

  You were nice. You texted me like right after and you, you text pretty promptly after things and it always means the most when you text me. It really does.

• 46:26Amy Poehler?

  I mean, it means the most that I get to have friends that, I mean, can, for people listening, can you imagine your favorite TV? It's the best feeling in the world.

• 46:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:33Amy Poehler?

  Your favorite TV show and then you get to text the person on it immediately and be like, what the fuck?

• 46:39Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 46:40Amy Poehler?

  And you know, and it's not like you get any spoilers, but you just get to like, be like, you get to process.

• 46:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:46Amy Poehler?

  Like, I think growing up, if I ever, you know, if I'd ever been able to, I don't know, text Molly Ringwald.

• 46:52Speaker 02

  Right.

• 46:52Amy Poehler?

  And be like.

• 46:54Speaker 02

  Dude.

• 46:55Amy Poehler?

  You, why didn't you pick Ducky?

• 46:56Speaker 02

  Ducky, man.

• 46:57Amy Poehler?

  Ducky was the dude.

• 46:59Speaker 02

  Um, or like, I remember I wrote viewer mail to David Letterman. And just never, you know, they just kind of went off and, and disintegrated in the mail.

• 47:10Amy Poehler?

  And you're like, Dave?

• 47:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, Dave.

• 47:12Amy Poehler?

  Hey.

• 47:12Speaker 02

  I remember I came up with this whole thing that I thought they would use to create a bit around that I thought would be so lame.

• 47:19Amy Poehler?

  So lame, yeah. People should know this about you. You have great hair and you do not have a system. That is your hair.

• 47:25Speaker 02

  Do you mean like a toupee?

• 47:27Amy Poehler?

  I, I don't know. Just you don't have a system.

• 47:29Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 47:30Amy Poehler?

  Whatever that is, and there's nothing wrong with having it.

• 47:32Speaker 02

  No, look, there is nothing wrong with a system.

• 47:35Amy Poehler?

  Wrong with a hair system.

• 47:36Speaker 02

  There's nothing.

• 47:37Amy Poehler?

  Men and women. I'm just saying that Adam has great hair and you, do you think it's because you're Scottish? Aren't you Scottish?

• 47:45Speaker 02

  I'm Scottish. I'm Sicilian.

• 47:48Amy Poehler?

  Oh, okay. That, maybe it's that.

• 47:49Speaker 02

  I don't know. But also I started taking Propecia when I was like 30 years old.

• 47:55Amy Poehler?

  Really?

• 47:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, it started, it started coming out, um, pretty, like when I was like 30 ish. Yeah. I mean, everyone on Parks, remember all the guys had great hair?

• 48:07Amy Poehler?

  Yes. And all the men and Catherine Han had great hair. And then I don't think Rashida would mind or Aubrey would mind that we all felt like we had.

• 48:17Speaker 02

  Why?

• 48:17Amy Poehler?

  Our hair was.

• 48:20Amy Poehler?

  It was just, it's just thin. But, um, it was, all the men would just have these like giant heads of hair.

• 48:27Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 48:28Amy Poehler?

  Like, and it just, and just, I mean, Nick would grow a beard in a day.

• 48:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, Nick, yeah, yeah. That mustache is like, what is it, 45 minutes he can grow that?

• 48:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, he can grow it in 45 minutes. If he just goes.

• 48:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, he has to push really hard.

• 48:43Amy Poehler?

  But one more Severance question, which is. What is happening on it? What is it? And what happened?

• 48:53Speaker 02

  Right, what's going on?

• 48:55Amy Poehler?

  And what's going on?

• 48:56Speaker 02

  What happened?

• 48:57Amy Poehler?

  What is it?

• 48:58Speaker 02

  And what is it?

• 48:59Amy Poehler?

  But you do host a podcast.

• 49:01Speaker 02

  Yeah, Ben and I host it.

• 49:02Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, how has it been doing that?

• 49:03Speaker 02

  Great.

• 49:04Amy Poehler?

  What's it like to talk about the show that you're?

• 49:06Speaker 02

  It's actually been, we originally, it was actually Naomi's idea. She was like, you guys, like, because it'd been three years since season one. We were just like, we were just worried about everyone that watched the first season coming back. So we're just trying to think of ways to, and Naomi thought, you know, you guys should do this. And it actually was, it's so fun to just go back and really be able to, to watch the episodes as finished things and talk over it with the actors or, you know, crew members or whomever. And kind of talk about it as audience members and kind of dipping into what we remember, what we intended and, you know, all that stuff.

• 49:51Amy Poehler?

  Cool.

• 49:52Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 49:52Amy Poehler?

  And do you remember the U2 podcast you used to do with Acker?

• 49:55Speaker 02

  Yes. What if I didn't remember it?

• 49:57Amy Poehler?

  Do you remember? That's such a bad question. Do you remember?

• 50:00Speaker 02

  No, no, no, it's not. Because it's something that you could forget.

• 50:04Amy Poehler?

  People also don't know that you did a podcast about U2. And it was called?

• 50:10Speaker 02

  You Talking U2 To Me.

• 50:14Amy Poehler?

  Why, why did you do a podcast about U2?

• 50:15Speaker 02

  We did it because we found out that we were both U2 fans. And there was something funny about doing it, doing it because U2 is so huge. There was something funny about doing, it's almost like doing a podcast about like Sizzler or something. I love U2, but they're big. And so, and I don't know, it's hard to pinpoint exactly why it's funny to do the thing. And that wasn't the right analogy. But we both found out that Kulop, Scott's wife, and Naomi, my wife, were sick of hearing about U2 and didn't want to talk about it anymore. And so we.

• 50:56Speaker 02

  I think maybe Seth Meyers said something on this show about being a middle aged man. If you want to have middle aged male friendships, you need to do a podcast together.

• 51:06Amy Poehler?

  Oh, my God, yes. Yeah, I mean, it is, it, it's one of the things I love about you is you have a very back of the classroom style of comedy. Like, you are a side, like, you're the, like, out of your mouth talker. You're shit talker. Not in a bad way, but like, you know, you are, you are, you can be, like, a love tap from Adam is like a quick, you know, to me, that's what intimacy is, is when you can, like, shit talk your friends. And you like to mumble out of the side of your mouth in the back of the class. But what comes, what's great

• 51:47Amy Poehler?

  about that is, along with that comes, like, you, like, deep dives into

• 51:54Speaker 02

  dumb stuff.

• 51:55Amy Poehler?

  dumb stuff. Like, getting dumb stuff and, and like, elevating it by the way you talk about it. Have you always been like that?

• 52:02Speaker 02

  Maybe.

• 52:03Amy Poehler?

  Because you were a big TV and movie fan, girl. You just were a kind of a nerd in that way when you talked about comic books. I mean,

• 52:09Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know. There's nothing nerdier than a fucking comic book.

• 52:13Amy Poehler?

  But like,

• 52:14Speaker 02

  Particularly Fat Freddy's cat. Yeah, I think that, and I think doing it on a podcast is extra good because you can edit it and make it shorter.

• 52:24Amy Poehler?

  Now that you're my, we're the same age. Are you like a year younger than me?

• 52:28Speaker 02

  I think we're the same age.

• 52:30Amy Poehler?

  Do you have, like, hobbies now that you're getting into? Like, you know how we are, like, that happens to us? Like, we're like, I want to

• 52:37Speaker 02

  start

• 52:38Amy Poehler?

  sculpt, sculpting.

• 52:39Speaker 02

  gardening.

• 52:40Amy Poehler?

  gardening stuff. Like, do you do that?

• 52:41Speaker 02

  No, I've never, I have, like, in the garage is like a bicycle and a, what did I have? I had a telescope that I got, like, a really nice telescope and never

• 52:55Amy Poehler?

  Not once.

• 52:56Speaker 02

  once used it. A bicycle that I rode once. I don't, I've been looking for, I don't, I like working and, and I like, do you have a thing?

• 53:09Amy Poehler?

  No, it's funny you say that about a telescope. That is such a, like, you know what? I'm gonna get a nice telescope.

• 53:16Speaker 02

  I'm gonna get a fucking telescope.

• 53:16Amy Poehler?

  I deserve it.

• 53:17Speaker 02

  Yeah. And, you know, look at the stars.

• 53:20Amy Poehler?

  I mean, who are we?

• 53:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:21Amy Poehler?

  On this tiny marble.

• 53:23Speaker 02

  There's a moon. It's up there every night. I've never taken a good look at it. And then I just never looked at it.

• 53:29Amy Poehler?

  Just cut to a dusty place to hang your clothes?

• 53:32Speaker 02

  I don't care about the moon that, that much.

• 53:36Amy Poehler?

  I guess what I'm asking underneath that question is, like, you've been working really hard for a long time. What's your relationship to work and to hard work? And do you?

• 53:45Speaker 02

  That's a good question. I feel like it's, it's all mixed up and somewhat dysfunctional. You know what I was thinking about, actually? And it's sort of on the same line of thinking is, is that you mentioned SNL earlier, and something that I realized recently was, when I really kind of met you and got to know you, SNL was only like, what, two years ago? A year and a half before Parks?

• 54:12Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 54:12Speaker 02

  Like, it was a fresh thing. And what an intense experience and what a giant change work-wise from that environment and that the pressure of that to the pressure of, of Parks, which was an enormous amount of pressure, but entirely different. It must have been, that must have been something that you, that took a while to kind of settle and grapple with.

• 54:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I mean, the, what I was lucky about almost was how much I had to do. I felt, like, if I had been playing, if Leslie Knope was a character that worked three days a week,

• 54:52Amy Poehler?

  I feel like I would have been struggling because, to your point, I just had to, I like made a lot of, I feel like, swings and misses in the beginning. Like, the show did, kind of did too, right? Like, I think we were all trying to figure out what the show was. And I think it just took me a while to settle down. You know, I used to make a joke when I would be in people's movies. I'd be like, you know, when you get into someone else's car and the music's too loud? That may be how I am. Like, feel free to turn me down. And I think it took a while. And honestly, Adam, so much of it was our work together, where I felt... Like grounded on the ground as a performer enough to just settle.

• 55:31Amy Poehler?

  Because so much of the beginning was sketch energy, which is different.

• 55:38Speaker 02

  Right, which is all about, right now, we've got to like make it great. I mean, I don't know, I'm just guessing that it's all about like an immediate thing that you have to put everything into.

• 55:48Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 55:49Speaker 02

  And, yeah.

• 55:50Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, and I think one of the things that was so fun about what we got to do is the camera helped us. At least it helped me have my feelings about, you know, there. I tell people like, of course you, of course, we love Ben. We got to like Ben, we watched Ben watch Leslie and we love Leslie. So like when people love Leslie, we love them. And we got to watch Ben love her because the camera was like, we got to do so much indirect stuff. Like we didn't have to face to face all the time. We had feelings, our characters had feelings for each other because of the camera.

• 56:31Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 56:31Amy Poehler?

  Though, even though, I mean, and that's such a beautiful genre, that mockumentary. Cause it allows you to just even create space and depth in the shot. People are just not in the same room.

• 56:44Speaker 02

  That's right. And like, I remember we always used to say we loved it when there were spy shots through like blinds. Because it made our acting better. Do you remember that?

• 56:52Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 56:53Speaker 02

  Do you also remember this thing we used to do where sometimes we would be doing a scene and we'd be like, okay. I can't, I'm not someone who can predict the future 100%. But I will say, it was like a couple of times a season. I will say, I can say with 100% certainty that neither of us will ever win an award for acting for this scene.

• 57:21Speaker 02

  You would say it sometimes and sometimes.

• 57:23Amy Poehler?

  You know what, let's just, I mean, and also on the other side, I would sometimes say, you know, I said this on the podcast. Like I would say like, Adam, your acting is so good. You'd be like, shut up, we're in the middle of the scene. Like, because it was like, oh my God. I mean, but, oh yeah, I mean, that's what I love about working with you. And I just feel like before we end, like I just want to feed our fans a little bit more, which is what?

• 57:50Amy Poehler?

  What do you think was the most romantic scene between Ben and Leslie?

• 57:54Speaker 02

  Oh, man. It's so sweet.

• 57:58Amy Poehler?

  I know, but what's the most romantic?

• 58:01Speaker 02

  The most romantic? I think, I think, well, there are a couple of nominees.

• 58:07Amy Poehler?

  OK.

• 58:08Speaker 02

  But I think, I think maybe Smallest Park.

• 58:11Amy Poehler?

  Ugh.

• 58:12Speaker 02

  Because I remember-

• 58:13Amy Poehler?

  We just heard a little groan. I hope it's a good groan.

• 58:17Speaker 02

  Someone just being like, "Ugh, bleh."

• 58:20Amy Poehler?

  I love Smallest Park.

• 58:21Speaker 02

  Me, too.

• 58:22Amy Poehler?

  Nicole Holof Center, the great Nicole Holof Center directed that.

• 58:25Speaker 02

  And Chelsea wrote that one?

• 58:26Amy Poehler?

  Chelsea Peretti wrote that episode.

• 58:28Speaker 02

  And I remember really, like, feeling connected, shooting that, and just being like, this is, kind of feeling like how special it was.

• 58:39Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 58:40Speaker 02

  Making the show.

• 58:41Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 58:42Speaker 02

  And that was, yeah, that was, but, I don't know, what, what do you think?

• 58:48Amy Poehler?

  Well, I have a lot. I, I mean, I feel that that was such a big one. I feel like some of the, I have such an affinity for the beginning, beginnings parts of Ben and Leslie, because I do think it also just reminded me of, like, we were, you know, the show was deciding that they were gonna love each other, too.

• 59:06Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 59:07Amy Poehler?

  And, um, I really love this tiny moment when they realize they have, they like the same spot, when they like to sit under the sunflower mural.

• 59:19Speaker 02

  Well-

• 59:20Amy Poehler?

  I love that moment.

• 59:21Speaker 02

  When I ask you if you know where that mural is, and your response is really, it's a rewoundable moment.

• 59:29Amy Poehler?

  I love that moment, between both of us, because, and of course, Parks then pays it off years later.

• 59:36Speaker 02

  Years later.

• 59:37Amy Poehler?

  By sitting underneath it.

• 59:39Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 59:40Amy Poehler?

  Um, I also, you know, when we shot Ben and Leslie's wedding, it was so fun. It was like, we were all just sitting there all day goofing around, um, and it was so fun, and like-

• 59:51Speaker 02

  I think we had real champagne, too, maybe.

• 59:53Amy Poehler?

  We probably did.

• 59:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 59:55Amy Poehler?

  We probably did. And then that probably became a problem later in the day.

• 59:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, probably. Champagne, not something to have when you're, when you have, like, a 10-hour workday ahead of you.

• 1:00:06Amy Poehler?

  Speaking of champagne, maybe our fans would like to know that on our last day of shooting, or one of our last days, like, speaking of, like- Romantic goodbyes. We all climbed up on the top of the hair and makeup trailer. And like did a big toast up there because we shot at a studio called CBS Radford. And it was very like we wrote our names on the wall. We were sharing a studio. We had, who had been there before Malcolm in the middle?

• 1:00:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:00:38Amy Poehler?

  And maybe Sein? No.

• 1:00:40Speaker 02

  Seinfeld was on the lot, but not that particular stage. Naomi and I have our office at Radford.

• 1:00:45Amy Poehler?

  You do?

• 1:00:46Speaker 02

  Yeah. And I walk over there all the time.

• 1:00:50Amy Poehler?

  That had been my first time shoot, really shooting anything on a stu-, I had never had like a studio experience before. And I was so lucky to do it there. But yeah, we like got up on the trailer. I mean, there were just so many proper goodbyes for that show. We really, and Mike and the writers really landed that plane.

• 1:01:07Speaker 02

  Yeah. And that's, that's rare.

• 1:01:10Amy Poehler?

  I know.

• 1:01:10Speaker 02

  Like that is so rare. Are you asked all the time if there'll be a more Parks or a reboot or something? I always feel like it's, it's been, it's done, like it was perfectly done. Like how do you do that?

• 1:01:24Amy Poehler?

  Maybe they should do like Muppet Babies. They should do like Parks and Rec babies.

• 1:01:27Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:01:27Amy Poehler?

  Like everyone has babies.

• 1:01:29Speaker 02

  Like that Instagram thing where everyone's.

• 1:01:32Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah. The AI babies. They should do AI babies.

• 1:01:36Speaker 02

  But like a whole series.

• 1:01:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:37Speaker 02

  Of all of us just in a crib together.

• 1:01:39Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. But they should do it like present day where like the politics are really dark.

• 1:01:44Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 1:01:44Amy Poehler?

  And mean. And so it should be like tiny babies fighting each other.

• 1:01:48Speaker 02

  They hate each other. It's like apocalyptic political babies.

• 1:01:53Amy Poehler?

  And they're all like, oh no.

• 1:01:57Speaker 02

  I hate you so much.

• 1:01:59Amy Poehler?

  I mean.

• 1:02:00Speaker 02

  Yay, I hate you. Cause we made the show in an era where public service was encouraged and valued.

• 1:02:08Amy Poehler?

  Right.

• 1:02:08Speaker 02

  And funded.

• 1:02:10Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 1:02:10Speaker 02

  It was, or I mean, you know, I'm sure there wasn't as funded as much as it should have been, but it was funded at least. It's an entirely different tone to American life.

• 1:02:22Amy Poehler?

  I know. It's, and, and you know, the, the. Many fun town halls that we used to have to do.

• 1:02:29Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:30Amy Poehler?

  Were so fun to sit together and do those and just have people like just come up and score and be so funny.

• 1:02:35Speaker 02

  The funniest people coming and doing stuff on the show.

• 1:02:38Amy Poehler?

  We had the best, best rotating cast of geniuses come through there. In fact, a lot of people should know that at the end of the year, we made a, um, the show made like a yearbook.

• 1:02:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:02:49Amy Poehler?

  Um, and it was a list of every single person that's been in the show. And by the way, R I P, um, Jonathan Joss, Ken Hotate.

• 1:02:58Speaker 02

  What a sweetheart.

• 1:02:59Amy Poehler?

  Sweet man and

• 1:03:00Speaker 02

  Funny.

• 1:03:01Amy Poehler?

  Very funny and so sad for him and his family and his husband.

• 1:03:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:03:04Amy Poehler?

  Um, you know, when you have that feeling sometimes like you wish you could go back to high school and enjoy it.

• 1:03:09Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:03:09Amy Poehler?

  That's how it felt. Like we actually got to do it in real time.

• 1:03:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, because it was genuinely goofy and funny.

• 1:03:16Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:17Speaker 02

  Like the best jokes.

• 1:03:19Amy Poehler?

  What is your, what is one of your favorite jo, what is one of the favorite funny scenes you got to do? So many.

• 1:03:25Speaker 02

  So many. I mean, I always think of you guys on the, on, on the ice at the ice skating rink with Gloria Estefan.

• 1:03:32Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:33Speaker 02

  I mean, that is, I remember at the table read, that was, we couldn't stop laughing because it was so funny.

• 1:03:39Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Mike Scully wrote that episode and

• 1:03:41Speaker 02

  Oh, Mike Scully's the best.

• 1:03:43Amy Poehler?

  We got to, uh, walk across that ice and I remember just thinking, this is so fun. What a fun job.

• 1:03:51Speaker 02

  That wasn't even in that scene.

• 1:03:53Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's right. Sorry. We should probably just Photoshop.

• 1:03:57Speaker 02

  We should put me in that scene. That's why I brought it up.

• 1:03:59Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:00Speaker 02

  I feel like it would, I own, I deserve it.

• 1:04:02Amy Poehler?

  You know, my kids watched the, the show during the pandemic, like everyone else did. And, um, I rewatched a lot of stuff and it was so fun because I remembered the feeling of how everything was to shoot it.

• 1:04:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:14Amy Poehler?

  But I didn't remember what was going to happen.

• 1:04:16Speaker 02

  It is weird to watch yourself doing something and have no recollection of it happening in, in your life. It's so strange.

• 1:04:24Amy Poehler?

  I, um, what are you, I ask this to everybody, like, what are you laughing at right now? I mean, first of all, you, you know, do you? You're very serious now.

• 1:04:34Speaker 02

  That's right. I don't. Thank you for acknowledging that. I don't laugh anymore.

• 1:04:39Amy Poehler?

  I mean, you're all you're doing is running and typing.

• 1:04:43Speaker 02

  And if you'll, I don't know if you noticed, but while I'm running, I'm not laughing.

• 1:04:48Amy Poehler?

  Not at all. I didn't see you crack a smile once.

• 1:04:51Speaker 02

  Because it's hard to laugh while you're running because it's it's not funny.

• 1:04:55Amy Poehler?

  You're running for your life.

• 1:04:56Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:04:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:57Speaker 02

  I gotta get there like as fast as possible.

• 1:05:00Amy Poehler?

  And again, I'd love to ask you where, where are you going?

• 1:05:02Speaker 02

  Where am I going?

• 1:05:03Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:05:03Speaker 02

  I'm going down the hall.

• 1:05:06Speaker 02

  Got to got to run down the hall.

• 1:05:10Speaker 02

  What am I laughing at?

• 1:05:11Amy Poehler?

  Watching anything? Are you like?

• 1:05:13Speaker 02

  Anything like super funny?

• 1:05:14Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. What are you like? What are you Naomi liking right now? Or did you see something recently or?

• 1:05:21Speaker 02

  You know what I've been watching recently is I've been rewatching all Sex and the City.

• 1:05:27Amy Poehler?

  The original?

• 1:05:27Speaker 02

  Yeah. It's so fucking good.

• 1:05:32Amy Poehler?

  So good.

• 1:05:32Speaker 02

  It is so good.

• 1:05:34Amy Poehler?

  Such a love letter to that time period.

• 1:05:36Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 1:05:37Amy Poehler?

  Were you ever on it? Because every actor I know is on it.

• 1:05:40Speaker 02

  Justin Theroux, Bobby Cannavale, Will.

• 1:05:44Amy Poehler?

  Yep.

• 1:05:45Speaker 02

  Everybody.

• 1:05:46Amy Poehler?

  Yep. Slattery.

• 1:05:48Speaker 02

  Slattery, Elizabeth Banks.

• 1:05:49Amy Poehler?

  Yes. It's a real who's who.

• 1:05:51Speaker 02

  Yeah. Everybody in New York. But it is so good. And to something I like doing is watching it and just kind of thinking about all of this happening for the first time, like women sitting at a table together, talking about what whatever, talking about themselves and talking about like how weird someone's cum smells. It's just like, holy shit, this is incredible. Like that has never been on TV before, let alone said out loud for people. And just how Samantha is just.

• 1:06:30Speaker 02

  The most sex positive, like incredib- like not a moment of embarrassment.

• 1:06:36Amy Poehler?

  Never.

• 1:06:37Speaker 02

  Like so fucking cool.

• 1:06:39Amy Poehler?

  So good.

• 1:06:40Speaker 02

  And Sarah Jessica Parker is so great at being the center of a show, servicing everybody else, but also keeping that motor going in the middle. It's so good.

• 1:06:53Amy Poehler?

  There's a couple of shows that make me, when I'm in Los Angeles, really miss New York. Sex, Old Sex and the City and Law and Order.

• 1:06:59Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, sure. Yeah.

• 1:07:01Amy Poehler?

  Were you on Law and Order?

• 1:07:02Speaker 02

  I was on Law and Order once. You weren't on Law and Order?

• 1:07:05Amy Poehler?

  No, that was my dream.

• 1:07:06Speaker 02

  Really?

• 1:07:07Amy Poehler?

  Never. I mean, I didn't, see, I wasn't auditioning in that way. I didn't think I was like a good enough actor. But I wanted to be on Law and Order so bad.

• 1:07:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:07:17Amy Poehler?

  What was your character? Why do I not know that you were on Law and Order? I should know this.

• 1:07:21Speaker 02

  Timothy Dinkins. I don't know what the name was.

• 1:07:24Amy Poehler?

  Wait, we can look it up.

• 1:07:25Speaker 02

  Uh, I was working at the grocery store arranging fruits or vegetables when they came up and first started talking to me. And I remember my agent at the time calling me right after it aired and being like, "You don't know how to handle those vegetables." Like, you weren't doing anything with-

• 1:07:46Amy Poehler?

  Who were the peeps? Was it the Orbach years?

• 1:07:48Speaker 02

  It was, uh, no, it was Dennis Farina.

• 1:07:51Amy Poehler?

  Dennis Farina.

• 1:07:52Speaker 02

  Who was so cool.

• 1:07:53Amy Poehler?

  Ah.

• 1:07:53Speaker 02

  And, uh, Jesse L. Martin. Fantastic.

• 1:07:57Amy Poehler?

  Did you meet Esapatha, who I, Esapatha? If you, if you're listening, I need to get you on the show.

• 1:08:02Speaker 02

  She's great.

• 1:08:03Amy Poehler?

  She's incredible.

• 1:08:04Speaker 02

  Sam Waterston.

• 1:08:05Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 1:08:06Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:08:07Amy Poehler?

  So you went to the court?

• 1:08:08Speaker 02

  I went to court.

• 1:08:09Amy Poehler?

  You got to the law, the law part?

• 1:08:10Speaker 02

  Pablo Schreiber and I were in court together. And he ended up being guilty and I was the red herring, I think.

• 1:08:18Amy Poehler?

  What were you accused of doing?

• 1:08:20Speaker 02

  Probably killing someone. I don't totally remember.

• 1:08:24Amy Poehler?

  Um, well, we're gonna watch it.

• 1:08:25Speaker 02

  You have, are you finding my character's name? And if it's Timothy whatever I said, that would be amazing.

• 1:08:32Amy Poehler?

  Okay, Timothy Dinkins.

• 1:08:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, Timothy Dinkins.

• 1:08:35Amy Poehler?

  Was Adam Scott on Law, Law and Order? Okay. The trail leads to a pair of perpetrators. Another mercenary, played by Pablo Schreiber, and the brother of one of Schreiber's fellow mercenaries, who was killed in a roadside ambush by presumably Al Qaeda?

• 1:08:55Speaker 02

  God, I don't know.

• 1:08:55Amy Poehler?

  The brother, you forgot the Al Qaeda part?

• 1:08:58Speaker 02

  I did.

• 1:08:58Amy Poehler?

  The brother is Adam Scott and he is the only true innocent.

• 1:09:02Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:09:03Amy Poehler?

  The whole show.

• 1:09:04Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 1:09:05Amy Poehler?

  Wow. That's, I wanted to play a, I wanted to play the opposite, see, because

• 1:09:12Speaker 02

  You wanted to be a murderer?

• 1:09:13Amy Poehler?

  I wanted to be like the one that you would not suspect and then it's like, I burned the whole place down. I wanted to be a pyro, because I felt like of all the things-

• 1:09:22Speaker 02

  You wanted to specifically be a pyromaniac?

• 1:09:24Amy Poehler?

  I wish I wanted to be like a baby-faced pirate.

• 1:09:26Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah.

• 1:09:27Amy Poehler?

  Someone who just is like, you know, she seems like she's helping the police and then she's like, they deserved it.

• 1:09:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:09:33Amy Poehler?

  You know, whatever, kind of weird psycho thing. Okay, so Sex in the City is what you're watching and laughing at?

• 1:09:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm, I, it's great. And you know, when you're, I saw something recently that said that repeated, if you have the urge to watch something you've seen before and repeat viewings is a sign of a particular kind of intelligence?

• 1:09:54Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 1:09:54Speaker 02

  Yeah. No, this is real.

• 1:09:56Amy Poehler?

  It's a sign of intelligence?

• 1:09:58Speaker 02

  Intelligence, I saw this on

• 1:09:59Amy Poehler?

  I see.

• 1:10:01Speaker 02

  On Instagram.

• 1:10:02Amy Poehler?

  Where'd you see this on?

• 1:10:03Speaker 02

  On Instagram.

• 1:10:04Amy Poehler?

  Okay, yeah.

• 1:10:04Speaker 02

  It just, and it was a picture of someone watching TV and it just said that. There was no, nothing to back it up. And I was like, oh, great, well, watch more Sex in the City.

• 1:10:17Amy Poehler?

  You saw it on Dr. Instagram?

• 1:10:18Speaker 02

  My daughter and I just flew together from New York, like, night before last, and we got on the plane and I got in my seat and she was across the row from me and I got in and like, started watching Sex in the City that I had downloaded, because I, and she was like, Dad, are you watching more Sex in the City? Yeah.

• 1:10:42Amy Poehler?

  I love you, Adam.

• 1:10:42Speaker 02

  I love you, Amy.

• 1:10:43Amy Poehler?

  Thank you for doing this.

• 1:10:44Speaker 02

  Thank you for having me.

• 1:10:45Amy Poehler?

  Are you kidding?

• 1:10:46Speaker 02

  This is so fun.

• 1:10:46Amy Poehler?

  We were really excited to do this one today.

• 1:10:47Speaker 02

  Oh, that's very nice.

• 1:10:48Amy Poehler?

  Love having you.

• 1:10:49Speaker 02

  I love being here. Thank you.

• 1:10:51Amy Poehler?

  Come back when we do our big, we'll do a big park show.

• 1:10:53Speaker 02

  Or we can do Philly Justice again.

• 1:10:59Amy Poehler?

  Today's Polar Plunge is brought to you by Wayfair, here to help you make your home a happy place. Well, that was an amazing episode with Adam. We got so deep. I love talking to him and he's just the best. And he mentioned Six Feet Under, a show that he got close to booking. And that did remind me of the Parks finale. You know, for people that watched the end of Parks and Recreation, Mike Schur and I were talking about the idea that in comedies, you don't always get to see the future. You don't always get to see what happens to these characters that you've grown to love. And so we were so blown away by the Six Feet Under finale. And I think we were heavily influenced by the idea of that

• 1:11:42Amy Poehler?

  when we wrote the finale of Parks and Recreation. So watch Six Feet Under. And honestly, it's so good. I mean, and better because Adam didn't get cast in it. You know what I mean? Michael Hall is incredible. So, you know, Adam's loss is our win. And, um, and check that show out. And, um, you know, as always, thank you for caring so deeply about Parks and Rec because I do too. Wayfair makes it easier to turn your home into your happy place. Express your style and create a space you love with everything from cozy sofas to stylish decor and smart essentials with free shipping and easy setup. Head over to wayfair.com and find something that's just your style today.

• 1:12:24Amy Poehler?

  That's W A Y F A I R dot com. Wayfair, every style, every home. Thanks for Good Hang and we'll see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaia McMullin, and Aleia Zaneras. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

• 1:13:00Amy Poehler?

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• 1:13:42Amy Poehler?

  Or get the premium Visible Plus Pro Plan and save $10 on your first month with promo code HANG. Terms apply. See visible.com for plan features and network management details. This episode is brought to you by Caesar. Dog parents, what do you have on the menu tonight? If you're looking to serve your favorite four-legged friend high-quality wet dog food they'll be genuinely excited about, we say, just eat Caesar. Whether it's a protein-rich beef recipe on Monday or a savory chicken and vegetable dinner on Wednesday, Caesar offers a variety of delicious meals made with freshly crafted, slow-cooked ingredients, all designed to support your dog's everyday nutrition without compromise.

• 1:14:24Amy Poehler?

  That's real variety, real ingredients, and real excitement at mealtime. So if you're looking to serve a meal your dog actually looks forward to every single day, they should totally just eat Caesar. Learn more at caesar.com. Your dog will thank you.