Chris Pratt

Chris Pratt, franchise king, improv master and now centerstage on Happy Sad Confused. Chris joins Josh to chat about almost going by Christo in his career, the audition that changed everything, his Marvel future, and his latest film, MERCY. 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! 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

  Visible puts the ultimate wireless hack in the palm of your hand. With unlimited 5G wireless data and hotspot designed to keep you connected. Powered by Verizon's 5G network. And no contract holding you back. Plans start at $25 a month. Or get the premium Visible Plus Pro Plan and save $10 on your first month when you use promo code HACK. Make the switch at visible.com. Terms apply. See visible.com for details.

• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 0:59Speaker 02

  I sent a picture of myself with a Batman mask on. That's a little aggressive, Chris. To James. And... Anything else? Or were you just wearing the mask? It was just... It was actually, I did it in Photoshop.

• 1:13Speaker 02

  And he just said, "Ha ha." Did you really?

• 1:18Speaker 02

  So, it's safe to say, I'm not gonna be Batman.

• 1:22Speaker 03

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

• 1:30Josh Horowitz?

  Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Today on the show, it's our favorite Chris. Well, for the sake of today's podcast at least, Chris Pratt is on the show talking all things mercy, Guardians of the Galaxy, and so much more. Thanks, guys, as always, for tuning into the podcast. Whether you're enjoying this on Spotify or listening, I appreciate you, guys. This is a great chat with a gem of a person. Chris Pratt is the real deal, on and off camera. No one has been kinder to me, to this podcast, to all my silly shenanigans over the years, than Chris Pratt. Our time has coincided with my time at MTV covering the ginormous franchises he's been a part of, and I'm just thrilled that he's a part of my life, I'm a part of his, and

• 2:15Josh Horowitz?

  he was kind enough to come on the podcast for the first time, in a sense, he's been on, I think, in a shorter form, but this was the first deep dive, long-form conversation we've had on the podcast, even though we've recorded thousands, not thousands, dozens, probably a couple dozen chats in different forms over the years. If you want to really enjoy what Chris does best, in many respects, at least for my money, which is comedy, check out some of the sketches we've done over the years. I'm not tooting my own horn, I'm just saying Chris is so good at this that it's worth checking out. Go down the YouTube rabbit hole, check out Josh Horowitz's Chris Pratt, you'll find Smellbox, which was our ill-fated pilot episode of a game show that never was, kind of stymied

• 2:59Josh Horowitz?

  by COVID. We did a sketch for Super Mario Brothers in which he played a plumber, amazing, a bit he did with Jennifer Lawrence in which we took down Santa Claus, and much more. He's always game, he's always down, and I just, I couldn't love the guy more. Anyway, his new film is Mercy, it is a high-concept sci-fi thriller action movie that is directed by the same director that actually directed Chris way back when in Wanted, so it's very much a full-circle moment for Chris, and it stars Mr. Pratt as a homicide detective who is accused of murdering his wife, and in the near future, he is put on trial, real

• 3:42Josh Horowitz?

  times, about 90 minutes, 90, 100 minutes, by an AI judge, very much of the moment, played by none other than Rebecca Ferguson. Need I say more? Check it out, it's in theaters this Friday, big fun entertainment for your eyes and ears. As always, a reminder, if you like what I do, check out patreon.com/happy-sad-confused, early access, discount codes, discounts to our live events, merch, all sorts of fun stuff, patreon.com/happy-sad-confused. Okay, without any further ado, Here's my catch up with, I feel like we've been doing like all the Parks and Rec cast lately. We had Aziz on recently, Adam Scott, we gotta get Poller on the podcast next, right?

• 4:26Josh Horowitz?

  Offerman's done it, we're just going through the list. Aubrey's done it, yeah, we're gonna get there. We're gonna go through the entire list of Parks and Rec. But for now, enjoy my conversation with the one and only Mr. Chris Pratt.

• 4:39Speaker 02

  Oh, boy. Oh, boy. You ready for this?

• 4:44Speaker 02

  I was born ready.

• 4:45Josh Horowitz?

  Christopher Michael Pratt, or as I like to call you, Cristo.

• 4:48Speaker 02

  Yeah. Oh, yeah, let's go, throwback.

• 4:51Josh Horowitz?

  For those that don't know, this man almost was Cristo way back when.

• 4:55Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 4:56Josh Horowitz?

  There was a hot minute. You almost rebranded before the career got going.

• 5:01Speaker 02

  Just branded, not even rebranded, just branded. I was gonna be Cristo. I had a name tag that said Christopher, but.

• 5:09Josh Horowitz?

  This is Bubba Gum.

• 5:10Speaker 02

  At Bubba Gum Shrimp Company, but the P H E R part got rubbed off, so it said Cristo. And everyone called me Cristo for a long time while I was working at Bubba Gum. High turnover rate, the new employees thought my name was Cristo. And as I navigated being discovered and brought to Los Angeles to follow my dreams, part of me thought, in earnest, maybe I go as just Cristo.

• 5:34Josh Horowitz?

  That's the part of you I like that thought that.

• 5:38Josh Horowitz?

  Never too late. We're trying to bring it back.

• 5:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 5:40Josh Horowitz?

  It's good to see you, buddy. Thank you for taking the time as always. You know what's weird? In all our times, you've never done really the full podcast.

• 5:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, no.

• 5:49Josh Horowitz?

  Like, we've done.

• 5:50Speaker 02

  You've done everything, we've done so many bits.

• 5:52Josh Horowitz?

  You've murdered Santa Claus with Jennifer Lawrence.

• 5:55Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 5:55Josh Horowitz?

  You've done plumbing for me.

• 5:56Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 5:57Josh Horowitz?

  You were in the smell box.

• 5:58Speaker 02

  The smell box, I was in the, yep, I was in the smell box.

• 6:01Josh Horowitz?

  Smell Box, by the way, I think caused COVID. It was the last shoot, I think, right before COVID.

• 6:05Speaker 02

  Is that true?

• 6:05Josh Horowitz?

  So I think we did it, sorry.

• 6:08Speaker 02

  Dang. Erase that, we can't, there's no proof.

• 6:12Josh Horowitz?

  No, there's no proof.

• 6:13Speaker 02

  Wow, that's the last thing before COVID was smell box?

• 6:15Josh Horowitz?

  At least it was my last.

• 6:16Speaker 02

  There's a high likelihood that you did that.

• 6:18Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 6:19Speaker 02

  Not we, you.

• 6:21Josh Horowitz?

  It was, you know what? I really think there's an alternate timeline where you're Cristo and Smell Box is the most popular show on the planet.

• 6:26Speaker 02

  That's true. It's, I think it's possible, I think it's possible. And I'm gonna say, Smell Box was so good that if it did cause COVID, worth it.

• 6:34Josh Horowitz?

  No.

• 6:35Speaker 02

  Yeah. Yeah, smell box.

• 6:38Josh Horowitz?

  I'm your new publicist, I'm jumping in. Wrong, he didn't mean that. Congratulations on the new film, we're spreading the good word of mercy.

• 6:44Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 6:44Josh Horowitz?

  High concept, this is kind of like, this reminds you, this, back in the day, this is like, this is Bruce Willis, this is Sly Stallone, this is Arnold.

• 6:51Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 6:51Josh Horowitz?

  Now it's Cristo.

• 6:52Speaker 02

  Now it's Cristo, it does, you're right, it does have that throwback when blockbusters were based on something that wasn't IP.

• 7:01Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 7:01Speaker 02

  And they were 90 minutes long, it kept you on the edge of your seat, it wrapped up in the end, it's like, in a way, it's a throwback, it's not, I think a lot of movies now are moving into like the four hour long territory because they have-

• 7:13Josh Horowitz?

  More is more.

• 7:13Speaker 02

  More is more.

• 7:14Josh Horowitz?

  Six different endings.

• 7:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, all the-

• 7:15Josh Horowitz?

  One good ending is enough sometimes.

• 7:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, or, or no ending.

• 7:18Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 7:18Speaker 02

  Just like, "See you soon for the next four hour installment of this movie."

• 7:22Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 7:22Speaker 02

  So, yeah, so this is a, this is, we wrap it up, it's good, I think it's super original. It's definitely, this is, is a good thriller, it's a genre I hadn't done before. And it is back in, yeah, it does remind me of like, this sort of suspense of like a movie like Speed or something like that.

• 7:39Josh Horowitz?

  Totally. Um, how's the press tour treating it? You're at the end right now, you, by the nature of this, like, you had Rebecca Ferguson, the great Rebecca Ferguson, for a little bit, but-

• 7:48Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 7:48Josh Horowitz?

  This is a lot, this is on your shoulders, you had to, you didn't have like Jack Black by your side.

• 7:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know. No, but that's not true, like Kaylee Reese has been a part of it, Chris Sullivan, and, and Kylie, who plays my daughter, and, also Chuck Rovin, who's our producer and our director Timor, we've all been kind of bouncing around. Rebecca was with us out in London for a bit, but she's working on Silo, so she couldn't get out.

• 8:12Josh Horowitz?

  She's amazing, I'm obsessed with her.

• 8:13Speaker 02

  She, I am too, she's fantastic.

• 8:15Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 8:16Speaker 02

  Have you done stuff with her?

• 8:17Josh Horowitz?

  Done stuff with the Mission films.

• 8:18Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 8:18Josh Horowitz?

  And just like, as an actor, so let's set that aside, she's amazing, but as a human being, like, so cool, so like the coolest person on the planet.

• 8:24Speaker 02

  She really is, she's fantastic, I loved working with her.

• 8:27Josh Horowitz?

  So are you, at this point, like, are you generally an instinctual actor where like the script comes around and you kind of know immediately? Or do you kind of labor over it? Like, when this one comes around, is it a pretty easy yes, or is it kind of like, I need to really stew on this?

• 8:40Speaker 02

  No, uh-

• 8:43Speaker 02

  This one was a pretty easy yes. I thought the script was great.

• 8:48Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 8:48Speaker 02

  And I get distracted reading scripts and it to pick up a script and not be able to put it down is pretty rare and that's that was the case with this. Also, it's shot in LA, which so few things do anymore. So it was like, wow, this could be, so we could shoot this close to home.

• 9:05Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 9:06Speaker 02

  It fit into my schedule and you know, I'm trying more and more to prioritize my wife and kids as much as I can and stuff and so that was one of the reasons I wanted to do it. Also, it was a surprise, maybe for people who might have seen me, seen things that I've done in my career, like lighthearted, kind of goofy, funny things. This is, this is not that. This is like, you know, a thriller and so it's dark and emotional and challenging and I worked with Tim Moore years ago, so I wanted to work with him again. So yeah, all these things lined up and I was like, that's definitely a movie we should make.

• 9:38Josh Horowitz?

  In what ways was it a heavy lift that you anticipated or didn't anticipate? Because by the nature of the conceit of the film, you're seated for a lot of it.

• 9:47Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 9:48Josh Horowitz?

  Which is great in some ways and in other ways like robs you of a lot of physicality.

• 9:52Speaker 02

  Right, yeah.

• 9:53Josh Horowitz?

  As an actor.

• 9:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's, it was, it was unlike anything I'd ever shot before and unlike movies that are shot. It's like phone booth in that way, you know, like it's just one isolated location the entire time.

• 10:04Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 10:05Speaker 02

  And although I am confronted with a litany of visual images that you will also be confronted with, should you see this in 3D, you know, I'm on trial, I'm trying to interface with the world around me that's kind of blowing up, this near to distant, you know, dystopian Los Angeles, communicating with my partner, there's all this action happening, but I'm not responsible for the action, I'm responsible for the emotional arc of this character who's on trial.

• 10:28Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 10:28Speaker 02

  And so yeah, the limitations of that were challenging. The fact that we shot really long takes.

• 10:34Josh Horowitz?

  Right, so you shoot this essentially kind of almost like a play, like 60 minute, that's very rare.

• 10:39Speaker 02

  It is rare. Yeah, it doesn't, because you can't really do that unless, you know, you don't, often there aren't a lot of movies that just take place in one location.

• 10:46Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 10:47Speaker 02

  So you got to set up one location, you shoot a two minute scene, then you go into another location the next day, you shoot a three minute scene and you're building these puzzle pieces and you can watch a movie, it's very action packed, but...

• 10:58Speaker 02

  You know, filming, action movies is not action-packed. You know, you take an entire day to shoot something that's four seconds in the film, you know? So it's kind of boring. So what was nice about this was it was really active. We told the entire story almost every day.

• 11:11Josh Horowitz?

  It must give you a sense of like real satisfaction because like you said, the nature of a lot of the work you've done is you can spend an entire day or a week and you're shooting 20 seconds of a film. And here, you're spending a day and you've like done half, if not two-thirds of the film in a day and you've gone through that emotional arc. So you kind of must be like spent as an actor in the best possible way.

• 11:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, it was really rewarding. It was super technical and it was all on me. So like it felt really challenging and it was just awesome the way I kind of set myself up for success in this with like being able to communicate with the actors via an earwig. And then I had my associate in another earwig on a private channel to me. Kind of playing music and reading all of this subtext that I had written for myself. So it was like very much an internal audio experience for me. And so that was really helpful. We'll be right back with more Happy Say Confused.

• 12:13Speaker 00

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• 12:44Speaker 05

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• 13:17Josh Horowitz?

  It's also fascinating you mentioned Timor, so this is like a real full circle moment. For those who don't know, Wanted was a very important early film for you.

• 13:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:25Josh Horowitz?

  You're kind of like classic asshole best friend.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 13:29Josh Horowitz?

  In that. Timor directed that. That was kind of like his big Hollywood movie at the time. And, I mean, what did that movie mean to you at the time? You had done Everwood, I guess.

• 13:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'd done Everwood. I had moved back from, I'd shot Everwood in Utah.

• 13:44Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  I was in my early twenties. I'd moved back from Utah to California and I was gonna see what was next. And so, yeah, I got this job and it, you know, it shot in Prague.

• 13:56Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 13:56Speaker 02

  And so I got to go there. That was exciting. It was with Angelina Jolie, so I was like totally starstruck, completely green. I remember there was, the camera operator had done Children of Men.

• 14:07Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, wow.

• 14:07Speaker 02

  And you remember all the beautiful camera work and the oneers? So he was like this really touted Steadicam operator. And there was a scene where my, it's like later in the movie where my character gets punched and knocked out and I like lay on the floor for most of the scene. Now, this was before I, I was still so green, I didn't quite understand what was ever being filmed. I was just, I just was new. I was there doing my bit and I didn't know what the camera was picking up or not picking up. And so I get punched. I'm in the top of the scene. I fall down. I'm never seen again in the scene. But I didn't know that. So I laid on the ground the whole time. And the camera operator was walking backwards doing his sort of like physical gymnastics he needs to do to these incredible shots,

• 14:50Speaker 02

  like the Children of Men oneers. And he full on just stepped on my head.

• 14:56Josh Horowitz?

  And you haven't been the same since, have you?

• 14:58Speaker 02

  No, yeah. And then he yelled at me. I was like, I couldn't believe it. He's like, "What the fuck are you doing?"

• 15:06Josh Horowitz?

  With your big head in front of Angelina Jolie.

• 15:10Speaker 02

  I was so embarrassed, bro.

• 15:11Josh Horowitz?

  Ms. Jolie, I usually move my head, but I didn't know.

• 15:13Speaker 02

  I was like, "I don't know. I'm just doing what I've been fucking rehearsed thirty times."

• 15:19Josh Horowitz?

  "I'm good, I'm good."

• 15:20Speaker 02

  And Angelina Jolie was like, "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

• 15:22Josh Horowitz?

  "I'm okay. I'm okay. I think I'm okay. I'm kind of embarrassed."

• 15:27Speaker 02

  So.

• 15:28Josh Horowitz?

  Was that the period of time that that was the kind of role that you were going up for a lot? You've talked a little bit about kind of like early on in your career, like you were going up for kind of like douchebag number three.

• 15:37Speaker 02

  That's right.

• 15:37Josh Horowitz?

  And that's kind of what that character was.

• 15:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that's that's just was the way I looked back then. And truly, like, I came into Hollywood and I was in relatively good shape.

• 15:48Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 15:48Speaker 02

  And I was like, you know, young and not to speak about myself like an object where I was like a young handsome guy. And I was like, only ever auditioning to play the jerk. And so that was one of those roles.

• 16:00Josh Horowitz?

  So you weren't like up for the McAvoy role or anything? That wasn't even like remotely in your world yet?

• 16:05Speaker 02

  No, not not even remotely. It was it was like the side characters and the side characters that looked like me were always the jerk.

• 16:10Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 16:10Speaker 02

  And like the crispy haired dude guy who drives the Escalade. He's like, get in the car Rebecca, you bitch.

• 16:16Josh Horowitz?

  Actual line from six of your movies?

• 16:20Josh Horowitz?

  It's your signature line?

• 16:21Speaker 02

  My signature line, yeah.

• 16:23Josh Horowitz?

  So, I look, we talked a little bit about this and we'll recycle a little bit just for the context of like the arc of the career. Because you you've had these kind of pivot moments and certainly Wanted's a pivot moment, Everwood's a pivot moment. But like the big pivot moment right after that is Parks and Rec, which arguably, right? I mean, that that reinvents you as a comic actor.

• 16:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was that was, yeah, that's right.

• 16:44Josh Horowitz?

  Well, the thing that strikes me when I think about that is like, when you look at the people you're working with there, like, they're all comedy like ninjas. It's like it's Puller, it's Offerman, like Adam Scott even in Step Brothers, he had some experience in that realm.

• 16:58Speaker 02

  Aziz, yeah.

• 16:59Josh Horowitz?

  All of them, obviously Aubrey.

• 17:01Speaker 02

  Aubrey, yeah.

• 17:03Josh Horowitz?

  Did you have much comedic experience prior to that?

• 17:05Speaker 02

  I mean, yes. I when I was on Everwood, I was kind of the comic relief. And I was playing sort of a version of myself that wasn't dissimilar from Andy.

• 17:14Josh Horowitz?

  Got it.

• 17:15Speaker 02

  And it was the result of the same thing, which was.

• 17:19Speaker 02

  Television as a medium is something where characters can be tailored to fit your strengths.

• 17:23Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 17:24Speaker 02

  Because you're telling it episodic, you know, when I did Everwood, it was 22 episodes a year. I was written originally as the jerk and then eventually they found certain aspects of that character that didn't, weren't as fun to watch as me being a guy with a kind heart.

• 17:37Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 17:37Speaker 02

  Who knew how to say funny things.

• 17:38Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 17:39Speaker 02

  And so that, that character became a kind-hearted, lovable doofus. And that, that sort of clown in me, that was, that's sort of my comedic brand growing up. I would, I would, that was just how I made people laugh.

• 17:52Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 17:53Speaker 02

  And so I would rely on my strengths there. So I did some comedy in Everwood. It was primarily a drama, but I did some comedy there.

• 17:58Josh Horowitz?

  Does Everwood still like recur in your life at all? I mean, with all the successes you've had since, does like every once in a while, someone want to talk to you about Everwood?

• 18:05Speaker 02

  Um, yeah, periodically, it's usually people who want to let me know how long they've been my fan.

• 18:12Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 18:12Speaker 02

  Like if I see someone on the street and they're like, hey, man, they're like, no, not Quill, Everwood. I'm like, dude, let's go. Two and a half, almost three decades of, of, so that's oftentimes how. And I'm still, I actually have been in touch recently with Greg Smith. I saw him at church, actually, and I was like, dude, Greg, oh my God. So catching up with him is really sweet. And we lost a couple of our actors, John Beasley and Treat Williams, both, both passed away a couple of years ago. And so, um, yeah, it comes up periodically.

• 18:42Josh Horowitz?

  It's, it's nice though, like, you know, the, like, again, one of the benefits of sticking around is like relationships and returning to them and working with them or just having them in your life in different ways and like, and having that shared history.

• 18:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:54Josh Horowitz?

  It's really like, I don't know, there's no substitute for that.

• 18:56Speaker 02

  Yeah, you're right. And to me, it's, it's.

• 18:59Josh Horowitz?

  Reminds you who you were at a different time.

• 19:00Speaker 02

  One of the sweet and amazing blessings about this career that oftentimes don't get talked about when you're either promoting a movie or people are talking about you as like an actor. And that's kind of one of the private. joys of of this job is is the relationship that you develop when you're making these movies. Because you're really thrown into a crucible of of intimacy that might not it's kind of manufactured. You know, it's 10 people you got you better become really close. You're gonna cry in front of each other. You might have scenes with each other where you're pouring out your heart or you're living through these shared experiences. And and then they yell, ah, cut and they wrap the movie and you walk away and you might never see those people again.

• 19:36Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 19:37Speaker 02

  But then when you do see them, it's like you plug right back into where you left off, you know?

• 19:41Josh Horowitz?

  Well, also like the one especially the TV shows ever with the Parks and Recs where you're like years and years. And it's like marriages, divorce, kids, the whole like real life. Like you've gone through all of that with those people.

• 19:50Speaker 02

  That's right. Yeah, that's right.

• 19:51Josh Horowitz?

  So speaking of Parks and Rec, I actually had a bunch of folks on the podcast reminiscing about Parks and Rec recently. Adam Scott told me he can't even watch old clips because it makes him too sad.

• 20:01Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 20:02Josh Horowitz?

  Do you ever find yourself like on the YouTube? I mean, everybody like not in Parks and Rec goes down the Parks and Rec like bloopers.

• 20:09Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:10Josh Horowitz?

  Best clips, rabbit hole.

• 20:11Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 20:11Josh Horowitz?

  Do you ever?

• 20:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, sometimes. Sometimes I'll watch some of the bloopers, which are really funny. They're like people will send them to me and stuff and I'll periodically go down. Because I haven't watched the show in a really long time, but I'm still waiting to show. My son, Jack, I don't think he's watched any episodes, but he loves The Office. And he's 13, so he's getting to that age. So I think he's ready. So that'll be fun to revisit that with him. But I haven't watched I haven't sat down just like sat and watched an episode of of of Parks and Rec. I don't think since we wrapped.

• 20:41Josh Horowitz?

  Do you have a favorite improv that you contributed? I was looking online like Michael Shore cites like one of yours as like his favorite of all time.

• 20:48Speaker 02

  That one's pretty good. I know. Yeah, I know the one you're talking about. Yeah.

• 20:51Josh Horowitz?

  That's the we were I got the connectivity.

• 20:54Speaker 02

  Yeah. Network connectivity. Yeah, that was. Yeah, that one. I'm proud of that one. That's that's a good one. There was. There was a couple of there's a couple of beats I couldn't get through. I was always good at not breaking, you know, I felt like.

• 21:10Josh Horowitz?

  That's a superpower you have?

• 21:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I'm just too I'm probably too competitive. You know what I mean? I'm like, if there's a chance to. There's a chance to to stay in this and be and continue to be funny, I wouldn't I like wouldn't break, you know?

• 21:22Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 21:23Speaker 02

  But there was one time I couldn't. And it actually in hindsight, I don't know why I thought it was so funny, but I never actually got through it. It's a joke, which was early on.

• 21:35Speaker 02

  Anne Perkins, like, season one, Anne Perkins, or maybe season two, says, like, you know, I got this guy, he's such a loser, or whatever, you know, I'm so worried about him, he probably doesn't even know what color my eyes are, you know, and I'm in a hospital bed. And I'm pathetic and sad. And the line is, "Her eyes are green."

• 21:59Speaker 02

  Like, 80% sure her eyes are green. And to me, that line cracked me up so much that I never got it. I don't know why, in hindsight, it was so, I just thought it was so funny that a person was, like, gonna be sanctimonious and be like, "She thinks I don't know what color her eyes are."

• 22:14Josh Horowitz?

  80%.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  I tell you, 80%. "Her eyes are green." God, that got me. I never was, it didn't make there, because I literally tried it 20 times and I laughed every single time.

• 22:24Josh Horowitz?

  Next reunion special, you'll nail it.

• 22:25Speaker 02

  Nail it.

• 22:27Josh Horowitz?

  I watched, like, 20 minutes of Zero Dark Thirty last night, just because...

• 22:29Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 22:30Josh Horowitz?

  What a, I mean, come on.

• 22:32Speaker 02

  Nice.

• 22:33Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, in that period, you are, like, mixing it up pretty well. You have the Moneyball role, you have Zero Dark Thirty.

• 22:39Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 22:40Josh Horowitz?

  Were both of those, like, in your comfort element? Like, were you out of your element? Did you feel like, I mean, Bennett and Bigelow are pretty unique, singular, intense filmmakers.

• 22:49Speaker 02

  Yes. And I got, I got Zero Dark Thirty because Catherine Bigelow had seen Moneyball.

• 22:54Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 22:55Speaker 02

  And, um, yeah, that was such an awesome time in my life. You know, Steve Martin has this book, Born Standing Up, you know that book? He talks about the moment when he was in those smoky clubs and, and there was this, like, level of uncertainty around his life. And then later on, he's, like, selling out stadiums and the laughs are pouring in, like, waves. And he just wished he could go back to that moment of uncertainty. Like, that was definitely a moment of uncertainty.

• 23:18Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, the hustle and, like, the, yeah.

• 23:19Speaker 02

  I didn't know who I, I didn't know who I was. I had an idea of who I was as an actor. And, but oftentimes, our ideas of who we are as an actor is confronted by the way the industry sees us.

• 23:30Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 23:31Speaker 02

  And I thought I had something in me that I could do, but I just hadn't been able to prove it yet.

• 23:35Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  And so those, those early movies, I was, you know, I just, and I also was trying to just struggle to work. I had very lean years where I didn't make any money at all.

• 23:43Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 23:44Speaker 02

  I remember getting Parks and Rec and kind of getting bigger and realizing, oh, maybe funny sidekick character is, is my gonna be the way to pay the bills, you know, like, and then, but I still had this dream in me that I wanted to do. The Peter Quill roles, you know?

• 23:58Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 23:59Speaker 02

  And so those movies.

• 24:01Josh Horowitz?

  Those are little boosts.

• 24:01Speaker 02

  Those are little boosts where I was like proving that I could do something physical with that wasn't laughable, that I could play a Navy SEAL, a SEAL Team Six member that could kick a door down and hunt down Osama Bin Laden, kill him, and people would go like, "What's that dude doing in there?"

• 24:15Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, it doesn't get any more serious than Zero Dark Thirty, and if you can hold your own in that group.

• 24:19Speaker 02

  So that was definitely telling, I was affirming something I believed in myself, but also trying to convince this industry that, "Hey, you can take me seriously in some of this stuff, you know, I'm not just the jerk douchebag and I'm not just the..."

• 24:35Josh Horowitz?

  That's just me off-screen. That's just... Don't confuse it!

• 24:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, yeah.

• 24:41Josh Horowitz?

  I have layers?

• 24:43Speaker 02

  Don't let my personality convince you that I'm not capable of playing something other than a complete piece of shit.

• 24:49Josh Horowitz?

  I can only say that because you're the nicest human being on the planet, you know that.

• 24:52Speaker 02

  I love you so much.

• 24:53Josh Horowitz?

  So we talked about this a little bit, but like, and you're alluding to this, I mean, you were beaten down by a lot of these like, not even close calls, these like auditions that just didn't, didn't really go anywhere, and you know, we've talked about, you've talked about with others, Avatar and Star Trek are the ones that always come up.

• 25:07Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 25:09Josh Horowitz?

  I saw there's a little bit online, actually, you did audition for Captain America, you put yourself on tape.

• 25:14Speaker 02

  I think I put myself on for early Superman, I put myself on tape, I think for Captain America, I put myself, I auditioned to play a sidekick in Thor.

• 25:25Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 25:26Speaker 02

  And, and none of them, did I even get a callback?

• 25:30Josh Horowitz?

  So you didn't get in the room for...

• 25:32Speaker 02

  I got, I got in the room to play the sidekick for Thor.

• 25:35Josh Horowitz?

  Congrats.

• 25:35Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 25:36Josh Horowitz?

  You might still get it, you're still waiting for the callback, maybe you'll get it.

• 25:39Speaker 02

  I remember I went so big that the lady said something to me like, "I just love how much you committed to that."

• 25:47Josh Horowitz?

  Like a rock star, you get a little...

• 25:49Speaker 02

  I'm like, "Oh, okay, am I getting a callback?" No, no you're not.

• 25:53Josh Horowitz?

  And Superman, would that have been like the Zack Snyder when he was like casting around, it must have been like...

• 25:57Speaker 02

  It must have been around, yeah, it must have been around then, I remember I put, made a tape, I was at my mom's house in Everett, Washington, and made a tape, and...

• 26:04Josh Horowitz?

  You put a little tape on, what do you do?

• 26:05Speaker 02

  I sent it in and I even watched it, I was like, "Dude, I would not cast that guy as Superman."

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• 27:22Josh Horowitz?

  And then, the infamous Guardians audition, which at least a portion of it is online. I was watching a little bit of you and Batista.

• 27:28Speaker 02

  Oh yeah, that was the, that was the screen test.

• 27:30Josh Horowitz?

  You're pretty far along at that point.

• 27:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, at that point, I already...

• 27:33Josh Horowitz?

  Was that his audition and you were already cast?

• 27:35Speaker 02

  No, at that point, it was, it was, uh, it was a screen test.

• 27:40Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 27:40Speaker 02

  I didn't know that I had it at that point. But, I already knew that I was screen testing and had felt... Pretty solid. I was like, I think I can get this, you know? Cause my close friend Ben Davis was doing the Drax readings for James.

• 27:58Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 27:58Speaker 02

  And he had kind of given me a little inside information about what he had heard people say about my first screen test.

• 28:04Josh Horowitz?

  Got it.

• 28:04Speaker 02

  And then he was like, dude, this is yours to lose. Like, you, this is yours, I'm telling you, just go do what you're doing. And then I was kind of blowing it. Like, when I was doing my scenes with the Gamora character, the sort of Elven bishop, fool around and fell in love scene.

• 28:18Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 28:18Speaker 02

  I was not... Good. And James even said he was like, thought I was blowing it. But then when he saw me and Dave Bautista improvising together and he saw that composition of him.

• 28:29Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 28:29Speaker 02

  And me.

• 28:30Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 28:30Speaker 02

  That he thought, okay, this could, we can make this movie work.

• 28:33Josh Horowitz?

  Were you reading with Zoe? I know I talked to Amanda Seyfried, she was close to getting it. Do you remember who you were?

• 28:38Speaker 02

  I was not. I was reading, I believe I was reading with a, was I reading with Zoe? I actually don't remember. I remember it was not working and I was sweating.

• 28:47Josh Horowitz?

  Do you remember the moment you got it? Like, do you remember, did James call you?

• 28:51Speaker 02

  No, I was, it was, it was, I had a meeting with Kevin Feige and, and he basically was just trying to see if I could get in shape. Cause I was like 285 pounds. It was coming off of doing a film called Delivery Man with Vince. And I'd gotten up to 300 pounds to play that role. And I was kind of on my way back down a little bit. Kevin Feige pulled out this picture of me in my underwear from when I had posted on Ellen from being in shape from Zero Dark Thirty. And he was like, can you do that again? I said, yes. How long do I have? He said, six months, seven months. I was like, dude, I can, I'll kick that guy's ass in seven months.

• 29:32Speaker 02

  And then on the way home, they called me and they're like, it's yours. I was like, you gotta be kidding me.

• 29:37Josh Horowitz?

  Do you remember what the celebration was, who you called? I mean, cause that's, it's hard to pinpoint certain moments in a career.

• 29:43Speaker 02

  I called my brother.

• 29:44Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 29:44Speaker 02

  Yeah. He's in the other room right there, that's him right there, through that window. I called my brother. I was like, dude, cause it was him. He's the one who actually convinced me to post that picture of myself in my underwear. He was like, you got in shape for Zero Dark Thirty and no one saw you. No one saw it. Cause you're wearing clothes in Zero Dark Thirty. He goes, no one knows. And now you're fat again. Like, you should let people know what you're capable of. I was like, that seems weird. And then I posted it like, this is douchey, but my brother said I had to post this picture. And I did, and that was the picture eight by ten printed off the internet. And so I have to kind of credit him.

• 30:17Josh Horowitz?

  Credit also to James Gunn. I mean, James changes your life, and this is an important relationship to this day, I know. I mean, he told me, I was reminiscing with him, reminisce is the wrong word, but like that horrible pivotal time in his life when he was dropped by Marvel. And he said you were one of the first to call him. Do you remember, I mean, he'd remade your career. He was so responsible for it.

• 30:38Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 30:39Josh Horowitz?

  That time in particular and what it meant to, why it was important for you to have his back and call him.

• 30:44Speaker 02

  I remember it all very clearly, yeah.

• 30:47Speaker 02

  I remember talking to Lou.

• 30:52Josh Horowitz?

  Esposito.

• 30:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, Lou Esposito at Marvel. And I don't think Lou would mind me saying this, you know. But he goes, we gotta let him go.

• 31:01Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 31:01Speaker 02

  And I was like, you're making a mistake. You are making a mistake. You can't, no, you can't. And he's like, dude, it has to happen. And then it happened. And I reached out to James, I was like, dude, this is not over. This is not over. And I like started like at that point.

• 31:20Speaker 02

  Just like preying on it and strategizing.

• 31:23Josh Horowitz?

  You were kind of doing a little bit behind the scenes. Batista was like out in front, like treating and he was doing all that.

• 31:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, Batista met it like the way only he can, which is like, he's like very.

• 31:32Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 31:33Speaker 02

  He's a defender, you know what I mean? And I was just thinking more like, I mean, at the end of the day, the reason, the credit to, for him coming back, I think belongs to the folks at Marvel and then Alan Horn.

• 31:47Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 31:47Speaker 02

  At Disney, because I think he just woke up one day and was like, this is not right. And I think there are certain people who do things that get them canceled. And then they behave in a way directly after that affirms that choice.

• 31:59Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 32:00Speaker 02

  I think James was incredibly classy the entire time.

• 32:02Josh Horowitz?

  He owned it and kind of just like.

• 32:04Speaker 02

  And from the outside, once the smoke settled and the dust settled and you looked at the situation, you realized that it was truly unfair.

• 32:11Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 32:11Speaker 02

  And so, you know, he got that job back because it was, it was a glaring mistake to ever, not, you know, to ever fire him for that.

• 32:21Josh Horowitz?

  How close are you guys to figuring out your contributions in the DC Universe? You guys have had real conversations about this, right?

• 32:28Speaker 02

  You know, we like to talk about the other things as well, but yeah.

• 32:32Josh Horowitz?

  I don't want to hear about the others. This is the only thing I care about.

• 32:36Josh Horowitz?

  Is there a character you have in mind that he has in mind that you're kind of zeroing on?

• 32:40Speaker 02

  No, no, I mean, I can say, I've always, I always try to lead with mystery because I think it would be amazing to be able to do it, but if I'm being honest, no, I don't think so. I think there's some that I think I could play. And I, and he probably feels the same way, but it's, you know, it's, it's, there's nothing. I'd like to, I'd like to be mysterious and lead people on a little bit, but in all honesty, I don't know, I don't know what that character would be. I would love to work with him again, though.

• 33:07Josh Horowitz?

  Is your jawline and growl good enough for Batman? Do you have Batman in you?

• 33:11Speaker 02

  I sent a picture of myself with a Batman mask on.

• 33:15Josh Horowitz?

  That's a little aggressive, Chris.

• 33:18Speaker 02

  And...

• 33:18Josh Horowitz?

  Anything else? Were you just wearing the mask? It was just...

• 33:20Speaker 02

  It was actually, I did it in Photoshop.

• 33:25Speaker 02

  And he just said, "Ha ha."

• 33:28Josh Horowitz?

  Did you really?

• 33:30Speaker 02

  So, it's safe to say, "I'm not gonna be Batman."

• 33:34Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, Ross won off, there are many others.

• 33:36Speaker 02

  I don't know how to do it anyways, there's been so many Batmans, like, what do you do? Like, I, I don't know that I would, I...

• 33:40Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 33:41Speaker 02

  You know what, I don't want to do it anyways, no, um, I don't, it was never, it was never an option. And also, I don't think I would be right for that. And I don't know how to, I don't know how to play that, because it's like, even the choice made by Christian Bale to do that voice is now, seems like...

• 33:56Josh Horowitz?

  Like, it's self-parody at this point, a little bit.

• 33:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I think you have to just like completely find a brand-new way to reinvent it.

• 34:02Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, yeah, Batman, just like a Mickey Mouse kind of...

• 34:04Speaker 02

  Yeah, right.

• 34:07Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know, I don't know how that, uh, that's a really tough, it's tough, because one beautiful thing we had going for us with Guardians of the Galaxy was, I was the first iteration of that character on screen.

• 34:18Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 34:18Speaker 02

  You're always gonna be compared against the people who have played the character before, and so like eventually, it becomes almost too hackneyed to be able to make.

• 34:25Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 34:25Speaker 02

  And so, that's a tough gig for anybody to get. There are some actors out there that I think can do it really well, though.

• 34:32Josh Horowitz?

  Looking back at the trilogy, the Guardians trilogy, were you sad that, that Peter and Gamora didn't end up together? I mean, I don't know how much of that was a function of, I know Zoe kind of wanted to definitively say like, "I've loved this time, but I do want to make a clear exit."

• 34:45Speaker 02

  Right.

• 34:49Speaker 02

  No, I don't think so, because I think it's more interesting to, you know, the conflict is, is probably more interesting.

• 34:56Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 34:57Speaker 02

  Because I think...

• 35:00Speaker 02

  You know, relationships that run their course have a relatively natural progression. In fact, I mean, they can both be very interesting. We did it in Jurassic World. You know, Bryce, her character Claire, and my character Owen are together for three films. And we see what that looks like. It's like, will they, won't they? Oh, at the end, they do. They kiss.

• 35:20Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 35:21Speaker 02

  And then the next iteration is like, well, that didn't work out, but now we're coming back together. And now we're in it for good. And the third iteration of that is like, we're now parents and we're having a family. And so we see that arc and it's amazing.

• 35:31Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 35:32Speaker 02

  And I don't think that would have been a good arc for Quill and Gamora. That was, in fact, more interesting that the way they did it where she came back, she was someone else. I mean, it's, you know, I'm a person. It's more sad. And it also sets you up to tell more stories.

• 35:47Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 35:48Speaker 02

  Because I don't know what this, I don't know what the next level would be if you were to, you could, someone could come up with something great, I'm sure, for Bryce's character and my character in Jurassic World, if we were to do another one. Like, you'd have to find out what that would be. But now there's more opportunities to tell stories about Peter Quill. Because that's a trauma he has in his life and it didn't end happily. And so now he's in a, he would be, wherever you should find him, would be in a real position to try to define himself. You know, he doesn't have a life, he doesn't have the obligations of a family and a wife and all that stuff.

• 36:20Josh Horowitz?

  It is going to be an interesting point to see him at the next time we see him. And we know we will see him, it's been promised to us. It's going to happen, whether it is in Doomsday or Secret Wars or beyond.

• 36:31Josh Horowitz?

  Have you had, I'm sure you've had that conversation. Like, do you know definitively, like, how they're using you going forward?

• 36:43Speaker 02

  Well.

• 36:47Speaker 02

  Yes and no.

• 36:48Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 36:48Speaker 02

  Yes and no.

• 36:49Josh Horowitz?

  Could you see Peter leading a new Guardians team at some point in a film not directed? Obviously, James is busy, he's not going to direct another Guardians movie.

• 36:56Speaker 02

  Right, well.

• 36:59Speaker 02

  The thing is, is, you know, everything is all liquid, right? And they kind of take things a step at a time at Marvel. I'm happy to do anything they want me to do and will. And also, I personally have a really strong vision of what I would want him to do. And I think it's fucking great.

• 37:20Josh Horowitz?

  So you've made your pitch on what you think?

• 37:21Speaker 02

  Yep, and I think that, you know, I'm down to contribute any way I can to them setting up the next 10 years of storytelling, you know? And also, I have a pretty strong idea of how I think I could contribute to that.

• 37:41Josh Horowitz?

  Do you have a director in mind that you want to work with?

• 37:43Speaker 02

  You, Josh.

• 37:44Josh Horowitz?

  Well, this is a hell of a way to tell me.

• 37:46Speaker 02

  No, yeah, yeah.

• 37:47Josh Horowitz?

  On camera.

• 37:47Speaker 02

  Congratulations.

• 37:48Josh Horowitz?

  I accept.

• 37:48Speaker 02

  Yeah. That's a binding contract.

• 37:51Josh Horowitz?

  Only if you go by Cristo.

• 37:52Speaker 02

  Yeah. No, no, no. I mean, look, I don't know. The thing is, is like when we did Avengers with the Russos, it was just a slightly, it was an amazing experience, but also a slightly different experience than doing it with James.

• 38:07Josh Horowitz?

  Of course, yeah.

• 38:07Speaker 02

  You know, so that's, in a dream world, it would be somehow James, but I don't think that's likely to happen. So I'd have to think about like who would be the right director. There are amazing directors out there. I'm sure we can find the right guy.

• 38:20Josh Horowitz?

  Do you see, you mentioned Jurassic. Obviously Scarlett's now kind of leading that iteration now of the franchise. Could you see yourself returning in a film with Scarlett Owen, coming back to do another Jurassic?

• 38:31Speaker 02

  Maybe, yeah, I think so. That'd be awesome. I mean, I love that character. I love the team, love Universal, love Scarlett. I think that'd be, that would be epic. We'd just have to find a way to, to do it in a way that honors the stories that we told the first three times. So I think, yeah, that'd be great.

• 38:47Josh Horowitz?

  Have you and Arnold ever seriously talked about doing a movie together? You and your father-in-law? It would be so epic and amazing.

• 38:54Speaker 02

  You think so?

• 38:54Josh Horowitz?

  Do I think so? Yes, I think so.

• 39:00Speaker 02

  Kind of, you know? Not really, like that's not, that's not the first thing we talk about.

• 39:04Josh Horowitz?

  No, I get it.

• 39:04Speaker 02

  We can get other things, but there's like people have floated ideas, like people within our periphery have floated ideas around like, you guys should do this.

• 39:11Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 39:11Speaker 02

  I think both of us kind of look at each other like, I don't know, that's right. But I think it would be great. I would love, I would love to, honestly, I would love to incorporate Arnold in The Terminalist.

• 39:24Josh Horowitz?

  There it is.

• 39:24Speaker 02

  It's gonna be epic. There's some, if you follow some of the books.

• 39:27Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 39:27Speaker 02

  There's a couple of characters, one in particular, any fan, I'm not gonna say who it is, but fans of the book will know who it is. And I haven't even spoken to Arnold about that, but I can see him playing this character. I think it would be so fucking epic.

• 39:41Josh Horowitz?

  You've shot the second season?

• 39:43Speaker 02

  Yeah, we're done with season two. Yeah, we're in post right now. We've locked six of eight episodes.

• 39:47Josh Horowitz?

  Amazing. Uh, yeah, so it's gonna be a busy year. You got the next Mario film.

• 39:51Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 39:51Josh Horowitz?

  Terminal, presumably comes out later this year.

• 39:53Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 39:54Josh Horowitz?

  And just.

• 39:55Speaker 02

  And then I have a film called, uh, Way of the Warrior Kid.

• 39:57Josh Horowitz?

  Right, with McG.

• 39:58Speaker 02

  McG, yeah, yeah, yeah. With, uh, based on Jaco's books.

• 40:01Josh Horowitz?

  And raising four kids. It's easy.

• 40:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah.

• 40:05Speaker 02

  And that's it. I don't think I'm gonna, I don't, there's a, I think that might be what I do this year, is the promotion stuff. There's, there's a possibility I go and do some other stuff, but, uh, for the most part, I think I'm gonna be doing promotion.

• 40:17Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, you, you've talked about that work-life balance and how important it is for you to be around, particularly now with the kids young.

• 40:22Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 40:22Josh Horowitz?

  In L.A., etc. Is there a director that would make it really a hard decision?

• 40:27Speaker 02

  Oh my God, so many.

• 40:28Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 40:28Speaker 02

  So many. Yeah, I mean, it's all about great script, great filmmaker.

• 40:32Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 40:32Speaker 02

  And so, yeah, I think, and I'm at this, I'm at that, at that, at a stage in my career now where I'm also kinda like I was when I was doing Zero Dark Thirty or Moneyball, where I'm like, looking at who I am and where I should be and what moves I wanna make. Cause what's nice about acting on like, say, professional football or something like that is you're not forced to retire when you're 46.

• 40:56Josh Horowitz?

  No, you reinvent.

• 40:57Speaker 02

  I can do, I can do multiple more decades of, of work and, uh, and I'm, I have, I'm in a really great place where I can kinda determine what I want that to be. So, uh, working with really amazing filmmakers, maybe, you know, just, just being part of a cast with a really great filmmaker would be amazing. Like a great role that doesn't have to be like the lead. I'd do that, um, just to have a chance to. Learn more from some of these directors who are true prestige artists, directors. I think that would be awesome.

• 41:27Josh Horowitz?

  No, because you're right. Like, when I look at the career, I see two or three acts already. And inevitably, you're gonna have two or three or four more.

• 41:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, you can.

• 41:35Josh Horowitz?

  And it's gonna be fascinating to see sort of like the next iteration.

• 41:38Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, I'm excited. It's exciting.

• 41:40Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so on Happy, Sad and Fused, we do two rapid-fire things. One is a new one, one is an old standby. This is the movie matrix. This is some opinions on movies.

• 41:49Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 41:49Josh Horowitz?

  And you've got good movie taste. Are you an Alien or Aliens guy?

• 41:54Josh Horowitz?

  Ridley Scott or James Cameron?

• 42:00Speaker 02

  I guess Alien.

• 42:02Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 42:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:04Josh Horowitz?

  Best Spider-Man of all time? Which actor do you have allegiance to?

• 42:07Speaker 02

  You know what? I really love Tom, man. I think Tom, I think maybe No Way Home.

• 42:11Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 42:12Speaker 02

  Although Into the Spider-Verse is pretty freaking amazing as well.

• 42:15Josh Horowitz?

  Pretty great.

• 42:15Speaker 02

  You know, Chris and Phil and Miles Morales, that whole vibe was pretty great, too.

• 42:20Josh Horowitz?

  Do you have a favorite comic book movie of all time? And you can exclude yourself if you want, your own films.

• 42:24Speaker 02

  Ooh, Logan.

• 42:27Josh Horowitz?

  Logan's so great.

• 42:28Speaker 02

  Logan's great. No, Deadpool.

• 42:30Josh Horowitz?

  Deadpool's great, too.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  X-Men 2's good. As just like a comic book movie, X-Men 2's really good. And honestly, I will exclude Guardians of the Galaxy. But I thought Endgame: Infinity War, what they were able to do, the culmination of all those years.

• 42:47Josh Horowitz?

  There's a degree of difficulty on that. And that gives me hope for the next two that they're doing.

• 42:52Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah. They, listen, they know what they're doing. People thought they were crazy when they did Guardians of the Galaxy.

• 42:58Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 42:59Speaker 02

  They said, "Talking tree, what are you doing?" I mean, these guys are going to continue to be geniuses.

• 43:04Josh Horowitz?

  Favorite James Bond of all time?

• 43:08Speaker 02

  I've never really been a huge James Bond fan.

• 43:10Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 43:11Speaker 02

  Like, so I just don't, not that I don't, not, I don't mean to say I'm not a fan as in I've watched them all and I, and I don't care for it. I just haven't watched them all, so, I don't know.

• 43:19Josh Horowitz?

  Scariest movie ever made?

• 43:24Speaker 02

  Probably The Exorcist.

• 43:26Josh Horowitz?

  It's kind of my go-to.

• 43:28Speaker 02

  Don't mess with that stuff.

• 43:30Josh Horowitz?

  The funniest movie ever made is?

• 43:34Speaker 02

  Dumb and Dumber.

• 43:36Josh Horowitz?

  Peak Jim Carrey is hard to beat. What's a movie you can quote backwards and forwards?

• 43:40Speaker 02

  Dumb and Dumber.

• 43:42Josh Horowitz?

  What's your go-to movie theater snack?

• 43:44Speaker 02

  Popcorn with peanut M&Ms sprinkled on it. Giant tub, and I have that stuff done by the time the movie starts. And you want to know why?

• 43:54Josh Horowitz?

  It could feel sick the entire movie?

• 43:56Speaker 02

  Yes. I've realized it is my pet peeve.

• 43:59Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, the sound of it.

• 44:00Speaker 02

  To hear people going into their candy. I hate it.

• 44:05Josh Horowitz?

  That's why I like doing like a Red Vine or a Twizzer. You can kind of softly.

• 44:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, but it's the.

• 44:09Josh Horowitz?

  Like gum it.

• 44:09Speaker 02

  It's the rapper. Yeah. And when people are like, oh, this is.

• 44:15Josh Horowitz?

  We hear you!

• 44:16Speaker 02

  I'm gonna do it even slower. It's like ASMR candy rap. Just eat the fuck. Get it done.

• 44:25Josh Horowitz?

  Just rip it.

• 44:27Speaker 02

  Oh, I hate it.

• 44:28Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, and the profoundly random questionnaire for Happy, Say Confused. Are you Dogs or Cats person? Either, both?

• 44:36Speaker 02

  Neither.

• 44:37Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. What do you collect?

• 44:40Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 44:44Speaker 02

  Knives.

• 44:46Josh Horowitz?

  Good to know. I won't cross you.

• 44:49Speaker 02

  No, I've got a good collection of knives and challenge coins. I've got a great collection of challenge coins.

• 44:53Josh Horowitz?

  Nice. What's your favorite video game of all time?

• 45:01Speaker 02

  It's a tie between the original Super Mario Brothers or the original Zelda on Nintendo. Those two, or Technoball. All Nintendo.

• 45:09Josh Horowitz?

  I was gonna say you don't want to go Sega. You don't want to lose your gig. That's too important.

• 45:13Speaker 02

  Maybe Street Fighter 2.

• 45:15Josh Horowitz?

  What's the wallpaper on your phone?

• 45:19Speaker 02

  It rotates, but it's always just pictures of my kids and my wife, my family.

• 45:24Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 45:24Speaker 02

  And my farm.

• 45:25Josh Horowitz?

  Last actor you were mistaken for?

• 45:30Speaker 02

  I think someone on this press tour called me Chris Pine.

• 45:33Josh Horowitz?

  You're all interchangeable.

• 45:34Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't think they mistake me. I think they just, the alliteration.

• 45:37Josh Horowitz?

  Yes. Worst note a director has ever given you?

• 45:40Speaker 02

  Worst note?

• 45:41Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 45:41Speaker 02

  A director?

• 45:42Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 45:42Speaker 02

  Has ever given you?

• 45:43Josh Horowitz?

  Like?

• 45:44Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 45:46Josh Horowitz?

  You were embarrassed on set, you were resented on set, no idea.

• 45:49Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 45:51Speaker 02

  Probably, it was the worst note and the best note.

• 45:55Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 45:56Speaker 02

  Bennett Miller told me to stop being such a pussy.

• 45:59Josh Horowitz?

  What were you doing? What was happening? It was on Moneyball?

• 46:03Speaker 02

  It was on Moneyball. I was playing first base and I was supposed to be really frustrated because I couldn't catch the ball.

• 46:09Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 46:09Speaker 02

  And they had taught me to field for weeks, and I got pretty good. And so I was out there competitively. And I'm doing this, I'm sweating, I'm sweating. He comes up and the way he does, he's like,

• 46:25Speaker 02

  "Just stop being such a pussy." I was like...

• 46:31Josh Horowitz?

  Like, of your ego?

• 46:32Speaker 02

  He made me so mad.

• 46:33Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 46:34Speaker 02

  And it's the shot that's in the movie, is me sitting there, sweat dripping off my nose, and I'm mumbling.

• 46:41Speaker 02

  I didn't even know they were rolling. And that anger was what he wanted to see in me.

• 46:45Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 46:45Speaker 02

  So he didn't really mean to stop being a pussy. He just knew how to push my buttons.

• 46:48Josh Horowitz?

  Yes.

• 46:49Speaker 02

  To make the character do something that I don't do authentically very well, which is anger. And so that was one of the best directions I ever got, but also one of the worst directions I ever got.

• 46:57Josh Horowitz?

  And in the spirit of happy, sad, confused, an actor who always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're in a better mood.

• 47:02Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 47:04Speaker 02

  Bruce Willis.

• 47:05Josh Horowitz?

  What's your good, what's Die Hard, what's the?

• 47:08Speaker 02

  I love Die Hard, man. Die Hard is so good, and I love Pulp Fiction. He's so good in Pulp Fiction.

• 47:14Josh Horowitz?

  He's so funny, too. And so, you remember like Blind Date, like that, like random?

• 47:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, Blind Date, even 30 something in, or...

• 47:19Josh Horowitz?

  Moonlighting, Moonlighting, it's classic.

• 47:21Speaker 02

  And then also, uh, Fifth Element. Maybe my favorite.

• 47:25Josh Horowitz?

  Obsessed.

• 47:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 47:27Josh Horowitz?

  Favorite movie. Yeah. When Milo did the podcast, I had trouble not just talking about Fifth Element for 45 minutes. A movie that makes you sad?

• 47:36Speaker 02

  Radio Flyer or Stand By Me.

• 47:38Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. And a food that makes you confused. You don't get it.

• 47:42Speaker 02

  A food that makes me confused?

• 47:43Josh Horowitz?

  Why do people eat that?

• 47:44Speaker 02

  Good question.

• 47:48Speaker 02

  I would say.

• 47:55Speaker 02

  This is a really good question.

• 47:56Josh Horowitz?

  Breaking the brain at the end of the press tour.

• 47:59Speaker 02

  I love it all so much.

• 48:00Josh Horowitz?

  Give it all to me.

• 48:01Speaker 02

  I would say, um, there's something, I know what it is, because it's in my mind, but I can't think of what it is, but I know it's there. Hold on, stand by. Give me, give me ten, loading, loading, ten seconds, ten seconds, nine, oh no, I'm putting the pressure on, twenty seconds.

• 48:13Josh Horowitz?

  It's like out of Mercy, this is like.

• 48:16Speaker 02

  The food that makes me confused would be, um, soft pretzels.

• 48:22Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 48:23Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 48:24Josh Horowitz?

  You like a hard pretzel?

• 48:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:26Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so it's a more of a pretzel thing, a salt thing?

• 48:29Speaker 02

  It's like a salt delivery system.

• 48:30Josh Horowitz?

  I know.

• 48:30Speaker 02

  Like it's a salt.

• 48:31Josh Horowitz?

  You say that like it's a bad.

• 48:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't know, the soft pretzel, it's just like chewy and it has that, that flavor that's like.

• 48:39Josh Horowitz?

  Cardboard, just nothing?

• 48:41Speaker 02

  No, no, no, the soft ones have that sort of like, uh, I think it's like yeasty, wheat, malt, malt.

• 48:47Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 48:48Speaker 02

  That malty, like, like people who put malt in anything.

• 48:51Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 48:51Speaker 02

  Whoppers, malt.

• 48:53Josh Horowitz?

  Love it. Our friendship ends today.

• 48:55Speaker 02

  Is it?

• 48:56Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 48:56Speaker 02

  Did it ever start, Josh?

• 49:01Speaker 02

  No, bro, I can't do the whoppers, not into whoppers, not into malt.

• 49:05Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 49:06Speaker 02

  And also any kind of, uh, any kind of, uh, candy cane mixed with ice cream.

• 49:12Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 49:13Speaker 02

  Like peppermint ice cream or candy cane ice cream, I don't love it.

• 49:15Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, okay, we'll take it off your rider.

• 49:17Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 49:18Josh Horowitz?

  I have a room full of malt waiting for you.

• 49:20Speaker 02

  That's why I'm so confused. Pints of candy cane ice cream and soft pretzels.

• 49:27Josh Horowitz?

  Full circle, congratulations on Mercy, everybody should check it out, see it on a big screen.

• 49:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, if you can, yeah.

• 49:32Josh Horowitz?

  Big immersive experience, 3D, do the whole thing.

• 49:35Speaker 02

  Yeah, you should, that's the way to see it, I promise.

• 49:37Josh Horowitz?

  It's good to see you, buddy, thanks for stopping by.

• 49:39Speaker 02

  It's always good to see you.

• 49:40Josh Horowitz?

  We did it.

• 49:41Speaker 02

  We did it.

• 50:03Speaker 06

  From the parents behind Law & Order comes a mystery the whole family can enjoy, Patrick Picklebottom Everyday Mysteries. Step into the whimsical world of Patrick Picklebottom, a precocious 11-year-old with a love for reading and an uncanny ability to solve mysteries. Inspired by the beloved children's book of the same name, this podcast vividly brings Patrick's tales of deduction and everyday adventures to life as he unravels baffling enigmas and solves clever cases. Patrick Picklebottom Everyday Mysteries is perfect for kids and is just as entertaining for grownups who love a good mystery. The whole family can listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.