Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman is a good crier. Amy hangs with the Oscar-winning actor and talks about Olivia's love for 'Cheers,' Gen X work ethic, and enjoying watching her husband fall down. Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Benedict Cumberbatch and Olivia ColmanExecutive 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, Belle Roman, and Aleya Zenieris; lighting director Caroline Jannace, audio producers Kaya McMullen & Devon Baroldi; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and booker Kat SpillaneOriginal Music: Amy Miles Introducing Visible Inner Circle: Connect accounts with anyone, share the savings. Join for $25/mo. Visit https://www.visible.com/plans/inner-circle 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.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  I'm pro-football Hall of Famer Brian Dawkins, and I lived for a long time with something I did not know the name of: major depressive disorder. I carried sadness and anger because I thought I could handle it alone, but I couldn't. Now I want to make sure others know that that support is out there. If you're experiencing similar symptoms, talk to a healthcare professional. Visit MDDAllies.com to watch my story.

• 0:25Speaker 01

  Paid partnership with Johnson & Johnson. Brian Dawkins has not prescribed Caplyta lumateperone.

• 0:37Speaker 02

  I needed more from my antidepressant, so my doctor added Caplyta lumateperone, proven to provide greater relief from depression symptoms than an antidepressant alone, building on my progress without starting over. Caplyta is for adults with major depressive disorder when used with an antidepressant and is available by prescription only. Individual results may vary. In clinical trials, weight gain was not common.

• 0:57Speaker 01

  Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. Caplyta is not approved for dementia-related psychosis. Call your doctor about new or sudden mood changes, behaviors, or suicidal thoughts right away. Antidepressants may increase these risks. Report fever, confusion, stiff muscles, which may be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. High cholesterol and weight gain may occur, as can high blood sugar, which may be fatal. Monitoring is recommended. Common side effects are sleepiness, dizziness, nausea, dry mouth, feeling tired, and diarrhea. These aren't all the side effects.

• 1:24Speaker 02

  Ask your doctor about Caplyta. Learn more at caplyta.com or call 888-252-4824.

• 1:30Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by eBay Live. Here's how it goes. First, you're watching the eBay Live stream 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. Oh, what a lovely guest we have today. Olivia Colman, an incredible actress, just a dear, tender, beautiful person.

• 2:15Amy Poehler?

  And we are going to talk about a lot of great things today. We're going to talk about whether or not it's important to fight in relationships. We're going to talk about playing the queen. We are going to talk about her new movie, The Roses, and all the hilarious people that she got to be in it with. We're talking about so many good things today. But we always want to start these episodes by bringing in someone who knows our guest, who helps us ease into our guest, who gives us a question to ask our guest. And we got a big star today. We have an actor who was in Doctor Strange. He was Sherlock. He is in The Roses.

• 3:00Amy Poehler?

  He is also famously in a Key and Peele sketch where they name football player names. He is the one, the only Benedict Cumberbatch from Oxford University. Benedict, hello.

• 3:26Speaker 04

  Hey, Amy, how are you?

• 3:27Amy Poehler?

  Hi, it's good to see you.

• 3:29Speaker 04

  I can't see, so.

• 3:32Amy Poehler?

  Okay, you can just hear my voice?

• 3:34Speaker 04

  I can see you now because I'm wearing these glasses like this. You're a beautiful blonde blur, but like that, you're a very sharp blonde.

• 3:41Amy Poehler?

  Now, what's your prescription? Because are you new to glasses?

• 3:45Speaker 04

  1.6, something like that. I'm new to sort of giving in to them.

• 3:49Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, same. I'm just, I like need them for reading, but not yet for driving.

• 3:53Speaker 04

  It's so boring, isn't it? And I'm not one of those people who get my, I can't get them lasered. It's very boring.

• 3:58Amy Poehler?

  It's not boring because I feel like now that I can hide behind glasses, my life has changed. And also, people think I'm smarter. Anyway, hi, nice to see you. Thank you for doing this.

• 4:10Speaker 04

  You're so welcome.

• 4:11Amy Poehler?

  Um, okay, I know you're in the middle of a giant press thing and we are talking to Olivia.

• 4:15Speaker 04

  Yeah, I'm a little hurt, but there you go.

• 4:17Amy Poehler?

  I know. Sorry, we couldn't get you, but you, uh, you, uh, signed restraining order against me many years ago and you don't let me get close to you, so.

• 4:25Speaker 04

  That's true. After the Golden Globes, that's right.

• 4:27Amy Poehler?

  Okay, so question for you before we get to your question, we're asking, we like to do this thing when we have our guests on where we talk to people who know them and kind of talk well behind their back. And the first thing I just wanted to say is that when I was doing some research on, on the film, The Roses, that you're promoting, and also you and Olivia, you guys haven't worked together as much as I assumed you would have.

• 4:47Speaker 04

  We've never worked together.

• 4:48Amy Poehler?

  Never?

• 4:49Speaker 04

  No, and we, you know, we've been friends for a long time and always said, we should, we should work together. And this is what was sort of born out of that conversation.

• 4:57Amy Poehler?

  What kind of friend is Olivia?

• 4:59Speaker 04

  Incredibly loyal, ridiculously good fun. Uh, she facilitates naughtiness. Uh, she's just sort of, is it pretty naturally, is that the phrase upbeat? I mean, it's kind of, that's the one, if there's a critique about it, it's like, how the fuck is she doing this authentically? I don't understand how this person can be so good at being just upbeat and just delightful. And she literally, she, but this is veering into work rather than friendship, but it's the same with friendship. But she can go into a work environment, any moment that we were in the studio together and just, you just see everyone, all the crew, everyone going, ah, everyone just gets it and brightened by her being around.

• 5:38Amy Poehler?

  It feels, it feels that way when you watch her work and then also be herself, like, and I have, you know, we kind of get this, we kind of came, uh, or I came on to, uh, upon this theory when I was at SNL, which you were so brilliant on. Is you have all these people come through and you realize that usually the most talented people are the easiest to work with.

• 5:59Speaker 04

  Yeah, kind of. The other I get, the more I just, that's sort of. I can't be doing with people who are hard to work with. But I just, that's my one sort of curmudgeonly kind of thing. It shouldn't have to be hard.

• 6:14Amy Poehler?

  OK, and then the other thing I wanted to ask you, and then we'll get to your question. There's nothing like more satisfying than when somebody has a sense of humor about themselves. Like, it's such a sign of intelligence, like. And you and Olivia in this movie really go at each other. Your characters really go at each other. But do you feel like there's also just a way in which Brits are allowed to kind of tease in a hardier and more sharp way than than Americans?

• 6:42Speaker 04

  I don't know. Personally, I think there's often a very barbed, cruel and slightly pinched aspect to British irony. I think it could get a bit too much, to be honest. As an English characteristic, the sharpness of it isn't something I find that pleasant. It's very funny in this film. I think also Americans, and this is obviously played up in the kind of cultural difference. One of the key differences between our version and the original Michael Douglas, Anthony Turner and Donatello film is that they're they're an English couple in an American world and that much later the culture clashes and misunderstandings to great effect. But they start roasting each other. And actually, you, as a culture, I think, have completely one-upped it.

• 7:21Amy Poehler?

  You're right. We have we have passed you in the mean Olympics.

• 7:25Speaker 04

  You've gone the darn way, you're broken. There's a good trade, I think, which evens us out, both in the gross-out humor and also the very sort of well-fought-through ironic witty intellectual humor. And I know we play out the difference, but I don't think there is so much of a difference in what's very interchangeable.

• 7:44Amy Poehler?

  I agree. I think it's very hard to pull off both physical comedy and really like sharp and sarcastic wit. Both of those things are hard to do well.

• 7:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, I think if you do that, you could do anything. I grew up with two parents, both actors. My mom in particular doing, you know, sort of end of the pier kind of whoops there go my knicker vickers, knicker vickers, knickers vicar kind of farces. And to the point where I was like, Mom, you could do something else now. I can't watch in an audience as you as a surly teenager, I can't watch you come into a room where your politician husband is having his pants pulled down because of something and it looks like his male assistant is giving him a blowjob and you turn to the audience and go, and then walk off. So, you know, having grown up with that kind of humor, if you can do comedy, is my point, you can do anything. I really do believe that and I'm not just.

• 8:32Amy Poehler?

  Of course, I feel I you don't have to tell me, babe. Every single year at the Oscars, everybody gets blanked. And all the serious people get up and accept and accept and accept.

• 8:46Speaker 04

  I know, I know, it's true.

• 8:48Amy Poehler?

  And it's some hot bullshit. Because comedy is not easy. And I got to tell you, both you and Olivia can do both.

• 8:57Speaker 04

  Oh, well, thank you, thank you. That's very.

• 8:59Amy Poehler?

  OK, so do you have any question for Olivia today?

• 9:04Speaker 04

  Yeah, OK, um, is she wearing any under? No.

• 9:10Speaker 04

  Is there something she's afraid of? Because I think she's one of the most fearless performers that I know. I don't see her being afraid of anything, but I wonder if there is, I wonder.

• 9:18Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's a great question.

• 9:20Speaker 04

  Yeah, and she'd do it, that's the only thing. What are you most afraid of? And would you be any good at facing that fear?

• 9:26Amy Poehler?

  Hmm, deep question.

• 9:28Speaker 04

  I should be doing this interview.

• 9:30Amy Poehler?

  Question, yes, I mean, do you want to switch places here?

• 9:34Speaker 04

  No, because everyone wants to hear you do the interview.

• 9:37Amy Poehler?

  OK, well, I know you are an hour or two of a 12 hour marathon. Congratulations on the film. Thank you so much for doing this. I hope we get to see each other, not in full formal wear someday, but at an actual.

• 9:51Speaker 04

  I do, too. That'd be lovely. Much love.

• 9:53Amy Poehler?

  Thank you so much, Benedict. Appreciate it. Thanks for your time. This episode is brought to you by Visible. Visible is the ultimate wireless hack. And now with the new Visible Inner Circle, you can forget about family phone plans with no flexibility. With Inner Circle, you can connect accounts with whoever you want. Friends, family, neighbors, you name it. Unlock savings together with the freedom to leave, switch, or change your circle anytime. Join for just $25 a month and with personalized payments, paying together or keeping it separate is up to you. Plus, it's all powered by Verizon with unlimited 5G data. So you get reliable coverage and a connection you can count on. Join now at visible.com and save on wireless month after month.

• 10:37Amy Poehler?

  $25 per month rate on the Visible plan.

• 10:42Amy Poehler?

  Hello, hello, hello.

• 10:43Speaker 05

  Hello.

• 10:44Amy Poehler?

  Okay, thank you for coming and being here.

• 10:45Speaker 05

  Thank you so much for having me.

• 10:46Amy Poehler?

  You know, I was looking over your, your life, like your timeline, because we're the same age, about the same age.

• 10:53Speaker 05

  Are we? You look much younger than me.

• 10:55Amy Poehler?

  No, you, no, I don't.

• 10:56Speaker 05

  No, you do, actually.

• 10:57Amy Poehler?

  I'm 50, hold on, I have to remember, I was born in 71, so I'm 50. You're born in...

• 11:02Speaker 05

  I'm 74, so...

• 11:03Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, well, so you're a little younger than me, sorry.

• 11:05Speaker 05

  Well, I look older.

• 11:06Amy Poehler?

  No, you do.

• 11:08Speaker 05

  Americans just look better.

• 11:10Amy Poehler?

  Do you think?

• 11:10Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 11:11Amy Poehler?

  Well, British people seem smarter, so everything eases out.

• 11:16Speaker 05

  You'll find out, that's not true.

• 11:17Amy Poehler?

  And you'll find out, and when you get a little closer. Okay, so, but we, but, you know, we kind of have some parallels because you met a lot of your friends and coworkers at Footlights.

• 11:31Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 11:32Amy Poehler?

  Kind of, you know, you went to this very important place that we Americans used to hear about.

• 11:39Speaker 05

  Yes, I will, I wasn't actually at the university, but this was, this is something that gets regularly...

• 11:44Amy Poehler?

  You were not at Cambridge?

• 11:46Speaker 05

  I was in the town of Cambridge, working as a cleaner, and...

• 11:51Amy Poehler?

  Very interesting.

• 11:52Speaker 05

  So, yeah, so I feel very...

• 11:52Amy Poehler?

  How did you get into Footlights?

• 11:53Speaker 05

  Well, I did, I was at the teacher training college for about a term, I think, and left. And then, no one questioned me, because I had a bicycle and I looked the same as everyone else, the same age, so I just would turn up to things, and this...

• 12:09Amy Poehler?

  And was there like an auditioning process to get into Footlights?

• 12:11Speaker 05

  Yes, and that's where I met my lovely friends, who then, basically, were responsible for me getting work for years afterwards.

• 12:18Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, because...

• 12:19Speaker 05

  But I just feel very, it feels like a big lie if I, guys at Cambridge, absolutely wasn't...

• 12:23Amy Poehler?

  This is already very British, the distinction that you didn't go to school there is, is an important one for you.

• 12:28Speaker 05

  Yeah, well, I feel like people who were there would go, no, you didn't, and, you know, it's, I think it's so impressive to have worked so hard and be so clever to get there, it would be a bit much if it's my terrible A-levels, I suggested that I go there.

• 12:43Amy Poehler?

  So, people that were not going there could go, could be in the, and could perform there?

• 12:49Speaker 05

  Yes, I think I just, I didn't lie, but I just certainly didn't tell anyone.

• 12:54Amy Poehler?

  So it can be taken back. You could be technically arrested for, yeah, at some point.

• 12:59Speaker 05

  Maybe.

• 13:01Amy Poehler?

  So you go and you, do you remember how you had to audition for?

• 13:04Speaker 05

  I do remember going, I was in, there was a woman called the Union Society and this is when I did have my student card, because I was actually at the teacher training thingy. And, and there was a sign, it was handwritten in biro on the audition arrow. I went, oh, fun. So I went along and I didn't know it was the footlights and.

• 13:25Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 13:25Speaker 05

  I know. And, and please, I didn't know.

• 13:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 13:29Speaker 05

  And there was, there were boys looking bored, sitting behind a desk and said, entertain us or sell something to us that looks like this isn't food. I went.

• 13:39Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 13:41Speaker 05

  So there was a disgusting ashtray, which must have been there for years. And I picked up a frag butt. That sounds weird in American English, doesn't it?

• 13:50Amy Poehler?

  Right, cigarette butt.

• 13:51Speaker 05

  Cigarette end. And, and I tried to sell it and it wasn't going very well. No one was laughing, so I ate it. Out of desperation. And they still didn't laugh. They just looked absolutely horrified, but they, they let me in because they thought, well, she's, she's game.

• 14:08Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 14:09Speaker 05

  She's gonna do some funny stuff.

• 14:10Amy Poehler?

  What is it gonna take to get those guys to laugh?

• 14:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 14:15Amy Poehler?

  That is so, that's so, that's such a great story. And then you got in and then you met all these, like what, you know, I, that, that time period in my life, I know, doing sketch and improv and all that stuff for a small number of people with friends in the hopes that someday you could do more of it.

• 14:34Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 14:35Amy Poehler?

  Like, what do you remember of those times?

• 14:37Speaker 05

  Well, I, because obviously, as you know, you all had to help write and everything. I was terrible at the writing. I just really enjoyed performing and being on stage and making people laugh was like the best, like crack, like the best thing.

• 14:51Amy Poehler?

  It is. I said, to me, it was the closest feeling to being a vampire, where you're just like, I'm become. A vampire.

• 14:58Speaker 05

  Yeah. Oh, I've got goosebumps. I totally understand.

• 15:02Amy Poehler?

  Just you're like, look what I've done. Like, there's this weird, powerful, in-control flush of excitement.

• 15:11Speaker 05

  Yeah. And so desperate to get that back and.

• 15:14Amy Poehler?

  Yes, your whole life is chasing it again.

• 15:16Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 15:17Amy Poehler?

  What was the first, you remember the feeling of like the first big laugh? You know, where you, where you did something and you watched people laugh at you and you thought, oh, I love this feeling.

• 15:27Speaker 05

  I don't know if I can remember that. No.

• 15:29Amy Poehler?

  Were you in plays as a kid?

• 15:31Speaker 05

  I did my first ever school play when I was 16. And that was, that was the prime of Miss Jean Brody, so not a comedy. But I just remember people clapping at the end. And I'd always been so rubbish at school. I'd never, I was sort of, oh, I couldn't wait for it to finish. And I didn't really, I'd wolfed, look out the window and found it really hard to concentrate. And, and then suddenly, I, I committed to learning all of these lines. Suddenly I, why couldn't I learn other stuff? But I would do that. And then when they clapped, that was the moment when I went.

• 16:05Speaker 05

  I love it.

• 16:06Amy Poehler?

  It was like, it was like electricity coming out of your fingertips.

• 16:09Speaker 05

  Like, get off, get off. No.

• 16:13Speaker 05

  Loved it.

• 16:14Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I mean, do you consider yourself a, were you an extroverted kid? Like, were you, were you, are people not surprised that you ended up being an actor? Or?

• 16:25Speaker 05

  I don't know. I think it's quite, I think as I've got older, I've got more and more shy, in a way. And I, I think people knowing your face and you not knowing their face.

• 16:33Amy Poehler?

  Yes, yes.

• 16:33Speaker 05

  Puts you in a, you know, it's not an equal footing.

• 16:38Amy Poehler?

  I really relate to what you're saying about, even though I think people might think that it's funny that both of us are saying this, but getting a little shyer as you get older.

• 16:47Speaker 05

  Totally.

• 16:48Amy Poehler?

  I really relate to that.

• 16:49Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 16:49Amy Poehler?

  What do you think that is?

• 16:51Speaker 05

  I, I think it is, well, as, you know, as I've said, that it's, it's an unequal thing. So I love, I don't know if you ever go to a country where maybe your shows aren't seen.

• 17:02Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yes. It's, it's called the UK.

• 17:07Speaker 05

  That's not true. But you know, if you can walk, feel like you can walk down the street and no one has done a double take or a nudge or a secret photo.

• 17:16Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 17:16Speaker 05

  It feels amazing.

• 17:17Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 17:18Speaker 05

  I love that.

• 17:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, being observed is weird because especially it sounds like you're like you're you are an observer. You like to observe people. So when you're being observed, it's a strange feeling.

• 17:29Speaker 05

  Yeah, I find it discomforting and it means I don't want to go anywhere with my children.

• 17:34Amy Poehler?

  Mm hmm.

• 17:35Speaker 05

  I don't want people to, you know, see who they are.

• 17:38Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 17:38Speaker 05

  Because it's their decision, you know, to do what they want to do with their lives, not.

• 17:43Amy Poehler?

  And kids don't like, it doesn't even, you don't even have to be an actor. Kids just don't like sharing their parents with people.

• 17:48Speaker 05

  Yeah, I do understand that.

• 17:50Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I know. And it's, it's hard to explain to them that that is your work, but it is, it is, it's a universal feeling. The kids, kids want their parents when they want them.

• 18:00Speaker 05

  Mine, yeah.

• 18:01Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:01Speaker 05

  And I've been lucky compared to many people in our industry. I haven't had to be away from home that much.

• 18:08Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:08Speaker 05

  And, uh, and my youngest, so in recent years I've had to be away a bit more and she hates it.

• 18:16Amy Poehler?

  Hmm.

• 18:17Speaker 05

  I sort of love it that she hates it, but.

• 18:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, right. Because she's still missing you.

• 18:20Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 18:23Amy Poehler?

  How old is your youngest?

• 18:24Speaker 05

  Yeah, uh, youngest is 10.

• 18:25Amy Poehler?

  Okay, okay, right. So you still have.

• 18:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 18:28Amy Poehler?

  Some sweetness.

• 18:29Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 18:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:30Speaker 05

  Yeah, and really, she's really lovely. They're all lovely.

• 18:33Amy Poehler?

  I know. And does anyone, any of them want to be an actor?

• 18:35Speaker 05

  No, furious.

• 18:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:37Speaker 05

  I'm livid with them.

• 18:38Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 18:39Speaker 05

  You know.

• 18:40Amy Poehler?

  I'm gonna get up there and earn some money for this family.

• 18:42Speaker 05

  Just, I mean, they laugh at me because, yeah, um, it's a bit, you know, ab fab.

• 18:48Amy Poehler?

  Mm hmm.

• 18:49Speaker 05

  And my big boy wants to be a physicist.

• 18:52Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 18:52Speaker 05

  I mean, just.

• 18:53Amy Poehler?

  Incredible.

• 18:53Speaker 05

  That's the only way you can rebel. Why can't you be a rock star? Totally. He goes, Mom, no one says, oh, why can't you be a rock star? I do.

• 19:04Speaker 05

  They're all so sensible.

• 19:06Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, physicist is.

• 19:07Speaker 05

  Physicist.

• 19:08Amy Poehler?

  That's smart.

• 19:09Speaker 05

  I mean, who employs physicists?

• 19:12Amy Poehler?

  These days, no one.

• 19:13Speaker 05

  No one.

• 19:14Amy Poehler?

  See? With long hair, forget it. He's never gonna get through the door. Okay, so you're at, you're at Footlights. You're making all these friends. You're deciding, you know, what I love about your career and you is that you, you are the ultimate, to me, proof that when someone can do comedy really well, they can do anything. And I guess you came into the business doing comedy. When was, was it Tyrannosaur that switched? Was that?

• 19:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:43Amy Poehler?

  Can you talk about that film?

• 19:44Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:45Amy Poehler?

  And getting cast in that?

• 19:46Speaker 05

  Yeah. So comedy, I'd never intended. I just found a place there and I really loved it.

• 19:53Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 19:53Speaker 05

  And I'd always imagined maybe

• 19:59Speaker 05

  from, from that first play at school, I thought, maybe I could be an actor, but you didn't dare say it out loud.

• 20:03Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 20:04Speaker 05

  And, and then it felt like there were two lists of actors, there's funny ones, not funny ones.

• 20:09Amy Poehler?

  That's right.

• 20:10Speaker 05

  And you can't cross over. It's absolutely not allowed.

• 20:12Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 20:12Speaker 05

  And it takes someone to, you know, to really put their neck on the line to go, no, I would like them to do that. So it was Paddy Considine I met when we were doing Hot Fuzz.

• 20:22Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 20:23Speaker 05

  I was so excited to meet him and I opened the door and grinned at him. Hello. And, and he decided in that moment, oh, she's, she'd be right for my film.

• 20:32Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 20:32Speaker 05

  I know. So always open the door, people. Always be nice. You never know.

• 20:38Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 20:39Speaker 05

  And it was a, it totally changed the trajectory, something I find hard to do, of my career.

• 20:45Amy Poehler?

  Because it went to Sundance and it was like this, you know, very lauded performance and people saw this version of you, basically, and they said, oh, we can, I know, it's very, it's, isn't it interesting how life is just?

• 21:01Amy Poehler?

  Just the smallest changes and moves in your life.

• 21:04Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 21:05Amy Poehler?

  And you're on another track.

• 21:06Speaker 05

  Yeah, totally. And so often having to wait for someone else to.

• 21:10Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:10Speaker 05

  To, you know, let that happen for you.

• 21:13Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:13Speaker 05

  Which is frustrating.

• 21:14Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:14Speaker 05

  But I'm so grateful to Paddy.

• 21:16Amy Poehler?

  Do you ever think to yourself, like, I'm in the mood right now to do something heavier. I'm in the mood right now to do something lighter. Do you think about that when you're picking stuff?

• 21:25Speaker 05

  Um, I don't know if I might do subconsciously. I always used to rely very much on gut feeling.

• 21:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:30Speaker 05

  You know, um, and I feel a bit like I've lost that ability. I've gone a little bit. I don't know if that happens as well as we get older, but I sometimes think, I think I can't tell now.

• 21:42Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 21:42Speaker 05

  My agent has a great litmus test. So if you read it and you're unsure. Um, if your nemesis gets the part, are you going to want to, you know, pull your hair out?

• 21:55Amy Poehler?

  That's so funny. I think about that too. If I saw it a year later, like a trailer for it and I was jealous.

• 22:01Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 22:02Amy Poehler?

  If I thought, if I saw something.

• 22:03Speaker 05

  Okay, I can let this go or no, I have to fight for it.

• 22:06Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah. But, um, but.

• 22:09Speaker 05

  Sorry, I didn't answer your question at all, did I? Did I go somewhere else?

• 22:12Amy Poehler?

  Well, I, well, why I, I ask is because you've been in all of my favorite things. And when we look at all of the stuff that you've been in, your career is incredible, Olivia. Like you have done. Okay, but I want to stay with comedy for a second just because I feel like, and I kind of made a joke about it earlier, but there is this thing, our, with people our age, where the US, UK were so connected in so many ways, but had completely different comedic experiences. There were only a few shows, in my opinion, that came over to us.

• 22:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 22:43Amy Poehler?

  Like, it wasn't until I was in my twenties and thirties that I learned about all this great British comedy that I'd never got to see.

• 22:49Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 22:50Amy Poehler?

  And I, you know, you know, we got kind of the big ones, right? Growing like Monty Python and, you know, Ab Fab and stuff like that. But then there was this huge amount of shows that we never saw that you had to kind of search and find out and watch on, you know, VHS and like trade with your friends.

• 23:09Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 23:10Amy Poehler?

  Did you have shows here in the States that you didn't know about or didn't watch? That you had to kind of catch up and know about once you started becoming?

• 23:19Speaker 05

  Weirdly, sort of SNL, which is a, you know. It's like a little comedy heaven. I didn't know about that for so long.

• 23:27Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 23:28Speaker 05

  Because I don't think it was shown on television in the UK.

• 23:31Amy Poehler?

  It was not, no.

• 23:31Speaker 05

  And it was only funny friends who were obsessed with it and went, what? Why, what is it? And then started to look at it.

• 23:39Amy Poehler?

  Because this is pre-internet, like we couldn't Google anything. We didn't have this high-tech stuff that I have. I have a laptop on my.

• 23:45Speaker 05

  Yeah. That's very cool.

• 23:47Amy Poehler?

  And I can type in anything, anything you want to know.

• 23:49Speaker 05

  Oh, my God.

• 23:51Amy Poehler?

  You want to know the recipe to something? But yeah, but you couldn't clip anything you couldn't watch anything. So I remember watching like Alan Partridge, all this stuff on VHS. But 10 years after it was on.

• 24:01Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, well, it's the same. We got, and we still have, which I love. Every weekday morning on Channel 4, they have, starts with Cheers, then King of Queens, then Everybody Loves Raymond, then Friends. Uh, no, sorry, Frasier.

• 24:16Amy Poehler?

  Same four shows?

• 24:17Speaker 05

  Yeah. I love it.

• 24:20Amy Poehler?

  Oh, my God, Cheers.

• 24:21Speaker 05

  Oh, my God.

• 24:21Amy Poehler?

  How good is Cheers? How good is that show?

• 24:24Speaker 05

  Oh, it's so good. Ted Danson at his hottest best.

• 24:28Amy Poehler?

  And Sam and Diane, the, I mean, actually, there's a, we'll get to your film, The Roses, but there's a lot of that kind of, like, that kind of back and forth repartee of, I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you. It's so satisfying.

• 24:44Speaker 05

  So good.

• 24:45Amy Poehler?

  And when they kissed for the first time and millions watched. I know. And, and also that.

• 24:51Speaker 05

  Lovely Woody.

• 24:52Amy Poehler?

  I loved Woody. And he, and, and Woody, who had the hardest job in the world because he took over for Coach.

• 24:59Speaker 05

  Oh, yes, of course.

• 25:01Amy Poehler?

  Yes, who was an amazing character.

• 25:03Speaker 05

  And beloved.

• 25:04Amy Poehler?

  Sadly passed away year one or two and you thought, well, they're just.

• 25:07Speaker 05

  Can't cover that, yeah.

• 25:08Amy Poehler?

  And then they bring in Woody.

• 25:10Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 25:11Amy Poehler?

  Who just crushes it. And then the pilot of Cheers, if you've ever read, is just a perfectly written pilot. And we, and me and Mike Scher, the creator of Parks and Rec, used to talk about it all the time. Because you have like seven characters you have to, you know, service really fast.

• 25:26Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 25:27Amy Poehler?

  And it's such a good pilot. I love that show.

• 25:29Speaker 05

  Oh, my God, I've got to watch the pilot. I'm going to find it.

• 25:31Amy Poehler?

  It's so good. And the ending of Cheers.

• 25:34Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 25:35Amy Poehler?

  Okay, everyone loves Raymond, Frasier, and what was the other one?

• 25:41Speaker 05

  King of Queens.

• 25:42Amy Poehler?

  King of Queens.

• 25:44Amy Poehler?

  And you're like, what is this Queens? What do I need to know about Queens?

• 25:47Speaker 05

  Queens, I've got no idea what that is. But he is king of it.

• 25:54Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, there was so, there was a few things that came over to us, but not a lot. You know, it took me, and Sketch was one. Like, I didn't know about French and Saunders until 10 years after. You know, then everyone, same, like funny people. And I was meeting funny people and they were talking about shows that I had like, had to research. But I just think it's very interesting because that, we're, we are, we are so alike, but our comedy was very specific and different.

• 26:23Speaker 05

  We had the premiere last night in New York of The Roses. And then we got London premiere on Thursday. And lots of, I wonder if audiences will laugh at different things. And I feel like that's not true anymore.

• 26:34Amy Poehler?

  I agree, yeah. I don't think that's true.

• 26:36Speaker 05

  No, I think we all totally understand each other.

• 26:38Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 26:38Speaker 05

  We'll find the same shit funny.

• 26:39Amy Poehler?

  We were laughing, we, when we were preparing for this interview, we were saying like how, you know, it is true, we believe that the Brits are smarter. They just sound smarter.

• 26:49Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 26:49Amy Poehler?

  They do.

• 26:50Speaker 05

  That's not true.

• 26:50Amy Poehler?

  I know. And you know what taught us? Love Island.

• 26:55Speaker 05

  I've said, that's the first time I've ever been grateful to Love Island.

• 26:59Amy Poehler?

  They taught us that.

• 27:00Speaker 05

  Because I can see people look disappointed when I open my mouth and I go, oh, you think I'm clever? I'm really no, but thank God, Love Island.

• 27:06Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, Love Island really leveled the playing field. We were like, I see, okay, we're all the same.

• 27:17Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by American Airlines. You'd think sitting on a plane with just a couple of hours between you and your vacation would be reward enough. But American Airlines said, what if we gave them even more? With the American Airlines Advantage Program, you earn miles not only when you fly, but with thousands of your favorite brands. And then redeem those miles for flights, upgrades, and experiences worldwide. That, and Advantage members also enjoy earlier boarding and free high-speed Wi-Fi in-flight. Join for free and start earning towards your next adventure at aa.com/amy.

• 27:55Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by AutoTrader. If car shopping feels like a whole thing, buying your car online on AutoTrader makes it way easier, really. Shop tons of cars online, compare prices, check financing and trade-in options from wherever you are. Start online, test drive at the dealer and finish wherever works for you. Your info stays with you, so there's no starting over. Plus, you're working with local dealers with real people there to help. Buy your car online on AutoTrader, really. This episode is brought to you by CarMax. Okay, hear me out. When CarMax says that you can buy your way, they really mean it. Shop for cars from your sofa, the subway, the hair salon, wherever. And the price you see is the price you pay.

• 28:40Amy Poehler?

  No negotiating, no last-minute surprises. Plus, every car is CarMax certified and backed by a 10-day money-back guarantee, so you can shop and buy with confidence. It's all about what works for you. Want to drive? CarMax. Shop now at carmax.com. This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking which group chat you're typing in before hitting send? Next thing you know, you've sent a scalding hot take about the restaurant to the group with the person who picked it. Yikes. Yeah, checking first is a good idea, so check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability.

• 29:24Amy Poehler?

  Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.

• 29:32Amy Poehler?

  But a show that I've since now seen that I didn't know at the time was Bruiser. Which was like your first-

• 29:37Speaker 05

  God, you've seen Bruiser?

• 29:38Amy Poehler?

  Well, I've seen clips of Bruiser.

• 29:40Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 29:41Amy Poehler?

  But Bruiser was like your first sketch show?

• 29:44Speaker 05

  First-ever job, my first job.

• 29:45Amy Poehler?

  First-ever job.

• 29:46Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 29:46Amy Poehler?

  And that was, how old were you? What year was that?

• 29:49Speaker 05

  It was my last year of drama school. I have a weird thing where I can't do dates.

• 29:53Amy Poehler?

  Same.

• 29:53Speaker 05

  So I know I did my A-levels in 1992 because I had to say it so often.

• 29:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 29:58Speaker 05

  But beyond that, I'm not entirely sure what happened.

• 30:00Amy Poehler?

  So in the 90s-

• 30:01Speaker 05

  In the 90s.

• 30:02Amy Poehler?

  Bruiser comes out.

• 30:03Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 30:04Amy Poehler?

  And it's you and David and-

• 30:06Speaker 05

  David Mitchell, Rob Webb, Martin Freeman.

• 30:09Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm, yeah, that's right.

• 30:10Speaker 05

  Charlotte Hudson.

• 30:11Amy Poehler?

  And that's just like sketches and you're all look like babies? And you're all doing like-

• 30:17Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:18Amy Poehler?

  Fun, dumb sketches.

• 30:19Speaker 05

  God, I haven't seen it. I bet lots of it's terrible.

• 30:22Amy Poehler?

  Well, sketch is

• 30:23Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:24Amy Poehler?

  I mean eighty percent bad.

• 30:25Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 30:26Amy Poehler?

  I mean, like, the batting averages.

• 30:27Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 30:27Amy Poehler?

  You have just, like, hope for a couple of winners.

• 30:29Speaker 05

  Well, Mitchell and Webb have just done a new sketch show.

• 30:32Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 30:32Speaker 05

  And sketch shows just haven't happened for a long time.

• 30:35Amy Poehler?

  I know, I know. I know, I think about that a lot. I mean, for me, the best last sketch show other than SNL that I've seen is Key and Peele. Did you watch Key and Peele?

• 30:45Speaker 05

  My boys were talking about that.

• 30:46Amy Poehler?

  I think that the Brits don't know about Key and Peele as much, but that was a big show over here. Um, and they were just, like, deeply funny and good, like, they were really, really good.

• 30:56Speaker 05

  Find that.

• 30:57Amy Poehler?

  Okay, and so then, um, okay, but then

• 31:02Amy Poehler?

  there's this, there's all this stuff you do between, you know, Broadchurch, basically. There's all this, because that Broadchurch for us is really, I think, when we really start to get to know you. I remember you from your little moment on The Office, because I, the UK Office, because I was obsessed with the UK Office. And, and the, the, um, the picture moment with David and just, and with Ricky. But we get to really know you and you and David at the same time.

• 31:30Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah, lovely DT.

• 31:32Amy Poehler?

  Lovely. Tell me about your relation, you guys are buddies.

• 31:34Speaker 05

  Oh, I love David Tennant.

• 31:36Amy Poehler?

  I know, he seems so, I'd love to meet him.

• 31:38Speaker 05

  Nice, you'd love him.

• 31:40Amy Poehler?

  Tell me why he's so great.

• 31:42Speaker 05

  He is, oh, there's nothing asshole-y about him at all. And he, we simply just would sit and talk about, we'd do farts in the police car. And he'd go, oh, Jesus Christ, call here, oh, and, and he was just like a buddy. And we'd tell stories and he, he wanted to be at home with his, you know, wife and family and I wanted to be at home.

• 32:08Amy Poehler?

  Yes, isn't that the best when you work with people who want to be at home?

• 32:12Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 32:12Amy Poehler?

  Love it.

• 32:13Speaker 05

  Let's get this done.

• 32:13Amy Poehler?

  Let's get this done.

• 32:14Speaker 05

  Get it done early, you're afraid he'd get home, get the fuck off about home. And, oh, and also he was so, always knew his lines, was always on it, always just, just beautiful at his fingertips. And then, uh, you know, when the A.D. comes to knock on the door, I could, we both, we had a two, two-way. It's not as rude as it sounds, you know, the van with, and also our loos were back to back. And I could go, David, are you in there? He'd go, stop, listen to me.

• 32:43Speaker 05

  I'm doing the same with you. And but when the A D would come and knock on doors, say it's time, we would try and race each other. He would always didn't want to delay anyone. He was never late.

• 32:52Amy Poehler?

  My favorite.

• 32:53Speaker 05

  Love and just gorgeous. Everybody loved him, but just real and.

• 32:59Amy Poehler?

  It proves my point, Olivia. I've said before, I find that for the most part, with the exception of a few eccentric, original performers, the most talented people are often the most professional, like they're the easiest to work with.

• 33:14Speaker 05

  And I've been so lucky to work with two of my gods, Meryl Streep and Anthony Hopkins. They never would have kept anyone waiting.

• 33:23Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 33:24Speaker 05

  And then you learn from that. You go, see.

• 33:26Amy Poehler?

  No, and they set such a tone.

• 33:28Speaker 05

  Yes. And they are polite to everyone. They know everyone's name. They know their job. They know their lines. They're always on time.

• 33:34Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I have a in any profession, I do have a theory that like people that are acting out of fear or afraid that this is their last good idea. Or that, you know, a lot of people act out for a lot of reasons.

• 33:44Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 33:44Amy Poehler?

  But.

• 33:46Speaker 05

  And I do understand that.

• 33:47Amy Poehler?

  I do too. And as I get older, also people just work differently. But the professional part, when you meet your hero and they also are that way, it's just the best.

• 33:56Speaker 05

  It's so important.

• 33:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 33:58Speaker 05

  And just a friend recently did a show and I don't want to sort of. There are some of the younger people.

• 34:06Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 34:06Speaker 05

  Who I don't know where it comes from, but.

• 34:09Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 34:10Speaker 05

  If they have a little bit of a cold, they won't do the show.

• 34:12Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 34:12Speaker 05

  And I don't understand.

• 34:14Amy Poehler?

  Right.

• 34:15Speaker 05

  When we were told.

• 34:16Amy Poehler?

  This is very Gen X of us. You know that.

• 34:18Speaker 05

  I'm aware that I'm doing that.

• 34:20Amy Poehler?

  Same, which is the way.

• 34:22Speaker 05

  I don't think it's their fault, but someone has told them wrong.

• 34:25Amy Poehler?

  Well, okay, let's get into this because.

• 34:28Speaker 05

  Oh, no.

• 34:28Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 34:29Speaker 05

  I'm gonna be cancelled.

• 34:30Amy Poehler?

  No, I agree, and I'm trying to work on it because here's the two things.

• 34:35Amy Poehler?

  I think that we were sold a productivity myth.

• 34:38Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 34:39Amy Poehler?

  Right? Like hustle, hustle, hustle.

• 34:40Speaker 05

  Okay, yeah.

• 34:41Amy Poehler?

  And it's really ingrained in us. Like, there's no way I would have ever called in sick. I mean, I remember doing a scene with Alec Baldwin for a movie and I had like a hundred and four temperature. And I had, we had to cry.

• 34:53Speaker 05

  Hate that parasitimal.

• 34:54Amy Poehler?

  And I was like, I was on another planet. And he was like, wherever you are, stay there. Perfect. And I was like, I am in, I'm in a fever dream. I have a hundred and four. And I remember just being completely, but never in a million years, ever would I have not.

• 35:08Speaker 05

  See, retrospect potentially maybe was a day to not be at work.

• 35:11Amy Poehler?

  Potentially, yeah. Potentially not a good choice.

• 35:13Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 35:13Amy Poehler?

  So I kind of understand that this idea of like, maybe take care of yourself, Gen Xers, a little bit more than you did and not pressure everybody to hustle. But perhaps we've overcorrected.

• 35:25Speaker 05

  I think there's a happy medium, isn't there?

• 35:27Amy Poehler?

  Agreed.

• 35:27Speaker 05

  But a little bit of a tickle in the bracket. And you go, I don't think I can, that's, I don't think that's okay.

• 35:35Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 35:36Speaker 05

  I've had pneumonia twice, never missed a day of work while filming.

• 35:39Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 35:39Speaker 05

  But also potentially stupid.

• 35:41Amy Poehler?

  You've had pneumonia while filming?

• 35:43Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 35:45Amy Poehler?

  You're my kind of gal.

• 35:46Speaker 05

  Thank you.

• 35:47Amy Poehler?

  I never missed one day of work on Parks and Rec. I did a hundred and twenty shows. Fuck, yeah. And that's weird. And people think that's a weird statistic. Because they're like, well, okay, maybe, maybe not something to brag about. And I'm like, is it not?

• 36:03Speaker 05

  I think it is.

• 36:04Amy Poehler?

  I agree. But perhaps I was setting an example that what, you know, there's, there's, there's, both are true. Both are true. But I know what you mean. I love, I just love a pro. I love a nice pro.

• 36:18Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 36:19Amy Poehler?

  Because a working environment should be, it's just hard enough to just do life. It's hard enough to do life.

• 36:28Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 36:28Amy Poehler?

  Without somebody being difficult and.

• 36:30Speaker 05

  Yeah. And we're lucky to have the work.

• 36:33Amy Poehler?

  Beyond.

• 36:34Speaker 05

  You know, don't, don't be sort of overly cocky with that.

• 36:38Amy Poehler?

  Yes, agree. And Broadchurch?

• 36:41Amy Poehler?

  It makes sense to me that you and David loved each other because you can really feel it in the show. Like, it's just, you feel like true partners in that show.

• 36:49Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 36:50Amy Poehler?

  And even though in the show, you're getting to be partners, but there was such a feeling of mutual respect on that.

• 36:57Speaker 05

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 36:58Amy Poehler?

  It was so good. And what was it like to have that blow up? It was a huge hit.

• 37:02Speaker 05

  Yes, that was very odd. Because no one knew who had done it. That was what they wanted. Although, when I went for my first audition, my sort of meet with the producers, and I said, "Who did it?" And they told me. And I went, "Oh." And cried. And they went, "That's great, that's all you want." And then, on the way home, 20 minutes after I'd left, they phoned and went, "Can you pretend that we didn't tell you? We've realized, we don't want anyone to know. We want it to..." I went, "Oh, okay." So I had to lie. And David was so cross with me. One day, his agent accidentally let slip, right near the end of months of filming, and he flew onto my van and went, "You fucking didn't tell me." And I knew what he meant, unless I couldn't look at him.

• 37:46Amy Poehler?

  Oh, because he didn't know either?

• 37:47Speaker 05

  He didn't know. No one knew.

• 37:49Amy Poehler?

  Oh, wow. But you knew. What a burden to carry that secret.

• 37:52Speaker 05

  You had faces, you know, all the 10 by 8 faces in the makeup van, and everyone was putting a sticker on who they thought it was. And I was also going, "Is it? That might be me." And I was trying to... Terrible at lying.

• 38:03Amy Poehler?

  Wow, so you were reading the scripts in real time, basically?

• 38:06Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 38:07Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's very fun.

• 38:08Speaker 05

  It was really fun.

• 38:09Amy Poehler?

  And what a great way to be able to... And kind of what a bummer that you knew, because you would have been, you know, like everyone else, but you had that secret.

• 38:18Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 38:19Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's fun.

• 38:20Speaker 05

  It was fun.

• 38:21Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's good.

• 38:22Speaker 05

  But David, yeah, said, "You're happy if you didn't tell me."

• 38:23Amy Poehler?

  And you're like, "I'm a pro, babe."

• 38:25Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 38:26Amy Poehler?

  "I'm a pro."

• 38:27Speaker 05

  And also, I'd lied so much, I'd almost forgotten that I knew.

• 38:29Amy Poehler?

  Do you think you would be good convincing... Are you a good liar? Like, do you think you'd be...

• 38:36Speaker 05

  Without a script, I'm appalling.

• 38:43Amy Poehler?

  I don't know. I think I'm okay. Like, I think sometimes, could I convince a jury? Like, if I...

• 38:48Speaker 05

  Oh, wow, that's an excellent...

• 38:50Amy Poehler?

  Could you convince a jury? I feel like I could convince a jury.

• 38:52Speaker 05

  That you didn't do it?

• 38:53Amy Poehler?

  Yes. I feel like...

• 38:55Speaker 05

  As long as my kids weren't in the jury, I think I'd be fine.

• 38:58Amy Poehler?

  Your kids would know.

• 38:59Speaker 05

  They go, "You totally did it." Oh, I don't know, suddenly...

• 39:02Amy Poehler?

  Do you have a tell when you lie? I'm sure I do, too. I'd like someone to tell me what it is so I can work on it.

• 39:08Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 39:09Amy Poehler?

  But I think I overexplain. I think I say too many things.

• 39:13Speaker 05

  Oh, you know when you watch Traitors?

• 39:16Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 39:16Speaker 05

  Oh, I love it when, I love it when they ask someone something, they go, "What?" They have to...

• 39:21Amy Poehler?

  They say, "What?" Because they're stalling.

• 39:23Speaker 05

  They, yeah, and they do it subconsciously. It's amazing. They always do it.

• 39:27Amy Poehler?

  Have you ever watched any of those body language things where they show, you know, if you look up to the right? Or if you touch your...

• 39:32Speaker 05

  What's that? One's like, one's recalling information, one's lying.

• 39:35Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 39:36Speaker 05

  Yeah, I can't remember which one it is.

• 39:37Amy Poehler?

  Or if you touch your face, or like, or your neck.

• 39:39Speaker 05

  Oh, God, I'm doing all of it.

• 39:39Amy Poehler?

  I know. If you touch your neck, it's because you're about to say a lie, all these kind of small...

• 39:43Speaker 05

  Wow.

• 39:44Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, all these small things. It, I, that is, I love when people stall, and so, and you go...

• 39:51Speaker 05

  It's so good, isn't it?

• 39:52Amy Poehler?

  What did you say? Yeah.

• 39:52Speaker 05

  Sorry, what? I'm so sorry, didn't it? What?

• 39:56Amy Poehler?

  Didn't hear you.

• 39:59Amy Poehler?

  But I also get sweaty when you have to play those games. Have you ever played that game Mafia?

• 40:03Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 40:04Amy Poehler?

  I don't like that game.

• 40:05Speaker 05

  I love it.

• 40:06Amy Poehler?

  You love it?

• 40:06Speaker 05

  I love it.

• 40:07Amy Poehler?

  Okay, because?

• 40:09Speaker 05

  We play it almost every night on holiday.

• 40:11Amy Poehler?

  Ooh.

• 40:12Speaker 05

  And we've discovered as well, any parents that get killed, it's always their kids that have done it. Always. Or spouse.

• 40:22Amy Poehler?

  Yep.

• 40:23Speaker 05

  And, uh, yeah. One family that we go on holiday with every year, their kids are terrifying at it.

• 40:29Amy Poehler?

  Really good.

• 40:30Speaker 05

  Oh, they're so good. And the youngest one got so cross with everyone accusing her, that we went, "Of course, she's not, she's... She was overexplaining. She's doing what you say."

• 40:39Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 40:39Speaker 05

  Just, "I'm not, I literally, I had to move because, really angry." And she's only 13, and she was, we were, "Oh, God, no, she's probably not, just, maybe don't, give her a chance." She was absolutely killing everyone.

• 40:49Amy Poehler?

  She was a murderer.

• 40:50Speaker 05

  Doing that at night when everyone had their eyes closed, killing.

• 40:54Amy Poehler?

  Amazing.

• 40:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 40:55Amy Poehler?

  I get very stressed, I get very giggly when I get accused, and very stressed. And also...

• 41:05Amy Poehler?

  I feel, I feel like I maybe, I feel like I act the same when I'm the murderer or not, but I must not. But I don't think I would pass a lie detector test. Let me just say that.

• 41:13Speaker 05

  Yeah, I don't think I would.

• 41:14Amy Poehler?

  I would, my heart would beat.

• 41:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 41:16Amy Poehler?

  But I think I could, I could win over a jury.

• 41:18Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 41:18Amy Poehler?

  I think I would say, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, why would I want to kill my spouse? Or whatever. And I'd be able to cry. You're a good crier and you love to cry.

• 41:30Speaker 05

  I do.

• 41:32Speaker 05

  It's one of my, one of my great skills. Well, in everyday life, I don't cry so much.

• 41:38Amy Poehler?

  Do you have, do you have tricks for crying?

• 41:41Speaker 05

  No, if it's sad, I'll cry.

• 41:42Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 41:43Speaker 05

  If the script is sad. So Broadchurch.

• 41:47Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 41:47Speaker 05

  To come, um, that first day, it was filmed chronologically, which was just a gift.

• 41:53Amy Poehler?

  Amazing.

• 41:54Speaker 05

  But they were saying, no, she's a police officer. She's probably a little harder than that with. I absolutely, there's no way. It's just, I'm sorry, I can't. This is a dead child. And so, oh, they make me, so it's that.

• 42:07Speaker 05

  If it's good script, it's impossible not to.

• 42:11Amy Poehler?

  But in your life, you're not the biggest crier?

• 42:13Speaker 05

  Really? Oh, in The Crown as well, there was this, because the Queen famously is, was able to be there for other people and not cry. And I couldn't do it. So there's a scene where Helena Bonham Carter is telling me about Aberfan, which is, was a terrible, terrible thing that happened.

• 42:30Amy Poehler?

  Terrible.

• 42:30Speaker 05

  And I couldn't.

• 42:31Amy Poehler?

  Beautiful episode.

• 42:31Speaker 05

  Hear her. Yeah, it was beautifully, beautifully done. But I couldn't hear her talking about it without crying.

• 42:36Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 42:36Speaker 05

  And they kept going, okay, no.

• 42:39Amy Poehler?

  No crying.

• 42:39Speaker 05

  Cut, no. No, I can't. So the sound department gave me an earpiece and I listened to the shipping forecast.

• 42:47Speaker 05

  So in the, in my ear, I was hearing, south at Sira, north at Sira, where the fur are middling. And I was just listening to that and zoning out while Helena, Helena said, I can't believe our first scene together. And you're not actually listening to me.

• 43:02Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 43:03Speaker 05

  And that's really, that's a good tip, though.

• 43:04Amy Poehler?

  That's a great tip.

• 43:05Speaker 05

  Listen to something else. Don't listen to your actor friend.

• 43:08Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I always say half of acting is like just keeping your face still, which is almost impossible for me to do, but it is.

• 43:14Speaker 05

  Yeah, me too. Botox helps enormously.

• 43:18Amy Poehler?

  But the way in which everyone just projects everything on your still face.

• 43:21Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 43:22Amy Poehler?

  You and Helena in The Crown are, I mean, so wonderful. And I know you're really good friends, too.

• 43:28Speaker 05

  I know, yeah.

• 43:29Amy Poehler?

  And did you meet on that show?

• 43:30Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, we did.

• 43:31Amy Poehler?

  You had never worked together before.

• 43:32Speaker 05

  No. I think we'd met once at a do. And I'd sort of curtsied to her and, uh, and, yes, she's just lovely.

• 43:45Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I know people have asked about meeting the Queen and, and playing the Queen, but separate from the actual Queen, the character of that woman

• 43:55Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 43:56Amy Poehler?

  is so interesting.

• 43:58Speaker 05

  I know, fascinating.

• 43:59Amy Poehler?

  You know, forget, you know, I know you're playing a version of, of, of real person and you're playing a real person, but just the, the legacy of that, like, just one, just the idea of one life

• 44:14Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 44:14Amy Poehler?

  spanning that much.

• 44:16Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 44:16Amy Poehler?

  It's so amazing.

• 44:17Speaker 05

  It's, I totally agree. It's an extraordinary, literally, well, most people, there's someone else in the world who has a similar experience. No one.

• 44:26Amy Poehler?

  No one.

• 44:27Speaker 05

  That's one person standing on their own.

• 44:29Amy Poehler?

  I know.

• 44:30Speaker 05

  Sitting every week to various prime ministers and listening to them.

• 44:33Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 44:34Speaker 05

  Having the, hearing everything.

• 44:36Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm.

• 44:37Speaker 05

  And just having to keep it together.

• 44:38Amy Poehler?

  Such a practice in restraint, just some life of restraint.

• 44:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 44:43Amy Poehler?

  And, and also, to your point, being around while everyone else comes and goes.

• 44:46Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 44:47Amy Poehler?

  Being the constant while, I mean, I loved the way that that show took on the width and breadth of that life.

• 44:56Speaker 05

  The Crown. That person is the Crown.

• 44:58Amy Poehler?

  And the way you take it from Claire, that you take over that moment when you show up in seasons two, uh, three, four?

• 45:07Speaker 05

  Three or four, yeah.

• 45:09Amy Poehler?

  When you show up and we think, oh, Olivia is now the Queen, like. It's exhilarating.

• 45:16Speaker 05

  Terrifying, following on from Claire.

• 45:18Amy Poehler?

  Was it?

• 45:19Speaker 05

  Yeah, because I loved it. It was so highly advertised that I didn't want to like it. In that sort of.

• 45:24Amy Poehler?

  Totally. Yeah, everyone likes it. Okay, no, thanks.

• 45:28Speaker 05

  And then I accidentally watched it with one eye open and went, oh, no, I love it. Love Claire.

• 45:34Amy Poehler?

  So good.

• 45:34Speaker 05

  Couldn't stop watching her.

• 45:36Amy Poehler?

  Mm hmm.

• 45:36Speaker 05

  And so then, yeah, got the, got a call to that they would like to meet you for, I think my agent said, for the Queen. And I thought that was the play. And, and, oh. And she said, no, no, I didn't mean that. I didn't mean that. Meant the crown. And I, and I went, oh, my God, yeah, fuck, yeah, absolutely. Yes, please. And she said, I think you're not meant to say that yet. She meant to just wait and.

• 45:56Amy Poehler?

  Play cool. Put your sunglasses on.

• 45:58Speaker 05

  Yeah, trying to be cool.

• 45:59Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:00Speaker 05

  So I was such a huge fan of it.

• 46:02Amy Poehler?

  Yes, yes, and.

• 46:04Speaker 05

  Also, it came at the point where I just spent all my tax money.

• 46:07Amy Poehler?

  So you're like, let's go, let's go. And, um, did you, uh, did you talk to Claire? Did you talk to Claire? Were you, did you two talk about like handing off the tort, you know, handing?

• 46:19Speaker 05

  So someone said, it might be a good idea. If you want to, we can give you Claire's number.

• 46:22Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:22Speaker 05

  And so I, I did speak to Claire and said, really, honestly, truthfully, it's a long commitment, a long job. Um, and she went, I've absolutely fucking loved it.

• 46:31Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:32Speaker 05

  It's a happy job and everyone's nice.

• 46:35Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 46:36Speaker 05

  Okay, that's great.

• 46:37Amy Poehler?

  I mean, there is a whisper network among actresses, especially, I think, when you're gonna try to take a job, when you're lucky enough to have the choice to take a job.

• 46:45Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 46:45Amy Poehler?

  Where you call other people to say, should I, is this okay?

• 46:50Speaker 05

  I love that code as well. And amongst, we do go, I, or, or there's a, the word tricky. They can be tricky. Uh, I got on quite well with them, but I know that some other people do so sort of politely, letting you know, maybe this isn't a simple decision.

• 47:07Amy Poehler?

  Another code is like, well, the hours can be kind of long, which is a code for the directors a little unorganized.

• 47:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 47:15Amy Poehler?

  Like, I think that's.

• 47:16Speaker 05

  And the scripts aren't ready.

• 47:17Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. And the scripts can come in a little late. And I cried a few times, but, um, as far as the job, yeah. And Helena and you, I just, I just want to stay there for one second because I love watching you work with everyone, but I especially love watching you work with other. Super talented women and you've worked with a lot of really great women.

• 47:40Speaker 05

  I'm really lucky, yeah.

• 47:42Amy Poehler?

  You just who, when you meet each other on screen.

• 47:45Speaker 05

  I love women.

• 47:46Amy Poehler?

  Me too.

• 47:47Speaker 05

  I mean.

• 47:48Amy Poehler?

  It's honestly hard to work with men.

• 47:52Amy Poehler?

  I'm so sorry, I'm sure it was easy with Benedict, but like, I mean, we have to, but fuck.

• 47:57Speaker 05

  I know.

• 47:58Amy Poehler?

  It's hard.

• 47:58Speaker 05

  Best, I'm like, just not as good.

• 48:00Amy Poehler?

  It's just not as good.

• 48:04Amy Poehler?

  I do too, I love working with women and I can tell you do too.

• 48:07Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 48:08Amy Poehler?

  Who are some women that you've worked with that you just went, Helena, I'm sure there's one, but like.

• 48:11Speaker 05

  Helena.

• 48:12Amy Poehler?

  Who that you just worked with and you said, oh, I'm gonna have the best time.

• 48:14Speaker 05

  I mean, Jodie Whittaker on Broadchurch, Helena in The Crown, and Marion, who played the Queen Mother on The Crown.

• 48:22Amy Poehler?

  Oh, loved her.

• 48:24Speaker 05

  Loved her.

• 48:26Speaker 05

  Almost, I always take a good girlfriend with me from almost every job.

• 48:30Amy Poehler?

  What do you mean? Like who?

• 48:33Speaker 05

  Well, Helly, Jodie is now godmother to my youngest. We had our youngest at the same time while on Broadchurch. And Phoebe, Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And Amy Morgan, who you probably won't have heard of, but I think she's extraordinary and we went doing a play. And so there's always one, and on The Roses, there's Zoe, Sunita.

• 48:55Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 48:55Speaker 05

  I mean, Alison, Jenny.

• 48:57Amy Poehler?

  And, and.

• 48:58Speaker 05

  Kate McKinnon.

• 48:59Amy Poehler?

  I'm, we have Kate coming in and Kate is such an.

• 49:02Speaker 05

  Is she coming in?

• 49:03Amy Poehler?

  She's coming to do this podcast.

• 49:04Speaker 05

  Tell me it's today while I'm here.

• 49:06Amy Poehler?

  It is.

• 49:08Speaker 05

  Are you lying?

• 49:08Amy Poehler?

  I'm not lying, but you're not, you're gonna be, you're not gonna be here. She's, you're, we're not gonna make you wait for Kate.

• 49:14Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 49:14Amy Poehler?

  Cause we have a little bit of a, you know, you gotta get on that plane.

• 49:17Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 49:17Amy Poehler?

  But you can leave, you wanna leave a note for her? Yeah, she's coming in today.

• 49:20Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 49:21Amy Poehler?

  And she's so, isn't she such a wild, interesting eccentric bird?

• 49:27Speaker 05

  She came, so we had a girls' trip to where I live in the countryside in, while we were filming. And Kate came along, she's the most fun.

• 49:35Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 49:35Speaker 05

  Grown up you've ever met. My daughter couldn't believe her luck.

• 49:39Amy Poehler?

  Yes, she is fun.

• 49:40Speaker 05

  She's fun. And she played, she was a, I think, a peahen or something for about three hours.

• 49:48Speaker 05

  So, fucking hell.

• 49:51Speaker 05

  It was amazing. My little girl's going.

• 49:57Amy Poehler?

  Phoebe, Fleabag, huge, another huge show.

• 50:02Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 50:03Amy Poehler?

  And, well, I mean.

• 50:04Speaker 05

  She's an amazing woman and she, no, she's brilliant at what she does and she works hard and she's really driven and kind to everybody and, yeah, just another fucking fantastic woman.

• 50:17Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 50:18Speaker 05

  And that first episode of the second season of Fleabag, which was with Andrew Scott and sitting around the dining, that restaurant table.

• 50:26Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 50:27Speaker 05

  Felt like the most brilliant play.

• 50:30Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 50:31Speaker 05

  And just that whole episode, one dinner scene.

• 50:34Amy Poehler?

  Mm.

• 50:34Speaker 05

  I just, I love the way she writes.

• 50:37Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 50:37Speaker 05

  And she gives everybody.

• 50:39Amy Poehler?

  So many good, I mean, you have also so many good jokes in that show.

• 50:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 50:43Amy Poehler?

  Great jokes.

• 50:43Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 50:44Amy Poehler?

  That character is hilarious and deeply disturbing.

• 50:47Speaker 05

  Yeah. And I got it wrong initially. I was playing her sort of quite evil.

• 50:51Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm.

• 50:52Speaker 05

  And I was getting, it's not what you meant, is it? She went, well, she is the most charming person in any room. She'll be vile to you and you sort of, thank you, sort of being grateful for the, you know.

• 51:08Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 51:09Speaker 05

  It's so vile.

• 51:10Amy Poehler?

  I mean, it's like, yeah, she's like the ultimate narcissist.

• 51:13Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 51:14Amy Poehler?

  And when you're that way, you're usually quite charming.

• 51:16Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 51:16Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, you're not usually, like, there's a way in which you draw people in and then you slowly kill them.

• 51:22Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 51:24Amy Poehler?

  And then, the, before we get to the roses, I just, I feel like there was this beautiful couple of years where America said.

• 51:38Speaker 05

  I've just realised, I just said how much I love women and I've just done a phone with Benedict.

• 51:42Amy Poehler?

  Well, but Benedict feels like he's sensitive enough that he counts.

• 51:45Speaker 05

  Oh, my God, he does. He really does. I feel awful. I just, I loved working with Benedict.

• 51:49Amy Poehler?

  Well, we're gonna talk about working with Benedict. He's gonna be fine.

• 51:52Speaker 05

  Okay, good, great.

• 51:53Amy Poehler?

  Benedict can handle it.

• 51:54Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 51:55Amy Poehler?

  He can handle it.

• 51:55Speaker 05

  And Andy was, I love Andy.

• 51:57Amy Poehler?

  Andy's fine.

• 51:57Speaker 05

  And Jamie.

• 51:58Amy Poehler?

  Of course, you love all the people. They know.

• 52:00Speaker 05

  I do, I do love the people.

• 52:01Amy Poehler?

  They know.

• 52:02Speaker 05

  Sorry to interrupt.

• 52:03Amy Poehler?

  No, no, not at all, but I'm not worried about Benedict.

• 52:05Speaker 05

  Okay, okay, good.

• 52:06Amy Poehler?

  He's so tall. We don't have to worry about him.

• 52:09Speaker 05

  No, he'll be fine.

• 52:10Amy Poehler?

  He will be fine.

• 52:11Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 52:13Amy Poehler?

  But no, but we will talk about that because but there was this like amazing couple of years where we got to see a lot of work being congratulated when you won that award, when you won the Academy Award, right? And you've won a lot of awards. And what I loved about that moment was what I felt in that moment, and tell me if I'm wrong, is that you probably feel about awards the same way I feel about awards, which is like lovely, but but like also who cares?

• 52:44Speaker 05

  Yeah, I don't know. That's an awkward thing. Yeah.

• 52:48Amy Poehler?

  OK, maybe I should say it less bluntly like.

• 52:50Speaker 05

  Well, I I feel like, oh, my God, it's it is the most lovely. If your peers have said.

• 52:57Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 52:58Speaker 05

  Seal of approval, there's nothing better.

• 53:00Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 53:01Speaker 05

  But I think also give yourself a few days to feel pretty thrilled with yourself.

• 53:07Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 53:08Speaker 05

  And then then forget it ever happened. Go back to work.

• 53:11Amy Poehler?

  That's right.

• 53:12Speaker 05

  Yeah. It was amazing and it might never happen again and weren't you lucky and now head down.

• 53:17Amy Poehler?

  I find that Brits in general accept awards really well because they do just that is which they they kind of like stay in the moment and say thank you and they're very polite. But also you can tell they're like, I can't let I can't internalize this or I'm in trouble.

• 53:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 53:33Amy Poehler?

  It is a little bit more American to be like, I made it to the top of the mountain and I'm here and I'm never getting off and I knew it and I and I got it and I went for it. But they're completely different feelings. But that your speech was, do you have a, you know, I know it's hard to like think about yourself and talk about yourself. It's always hard to talk about yourself. But do you have a do you have a sense of why that speech was so well received? It just was this like everyone felt very with you in that moment and it felt like really organic. What was your memories of getting up and giving that speech and, you know, like being inside of it? What did it feel like?

• 54:11Speaker 05

  So much I don't really remember.

• 54:12Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 54:13Speaker 05

  But just beforehand, I. In the build up to it, in the months, the build up, people going, kept saying Oscars. I go, stop it. And I got furious. It was all too scary, terrifying. Don't be ridiculous. And, and then on the evening, like 20 minutes before we were meant to go, my husband went, don't be cross, but just in case, I've just put some notes on a piece of paper. And he went out and went, this fucking wanker. Okay, that's quite a good thing to do. Okay. So he just said, just remember, if it happens to, to, no, say this or say that, say thank you. And, and so it was that I would have, well, I'm stuttering now. I would have been

• 54:54Speaker 05

  so useless. It was absolutely real and shocking. But if it wasn't for him, just, just take, just take five minutes, just in case, to think about it. I know.

• 55:04Amy Poehler?

  Writer, producer, director. He, he took care of you in that moment.

• 55:08Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 55:08Amy Poehler?

  General hottie. And also the moment you guys had was so sweet, too. I mean, you, you have a wonderful, long lasting marriage with Ed. And you met, where did you meet?

• 55:18Speaker 05

  In the town of Cambridge. He was at Cambridge.

• 55:21Amy Poehler?

  Olivia's crying a little bit.

• 55:22Speaker 05

  I see. Yeah.

• 55:25Speaker 05

  No, not. Yeah.

• 55:28Amy Poehler?

  You love Ed. He's your best friend. You called him your best friend. I love, love.

• 55:32Speaker 05

  He's my best friend and I fancy him. He was quite nice.

• 55:35Amy Poehler?

  Okay. How did you meet? You have his name?

• 55:38Speaker 05

  I do have his name. It's a bit like he's pissed on me that, but it was my choice.

• 55:43Amy Poehler?

  He just stamped it on you. Yeah. Okay. How did you meet?

• 55:46Speaker 05

  We met in a play rehearsal. And I'd gone to two of the rehearsals and there wasn't no one particularly fanciable there. And I think, oh, and then I walked in and I saw his left hand profile. And at the time, he was smoking a ciggy, his feet were crossed, and he's got this lovely bump in his nose. And I saw his side profile and went, oh God, I'm going to marry him.

• 56:12Amy Poehler?

  No.

• 56:13Speaker 05

  I had proper thunderbolts. That's him. That's him. Yeah. I know. Poor thing. He didn't know.

• 56:22Amy Poehler?

  And what does he say about it the first time he met you?

• 56:24Speaker 05

  Uh, he, he genuinely can't remember.

• 56:31Amy Poehler?

  That's so great. I mean, what is the secret to a long lasting relationship? Any tips, any advice?

• 56:37Speaker 05

  I don't know.

• 56:38Amy Poehler?

  Because you're making a movie about the opposite of that.

• 56:40Speaker 05

  Yes, that's true. Well, it's our 25th wedding anniversary next year.

• 56:44Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 56:45Speaker 05

  We've been together 31 years.

• 56:46Amy Poehler?

  Wow.

• 56:50Speaker 05

  I don't think it's, we're not big fighters, which apparently isn't very healthy.

• 56:54Amy Poehler?

  Okay, can we talk about this for a second? I agree. I see a lot of research that says you really should argue and fight.

• 57:03Amy Poehler?

  Okay, like, it feels so like, what if you're not, I mean, I don't, I'm not afraid of conflict, but I don't necessarily like want to search it out and.

• 57:12Speaker 05

  Yeah, I don't want to.

• 57:13Amy Poehler?

  And people that argue.

• 57:14Speaker 05

  And I do think that it is okay, we have learnt over these, but really late on, actually, to, sometimes if that was annoying, then just wait until it's, it doesn't work for everyone. I know that. And, but I think it's better to wait till the much calmer moment to go, can we talk about that moment? And I did find that a little weird and is that okay that I'm saying this? And yes, no, I was a bit cross that day. And okay, but good. Okay, I'm so pleased. Thank you.

• 57:49Amy Poehler?

  By far, that's the most British conversation I've ever heard.

• 57:54Speaker 05

  Yeah, nothing. Actually.

• 57:55Amy Poehler?

  No, no talking.

• 57:56Speaker 05

  Maggie Chilwell Hall stood, when we did The Lost Daughter.

• 58:00Amy Poehler?

  Beautiful movie.

• 58:01Speaker 05

  Ed, different Ed, was the costume designer and me, he's English and I'm English. And he was talking about a hat. And he said, I left the hat hat. I didn't know if he want. I went, oh, I see. I didn't know if, did you want me to wear it now? And he went, only if you like it. No, I do like it. I just wondered because it's, and this went on for 20 minutes. And Maggie, at the time it was COVID, she took her mask down and went, oh, my God. Nothing has been said. 20 minutes.

• 58:28Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 58:29Speaker 05

  Yeah. And I'd never realised it before that moment when she just.

• 58:35Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 58:36Speaker 05

  So that's how we argue.

• 58:37Amy Poehler?

  Hmm, and, and, okay, so it leads me really naturally into the film that, um, that's out right now with the great Benedict Cumberbatch. And, um, what a pro.

• 58:50Speaker 05

  Oh, my God.

• 58:51Amy Poehler?

  What a pro. And, you know, so I ask people before these, um, podcasts to give me a question to ask my guests, and we speak well behind their back, like I said. And, and he was, you know, of course, he's like, absolutely adores you, and you guys have never worked together before.

• 59:06Speaker 05

  No.

• 59:06Amy Poehler?

  Which is really interesting.

• 59:07Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 59:07Amy Poehler?

  Um, and like you, I think he's able to, he's shown that he's able to toggle between a bunch of different styles and genres. Also, it makes me think sometimes that, uh, you know, there maybe it's a bit more, uh, licensed to do that in, in, in the UK than the US. I don't know.

• 59:29Speaker 05

  What, to go between drama and comedy?

• 59:31Amy Poehler?

  Maybe. I'm thinking about it now because...

• 59:33Speaker 05

  You know, Emma Thompson and Kathy Burke, and we do have a line of, well, I'm just thinking of the women, but we do have a long line of, of people who've been allowed to do both.

• 59:43Amy Poehler?

  Well, I remember people talking about Hugh Laurie in house. Yeah. And it was like, you know Hugh Laurie started in, he's sketch.

• 59:49Speaker 05

  Sketch comedy.

• 59:50Amy Poehler?

  Sketch comedy.

• 59:50Speaker 05

  Yeah, yeah.

• 59:51Amy Poehler?

  Um, but, um, he was asking me, he asked a very, like, sweet actor question, which is basically like, he is in awe of you and what you can do. And he was like, is there anything you're afraid of?

• 1:00:03Speaker 05

  Acting wise?

• 1:00:05Amy Poehler?

  Well, I couldn't really tell.

• 1:00:06Speaker 05

  Oh.

• 1:00:07Amy Poehler?

  I couldn't really tell what he was, what the question was.

• 1:00:09Speaker 05

  Okay.

• 1:00:10Amy Poehler?

  But let's say, sure. Let's say acting wise.

• 1:00:14Speaker 05

  Uh, anything where I have to show any skin?

• 1:00:16Amy Poehler?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:00:16Speaker 05

  I don't like it.

• 1:00:17Amy Poehler?

  No, thank you.

• 1:00:18Speaker 05

  I don't, no, thank you.

• 1:00:19Amy Poehler?

  No, thanks.

• 1:00:19Speaker 05

  Or pretending to have sex with someone, I don't like it.

• 1:00:24Speaker 05

  I don't like it.

• 1:00:27Speaker 05

  I feel like I'm being on Facebook and it just feels a bit eh.

• 1:00:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:32Speaker 05

  Even when they go, you can wear your jeans and a cushion between you. I don't want to do that. That's not what I don't know. I don't mean that.

• 1:00:38Amy Poehler?

  The on screen, and by the way, bless the people that are good at it. The people that are good at it, I'm like, I'll watch it all day long.

• 1:00:47Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:00:48Amy Poehler?

  And they're comfy, but oh, an on-screen orgasm.

• 1:00:54Speaker 05

  No, absolutely not.

• 1:00:55Amy Poehler?

  Like, that's what you have to do that day. Like, that's tough.

• 1:00:59Speaker 05

  Thank God for intimacy coordinators.

• 1:01:01Amy Poehler?

  Absolutely.

• 1:01:02Speaker 05

  Eta O'Brien, who, she told me, and I was meant to orgasm, I went, oh, God, how do you do that? She said, imagine the sun is hitting your face.

• 1:01:12Amy Poehler?

  That was great.

• 1:01:13Speaker 05

  So just be given a, yes.

• 1:01:15Amy Poehler?

  And you just go like this?

• 1:01:16Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:01:19Amy Poehler?

  You just, you go, oh my God. Put your sunglasses on and you go.

• 1:01:26Speaker 05

  I should have done it like that.

• 1:01:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, okay. All right, well, you got your answer, Benedict. You got your answer. But what was it like working with him on the film?

• 1:01:37Speaker 05

  I loved working with him and he's, he sort of feels like one of life's innocents in a way. You know, because we had such fun, but when it started to get a little bit more cruel to each other, he did go, can we pause for a minute? Are we okay?

• 1:01:53Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:54Speaker 05

  Yes, Ben, it's pretend. It's all okay. And, you know, he's, he's so in it and it's just lovely. But I felt like I wanted to hold his hand a lot and go, it's, it's all, we're good, we're still friends.

• 1:02:09Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 1:02:09Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:02:10Amy Poehler?

  And, and.

• 1:02:10Speaker 05

  And it's lovely to work opposite him because he's absolutely feeling it. It's all instant.

• 1:02:14Amy Poehler?

  I bet. I mean, even just seeing the way in which you, the two, watching the two of you spar is, is really exciting. Cause it's two very good actors going really hard. And plus, there's just a ton of like dumb, physical stuff, which is so fun. Do you like doing that?

• 1:02:30Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:02:30Amy Poehler?

  No, me neither. I don't, I don't want to.

• 1:02:32Speaker 05

  I'm not very physical.

• 1:02:32Amy Poehler?

  I don't want to do any running or, yeah, I don't want to.

• 1:02:35Speaker 05

  But he is really good at that, which is great. So I just had the gun and he just ran around.

• 1:02:41Amy Poehler?

  And you're like, I think my character would sit.

• 1:02:42Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:02:44Amy Poehler?

  And then Jay Roach.

• 1:02:46Speaker 05

  Oh, my God.

• 1:02:46Amy Poehler?

  Isn't he a delight, the director? I love him.

• 1:02:49Speaker 05

  He, I love him.

• 1:02:50Amy Poehler?

  Same.

• 1:02:50Speaker 05

  And I felt bad for him every day because it was like trying to nail jelly to the wall, trying to get us all to stop giggling or stop.

• 1:02:58Amy Poehler?

  Doing bits and just joking.

• 1:03:00Speaker 05

  Also, he, how often does he hit his head?

• 1:03:04Amy Poehler?

  Oh, because he's so tall.

• 1:03:05Speaker 05

  And he wears a hat.

• 1:03:06Amy Poehler?

  Oh.

• 1:03:07Speaker 05

  As well, he doesn't see the booms and the lights and the crew ended up hanging sticky tape down from everything so that he was, he still did it 15 times a day.

• 1:03:16Amy Poehler?

  Oh, it's got to be some kind of psychological thing that he's doing.

• 1:03:20Speaker 05

  Yeah, he can't get across with us. He does headbutt things.

• 1:03:25Amy Poehler?

  And then, OK, we talked about Kate. You worked with Andy.

• 1:03:27Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:03:27Amy Poehler?

  OK, the movie is out. OK, and then my last question is, and then I ask everybody, and it's kind of like, like, the, the reason why I'm, I started doing this podcast genuinely was to try to, I don't know, make sense of this wicked world and find some solace in what everybody was doing to keep themselves laughing. What do you watch, read, do, what's making you laugh right now today, big or small?

• 1:04:03Amy Poehler?

  You know, a person, a video, a show, old or new, that you go to?

• 1:04:08Speaker 05

  The, the thing that makes me laugh more than anything, belly laugh, it doesn't happen often enough, is watching my husband fall over or hit his head.

• 1:04:17Amy Poehler?

  On purpose or by accident?

• 1:04:19Speaker 05

  By accident. I.

• 1:04:20Amy Poehler?

  You just love an accident.

• 1:04:22Speaker 05

  It literally makes me go weak. I collapsed. It's so good.

• 1:04:25Amy Poehler?

  Did you ever watch America's Funniest Home Videos? Have you ever seen that show?

• 1:04:29Speaker 05

  Oh, that's the sort of.

• 1:04:32Amy Poehler?

  Stand by.

• 1:04:32Speaker 05

  OK, I'm not going.

• 1:04:33Amy Poehler?

  Just one second for you though. We're going to get you on a plane.

• 1:04:35Speaker 05

  I've seen a clip recently where people just lie down with their.

• 1:04:37Amy Poehler?

  Have you seen this?

• 1:04:39Speaker 05

  So I'm turning around and Ed's lying down. You just see his head there and, and people go, ah! And they film, oh, that's, that's gorgeous.

• 1:04:48Amy Poehler?

  You love, do you like being pranked?

• 1:04:50Speaker 05

  I've got to do that, haven't I? Film Ed.

• 1:04:52Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 1:04:53Speaker 05

  OK, don't tell him. Don't tell him.

• 1:04:54Amy Poehler?

  Do you like, do you like being pranked?

• 1:04:56Speaker 05

  No.

• 1:04:57Amy Poehler?

  OK, because that's.

• 1:04:57Speaker 05

  No, someone makes me jump, I will punch them in the face.

• 1:04:59Amy Poehler?

  Me too. I don't like being surprised.

• 1:05:00Speaker 05

  I am fight, not flight.

• 1:05:02Amy Poehler?

  But you like when people get a tiny bit hurt?

• 1:05:04Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 1:05:07Amy Poehler?

  But they're fine, right? They have to jump up.

• 1:05:08Speaker 05

  As long as they're fine, as long as they're okay. I don't, if it looks like, oh god, that looks like...

• 1:05:13Amy Poehler?

  Sorry, sorry, sorry.

• 1:05:14Speaker 05

  Fun.

• 1:05:15Amy Poehler?

  Okay, let's watch just two minutes of this and we're gonna let you go.

• 1:05:18Speaker 05

  This is the best I ever had.

• 1:05:19Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I know what you mean. Okay, these kind of things.

• 1:05:22Speaker 05

  Do I need my glasses?

• 1:05:23Amy Poehler?

  We're watching in America's Funniest Home Videos. That person's, that person's stuck in the ceiling, so... That person doing something and they're, and she, she's stuck in the ceiling.

• 1:05:40Amy Poehler?

  Okay, that might have been too hard a fall.

• 1:05:43Speaker 05

  Have you seen, have you seen the two women trying to get into the window?

• 1:05:46Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah, oh, god.

• 1:05:48Speaker 05

  Oh, I wonder, that, that is...

• 1:05:51Amy Poehler?

  Let's watch the two women get, trying to get in the window.

• 1:05:53Speaker 05

  Oh, my god, yes.

• 1:05:53Amy Poehler?

  That is so fun.

• 1:05:54Speaker 05

  And the other one is no help at all outside, clearly trying not to piss herself, going...

• 1:06:00Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, when people start, when they're stuck and they start laughing, that does, two women trying to get into a window. Okay, here we go. Okay, okay, okay, okay, let's watch. Here we go, here we go. Okay, they're trying to get in the window and one of them is giving the other one a foot up.

• 1:06:19Speaker 05

  She's not wearing the right clothes for this, we know that already.

• 1:06:22Amy Poehler?

  She's wearing a, she's both barefoot? Here.

• 1:06:31Amy Poehler?

  Her shirt comes off. That's right, her shirt comes off.

• 1:06:35Speaker 05

  So she's upside down with these boobs which are now facing that way and her mate.

• 1:06:43Amy Poehler?

  And her, and her gloves come off and they're dying laughing. I mean, this is the kind of thing that Benny Hill told me would happen when I, and it did happen. It actually happened.

• 1:06:54Speaker 05

  Oh, my god, it's, that's, I love that.

• 1:06:57Amy Poehler?

  I do too, there's not, there's no better feeling and that makes me wanna watch that again.

• 1:07:03Speaker 05

  And hearing them weak, you know, when you can't speak.

• 1:07:06Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yes.

• 1:07:07Speaker 05

  I love it.

• 1:07:07Amy Poehler?

  And knowing that one person is peeing.

• 1:07:11Speaker 05

  And if the upside down woman was also peeing. Think of...

• 1:07:18Amy Poehler?

  Well, Olivia, I love you.

• 1:07:19Speaker 05

  I love you.

• 1:07:20Amy Poehler?

  I love that you came. Thank you so much for coming in what I know is a long press day. And if you want to leave a note for Kate, let me know.

• 1:07:28Speaker 05

  Oh, yes, please.

• 1:07:29Amy Poehler?

  And.

• 1:07:29Speaker 05

  Has Kate seen that?

• 1:07:31Amy Poehler?

  I'm gonna show it. She would enjoy that.

• 1:07:32Speaker 05

  Yeah, she's like that.

• 1:07:33Amy Poehler?

  She probably is like.

• 1:07:34Speaker 05

  We reenacted it.

• 1:07:35Amy Poehler?

  I was gonna say.

• 1:07:39Amy Poehler?

  Thank you so much.

• 1:07:40Speaker 05

  Oh, thank you. Thank you for having me.

• 1:07:42Amy Poehler?

  Of course.

• 1:07:42Speaker 05

  I want you to come and stay.

• 1:07:44Amy Poehler?

  Okay, can I come to your house, please? Thank you.

• 1:07:49Amy Poehler?

  Okay, today's Polar Plunge is presented by Visible. It's one-line wireless running on Verizon's 5G network. For great coverage and a reliable connection, make the switch at visible.com. Okay, for this Polar Plunge, I'm gonna say that everybody should check out a film that we briefly mentioned in this interview, The Lost Daughter. It is with Olivia Colman, directed beautifully by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and with the great Dakota Johnson, who came in here with her puppy just a little while ago to our show. Olivia and Dakota are so great together. It's such a meditation on motherhood. Jessie Buckley is so good in it. And it's just, you know, it's just one of those movies where you're like, damn.

• 1:08:31Amy Poehler?

  Those ladies are good at acting. That's what you say. You say, wow, those broads are good at acting. But check it out if you haven't seen it. It's a beautiful, beautiful film. But today's Polar Plunge was presented by Visible, the ultimate wireless hack. It's one-line wireless with unlimited data, hotspot talk and text, starting at $25 a month. Terms apply. See visible.com for plan features and network management details. Okay, that's the end of our show. Bye.

• 1:09:00Amy Poehler?

  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, Kaya McMullen, and Aleia Zaneras. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

• 1:09:25Amy Poehler?

  Folks, as we head into fall, we welcome yet another season of change. Changing leaves, refreshed wardrobes, and new routines. But one thing that doesn't need to change: your phone. The smartest upgrade this season isn't a new phone, it's a better wireless plan. Switch to Visible, the ultimate wireless hack. You get unlimited 5G data and unlimited hotspot powered by Verizon for just $25 a month. That means keeping the phone you already love, ditching your overpriced phone bill, and saving enough to get yourself a pumpkin spice all season long. All the perks of big wireless for half the cost. Switch today at visible.com. The Visible plan starts at $25 a month.

• 1:10:08Amy 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 Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking which group chat you're typing in before hitting send? Next thing you know, you sent a scalding hot take about the restaurant to the group with the person who picked it. Yikes. Yeah, checking first is a good idea, so check Allstate first for an auto quote. It could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions, and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.