Christina Ricci

Actress Christina Ricci feels pretty good about being Conan O’Brien’s friend. Christina sits down with Conan to discuss the feeling of foreboding that comes with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, striving to help her kids find their purpose, comparing notes with her younger counterpart on Yellowjackets, and more. Plus, Conan finally comes clean about his burner phone. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com. Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (669) 587-2847.

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

• 0:02Conan O'Brien?

  Who do you shop for first on the holidays, Sona? Was it, do you shop for the kids or do you shop for Tac?

• 0:06Speaker 01

  My kids.

• 0:07Conan O'Brien?

  Okay.

• 0:07Speaker 01

  Or Oki.

• 0:08Conan O'Brien?

  You gotta get them their stuff.

• 0:08Speaker 01

  Or my dog.

• 0:09Conan O'Brien?

  And then your husband is last. Well, guess what? It's that time of year. You feel that, you smell that, uh, that cinnamon cider in the air? Do you smell that?

• 0:18Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:19Conan O'Brien?

  And you see pumpkins around, people buying turkeys. A little early to buy a turkey.

• 0:24Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:24Conan O'Brien?

  Doesn't matter. Holidays? I would say it's just around the corner, but that's a cliche. It's, uh, very nearby in the cupboard. Well, guess what? Amazon delivers joy with low prices on the gifts you want, even this early in the season. So get ahead of the season. Shop early gifts, top picks, holiday decor, and advent calendars at low prices. Get ahead, start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday.

• 0:55Conan O'Brien?

  Now, Sona, clearly I'm a very important person to you.

• 0:57Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 0:58Conan O'Brien?

  Just accept the premise and we'll move ahead.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 1:00Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a very important person to you. What would you get me from Macy's for the holidays?

• 1:06Speaker 01

  Uh, vase.

• 1:07Conan O'Brien?

  No, I don't want a vase. I want something better.

• 1:10Speaker 01

  Uh, jacket.

• 1:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, nice jacket. I love a nice jacket.

• 1:13Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah, that jacket, nice jacket.

• 1:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, so now you have to do it, because you said you would.

• 1:15Speaker 01

  Aw, man, I didn't know you were doing that.

• 1:18Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I know the holidays, I know the holidays are months away, but it's never too early, Sona, to find gifts that I will love, gifts I will wear, and surprises that make the season unforgettable for me.

• 1:29Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:30Conan O'Brien?

  Macy's Gift Guide makes holiday shopping easy with beauty favorites, stylish fashion, jewelry, cozy essentials, must-have toys, home upgrades, and picks for every person on your list. Coach handbags, Breville appliances, Lego UG, and more, all in one place. You can skip the scrolling and shop with confidence. Shop now in-store or online at macy's.com/giftguide.

• 1:55Speaker 02

  Hi, my name is Christina Ricci.

• 2:00Speaker 02

  And I feel pretty good about being Conan O'Brien's friend. Oh, my God. I don't think pretty good is a bad thing, but I've had this argument with an ex-boyfriend who was like, "Why is qualifying good? It means it isn't that good."

• 2:10Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 2:11Speaker 02

  And I was like, "No, it's pretty good."

• 2:13Conan O'Brien?

  I'm falling right into the old boyfriend mode. Pretty good. What's wrong with, like, amazing, or really good, or just good?

• 2:19Speaker 02

  I feel fantastic.

• 2:20Conan O'Brien?

  Nope, too late.

• 2:21Speaker 02

  Oh, shit.

• 2:25Speaker 03

  Fall is here, hear the yell. Back to school, ring the bell. Brand new shoes, walking loose. Climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are gonna be friends. I can tell that we are gonna be friends.

• 2:45Conan O'Brien?

  Hey there and welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Everything is different today. Everything is different today and not in a good way. Let me explain. Matt Gourley called in. He says he's sick.

• 2:58Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:59Conan O'Brien?

  I suspect him of just goofing around or whatever. He didn't seem sick. I saw him yesterday. I saw him this morning.

• 3:05Speaker 01

  Do you guys hang out without me?

• 3:07Conan O'Brien?

  I live with him. We live together.

• 3:11Speaker 04

  I saw him on a Zoom today. He looked rough.

• 3:14Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, he did? Maybe he might really be sick.

• 3:15Speaker 04

  He was laying down.

• 3:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Well, it doesn't mean he's sick. It just means he's relaxing. Anyway, Matt Gourley not here. So what happens is they said, okay, Matt Gourley's not here. Is it okay if David Hopping sits in? And I'm like, ugh.

• 3:29Speaker 04

  Sure.

• 3:30Conan O'Brien?

  But then I said, okay, no, David, you know that you're, you took, you filled in for Sona. You now do the day to day assistant stuff. And Sona, I don't know what you do, but somehow you get paid more than you ever were paid before. But anyway, who can understand how this company works? I don't know who's in charge. So you're sitting in, but then we're about to record and a bunch of people I don't even know come into the house, the house, the studio. And they say, uh, cameras down, Conan's cameras down. People were scrambling around because this can also be seen on the YouTube.

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:04Conan O'Brien?

  It can be seen on the various.

• 4:05Speaker 04

  The YouTube.

• 4:06Speaker 01

  On the YouTube?

• 4:07Speaker 04

  The YouTube.

• 4:08Conan O'Brien?

  Well, on the various Youtubes.

• 4:09Speaker 04

  Yes, YouTube.

• 4:10Conan O'Brien?

  Feel free to jump in at any time there. Sure talk a lot.

• 4:13Speaker 04

  YouTube and our social channels.

• 4:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 4:15Speaker 04

  Add some cocoa.

• 4:16Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, and don't feel like I just shamed you. You're allowed to jump in whenever you want.

• 4:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:20Conan O'Brien?

  Just make sure it's valuable. So there's video.

• 4:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:23Conan O'Brien?

  My camera's down. My camera's usually right across from me that way. But now my camera's way over to this side.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:29Conan O'Brien?

  And I have to torque my whole body to see my camera and put those blue peepers.

• 4:38Conan O'Brien?

  Into the everlasting light. Now, here's the other thing that's different. Sona usually sits over on this side.

• 4:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 4:45Conan O'Brien?

  Next to me, she's always to my right. Andy Richter, all those years that I was doing the talk show, almost 30 years, was to my right. Sona is now diagonally across from me.

• 4:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 5:00Conan O'Brien?

  And so, I don't like that.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 5:02Conan O'Brien?

  I don't like anything that's happening today. And I look directly across from me, and you're here, David. Yeah. So, everything, and I know people say, what's the diff? What's the big diff? Larry Bird. Larry Bird, when he played for the Celtics, and he was on that parquet floor in the old Garden. He knew where the dead spots were, in the wood. He knew, he knew that court inside and out. And this is my court. I am Larry Bird. This is my parquet floor. The year is 1984, and I'm playing at an incredible, elite level. And I've got a very wispy mustache on my upper lip. And I come from French Lick.

• 5:46Conan O'Brien?

  And my shorts are way too short, like everyone else in the NBA. I mean, you're just about to see anything jump out at any second.

• 5:53Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 5:54Conan O'Brien?

  And, um, that's me. And then suddenly, they said to Larry Bird in 1984, eh, something's going on with the Garden. We got a problem. You're not gonna play there. And also, your teammates that you rely on aren't gonna be there. Uh, some of them are missing. Well, who's missing? Well, Robert Parish isn't gonna be. Robert Parish isn't gonna be there? Kevin McHale's not gonna. Kevin McHale's not gonna be there? Who's gonna fill in? Uh, Burt Zeisterman? And Josh Gallabana.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 6:24Conan O'Brien?

  They're sitting in. What's that?

• 6:25Speaker 05

  You're saying Larry Bird didn't know how to play on the road? It's not like the Celtics played all their games at home.

• 6:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:30Conan O'Brien?

  Eduardo? Eduardo? Yeah. If you ever speak to me again. It'll be the last time you speak to me. No, I'm just saying that he's preparing himself for a home game. Okay, yes, I know that they would play on the road, but I'm sure Larry Bird familiarized himself with those courts as well. What I'm saying is, they took away some of his, his personnel, okay? His teammates, his chums, and the people that he's used to playing with. Then, they said, "Guess what? We're not even gonna play on a basketball court today. You're gonna be playing in the bin of balls." What? The bin of balls. They just changed your... At Chuck E. Cheese. They just changed your camera. No! They want me to dribble a ball in the bin of balls at Chuck E. Cheese. Okay.

• 7:14Conan O'Brien?

  And so I'm trying to dribble the ball and it's just bashing into all these other... huh?

• 7:17Speaker 06

  Nobody calls it, they call it a ball pit.

• 7:19Conan O'Brien?

  Ball pit, yeah. Is that called a bin of balls? What is that?

• 7:22Speaker 06

  I've never heard the term bin, it's a ball pit.

• 7:24Conan O'Brien?

  I've never been there. I've only seen it in commercials. Well, it's there, the ball pit's on. And so I've never heard it identified. I've only seen kids emerge from it, looking more frightened than happy. Yeah. Like they survived ash rain at Pompeii. But, I, that's all I've seen, but no announcer ever said, "And you'll enjoy the ball pit." I never heard it named, so I just said, "That is a bin that's been filled with balls." So I had to make up my own name and it stuck with me. All I'm saying, if I can be allowed to finish my sentiment, is that I'm 1984 Larry Bird. I've been taken away No! From Boston Garden on the parquet floor. I've been stripped of Robert Parish and Kevin McHale.

• 8:06Conan O'Brien?

  And I'm trying to bounce a basketball in a bin of balls at Senor Chuck E. Cheese. That's what I'm saying.

• 8:15Speaker 06

  I don't, I don't mean to keep bursting in here, and I'm sorry about this, but also can I say, I'm realizing, Sona normally...

• 8:21Conan O'Brien?

  I gotta look, I'm looking into my camera right now.

• 8:23Speaker 06

  Normally, Sona sits between you and I.

• 8:26Conan O'Brien?

  Yes.

• 8:27Speaker 06

  And you, many times during the interview, will look over at Sona, and I hide behind Sona and her hair. Now I've got like the eye of Sauron directly, there's nothing. How do you deal with this, Sona?

• 8:38Conan O'Brien?

  First of all, you should be happy. Cause I would've fired you a long time ago.

• 8:41Speaker 06

  I know, I know!

• 8:42Conan O'Brien?

  I can see you now and I'm irritated.

• 8:43Speaker 06

  I hate, I wanna crawl underneath the desk.

• 8:46Conan O'Brien?

  And also, let's, let's get something straight. A lot can hide behind Sona's hair.

• 8:50Speaker 01

  What?

• 8:51Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, there could be a Volkswagen bus back there.

• 8:54Speaker 01

  Come on!

• 8:54Conan O'Brien?

  I'm just saying, you should be proud of it. You have thick, luxuriant hair.

• 8:58Speaker 01

  I do!

• 8:59Conan O'Brien?

  It's all over the place! It's everywhere! And then you put these products in it.

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Yes, a lot of products.

• 9:07Conan O'Brien?

  Various waxes and eastern oils.

• 9:11Speaker 01

  Why are they eastern?

• 9:13Conan O'Brien?

  I don't know.

• 9:13Speaker 01

  You know what? I'm the one who moved. Everything is different for me. You don't even look at the camera when we're recording most of the time. Nothing's changed for you.

• 9:22Speaker 04

  They also asked you to move and you said no.

• 9:24Speaker 01

  Yes!

• 9:25Speaker 06

  That's true.

• 9:26Conan O'Brien?

  They did ask me to move and I refused, which took an extra 10 minutes.

• 9:29Speaker 04

  They had to bring in a whole, like, other ladder.

• 9:31Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Well, anyway, I'm sure Larry Bird wasn't always easy to work with back in 1984.

• 9:39Speaker 01

  Hmm.

• 9:39Conan O'Brien?

  All I'm saying is the analogy holds.

• 9:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 9:42Conan O'Brien?

  I'm an elite, A-list athlete in the mid-'80s, and everything's been changed up on me. And yet, still, I think I've put a lot of points on the board.

• 9:52Speaker 01

  Oh, God. Oh, my God.

• 9:54Conan O'Brien?

  Pretty good, huh?

• 9:55Speaker 01

  I don't know.

• 9:56Conan O'Brien?

  Wrap it up.

• 9:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap, wrap.

• 9:59Conan O'Brien?

  Well, guess what? My guest today put on the old glasses. Remember when I didn't have to wear glasses? Falling apart here. My guest, you know what I'm gonna get is a Lorraine Yet.

• 10:10Conan O'Brien?

  Shouldn't we get one of those Lorraine Yets?

• 10:11Speaker 01

  I didn't even know that was the word for it.

• 10:14Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and it's, well, it's also called Bin of Balls. I wanna get a Lorraine Yet, which is the thing you, a society lady puts up to, ooh, Groucho! You know?

• 10:24Speaker 01

  Also, Bin of Balls just tells me you've never been to a birthday at Chuck E. Cheese.

• 10:28Conan O'Brien?

  No, I never have been.

• 10:29Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 10:29Conan O'Brien?

  And maybe, I'm sad about that.

• 10:32Speaker 01

  Oh, I'm sorry.

• 10:32Conan O'Brien?

  And maybe, all these jokes are hiding a wound.

• 10:34Speaker 01

  You know, I used to-

• 10:35Speaker 04

  We'll take you.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  I also used to hear, one time a kid died in the ball pit, and I think it was-

• 10:40Speaker 04

  Like, suffocated?

• 10:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, like, they got stuck underneath them. But it's not true. It's an urban legend.

• 10:45Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 10:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:46Conan O'Brien?

  Let's just make sure, that's a potential legal matter. No, it never happened at Chuck E. Cheese, and nothing bad ever happened at Chuck E. Cheese.

• 10:53Speaker 01

  We should just cut that part out, but that's what I heard. And, did you ever hear that?

• 10:56Conan O'Brien?

  I think you should leave it in as a cautionary tale.

• 10:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:00Conan O'Brien?

  About saying things about giant corporations.

• 11:02Speaker 01

  But the ball pits are all gone now, too.

• 11:03Speaker 04

  Oh, that's sad.

• 11:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, fishy.

• 11:05Speaker 04

  Well, they're germy.

• 11:05Conan O'Brien?

  No more Bin of Balls.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Stop saying Bin of Balls.

• 11:08Conan O'Brien?

  Bin of Balls.

• 11:08Speaker 01

  It's just sad.

• 11:09Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Been there, done that. Okay. My guest today.

• 11:15Conan O'Brien?

  My guest today, get me a Lorne yet, someone, write that down. My guest today has starred in such films as Now and Then and The Addams Family. Now you can see her as Misty Quigley in the hit Showtime series, Yellow Jackets. I'm very excited she's here today.

• 11:32Conan O'Brien?

  Christina Ricci, welcome.

• 11:38Conan O'Brien?

  Christina, I'm really happy to see you because it's been quite a while since I've seen you. And I have a very nostalgic feeling about seeing you because you came on the show for the first time, I think, I would think it was for Addams Family, the first Addams Family movie, possibly. You were a kid.

• 12:01Speaker 02

  Was that, but I was like 15, right?

• 12:03Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 12:03Speaker 02

  13, so I think that was for Casper.

• 12:05Conan O'Brien?

  Was it for Casper?

• 12:06Speaker 02

  I think so.

• 12:07Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, you were a kid and I remembered feeling, I thought you would come on for Addams Family. I remembered Raul Julia came on for Addams Family.

• 12:16Speaker 02

  Okay, well, then maybe I did come on for Addams Family.

• 12:17Conan O'Brien?

  And I thought you came on.

• 12:18Speaker 02

  You're probably right.

• 12:19Conan O'Brien?

  Whatever, right now, Eduardo's.

• 12:21Speaker 05

  I see 1999 and 2005, so I'm not sure where that lines up.

• 12:25Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, that's gonna be later. That's gonna be like in the Casper area. But, but see what we've done. And when I say we, this is really on you, Christina. You could have just said, sure, Addams Family.

• 12:35Speaker 02

  I'm really sorry.

• 12:36Conan O'Brien?

  You know, and then we wait for some nerd to contact us and go, incorrect. But we don't even read that post. What I remember is you were very young and you'd be, whatever, you'd be like 15. I'm a guy in his 30s at the time, mid 30s. And I remembered being a little bit intimidated because you were so convincing as Wednesday Addams. You were so, your deadpan was so amazing. I was very impressed with you and still am. But you just so nailed it at such a young age. And I remember just, I don't know, just feeling a little bit like, oh, I've, she could, she could kill me with that look. Do you know what I mean? I was a little bit intimidated.

• 13:20Speaker 02

  Well, no one should have been intimidated by me then. It was, you know, just a teenage rest. But do you remember that we lived in the same building in New York also?

• 13:27Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, I was gonna bring this up too.

• 13:28Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 13:29Conan O'Brien?

  We lived in, there's this building called the Police Building, which there was this.

• 13:33Speaker 02

  No, it really is. It was Teddy Roosevelt, not Teddy.

• 13:36Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 13:36Speaker 02

  The other.

• 13:37Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, it was Theodore Roosevelt was, uh, was chief of, it wasn't chief of police.

• 13:42Speaker 02

  No, he was chief of police.

• 13:43Conan O'Brien?

  He was police commissioner.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  Oh, really?

• 13:45Conan O'Brien?

  He was police commissioner. Jenny has a different title, but anyway, basically, look at us. We keep qualifying each other. No, it was Casper and it was police commissioner. And it's Ricci with three Cs, Ricci. You never knew that. Um, there's this cool building downtown and for a brief period I thought, I wonder if I'm a cool guy and I moved into the police building.

• 14:08Speaker 02

  No, it was really cool, but I wanted to live there because I had just read The Alienist and they talked about how there was the tunnel between the building and O'Neill's.

• 14:16Conan O'Brien?

  Yep.

• 14:16Speaker 02

  So I was really excited about that building.

• 14:18Conan O'Brien?

  Which probably doesn't exist.

• 14:20Speaker 02

  No, I asked a lot of jan, like the janitors and stuff and they were like, what are you talking about? I was like, you know, the tunnel.

• 14:26Conan O'Brien?

  The Alienist.

• 14:27Speaker 02

  They're like, you can just walk around the corner.

• 14:28Conan O'Brien?

  Great book, great novel by Caleb Carr, which is all about, you know, late 19th century crime solving and Theodore Roosevelt's in it because he's the police commissioner at the time. The police building is this famous old building that they had converted into apartments and here are the people that I remembered. I walked down to my apartment, which is the end of the hall. Occasionally I'd see you, like, wow, Christina Ricci. Also Kyle McLaughlin.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  Yes, Kyle lived there.

• 14:56Conan O'Brien?

  And he lived there with his girlfriend at the time, supermodel Linda Evangelista.

• 15:00Speaker 02

  Oh my god. I rode in the elevator with them one day and she was really the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen in real life.

• 15:05Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I've got to run her up for you or maybe a tie.

• 15:07Speaker 02

  Really a tie.

• 15:08Conan O'Brien?

  Which is the other person who lived there. I don't know if they both lived there or if they, one of them lived there and the other was staying there, Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber.

• 15:16Speaker 02

  Oh, but also Christie Turlington lived there at the same time.

• 15:20Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, so you've got all these people.

• 15:22Speaker 02

  And Francois Norris, like all these crazy, crazy big people. They used to be the gym with my mother. My mother would be like, I had a wonderful talk with Christie today when I was on the treadmill.

• 15:31Conan O'Brien?

  Insane, right? So, I was thinking, maybe I belong here and I was flooded. Cause this is Conan, I mean, I don't belong there now. There was no time when I belonged there, but I was, I don't know, I wanna say I'm 34 years old, still trying to figure out how to dress, like I'm not in high school. And I've been doing the Late Night Show for about four years. And I remembered one day, rushing to get on the elevator, getting on the elevator, and it was, whatever, Cindy Crawford and Randy Gerber, looking, I'm, I threw on a t-shirt. Like, a Who Farted t-shirt. And, and like some shorts, and probably like Birkenstocks.

• 16:15Conan O'Brien?

  And ran on the elevator after putting like, still had acne, ran on the elevator and I'm like, "Hold the door!" And I get on and it's those two glowing, just glowing, and I think they like, kind of made out on the elevator on the way down. And I was like, "I'll have a girlfriend one day, you'll see."

• 16:36Conan O'Brien?

  But I remembered seeing you, uh,

• 16:38Speaker 02

  Lurking about.

• 16:39Conan O'Brien?

  Super cool.

• 16:40Speaker 02

  I was not, I was a total wreck. I was in like, garbage pail kid style moment.

• 16:44Conan O'Brien?

  I didn't know that.

• 16:45Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I had decided that if I was gonna be that ugly anyway, that I was gonna dress as hideously as possible, so I wore like, a lot of conflicting colors and really big pants and men's underwear and just was, this is my whole style of garbage pail kids.

• 16:58Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I don't know why you have that self-image, that's,

• 17:00Speaker 02

  Why was it, as a teenager?

• 17:01Conan O'Brien?

  But I remembered you, uh, very fondly, I think you were on the Late Night Show seven times, I, I've said this occasionally about other people who were on as kids, I'm gonna call you a kid, cause I thought of you as a kid, that I almost have this feeling that is weird of pride like that an uncle would have, do you know what I mean? Like, "Oh, Christina's coming to do the podcast, I remember her, hasn't she done well?" It's this, this, it's weird because I've done nothing to help you.

• 17:32Speaker 02

  No, but you did.

• 17:33Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, I didn't, I didn't.

• 17:35Speaker 02

  No, but coming on your show and like, having, being able to promote myself and my work on your show and your support, because, You can say like, no, I'm not having that asshole at my show. So like.

• 17:45Conan O'Brien?

  I've said that and they booked them anyway. And you're here today. No, but I mean, I never. You're one of those people who I have this strange feeling of, I'm proud of her. She's done well. And, and then I step outside myself and go, you're not related to her.

• 18:05Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 18:06Conan O'Brien?

  You're not, you know what I mean? It's just, it's very strange, but I had a lot of nice thoughts and memories today when you were coming on. And I am very happy for you that you've done so well. You just got your star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. What is that like? I mean, are you gonna tend to your star? Are you gonna go buy, is it like, is it like a house plant? I don't know how that works.

• 18:30Speaker 02

  I don't know. I mean, it's been there. I haven't visited since the ceremony. I kind of thought about bringing stuff to my star. My favorite flowers and a candle.

• 18:42Conan O'Brien?

  A candle's like.

• 18:43Speaker 02

  Is that weird?

• 18:43Conan O'Brien?

  People will think, yeah, what happened to Christina Ricci?

• 18:45Speaker 02

  I guess so.

• 18:46Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that's, that's not good.

• 18:47Speaker 02

  But maybe in some way, I'm like trying to mitigate my feelings of mortality. In some way, like if we already act like I'm dead, maybe it won't be such a huge shocker. It's like when you call yourself 40 when you're only 37 and you're just like, I know I'm getting used to it. I wonder if maybe subconsciously that's what I'm doing.

• 19:09Speaker 02

  I'm not sure.

• 19:10Conan O'Brien?

  That's such a.

• 19:11Speaker 02

  It's so morbid.

• 19:12Conan O'Brien?

  That's so morbid. Also, it's, it's, but also I get it. I understand what you're doing because I have a very dark streak, very dark streak. And people think that I'm being morbid. And I think, no, I'm actually.

• 19:28Speaker 02

  Practical.

• 19:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and it's also, I find it freeing to think. I've had this conversation with a bunch of my friends. That I find it very freeing to think that I don't really matter and that I'm here and then I'm not here. And it's that.

• 19:44Speaker 02

  I'm not there yet. Like, that's terrifying. But, but I do find it easier to just. Like, accept, accept that we're gonna die.

• 19:54Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 19:54Speaker 02

  And then, you know, work, work with that.

• 19:56Conan O'Brien?

  So this is what the Hollywood Walk of Fame means to you.

• 19:59Speaker 02

  To me. Well, that's, but that's.

• 20:01Conan O'Brien?

  Your inevitable death.

• 20:03Speaker 02

  But, you know, when people bring out, like, the whole thing is about, like, legacy and permanency. And long after, somebody kept, they were, you know, you have to answer all these questions right afterwards. Um, about the star right there at the time. And, um, they're asking you, like, what it means to you, and I guess my answers weren't, um, quite what they wanted. The person running the press for it. So somebody said, you know, another great thing to say is that, and I was like, oh, okay. So I am tanking this one, apparently. I don't seem grateful enough. Um, but another great thing to say is that I love this because I know that even decades after my death,

• 20:43Speaker 02

  my children's children and their children will be able to come and visit this star. And I was like, oh.

• 20:51Conan O'Brien?

  What?

• 20:51Speaker 02

  So like, the best thing about this is that once, like, involves me being dead.

• 20:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, exactly. That seems, also, we all know apes will rule the earth by then.

• 21:00Speaker 02

  Well, the other thing I was thinking too.

• 21:02Conan O'Brien?

  Human, uh, you know, remnants of our society.

• 21:05Speaker 02

  Not to be, not to be, like, glib about any of it, or, or not as taken as seriously as I'm supposed to, which I really was moved by it, and I really was appreciative, but it is still just concrete. Like, a bomb could go off, and then that, it's gone.

• 21:20Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 21:21Speaker 02

  It's not like, like, nothing is.

• 21:23Conan O'Brien?

  There's nothing, there's no such thing as permanent.

• 21:26Speaker 02

  There really isn't. So I was like, oh, it's permanent, and the whole time I'm just thinking, like, yeah, unless someone has a jackhammer, or, or they, like, expand the freeway, or this, or this building falls on this site.

• 21:40Conan O'Brien?

  Wait a minute, I love that they're gonna expand the freeway and take out a huge set, they're gonna take out 900 star, there goes Clark Cable.

• 21:49Speaker 02

  We are living in unprecedented times, my friend.

• 21:51Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you're right.

• 21:52Speaker 02

  So, anything is possible at this moment.

• 21:54Conan O'Brien?

  You're right. So, do you like your location?

• 21:56Speaker 02

  I do. I was actually really happy. That was the first thing I asked. I was like, where exactly is my star located? I'm at Hollywood and Vine.

• 22:02Conan O'Brien?

  What?

• 22:02Speaker 02

  I know. It's like a really great location.

• 22:05Conan O'Brien?

  That's the prime location.

• 22:06Speaker 02

  The frolic room is across the street. Little door is like right around there.

• 22:10Speaker 01

  Those are bars.

• 22:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you know.

• 22:12Speaker 02

  No, but the frolic room is historical. The frolic room is in Women Under the Influence.

• 22:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 22:17Speaker 02

  Or Woman Under the Influence.

• 22:18Conan O'Brien?

  Can I just say, I was offered a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and I said, that's really great, where's it gonna be? And they said, the Channel Islands.

• 22:26Conan O'Brien?

  They said, it's a weird adjunct. You have to take a boat to get there. And I said, who else is there? And they named one Muppet that never made it. His name was, his name's Snaffles.

• 22:38Speaker 02

  Snaffles.

• 22:39Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. He's made of three socks, and he was a big bomb in 1971. I, just roll with it, Sona. Just roll with it. I've been drinking.

• 22:49Speaker 01

  I love the frolic room. I'm sorry, I just wanted to interject.

• 22:52Conan O'Brien?

  And is this a bar that you've both been to?

• 22:55Speaker 02

  I think I was there one time, but I more always loved seeing it, and that it's in, it's in the Jenna Rollins movie, the Cass Betty's movie.

• 23:04Speaker 06

  I just saw LA Confidential. It's in LA Confidential.

• 23:07Speaker 02

  It's in LA Confidential. Somehow it's still lasting, even though everything else is Cass D.

• 23:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, I've been, it is, I mean, it's a historic bar in LA. It's like a really cool spot.

• 23:17Conan O'Brien?

  Right, but it's also a bar, so you've been more than once.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  But I've been there in the bar aspect of it, where I've had drinks there, and I've partied, and I, you know, I love it there.

• 23:26Conan O'Brien?

  Sona, two kids now, and she's reformed her ways, but man, well, you, you lived quite the life.

• 23:33Speaker 01

  I mean, I enjoyed, I enjoyed places. Yeah.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  I enjoyed a lot of places also.

• 23:40Speaker 02

  Sometimes I don't remember those places I enjoyed, so I enjoyed them so much that I don't even remember leaving. But.

• 23:47Conan O'Brien?

  We're testing your blood right now to see how much you've enjoyed yourself. How much enjoyment you have. You're under arrest for too much enjoyment.

• 23:56Speaker 01

  Too much enjoyment.

• 24:04Conan O'Brien?

  Your name represents everything you've built, okay? Everything, like, I feel that way about my name.

• 24:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:09Conan O'Brien?

  It stands for all of the work, good and not so good. But guess what? Your children's names represent their whole futures.

• 24:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:17Conan O'Brien?

  Your children haven't even started building their futures, but their identities are already valuable. Your child's clean credit history can make them a target for identity thieves. Never thought of it that way, but it's true. Identity thieves can open loans and credit cards using your child's social security number, racking up debt and ruining their credit. And you may not notice until they try and get their first credit card. So it could be a long time.

• 24:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 24:40Conan O'Brien?

  Well, guess what? With LifeLock, you can add family members to your plan, giving you the power to block identity threats targeting your children. Now, Sony, your kids are pretty young still.

• 24:48Speaker 01

  They are.

• 24:49Conan O'Brien?

  Five, but within a couple of years, you know, they're gonna be buying heavy machinery online.

• 24:55Speaker 01

  What?

• 24:55Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna be, become tractor fanatics. They're gonna be buying tractors online. So if you have expenses or money stolen due to identity theft, you're backed by the million-dollar protection package with up to $3 million coverage in some plans. So join now, save up to 30% off your first year. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 25:19Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, I wanna try something different.

• 25:21Speaker 01

  What?

• 25:22Conan O'Brien?

  I like to change it up. I like to learn things, so I'm gonna try and make apple cider.

• 25:25Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 25:26Conan O'Brien?

  Every morning.

• 25:27Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 25:27Conan O'Brien?

  This fall, just to see if I can do it.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, fall's the perfect season to try something new, like joining T-Mobile.

• 25:33Speaker 01

  Oh, that's good.

• 25:34Conan O'Brien?

  See what I did?

• 25:35Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:35Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, there are 250 reasons to join T-Mobile right now. You wanna hear what they are?

• 25:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:39Conan O'Brien?

  They're America's best network.

• 25:41Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 25:41Conan O'Brien?

  True story. Plus, T-Mobile has got off-grid satellite coverage. That comes in really handy. I like to just wander in the woods sometimes.

• 25:48Speaker 01

  Oh, that's weird.

• 25:49Conan O'Brien?

  When I'm thinking about, like, making apple cider. And that's when it comes in handy. Here's another reason. High-speed data in over 215 countries and destinations. I travel a lot for the

• 25:58Speaker 01

  You travel a lot.

• 25:59Conan O'Brien?

  Travel show that I do.

• 25:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:00Conan O'Brien?

  Stream this podcast while ignoring local landmarks. That's always fun to do. Like, oh, look, there's the Mona Lisa. Yeah, check it out. I'm in the Louvre. I should, but I'm listening to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

• 26:10Speaker 01

  That doesn't seem like a good idea.

• 26:12Conan O'Brien?

  It's a great idea.

• 26:13Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 26:13Conan O'Brien?

  You know, you can see art anytime. But how often can you listen to this podcast?

• 26:18Speaker 01

  Oh my god!

• 26:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 26:20Speaker 01

  What?

• 26:20Conan O'Brien?

  No, all these reasons make T-Mobile a great choice.

• 26:23Speaker 01

  I agree.

• 26:23Conan O'Brien?

  T-Mobile is stacking up reasons to join. Go to T-Mobile.com and find yours best. Based on analysis by Ookla of speed test intelligence data first half of 2026. Can't believe I read that. T-Satellite with capable devices in most outdoor areas in the US where you can see the sky. High-speed international data with qualifying plan. Visit T-Mobile.com, consult a physician. I just threw that in there.

• 26:48Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 26:51Conan O'Brien?

  So now, what are some of the things in life that really get you down?

• 26:53Speaker 01

  Uh, driving?

• 26:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 26:55Speaker 01

  That's the first thing that popped in my head.

• 26:57Conan O'Brien?

  No, but I've seen you drive and it's true. I'm always picking mailboxes out of your grill.

• 27:02Conan O'Brien?

  You're a creative driver. Uh, look, let's face it. Just living on Earth can be a lot, right?

• 27:08Speaker 01

  It can.

• 27:08Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, oy vey, it's a lot.

• 27:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:11Conan O'Brien?

  There's gravity, there's mosquitoes, there's the... You know that they say the sun is going to, at some point, go supernova and incinerate the Earth, probably in five billion years?

• 27:19Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 27:20Conan O'Brien?

  But watch your diet, we might be sticking around for that.

• 27:22Speaker 01

  Oh, man.

• 27:23Conan O'Brien?

  So cosmically speaking, you've earned a break.

• 27:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:25Conan O'Brien?

  And you know where this is going? I think you do.

• 27:27Speaker 01

  No.

• 27:27Conan O'Brien?

  Pluto TV.

• 27:28Speaker 01

  Oh, right, of course.

• 27:29Conan O'Brien?

  To escape all of these hassles in life, you gotta get Pluto TV. Turn off all your earthly problems and turn on the movies and shows you already love. You've seen them, but you want to see them again. They're old friends.

• 27:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:40Conan O'Brien?

  Anchorman, The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Dirty Dancing, Alias, X-Files. Pluto TV is completely free.

• 27:46Speaker 01

  Ooh.

• 27:47Conan O'Brien?

  These streamers, all these things cost so much money these days. And I won't mention that when I do an ad for them, but...

• 27:53Conan O'Brien?

  No subscription, no fees, zero dollars. And as any mathematician will tell you, zero is one of the most profound numbers ever conceived. I was thinking about that this morning.

• 28:02Speaker 01

  Wow, that's profound.

• 28:03Conan O'Brien?

  I really wasn't. The best thing on TV are free. Escape to Pluto TV. Stream now, pay never.

• 28:15Conan O'Brien?

  I know that I have this long distance view of it, but you just seem to have handled fame at a young age in sort of a very classy way. And that's at least how it appears to me. I've actually thought, I've thought about this a lot, which is, I'm not a big drug person, meaning really not at all, but I've long held that probably the most powerful drug in the world is fame. And letting kids have access to it is very, I have very mixed feelings about it. It's such a powerful thing and it often doesn't go well. You being famous at 14, 15, 16, that's gotta have been something to navigate.

• 28:59Speaker 02

  Yeah, I don't think I always had a lot of objectivity or the ability to really analyze myself at those times, those younger ages. So I never really felt famous. I still forget a lot. And I was never really comfortable with it. So for me, it was, it didn't ever feel like power. It sort of felt like something I had to like navigate. Like when I lived, I used to live over in Las Feliz, in the Oaks. And I would drive around when I was like in my twenties. And I was, you know, I'm a small person. And so being a young woman, very small, and having people follow me or talk to strangers, approach me and stuff, felt very threatening at the time.

• 29:41Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 29:41Speaker 02

  So I did this, I played this mental game where I pretended that my dad was just this like doctor that everybody loved in town. And I was just like, oh, Dr. Ricci's daughter. And that's why everybody was being nice to me. But not that I was famous.

• 29:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 29:57Speaker 02

  And everybody just like really wished me well. And it worked, it worked. I became very comfortable. But then to the point where like I was, I didn't have my guard up enough. And I had to be like, well, we have to end that now.

• 30:07Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. So the paparazzi thing, did that freak you out?

• 30:11Speaker 02

  I did not enjoy that, just because people, they'll follow you all the way home.

• 30:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 30:16Speaker 02

  And I lived by myself. And that felt very threatening. And I found there was a liquor store on the corner of Victor's. That's right across the street from the Galsons over on, up there. And Rick was this guy who was, who always worked in there. He was always smoking a cigarette. And he's the only person I would ever let call me Chris. And if anyone ever followed me, I'd pull into the liquor store and I'd go tell Rick. And Rick would come out and chase them, chase them off so I could drive home. Mm-hmm. And then this one, and then one time, my sister and I lived together in our, my, our twenties. And there was actually a man that would come and sit outside the house and leave notes on my car and stuff. And sometimes we'd be like, ready to go to dinner, but he'd be out there waiting and we'd be like, oh, man.

• 30:59Speaker 02

  So we would just like turn off all the lights and wait until he left.

• 31:03Conan O'Brien?

  That's not good.

• 31:04Speaker 02

  No. But like, so, so fame was, like, it was great. Like, I'd get into any restaurant and I never had problems getting into clubs and all that stuff. But it also was like, there were just like, you know, logistical and security issues that, um, to me, loomed larger in my mind than the actual, like, fun of being famous.

• 31:24Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I also think this is something that I don't take into account, which is, I am very, I don't ever feel threatened physically by people around because I'm six-four and a guy. And I just don't even think about it. I'm very physical myself, meaning like, I don't, I'm, I'm not afraid to, um, shake hands to strangers or whatever, mix it up a little bit. But I'm constantly reminded that if you're not my size and if you're a woman, especially if you're a young woman, it's a completely different feeling when people are around.

• 32:05Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 32:05Conan O'Brien?

  And it's not welcome and it probably sets off all kinds of different alarms, whatever.

• 32:13Speaker 02

  Well, I think it just depends, you know. But yeah, I was, I felt, I did feel threatened a lot. And I still am a person who's very paranoid and safety conscious, so I still will feel a little threatened if a strange man walks up to me and like touches me. Or starts, just, I don't know, follows me to my car. I don't like that.

• 32:31Conan O'Brien?

  You maced me when I came in to say hello to you at the podcast.

• 32:36Conan O'Brien?

  And you kept doing, and then your publicist said, it's Conan, and you said, oh, I know. And then you took out a separate bottle.

• 32:43Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 32:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, that said extra strength. And you really went to town.

• 32:48Speaker 02

  Oh, man.

• 32:49Conan O'Brien?

  What the fuck was that all about? You were so good in, I'm not just going through randomly things that you've worked on, but I remember seeing, I really liked the movie Sleepy Hollow when it came out. You did with Tim Burton and I was thinking about that movie and Tim Burton had this quote about you, he said that you had an ambiguous quality. He's such an amazing director, but he said he was drawn to you because different people could read into different things to your performance. And I don't, do you agree with that? Did you think he had, he nailed something about you?

• 33:24Speaker 02

  I do think there's something a little bit ambiguous about me. I mean, people, I'll compliment the person, they think I'm making fun of them. I don't know that I'm the easiest person to read and perhaps that's what he's talking about.

• 33:36Conan O'Brien?

  I wonder how much of it is your, you have beautiful eyes, famously beautiful eyes and there are quite lot, you have large, beautiful eyes and I wonder if that's a way that people can maybe make it, I don't know, they, you're reflecting something back at them, you're not even doing anything, but they're reading something into it.

• 33:54Speaker 02

  To project something onto it, yeah, maybe I also have, I'm also very flat in affect and I think that people just assume, I don't know, I just think that that's difficult because I don't emote that much normally.

• 34:06Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I think I'm probably the opposite.

• 34:10Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 34:11Conan O'Brien?

  I'm constantly emoting.

• 34:12Speaker 02

  Constantly emoting.

• 34:14Conan O'Brien?

  And I have beady little eyes.

• 34:15Speaker 02

  Well, I wouldn't, it's not about your eyes.

• 34:17Conan O'Brien?

  That reflect nothing.

• 34:18Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 34:18Conan O'Brien?

  Some say dead.

• 34:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 34:20Conan O'Brien?

  Dead doll eyes.

• 34:21Speaker 02

  You just wear your, you, everybody knows that, what you're thinking.

• 34:26Conan O'Brien?

  I'm a giant mood ring.

• 34:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, yes, you're a giant mood ring. That would be very helpful though, if we could turn different colors based on our moods. That would be so helpful. That's good.

• 34:41Conan O'Brien?

  It's interesting to me that you probably knew as a very, as a kid, you clearly knew this is something I'm interested in doing. I'm always fascinated to find out. How does Christina Ricci know, oh no, I can do this, I can, I can act, I can be in, I can be in film. How do you figure that out at such a young age?

• 35:00Speaker 02

  I was in second grade and they were, they brought in, you know, sheets of lines and stuff into music class and they said, we're putting on a Christmas pageant and here's the pageant we're doing and read these lines. And the second I saw them and started reading them and. Participating, I just, I remember sitting there by myself and being like, oh, I know how to do this. And nobody else here does. And I just was like, oh, that's so crazy. I know exactly what he wants and this kid over here can't do it.

• 35:30Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 35:31Speaker 02

  And I just felt, really in that moment, I felt like I had found my thing.

• 35:35Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 35:36Speaker 02

  And then it just always felt like that to me. Like, I just had a shorthand into understanding what was needed to do that work as a kid.

• 35:45Conan O'Brien?

  That's such a, it's, I would imagine, because I do not know, that it would be akin to just knowing at an early age that you're athletic.

• 35:53Speaker 02

  It's what it felt like.

• 35:53Conan O'Brien?

  You know what I mean?

• 35:54Speaker 02

  Being really good at a sport.

• 35:55Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, or just sports in general, that you get out there and, oh, I know what this is. I know what to do and this is what's needed now and I'm gonna do this. And I did it and that, I struck that person out or I scored the, the winning touchdown. I did not have that.

• 36:12Conan O'Brien?

  My childhood was a series of, nope, nope, nope, nope, and then figuring out, like you, like you say, oh, I know what this is. I'm, I can make my friends laugh and, oh, it's time for us to do, we're all supposed to write something, um, I'm gonna write something silly. I know how to do that. And people are laughing. And so, it was, I think, kids figure out very quickly what their, call it a superpower, what their ability is. It's an innate thing. We, we tend to figure it out quickly. I think it's rare that someone figures that out at like 58, you know?

• 36:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, but you do see people who are lost and just have no idea what their special thing is. That's very sad.

• 36:53Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 36:54Speaker 02

  As a parent, I have a real fear of that happening to my kids.

• 36:57Conan O'Brien?

  Really?

• 36:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 36:58Conan O'Brien?

  Well, your kids are probably pretty young, I'm guessing.

• 37:01Speaker 02

  Ten and three.

• 37:02Conan O'Brien?

  So you're already like,

• 37:04Speaker 02

  I mean,

• 37:05Conan O'Brien?

  they've accomplished nothing, nothing!

• 37:08Speaker 02

  I just mean, you have to think about all the pitfalls.

• 37:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 37:12Speaker 02

  And I guess also, being someone who had happened for very early, I would love for them to have that because it's such a relief. And I really have seen how, how lucky I was to find it so early.

• 37:24Conan O'Brien?

  It's interesting, because then there's the question of would you want them, would you be comfortable if they were interested in getting into the business? I know to me, I was just like, nope. No child of mine is going to be in, because I always thought show business, and I still think it's a racket, like what I'm doing is illegitimate, it's a racket, and at some point, someone's going to come and shut this whole thing down. You know, because my parents, you know, went to graduate school and were doctors and lawyers.

• 37:53Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 37:54Conan O'Brien?

  I just, I somehow got into vaudeville. Like, I got into a time machine and I'm a guy with seltzer and baggy pants in vaudeville. And that's how it feels to me, anyway. It doesn't feel legitimate.

• 38:05Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I agree. I go back and forth. My son has shown a lot of interest in it. I think he'd be very good at it. But there's also these, all the logistical things, like who's going to take him? I work full time. Like, I can't go to set with him. And, yeah, and also, it's risky. Who knows if he's going to handle it that well?

• 38:27Conan O'Brien?

  Well, yes. Imagining, it's so funny that what I've learned as a parent is I am so afraid of any, of even the notion of my children being disappointed or having their feelings hurt. But if it happened, but it's happened to me a billion times, and I'm fine with that. So why am I projecting onto them? Of course, I can have this happen a billion times, but God forbid it should ever happen. And of course, it's happened to them.

• 38:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 38:55Conan O'Brien?

  But just the notion of it, you just think, no one's going to say anything to my child.

• 38:59Speaker 02

  I know. I have a very strong overly attached, I'm overly attached to my son. And anything he experiences emotionally, I also experience, and it's not healthy. But I have the same thing, like I can't, I always worry about him going into a new sport. Because what if he, what if he feels bad about not being good at it? Or if anybody's mean to him? Or if someone makes fun of his sneakers? I'm like, well, we're going to get you the best sneakers they've ever seen.

• 39:29Conan O'Brien?

  Who the hell did you just become?

• 39:30Speaker 02

  I don't know.

• 39:32Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, we'll get you sneakers, we will. You become the creature from Leprechaun. That's the problem.

• 39:41Speaker 02

  That was me being intense. This is why I'm such a good actor.

• 39:44Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Totally, I did, and I do. I'm a huge fan.

• 39:48Speaker 02

  That's called intensity.

• 39:51Conan O'Brien?

  It must be nice to, I mean, the success of Yellowjackets is gotta be quite satisfying. Because what I've noticed as I move along, and I'm much farther along on my path, is that as I get older, I appreciate and enjoy things more. Getting to, doing this podcast, or whatever, any gig that I have, I kind of appreciate it. It has, getting to do the show for Max, or hosting the Oscars, it just feels like, oh, I think I would have, I would have been so anxious and neurotic about it at a younger age.

• 40:33Conan O'Brien?

  But now, when nice things come along, I can appreciate it more. Do you have that with, like, Yellowjackets?

• 40:40Speaker 02

  I do, I really do, and, you know, I was, you know, I had like, sort of, my big moment in my twenties, and went to all the award shows and all the stuff. And then that sort of stopped, and I didn't really work that much for a while. And then this Yellowjackets thing happened, and then all of a sudden, we were going to award shows again, and all this stuff. And it was so interesting, because this time, I could just be like, oh my God, I love that guy. Hey, I'm Christina. And like, just be really open and easy and fun, and like, I, you know, it just, it was, like you said, like, I wasn't, I wasn't so self-conscious, and I wasn't so worried about everything. I didn't take myself as seriously as I used to. And so, it's actually, it has been really, really fun.

• 41:25Conan O'Brien?

  There's this quote, one of the Bee Gees said, "Second fame is so much better." And I guess, the Bee Gees' stories, which I didn't even really know, there's an amazing documentary about them, and I didn't really know much about them at all, but it's a fantastic documentary. And I didn't realize, they were huge pop stars in the 60s. And then it soured, like anything, the time passed. And then they're trying to figure it out, and they're bumming around, and they're completely out of it. And they're a once-was. And then they reconstitute and become this 70s juggernaut phenomenon, one of the biggest groups of the 70s, if not the biggest. And they were like, oh, it's just so much more pleasant the second time around. Because... We know what that is.

• 42:10Speaker 02

  Mm hmm.

• 42:10Conan O'Brien?

  And so now it can be more about, as you said, you can go to these shows and not be neurotic and freaked out and just enjoy.

• 42:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 42:20Conan O'Brien?

  Just enjoy.

• 42:21Speaker 02

  It's also feels so different now, too, like just Hollywood in general feels.

• 42:25Conan O'Brien?

  How does it feel different?

• 42:27Speaker 02

  Everybody just seems like we're happy to be there in a way that wasn't like that in the early 2000s. Everything felt so serious then and about like power and position and ambition and it was really serious. And now it just feels like people actually celebrate at these award shows and are like happy to see each other and there's enough room for everybody. And I feel like it was so much smaller before that it didn't feel like there was enough room for everybody. And yeah, it just has like a much nicer feeling, I think, in general.

• 43:02Conan O'Brien?

  Something too about maybe the fact that the business has changed so much.

• 43:07Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 43:07Conan O'Brien?

  So, you know.

• 43:09Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 43:09Conan O'Brien?

  It's crazy to think about it, but I know when I came up, when you came up, but still, we're talking about a limited number of networks. There's no streaming.

• 43:20Speaker 02

  That's what I mean, yeah.

• 43:20Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and now if you've got a good idea, there's a good chance you can get it out there somewhere. I mean, even the natures of movies has changed where it doesn't have, it's not the giant blockbuster. And there's a plus and minus to that that's at the award shows, but there is less of a feeling of it's a small club that's a few people are allowed into.

• 43:41Speaker 02

  Exactly, yeah.

• 43:43Conan O'Brien?

  So many people can have a great idea, get it on YouTube, get it out there. If they've got talent and ability, they can find a streamer, they can find a way to get their vision made. And it just feels a little more user friendly now.

• 43:59Speaker 02

  Yes, it's softer and gentler and it's less desperate.

• 44:04Conan O'Brien?

  Unless you want to shoot in Los Angeles.

• 44:06Speaker 02

  Well, then, I mean, honestly.

• 44:09Conan O'Brien?

  That's getting weird.

• 44:10Speaker 02

  I don't actually know how anyone makes that happen.

• 44:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's really getting, I mean, not to take it things down, but that is a big change that's happened is people will shoot something that takes place in Los Angeles on Hollywood and Vine and they'll go up to Nova Scotia to shoot it. And recreate Hollywood Vine. And what your star.

• 44:34Speaker 02

  They can't, I'm sorry, I will not allow that. You do not.

• 44:37Conan O'Brien?

  They moved it an hour ago. They moved it an hour ago.

• 44:41Speaker 02

  Putting my foot down?

• 44:42Conan O'Brien?

  Without telling you.

• 44:43Speaker 02

  Either shoot in L.A. or.

• 44:46Conan O'Brien?

  That's the kind of power I've gotten this down.

• 44:47Speaker 02

  Can't have my star in your movie.

• 44:50Conan O'Brien?

  What's it like, because with Yellowjackets, you have this interesting thing where you're, there's your character Misty, you're playing as an adult, but also there's an actress who's playing you as a child, or a kid, not a, I shouldn't say child, but as a teenager. Yeah, as a kid. To me, at 85, it still seems like a child. Because I'm doing that thing where I want to say I'm 85 now, just to get used to it.

• 45:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, I've already started. I'm going as far as 87. So anytime I can't work anything, I'm like.

• 45:18Conan O'Brien?

  Well, I love that.

• 45:18Speaker 02

  Anytime I can't work anything, I'm like, well, I'm basically 87 when it comes to technology, and the more I say it, like, the more I'm feeling more comfortable.

• 45:25Conan O'Brien?

  I love that you're two years older than me. I love it.

• 45:27Speaker 02

  I'm older than you.

• 45:29Conan O'Brien?

  Is it, is it Sammy Hanratty? Is that the actress who plays you? And it's interesting, I don't know how much do you have communication with the actress who plays younger you to try and see if anything needs to line up, or is that overthinking it?

• 45:43Speaker 02

  Well, we did it in the very beginning. You know, we shot the pilot and then COVID happened, so it was about, almost a year and a half later that we actually went to series. And so she and I met up to discuss, we're really, really different people, personality-wise. Like, it's surprising how different we are. And so we sort of compared notes, the different performance notes that we've been given, because it was interesting to hear what they wanted to correct or were worried about. Because like, you know, she's a very bubbly, dynamic, like charming, sweet person, and so to hear what they were concerned was going to come out in her performance was interesting to me. And then to hear what they were afraid I was going to do was very interesting as well.

• 46:26Speaker 02

  So like, mine was all about like, no, she's charming and everyone loves her and all she wants is love and she's human. And hers were like, Kathy Bates from Misery. And like, you know what I mean? So I, it just was really funny.

• 46:41Conan O'Brien?

  There's a rumor that they put her on the press.

• 46:45Conan O'Brien?

  We gotta re-chee you up a little bit. We're putting you on a massive dose of depressants.

• 46:51Speaker 02

  Yeah, they were like trying to make me more adorable and her less adorable. And so by doing that, we got, we could like, we both felt like we understood like where the parameters were for the character. But beyond that, we never really, I'm very sensitive about not being condescending. Like, I even have trouble complimenting people because I feel like it's condescending. And I don't, I guess, I don't know why, but I just do. So anytime the idea of like giving another actress performance advice or notes, to me just sounds like, really? I'm overstepping my place.

• 47:28Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 47:29Speaker 02

  So we both have very, we have our own performances. And when you think about it too, 30 years.

• 47:36Conan O'Brien?

  30 years and a lot of intense stuff has happened.

• 47:38Speaker 02

  30 years of like squeezing and rejection and pressure and trauma and all this stuff. You're not going to be the same exact person you were.

• 47:45Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 47:45Speaker 02

  So I think it really does work out. And the writing on the show is really good. And the character is very consistent on the page.

• 47:53Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 47:53Speaker 02

  So it's kind of okay for any kind of differences, variations in our performances.

• 47:59Conan O'Brien?

  The, people are intense about this show. They, I mean, the fans are hardcore and, which is a compliment. Because I think we live in an era where if you put the detail and the work into the writing and performing, and you really try and tell an interesting story, there's an intensity to the fandom.

• 48:19Conan O'Brien?

  It's actually a compliment.

• 48:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:21Conan O'Brien?

  It's like the fans, I think fandom now is very literate. If you look at shows like yours or shows like White Lotus or shows that people are really, they really get into trying to find the clues. What does this mean? What does that mean? And they treat it the way.

• 48:37Conan O'Brien?

  It should be treated, which is it's an art form.

• 48:39Speaker 02

  Mm-hmm.

• 48:40Conan O'Brien?

  Which is nice. It's not just, oh yeah, I watched another episode of show they crank out every week.

• 48:44Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, they take it very seriously and they hold us to certain standards and they let you know when they're disappointed. And they're quite, you know.

• 48:52Conan O'Brien?

  Do you go online and read stuff?

• 48:53Speaker 02

  Well, I'm 87 when it comes to technology, so I don't know how to get on Reddit. Because you have to have a Google account. My Google account is in Romanian and I don't know how to change it. So I can't get onto Reddit.

• 49:08Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, we have some people here can help you if you want, but.

• 49:11Speaker 02

  I've heard about all the things and a lot of the other actresses on the show do read all of the stuff. Like Melanie, Melanie Linsky, apparently, she told me she reads everything. Um, I can't find everything or else I might read it.

• 49:24Conan O'Brien?

  I don't know. Uh, my experience has been if it's dire.

• 49:30Speaker 02

  Someone will tell you.

• 49:31Conan O'Brien?

  Someone's going to tell me.

• 49:32Speaker 02

  That's how I feel.

• 49:35Conan O'Brien?

  If it's an extreme one way or the other, like, you know, Blay will come in and tell me, "People really loved that thing you did." And it will be a different, it'll be Jeff Ross who comes and tells me, "You got a problem? You got a problem?" You know, "Oh, what did I do? That satanic ritual you did?" Apparently, it's very offensive and, um.

• 49:53Speaker 06

  No, they're like, "Fans love the satanic ritual."

• 49:56Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You'll tell me that and then Jeff will say, "No, people have lawyered up."

• 50:01Speaker 02

  That's how I feel.

• 50:02Conan O'Brien?

  Jesus has lawyered up.

• 50:04Speaker 02

  I feel that way too. Like, people are gonna tell me. And sometimes, um, but, but, but, but it's weird now too because I, it's like everything's supposed to be everywhere, but then also things are hard to find. Like I did this, this, you know, a series of interviews with Melanie and I made some comments about this song that's in the show that I had a lot of pent-up rage about because the entire time we were shooting, everybody tried to gaslight me and tell me that it was a great song. And I was like, "I know it's not, so everyone can stop lying to me." So when we finally went to the press, I did it. And then it, then my, my producing partner was like, "Oh, just see the sets everywhere." And I was like, "What are you talking about?" And then it was like, "This clip was everywhere about, and even the band responded and all of this stuff."

• 50:45Speaker 02

  And I had absolutely no idea. And I've kind of felt in that, that instance, somebody should have told me that I shouldn't, that I, you know, shouldn't be bad-mouthing somebody's song. Um, so in a weird way, I feel, I trust the safety net, but then I don't trust it so much. Because then things, I'll see things and I'm just like, "Oh yeah, no, I should have been told about that."

• 51:06Conan O'Brien?

  I think there's a lot more of everything. There's a million opinions, but and there's a million ways to whatever piss people off. The flip side of it, is it because there's so much? People forget.

• 51:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, I guess so.

• 51:20Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, that band won't forget.

• 51:22Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 51:22Conan O'Brien?

  But they shouldn't.

• 51:23Speaker 02

  I feel that.

• 51:24Conan O'Brien?

  Because I'm, no.

• 51:25Speaker 02

  They have a lot of fans. I was in the, you know, everybody, everybody else loved it.

• 51:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 51:30Speaker 02

  So clearly, they're, they're great and I'm, I'm weird. But I actually, I, yeah, I don't find out too much. I just found out recently from Melanie that apparently there are people who really hate our characters. And I didn't know, it's just that everyone loved me. So I'm just gonna keep going with that.

• 51:46Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, well, also, I think it's good as you get into your 87th or 88th year. Who was it? I think it was Jeff Daniels. He did some show and the actor Jeff Daniels and they, they, the press started, critics were started to ask him, you know, well, some people think this about this project or some people think that. And he said, you know, guys, I can't help you. I, I can't, I, I, I can't help you. I'm, you know, I'm, this is the work that I did. And I loved when he said that, the phrase, I can't help you, meaning you do your part, which is you, you do your work. And I do my work.

• 52:31Conan O'Brien?

  And then it goes out there and people are entitled to like it or not like it. But I don't know that I need to participate in the process of people liking or disliking it. This is what I did. And I, I wish I had had that attitude more when I was in my twenties and thirties. I wish I'd had a little bit more of that because I was very much, I just want everybody to be happy. And I think it's an improvement to be, well, you know, this, some people have that early. Like Bob Dylan had that when he was 19, you know, this is what I'm gonna do. If you don't like it, it's your problem, you know? This is how I talk and this is how I sing. It's great, you know, and you're like, how did he have that?

• 53:12Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 53:12Conan O'Brien?

  How did someone have that? But I, I think as I get older, I think.

• 53:18Conan O'Brien?

  That's what I did. And why should you, Christina Ricci, be actively looking for someone who mistakenly doesn't like what you do?

• 53:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I also find that like, I've just, I've never really been somebody who think, like, once I'm done, I sort of never revisit it. And for movies, that's always been totally fine, because you finish it, you move on with your life, then you have to watch it once and answer some questions, and then it's done, done, who cares? TV's a little bit different, because you keep revisiting the same thing, and the press lasts a lot longer as well. But I've always been someone who has a lot of, like, real-life emergencies, like, you know, just life, you know? There's a drama over here, and a family thing there, and your house is on fire, and all this stuff. And so, I've never, I've always been like, I just, I don't have the time, or mental capacity or energy to focus on something that I can't change.

• 54:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, I think that's a healthy way to be. I pronounce you healthy.

• 54:18Speaker 02

  Thanks. Amazing.

• 54:20Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, and I think my opinion should, I have no, what he's gonna say, Sona?

• 54:24Speaker 01

  I was gonna say, if anyone can pronounce someone healthy, it's you.

• 54:27Conan O'Brien?

  Mentally healthy.

• 54:27Speaker 01

  Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, I think you're the perfect guy to do it.

• 54:34Speaker 01

  You're perfect for that.

• 54:35Conan O'Brien?

  I'm trying, I'm trying to evolve, I'm doing the best I can to evolve.

• 54:38Speaker 01

  I know.

• 54:39Conan O'Brien?

  And you've been with me a lot, Sona.

• 54:40Speaker 01

  You work on yourself.

• 54:41Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, we've been together a long time, and you've seen me try to evolve.

• 54:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, you have evolved.

• 54:47Conan O'Brien?

  And physically, too, much more powerful.

• 54:49Speaker 01

  I don't know about physically.

• 54:52Conan O'Brien?

  I think I went too far.

• 54:53Speaker 01

  You're still kind of at the same place.

• 54:55Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, well, all right, let's change the tone. Shall we change the tone a little bit? I think we should change the tone. Well, Christina, it's been a pleasure for me to get to talk to you again.

• 55:07Speaker 02

  Thank you, me too.

• 55:09Conan O'Brien?

  I just, I had a very nice, warm feeling when I heard that you were gonna be coming in to talk, because I had all these memories from that other life.

• 55:17Speaker 02

  Yeah, that's how I feel also.

• 55:19Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you're like, oh, there's that guy who still can't get his, his skin's still breaking out.

• 55:24Speaker 02

  Just stop it, that is not what I thought.

• 55:28Speaker 02

  I thought, oh, I've been on Conan forever. Our careers kind of started at the same time.

• 55:32Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, yeah. I do have that feeling now more and more if I just like see someone that I went to college to, who I with, that I haven't seen since the eighties. My first overwhelming feeling is, hey, we're still here. Isn't this like, I'm in a very basic way, we're still here and you're thriving and you're doing great work and I'm just very happy for you.

• 55:53Speaker 02

  Thank you, thank you so much. I was so excited to come and see you. And I do feel like we've been in each other's lives forever.

• 55:59Conan O'Brien?

  We have, yeah.

• 56:00Speaker 02

  Our careers started at the same time, basically.

• 56:02Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 56:02Speaker 02

  I mean, my adult career. I'd already had a child's career.

• 56:06Conan O'Brien?

  That's right, that's right. Didn't know you then, but, but yeah, I, I, I'm just, I'm, I'm thrilled for you. I really am, and thanks for being here. Congratulations on Yellowjackets.

• 56:16Speaker 02

  Thank you.

• 56:17Conan O'Brien?

  And have you started, this is the, what season is this?

• 56:20Speaker 02

  We have not gotten our pick up yet for season four.

• 56:23Conan O'Brien?

  Let me handle that.

• 56:24Speaker 02

  So we're all, everybody's like.

• 56:27Conan O'Brien?

  I could make one phone call.

• 56:29Speaker 02

  Would you?

• 56:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it won't do it, it'll really be a phone call where they hang up on me. It'll, it'll be to a receptionist and she will hang up on me. And then I'll call back and go, you know who I am? And they'll go, no, no, we know, we know. You just have really no power and we're gonna do what we're gonna do with you. But, but congratulations and come back.

• 56:48Speaker 02

  Yeah, I would love to.

• 56:49Conan O'Brien?

  All right.

• 56:49Speaker 02

  Sounds great.

• 56:57Conan O'Brien?

  Your name represents everything you've built, okay? Everything, like I feel that way about my name.

• 57:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 57:02Conan O'Brien?

  It stands for all of the work, good and not so good. But guess what? Your children's names represent their whole futures.

• 57:10Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 57:10Conan O'Brien?

  Your children haven't even started building their futures, but their identities are already valuable. Your child's clean credit history can make them a target for identity thieves. Never thought of it that way, but it's true. Identity thieves can open loans and credit cards using your child's social security number, racking up debt and rooting their credit, and you may not notice until they try and get their first credit card. So it could be a long time.

• 57:32Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 57:33Conan O'Brien?

  Well, guess what? With LifeLock, you can add family members to your plan, giving you Do the power to block identity threats targeting your children. Now, Sona, your kids are pretty young still.

• 57:41Speaker 01

  They are.

• 57:42Conan O'Brien?

  Five, but within a couple of years, you know, they're gonna be buying heavy machinery online.

• 57:48Speaker 01

  What?

• 57:48Conan O'Brien?

  They're gonna be, become tractor fanatics. They're gonna be buying tractors online. So if you have expenses or money stolen due to identity theft, you're backed by the million dollar protection package with up to $3 million coverage in some plans. So join now, save up to 30% off your first year. Go to lifelock.com/conan. That's lifelock.com/conan to save 30%. Terms apply.

• 58:13Conan O'Brien?

  We all have those pieces in our closet we can count on. Sona, I imagine for you it's that leather jacket I got you.

• 58:18Speaker 01

  Are you gonna do a bit?

• 58:19Conan O'Brien?

  No, no, it's a really nice leather jacket I got you once.

• 58:21Speaker 01

  I had that and then I replaced it and yes, I use it all the time.

• 58:25Conan O'Brien?

  We all have that versatile jacket, the perfect t-shirt, and those are the pieces that make getting dressed easy. And you know what I was thinking about this morning?

• 58:34Speaker 01

  What?

• 58:34Conan O'Brien?

  Quince. They do it best. They really do. I was really thinking about this.

• 58:38Speaker 01

  What a coincidence that we're doing an ad for them.

• 58:40Conan O'Brien?

  No, a co-coincidence.

• 58:42Speaker 01

  Oh, no.

• 58:44Conan O'Brien?

  That's why I get the big money.

• 58:46Speaker 01

  I gotta go.

• 58:46Conan O'Brien?

  Cut to very small amount of money. Quince makes elevated everyday essentials using premium materials and designs that are timeless, thoughtful, crafted, and made to be worn again and again. And when the temperature starts to drop, Quince makes it easy to build on those everyday staples with versatile layers. Layer up. That's the key. Now, Blay, you're, you're using some Quince.

• 59:06Speaker 06

  That's right. I'm spending a lot of time back east in Michigan. It's getting a little colder, so I got a featherless quilted jacket, an Atlas Navy, and I just feel like a different guy. I feel classy.

• 59:16Conan O'Brien?

  You look like a different guy. Cause you're well dressed.

• 59:18Speaker 06

  That's right.

• 59:19Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 59:19Conan O'Brien?

  No, I'm serious. He looks like a hobo half the time.

• 59:21Speaker 06

  That's true. He's right. That's true.

• 59:22Conan O'Brien?

  No, they, they really do great stuff. Find your next fall favorites at Quince. Download the Quince app for app exclusive offers or go to quince.com. Get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK as well.

• 59:36Speaker 01

  All right.

• 59:36Conan O'Brien?

  And when Quince asks where you heard about them, let them know it was Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend. Please do that. Say, by the way, I heard about this on Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend.

• 59:46Speaker 06

  Oh, I didn't really ask.

• 59:47Conan O'Brien?

  I just want you to know.

• 59:50Conan O'Brien?

  It's the best way to support the show.

• 59:56Conan O'Brien?

  So, you have to admit, the holidays, it's really about hanging with the people you love.

• 1:00:02Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:02Conan O'Brien?

  And getting to be yourself, not going to some stuffy holiday party where you need to conform to what the man wants you to think about the holidays.

• 1:00:10Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:11Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, it's about being yourself. Turn your holiday time into Miller time by enjoying a Miller Lite in a place where you're free to enjoy yourself on a walk with a cousin. With a cousin, why are they getting all specific about?

• 1:00:22Speaker 01

  Because it's family.

• 1:00:23Conan O'Brien?

  But what about a niece or a nephew?

• 1:00:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:27Conan O'Brien?

  Like a walk with an ex-wife. I don't know, I mean, they're just throwing, that's a weird, they just made a very specific choice.

• 1:00:34Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:00:34Conan O'Brien?

  Now's the time for those unexpected holiday side guests and enjoy a great tasting light beer. 'Tis Miller time, as Dickens wrote. Miller Lite is brewed for taste, the taste you can depend on. The original light beer since 1975 and still iconic more than 50 years later. I like to be with my bros, my chums, my posse. Crack open a Miller Lite, take a swig, a sip, look around and see my friends. We've known each other forever and we're just hanging out.

• 1:01:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, you guys are just doing chest bumps and high-fiving.

• 1:01:04Conan O'Brien?

  Miller Lite is great taste done right. Go to millerlite.com/conan to find delivery options near you, or you can pick up some Miller Lite pretty much anywhere they sell beer. 'Tis Miller time. Celebrate responsibly Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 96 calories and 3.2 carbs per 12 ounces.

• 1:01:26Conan O'Brien?

  I want to come clean about something, which is that recently I got a burner phone. You did? And I love it. I love having a burner phone, okay? Now, you've been intimately a part of the process, David. Yeah. Basically, Oscars were getting close. And I was noticing that there was so much going on between the podcasts and the HBO Max series and the Oscars. Humble brag, busy much, Conan?

• 1:01:52Conan O'Brien?

  No, anyway. I was getting crazy.

• 1:01:55Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:01:55Conan O'Brien?

  And I said to you, I just want to have a phone that had, so that I can call Liza. That I can call you, David. I can call Jeff, I can call Sweeney, the head writer. Like, I really want to just be able to...

• 1:02:06Speaker 04

  Sona's number's in there, too.

• 1:02:07Conan O'Brien?

  And Sona's, yes, Sona, you're in there as well.

• 1:02:09Speaker 01

  Okay, thanks.

• 1:02:10Conan O'Brien?

  Okay, I chose not to call you. No, I did call you from the burner phone. But here's the thing, so we went and we got a plastic flip phone.

• 1:02:20Speaker 04

  Yeah, I, I just called and ordered it. You went and picked it up all on your own.

• 1:02:23Conan O'Brien?

  I went and picked it up all on my own and the young man selling it to me recognized me and was weirded out that I wanted this phone.

• 1:02:32Speaker 04

  Well, because, okay, well, I was thinking after, picture you're the person I call and I say, Conan O'Brien's coming in with an unlocked flip phone. He needs a, like, month-to-month number, not connected to his, to his regular one. It sounds like he's, like, involved in something.

• 1:02:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's shady, it is shady.

• 1:02:48Conan O'Brien?

  And the guy acted, the kid acted like, this is weird. And I just said, give it to me now, I need it now. And walk around and it's this cute, blue little guy. And I like him. I like him and it's crazy, I tried to send a text on him. It's insane.

• 1:03:09Speaker 01

  Is it T9 texting? You have to press each button and all the letter pops up?

• 1:03:13Conan O'Brien?

  Yes, and, I mean, you end up, everything's, everything's yes or no with my answers. You can't send an elaborate thought because it takes 40 minutes for me.

• 1:03:25Speaker 01

  Wait, no bits? You just send a reply with no bits?

• 1:03:30Conan O'Brien?

  I can't do bits because it's too, I can't do...

• 1:03:32Speaker 04

  Only, only text the burner.

• 1:03:33Conan O'Brien?

  I can't...

• 1:03:34Speaker 01

  Oh my god.

• 1:03:35Conan O'Brien?

  So, I start walking around with this thing and I'll call people and for a while, no one was picking up because this, it just, they just think I'm spam. But then I told them, look, I've got a burner phone and here's the number. And so, I ended up not needing to use it as much as I thought because it turns out not that many people were contacting me. I had this whole freak out, which is like, I'm hosting the Oscars. I'll be bombarded with well wishes. And advice from top celebrities. I need a burner phone so I can think my thoughts in seclusion. No, not that many people. So then I was contriving reasons to call people like, um, hey, David?

• 1:04:20Conan O'Brien?

  And you're like, yeah.

• 1:04:22Speaker 04

  You called me from your office upstairs? You could have just yelled my name?

• 1:04:25Conan O'Brien?

  I called you from upstairs and I was like, can you come on up here? And you're like, yeah, I can. Good, good thing I have this burner phone. So I still have it.

• 1:04:37Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:37Conan O'Brien?

  And I love it. I don't have a real reason to use it, but I love the idea of maintain. First of all, it expired automatically after a month.

• 1:04:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:45Conan O'Brien?

  And then I got mad. I was like, what are you doing? I want to keep this thing.

• 1:04:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:49Conan O'Brien?

  I want to have this phone that only I know about. And I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know it's going to be crucial at some point soon in my life.

• 1:05:00Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:05:00Conan O'Brien?

  I'm going to be in some situation where I need this burner phone or I'm on the run. I'm on the run, I'm on the road, I'm on the go. I'm trying to get off the grid. Can they trace a burner phone?

• 1:05:11Speaker 01

  No, the whole point is that they can't.

• 1:05:13Conan O'Brien?

  Right.

• 1:05:13Speaker 01

  That's the why it's a burner phone.

• 1:05:15Conan O'Brien?

  Here's one thing. My wife, I found, I only found out about this recently, but she tracks us on our smartphones, all of us.

• 1:05:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:22Conan O'Brien?

  All, like me, our kids, like they're on the East Coast in college and she's like, mm, getting lunch. I'm like, what? What the hell are you doing? She's in the dining hall. And then not that long ago, uh, I called her to tell her I'm running late to meet her for sushi. And I call her and go, yeah, I'm just stuck in traffic. I'm, I'm just running a little late. And she went, well, you're pretty close.

• 1:05:49Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 1:05:50Conan O'Brien?

  And I'm like, whoa.

• 1:05:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:52Conan O'Brien?

  Good thing I didn't visit the mistress today.

• 1:06:00Conan O'Brien?

  Anyone who calls her the mistress, it doesn't have a mistress. Anyway, um, but this, now this idea is, I don't like her knowing where I am all the time. I don't think I'm up to anything bad.

• 1:06:10Speaker 01

  No.

• 1:06:10Conan O'Brien?

  Uh, but still, I like the idea of maybe I'll just, she'll be like, I'll see what Conan's up to. And she'll call the phone and it will ring in the kitchen. And she'll be like, wait, he left the phone here and I'm out there somewhere. My old Ford Taurus.

• 1:06:26Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:06:27Conan O'Brien?

  That can't be traced either. My 92 Ford Taurus, which I still own. And I got my burner phone. And none of you can get me. Well, David can call me.

• 1:06:35Speaker 01

  And I have your number too. What are you, where are you gonna go? What are you gonna do?

• 1:06:40Conan O'Brien?

  I'm just gonna go off the grid.

• 1:06:42Speaker 01

  But what does that even mean?

• 1:06:44Speaker 04

  Does that mean like to a hotel?

• 1:06:45Conan O'Brien?

  Just Santa Monica.

• 1:06:46Speaker 01

  Oh, okay. All right.

• 1:06:48Conan O'Brien?

  Six miles from my home.

• 1:06:49Speaker 01

  But you're also very recognizable. So people will like see you and maybe someone who knows Liza.

• 1:06:54Conan O'Brien?

  I have a baseball cap that says not Conan.

• 1:06:57Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 1:06:58Speaker 04

  That should work.

• 1:06:58Speaker 01

  That's a good disguise.

• 1:07:00Speaker 05

  Who'd be the first person to flip on you if Liza pressed them?

• 1:07:03Conan O'Brien?

  What do you mean?

• 1:07:03Speaker 01

  All of us. Everybody.

• 1:07:05Speaker 05

  On your burner phone.

• 1:07:06Speaker 01

  All of us.

• 1:07:07Conan O'Brien?

  They would all.

• 1:07:07Speaker 01

  All of us.

• 1:07:08Conan O'Brien?

  They're all allied with my wife.

• 1:07:10Speaker 01

  Yeah. Every single person. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't.

• 1:07:13Conan O'Brien?

  There's not one person who would take my side over Liza's side. Everybody, everybody, and everybody prefers her.

• 1:07:21Speaker 01

  She calls and she would be like, Santa Monica, before she even asked us.

• 1:07:23Speaker 04

  That's exactly. Location, yeah.

• 1:07:25Speaker 01

  Yeah. Like, he's eating here.

• 1:07:26Speaker 04

  He's having a lobster?

• 1:07:28Speaker 01

  Isn't it kind of nice, though, not to like be obsessed with looking at your phone?

• 1:07:32Conan O'Brien?

  No, it is good. And I did it because I had just read an article in the New York Times where someone said it helps break your addiction to your phone if you have a flip phone and actually recommended this brand of flip phone. And that's why I got it. And I do find, if you have the security of knowing, like here, I can call these key people and find out what's going on.

• 1:08:00Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:01Conan O'Brien?

  I really like not being tempted to look at the texts, not being tempted to look at the emails.

• 1:08:06Speaker 01

  Can you tell us? Maybe they'll send us a bunch.

• 1:08:08Conan O'Brien?

  No, I think that would be immoral.

• 1:08:10Speaker 01

  What?

• 1:08:11Speaker 04

  You were like set on it too. It was like a Saturday and you were like, I want this now.

• 1:08:14Speaker 01

  I want a flip phone.

• 1:08:15Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah, you know what? You know, when you get an, when I, I don't know if everyone's like this. When I get an idea, I want to, like, let's get this done, David.

• 1:08:21Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:08:22Conan O'Brien?

  And then I drove down there. I wanted to go pick it up.

• 1:08:24Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:08:24Conan O'Brien?

  I was excited and I'm still excited. I love this little guy. He's cute. Yeah, oh, that's my other favorite thing.

• 1:08:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:30Conan O'Brien?

  Is when a conversation's over, I try to be argumentative at the end of the conversation.

• 1:08:36Speaker 04

  Just flip.

• 1:08:36Conan O'Brien?

  Just so I can flip, so I can snap it shut. So I'll be getting along perfectly well with whoever, and then I'll say, "I know you're embezzling from me," and they'll say, "Wait, what? You're a robber and you know it." And then I just click it shut.

• 1:08:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:08:49Conan O'Brien?

  Snap.

• 1:08:50Speaker 01

  That's cool.

• 1:08:51Conan O'Brien?

  It's great. It's such a great way to end a conversation. Flip phones. Bring them back into your life, says Conan.

• 1:08:56Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm actually inspired to get one.

• 1:08:58Speaker 04

  Aren't they, like, making smart flip phones?

• 1:09:01Speaker 01

  I don't want a smartphone. I want a, yeah, I want no email, I want no apps.

• 1:09:06Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, they also are making, there's a phone now that unfolds.

• 1:09:08Speaker 04

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:09:09Conan O'Brien?

  And it, you basically unfold it and it becomes like a computer screen.

• 1:09:12Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:13Conan O'Brien?

  I mean, things are getting weird. I say, "Go flip phone." That's what I say. Also, aren't the kids, and I don't know this, but David, you're the closest connection to youth. Thank you. Aren't they rejecting smartphones in favor of, they're called dumb phones? In favor of dumb phones now? Oh, I don't know. Uh-oh. Yeah, you asked the wrong.

• 1:09:28Speaker 01

  Flip it up.

• 1:09:29Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:29Speaker 01

  What's the, what's the slogan?

• 1:09:31Conan O'Brien?

  Hey, so, are you saying that?

• 1:09:32Speaker 01

  Go to Flip Town.

• 1:09:32Conan O'Brien?

  Guess what? Accidentally.

• 1:09:34Speaker 04

  I love that.

• 1:09:34Conan O'Brien?

  Accidentally, I did something. My instinct was to do something that all the young people were doing.

• 1:09:39Speaker 01

  You flipped it up.

• 1:09:40Conan O'Brien?

  Yeah. Well, I don't think that's.

• 1:09:41Speaker 01

  You went to Flip Town.

• 1:09:42Conan O'Brien?

  No. A flip-flop.

• 1:09:43Speaker 04

  You're flipping it.

• 1:09:44Speaker 01

  The flip-flop isn't good, because a flop means it didn't go well. I'm trying to, I came up with a good slogan for it. Just say Flip Town.

• 1:09:51Conan O'Brien?

  Eh, don't give me any of your flip-flip. Oh, that's awful. I, um, anyway, that's the new me, and if you get a, hey, anyone listening right now, if you get what you think is a spam call, pick it up. It might be me calling you.

• 1:10:05Speaker 01

  Your camera's here.

• 1:10:06Conan O'Brien?

  Oh, there's my camera.

• 1:10:07Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:09Conan O'Brien?

  Peace out.

• 1:10:32Speaker 07

  Our supervising producer is Aaron Blair and our associate talent producer is Jennifer Samples. Engineering and mixing by Eduardo Perez and Brendan Burns. Additional production support by Mars Melnick. Talent booking by Paula Davis, Gina Batista, and Britt Kahn. You can rate and review this show on Apple Podcasts and you might find your review read on a future episode. Got a question for Conan? Call the Team Coco hotline at 669-587-2847 and leave a message. It too could be featured on a future episode. You can also get three free months of SiriusXM when you sign up at siriusxm.com/conan. And if you haven't already, please subscribe to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend wherever fine podcasts are downloaded.

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