Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro said that we can call him Bob. Amy hangs with the movie star and talks about being the subject of thirst traps, his favorite thing to order at Nobu, and 'Tribeca 25,' his new documentary celebrating 25 years of the Tribeca Festival, out on Netflix now. Host: Amy PoehlerGuests: Rachel Dratch, Seth Meyers, Jane Rosenthal, and Robert De NiroExecutive 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 producer Kaya McMullen; social producer Bridget Geerlings; video editor Drew van Steenbergen; and bookers Kat Spillane and Paige GarbariniOriginal Music: Amy Miles Visit uber.com/safety to learn more. Check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds: https://Allstate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

• 0:00Amy Poehler?

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• 0:38Amy Poehler?

  Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. This is a very, very special one. We have Robert De Niro with us today. Robert De Niro, the king of New York. If, if, if New York was a person, it would be Robert De Niro. And you know what Frank Sinatra sang? If you can make an interview with Robert De Niro work here, you can make an interview, work with anybody anywhere. We are very, very excited that we have him. We, we're going to talk about so many things. We're going to talk about Goodfellas. We're going to talk about him hosting SNL and what that felt like. We're going to talk about how much he paid for his first New York apartment in rent. And we get into it. What a, what a pleasure and a privilege to have Robert here.

• 1:20Amy Poehler?

  And because it is so special and he is so special, I'm doing something a little bit different. I'm going to ask a few people to talk well behind his back and to talk to me about him. Because I just want, I want to get prepared. You know, like, he's such a good actor. He prepares so well. I want to do the same. So we're going to talk to Rachel Dratch, my good buddy, Rachel Dratch, who starred with him in the world famous Debbie Downer at the SNL 50th. We're going to talk to Seth Meyers, who is always an incredible friend and support and who interviewed Robert, Bob De Niro, a couple of times. And we're going to talk to Jane Rosenthal, his longtime producing partner,

• 2:03Amy Poehler?

  who started the Tribeca Film Festival with him, knows him so well and is going to give us a question to ask Robert De Niro. So let's get started and see if we can get Dratchey on the Zoom. Druch?

• 2:24Amy Poehler?

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• 3:06Amy Poehler?

  Rachel?

• 3:07Speaker 01

  Hi.

• 3:08Amy Poehler?

  Hi, bud.

• 3:09Speaker 01

  Hold on, let me plug in my headphones.

• 3:12Amy Poehler?

  Oh, my God, headphones.

• 3:14Speaker 01

  I can't ride the headphones any longer than they've already carried me. Look at that.

• 3:22Amy Poehler?

  Gross.

• 3:23Speaker 01

  Okay, well, that's there. But you know what? Other than, oh, there's another.

• 3:28Amy Poehler?

  Now there's another not.

• 3:29Speaker 01

  Overall, good. Overall, counting this as progress. Wait, I'm just trying to think if I need better light.

• 3:37Amy Poehler?

  Listeners, Rachel's just adjusting. I mean, at this point in our lives, why are we not surrounded by ring lights?

• 3:43Speaker 01

  I know.

• 3:45Amy Poehler?

  You know?

• 3:45Speaker 01

  Oh, yes.

• 3:47Amy Poehler?

  That looks good. Also, nice lip.

• 3:49Speaker 01

  Oh, thank you. I put in an effort for you, Polar. With a lip, and that's about it. You get a lip.

• 3:57Amy Poehler?

  You get a lip, babe. Druchy and I had dinner last night. So nice.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  We did, yes. Yay.

• 4:04Amy Poehler?

  And I told you that I was interviewing Robert De Niro, and I needed some help.

• 4:12Speaker 01

  I'm shy around big name celebrities. And I don't know, I'm just going to say this, you can use this or not. But Amy, I always thought you were very good. When we were in O'Shea, you were very good at talking about, talking with celebrities when we were standing around, like, the host, you know, waiting for the scene or whatever. And I would be quiet as a mouse in the background. And so it's, it's good that you're doing this podcast, because you're good at it.

• 4:36Amy Poehler?

  Thanks, dude.

• 4:37Speaker 01

  I'm glad it's not me interviewing De Niro. That's what I'm saying. Because I, I just clam up.

• 4:44Amy Poehler?

  But you're one of my close, one of my few close friends that has worked with him.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  Yes, I've worked with De Niro. I've shared the screen with Bobby. Bobby and I have shared the screen. Yes, that's true.

• 5:00Amy Poehler?

  You have. You've shared the screen and.

• 5:02Speaker 01

  Tell Bobby I say hi, by the way. He's going to be like, who? No.

• 5:10Speaker 01

  Bobby, now I'm committed to call him Bobby for this.

• 5:12Amy Poehler?

  Well, I'm going to call him Bob, because that's what.

• 5:15Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 5:15Amy Poehler?

  And you know, there's nothing worse than anybody calling somebody by their first and last name. So, Robert De Niro, what do you think?

• 5:22Speaker 01

  Right, right.

• 5:23Amy Poehler?

  I am nervous, because he doesn't seem to really love to talk that much about himself. And also, he feels like our generation's actor. He, he really has been in everything we grew up watching. And that was, and his stuff was always a little too adult, growing up. It was like, his stuff was like, the scary movie or the.

• 5:46Speaker 01

  Violent, yeah.

• 5:47Amy Poehler?

  Yes, his stuff was like, you felt like an adult when you got to kind of watch his stuff.

• 5:52Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 5:53Amy Poehler?

  You got to do some comedy with Bobby.

• 5:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, you know, I was thinking about this, because not only did I get to comedy, but he also hosted back when we were on the show, way before. And I, what I was remembering about that is, I don't remember if I got to see him, but I remember I submitted a scene where I was doing an impression of him, like, in front of him at the table. And basically, all my impression, well, you can't see this if you're listening, but my impression was just going like this. It was just like a face, and there's probably not much more there.

• 6:21Amy Poehler?

  Listeners to describe, it's kind of like.

• 6:23Speaker 01

  Listeners, listeners, Rachel is doing an impeccable impression.

• 6:26Amy Poehler?

  Well, it's a great one, because you kind of back up, you close your eyes, and you kind of get your mouth open like, hey, you know?

• 6:35Speaker 01

  That's all, that's all it was. Anyways, it didn't make it to air, surprisingly.

• 6:40Speaker 01

  Okay, so, yeah, so I think we, you know, Paul and I were going to write a Debbie Downer for the anniversary show. And then, like, you get the list of, like, who's available out of all the stars. And then I think Paul, it was like, we got De Niro. Like, De Niro with Debbie Downer is just like, such an appealing, you know, prospect for us, to imagine him.

• 7:01Amy Poehler?

  To explain, what do you mean by list? Like, just so people don't know, the SNL 50th, what do you mean there was a list?

• 7:07Speaker 01

  Like, there's a list of, like, who would be willing to be in a scene, you know, for an anniversary scene. So there's a list of the stars that were going to be there that would be willing to play in a scene. So the combo of Robert De Niro having to deal with Debbie Downer was making us laugh a lot. So then, when we found out we had him, we were really excited. And then we got to have him say, like, he was just trying to get a drink at the bar, and she's thumbing him out. And I think our favorite line was about, like, her saying, you don't want to use a plastic straw, because microplastics are probably taking up residence in your testes. And then, when he had his, like, flip out at me, he's like, I don't want to hear about the plastic in my balls.

• 7:52Speaker 01

  And then he went to throttle me. And we wrote in that he, like, goes to strangle her. But then I was in the rehearsal, I was like, you know, if you want to actually strangle me, you can. So then he actually strangled me in the scene. I was like, I'm getting strangled by Robert De Niro. This is like, no comedy person ever thinks that's going to happen to them. So that was a fun thing to experience.

• 8:16Amy Poehler?

  I've told you and Paula this, but my favorite part is when he calls you Deborah. Deborah Downer.

• 8:23Speaker 01

  Excuse me, Deborah, yeah. But I, I kind of go, like, out of body when I'm dealing with someone that's like a huge icon. And I was definitely nervous about being in a scene with De Niro. Like, even though he was perfectly nice, and he was like giggling, and he was willing to be there and play in this comedy land, of course. But, um, but I still get nervous, knowing that it's De Niro, you know?

• 8:47Amy Poehler?

  I would say one thing that you two have in common, Rachel.

• 8:50Speaker 01

  What? What could this be?

• 8:54Amy Poehler?

  Is that you're both in an extroverted business, but you're quite shy.

• 8:59Speaker 01

  Yes, that's true.

• 9:00Amy Poehler?

  I think he's shy.

• 9:02Speaker 01

  Luckily, Jimmy was there to smooth out all the social edges.

• 9:06Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, Jimmy Fallon also in the scene.

• 9:08Speaker 01

  He's very good at that.

• 9:09Amy Poehler?

  He's really good at that. Well, I'm going to bring up Debbie Downer to him and talk to him about SNL, because I, I do think that, like, there is this comedic side that we, you know, we've gotten to see over the years. But my experience, similar to yours, is like, a very kind of like, fun and nice and quiet, giggly person.

• 9:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 9:31Amy Poehler?

  Okay, Dratch, I'm going to go talk to another person about Bob and try to get some more info and get ready for our interview. So thanks, Druchy.

• 9:39Speaker 01

  All right, thank you.

• 9:42Amy Poehler?

  This episode is brought to you by Allstate. Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. Not checking whether you set an alarm before having an afternoon power nap, only to wake up two hours later? Drowsy, confused, so many missed calls? 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.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  Hello?

• 10:14Amy Poehler?

  Seth? Are you wearing new glasses?

• 10:17Speaker 02

  I'm wearing my cheaters.

• 10:18Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's right, you have cheaters now.

• 10:20Speaker 02

  I think Paula Pell's the first person I ever heard say cheaters.

• 10:24Amy Poehler?

  Seth, you look great.

• 10:26Speaker 02

  Oh, my God, thank you, Polar.

• 10:27Amy Poehler?

  Did you get a facelift or?

• 10:31Amy Poehler?

  What are you doing?

• 10:33Speaker 02

  You always said you wanted me to announce on the pod. Because you used to say, my face had a few parts that had a bad hang.

• 10:44Speaker 02

  You would point to different areas and say, that's a little bit of a bad hang.

• 10:48Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, that's right.

• 10:49Speaker 02

  Guess where I'm talking to you from?

• 10:50Amy Poehler?

  Martha's Vineyard?

• 10:51Speaker 02

  My childhood bedroom in Bedford, New Hampshire.

• 10:55Amy Poehler?

  Whoa.

• 10:56Speaker 02

  What other desk would there would be a bobblehead of me of the update desk?

• 11:00Amy Poehler?

  I bet your childhood bedroom is similar to mine, which is my parents have now put things about me in my childhood bedroom as if that was as if I would like that.

• 11:10Speaker 02

  It's a living museum. It's a living museum.

• 11:13Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, like old press, like, like an old Time Out article from 1997 framed.

• 11:20Speaker 02

  People don't know that the White House, if you sleep in Lincoln's bedroom, it's a lot of clippings that Lincoln's mom saved. It's got the old shovel that he did his homework on. That's basically all it is.

• 11:31Amy Poehler?

  Who made that bobblehead? When was that made?

• 11:34Speaker 02

  Um, after you left, we got a lot of our own merch.

• 11:38Speaker 02

  I mean, you know, it's after you left. The fact that there's a literally, it would be great if it had been a two-person bobblehead and my mom had just sawed you out. That was the one time my mom learned how to solder.

• 11:51Amy Poehler?

  What are you doing in your childhood home?

• 11:54Speaker 02

  I'm doing a, um, a charity event in Manchester, New Hampshire, and I'm sure by the time this airs, it will be too late for anyone to buy tickets. But if you came, God bless.

• 12:03Amy Poehler?

  Seth, and you asked me to ask you this, you do a lot of charity, yes?

• 12:08Speaker 02

  I asked you to leave out the, the sort of the top of that. I am, I'm constantly doing charity. It's a little tiring.

• 12:14Amy Poehler?

  Oh, I bet.

• 12:15Speaker 02

  But, um, it's worth it. You know, I always say it's worth it. And, um, and my good deeds are the wing, the wind beneath my wings.

• 12:23Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, it's, it's what you get out of it. It's not the people you help.

• 12:26Speaker 02

  Anytime I'm feeling low, I just think of all the good things I do.

• 12:30Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I know. And, and not the people, because you refuse to meet them.

• 12:33Speaker 02

  Oh, I, you know, most of the charities are for, for pets.

• 12:38Speaker 02

  They're mostly, they're mostly animal based. I feel like people can take care of themselves. People can take care of themselves. You get in a jam as a person, get yourself out of the jam.

• 12:44Amy Poehler?

  Exactly. You're an animal. You don't know what you're doing.

• 12:48Speaker 02

  Much of what's gone wrong for you as an animal is the fault of people, and I'm just doing my best to clean it up.

• 12:53Amy Poehler?

  Well, you are doing an act of charity today, actually, because you are getting on and helping me because I'm going to speak to Robert De Niro. I'm quite nervous, and you've already done it, and I need, I need.

• 13:03Speaker 02

  Always nervous. I will say, I wish I could tell you not to be nervous. I've been nervous every time I've talked to him.

• 13:08Amy Poehler?

  Okay, how many times have you spoken to him?

• 13:09Speaker 02

  I think I'm at 20 times in my life because of his time on SNL.

• 13:13Amy Poehler?

  Okay, sure.

• 13:14Speaker 02

  I will tell you this, I've never been able to pull the trigger and call him Bob.

• 13:20Amy Poehler?

  No?

• 13:21Speaker 02

  No, I can't bring myself to do it. It just feels, it just feels too familiar for a legend.

• 13:27Amy Poehler?

  So should I just call him Robert De Niro?

• 13:31Speaker 02

  And Mr. De Niro?

• 13:32Amy Poehler?

  Mr. De Niro, that seems too much.

• 13:34Speaker 02

  I did do this once, and it was not, I did once call him Danny DeVito, and that, I cannot recommend enough, you don't do that.

• 13:43Amy Poehler?

  Robert De Niro is like, um, everybody knows that name. He's so famous.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  He's so famous, I, again, because, uh, I'm aware of how little you guys do, I did a little research before jumping on. And I looked back, because he's our second, he's the, our second season is the first time he hosts. And so he's about 25 episodes into our run on SNL. I think he's the first true legend who hosted the show when we were there.

• 14:12Amy Poehler?

  Yep.

• 14:12Speaker 02

  And it's very surreal to work with legends. And the wonderful thing about when he showed up, and you, it never, it never reached the point where I was like, huh, he's just like us. But he, he laughed so hard at that table read.

• 14:27Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 14:28Speaker 02

  And he laughs just like Robert De Niro.

• 14:32Amy Poehler?

  Yes, yes.

• 14:33Speaker 02

  It's so much fun how much he laughs like Robert De Niro. And he laughs, he's an incredibly generous laugher, to the point where if you early, if your sketch was early and he laughed at it, you might think you'd written a perfect sketch. And then like 25 sketches in, you're realizing like, oh, he's laughing at everything.

• 14:49Amy Poehler?

  I want to try to get that energy today. I don't know. I, I.

• 14:54Speaker 02

  So this is for anybody, for anybody about to listen to the interview, if Bob's not laughing.

• 14:59Amy Poehler?

  Seth!

• 15:05Amy Poehler?

  Look, okay, it's, maybe it's because he's so moved by the conversation.

• 15:11Speaker 02

  Oh, well, I mean, trust me, hey, a lot of people think I'm, uh, I might even say my best quality is my sense of humor. But when I did Good Hang, I was just choked up, crying most of the time. People still ask me if I'm okay.

• 15:24Amy Poehler?

  Maybe I'll get De Niro to cry.

• 15:25Speaker 02

  You think?

• 15:26Amy Poehler?

  Maybe. You never know.

• 15:28Speaker 02

  How are you getting De Niro to cry?

• 15:29Amy Poehler?

  We'll see.

• 15:30Speaker 02

  Tell him you thought Groden carried Midnight Run.

• 15:35Speaker 02

  Looking back, do you agree that Groden's name should have been first on it?

• 15:38Amy Poehler?

  Just immediately burst out of tears. Seth, get serious. I'm about to interview Robert De Niro, and I need, okay, you've done it.

• 15:47Speaker 02

  Here's something you should know before you interview Bob. And this is a genuine.

• 15:51Amy Poehler?

  And you did just call him Bob.

• 15:52Speaker 02

  I'm going to call him Bob to you.

• 15:53Amy Poehler?

  Okay, okay.

• 15:54Speaker 02

  Bob gives great answers. Uh, there's a lot of, uh, important information in his answers. I think he answers with authenticity. What he does not give are long answers.

• 16:06Amy Poehler?

  Oh, no.

• 16:07Speaker 02

  Just telling you, like, and I think it's one of the great things about Bob De Niro. When Bob has made his point, he has no need, like a lot of us do, you and I, I think, we'll overtalk.

• 16:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 16:20Speaker 02

  You know what I mean?

• 16:20Amy Poehler?

  Oh, yeah.

• 16:21Speaker 02

  An interviewer with us often is wondering when it's their turn to get a word in.

• 16:26Amy Poehler?

  Often when we're being interviewed, we both see this, which is just someone going like, that's, that's enough.

• 16:31Speaker 02

  Or like, there's sometimes when they point at the watch.

• 16:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 16:35Speaker 02

  I'm going to guess, I'm going to look into your future and think there's not going to be a moment where you're going to be like, oh, my God, buddy, wrap it up.

• 16:44Amy Poehler?

  Right. Like, maybe there'll be some moments where I go, and, and what else?

• 16:48Speaker 02

  But again, what a thing. I mean, I feel like the, uh, the fully realized Robert De Niro is not, he is not, he does not need to hear his voice more than he feels is necessary.

• 16:59Amy Poehler?

  No, I mean, I think it's something interesting to talk to him about is the idea of like, he seems quite introverted for such an extroverted job. I mean, he is, like, he, it feels like his characters and his work is where he's able to, like, you know, he's spoken about it. He's quite a shy person.

• 17:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, it's very, and part of that, you know, shyness is, I think, what allows you and I to be intimidated. But the reality is, he's not, you know, he's not bored or put off by people. I think he is just genuinely, uh, shy. I know, I've told this story, and I apologize if I've told it to you, but I remember the first table read we did with him. I like ran to get in the elevator to go home on a Wednesday night. And I ran in not realizing he was the only other person in the elevator. And so then the door was closing. And again, it's only, it's only, say, you know, 17 floors, but it felt like the longest, uh, because it was just me and, and Robert De Niro. And he was very, uh, he was complimentary, too, about how the day had gone. But like, in very, and the

• 18:03Speaker 02

  fewest amount of words that it could be.

• 18:04Amy Poehler?

  I mean, it's going to be hard not to turn into Chris Farley and just be like, dear Hunter, like, that sounds so good.

• 18:10Speaker 02

  That's the problem with interviewing legends. I, in fact, the first time De Niro was on my show, he directed a movie called The Good Shepherd, uh, with Billie Eilish and Matt Damon. And I think he's only directed one or two things. And I really liked it. It's right up Seth Sally. It's a CIA movie. And I remember the first time he was on my show as a guest, I told him, hey, I really liked that movie. And he was like, no, thank you, thank you. And then the next time he was on my show, I think, again, from that moment of not feeling awkward, once again, I was like, hey, by the way, I really liked. And he's like, no, I remember. And it'd been like four years. I'm like, oh, right. Like, just because he's quiet doesn't mean he's not hearing you.

• 18:54Speaker 02

  But I like that he's like, yeah, what are you going to tell me every time I'm here about a movie I did in 2006? And I'm like, I don't, I got nervous.

• 19:03Amy Poehler?

  Well, he, yeah, I'm, I'm genuinely nervous. I don't get, you know, I think you're similar. I don't, I'm not, don't get that nervous. I mean, I'm sure with your, like, you've interviewed so many people, you probably, it's very rare that you probably get nervous, right?

• 19:16Speaker 02

  Well, it's always that. It's always somebody who was, you know, iconic when you were young.

• 19:23Amy Poehler?

  Yes.

• 19:24Speaker 02

  That idea that not only are you talking to them, but you're talking to them because they like, they got in a car and came to where you worked.

• 19:31Amy Poehler?

  And yeah, and you look, you turn and look at them, and you're like, you're talking to me?

• 19:35Speaker 02

  Oh, very nice. And now you've blown it. And I can't use it when he's there.

• 19:40Speaker 02

  I can't believe you blew, you have one, by the way, every interview with De Niro, you get one, you're talking to me.

• 19:44Amy Poehler?

  And I used it with you!

• 19:46Speaker 02

  Oh, my God, what a waste.

• 19:49Amy Poehler?

  I already blew it. Before we finish, Drachi talked about, um, how fun it was to do Debbie Downer with, uh, with Robert De Niro. And, um, and I do want to talk to him about comedy, because he's done a lot of it. And he's in a new one, uh, Meet the Parent, another Meet the Parents, which is going to be a big hit.

• 20:11Amy Poehler?

  I'm sure. But what did you write when you were, when he was hosting? Do you remember stuff you wrote for him?

• 20:17Speaker 02

  You know what I wrote? And I, it's, I did it twice. Uh, and this is a wonderful callback. If we were doing a Harold right now, this would be the last beat. I did a sketch called Pranksters, where I played a kid on Nickelodeon who hosted a prank show. And the first time I did it with Walken, and the second time I did it with De Niro. And the game was that older gentlemen had recorded their pranks, and their pranks were vicious in nature. And so it would be like, a kid would come on first, and his prank would be like, I put a rubber, you know, Catan would be like, I put a rubber spider in my teacher's drawer. And then De Niro would come out, and his neighbor borrowed his lawnmower, so he hid in his garage and then cut him up with a chainsaw.

• 20:55Speaker 02

  And the thing I'll remember about it, or the thing I do remember about it is Jim Signorelli, commercial parody director, SNL legend. You know, again, we filmed the first take and Robert De Niro got covered in, you know, whatever pudding type substance was supposed to be blood. Just like they just sprayed him with it. And I remember Jim was like, all right, let's clean him up and take it from the top. And I was like, and De Niro just looked at me and said, do we get it? We get it? And I was like, yeah, yeah, we got it. He goes, okay, goodbye. Just like, again, like it was a perfect take. But I had this moment of like, I don't want to have written a thing that makes Robert De

• 21:37Speaker 02

  Niro take a full shower to shoot a second take. And again, we just did a Lonely Island podcast about the party Mr. Bernard's, which was

• 21:48Amy Poehler?

  That's right. That's right.

• 21:50Speaker 02

  What is it? Weekend at Bernie's, where he basically like was just happy to play at courts.

• 21:54Amy Poehler?

  And then the last thing I'll say is we couldn't get Martin Scorsese to do this, but those glasses do look a little bit Scorsese like. Will you just, and I know this might feel weird, but we're gonna do something to the Zoom where we're gonna pretend that you're Martin Scorsese first.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  This whole time. Okay, yeah. Hey, Bob, he's the best. I love working with him. Oh, my God. Ask him about this. Ask him about that. Bob, he's the best.

• 22:22Amy Poehler?

  Thank you. That's perfect. We're gonna put that on a loop.

• 22:25Speaker 02

  And then I, is this weird? Could you just cut that up and send it to Lorne with like an email saying, why didn't you let him do more impressions?

• 22:36Amy Poehler?

  Totally. Yes. And you know what? I'll also send it to Martin Scorsese and be like,

• 22:41Speaker 02

  No, no, no, no, no.

• 22:41Amy Poehler?

  Seth Lee, I miss you. Before, I know this is weird, but show us all the, inside the drawers of your childhood bedroom.

• 22:53Speaker 02

  I'll tell you, I'm gonna show you these.

• 22:55Amy Poehler?

  Just show us one thing. Oh, what do we got? And this is from?

• 22:59Speaker 02

  Eighty-two champs?

• 23:01Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's you?

• 23:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, like football.

• 23:05Amy Poehler?

  Eighty-two champs?

• 23:07Speaker 02

  People were forgetting eighty-two, people wore jeans. It was a big time.

• 23:12Amy Poehler?

  You were playing football?

• 23:14Speaker 02

  Career-ending injury at eighty-two. Was nine years old and I think they said it was lady wrists? I can't remember what.

• 23:24Amy Poehler?

  All right, Seth Lee, I miss you. I could talk to you forever. Thank you for Zooming from your childhood bedroom. And thank you for, for helping me out with this because it is a big deal. This is a big interview and I appreciate your help.

• 23:42Speaker 02

  I would love you to start by saying Seth says hi. And if you don't, be very offended.

• 23:47Amy Poehler?

  I'd be very mad. And I'll tell him that you loved his movie. I'll tell him again. And I'll say, he thinks you forgot.

• 23:56Speaker 02

  I say Seth would love to tell you he likes something else you've done, but it's really, that's just it.

• 24:00Amy Poehler?

  Thanks so much for doing this. And I'll let you know how it goes. Hi. Jane?

• 24:06Speaker 03

  Amy, hi.

• 24:09Amy Poehler?

  Thank you for doing this. Great to see you. I mean, I feel like you do so much great work for the city, so much great work for the industry, and so much great work with Bob. You and, and Bob have worked together for what, thirty years? Longer?

• 24:27Speaker 03

  Seventy, almost thirty-eight, but who's counting? I mean, there was a period he was, we were doing so many things together. I remember him calling me one day and saying, what do you think about Exposed Brick? And I said, is that a script I'm supposed to read? Actress I'm supposed to meet? He said, no, in your office. I thought we should sand blast the walls.

• 24:52Amy Poehler?

  Exposed Brick, a new thriller.

• 24:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly.

• 24:58Amy Poehler?

  So we do this thing here where we're, we always try to speak to somebody who knows our guests to get a little bit of insight before we talk to them. And I imagine, more than most people, Bob has a lot projected on him. And what do people get wrong about him? What is one of the best things about him that people don't know?

• 25:21Speaker 03

  He's funny. He's got lifelong friends. He can tell us who somebody is by how long they keep their friends. And he's had the same group of friends going like way back. And he's funny and he loves the good conspiracy theory.

• 25:41Amy Poehler?

  Oh, we should get into some of those.

• 25:46Speaker 03

  You know, and he loves, he loves good food. And it was during Irishman and we were premiered at the London Film Festival. And then we were supposed to stay over and he was, no, let's go to Paris. A group of us, you know, let's go to Paris. And we got on a plane. It was probably like 11 o'clock at night. And there was some restaurant that he insisted we go to. Of course, the place was closed, but they said they were closing or whatever. And it was like, oh, but, you know,

• 26:21Amy Poehler?

  Bob's on his way.

• 26:22Speaker 03

  Bob De Niro and

• 26:24Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, we're gonna keep it open.

• 26:25Speaker 03

  We're gonna keep it open. And, okay, aside from we were jet lagged, you had like the London Film Festival. There we were, sitting in this restaurant because he had to try, you know, whatever. And it's like one, two in the morning and

• 26:41Amy Poehler?

  And you're knee deep in snails at this point.

• 26:44Speaker 03

  Yes, exactly. But, but, you know, he, he loves it. He loves trying new things.

• 26:51Amy Poehler?

  I, I mean, that's a, you know, ever since the origin of his art, like artist parents, like I do feel like he enjoys, he's like an ascite, like he enjoys beautiful things and things done well and people who are good at their jobs and like in a lot of different mediums. And I know you're the same way, too. I mean, that's where the Tribeca Film Festival, now celebrating his 25th year, is exactly that. It's like a compendium of talented people who have all different kinds of points of view. And you're, you know, using your currency to support their visions, basically. It's really, it's really something.

• 27:31Speaker 03

  Thanks. We try.

• 27:32Amy Poehler?

  Is there a question you have for him today? Something you'd want to know, big or small, something that you think he wants to talk about? Also, what does he not like to talk about?

• 27:45Speaker 03

  He probably doesn't like to talk about like, how did you gain weight and lose weight?

• 27:51Amy Poehler?

  I love it. I love this. Fantastic.

• 27:53Speaker 03

  You know?

• 27:54Amy Poehler?

  You just saved me 25 minutes of

• 27:56Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 27:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I mean, I feel like Bob doesn't even really like to talk about acting.

• 28:02Speaker 03

  You know, he's been famous for so long. And like, so, you know, how do his kids look at him?

• 28:14Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 28:14Speaker 03

  He shows his daughter Helen a lot of movies. They haven't, and he goes to movies with Helen all the time.

• 28:22Amy Poehler?

  How old is Helen?

• 28:23Speaker 03

  Fourteen.

• 28:24Amy Poehler?

  So that would be a nice question. What, what have you and Helen watched lately that you've liked together?

• 28:28Speaker 03

  Yes, as opposed to he and Gia, who's three, and he goes off about Miss Rachel.

• 28:34Amy Poehler?

  Amazing. Maybe we can get Bob to talk about his favorite Miss Rachel moment. That's a great question. Like, because I, I would like to know what he's watching and, and responding to. And because, you know, if you're a New Yorker, you know, it's about the present moment. Like this city moves fast and it keeps moving and things change and you have to stay present and current always.

• 29:02Speaker 03

  The one thing about Bob that I find so like amazing, if you say, if you said to him, okay, well, on Taxi Driver, on A Bronx Tale, on Silver Linings, I mean, just almost on any movie, like where you shot the movie on Sixth Avenue. No, no, we really shot it on Eighth Avenue. And it was the northeast corner and it was a little deli that's still there. It used to be a Smilers and now it's a this. We were on the second floor and you couldn't, I mean, he goes into such, I mean, he has a photographic memory.

• 29:42Speaker 03

  There's certain things he doesn't remember, but he is, like, why he calls me sometimes? He'll like call me and then say, do you have anything you needed to, did you need to tell me? And I'm like, no, you called me. Oh, when I remember, I'll call you back. I mean, but he's, you know, he can pretty much tell you where things were shot up to the, the exact corner and what was on it and what's on it now.

• 30:13Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's fantastic to know. That's really helpful. These are great questions. And, and, and thank you for helping me prep for this interview.

• 30:22Speaker 03

  I'm a huge fan of yours and huge respect. So thank you.

• 30:26Amy Poehler?

  Thanks so much, Jane. Great talking to you. And I hope I see you soon.

• 30:29Speaker 03

  Thanks. Bye.

• 30:30Amy Poehler?

  Bye.

• 30:33Amy Poehler?

  I have to say, I know you don't love interviews. Thank you for doing this. I'm already worried that nobody told you that you were doing this today.

• 30:40Speaker 04

  Well, I looked on my schedule, I said, oh, God. So, but I'm fine.

• 30:45Amy Poehler?

  You were like, how can we get out of this?

• 30:47Speaker 04

  No, thank you.

• 30:48Amy Poehler?

  No, because we're gonna talk, but I know, like, you're, you know, you've described yourself as kind of a shy person at times. And I don't think you like to talk very much.

• 31:00Speaker 04

  Sometimes I don't, yeah.

• 31:02Amy Poehler?

  Well.

• 31:03Speaker 04

  I, I, I know, what's, what's, what's the point?

• 31:08Amy Poehler?

  Okay, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask you a favor.

• 31:11Speaker 04

  To talk a little more?

• 31:12Amy Poehler?

  Just a little bit more. I get paid by the word. If I don't get, if I don't meet my word count by the end of this interview, I'm screwed. I, I, I think it's really interesting that you've described yourself as a shy person and a shy kid, because I think there's a lot of introverted people in this business, and I don't think people always assume that about people that are actors. Would you consider yourself an introverted person?

• 31:34Speaker 04

  In some ways, I am, yeah, some ways I am.

• 31:39Amy Poehler?

  Okay, you're gonna have to talk more than that.

• 31:41Speaker 04

  Depending on the situation.

• 31:44Amy Poehler?

  Okay, we need at least 10.

• 31:47Speaker 04

  Okay, let me have to know, I have to come up with something.

• 31:49Amy Poehler?

  We need at least 10 more words, every sentence.

• 31:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, okay, let's see. I have to fill the quota.

• 31:54Amy Poehler?

  Okay, were you a shy kid?

• 31:56Speaker 04

  I, well, I was quiet at some time, but I would have to speak up, I would.

• 32:03Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 32:03Speaker 04

  And I think being an actor, it allows you, I always used to say this and still say, it allows you to be other characters that you would normally not know at all. This way, it gives you a little taste of what they would be like and that experience would be like, and so, without having really to pay a price.

• 32:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 32:20Speaker 04

  Though you're aware of the price, whatever that character, his price is, you know.

• 32:24Amy Poehler?

  You know, when I'm around people who are quiet, because there is a difference between quiet and shy.

• 32:28Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 32:29Amy Poehler?

  When I'm around people that are quiet, I mean, I notice that a lot is projected on them, and then also, I feel like a responsibility to keep talking.

• 32:38Speaker 04

  Right.

• 32:38Amy Poehler?

  Does that happen to you a lot?

• 32:39Speaker 04

  You mean with me?

• 32:40Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 32:41Speaker 04

  Yeah, I don't mind that.

• 32:42Amy Poehler?

  I bet.

• 32:42Speaker 04

  Because you talk and I can just sit and listen.

• 32:47Speaker 04

  I have friends who like to talk a lot, and we get along real well.

• 32:52Amy Poehler?

  Well, yeah, we're gonna get along great, because there's gonna be a point in this interview where people are gonna be listening to him being like, Amy, please be quiet. But, but as, preparing for today, and you know, we're talking about, we're in New York City, you know, you're celebrating 25 years of Tribeca Film Festival. I feel like there's no other person that personifies the city more than you.

• 33:15Amy Poehler?

  It's like, if, if the city was a person, it would be you. And I'm sure you've been told that, but it really is true. There is a directness and a sense of the present moment in you. There's a, you know, New Yorkers are not necessarily overtly friendly, but they're secretly kind, which I've.

• 33:33Speaker 04

  I'd say, yeah.

• 33:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. And there's a, like, a ambition and drive that's, that's, you've had throughout your entire career. And your history of being in New York, like, you know, I'm always fascinated by kids that grew up in New York. It just seems like a fairy tale. What, what, what was it like? What was your neighborhood like? What was it like when you were a young person? Could you describe it to me?

• 33:56Speaker 04

  Well, I grew, I grew up in the Village, and, you know, it was, I, I, then I had, I hung out in Little Italy for years, and that's how I know Marty Scorsese. And Marty was, hung out with his other friends on another street, and I hung out with my friends.

• 34:17Amy Poehler?

  What street were you on, and what street was he on?

• 34:19Speaker 04

  He was on, around Prince and Mott, and I remember, and Elizabeth, and where he lived, and I was on Kenmare and Mulberry, or Broome sometimes, or Mulberry.

• 34:30Amy Poehler?

  Well, I mean, it's really amazing, you grew up with two artist parents, like, you know, you had, both your parents were artists, your mom was a poet and a painter, your dad was a painter, like, you were around.

• 34:39Speaker 04

  And a poet, too.

• 34:40Amy Poehler?

  And a poet, too. You were around art all the time.

• 34:42Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 34:43Amy Poehler?

  And I know art's still really important to you. When you were growing up in New York, do you remember that art scene? Like, did you ever meet Warhol?

• 34:50Speaker 04

  No.

• 34:51Amy Poehler?

  You never went to the factory?

• 34:53Speaker 04

  No.

• 34:55Amy Poehler?

  You ever see, like, a fa, I mean, I mean, in New York, you always see somebody walking past you. Did you ever meet a famous artist during that time, like, in the 50s and 60s?

• 35:04Speaker 04

  No, I wasn't too much really into art. It was because of my father and mother, you know, he'd take me to a gallery that he had, that he was owed money by, from, and, and that was it. I mean, it wasn't, yeah.

• 35:22Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I know when I moved to New York, I saw Lou Reed walk down the street, and I remember thinking, okay, I'm in the city. Was there somebody that you used to see in the city and be like, that's a, that's like a quintessential New Yorker?

• 35:35Speaker 04

  No, when I was a kid, I saw Alan Arkin.

• 35:39Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 35:40Speaker 04

  Once, I think Alan was from, he was from New York, I'm sure. I'm not sure where, but maybe he was Long Island, but he's a New Yorker in spirit.

• 35:48Amy Poehler?

  He has my favorite line in Glengarry Glen Ross in the film, when he says, "Shoes, boots, yes." You know that one?

• 35:56Speaker 04

  No, I mean, maybe.

• 35:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, well, I guess, I guess I know Mamet better than you, is what we're finding out.

• 36:02Speaker 04

  I mean, I saw the original production with Bobby DeBau and John Savage, and I'm forgetting who else.

• 36:10Amy Poehler?

  Oh, John Savage, incredible. You and I do have one thing in common, which is, I think, our first semi-professional productions or something was, was from a similar show. You were the lion, the cowardly lion in Wizard of Oz in 4th grade.

• 36:28Speaker 04

  When I was 10, yeah, maybe, yeah.

• 36:30Amy Poehler?

  Okay, and I was Dorothy around that time, and my, and I'd like to know what you brought to the role of the lion.

• 36:37Speaker 04

  I don't know. I, I, I liked it. I, I said my lines, and that was the part I was given.

• 36:47Amy Poehler?

  Okay, okay, it's a funny part.

• 36:50Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's good, it's good.

• 36:51Amy Poehler?

  It's a good song.

• 36:52Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 36:52Amy Poehler?

  Did you sing, too?

• 36:53Speaker 04

  I don't know, I didn't, no, that part I didn't do.

• 36:56Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 36:57Speaker 04

  It was, it's been so long, I was 10, so.

• 37:00Amy Poehler?

  The last question in that, in that timeframe that I wanted to ask you is, it felt like you knew from a very early age what you wanted to do.

• 37:07Speaker 04

  Yeah, and all in all, I did. I was sort of drifting in that direction, or gravitating in that direction.

• 37:14Amy Poehler?

  And, and do you find, as you get older, I know I do, that like, that's one of the things you wish, wish for anybody, especially your children, is just do whatever you want to do, just know what you want to do.

• 37:23Speaker 04

  Know what you want to do and do it, and do it as well as you can.

• 37:25Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, totally.

• 37:26Speaker 04

  You know, and if you really like it, you'll, you'll try to do it as well as you can.

• 37:30Amy Poehler?

  You started out doing, in the very early, in your early films, like, a lot of comedy. Did you do a couple, like?

• 37:36Speaker 04

  Well, I did Greetings, Hi Mom with De Palma, and then another comedy we did was The Untouchables years later.

• 37:43Amy Poehler?

  You know a little thing about The Untouchables?

• 37:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 37:46Amy Poehler?

  Do you know what I'm gonna say?

• 37:46Speaker 04

  No.

• 37:47Amy Poehler?

  Maybe not. I don't think he worked with you, actually, but there's a gentleman in The Untouchables, this guy named Dell Close, who says the titular line in the movie. He says, "You think you're untouchable, don't you?"

• 37:57Speaker 04

  Dell Close, yeah.

• 37:58Amy Poehler?

  I think his scene is with Elliot Ness, with Costner. And, and he was a Chicago actor.

• 38:06Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 38:07Amy Poehler?

  And he, he formed an improv theater that I studied at in Chicago.

• 38:13Speaker 04

  Are you from Chicago?

• 38:13Amy Poehler?

  Well, I grew up in Boston, and then I moved to Chicago after I graduated college, and studied at Second City.

• 38:19Speaker 04

  Yeah, oh, great, yeah.

• 38:20Amy Poehler?

  And he had this, like, kind of new theater called, at the time, it was called Improv Olympic, it was like improvisational theater. And Dell's kind of one of his, like, brush with greatness claim to fame is he's in The Untouchables.

• 38:32Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 38:33Amy Poehler?

  Great movie.

• 38:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, I, I enjoyed doing it.

• 38:38Speaker 04

  I, so, there's Viola Spolin and Paul Sildem.

• 38:43Amy Poehler?

  Did you ever do improv?

• 38:44Speaker 04

  That's ahead of you, though, yeah.

• 38:45Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, that is ahead, that was a little ahead of me. You know, Dell Close used to talk about Nichols and May.

• 38:50Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 38:51Amy Poehler?

  And that, and that, like, Second City being formed, and back then, there was a, I don't know if you ever were in, like, there was a big kind of controversy about whether or not improvisation was its own art form or a tool, a means to an end. Did you ever do improv when you were?

• 39:07Speaker 04

  Well, improv in movies, and with De Palma, you know, in Greetings and Hi Mom, you kind of, and other movies here and there, or you have the, the script, but you can go off it, and as long as you make the points and don't get off on a tangent, and, and stay in the right direction, it's okay.

• 39:26Amy Poehler?

  Do you like to, like, get it as scripted first and then improvise? I know directors like to, you know.

• 39:32Speaker 04

  Well, I mean, some directors will tell you to improvise, give you the situation and tell you to improvise.

• 39:41Speaker 04

  I worked with a director who would, we'd sit down in a camper and go over what was written.

• 39:50Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 39:50Speaker 04

  And then he'd say, well, what do you think about this? And it was kind of loose, he opened it up, and it worked out.

• 39:55Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I, I feel that way about improv. Sometimes it's exciting to be allowed to do it, and other times, it feels like, oh, this is a little too loose.

• 40:03Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, you got, you know, the, the one thing I, I don't like seeing is a movie that goes off in a direction, and that, that, maybe the director likes what they're doing, and, but they let it go too far, too long, it goes off on another tangent, and you forget why you're, what the situation is, and that's important.

• 40:20Amy Poehler?

  Or, like, everybody's speaking the same way.

• 40:23Speaker 04

  Yeah, exactly, yeah.

• 40:25Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah. I, I, we used to make a joke when we were, when we were doing this TV show that I was in, Parks and Recreation, we used to make a joke, like, do you want us to do a take that's longer and less funny?

• 40:36Speaker 04

  Right.

• 40:37Amy Poehler?

  We'll give you that.

• 40:38Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 40:42Amy Poehler?

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• 41:24Amy Poehler?

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• 42:05Amy Poehler?

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• 42:47Amy Poehler?

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• 43:33Amy Poehler?

  Speaking of your work, Mean Streets, Deer Hunter, Goodfellas, The Godfather 2, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, Wag the Dog, King of Comedy, Analyze This, Silver Linings Playbook, Meet the Fuckers, no questions, just great job.

• 43:50Speaker 04

  Thanks.

• 43:52Amy Poehler?

  I just want to ask you-

• 43:53Speaker 04

  You're very nice.

• 43:56Amy Poehler?

  Well, I have a hot take, because you're the best actor of our generation. But I think there's just so much to talk about in all those films, and I know they're like, so many of them are different parts of your life. Do you watch your old films ever?

• 44:12Speaker 04

  No, but I've always been wanting to watch all the movies I did, from the latest one all the way down, or the other way. The earliest ones, just go through them all, but it takes, it's more, it's easier said than done.

• 44:30Amy Poehler?

  That would be like your own festival.

• 44:32Speaker 04

  Yeah, I just, you know, I'd make comments, and somebody said, well, you know, a writer friend said, you know, I'll write-

• 44:38Amy Poehler?

  Oh, that's a great idea.

• 44:40Speaker 04

  I wasn't sure, but there's no downside to doing that, to just knowing. I wanted to get a sense of what I've done, where I, you know, and where I could go, what's missing in that, that I can make a choice of something different.

• 44:54Amy Poehler?

  That's interesting, to look at your body of work, and also to like, visit old friends, imagine what it must be like.

• 44:59Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:00Amy Poehler?

  Can I ask you about, so I won't get deep about, because again, we don't have the time, but, and we want to talk about the present stuff that you're doing, but can I ask about one specific scene in one specific movie?

• 45:13Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:13Amy Poehler?

  Okay. So Goodfellas, you know, a lot of people's, you know, top five favorite movies, it has stood the test of time, incredible, incredible cast, credible performance by you and so many people in that film. There's this, that wonderful scene with you and Lorraine Bracco, where Lorraine is playing the wife of Ray Liotta, and she's kind of worried that he's fallen out of favor with the rest of the organization.

• 45:40Speaker 04

  Right.

• 45:40Amy Poehler?

  And you, Jimmy, you kind of play like his patriarchal, what would you say, like-

• 45:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 45:50Amy Poehler?

  Like his mentor?

• 45:52Speaker 04

  Yeah, kind of his mentor, yeah.

• 45:55Amy Poehler?

  And there's a scene where she comes to try to get some help from you, and you ask her to walk down an alley to go get some Dior clothes you got for her. And there's, it's just, it's a perfect example of real tension.

• 46:06Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 46:07Amy Poehler?

  Can you tell me what you remember about shooting the scene that day? I think it's a perfect scene.

• 46:11Speaker 04

  Well, the thing that I was concerned about is just that, as Marty was, as I remember, it's just that you don't know what he really is doing. Is he setting her up or not? And so, it's just making this, which happens in life, too, in that way, you know, same thing, God, it's okay, you know, just be very casual, and God knows what'll happen to you, could be nothing, it could be something.

• 46:37Amy Poehler?

  Did you make a decision as an actor to know what you thought was gonna happen?

• 46:41Speaker 04

  I think I thought more that something would happen.

• 46:45Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 46:45Speaker 04

  And that, but my main thing is to make, to act as if everything's good, you know, just go in, you know?

• 46:51Amy Poehler?

  It's such an incredible lesson in how to create suspense and tension, and also to remind people that people don't often telegraph what they're gonna do.

• 47:01Speaker 04

  Right, no, not at all.

• 47:02Amy Poehler?

  I mean, you never telegraph, Bob. Can I call you Bob?

• 47:06Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 47:10Amy Poehler?

  I should have started at that, you know? I mean, never, there's never, we never, ever see you ever doing that, even, you're never indicating. It's just, and it's one of the millions of examples of that, I think, in that scene.

• 47:26Speaker 04

  Well, it's important to not, you know, indicating, and acting is indicating. And so, you say to an actor who's, you just watched a scene or something, not in a negative, critical way, but you can't, you don't indicate, or you are indicating, so it's better not to, you know, in life, people don't do that. They just do, they're very good actors, people in life.

• 47:48Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 47:48Speaker 04

  And it's life, and it's real, and the way you behave, it could be life-dependent.

• 47:57Amy Poehler?

  For me, it was a great example of a woman's intuition. She has an intuition there that's very strong-

• 48:03Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 48:03Amy Poehler?

  -that she listens to, that saves her life.

• 48:07Speaker 04

  Yeah, exactly.

• 48:08Amy Poehler?

  And then she comes home and says, I don't know, and she's, she's starting to kind of gaslight herself a little bit, like, I don't know, I just got scared, you know? And it's, I think, a beautiful journey for that, for her character of, like, what's real.

• 48:22Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 48:24Amy Poehler?

  When you do a scene like that, what is, Martin Scorsese's, like, how do you know you got it? What does he say?

• 48:31Speaker 04

  I can't remember, it's been a while, but I think Marty, you know, basically said, you know, you're gonna go, she wants to go, and you want her to go in there, you're gonna, and I forget what's set up, but the whole thing is to show the ambiguity. We don't know, we don't know, we see it very possibly, something could happen, but at the same time, it couldn't. So that's part of the whole reason the scene is done, or one piece of it.

• 48:59Amy Poehler?

  Do you like when a director says, we got it?

• 49:02Speaker 04

  I don't, I don't hear it too much, we got it.

• 49:06Amy Poehler?

  What, really?

• 49:07Speaker 04

  Well, it's just, okay, it's good, or this or that.

• 49:09Amy Poehler?

  You just like when they go, it's okay, it's okay.

• 49:11Speaker 04

  Well, you could say we got it, I guess, but it depends on the scene and what it is, and-

• 49:16Amy Poehler?

  You like when they're gonna say, like, it's good, it's-

• 49:18Speaker 04

  We're good, we're good, it's good, yeah.

• 49:20Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, but low-key.

• 49:22Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, I mean, just, and you know, you know, say Marty, Marty says he got, he's happy, we talk, we got this piece, we got that, da-da-da, he'll say, yep, yep, we're good, yeah, yeah, it's okay.

• 49:35Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 49:39Amy Poehler?

  And that happens in a second and like you just mumble that to each other. Are you suspicious of people that are like, I guess I'm projecting, but I'm a little suspicious sometime when people are too, like, I don't know, when they're flattering me.

• 49:54Speaker 04

  Sure. Well, you know, it's funny. I don't mind the,

• 50:04Speaker 04

  when a director or somebody tries to tell you very good or a certain type situation, that's good. And because it's like when I was, I did the Last Tycoon with Elia Kazan. And we came out of a looping stage and he said, you know, that was great. Cause he was like, you know, that was really, you know, just got it. I said, well, thanks. I feel good, even though I'm not sure you really meant it, but I'm happy. He said, he got, he got a little offended. He thought I didn't believe him. I said, no, no. I said, the effort is the most important thing. You know, it's like telling your child when, when they do something, they show you something, isn't that nice? That's great. You know? Oh boy, so proud of you. You know, it's, it's real. You believe it. It is.

• 50:48Amy Poehler?

  That's right. It's true. I know what you mean. And it's a fine line though. It's a fine line in that moment. But as a director, you must also feel the urge sometimes to take over if somebody's not a strong captain.

• 51:00Speaker 04

  Well, I don't like to be in that situation.

• 51:03Amy Poehler?

  Right. You don't put yourself in that situation.

• 51:05Speaker 04

  If I'm in, I'm in with the director, maybe certain things, but I, but I trust them and then trust me and I'm not gonna mess with them and play games, you know? We, we, we have an objective to achieve and we're there working together. We don't want to waste time, you know? Any nonsense.

• 51:25Amy Poehler?

  And the other thing in the many years of incredible work that you've done, again, which we could talk about forever. What, what are some skills that you had to learn for parts that you still like, that you still maintain or retain?

• 51:39Speaker 04

  Well, I, I practiced a lot with the saxophone in New York, New York. And, but I never kept it up and I regretted that. Cause I did work very hard on, I did everything phonetically. But it's, it's the skill, not that you can't take away. I mean, that's real. So I just wish I had made it something that I would practice even a half an hour every day to keep.

• 52:06Amy Poehler?

  I feel that way about like instruments. I can't, it's so embarrassing. I can't play an instrument. Can you play any other instruments?

• 52:12Speaker 04

  No, I wanted to play the piano, but it's one thing to want to play it. It's another thing to do it.

• 52:19Amy Poehler?

  I know. The piano feels like an instrument. When you sit down at it, you think, I'll be able to play this.

• 52:23Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 52:24Amy Poehler?

  And then you can't.

• 52:25Speaker 04

  No, I, I, I wish and my, my mother tried to make me take piano lessons when I was five and I had no interest in it. It was drudgery. You know, I wish I was, I wasn't smart about it.

• 52:40Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I do regret not being able to play an instrument. Well, there's, there's still time, Bob.

• 52:44Speaker 04

  There is, there is.

• 52:47Amy Poehler?

  Okay. And then do you ever use TikTok? Cause I want to show you something. Do you know what a thirst trap is?

• 52:53Speaker 04

  No.

• 52:54Amy Poehler?

  Okay. So it's basically like hot pictures of people. But TikTok loves you and they make videos of, of you, of, of you in different movies. And can I show you?

• 53:08Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah.

• 53:09Amy Poehler?

  It's gonna make you feel great.

• 53:10Speaker 04

  Oh, good.

• 53:14Amy Poehler?

  I mean, I feel like these are, these are to make people feel good and this one is specifically for you, but look at this. It's usually sexy music.

• 53:23Amy Poehler?

  Look.

• 53:34Amy Poehler?

  These are young pictures of you and young kids making this.

• 53:38Speaker 04

  Doing it. Yeah. Wow.

• 53:39Amy Poehler?

  Look, look at you.

• 53:43Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah.

• 53:45Amy Poehler?

  Listeners, Bob is staring at this as it, look.

• 53:48Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 53:49Amy Poehler?

  I don't know. I guess just good job at being so handsome.

• 53:52Speaker 04

  Oh, well, thanks.

• 53:55Amy Poehler?

  Let's talk about some comedy stuff because we met, I think, for the first time, or at least in my mind, for the first time, although I'm sure in various early times when I moved to New York, I probably, you know, followed you down the street without you knowing, but at SNL, 2002.

• 54:16Amy Poehler?

  You've hosted three times.

• 54:17Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 54:18Amy Poehler?

  You obviously have done it more than once because you liked it. What do you like about doing it?

• 54:22Speaker 04

  What I like about it is that it's so fast. You can't, it doesn't give you time to think. And you've got to change, get into different costumes, this and that, boom, boom, boom, boom. They've got the cards for you. It's so fast. If you, you know, you, you, you can not worry about failing, if you will, whatever that means, and just have fun with it.

• 54:40Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I have a real image stuck in my mind of Donna, the woman who pulls you around and changes you.

• 54:49Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah, right. Is she still there?

• 54:51Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 54:51Speaker 04

  Oh, wow.

• 54:52Amy Poehler?

  She's incredible. She's kind of the one that should write the book. She knows, she's seen everybody naked.

• 54:57Speaker 04

  Exactly.

• 54:59Amy Poehler?

  And she, I remember us doing a, it was, I was like a second year. I started in 2000. That, that, that show after nine 11 was my first SNL. And you hosted, I think, first in 2002. You were being pulled by Donna while you were dressed as Siegfried, I think, from Siegfried and Roy.

• 55:20Speaker 04

  Oh, okay. Go ahead.

• 55:22Amy Poehler?

  Do you remember that?

• 55:22Speaker 04

  No, but you should look at those.

• 55:28Amy Poehler?

  Better not to look back. Maybe when you go back over the, over your canon of work, just skip.

• 55:33Speaker 04

  Keep that up.

• 55:35Amy Poehler?

  And one thing I'll say is like, you know, you are a person that people like to do impressions of. Is that weird?

• 55:42Speaker 04

  No, I mean, it's kind of flattering. Alec Baldwin does really good impressions. And I, and I, and one that he, he did, he did, he was on, I forget what talk show he was on. And he was saying, commenting on the Godfather reunion with me and Al and Bobby Duval and Francis and Talia Shire and, and Jimmy Khan, everybody. And, and he said, did you see that? And he said, you know, they're talking to De Niro and Al, they're talking, they're talking. He's just making, the way he makes fun of, of you is just hysterical. You know, how we're all mumbling, you don't know what the hell we, he can't understand what we're saying.

• 56:22Amy Poehler?

  Well, you have, what, what I love about, what I love about you, Bob, is when you're laughing and when you're upset, it looks like the same face.

• 56:33Amy Poehler?

  It's kind of, you, you, you're a quiet laugher, right? Would you say?

• 56:38Speaker 04

  Yeah. Yeah. I mean, sometimes if it's, I would have a more, a more boisterous laugh. It depends.

• 56:47Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. We're almost done. We're, we're at 40, we're at 45.

• 56:56Amy Poehler?

  I like you. I like to know how long things are gonna take. So we're almost done. Okay. So here we go.

• 57:02Amy Poehler?

  I feel like a lot of, a lot of your career has been defined by lasting partnerships, people that you've met and continue to work with. And I think it's, it is a sign often of like somebody's character that they maintain friendships and partnerships throughout their life. You talked a little bit about Martin Scorsese and the ways that you guys have, you know, it's really something that you grew up around the corner from each other. Mean Streets was based on people that you knew. What, what is it like to have a friend in this business for this long?

• 57:37Speaker 04

  I think it's, it's great. And, and I would always say it's kind of amazing that Marty and I were aware of each other. We had a mutual friend who passed away, but he was, may rest in peace. He was, I did a movie called Alto Nights. And I, he, Marty and I did this, well, he, there's a documentary about it, it was in Lincoln Center. When they wrote the script, Nick Bledzi, he wrote this. I said, how do you know about this place called the Alto Nights? He said, well, I, I, you know, I was a crime reporter down there and a reporter. And I knew this, that social club was, I said, that's a place I used to hang out in when I was a kid.

• 58:18Speaker 04

  And so my friend, one of my friends, Butch, he, he remembered things that I had forgotten what went on there and stuff like that. So it was interesting and they were terrific in the movie. So that was a nice thing.

• 58:30Amy Poehler?

  Nick, I would love to meet Nick and, and I would have loved to have met Nora.

• 58:34Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 58:35Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Meryl Streep.

• 58:37Speaker 04

  Meryl, yes.

• 58:38Amy Poehler?

  You know, she claims that you're not very good at charades.

• 58:42Speaker 04

  Yes, I know. I heard that. Yeah. I probably am not.

• 58:48Speaker 04

  I think we did it somewhere. I, I was not inspired and that's, that's my fault.

• 58:54Amy Poehler?

  Well, you can try, try harder next time.

• 58:56Speaker 04

  I will, I will.

• 58:57Amy Poehler?

  Where did you meet her for the first time? You saw her on stage?

• 59:00Speaker 04

  Meryl, I went with Mike Shimino to, and it's funny because I went to the Double Wear's Prada thing. And we had, at Lincoln Center and they had the tent right across from where I, I saw her do a cherry orchard, I think it was, with Raul Julia. And Mike Shimino and I went because he was for that part, thinking of her for the, for the deer hunter. So that's the first time. I don't even know if we went backstage. I'm not sure, but she, you know, she had it.

• 59:30Amy Poehler?

  You have worked together a lot in many different ways. What, what's so wonderful about working with her?

• 59:35Speaker 04

  Meryl's a, a, a great actress and so skilled and smart and just terrific and very funny. Great sense of humor and, and she's just a wonderful person.

• 59:52Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah. Ben Stiller, you're back with Ben again. You've done quite a few features with him.

• 1:00:00Amy Poehler?

  Does he still run all the time? Does he run every day still?

• 1:00:02Speaker 04

  He's in good shape.

• 1:00:03Amy Poehler?

  He is. He runs a lot.

• 1:00:05Speaker 04

  I guess he does. I don't know. I see him run to and from the set. No, I'm kidding.

• 1:00:12Speaker 04

  But I, I, he does something.

• 1:00:14Amy Poehler?

  You guys are very, very funny together. What, what's been, what's been your experience of working with Ben?

• 1:00:19Speaker 04

  Ben, he has a way of when you.

• 1:00:24Speaker 04

  When he reacts to what you say, which is kind of a funny line, say, my character, Jack, he'll go, uh huh, oh, yeah, he has a way of commenting on what you just said, saying that it's not too smart, a little stupid, but uh huh, I'm giving you the respect. But he has a way of commenting on it. And so there's three different things, four different things going on at once in his reaction. And he's very funny.

• 1:00:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, the, the status between the two of you is just such funny comedic fodder. And you, um, you join him again in, um, in your new film, Focker in Law, with Ariana Grande, who was in here, who was a delight. What did you think of working with her?

• 1:01:01Speaker 04

  Ariana was terrific.

• 1:01:02Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:01:03Speaker 04

  A nice, nice young lady, terrific.

• 1:01:05Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, a real pro.

• 1:01:07Speaker 04

  Perfect for it.

• 1:01:08Amy Poehler?

  And, um, Jane Rosenthal.

• 1:01:10Speaker 04

  Jane. Well, Jane and I worked together for 37, 38 years. And, uh, we had a thing last night at, um, uh, the Chanel party and we did a tribute to her for all the things together.

• 1:01:26Amy Poehler?

  Congratulations on that 25 years in the Tribeca Film Festival. Amazing, like, way to amplify new voices and to use your currency. I mean, it's, you know, um, it's, it's really, I mean, I, I was speaking to Jane earlier and, um, we were saying it's wild how everything is now 25 years ago, 35. I mean, it's like,

• 1:01:48Speaker 04

  I know.

• 1:01:49Amy Poehler?

  It's been a really, it's been a really, really, I mean, it always is an intense period in New York, but the past 25 years have been something else.

• 1:01:56Speaker 04

  Yeah, they have.

• 1:01:57Amy Poehler?

  Um, so before we get into that, and Jane had a question for you. I, I got very quick, um, this is, this is speed round, hot takes.

• 1:02:05Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:02:06Amy Poehler?

  Okay. It can be a slow round.

• 1:02:08Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:02:08Amy Poehler?

  But, um, NYC hot takes. Do you remember the cost of rent of your first apartment?

• 1:02:15Speaker 04

  I think it was, uh, $75.

• 1:02:18Amy Poehler?

  Where was it?

• 1:02:19Speaker 04

  An Irving Place.

• 1:02:21Amy Poehler?

  Was it a studio, one bedroom?

• 1:02:23Speaker 04

  A one bedroom.

• 1:02:24Amy Poehler?

  One bedroom, 75 bucks.

• 1:02:26Speaker 04

  It might have not even been a one bedroom. It might have been just one room and you put a bed in there.

• 1:02:30Amy Poehler?

  Favorite New York museum?

• 1:02:31Speaker 04

  Uh, the Metropolitan and the, and the Museum of Modern Art.

• 1:02:35Amy Poehler?

  Do you have any art that you, any, um, paintings that you go back to? Like that, like, are your, like, you know?

• 1:02:42Speaker 04

  No, no, I don't. But my, my mother and father might have something in the Museum of Modern Art, I think. I'm not a hundred percent sure.

• 1:02:48Amy Poehler?

  Really? But you don't know?

• 1:02:49Speaker 04

  I know, but Jane would be, I, I would have thought, but I think, yeah.

• 1:02:53Amy Poehler?

  MoMA, if you're listening, let us know.

• 1:02:56Speaker 04

  Well.

• 1:02:57Amy Poehler?

  Sushi order. What do you order? What's your favorite?

• 1:03:00Speaker 04

  Well, I always, they always say Blackheart, but Blackheart is good, Nobu.

• 1:03:03Amy Poehler?

  Nobu. Uh, and, uh, pizza order, what do you get when you get a slice?

• 1:03:08Speaker 04

  As long as it's a good pizza, pizza place, I'm, I'm happy.

• 1:03:11Amy Poehler?

  What kind of pizza do you like? Just plain?

• 1:03:12Speaker 04

  Pepperoni.

• 1:03:12Amy Poehler?

  Pepperoni, okay. Um, New York restaurant, best New York restaurant that you don't own? Cause you own a few.

• 1:03:18Speaker 04

  One that I'd said, I want to say because I, I, I don't want to give it away.

• 1:03:22Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't want to blow up the spot, as the kids say.

• 1:03:24Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:03:25Amy Poehler?

  Which you would know if you were on TikTok. Um, when you get into taxis, do people quote taxi drivers?

• 1:03:31Speaker 04

  Here and there, very little.

• 1:03:32Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:33Speaker 04

  But I don't get in cabs, but maybe once in a while or an Uber or something.

• 1:03:36Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah. But you don't get in cabs. Yeah, yeah.

• 1:03:38Speaker 04

  In the street too anymore.

• 1:03:40Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. And when you walk down the street, you like to walk in the city, everybody does.

• 1:03:43Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:03:43Amy Poehler?

  You've, you've spoken about how like, there's, you know, the best thing about the city is you can just be blending in and part of it. Nobody bothers you. Nobody cares.

• 1:03:52Speaker 04

  People have peripheral vision and if they see somebody physically like me, uh, I'm older and stuff, I look like an older guy, you know? So then I,

• 1:04:01Amy Poehler?

  Not on TikTok.

• 1:04:03Speaker 04

  Huh?

• 1:04:03Amy Poehler?

  Not on TikTok.

• 1:04:03Speaker 04

  But they're not gonna, they're not gonna look at you. Their, their peripheral vision, it doesn't make them interested in looking at you anyway.

• 1:04:10Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:11Speaker 04

  So I just walk and nobody, I get not, not recognized much.

• 1:04:15Amy Poehler?

  When, do you listen to any music when you walk? Do you, are you a podcast person?

• 1:04:18Speaker 04

  I like to listen to, uh, music in the car. I ride around a lot in the car because I have to go here and there. And then I read the paper and listen to music. I listen to all these, well, all these, certain oldies from the seventies.

• 1:04:31Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, best era for music.

• 1:04:33Speaker 04

  Yeah. I mean, that's, there's a stage I listen to on Sirius.

• 1:04:36Amy Poehler?

  That seventies and eighties, like?

• 1:04:38Speaker 04

  Yeah, it's got, it's music that I used to always hear and listen all the time. Uh, uh, it was, it was almost unconsc, you know, you just so much, brought back so many memories. And as it does now, it's Channel 16, The Blend, it's called.

• 1:04:52Amy Poehler?

  Hmm. I know exactly what that channel is. It's great.

• 1:04:55Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:04:56Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. It's the music that we like had our lives to. Yeah. Um, and then last question is, um, we spoke to, we always try to talk to somebody who knows our guests. We get like, you know, we kind of talk well behind their back. And Jane and I were talking earlier today. And, um, we were talking about the festival and talking about you two and your long history together. And, um, you know, she just, I thanked her, as I would like to thank you for, you know, the, the film festival, it, it started at a time when the city was, was really hurting. Um, and, and that coincided with, for myself personally,

• 1:05:40Amy Poehler?

  starting SNL, it was like, okay, being on a live sketch variety show during a time when New York was really, um, had, you know, had just, um, suffered, um, through nine 11. And it was like, the city really needed, and, you know, you and Jane and so many other New Yorkers stepped up for the city during that time. And I know a lot of people were grateful for it. And I asked Jane, uh, to ask you a question. Um, and she had a sweet one, which was, what, what have you and Helen, your 14 year old, seen recently that is, is, um?

• 1:06:14Speaker 04

  She, you know, I, trying to tell her that we should look at movies, she looks at things like Stranger Things, which got me into it, she into.

• 1:06:25Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:25Speaker 04

  I saw a movie called Housemaid.

• 1:06:27Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:28Speaker 04

  It was good.

• 1:06:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:06:29Speaker 04

  Yeah. I saw another movie, um, that she, you know, I'm walking by her while she's watching. And I go, I said, that's not bad, that, that movie. And there's something, and just walking by, I get a sense of the film that I say, yeah. But I, I don't like to look at those. So I wind up looking at them because she wants to look at them. I'd rather find classics that she could look at or movies, um.

• 1:06:53Amy Poehler?

  Did you show her anything that she liked? Cause it's, I have teenagers, it's hard to get them to like what you like.

• 1:06:59Speaker 04

  No, it's, it's hard. It's hard.

• 1:07:01Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:02Speaker 04

  Uh, and she does very little on the, uh, you know, on, on her iPhone at this point, keeping that very, uh, on the wraps as much as I can. And so, but, um, but, yeah, that's the.

• 1:07:15Amy Poehler?

  But Helen introduced you to Stranger Things.

• 1:07:17Speaker 04

  Uh, yeah.

• 1:07:17Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. And you liked that.

• 1:07:18Speaker 04

  Oh, yeah. It was good.

• 1:07:19Amy Poehler?

  It was good, right?

• 1:07:20Speaker 04

  We went to see the play too, the musical.

• 1:07:22Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:07:22Speaker 04

  It was good.

• 1:07:23Amy Poehler?

  Um, okay. And so is there anything for your last, my last question with you? Um, and by the way, congratulations on Focker in Law coming out, big new comedy movie that we need right now. And, and I, I just want to say, as we wrap, um, you know, I, I, I just personally want to thank you for like, doing what you do and speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world. There's a lot of people, um, that are asked to speak truth to power and they're usually, you know, members of the, like, the margins. There are people that are young, don't really have as much, um, currency or

• 1:08:04Amy Poehler?

  a, a footing as other people. It's often people of color. It's often women. And to see a person like yourself, the age that you are and the status that you are, it reminds me of, the best way I can describe it is when, it's like if someone's giving a terrible speech at a wedding and they're ruining the wedding.

• 1:08:26Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:08:26Amy Poehler?

  And the wedding is America. And, and there's another adult who says like, we don't talk like that. That's not how you're supposed to treat people. This is insane.

• 1:08:37Speaker 04

  Yep.

• 1:08:37Amy Poehler?

  It makes everybody feel very safe. And so I've seen you do it over and over again, and I really appreciate it.

• 1:08:42Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 1:08:46Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, it means a lot to a lot of people. Cause you're standing up for a lot of people who don't have the power to do that. So thank you, Bob. And thanks for doing it over and over again. And this is going to be a real switcheroo because I can't believe I just made you cry. I feel incredible right now. Hold on, we gotta get you your tissues.

• 1:09:03Speaker 04

  Thanks.

• 1:09:05Amy Poehler?

  We've got Good Hang tissues for you, Bob. But it's true. It's true. It is, you know, there's not a lot of men who, in your position, who do that. And white men of a certain age, like who frankly, you know, have a ton of power and don't use that responsibility in a way that they could. So, thank you.

• 1:09:24Speaker 04

  Yeah, of course.

• 1:09:27Speaker 04

  It's so upsetting to see what's happening in this country. And it's so crazy.

• 1:09:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:35Speaker 04

  It's not like, it's, I mean, in a way, that's better than it's so blatant. Because this will happen again. And people, and this guy will influence people. And they'll come up and they'll say, well, I can do it this way or that way. And we have to always be on guard with what's happening now.

• 1:09:56Amy Poehler?

  What do you say to people who feel very hopeless? Because that hopelessness sometimes paralyzes people.

• 1:10:03Speaker 04

  I understand that, but you have to fight. You have to fight. Because if you don't fight, you're not going to get anything.

• 1:10:11Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:11Speaker 04

  You're not gonna, and you have to fight. You have to join people. I just, I use this example, Jason Crow saying

• 1:10:21Speaker 04

  that courage is contagious. And, you know, the other thing, the negative feelings can be contagious too. But why not have courage and be contagious and stand up? And you might find out it's not so difficult. And people will stop the nonsense that they're doing. It's, it's just out of control.

• 1:10:44Amy Poehler?

  Well, it is, when people like you do that, it makes it easier for other people to do it. So, thank you.

• 1:10:51Speaker 04

  I hope.

• 1:10:53Amy Poehler?

  And then.

• 1:10:53Speaker 04

  And I don't like to use the word hope.

• 1:10:55Amy Poehler?

  I know, but we keep using it. I mean, whatever, you know?

• 1:11:00Amy Poehler?

  And what are you watching these days to make you laugh? When you're feeling really?

• 1:11:05Speaker 04

  Well, oh, another one is Modern Family I watch.

• 1:11:08Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:08Speaker 04

  My daughter put me on to. It's very funny.

• 1:11:10Amy Poehler?

  Very funny.

• 1:11:11Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:11:11Amy Poehler?

  And just a good one to watch.

• 1:11:13Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:11:13Amy Poehler?

  There's a million of them.

• 1:11:14Speaker 04

  It's great.

• 1:11:15Amy Poehler?

  And you can just crank through them.

• 1:11:16Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah. They're very funny, likable people.

• 1:11:19Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:19Speaker 04

  It's well cast.

• 1:11:20Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:11:21Speaker 04

  Very good.

• 1:11:21Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think that comedy right now, and I know you've talked about it, but like, when things get particularly stressful in the world, people want to watch that

• 1:11:31Speaker 04

  Sure.

• 1:11:32Amy Poehler?

  rupture and repair, and that way that people are getting along. And they just need some kind of self-soothing.

• 1:11:37Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:11:38Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:11:39Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:11:39Amy Poehler?

  I texted the SNL ladies, Maya and, and

• 1:11:42Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:11:43Amy Poehler?

  Paula Pell and Rachel and Tina to, because I knew we were talking today. And I was like, do you have any questions for Bob? And they were all saying they have a really fond memory of when we were doing the read through, you just laughing a lot.

• 1:11:56Speaker 04

  Me? Oh, yeah, no.

• 1:11:57Amy Poehler?

  Giggling a lot.

• 1:11:59Speaker 04

  I love SNL. I think it's so, I always, when I see movies, I say that there's a great skit from this or some political situation.

• 1:12:06Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:12:07Speaker 04

  This is a great, and SNL will do.

• 1:12:09Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. When you were growing up, what was comedy like? What kind of comedy were you watching in your house? What did you like? Who'd you like?

• 1:12:15Speaker 04

  Well, in, when I was a kid, it was Abbott and Costello, the Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy. There was a theater called The Laugh Movie on 42nd Street. And I had only comedies. And I would go, or maybe they'd have a Frankenstein movie or something like that. Or Frankenstein meets Abbott and Costello or something. But I'd go there every weekend, every Saturday, take the subway.

• 1:12:44Amy Poehler?

  There's nothing like watching a comedy in a theater.

• 1:12:46Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:12:47Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. Do you remember when SNL premiered?

• 1:12:49Speaker 04

  Yes.

• 1:12:50Amy Poehler?

  What do you remember from that time?

• 1:12:51Speaker 04

  I think it was a show with Rob Reiner. Was it Rob Reiner?

• 1:12:54Amy Poehler?

  George Carlin, I think, was the first.

• 1:12:56Speaker 04

  It was one of the few.

• 1:12:57Amy Poehler?

  One of the early ones was Rob, yeah.

• 1:12:59Speaker 04

  He did a, he did a thing where

• 1:13:04Speaker 04

  he was playing like a Wayne Newton type character or something. And he kept singing and singing and singing and singing. And it was going on and on and on. I'm saying, this is, this is good because he's not, you know, he's not stopping when you'd expect him to. He was just going on and on. I thought that was great. I liked SNL.

• 1:13:25Amy Poehler?

  Did you feel like at the time, you were like sensing this was like a show for you? I mean, it really was your generation's like anti-establishment?

• 1:13:34Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:13:34Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I'm curious, you and Lorne are both like examples of longtime New Yorkers who've been working for a very long time and been successful and famous for a very long time. What do you, what do you, what do you take from like working with him and?

• 1:13:51Speaker 04

  I think he's great, Lorne. I think, and I use him as an example of someone who had the show going all these decades and is able to do it.

• 1:14:02Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:03Speaker 04

  Compared to what goes on with the clown show with Trump and all that. You know, he doesn't know what he's doing. And it's, it's just a good example of leadership.

• 1:14:15Amy Poehler?

  Yeah. I agree. And it was kind of on display on the SNL 50th.

• 1:14:19Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:14:20Amy Poehler?

  Which was a very special evening that you got to be a part of.

• 1:14:23Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:14:23Amy Poehler?

  And for people that didn't see, what did you get to do on the SNL 50th show?

• 1:14:27Speaker 04

  What did I do?

• 1:14:28Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:29Speaker 04

  I did the thing with Debbie Downer.

• 1:14:35Speaker 04

  Which was fun.

• 1:14:36Amy Poehler?

  Was it fun?

• 1:14:37Speaker 04

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:14:38Amy Poehler?

  So, what, can you explain to people, what do you remember doing in the sketch? What was your, what was your motivation? What was your character?

• 1:14:47Speaker 04

  Well, the most important thing to me was not, not to, you know, even though I can laugh in rehearsal and enjoy, you get a kick out of it. When you do it, you got to do it straight.

• 1:14:55Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:55Speaker 04

  You have to really commit to it.

• 1:14:57Amy Poehler?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:58Speaker 04

  That's all. Don't do any indicating. Just straight on what you're supposed to do with that person, as if it was a real situation. And that's how I looked at it.

• 1:15:09Amy Poehler?

  I spoke to the writer Paula Pell, and she said it was like her dream for you to get upset at that character. And to call her Deborah, Deborah Downer.

• 1:15:20Amy Poehler?

  Said, look, Deborah.

• 1:15:23Amy Poehler?

  And I think you strangled, I think you fake-strangled her.

• 1:15:25Speaker 04

  Yes, yes.

• 1:15:28Amy Poehler?

  Rachel Dratch.

• 1:15:29Speaker 04

  Yeah, she was great. May she rest in peace.

• 1:15:35Amy Poehler?

  Yeah, I mean, that was so, that was, that was so, I mean, that character really makes me laugh because, to your point, people like that make me really angry.

• 1:15:45Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:15:45Amy Poehler?

  And to be like, hey, cut the shit.

• 1:15:47Speaker 04

  Yeah.

• 1:15:50Speaker 04

  It's a good, good skit.

• 1:15:53Amy Poehler?

  Should we end by just quickly watching you and Debbie Downer?

• 1:15:56Speaker 04

  Okay.

• 1:15:57Amy Poehler?

  Okay, then we're done. Bob, thanks for doing this.

• 1:15:59Speaker 04

  We got through it.

• 1:16:01Amy Poehler?

  Did you hear it, folks? We got through it.

• 1:16:06Amy Poehler?

  And that's what I want my guests to feel.

• 1:16:11Amy Poehler?

  Okay.

• 1:16:12Speaker 04

  No, it wasn't bad.

• 1:16:15Amy Poehler?

  Wait a minute, that's a great review. It wasn't bad.

• 1:16:17Speaker 04

  Yes, good.

• 1:16:19Speaker 01

  I'm surprised you want a straw.

• 1:16:24Speaker 01

  Microplastics. Phil's like, we're all walking landfills.

• 1:16:32Speaker 01

  Odds are, they've already taken up residence in your testes.

• 1:16:46Amy Poehler?

  Deborah.

• 1:16:46Speaker 05

  I'm gonna talk now, and you're gonna shut it. I do not appreciate this conversation. I don't want to talk about plastic in my balls. I want to laugh and feel joy. I've had a slipper of hope for three goddamn hours of my life. That's all I want. I came here tonight to get a little friggin' break from our world right now. Which is like living on the road, in a, in a full diaper.

• 1:17:13Speaker 01

  Debra Zara, leading culprit in the microplastic saga.

• 1:17:17Amy Poehler?

  Here comes the strangle.

• 1:17:22Speaker 05

  Come on, Bob! No, Bob, Bob, it's not working, it's not working. She thinks she's helping, okay?

• 1:17:32Amy Poehler?

  Speaking of She very much enjoyed that.

• 1:17:36Amy Poehler?

  Bob, thanks for your time today.

• 1:17:37Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 1:17:38Amy Poehler?

  I really, really appreciate it.

• 1:17:39Speaker 04

  Thank you.

• 1:17:41Amy Poehler?

  Thank you, Bob, for coming on. What an interesting conversation. It's really something else. I just wanted to take this moment for our polar plunge to just basically, I don't know, just speak to the past version of me. Because moving to New York City in 1996, being an actor, if you had told me 30 years later that I would have a podcast, I would say, what's a podcast? And then if you told me you're going to interview Robert De Niro, and you're going to be talking to him about acting, and you're going to be talking about SNL, a show that you will, you will have been on? It's just nuts.

• 1:18:23Amy Poehler?

  And, you know, New York City remains my favorite city in the world. I've lived here for 30 years, sometimes in LA, but let's not talk about it. And I just have to say, I, the fact that I get to be here, that I feel like I know the city, and that I get to talk to people who represent how much the city means to me, is really something else. So, my plunge today is plunging back into the time machine and telling my younger self to hang on because good things are ahead. So, I hope you can all do that too. Thank you so much for joining us, and see you soon. Bye. You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler.

• 1:19:07Amy Poehler?

  The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, Aleia Zanarez, Bridget Geerlings, Paige Garberini, Belle Roman, and Drew Van Steen-Burgen. For Paperkite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

• 1:19:32Speaker 06

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