MR. ROBOT w/Rami Malek, Christian Slater, & Sam Esmail

It's been 10 years since MR. ROBOT debuted and blew all our minds. Happy Sad Confused is celebrating this groundbreaking series with a reunion taped live at New York Comic Con. Rami Malek, Christian Slater, and creator Sam Esmail join Josh to reminisce about the show that changed all their lives. UPCOMING EVENTS 10/14 -- Aziz Ansari in NY -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tickets here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 10/22 -- Nobody Wants This cast in NY -- ⁠⁠⁠tickets here⁠⁠⁠ Check out the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Happy Sad Confused patreon here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! We've got discount codes to live events, merch, early access, exclusive episodes, video versions of the podcast, and more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 0:59Speaker 02

  I'm not gonna lie, the schedule and Sam put me through absolute hell. But it was a challenge that I embraced and look back on with great pride.

• 1:13Speaker 03

  Prepare your ears, humans. Happy, Sad, Confused begins now.

• 1:20Josh Horowitz?

  Hey guys, it's Josh. Welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Today, a 10th anniversary reunion for Mr. Robot, recorded live at New York Comic Con. Thanks, guys, as always, for checking out the YouTube version or the audio version, Spotify, however you consume Happy, Sad, Confused. You guys are awesome. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll mention, by the way, speaking of Spotify, we had an amazing, amazing stat come up recently. We hit number one on the film and TV charts for Spotify. Not only that, we hit number 14 in the overall charts of every single podcast. That's right, we were above Call Her Daddy.

• 2:01Josh Horowitz?

  When could I have expected to put those two words, two things in the same sentence? Call Her Daddy and Happy SAG Confused. Same show, basically. So, thank you all. I appreciate all your support. This is such a cool episode. I'm so excited this came together. I've been very busy at the Comic Con, doing my thing, moderating a bunch of panels, including some live versions of Happy SAG Confused. And this was the one that kicked off Thursday night at Comic Con over at the Jacob Javits Center. We brought together the cast and creator of Mr. Robot, most notably Rami Malek and Christian Slater and Sam Esmail. What a

• 2:40Josh Horowitz?

  treat. This show came around 10 years ago, and it really, it really, you know, to use all, you could use all the cliches, and they're, in this case, kind of really true. Groundbreaking TV. The production ambition of this, insane. It's a heady show. It's a provocative show. It's an anti-establishment show. And it launched, of course, Rami into the stratosphere, winning his Oscar for Bohemian Rhapsody, etc. And of course, like, reintroduced, not that we needed a reintroduction, but Christian Slater gave him such a juicy, great role. They were both a delight. It was great to have them on the big stage. We packed, I think, over

• 3:20Josh Horowitz?

  1,000 people in that space for this event. And it was just great to celebrate a show that really, I think it's gotten its, its, its love, but maybe not even enough. So, by the way, I did a rewatch of it recently, and if you haven't seen Mr. Robot ever or in a while, check it out, because it is certainly, as I say in the panel, of its time, but really ahead of its time in many, many respects. And it's rare, I think, to see in this conversation, you know, Rami let loose a little bit, let his, let his hair down, so to speak, be fun and light. He obviously was comfortable with Sam and Christian and me. The guys, really,

• 4:01Josh Horowitz?

  were, were very kind before and especially after the panel. And I think we're just happy to get together and reminisce. So, so excited to share this with you. Before we get to that, a quick reminder, check out our Patreon, patreon.com/happysagconfused. You get early access to episodes like this, all our episodes. And we are stacked, by the way, with amazing episodes this fall. We might do three episodes a week at times. Like, I, I'm just, I'm,

• 4:30Josh Horowitz?

  I am embarrassed to say that so many people are coming out of the woodwork that want to do the podcast right now, but I mean, I'm so, it's hard to say no to some of these folks. So we're gonna jam them in where we can. Check out our Patreon though, because we do give the early access and we also offer discounts and announcements on all our live events. I'm doing, if you're listening to this on Monday, the 13th, there's still time, or Tuesday, Tuesday night, the 14th, I'm chatting with Aziz Ansari at 92nd Street Y, showing his film Good Fortune. Next week, October 22nd, I'll be with the whole gang from Nobody Wants This. That's gonna be a blast at 92nd Street Y, and there are many, many more live events to come. Patreon.com/happysayconfused is your friend for all that

• 5:15Josh Horowitz?

  kinda stuff. Okay. I take you now to our live event taped at the Jacob Javits Center. Thank you to everybody in your Comic Con for being so accommodating and helping make the magic happen, and thank you to the fans who came out and made it so special. And most of all, thank you to Sam S. Mill, Rami Malek, and Christian Slater. Without any further ado, enjoy.

• 5:37Speaker 05

  Welcome. Welcome to a very big night. This is, you're inside my podcast, whether you know it or not. Happy Sad Confused is my beloved podcast. New York Comic Con has been very good to this pod. Last year, in this very room, we celebrated 10 years of Happy Sad Confused. It was a special night, and I can't do an 11th anniversary special, so instead I'm celebrating another show's 10th anniversary, and it's an excellent one. It is a classic one. We are here to celebrate Mr. Robot. Are you ready for this, guys?

• 6:12Speaker 05

  Sam S. Mill's amazing, innovative, provocative, cinematic, bold, every adjective you can think of describes this show. It gave us an amazing ensemble. It gave us Christian Slater. It gave us, it gave us Rami Malek. Come on, guys. There's so much to discuss tonight. It's been 10 years since they've been here at Comic Con. They've been having a blast backstage, and now we're gonna have a blast onstage in front of you guys. Are you ready for this? Should we bring them on out? Please give a warm New York Comic Con welcome to Christian Slater, everybody. Christian, come on out!

• 6:54Speaker 05

  Give it up for Rami Malek, everybody!

• 7:07Speaker 05

  And to the creator of Mr. Robot, it's Sam Esmail. Sam, come on out!

• 7:22Josh Horowitz?

  The love is real. The love is strong. Welcome, guys.

• 7:31Josh Horowitz?

  Is that good workout music to jog to, to work out to, Rami?

• 7:35Speaker 02

  Is it good to work out to? The score of this is pretty good. Pretty great, yeah. Matt Boyle did an excellent job. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can still throw that on. Do you throw it on it every time? Totally. When I do ketamine, it's like the best dissociative.

• 7:51Josh Horowitz?

  I feel like I already missed a good opportunity. I feel like a thousand folks should say hello, friend, on the count of three to these folks. So are we ready? At the count of three, say hello, friend, to the cast and Sam Esmail. One, two, three.

• 8:05Speaker 05

  Hello, friends!

• 8:07Speaker 02

  Hello, friends.

• 8:10Josh Horowitz?

  Do you ever get that in a Starbucks, any of you? Does that ever happen, Rami? Does somebody sneak up behind you and say, "Hello, friend"?

• 8:17Speaker 02

  Never. No, it never happens.

• 8:22Josh Horowitz?

  Um, congratulations, 10 years. You guys clearly get along. It's been a love affair backstage. Talk to me a little bit about, is it surreal to be back here, first of all? Just 10 years have passed somehow.

• 8:34Speaker 05

  Yeah, it's incredible. I mean, look, hey, Comic Con New York, it's the coolest. I love it. And I kind of wish I'd worn a costume. That would've been fun.

• 8:44Speaker 02

  Did you think about gearing up and costume grab, you know?

• 8:47Speaker 05

  We talked about it on the way over here. Thought it would be fun.

• 8:50Speaker 02

  Did you take your costume? Do you have it?

• 8:52Speaker 05

  All right, I'll go get it.

• 8:53Josh Horowitz?

  No, no, no.

• 8:56Josh Horowitz?

  Talk to me a little bit about, I mean, look, it's the, one of the great gifts of any show is its staying power. We are still, this show is still very relevant, maybe more relevant than ever. Does Mr. Robot still feel a part of your lives 10 years later?

• 9:13Speaker 05

  Well, it's on Netflix now, so that's nice.

• 9:15Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 9:16Speaker 05

  Right? I mean, that, yeah.

• 9:19Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 9:20Speaker 02

  More, yeah, I mean, it's had its resurgence, hasn't it?

• 9:22Speaker 06

  A little bit, yeah.

• 9:23Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 9:24Speaker 06

  Yeah. I mean, listen, I think sadly, what's weird about the show, because when I wrote it, it was during the Obama era, right? And, um, and I wrote all these like crazy apocalyptic things that happened in the show, and I was fictional, you know?

• 9:42Speaker 05

  Right. Sam, it's your fault.

• 9:46Speaker 06

  Yeah, now this shit is fucking happening, and...

• 9:49Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 9:50Speaker 06

  Yeah. That part I don't like, so I guess, but it is staying, yeah, there, if you're talking about staying power, I guess that's, that's one way of looking at it.

• 9:57Speaker 02

  Were there moments when I'd be like, "Sam, you just can't write that, that's implausible, it's not plausible."

• 10:03Speaker 06

  Yeah, but I kept saying, "Rami, it's not gonna fucking happen."

• 10:05Speaker 02

  It's never gonna happen.

• 10:06Speaker 06

  Then it happens, yeah.

• 10:09Josh Horowitz?

  All right, let, let, let's go back to the very beginning. Some folks here might know the origins of this, but Sam, give us, give us the Cliff Notes version. What, where did this all begin? How long had you been thinking about this concept?

• 10:18Speaker 06

  Well, I mean, I, you know, I'm sure a lot of the fans here probably have heard me talk about this ad nauseam, but I, I grew up very much a nerd and very into computers and very fascinated by tech and, um, and, you know, when the internet expla-- I'm very old, so I was, I was around pre-internet, and when the internet came out, it was obviously something that impacted my life in a big way, and, um, and I just thought there was an interesting tension there between technology and humanity as it sort of became popularized in the aughts. Is there a baby?

• 10:53Josh Horowitz?

  It's their first Comic-Con panel.

• 10:55Speaker 06

  Hello, baby. Um, I hope there, I hope the parents are with the baby.

• 11:04Josh Horowitz?

  Mr. Robot fans come in all shapes and sizes, Sam.

• 11:11Speaker 06

  Uh, and then like, and then like a few events started happening that sort of crystallized this story for me. Arab Spring being a big one, I'm Egyptian, and I remember watching that.

• 11:24Speaker 06

  Salaam alaikum.

• 11:25Speaker 02

  So am I.

• 11:27Speaker 06

  And then the financial crisis of 2008. And the sort of... What I took away from that is that the world felt in crisis. How naive was I back then? That was what crisis was like. But... And that these young people in not just Egypt, but in the entire Middle East was using technology to organize and start a revolution. And that really inspired a lot of what Mr. Robot and specifically the character of Elliot. And, you know, as I think a lot of you know, I started writing it as a feature, got a

• 12:10Speaker 06

  little long-winded, and decided to turn it into a series. And that was primarily because my producer at the time, the late, great Steve Golin, had come out with a show called True Detective, which was mind-blowing. And I thought, oh, my God, this is as cinematic as anything in the theater. And I was so gung-ho to turn it into a series. I'm so grateful I did.

• 12:39Josh Horowitz?

  So for Rami and Christian, do you have any recollection of the first time you read the material or met with Sam and what you made of this? Was it immediately apparent that this was something special? Or was this just another job at the time? Like, who knows? Some are not great, some don't. It's a job.

• 12:57Speaker 02

  To put it simply, it was quite exquisite and special from the very beginning. Besides the title, I did question the title.

• 13:05Speaker 06

  A lot of people did. Oh, yeah. Yeah, they wanted to change it at one point, yeah. I mean, it is kind of a silly title.

• 13:13Speaker 05

  To what? I mean, what would they...

• 13:15Speaker 06

  I don't remember.

• 13:16Speaker 02

  In retrospect, it doesn't...

• 13:18Speaker 06

  Oh. Do you remember?

• 13:20Speaker 02

  We know the alternative. It's OK. It's stuck, and it works.

• 13:23Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 13:24Speaker 02

  We enjoy it. I remember, yeah, I remember just turning over that first page. And it was one of those moments where it was like reading a good novel, where for me, I almost want to spread it out over time, but I can't. I just ended up...

• 13:40Speaker 02

  I ended up going through it at some pace and then slowed down because through a certain, at a certain point, I wanted to savor it because there was something in my subconscious that was already starting to inhabit this character. And I thought if I was going to audition for it, I should just try to soak as much of that in as possible. And it was riveting page to page, and when I got to that ending, it was such a sucker punch. And I kind of just stared at it for a moment, took it in, and I felt the weight of it. I felt how special it was, and I could only hope that I would be a part of it.

• 14:22Speaker 02

  It was, yeah, it was a monumental experience of having something sent to you that actually, not only you liked as a work of art and fiction, but something that you thought might be a part of, if it was to be a part of your life for some time, would be very substantial and significant.

• 14:41Josh Horowitz?

  And purely just from an acting perspective, and like, look, you'd been doing it for a minute, but to be the lead in a show and to see the opportunity of this character must have been like, oh, I can really, I can really sink my teeth into this.

• 14:55Speaker 02

  Well, I mean, I have to give Sam credit for that. That was, and, you know, everyone at USA and NBC, I wasn't that typical lead for a show at that time. I mean, people weren't really thinking outside of the box.

• 15:12Speaker 06

  Nothing about the show was typical. I mean, you gotta remember, it's like, I had never set foot in a writer's room.

• 15:21Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, I know. This is insane. This man directed 38 episodes of a 45 episodes of a show.

• 15:28Speaker 06

  Not recommended.

• 15:29Josh Horowitz?

  With virtually no experience.

• 15:30Speaker 06

  Yeah. And honestly, if it weren't for people like Bonnie Hammer and Alex Sepiell, who were running, were in the network at the time, this wouldn't have happened. I mean, they really, I mean, they were kind of crazy for giving us this opportunity. I mean, they really were. I mean, it was a story about a guy on a fucking computer typing, which is not like the opposite of what most people would say is drama on TV. And they really just took a chance on us. And I'm, you know, I think we're all pretty grateful to them. This show wouldn't have happened without them.

• 16:07Josh Horowitz?

  Christian, do you remember any kind of turning point? I mean, you guys were here at New York Comic Con, actually, almost 10 years ago to this day. I mean, was it when you started to see the fan reception or going to Comic Cons? Like, that you knew this was... Maybe you were proud of it, but you knew that it was clicking?

• 16:23Speaker 05

  There was definitely some moments where we would take, like, audience photos and people would all be wearing the Mr. Robot mask. You know, like, the whole audience was filled with people wearing the Mr. Robot mask. And that was kind of like, "Oh, wow. They're really quite interested in this show, aren't they?" I mean, this was amazing to me. You know, and it was thrilling. I mean, to be a part of something that was such a part of the zeitgeist there was quite remarkable. And to be a part of that was very, very exciting.

• 16:57Speaker 06

  I gotta tell this one story. So, we were shooting the first season as it was airing, which, again, insane. I don't know how we did that. And it was kind of having this ground swell.

• 17:11Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 17:11Speaker 06

  People were really digging it. There was stopping us while we were shooting it.

• 17:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 17:16Speaker 06

  You know, we were having to shoot scenes and people would come up to us. It was kind of crazy. And I remember at one point, because, you know, Christian, to me, was like a god. I mean, I was a huge fan of his.

• 17:28Speaker 06

  Pump up the volume, Heathers, True Romance. I mean, this guy was a legend, is a legend.

• 17:41Speaker 06

  I remember we were shooting, I don't know if you remember this, we were shooting, I think, Episode 7 or something, and I was just backstage, and I was pretty exhausted. And I was sitting next to you, and you told me, "You know, this doesn't happen very often, right?" And I was like, "What do you mean?" Because I didn't know anything. This, again, this is literally my first time really doing anything. And you just said, "This was special." No, something's different about what's going on. I'm like, "Dude, you fucking did True Romance, come on."

• 18:12Speaker 06

  And you said that and it really stuck with me because it was really, I mean now having done a few other things, yeah, that was pretty special. That does not happen a lot.

• 18:23Speaker 05

  Yeah, it was.

• 18:24Speaker 06

  Yeah, it meant a lot when you said that to me. I just remember that.

• 18:27Speaker 05

  I'm glad. Yeah, I'm glad. I mean, I wanted to, listen, it was a big deal and it was very special and I guess part of me just wanted to make sure, because I've been in other situations before where maybe I didn't appreciate it as much as I probably could have and I really just wanted, I guess, everybody around me to really see how unique and special this was. And so, yeah, so I would walk around reminding everybody, this doesn't happen.

• 18:55Speaker 02

  No, I had the same experience and I think it was the same episode where we were both reading the New York Times.

• 19:02Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:03Speaker 02

  Do you remember this?

• 19:04Speaker 05

  I think so.

• 19:05Speaker 02

  Well, I'm about to remind you.

• 19:06Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:07Speaker 02

  And we were on the, we were on the cover of the art section and you said that same thing. You looked at it and you go, hey, take this in.

• 19:15Speaker 05

  Yeah.

• 19:16Speaker 02

  This doesn't usually happen.

• 19:17Speaker 05

  And we got picked up for two seasons like that, right? I mean, that was cool.

• 19:21Speaker 06

  We got picked up before the first episode aired.

• 19:24Speaker 05

  Before the first episode aired, you know, so that doesn't happen.

• 19:27Speaker 02

  Again, thank you, Bonnie.

• 19:33Speaker 05

  Yeah, thank you, Bonnie.

• 19:34Speaker 06

  Again, that was Bonnie.

• 19:35Speaker 05

  That was the coolest thing. Oh, my God.

• 20:38Josh Horowitz?

  Hydrates better than water. Is it in you? Symptoms noted are signs of mild to moderate dehydration. Consult a healthcare professional if symptoms persist.

• 20:49Josh Horowitz?

  As actors, did any of, how much did you know at the start? How much did Sam clue you in on all the twists and turns that were to come in the seasons? And did any in particular catch you off guard that you recall?

• 21:02Speaker 06

  Are you talking just the first season?

• 21:04Josh Horowitz?

  Talking the entirety of the show, because there are a bunch.

• 21:07Speaker 05

  He left out a few things.

• 21:10Josh Horowitz?

  What would have been helpful to know, maybe in retrospect, Christian? Anything?

• 21:14Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 21:14Josh Horowitz?

  Is there anything specifically that would have been helpful to know, maybe?

• 21:19Speaker 05

  Maybe one or two things.

• 21:22Speaker 05

  There were some moments. But, you know, I mean, this show, it was extraordinarily complex. I mean, I remember when I read the script the first time. And I had an instinct about it, too. There was just some feeling I had and then I met.

• 21:37Speaker 06

  You knew.

• 21:38Speaker 05

  Yeah, and I met with Sam and, you know, and I said, is this guy, Mr. Roman, is he really there? And he was like, you really want to know? And I said, yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, he told me, and I just got very excited about it. I just thought, oh, man, that is really cool, you know? To play a figment of somebody's imagination was just that much more exciting for me. And then, look, you know, that was season one, and there were other things, of course, that came up that were surprising, that were shocking, that at times I had, you know, difficulty even accepting or being comfortable with. But, but, I mean, I think that was part of the challenge of the show and the things that made it that much more special.

• 22:21Speaker 05

  And, you know, you just kind of had to like get out of the way of yourself and your own ego. And again, go back to appreciating the moment, that this was something very, very special. And we were talking about mental health and childhood trauma and all those kinds of subjects that were very difficult to tackle. And it made me uncomfortable at times, but, but Sam was always great, always there. And, you know, I think held all of our hands through the whole, the whole thing and made it make sense to me.

• 22:54Josh Horowitz?

  So were you consciously holding stuff back? Or were you making stuff up as you went along?

• 22:58Speaker 06

  No. No, we, and I should say, because Kyle Bradstreet is also here, who's, I couldn't have done this show without him, he was my lieutenant. Remember that I started writing this as a feature, so I did know the end.

• 23:16Speaker 05

  Was it the vomit draft, right?

• 23:18Speaker 06

  The vomit draft, yeah. So I did know where I was going, but I just felt like, just to be honest, I was super paranoid about telling too many people, because, you know, I, yeah, paranoia does.

• 23:36Speaker 02

  Okay, sorry.

• 23:39Speaker 06

  But, no, so I would, I would hold a couple of things close to the vest, and I think that season, and also I didn't want to, I wanted to really treat each season as one specific emotional arc, knowing that we're building up to something in that last season. So at the start of every season, I would take you guys aside.

• 24:00Speaker 05

  That was the coolest thing. I mean, getting the phone call from you, and listening to him for like, two, two and a half hours, just go through the whole season, was awesome.

• 24:11Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 24:12Speaker 02

  That was very rare. I mean, I still, to this day, look back and think that's a very rare, I think, elegant, sophisticated, and, I think, very, just very unexpected from someone who has so much on their plate, to go to each actor and describe not only their storyline, but each episode in great detail, one by one. You could easily gather everybody in a room and do it in one session, but... The take that time is something that's quite selfless, but for the integrity of the show, essentially.

• 24:56Speaker 02

  Greatly appreciated. And why did you find yourself, did you feel responsibility to each character?

• 25:03Speaker 06

  Absolutely, but because ultimately, I also think that if the show, or anything, a movie, if it becomes about plot and plot mechanics, you start to fail. Because it really, I used to say this in interviews all the time, fuck plot. And I really mean it because it's really about people and the characters. And that, to me, is the most important thing. And I wanted, when I talked to you guys, and the rest of the cast members, I wanted them to feel that they were the most important part of that season. Because that's the way it should feel to that character and their storyline. So, I wanted that experience with them, and I wanted that intimacy with them.

• 25:42Speaker 06

  And also, I have to say, you know, we do have a lot of twists and big reveals in the show, but I never wanted it to feel gimmicky. And that comes from a place of plot. I really wanted it to feel like it was coming from what the character was feeling and what they were going through. And, you know, it could be in reaction to what's happening, but it's most of the time it's in reaction to each other. And I just think that deserves that intimate conversation that I would have with you guys.

• 26:12Josh Horowitz?

  For you, Rami, was there any person or persons that inspired your characterization of Elliot? Was Sam sometimes an inspiration for Elliot at all?

• 26:24Speaker 02

  Oh, yeah, there were a few, I suppose.

• 26:29Speaker 06

  The walk, the walking down the street.

• 26:33Speaker 02

  The walking down the street.

• 26:34Speaker 06

  And not touching people and all of that.

• 26:36Speaker 02

  Oh, is that very much you?

• 26:37Speaker 06

  Well, I think, yeah, I think we did that. I don't like touching people when I walk down. I know, obviously, a lot of you are New Yorkers. A lot of fucking people on this street.

• 26:46Speaker 06

  So you gotta do your bob and weave and cause.

• 26:49Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 26:50Speaker 06

  And you had the.

• 26:51Speaker 02

  I did do that. I prepped. I started. I came here early. I was not living in the city. And I think for a good 15 days, I was trying not to touch anyone and going to elevators and not looking at cameras and is that method? Was I going method? I talked to a psychiatrist for quite some time.

• 27:10Speaker 06

  In fact, that was the person that became our consultant in the writer's room.

• 27:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, I kept bringing all these thoughts to Sam. I go, what about this? And I think someone in this situation might be going through this. And he's like, where are you getting this?

• 27:27Speaker 05

  So that was a therapist that you found, like you had?

• 27:29Speaker 02

  It wasn't my personal therapist. That's just fine.

• 27:32Speaker 05

  No, no, sure. Yeah, nothing wrong with therapy.

• 27:34Speaker 02

  No, I like therapy. I embrace therapy.

• 27:36Speaker 05

  Yeah, totally.

• 27:37Speaker 06

  But she was great and she specialized in DID and she knew everything about it. And she had, you know, she had a lot of experience in it. And man, she really helped us with all the details every season.

• 27:49Speaker 02

  Because we would comb through scripts. I mean, especially, we would spend a lot of time. I remember even being abroad and waking up at certain hours just to go through scripts with Sam and in detail and have so much that I had just discovered from all those sessions. I won't call them, they weren't therapy sessions, but I was, I was learning. We wanted to get all of that, your particular disorder and, you know, surrounding disorders to be as authentic as anything that, you know, on the tech side. And, you know, there are moments where you reach someone who is, is dealing with that

• 28:33Speaker 02

  sort of, you know, a certain.

• 28:38Speaker 02

  Anything that might be stigmatized by our culture and can relate. And that's one of the most profound experiences that this show has ever given me is, you know, we talk about this tension between, you know, how we communicate as human beings through devices personally and how dissociative that is. But when you have someone who responds to this show in the way that certain people do, it really does make you feel as an actor or someone as part of the creative community

• 29:15Speaker 02

  that what we did had a real effect on a lot of people in the world that was simply not only powerful for them, but gratifying and rewarding in a way that a lot of other jobs might not be.

• 29:30Speaker 06

  And you gotta remember, DID in particular can be such a trope in movies. And you've seen it before, right? Multiple personalities or et cetera. And I was so fucking paranoid about being insensitive and treating and giving it just the regular Hollywood treatment that we really needed to nail it, even as dark and ugly as it could go. Like, we wanted, we leaned into it. And it scared us. It scared us a lot, I think. But it was necessary because otherwise it would just turn out to be one of these like plot gimmicky things that would really kind of do a disservice to what we were exploring with DID.

• 30:14Josh Horowitz?

  What were your references? I mean, the relationship, you know, Fight Club is referenced. Did that come up in the first season in terms of kind of depict what this relationship was all about?

• 30:23Speaker 06

  Oh, I don't know about that. But it was definitely an influence on, you know, what I loved about Fight Club was how punk it was, but also how anti-capitalist it was. And by the way, that was kind of the first time where I thought, oh, can you be political in art? And then that movie kind of told me, I think all great art is political. And that really moved me in a way. And that was a huge influence of like, oh, don't be afraid to... Because, you know, when I wrote this pilot, I was like, man, I'm really going all anti-capitalist here. Is, are corporations going to finance and fund this and market it, even though I'm shitting all over them? Sure enough, they will.

• 31:05Josh Horowitz?

  Thanks, USA.

• 31:07Speaker 06

  Again, thank you Bonnie, appreciate it.

• 31:12Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, so many big swings in the show, it really like, as I said before, this man directed thirty, I can't say this enough, thirty-eight of the forty-five episodes is insane. It's madness, especially the level of production that you were doing here. I mean, there's the famous, you know, continuous take episode, there's the silent episode, there's the bottle episode in the apartment that's like a play. I mean, did any of those, I mean, what's the, what's the biggest swing you feel like you took as a creative?

• 31:41Speaker 06

  I mean, it has to be 407, which is that episode that was like a play. Because not only was that complicated from a production standpoint, we had to have multiple cameras running all at the same time. And literally, Video Village, you know, usually have one or two cameras. I had, I think, ten monitors, and some of the monitors were split because we had more angles, and we had cameras covering the whole set. And the material, obviously knowing the episode, was so tough, and the performances, you know, you know, needed to be at a certain level, and these guys were just on one.

• 32:22Speaker 06

  And we shot that, I think in four days, I want to say. And it was insane, it was just, it was so crazy as a director to have to keep track between Christian and Gloria and Rami and Elliot, and watching them just do these magic tricks and exceeding every expectation I had. But just to juggle all of that and make sure that the cameras were always at the right spot, because I didn't cut, like, we did each act.

• 32:55Josh Horowitz?

  It's like a play.

• 32:56Speaker 06

  It was like a play. So I didn't do like, okay, Rami, we're gonna do your coverage and we're gonna move around, that's how you normally do it. No, we, we had them all do the entire act, you know, all the way through in real time. And that, that was just tricky, just, not just from that technical standpoint, but just channeling that, sort of trying to get that, those performances. But I mean, honestly, I'm glad we did it that way, because I think it really fed into how you guys played off each other.

• 33:24Speaker 02

  And you turned that set into our stage, essentially.

• 33:28Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 33:29Speaker 02

  Stasha did as well.

• 33:30Speaker 06

  Yeah, Anastasia White, our production designer.

• 33:35Speaker 06

  Well, I might add, was basically nine months pregnant when we were making that episode, and somehow pulled it off and had a baby at the same time, pretty crazy. Um, yeah.

• 33:46Josh Horowitz?

  I would imagine it's hard to pinpoint like the biggest acting challenge for you, Rami. I mean, you're playing scenes opposite someone that's in your head at times, you're playing scenes opposite yourself at times, you're playing scenes just totally in your own head. Um, I don't know, what jumps out at you as the biggest acting challenge of Elliot? Because it feels like you accomplish this role, you can do virtually anything.

• 34:10Speaker 02

  I think, I think it was, there was this sense of, uh, gravity to that character from the very beginning. I mean, the immense grief, the profound alienation he's dealing with, just a sense of loss, someone who, um, is an addict, and someone who is a non-conformist and doesn't really know how to communicate with people. And, but still, there's a steely determination inside of him, and I always, I always was able to tap into that, that I knew he could get himself, uh, out of any corner he was painted into, even if he was

• 34:55Speaker 02

  doing drugs, even though he had a mental disorder. Um, there was this unique resilience that he, that I found in Elliot, day in and day out, that always imbued me with some sense of hope about humanity, that even these outcasts, these misfits, that, you know, the people we just, you know, don't give enough attention to in life, sometimes can be the most powerful human beings and the most affecting human beings, even with all of, you know, the profound pain that they're dealing with. And so, I felt a sense of duty

• 35:34Speaker 02

  to, to really work as hard as I could, to, to protect that human being, to, to nurture that human being, to... Side with him at times and to argue with him at times. So it was a lot of mental gymnastics day in and day out. And I'm not gonna lie, the schedule and Sam put me through absolute hell. But it was a challenge that I embraced and look back on with great pride. I mean, I would remember going through Monday to Friday. And by Friday, I feel like I would look at my body and felt, you know,

• 36:16Speaker 02

  like I had gone through something, a bit of a battle. And then geared up over the weekend and we were right back in it. We were shooting what ostensibly, I think, other shows would probably give you now, what, three weeks to do? And we had seven days to shoot an episode. So there was just, there was no time to do anything but sit in Elliot's skin. And that was not an easy place to be. I must say, looking back on it, that it was challenging, but it was worth every second. And to add to, you know, the audience that I see here. Now, I have the privilege to be working in other countries.

• 36:59Speaker 02

  And the way this show resonates in places, I was in Belgrade doing a film years ago. And these kids, these young kids, all had on these F Society t-shirts and masks outside of this hotel in Serbia. And I'm like, how? How is this happening? But there's just this renegade culture that I think you've helped just allow so many people be able to feel comfortable in their own skin. Perhaps Elliot has, Mr. Robot has as a whole. So I'm immensely proud of that. Anything you put me through is well worth that. It's very gratifying.

• 37:39Josh Horowitz?

  Well said, yeah.

• 37:43Josh Horowitz?

  Well, I would imagine the intensity of, you've kind of alluded to this, but like people in the wild, meeting you and wanting to talk to you about this show and this character and feeling seen. Like, you know, you guys centered a character, we kind of alluded to this, that just isn't typically seen on screen in this way. And that's profound for somebody dealing with mental health issues or depression or all the stuff, addiction, something like this. Um, no question, just.

• 38:11Speaker 02

  Oh.

• 38:12Josh Horowitz?

  Observation.

• 38:12Speaker 02

  Statement. We'll take a statement.

• 38:17Josh Horowitz?

  It also changed your life and career, all of your lives and careers. Talk to me a little bit about, I mean, Rami, obviously, the Oscar came after and these amazing opportunities came after.

• 38:32Josh Horowitz?

  Did this, this must feel like a game changer for you as, in terms of your career and in terms of just exposing you to a wider audience and proving to yourself and others what you're capable of.

• 38:43Speaker 02

  I think there was an acknowledgement from, from Sam just wanting, seeing something in me that was, that had a profound effect on me. Even the acknowledgement that I could take on this role from his perspective was, that was a feat, even though, you know, those are small moments you think about in retrospect. They're exponentially larger, looking back on them now. Yeah, this, this show changed my life in ways, I owe an immense amount of, you know, debt and gratitude to everyone involved. I learned so much from it.

• 39:21Speaker 02

  I was able to carry myself a certain way going on to future projects, but, yeah, there was something about Elliot that, it's the same thing we keep referring to. He's this unexpected hero and he, he, he gave me this sense of confidence playing that role, you know, that, to step up and be a leader in a number of different ways. And to your point, I was discovered for Bohemian Rhapsody from producers having watched me in the show, so that was a huge launching pad and.

• 40:04Speaker 02

  And in playing that character, you know, and it's, you know, sometimes you could see a Freddie Mercury as this grand flamboyant extrovert, but there was, you know, very much a shy introvert in that human being as well. And I knew how to do that quite well because of Elliot. But, yeah, there, I gravitate to those characters who speak to people in a very unique way, can speak to the masses by even just simply being an outsider.

• 40:47Speaker 00

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• 41:51Josh Horowitz?

  It's also lovely to see, I mean, you guys clearly are in each other's lives. I was gonna say, this is not an exclusive. You guys were at the US Open together. So, I mean, you guys are still kinda tight. Christian, for you, I mean, you've been through many, many productions, iconic productions, and it doesn't always happen that way. You don't keep tight friends from every production. Was it just the nature of this shoot, the intensity of the shoot, the particular people? Like, why are you in each other's lives so much so to this day?

• 42:19Speaker 05

  Uh, I think we just genuinely like each other.

• 42:23Josh Horowitz?

  Sometimes it's that simple, yeah.

• 42:25Speaker 05

  Yeah, I, I, you know, I mean, it started from day one. Um, you know, Rami and I doing that first scene in the Ferris wheel, the Wonder Wheel. Um, you know, that sort of locked us in a cage, uh, for, you know, a couple of days. And, uh, you know, we both were just acting and, and acting animals there, uh, trapped in a cage and working together and sort of figuring out how he likes to work, how I like to work, uh, how Sam likes to work. Uh, and it was, it was a great start. I mean, what, what better start could you ask for than going out to Coney Island and riding on the Wonder Wheel with a couple of cool guys? It was, uh, it was great. And since then, I don't know, Sam?

• 43:06Speaker 06

  I mean, yeah.

• 43:07Speaker 05

  We go to movies all the time. We're, I'm like, oh, he's my date, I'm his date.

• 43:11Speaker 06

  Yeah.

• 43:12Speaker 02

  Sweet.

• 43:12Speaker 06

  And then our wives?

• 43:13Speaker 05

  Our wives get along, yeah, that's right.

• 43:16Speaker 02

  And they take it out of the way.

• 43:18Speaker 06

  Well, they exclude us sometimes. They, they do their own.

• 43:21Speaker 05

  But we have game nights.

• 43:22Speaker 06

  We, yes.

• 43:23Speaker 05

  Remember that Mafia game?

• 43:24Speaker 06

  Yes.

• 43:25Speaker 05

  I, I killed it. Oh, man.

• 43:27Speaker 06

  Yeah, yeah, it went, it got ugly then.

• 43:29Speaker 05

  Remember though?

• 43:29Speaker 06

  Oh, yeah.

• 43:30Josh Horowitz?

  Who's the best at Mafia in this group?

• 43:32Speaker 06

  His wife, she fucking killed all of them.

• 43:34Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah, yeah.

• 43:36Speaker 06

  No, she, she won that night, remember?

• 43:38Speaker 05

  She won, but I won in LA, is what I'm saying.

• 43:41Speaker 06

  Oh, oh, in LA, that's right.

• 43:43Josh Horowitz?

  He's bitter. He wants to win them all. Who?

• 43:45Speaker 05

  I'm all right.

• 43:46Speaker 02

  Do you all right?

• 43:46Speaker 05

  I'm all right.

• 43:47Speaker 02

  That's bullshit.

• 43:48Speaker 05

  I'd rather win.

• 43:51Josh Horowitz?

  Who won, does anybody own, um, Christian, do you own any Mr. Robot?

• 43:55Speaker 05

  The US Open, just to say, that was awesome, right?

• 43:57Speaker 02

  We had a good time.

• 43:58Speaker 05

  I had a great time.

• 43:59Josh Horowitz?

  When they see you two together out in the wild, someone sees the two of you together, that must be insane. Like, oh my God.

• 44:04Speaker 05

  They let us out of the cage, look at us.

• 44:06Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. Um, do you own any Mr. Robot jackets, any paraphernalia, Christian?

• 44:11Speaker 05

  Yeah, I have my stuff, yeah. I have it, you know, in storage somewhere.

• 44:15Speaker 06

  I have the hoodie.

• 44:17Josh Horowitz?

  I was gonna say, who's got hoodies?

• 44:18Speaker 05

  Oh, yeah.

• 44:18Speaker 06

  Because Rami gifted it to me. Uh, that was his wrap gift to me, and I-

• 44:22Speaker 05

  It's all beautifully framed and everything?

• 44:24Speaker 06

  Beautifully framed.

• 44:24Speaker 05

  I didn't do that, I kept my-

• 44:27Speaker 02

  We couldn't remember how hard it was. Sam was intent.

• 44:31Speaker 06

  Well, no, no, because.

• 44:33Speaker 02

  No, no, after you.

• 44:36Speaker 06

  I was just gonna say, we didn't just have one hoodie, obviously.

• 44:40Josh Horowitz?

  You had two.

• 44:41Speaker 06

  There were.

• 44:42Speaker 02

  We did for a while.

• 44:44Josh Horowitz?

  In the first season.

• 44:45Speaker 06

  I thought we had a ton of hoodies, but there was one. That Rami.

• 44:50Josh Horowitz?

  The hero hoodie, yeah.

• 44:51Speaker 06

  It had the little rip on the pocket, remember? It was like the little.

• 44:54Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 44:55Speaker 06

  And that was the one you gave. That was why it was so special.

• 44:58Speaker 02

  He put me through, I mean, this is it. I had a uniform the entire time. It had to be perfect. And I'm.

• 45:05Speaker 06

  Costume designing was very straightforward, yeah.

• 45:08Speaker 02

  It was not straightforward. Because I tried on about fifteen to twenty different black hoodies.

• 45:14Speaker 06

  Sure.

• 45:15Speaker 02

  And none of them would work. I remember at one point, the sleeves from one hoodie was sewn on to another hoodie. And I was like, this is not working. And I, I had, I had one of my own. And I thought, this is a little trick I use to go into a costume fitting sometimes. And I dress as kind of, how much, as close as I can get to the character without it, you know, being, straight in your face. And I did that, I walked through the office one day with this black hoodie I had bought from a thrift store for ten bucks. I'm like, maybe he'll get it. Maybe this will be the one.

• 45:59Speaker 02

  And sure enough, Sam sees me and goes, wait, wait, where'd you get that?

• 46:03Speaker 06

  I go, I totally forgot this. Yeah, yeah, that was.

• 46:06Speaker 02

  That's why I wanted to tell the story.

• 46:12Speaker 02

  But that's it, it was a ten dollar hoodie. And I go, oh, what, this? This old thing? No, you don't want this. I've been wearing this for years. And he goes, no, that's exactly what I've been looking for. But you can't have it, it's mine. And that's the hoodie you own now. That's the framed hoodie.

• 46:29Speaker 06

  Was that the first one?

• 46:30Speaker 02

  That's the first one. Does that make that gift even more?

• 46:34Josh Horowitz?

  Man of many talents.

• 46:35Speaker 06

  This is why he's the mastermind, guys.

• 46:41Josh Horowitz?

  But the irony is, Rami, you probably in the rest of your life can never wear a hoodie on the subway.

• 46:47Speaker 06

  You know what? I put on a black hoodie this morning. I was like, wrong day. Wrong day for that. I can't wear a black hoodie anymore, no. I can't go through the airport in a black hoodie.

• 47:00Josh Horowitz?

  Forget about the subway. That would... No.

• 47:03Speaker 06

  I can't...

• 47:04Josh Horowitz?

  The subway? No way.

• 47:06Speaker 06

  Not on the subway.

• 47:07Josh Horowitz?

  No. Sam, does this show get made today? A lot has changed in the world. How would you approach this show differently today?

• 47:14Speaker 06

  Are you kidding? I mean, honestly, I feel like the show we did was not nearly as fucked up as what it would be like today. I mean...

• 47:34Speaker 06

  It's like Pleasantville now. I mean...

• 47:40Josh Horowitz?

  Have you considered anything else in the Mr. Robot world in the last few years since the show went off the air?

• 47:45Speaker 06

  Can I tell a really funny story? I told Rami this. I'm gonna share it to everyone, because I actually am curious if this will happen. So, I almost got hacked. A couple of months ago, I get a phone call, and it's the... You know, "Hey, so, you know, we think someone's... Your Gmail's been compromised, blah, blah, blah, and we need to get some information to help you." And I'm like, "Dude, you're the wrong person to do this."

• 48:13Speaker 06

  And he's like, "I'm sorry, I don't understand. This is Google and we're..." And I'm like, "Okay." I decide to play along. I'm like, "Okay, let's see how far we get." So, he's like, "Okay, and I'm gonna send you a link." And I'm like, "I'm not gonna click on the link that you send me. Aren't I supposed to call you back? No, no, no, you can call, but like, you're not gonna get me." And I'm like, "Can you give me a case number?" Yeah, the whole... This went back and forth for a while. Just cutting to the chase, at the end, he, I finally get, like, he's like, "Oh, I'm gonna send you a number," it sends me the number with the two-factor, and he's like, "You have to give me that number." On the email of the number, it says, "Do not ever share this with anybody on the phone."

• 48:58Speaker 06

  And I'm like, "Dude, this is where you've lost." Like, "Will you please just give it up?" I'm just curious, what are you trying to get from me, you know? And this dude finally drops the act, and is like, "I just really want a season of Carly and Joey badass, and I just want that spin-off. Could you please do that?" And he just confessed, a huge Mr. Robot fan.

• 49:26Josh Horowitz?

  Do it for him, Sam, the dedication.

• 49:30Speaker 06

  I would love nothing more to go back into the Mr. Robot world, but, man, I just feel like we told that story, and it ended, I think, in a really great way, and to go back into that, I just...

• 49:43Speaker 02

  How much time did you spend on the...

• 49:45Speaker 06

  It was a while, it was a while. I was just, I was very curious, you know, I just wanted to know.

• 49:51Josh Horowitz?

  That's how they get you, curiosity.

• 49:53Speaker 02

  You're just fanning the flame.

• 49:54Speaker 06

  I was actually flattered too, because I thought it was just a random hack, and it turned out, no, he was...

• 49:59Speaker 05

  He was a fan.

• 49:59Speaker 06

  He was actually a fan.

• 50:01Josh Horowitz?

  Spoken like a true insecure artist.

• 50:05Speaker 02

  Can you, can you stand up?

• 50:09Speaker 06

  I don't know who you are, but thank you, it's very nice, I'm flattered.

• 50:13Josh Horowitz?

  I have an important dumb acting question. How hard is it to spend time typing on a computer, like, an act while doing it, to actually convey some kind of dramatic...

• 50:24Speaker 05

  We were playing chess, remember we had that chess scene we had to do?

• 50:28Speaker 02

  Yeah, that was hard. It's, it's hard to make that exciting visually, but at the same time, everything that was... On the screen was important for storytelling. We always, it was always authentic. So it never just felt like you were typing for the sake of typing. Also, we had in this incredible cinematographer, Todd Campbell, who, you know, had a laborious task of making those shots look as unusually elegant as they could possibly be. I remember sometimes I'd step on set and be like, well, they're not ready. The camera was positioned at an angle that quite, you know, most certainly would never

• 51:13Speaker 02

  be used in any film or TV show. Like, nope, you're gonna be on that far on the side of frame. And, uh, and that was pretty exciting, seeing yourself put in the bottom right corner of a, of a, of a frame on day one. I was like, this is dicey, but let's see where it goes. And it eventually evolved into, uh, you know, a great cinematic style that is, uh, you know, a collaboration between you and, and him. I mean.

• 51:42Speaker 06

  We were talking about typing.

• 51:44Speaker 02

  I took it into visual.

• 51:46Speaker 06

  DP, okay. All right, good.

• 51:48Josh Horowitz?

  Made it classy.

• 51:48Speaker 02

  Talk about typing.

• 51:49Josh Horowitz?

  No, no, no. But he's, he is right. You can see like virtually any still, any frame of Mr. Robot, that's Mr. Robot.

• 51:57Speaker 06

  Yeah, I remember Todd, uh, when we were shooting.

• 52:01Speaker 02

  Oh, you're talking about cinematography.

• 52:03Speaker 06

  Talking about, see, it's mastermind. I mean, um, but we were, we were, we were shooting the second episode and we were doing those kind of compositions. And I remember Todd came up to me, um, cause he didn't shoot the pilot. He was, he, he started on the second episode and he just came up to me and he's like, dude, are we gonna get fired? And, um, I was like, what do you mean? And he's like, well, this is all we're shooting. We're not, we're not shooting regular. And I'm like, yeah, that's the look of the show. And he's like. Yeah, but are we gonna get fired? And I was like, actually, I don't know. Maybe they'll... I don't fucking know. And then the next day, you know, dailies get... come out. They go to the network. And Todd would come up to me and be like, "So?

• 52:47Speaker 06

  Are we fired?" And I'm like, "Not yet." And I think, you know, after that first week, we're like, "Okay." Hopefully, they're not either watching the dailies, or they think it's okay. And it was okay. But it was one of those things where I remember that when I would talk to Todd... Because I interviewed a lot of the cinematographers. And Todd was really the one... A lot of cinematographers, when I would... Because I knew that was the look of the show from the get-go. And when I would tell that to the cinematographers I did interview, a lot of them were like, "Oh, you're not gonna do the main, you know, shot like that. We can have like a B camera doing that." And I'm like, "No, no, no. That's... no. This has to..." And so, when I talked to Todd, and I interviewed Todd,

• 53:30Speaker 06

  not only did he love that, then he started pitching all these other fucking crazy angles, where I'm like, "Okay. All right, that's enough." But you're hired. But you're great. And it was awesome, because I really feel like that identified how sort of alienated Elliot felt. And not just Elliot, every character in the show. Tyrell, and Angela, and Darlene. I mean, it really showed how isolated they were in this world, and how kind of, you know, in those scenes with Tyrell in the boardroom, the kind of, the evil corp kind of overbearing and being over him and looming over him. I mean, it just... It would have never...

• 54:11Speaker 06

  We would have never captured that essence in any other visual aesthetic but that.

• 54:16Josh Horowitz?

  Hundred percent. We are sadly running very low on time, so we're gonna end with this. Since you are trapped inside of my podcast, you have to answer rapid-fire, the happy, sick, and fuse profoundly random questions, guys. You can all jump in. One can jump in. Here we go. Dogs or cats? Dogs or cats? Dogs.

• 54:35Speaker 05

  Dogs? Dogs.

• 54:38Josh Horowitz?

  You're staring at four dogmen up on the stage.

• 54:40Speaker 06

  I wrote Flipper. Remember Flipper?

• 54:44Josh Horowitz?

  Anybody collect anything on the stage? Any collections brewing? Anything? Oh, boy. Christian has shame. Nope, pass. He passes.

• 54:54Speaker 02

  Come on, you have to.

• 54:55Speaker 05

  Brittany will kill me.

• 54:57Josh Horowitz?

  We'll save him, we'll save him.

• 55:00Speaker 05

  I like action figures.

• 55:01Josh Horowitz?

  Action figures! Christian, you're in the right place. You're among your people.

• 55:06Speaker 05

  You know what, I guess, yeah. Yeah, I really am.

• 55:08Josh Horowitz?

  You are? Okay.

• 55:11Josh Horowitz?

  What's the wallpaper on anybody's phone? Anybody want to cop to what's the wallpaper on their phone?

• 55:17Speaker 02

  Generic one?

• 55:18Speaker 06

  No, it's on your...

• 55:19Josh Horowitz?

  The background of your screen.

• 55:21Speaker 06

  Emmy, when we first started hanging out, she took a picture of this swamp. You know, we were driving and we pulled over and she took a picture of this thing with her... She's a great photographer. And that picture is still my home screen. It's been there since 13, you know, 13 years ago, since we met.

• 55:46Josh Horowitz?

  Group A. For Christian or Rami, who's the last actor you were mistaken for? Does it ever happen? Do you ever get mistaken for another actor?

• 55:57Josh Horowitz?

  What do you got?

• 55:59Speaker 06

  Who?

• 56:00Speaker 05

  Yesterday, I was waiting for my daughter to come home on the bus, you know, from school. And this guy came up to me and went, "Oh, hey, Kevin."

• 56:10Speaker 05

  It had to be Kevin Bacon, I'm sure.

• 56:14Speaker 05

  Yeah, I was like, "Ah, close."

• 56:20Josh Horowitz?

  Ever happen, Rami, or not?

• 56:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, it happens quite a bit.

• 56:22Speaker 05

  No.

• 56:23Speaker 02

  Yeah. Well, I'll get Oscar...

• 56:26Speaker 06

  Oh, Isaac.

• 56:27Speaker 02

  Isaac.

• 56:28Speaker 05

  Oh, really?

• 56:29Speaker 02

  And, but, it's weird, right? But it does happen. I get Bruno Mars. I used to get Bruno.

• 56:36Speaker 05

  Serious?

• 56:37Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:37Speaker 05

  Bruno Mars?

• 56:38Speaker 02

  Yeah. That's the thing. We met and he goes, "Oh, my doppelganger."

• 56:45Speaker 02

  I was like, oh, this is a thing. In fact, I was at a, I was at a Dodgers baseball game once. And this sweet little girl came up to me and she said, can I have your autograph? I was like, sure.

• 56:55Speaker 05

  Oh, no.

• 56:56Speaker 02

  Yeah. And she showed me a picture of Bruno Mars. And I said, oh, I'm sorry, I'm not him. And she took a beat and then she wept.

• 57:09Speaker 02

  And I said, uh, I didn't know what to do.

• 57:13Speaker 05

  Just say yes.

• 57:15Speaker 02

  I took the picture and I signed it Bruno.

• 57:18Speaker 05

  Yes.

• 57:20Speaker 02

  So.

• 57:24Speaker 02

  Do what you gotta do.

• 57:24Speaker 05

  I was like, yes, love, keep on Footloose and Kevin Bacon.

• 57:30Speaker 05

  That's it. You go, brother. Yeah. Kenny Loggins.

• 57:35Josh Horowitz?

  Wow. Well, what a gift to have Sam Asmell, Kevin Bacon and Bruno Mars.

• 57:41Josh Horowitz?

  Legend, all of you.

• 57:45Josh Horowitz?

  No, in all seriousness, guys, congratulations. This show just stands the test of time. It is fantastic. It was fantastic back then. It is fantastic today. Thank you for sharing your time tonight.

• 57:55Speaker 02

  We thank these people.

• 57:57Speaker 05

  Yeah. Well, I was gonna say.

• 57:58Speaker 02

  Thanks for being here. This is insane.

• 58:02Speaker 03

  And so ends another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. Remember to review, rate and subscribe to this show on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm a big podcast person. I'm Daisy Ridley and I definitely wasn't pressured to do this by Josh.

• 58:21Josh Horowitz?

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