Bill Skarsgard, Vol. II

Bill Skarsgard already has an iconic villain on his resume (Pennywise) but it doesn't get any more iconic than his latest role as the titular character in NOSFERATU. Bill returns to the podcast to talk about why he gravitates towards dark characters, his love of LORD OF THE RINGS and Batman, and why he's a cat person. SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS! Uncommon Goods – Visit UncommonGoods.com/podcast/HappySad for 15% off BetterHelp -- Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BetterHelp.com/HSC ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠for 10% off UPCOMING LIVE EVENTS 1/20 -- Adam Scott at 92Y 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! To watch episodes of Happy Sad Confused, subscribe to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Josh's youtube channel here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠! 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.

• 0:01Speaker 00

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• 0:29Speaker 01

  I think I'm a cat.

• 0:30Josh Horowitz?

  You think you're in what way?

• 0:32Speaker 01

  I just think so. What do you think I am?

• 0:36Josh Horowitz?

  Sure. I don't like the way you're staring at me right now.

• 0:42Speaker 03

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

• 0:49Josh Horowitz?

  I'm Josh Horowitz, and today on Happy, Sad, Confused, Bill Skarsgård is back. He's not in murderous clown makeup or an evil vampire. It's just Bill today.

• 0:59Speaker 01

  Just Bill today.

• 1:00Josh Horowitz?

  That's all I get. Welcome back, buddy.

• 1:03Speaker 01

  It's not...

• 1:04Josh Horowitz?

  Not just.

• 1:05Speaker 01

  It's not just.

• 1:05Josh Horowitz?

  No, it's a gift.

• 1:09Josh Horowitz?

  He is back on the podcast. Nosferatu is the film. I'm practically on the payroll for this movie. You guys...

• 1:15Speaker 01

  Hell, yeah.

• 1:15Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, you need to give me something for all my efforts.

• 1:18Speaker 01

  You'll get a pat on the back.

• 1:20Josh Horowitz?

  I'll take it, I'll take it.

• 1:21Speaker 01

  You've seen the film.

• 1:22Josh Horowitz?

  It's great. It's fantastic. How you doing, man?

• 1:25Speaker 01

  I'm good, good. How are you?

• 1:27Josh Horowitz?

  I'm good. It's been too long. Five years since the last time you were on the podcast.

• 1:32Speaker 01

  Yes. It was, and that wasn't... Did we record that? I mean, we recorded that, so was it just audio?

• 1:39Josh Horowitz?

  It was. A lot has changed.

• 1:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, a lot has changed. You're moving up in this world.

• 1:43Josh Horowitz?

  Well, I don't know, but up. Laterally, something.

• 1:45Speaker 01

  You're moving laterally in this world.

• 1:48Josh Horowitz?

  But we had a pandemic. The family has grown. You have not grown, though. You're still as tall as you were. Still the shortest Skarsgård brother?

• 1:58Speaker 01

  Oh, no, no, no, I'm not the shortest.

• 1:59Josh Horowitz?

  I thought you said you were.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  I'm on the shorter end.

• 2:02Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, I'm sorry. I started at a really negative point.

• 2:07Josh Horowitz?

  Here's a provocative question I've asked at previous stupid junkets. Would you rather be four feet taller or four feet shorter? I can wave a magic wand, Bill.

• 2:19Josh Horowitz?

  It's harder than you think. Think about it.

• 2:21Speaker 01

  I'd probably go shorter.

• 2:24Josh Horowitz?

  So you would be, how old, how tall, so you're six?

• 2:27Speaker 01

  I'll be, yeah, I'll be like two, two, two feet, two feet four, yeah.

• 2:31Josh Horowitz?

  Two four. You want to live that life?

• 2:33Speaker 01

  No, I'd be taller. But it's like, then I'm ten feet four.

• 2:36Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, and those folks that tall don't have a good life expectancy.

• 2:39Speaker 01

  I feel like if you're shorter, you're, you can, you know, you're, you're less noticeable.

• 2:45Josh Horowitz?

  And that's what you're looking for in life?

• 2:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 2:47Josh Horowitz?

  You chose the wrong profession.

• 2:48Speaker 01

  I, yes, I remind myself every day.

• 2:54Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so let's talk Nosferatu. This, look, we can't, I can't promote Nosferatu with all these other podcasts without Mr. Nosferatu himself.

• 3:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 3:02Josh Horowitz?

  That's the character's name, by the way. It's Mr. Nosferatu, right?

• 3:04Speaker 01

  It's Mr. Nosferatu.

• 3:05Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 3:08Josh Horowitz?

  I myself am a big Robert Eggers fan. Any film fan worth their salt is a Robert Eggers fan.

• 3:14Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 3:15Josh Horowitz?

  Did you follow his work straight from the start, The Witch, all in?

• 3:18Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah. Yeah. I, I met, I met Robert after he'd done The Witch. I saw The Witch and then I had a general with Robert in New York 10 years ago.

• 3:30Speaker 01

  And just that movie blew my mind. I thought it was incredible. And then you're going in, so you're excited for this general meeting, which is not always the case.

• 3:39Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 3:40Speaker 01

  And then we had just like, we had a bar in the East Village and a couple of drinks and three hours later, we, I felt that we were destined to work with each other.

• 3:50Josh Horowitz?

  It's gonna happen in a minute. Then cut to 10 years later.

• 3:52Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 3:53Josh Horowitz?

  Sometimes it takes a while.

• 3:53Speaker 01

  It took 10 years.

• 3:54Josh Horowitz?

  So how, okay, we start with the general meeting thing, because I'm fascinated by this. How often does that bear fruit? How often does it feel like you walk out of that meeting thinking that was worth my time? And how often is it just like, that wasn't doing?

• 4:05Speaker 01

  Well, it's sort of like a blind date.

• 4:06Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 4:07Speaker 01

  You know? And I've never been on a blind date before, but I've done plenty of general meetings.

• 4:14Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 4:15Speaker 01

  So you don't know what to expect and... Sometimes it's awkward and sometimes you're not vibing. And then you're just, you know, alright, well, thanks for this. I actually have to, you know.

• 4:26Josh Horowitz?

  Find something else to do.

• 4:29Speaker 01

  And sometimes it's, um, sometimes you're falling in love. You know, and that's, that's how it is. So, so I've, you know, and Robert was certainly one of those where I'm like, oh, I'm, I'm falling for this man. Falling hard.

• 4:44Josh Horowitz?

  I, I need to get him on the podcast one of these days because I really adore his work.

• 4:47Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, he's incredible, he's incredible.

• 4:49Josh Horowitz?

  And, and look, he comes, he was a production designer, I know, and he's very meticulous. And I've talked to so many actors that really love just the worlds that he's able to create.

• 4:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's a gift for an actor, yeah.

• 4:58Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, I mean, stepping onto these sets must be remarkable. But, but in terms of vibe, he actually seems way more genial and chill than his films would, I don't know, read for me.

• 5:11Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, it's, um, it's underneath the surface.

• 5:18Speaker 01

  There's a lot, uh, you know. The movie is, is him.

• 5:22Josh Horowitz?

  That is, that is a reflection of him, yeah.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  But he's, he's, he's a very chill guy. He's, he's, he's great. But, um, but he's into some weird shit.

• 5:32Josh Horowitz?

  You almost worked together with your brother as well, I believe, on The Northman. That was the first project that you guys really came close to doing, as I recall.

• 5:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, no, so I met him in, in New York, um, ten year, almost ten years ago. And, and, and then he was, uh, doing Nosferatu. That would, that would be the follow-up movie after The Witch. And I read the script and the script just blew my mind. And I was like, this is incre, this is so, so, so him. And, and, and so great. And the script didn't change all that much, like, it was so, I don't know, solidified his vision. And then I read for, um, Aaron's role, Frederick Harding in the, in the movie. And then he thought I could be good for Thomas Hutter. And I read for that and I booked that.

• 6:22Speaker 01

  So I was supposed to be Thomas Hutter in this movie ten years ago.

• 6:26Josh Horowitz?

  Who was the Nosferatu back then?

• 6:28Speaker 01

  It was like Matt Mickelson and, and there was a couple of names. And actually, at one point, Willem as well.

• 6:34Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, really?

• 6:35Speaker 01

  Which I think Robert liked that idea and whatever. The movie, the, the movie didn't happen and then he went on and did.

• 6:43Speaker 01

  The Lighthouse and then The Northman that I was supposed to be in.

• 6:47Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 6:48Speaker 01

  And we were in Belfast, we were screen testing, we were two days away from production.

• 6:55Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 6:57Speaker 01

  And this was March of 2020, so you know what happened?

• 7:00Josh Horowitz?

  Can't remember, did something happen that year?

• 7:02Speaker 01

  Something happened.

• 7:04Josh Horowitz?

  So that falls apart, that must have been a blow at the time for various reasons.

• 7:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, it was devastating and I was really excited about it and I was excited to work with my brother as well and Rob. And yeah, and then things changed and I was, I got, you know, scheduled and issues didn't work out for me. I was doing Clark, the show.

• 7:24Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 7:26Speaker 01

  Then I was producing and developing in Sweden, so I ended up not being in The Northman. And then after I heard that he's gonna follow up with Nosferatu after The Northman, he was, I was like, oh shit, okay, well, I'm Thomas Hutter, right?

• 7:43Speaker 01

  No, no, Nick Holt was. And then I was like, well, maybe Frederick Hardinger, you know, I think that's a pretty sick role too. Aaron Taylor-Johnson.

• 7:53Josh Horowitz?

  Ellen? I'll take anything.

• 7:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:55Josh Horowitz?

  Ellen? A rat?

• 8:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, so I was like, okay, well, maybe our relationship, like maybe he's, maybe he was, you know, he, you know, maybe he felt slighted or something. And I was like, okay, and then at that point, you know, I wrote him a very, very shamefully earnest letter titled.

• 8:20Josh Horowitz?

  Dear betrayer.

• 8:22Speaker 01

  Literally, Visberg in Flames was the title of the email.

• 8:27Josh Horowitz?

  And this is after you heard other folks have been cast in these other roles and you're like, is there?

• 8:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, or it was just, I heard, they weren't official, but it was just like, you know, you talk with your team and I'm like, come on, man. And then, you know, so I wrote this letter and I'm like, like, you know, he didn't respond.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  And then, and then out of the blue, he did reach out and he was like, I think, I think you can play orlock.

• 8:51Speaker 01

  And I was like, oh, oh, oh.

• 8:56Josh Horowitz?

  You see the real me.

• 8:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I don't know.

• 9:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was like, because I know how much this movie meant for Robert.

• 9:03Josh Horowitz?

  Of course.

• 9:04Speaker 01

  And how personal it is. And in a lot of ways, it's his most personal work to date, I think. And just the fact that he considered me for it. And then we had this sort of feeling out process of 10 days of. He shared with me his research and his thoughts on the character. And then I reread the script, you know, with the third, for the third character in mind. You know, I've read it with three different perspectives. And I'm like, oh, well, here's the, yeah, this is juicy. And then, and then, yeah, so we started, you know, kind of having this thing where I would just like, I would sit and record. And I had a good microphone, which helped because I could like really play with the microphone with the voice and everything.

• 9:51Speaker 01

  And then, yeah, so we had like a 10 day back and forth, which was also incredible. Sort of like a feeling out process, like for Robert to feel out if I could do it, for me to figure out if I can do it, and for the wonderful studio execs.

• 10:05Josh Horowitz?

  Most importantly.

• 10:06Speaker 01

  Most importantly.

• 10:07Josh Horowitz?

  The arbiters of great taste, that is.

• 10:09Speaker 01

  But it was important because like I didn't know if I could do what he wanted. And for me, it was, you know, most importantly was like the movie needs to be his vision and what he wants. So, but, but yeah, he was, he was happy. And then it took two years after, you know, booking the part for it until actually going into production. So at that point, I was like completely detached from it again.

• 10:32Josh Horowitz?

  Right. Had to rediscover it all over again, the voice, the health.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Literally like, almost like study what I did to, I don't know, it was very weird.

• 10:41Josh Horowitz?

  So for those that see the film and everyone here watching and listening will see the film. You are, of course, totally unrecognizable in every facet, voice, image, et cetera.

• 10:53Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 10:54Josh Horowitz?

  That must be very freeing. Look, you had that to a degree in other roles, Pennywise, you're unrecognizable. But this is even almost another, another level of transformation. Does having gone through what you went through with Pennywise prepare you in any ways? Not necessarily the kind of character, but the prep and what's involved and just the transformative properties?

• 11:14Speaker 01

  Yes. Yeah, no, it does. It does. And.

• 11:20Speaker 01

  And yeah, it helps and you know, I've done it before and and sort of mask work is what it is in a way and and you know, you're the the getting into the character is a different process because you're you're kind of looking at like digital images of what the character is going to look like and then sitting in your apartment is trying to figure out you know, okay, that's the look and the voice and all of it so it's it feels it's kind of an abstract place to begin with and then and then once you get the prosthetics on the first time you have to kind of figure out how your face is translating on to the new face

• 12:04Speaker 01

  as it were and

• 12:08Speaker 01

  and yeah and it's a thing where like like Robbie rehearses a lot so you him and Jaren the cinematographer and the actors, they block out every scene.

• 12:23Josh Horowitz?

  Right, by the time you're on set, he knows.

• 12:25Speaker 01

  Oh yeah, you know, yeah. I even and you know, he storyboarded the whole movie and I had the storyboard so I could like, look the scene we're doing tomorrow and I can also go in, here's what the camera's gonna do.

• 12:37Speaker 01

  And it's shot in sequence which is which is very cool too because it's not coverage. Elite from all of my stuff, there wasn't really much coverage at all. It was like the camera's doing this and this and this.

• 12:49Josh Horowitz?

  So each time around, you get to play through the whole scene essentially?

• 12:53Speaker 01

  No, not I mean, sometimes you like there's a couple of scenes in it where like you do the first third of the scene.

• 13:00Josh Horowitz?

  I see.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  Because the camera, the shot does this.

• 13:02Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 13:03Speaker 01

  And then and then you pick up from that point and the camera will do that, you know?

• 13:06Josh Horowitz?

  Got it.

• 13:07Speaker 01

  So it's a whole kind of ballet of dancing with the camera and

• 13:14Speaker 01

  yeah, it's a very sort of collective creative process that way.

• 13:25Josh Horowitz?

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• 14:10Josh Horowitz?

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• 14:55Josh Horowitz?

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• 15:40Josh Horowitz?

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• 16:23Josh Horowitz?

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• 16:53Josh Horowitz?

  Can we talk about the voice aspect? Cause my sense from our past conversations and all the stuff around Pennywise, et cetera. You enjoy, you enjoy altering your voice and look at the character too. Like voice in particular feels like a fun way in for you. What are the, like, how many shitty paths did you go down before you found the right sound for, for Orlok?

• 17:15Speaker 01

  I think I went down much shittier paths with Pennywise.

• 17:18Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 17:21Speaker 01

  Yeah, cause I, I really explored all the different ranges.

• 17:26Josh Horowitz?

  High, low, everything in between.

• 17:28Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it was a much more of an kind of explorative process. Robert had been, you know, thinking about this movie for so long and this character that he was very specific with what he wanted. So, so, and he writes it in the script. It's one of those things that's amazing, all these like little tools that it gives you. Cause the descriptions in the script are, are, are so, are little clues for what the character is. So the breath is there and you know, there's descriptions of the character. His, his voice is, you know, inhumanly deep and.

• 18:03Speaker 01

  But there's a fragility, there's, I think there's like, there's a description of that there's almost pain when he speaks, there's pain to it. And the breath of this kind of asthmatic, like, you know, sick lungs. So all of that was there, and then through conversations with Robert, I had a very, okay, which is also, again, it's not restrictive, it's a tool for an actor, because you go, like, he points you so clearly to a certain direction.

• 18:33Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 18:33Speaker 01

  And then you go, okay, what can I explore in that space? And, yeah, like, what we did on this sort of ten-day exploration for the camera test was pretty close to where we ended up. Now, I got a lot better, like, the voice got a lot deeper, and I, you know, I, sort of, my technical, I got much more technical with accessing the voice, but a lot of it was there.

• 19:03Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. And then, in terms of the look, again, sounds like he probably had very specific ideas in mind.

• 19:10Speaker 01

  Oh, yeah.

• 19:11Josh Horowitz?

  Did you have any specific notes that you wanted to bring to the table that ended up in the finished product?

• 19:16Speaker 01

  No, and it's the same thing, like, he shared me, you know, his little orlock file, and, and he'd made a digital drawing of his orlock that pretty much, this is two years before we started to shoot, but that pretty much looks like what he looks like in the movie. So, so, yeah, so that was, you know, and of course, Robert is, he's really into this kind of stuff, but he's also so, such a research-dependent filmmaker and creator, so, what he wanted

• 19:53Speaker 01

  with his version of Nosferatu was a Nosferatu that's steeped in Transylvanian folklore. And, you know, he's like, okay, what did 16th-century Hungarian Romanian noblemen look like? And you look at paintings, and they all have mustaches.

• 20:20Speaker 01

  And different haircuts, but there's the shaved bald head with the kind of, that was the thing. That there's a lot of paintings of people wearing that. So, so, so these became, you know, inspirations for the look and the development of what this character ended up becoming.

• 20:40Josh Horowitz?

  You're only as good as obviously the actors, you're playing opposite and they have to like, you know, you can convey a weight to this performance, but they have to convey the fear and the reactions. It sounds like you just even stepping on set in this guy's elicited immediate reactions in your fellow actors. Did any of the first moments on set jump out at you as a memory of working with any of your fellow actors? Of the impression you made on them?

• 21:04Speaker 01

  I mean, I essentially only work with Nick and Lily.

• 21:07Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 21:08Speaker 01

  I have one scene with the wonderful Simon McBurney as well.

• 21:13Josh Horowitz?

  That's amazing, yeah.

• 21:15Speaker 01

  But yeah, so, so, and Nick, Nick and I, I mean, we, we, the first, it was very early on in the shoot, we did the Thomas coming to Count, Count Orlok and entering the castle. That was one of the first things that we shot. So, I think both Nick and I were more scared of screwing up than...

• 21:42Josh Horowitz?

  Than the actual evil of Count Orlok.

• 21:45Speaker 01

  You know, you're worried and it's a tense situation and, and you want to deliver for Robert and for the film and everything. So, I don't know, I mean, you would have to ask them in terms of like what, you know, I do think that Lily was like actually pretty scared of the look of the character and, you know, and she's funny enough, the one that's actually not scared of him.

• 22:07Josh Horowitz?

  Right, I was gonna say.

• 22:08Speaker 01

  She's kind of into him.

• 22:11Josh Horowitz?

  Sid, um, I feel like we've all gone through like a vampire phase growing up. Like I was, you know, I'm gonna age myself, but I was obsessed with Bram Stoker's Dracula. Like I knew that movie, I still probably know that movie by heart. Unbelievable.

• 22:23Speaker 01

  The Coppola one?

• 22:24Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 22:25Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 22:25Josh Horowitz?

  Unbelievable movie.

• 22:26Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's incredible.

• 22:27Josh Horowitz?

  Did you have a vampire phase or film or depiction of Dracula or Nosferatu that really connected with you as a kid?

• 22:35Speaker 01

  I'd say the Bram Stoker one, yeah, like Coppola's one. Love the film. But yeah, I've seen, you know, and of course, of course, the Bela Lugosi one.

• 22:45Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 22:47Speaker 01

  And of course, the 1922 Nosferatu.

• 22:51Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 22:51Speaker 01

  And Herzog's Nosferatu, Kinsky's Nosferatu, if you will.

• 22:57Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 22:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you know, and yeah, it kind of goes in and out of vogue, it seems, like The Vampires. Like Interview with a Vampire, all those films.

• 23:08Josh Horowitz?

  And you were a big Twilight guy. Everybody knows you were the biggest Twilight fan out there.

• 23:11Speaker 01

  Of course, yeah.

• 23:14Speaker 01

  And True Blood, I mean, whoo.

• 23:15Josh Horowitz?

  Hey.

• 23:17Josh Horowitz?

  Few people love sexy vampires more than Bill Skarsgård. You had that fan page for a while. You were both Team Edward and Team Jacob, which was odd.

• 23:23Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was rooting for both of them.

• 23:27Speaker 01

  Can't we all be friends?

• 23:32Josh Horowitz?

  So I referenced Pennywise, obviously Nosferatu. I mean, these are two iconic evil characters, for lack of a better term. Like, do you, are you anxious or reluctant to kind of like almost complete the triumvirate? Because like, I feel like you could only do, you know, Joker or Voldemort. Like, that completes the trio, essentially, of evil in film.

• 23:53Speaker 01

  It's the trio of evil.

• 23:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 24:01Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, I-

• 24:01Speaker 01

  I don't know, like, it's, it's, yeah, I think, yeah, for me, like, in terms of iconic horror characters, Dracula's king.

• 24:10Josh Horowitz?

  He's king.

• 24:11Speaker 01

  So, so, yeah, in terms of iconic horror characters, none has been portrayed in so many different ways and so many different times. Someone, a reporter told me, there's been 170 adaptations of Bram Stoker's novel.

• 24:29Josh Horowitz?

  As you said, also, the flexibility within that framework is actually what I think stands out. Because we've seen so many different, this, your iteration is so starkly different than anything else I've ever seen.

• 24:40Speaker 01

  Yeah, and there's been some great ones. There's been some great ones, so, so it's pretty cool. But, um, but yeah, I didn't set out to become this.

• 24:49Josh Horowitz?

  God made me this way.

• 24:51Speaker 01

  No, but it wasn't like, because people are asking me, it's like, if this was like a conscious sort of like a 10-year-old me's dream, and it wasn't, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm an actor and I like to perform and, and I do think that the transformational aspect of performing is something that I've always liked.

• 25:12Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 25:13Speaker 01

  And even way before I'd done horror or, or these, these type of kind of monster characters, I, I, I just love the process of like transforming, like finding the voice and like, you know, so I think that's the through line more so than like the, the kind of horror creature aspect of it, you know?

• 25:33Josh Horowitz?

  It's the ability, and, and for, as you well know, for someone your age, your type, for lack of a better term, this is not the usual path. I mean, this has been such a gift.

• 25:42Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 25:43Josh Horowitz?

  It really has.

• 25:44Speaker 01

  Sure.

• 25:45Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, like, if

• 25:46Speaker 01

  Yeah, sure.

• 25:47Josh Horowitz?

  If it doesn't happen, you know, your age group, whatever God has given you, you don't probably get very, as interesting roles as you're being presented now. You've been able to show off a different side than most actors your age.

• 25:58Speaker 01

  Sure, sure, yeah, I, um, yeah. Yeah, it's a blessing, man, and I, I, thank you. Like, I don't know, because I do feel like I'm, I'm, I'm in my own lane.

• 26:07Josh Horowitz?

  You are.

• 26:09Speaker 01

  Which is like, oh, oh, nobody's, nobody's driving here. Well, it's nice, it's nice.

• 26:15Josh Horowitz?

  My crazy clown car off a cliff again, yeah.

• 26:17Speaker 01

  No traffic.

• 26:18Josh Horowitz?

  Like, do you get presented the square-jawed vanilla hero much? Like, is it just that you're not interested in that, or that people aren't thinking of you for that?

• 26:29Speaker 01

  I don't know, I'm, I, I, I don't, um, I don't, I guess people, yeah, I don't know, it's, I don't know, it's not, I don't have like a ton of those kind of, yeah, clean-jawed hero types, but it's, I think, um, I don't know, I, I think that, um,

• 26:53Speaker 01

  For me, it doesn't, like, genre doesn't matter.

• 26:56Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Like, the character, whatever the script is, needs to speak to me and resonate with me.

• 27:03Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 27:04Speaker 01

  And I think that, that if it's, like, I've never, you know, I was rooted for the bad guy in the conventional sort of Hollywood movies, you know? Because the heroes, I never believed in them. I don't think that they're real. Like, that type of, like, idealized, flawless hero.

• 27:23Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 27:24Speaker 01

  And there's something vain about wanting to play the hero.

• 27:27Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 27:28Speaker 01

  That I think I've been, in a way, fighting against a little bit. Like, I don't know, I just, like, I think weird is interesting. I think.

• 27:36Josh Horowitz?

  Totally.

• 27:37Speaker 01

  I think when it's fucked up and complicated and messy, I tend to go like, okay, this is, this is a challenge and, you know, it's instinctual, you know? It's instinctual why you're drawn to certain types of stories or characters. Like, you read a script and you can go like, not for me.

• 27:55Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 27:56Speaker 01

  And it's a gut feeling, really. And you can dissect the reasons for why sometimes, but, but when you read something and you go, oh, oh, okay, I can feel it happening inside of me, that's usually the starting point to, for me, to, to, to explore the character.

• 28:12Josh Horowitz?

  You've had an opportunity, correct me if I'm wrong, you've, you've done the It TV series by now. Have you shot?

• 28:17Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:18Josh Horowitz?

  The Return, the Welcome to the Diary?

• 28:20Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:20Josh Horowitz?

  So, a couple of questions on that. I know we're probably keeping a lot under wraps, but there was, for a time, you weren't associated with the project. There was a question of whether you were going to return. Was that a big decision? Was, did you have to kind of, like, really wrestle with coming back to that character?

• 28:35Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I, um, I, yeah, I felt, I felt like I was.

• 28:45Speaker 01

  Done with it, in a way. It was also because I was shooting this, you know, I was doing Orlok and to me it just felt like, okay, this is my, this is the nail in the coffin on my monster roles. Pun intended, you know?

• 29:02Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 29:02Speaker 01

  So I did feel like, I was like, I was like, kind of over it and then, you know, wanted to do different things and of course, like the Pennywise thing as well, it's like, you know, I've been quite defined by it.

• 29:17Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 29:18Speaker 01

  And I was like, I just like, alright, that's, that's,

• 29:20Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, you did it.

• 29:21Speaker 01

  Twenty-six-year-old me, silly young man.

• 29:24Josh Horowitz?

  I get it, it's like, I mean, what more can I do with it? It did a lot for me, I got a lot out of it.

• 29:29Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 29:29Josh Horowitz?

  What's the point of doing it again?

• 29:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, I thought, you know, exactly, a little bit, it felt like that. And then, and then things changed and, you know, it's Barbara and Andy, the Meshkettys are doing it and, you know, I was like, I love them, you know, I love them and they're very close friends. Family even, you know, I'm the godfather of his son. So, you know, I love them and then that was, like, alright, let's, let's, let's bring him back.

• 29:57Josh Horowitz?

  Let's dig in, and you're an executive producer on it, so like, you have skin in the game in terms of like, really trying to like, make it rewarding for yourself and everybody.

• 30:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, and, you know, it was, it was fun, it was fun, it was fun. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, actually. And there's parts of it where we got to explore sides of old Pennywise that we haven't seen, you know, and that's fun, and then I remembered how much I enjoy working with Andy and, you know, we do have a lot of fun together, so.

• 30:32Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 30:32Speaker 01

  So, I think there's some, some, some cool stuff in there that we haven't seen that I'm excited for, you know, the people to watch and enjoy, hopefully, you know?

• 30:44Josh Horowitz?

  Is it as scary, you think, as the films? Like, do you go as far, can you go as far on television as you did in the films?

• 30:50Speaker 01

  Oh, it's, yeah. Yeah, it's, it's pretty hardcore, man.

• 30:56Josh Horowitz?

  It's not the G-rated Pennywise.

• 30:58Speaker 01

  No, no.

• 30:59Josh Horowitz?

  That would be a no.

• 31:00Speaker 01

  That would be a no.

• 31:04Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 31:05Josh Horowitz?

  And the voice, easy to come back to?

• 31:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 31:08Josh Horowitz?

  He's there, he's just waiting.

• 31:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was talking, I don't know, like, yeah. I was talking about it, like, I mean, I had the same thing when we were doing it too, it was like,

• 31:23Speaker 01

  we're doing this motion capture or performance capture test, and this was months before we were gonna shoot. And I thought it would just be like, okay, we're just doing a test, like, I'm just gonna go there and they're gonna like, you know, I'm gonna just do facial expressions or whatever.

• 31:41Speaker 01

  And then, like, you know, I'm in L.A. and I'm like having drinks with my friends, I'm like, yeah, this, whatever, it's a test tomorrow. And then Andy texts me and he's just like, "So here's the scene." And it was just like this long fuck, and I'm like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what do you mean?"

• 31:56Speaker 01

  And he's like, "Well, I just, I want you to perform the scene, you know." And I was like, a lot of, I'm like, "Okay, well, I don't know if, how this is gonna go."

• 32:06Speaker 01

  Because I'm out drinking with my friends, no kidding, but I don't know if, you know, if, but it was a test, and I didn't know how, how easy it would be for me to access him, and then just immediately, just immediately, he came through, so it was the same thing now.

• 32:24Josh Horowitz?

  You mentioned performance capture.

• 32:25Speaker 01

  Probably.

• 32:26Josh Horowitz?

  Until your dying day, you will have Pennywise ready.

• 32:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly, exactly.

• 32:30Josh Horowitz?

  Before I go out one more time, anyone need Pennywise?

• 32:35Josh Horowitz?

  You've done a little bit of performance capture, motion capture, you did the little thing in Eternals as well.

• 32:39Speaker 01

  Eh, yeah.

• 32:41Josh Horowitz?

  Do you enjoy that? Like, is that, do you find that freeing? I've talked to some actors that really find it like, back to basics, weird black box theater, and others that it's a lot to...

• 32:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, I've explored it, I've explored, I mean, I don't know for that one in particular, but like, I think, and I think like Andy Serkis is one of our, one of our true greats. And see how he has developed motion capturing and performance capturing, and he's a pioneer in the field now, and also in the tech behind it.

• 33:10Josh Horowitz?

  Totally.

• 33:11Speaker 01

  And I just love how he just like... You know, there was an audition for a voiceover character in The Lord of the Rings.

• 33:21Josh Horowitz?

  Right, right.

• 33:22Speaker 01

  And then that just changed his trajectory in life and career.

• 33:27Josh Horowitz?

  Talk about making the most of, he's a true pioneer.

• 33:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, and there was like, okay, and then they thought it was like, oh, let's bring him in. Like, it's actually better to have him perform there. And then they started developing the performance capturing for the first time ever for those movies. And then he fell in love with it and, you know, you've seen what he's done. So, and I think it's cool, like, in terms of transformative performances, it's so badass, man. It's badass, so.

• 33:52Josh Horowitz?

  The Apes films are unbelievable, what he's done in there.

• 33:54Speaker 01

  Incredible, yeah. Like, and like, again, like, voice and stuff, like, that's him. You know, I feel that, like, I know what it is, you know. I know how, I think he should be lauded more, or like, whatever. We haven't seen, like, an award really for those performances, but like, man, he deserves it. Because I know what he does, I know what it is. And finding, like, Caesar's voice and that, or whatever, it's like, he's great, he's so great. So, I'm up for it, you know, I'll play an ape.

• 34:26Josh Horowitz?

  Were you a, I know, I heard you say somewhere you were a Bond kid, were you a Lord of the Rings kid? Like, what were your?

• 34:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, Lord of the Rings, man.

• 34:33Josh Horowitz?

  All the way?

• 34:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, all the way, yeah, hardcore, like.

• 34:36Josh Horowitz?

  Has the timing worked? I'm trying to think, if you went Hobbit, you were probably still starting out. Like, have you gone up for any, like, anything in that universe at all?

• 34:42Speaker 01

  No, no, I haven't gone up for any, anything. And, you know, I don't know, like, there's, but I'm a fan of.

• 34:48Josh Horowitz?

  The original.

• 34:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah. And I, like, you know, like, I don't know, I was like, I think I was 11 or something when the first movie came out. And I'd read all the three books, so I like, I was like, you know, like, as excited as I've ever been for a release, like. You remember everybody was camping outside of the theaters?

• 35:05Josh Horowitz?

  Of course.

• 35:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I wasn't camping outside of the theater, but I saw it, you know, the next day.

• 35:10Josh Horowitz?

  So that, you were into that, you were into Bond as a kid, as I understand it?

• 35:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 35:14Josh Horowitz?

  Who was your Bond? Was that Pierce Brosnan days, or is that Daniel Craig? Like, what's the?

• 35:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, this is the 1996 GoldenEye.

• 35:22Josh Horowitz?

  GoldenEye.

• 35:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:23Josh Horowitz?

  Play the video game?

• 35:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 35:26Speaker 01

  Nobody was allowed to play Odd Job because he was too short, do you remember? Because then you had to, like, strafe down, like, and you couldn't really, like, you just shot by doing this.

• 35:35Josh Horowitz?

  Amazing.

• 35:36Speaker 01

  Because like, I don't know, nobody was allowed to play Odd Job.

• 35:41Josh Horowitz?

  I thought you were great in John Wick 4, I will say that as the marquee.

• 35:45Speaker 01

  Thanks, man.

• 35:46Josh Horowitz?

  Never trust a guy with that many vests, is what I say, right?

• 35:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 35:53Josh Horowitz?

  I feel, I talk to-

• 35:53Speaker 01

  It's not the vests' fault.

• 35:55Josh Horowitz?

  Well, it's not a good sign, I feel like. He's paying too much attention to the vests. Did, wait, did Chad try to get you for a different role originally? I feel like Chad Stahelski said that he was not sure it was the marquee for you, that he wanted to work with you.

• 36:07Speaker 01

  I don't know. I don't know. Like, I don't know, he, um...

• 36:14Speaker 01

  No, I mean, I've met him, like, I met him a few times before. And, but no, he approached me with that and I thought it was cool. I think, when I read the script, he was, the marquee was written as a lot older.

• 36:28Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 36:28Speaker 01

  You know, sort of like silver haired, like, older, you know?

• 36:31Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 36:31Speaker 01

  So I was like, oh, this is interesting, like, and he was like, yeah, I think you could be cool for it. And I'm like, alright, cool, so, it was fun.

• 36:37Josh Horowitz?

  I feel robbed you didn't get to fight Keanu, though. You didn't get to actually go toe-to-toe with Keanu.

• 36:41Speaker 01

  I know, I know.

• 36:42Josh Horowitz?

  It feels like a missed opportunity.

• 36:44Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's a bit of a coward. He has other men do shit for him, you know?

• 36:48Josh Horowitz?

  Right, that's a sign of real power.

• 36:50Speaker 01

  That's, in a way, yeah, yeah, yeah, but, but it didn't, it didn't, it didn't end well for him.

• 36:57Josh Horowitz?

  Spoiler alert. You do still, I guess technically, have your Marvel eligibility card? Because we mentioned Eternals, but that's like a bit thing, Deadpool 2, tiny little shit thing.

• 37:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah.

• 37:08Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, I don't know, were you a comic book kid? Is that something of interest? Crow feels that-

• 37:12Speaker 01

  Yeah, Batman was mine, yeah, I was like a Batman kid. Batman was my superhero growing up.

• 37:19Josh Horowitz?

  Can you talk to Andy about, because he's potentially doing Brave and the Bold?

• 37:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, it's, yeah, I don't know exactly where he is with it, but, but yeah, so that was cool and, yeah.

• 37:30Josh Horowitz?

  Would you rather be Batman or Joker at this point in your career?

• 37:38Speaker 01

  Maybe both, I can be sort of a schizophrenic.

• 37:41Josh Horowitz?

  Wonder Brothers, you can save money, one actor.

• 37:43Speaker 01

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah, in this one, Batman is Joker and Joker's Batman, yeah.

• 37:49Josh Horowitz?

  Finally, a new twist.

• 37:51Speaker 01

  A lot of actors do that when they play like twins, sort of like, you know.

• 37:54Josh Horowitz?

  I love that.

• 37:54Speaker 01

  It sounds so exhausting, shooting and changing outfits and acting opposite yourself.

• 37:59Josh Horowitz?

  This feels like...

• 38:00Speaker 01

  I don't know, man, like, I, yeah, I think, you know, I do, I do have a fucking cool Joker in me probably somewhere. I think that would be pretty sick. Yeah, man.

• 38:12Josh Horowitz?

  Who's your favorite Joker of all time? There have been some great ones.

• 38:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, Heath.

• 38:17Josh Horowitz?

  Heath is an all-timer.

• 38:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, and there's also like, I don't know, I feel like as you're aging, you're, the

• 38:25Speaker 01

  performances are not as iconic for you anymore. Do you feel that as well, when you're like, when you're 16 and you see something?

• 38:30Josh Horowitz?

  Sure, it hits you, yeah, the stuff I saw when I, exactly, in your teenage years is embedded in you.

• 38:34Speaker 01

  Yeah, and then it's like, because it meant so much to you at the point.

• 38:37Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 38:37Speaker 01

  And, um, and yeah, so like, I don't know, I can't remember, I was like 17 or whatever, like, and then that Heath performance, and then he passed away. Like, you know, he passed away.

• 38:46Josh Horowitz?

  It's frozen in time because of the nature of what happened.

• 38:48Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you know, I was, you know, I was an aspiring actor, and to me Heath was like, he represented everything that that I, that I wanted to be, you know? So, so it, his passing and that performing, performance really hit me hard at that time.

• 39:02Josh Horowitz?

  Well, and it makes sense, given the nature of our conversation about the kind of stuff that you've been doing, and transformative roles and stuff that really like pushes boundaries, I mean, he was...

• 39:10Speaker 01

  He was that.

• 39:11Josh Horowitz?

  He could have just been a heartthrob for the rest of his career if he wanted.

• 39:14Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:14Josh Horowitz?

  And then he plays the most fucked up version of the most fucked up villain ever.

• 39:17Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, but also, like, I mean, he did so many sort of character performances, like, so, yeah.

• 39:26Josh Horowitz?

  One thing I noticed, and you can set the record straight or not, did you get a chance to audition for Lex Luthor? Did you get a chance to meet with James Gunn?

• 39:34Speaker 01

  No.

• 39:34Josh Horowitz?

  That was, that was, that's not a true story.

• 39:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, no, I was like home and then it was like, there's like rumors that me and Alex were like competing for this. I was like, nobody's called me. What the hell is this? Yeah, I never read for it, never talked to James, yeah.

• 39:48Josh Horowitz?

  What's up with, did you ask your brother, did he?

• 39:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, he's like, I don't know.

• 39:55Speaker 01

  I was like, I don't know, maybe it's like a publicity stunt. That's bizarre.

• 39:58Josh Horowitz?

  It's good fanfic to think of you two fighting for the same role.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  It's never happened so far.

• 40:05Josh Horowitz?

  That's crazy.

• 40:14Speaker 04

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• 41:45Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, so you kind of, it didn't quite manifest, but the general meeting with Eggers manifested this 10 years later. Who are the directors right now that you're obsessed with that you're, we should manifest for the 10-year project down the line?

• 41:57Speaker 01

  Every time I get this question, it's just blank.

• 41:59Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 41:59Speaker 01

  And then I go home and I'm like, oh, fuck.

• 42:01Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, you want me to just throw some at you? I mean, are you a Denis guy? Are you a Guadagnino? Are you Ari Aster? I don't know.

• 42:07Speaker 01

  Guadagnino would be sick.

• 42:09Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 42:09Speaker 01

  Yeah. And I like, you know, I love what the safes are doing. Like, I want to like... Sean Baker, like I don't know, like, you know, and then, and then when you work with, you know, a great like Robert, who's so crazy, his films are moving oil paintings and it's, you know, it's so, you know, then you just wanna like, it's just, you know, a handheld camera and just like loose shooting, you know?

• 42:37Josh Horowitz?

  Go the other way, yep.

• 42:39Speaker 01

  But there's, you know, and then, then, um, um, um, yeah, I'm, I'm working with Gus Van Sant next, which is exciting, you know?

• 42:48Josh Horowitz?

  Huge.

• 42:49Speaker 01

  So that's, you know, a massive fan of him and, and that's very cool. That's very cool.

• 42:56Josh Horowitz?

  He's gotten some iconic performances. He's worked with all the greats. I mean, the nineties and two thousands of his work is like you could put that on a shelf. It's just all time stuff.

• 43:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, so, so, um, so, yeah, but it's, you know, it's, it's, it's always, it's project dependent and, you know, you need to kind of, um, and it's sort of, you know, I think when the more I trust my, my, my gut and, and it's sort of in an organic way, things start to materialize with sort of who you collaborate with and stuff like that.

• 43:31Speaker 01

  But, um, I'm literally going through my head now because I, every time I'm like.

• 43:36Josh Horowitz?

  You gotta keep the cheat sheet on you. And what about actors? What's the last performance you saw that blew you away? Who's, who's, who in your, in your peer group is someone that you're like, they're doing it right?

• 43:50Speaker 01

  I mean, I think this cast, man, this cast.

• 43:53Josh Horowitz?

  This is a great collection, yep.

• 43:55Speaker 01

  Of like, of like my peer group where like, I was like, like Emma Corrin and Erin and Nick and, and Lily. I mean, Lily's performance in this movie is, is some, some of the most powerful, committed, brave performances I've ever seen.

• 44:09Josh Horowitz?

  Yep.

• 44:10Speaker 01

  And she's just a baby, you know, so she's, she's a frickin' force, man, in, in, in her bravery and her talent and. So, yeah, it's been a privilege to work with these people and also to get to know them. And then, of course, and then you have like, you know, I've been doing like interviews with the great Willem Dafoe. Who's one of my, you know, one of my absolute, you know, favorites, so.

• 44:40Josh Horowitz?

  And it seems to have so much joy in the work, like he loves what he does so much.

• 44:44Speaker 01

  He still loves it. He still loves it. It's an inspiration, man.

• 44:48Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah. Are you, is the Lord of the War movie still happening? Nick Cage will be a fun one to mix it up with.

• 44:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 44:55Josh Horowitz?

  I could see you two vibing. That feels like he's another one that just always pushes, always tries for something crazy.

• 45:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, oh man, oh my god, yeah, he's a legend.

• 45:05Speaker 01

  And it looks like it's happening next year. It looks like it's happening next year and it's, you know, it's a great script and I think it'll be a fun one, you know, the character is, he's charismatic fucking asshole. And you saw the first one, you know, it's like, it's so, it's so cynical and so like satirical and bleak and like everyone's terrible, but it's also kind of a dark comedy. Yeah, you know, it's like, I like that, I like that. I like when you laugh at terrible people, like when you, it's like. Yeah, so I think that'll be a fun one, yeah.

• 45:44Josh Horowitz?

  Amazing. All right, we're gonna end with this, the Happy Second Fuze profoundly random questions, Bill, you ready?

• 45:49Speaker 01

  Oh boy.

• 45:50Josh Horowitz?

  Dogs or cats?

• 45:57Josh Horowitz?

  No, you hate all animals is what I'm getting.

• 46:00Speaker 01

  No, I actually, I like, I grew up with dogs and cats.

• 46:03Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 46:04Speaker 01

  So I'm sort of a dog and cat person.

• 46:06Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 46:07Speaker 01

  Like, I think they're like the polar opposite of each other. I think, so in terms of like, I love cats, but I also like, you know, love dogs.

• 46:16Josh Horowitz?

  Sure.

• 46:16Speaker 01

  But I think a better question is, are you a dog or a cat?

• 46:20Josh Horowitz?

  Wow, okay, fine, are you?

• 46:21Speaker 01

  Because I think I'm a cat.

• 46:23Josh Horowitz?

  You think you're in what way?

• 46:25Speaker 01

  I just think so. What do you think I am?

• 46:29Josh Horowitz?

  Sure. I don't like the way you're staring at me right now.

• 46:35Josh Horowitz?

  Have you thought about this before? You've compared, you've noticed beeline tendencies?

• 46:39Speaker 01

  You can categorize people as like, dog or cat spirits.

• 46:43Josh Horowitz?

  So, you're not loyal, because dogs are loyal?

• 46:45Speaker 01

  Or, you could also...

• 46:49Josh Horowitz?

  You're skittish, you're kinda like...

• 46:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm a narcissist.

• 46:56Speaker 01

  No, it's just like, kind of an energy and a feel. I don't know, it's like, because you can also do vampires and werewolves. Like, what's your kind of spirit? And vampires and cats go hand in hand, and wolves and werewolves. And I think I'm a vampire.

• 47:10Josh Horowitz?

  I'm gonna revise the profoundly random questions for the next person.

• 47:12Speaker 01

  I think you might be a werewolf.

• 47:13Josh Horowitz?

  What makes you say that?

• 47:14Speaker 01

  Because you have a beard.

• 47:17Josh Horowitz?

  One of the few masculine traits I have.

• 47:19Speaker 01

  What, do you like cats or dogs?

• 47:21Josh Horowitz?

  Dogs.

• 47:21Speaker 01

  You're a dog person. Yeah, yeah. My dad, we always had dogs growing up. And he'd say, "Over my dead body, a cat, a cat entered my house."

• 47:31Josh Horowitz?

  Wow.

• 47:32Speaker 01

  Because, you know, they're evil. I mean, they're a bit evil, cats.

• 47:37Josh Horowitz?

  Well, they're a bit evil dogs, too, Cujo.

• 47:39Speaker 01

  Sure, sure, but I mean, dogs are, you know, they speak, they're, you know, they speak our language a bit more. Cats, cats don't give a shit, they don't give a shit, you know what I mean? Like, a dog loves you, a cat doesn't love you.

• 47:50Josh Horowitz?

  Right, so you don't love, you don't give a shit, again.

• 47:53Speaker 01

  No, this is not, this is more of a spirit thing, not, you know...

• 47:56Josh Horowitz?

  You're the one calling yourself a cat.

• 47:57Speaker 01

  I'm digging myself into a hole. You know, I'm, okay, I'm a dog person, I like dogs.

• 48:01Josh Horowitz?

  What do you collect, Bill?

• 48:03Speaker 01

  Huh?

• 48:03Josh Horowitz?

  What do you collect?

• 48:04Speaker 01

  Uh, not much, man.

• 48:07Josh Horowitz?

  Minimalist.

• 48:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:08Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. Wallpaper on your phone?

• 48:11Speaker 01

  Huh?

• 48:11Josh Horowitz?

  What's the wallpaper on your phone?

• 48:13Speaker 01

  Uh, just generic stuff.

• 48:18Josh Horowitz?

  Okay. What's the, who's the last actor you were mistaken for?

• 48:28Josh Horowitz?

  Ever happen?

• 48:29Speaker 01

  No.

• 48:30Josh Horowitz?

  Really?

• 48:30Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 48:31Josh Horowitz?

  You've never like?

• 48:31Speaker 01

  Well, I, no, that's not true. I've been mistaken for my little brother Walter.

• 48:36Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 48:37Speaker 01

  Who's an actor.

• 48:37Josh Horowitz?

  There you go.

• 48:38Speaker 01

  So, yeah. And also Alex.

• 48:40Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 48:41Speaker 01

  But I don't know if they think I'm Alex, or they're just like, you know, oh, something, something, Skarsgard, you know?

• 48:47Josh Horowitz?

  Right, right, right.

• 48:47Speaker 01

  Um, so, um, yeah, I guess my two brothers.

• 48:51Josh Horowitz?

  You've got Peter Skarsgard, the really confused people?

• 48:54Speaker 01

  Um, well, I mean, yeah, they think he's like, I work like, so, Stellan worked with, you know, I don't know if Stellan and Peter ever worked together, but, but he would always hear like, oh, I work with your son.

• 49:09Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 49:09Speaker 01

  And it's like, oh, who? Like, oh, Peter. And it's like, oh, no, that's not one of us.

• 49:13Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 49:14Speaker 01

  Uh, and then now, so he would, you know, say this, like, and then now, the more I'm working, I hear people go, I work with your dad, I love him, Peter, he's great. And I'm like, no, no, you know, and I know Alex has heard, you know, your brother Peter is terrific, so I, um...

• 49:32Josh Horowitz?

  He's an honorary Skarsgard.

• 49:34Speaker 01

  He's an honorary Skarsgard. I'm sure he's, I'm sure he's sick of it.

• 49:38Josh Horowitz?

  The true shortest Skarsgard.

• 49:39Speaker 01

  I love Peter Skarsgard, so I will take him.

• 49:41Josh Horowitz?

  He's great.

• 49:41Speaker 01

  Yeah, just put the K back in.

• 49:44Josh Horowitz?

  Worst noted director has ever given you?

• 49:48Speaker 01

  Worst note?

• 49:49Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 49:54Speaker 01

  I don't know if there's, like, if there is bad notes.

• 49:57Josh Horowitz?

  Is there a kind of note generally that you just find super not helpful?

• 50:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, I hate when, I hate when, like, the more insecure the filmmaker, the, they can, you know?

• 50:06Josh Horowitz?

  They talk more.

• 50:06Speaker 01

  They talk more.

• 50:07Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 50:07Speaker 01

  And they could be like, you know, they could just go like, and they just talk about like, the psychology behind, like, I'm like, what's the, what do you want?

• 50:13Josh Horowitz?

  Right, let's get...

• 50:14Speaker 01

  Just get to the point, like, you know, it's just, um, but so, so it's like, the, the lack of notes, or, or filmmakers, directors are trying to just, to just have opinions because they feel like they should have an opinion because they're a director.

• 50:27Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 50:27Speaker 01

  Um, and like, I've done TVs, you've had like, you know, TV directors, and you, you kind of chew them up, like, every episode's a different person, and so like, which is kind of a great school for you, because you're like, you, you get exposed to a lot of different directors, but, uh, but I don't like that, and I also don't, like, I love when filmmakers... Kind of just like, oh, I'm not sure, like, let's figure it out, like, to dare to say that they don't know.

• 50:51Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 50:52Speaker 01

  Because saying that you don't know is the first step of finding.

• 50:56Josh Horowitz?

  Collaboration and.

• 50:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, finding something, so.

• 50:58Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, totally. And finally, in the spirit of happy second fuse, happy, an actor always makes you happy, you see them on screen, you're in a good mood.

• 51:09Speaker 01

  Like Jeff Bridges?

• 51:11Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, this is a good answer, yeah.

• 51:14Speaker 01

  Jim Carrey?

• 51:14Josh Horowitz?

  Another good answer.

• 51:16Speaker 01

  I like, like, when I'm, when I'm, when I'm feeling blue, I, I watch, I can watch Jim Carrey in the 90s, like, talk show appearances.

• 51:24Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 51:25Speaker 01

  Have you ever, I mean.

• 51:26Josh Horowitz?

  I mean, I've seen what you're talking about, sure.

• 51:28Speaker 01

  Or his acceptance speeches.

• 51:30Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 51:30Speaker 01

  Like, it's just like, yeah, the talent that that man has is from a different planet.

• 51:37Josh Horowitz?

  I even like his recent stuff, his recent, like, really, like, when he goes deep on a red carpet with a clueless reporter and he's just talking about, like.

• 51:44Speaker 01

  I, Jim Carrey doesn't exist anymore, man, it's all an illusion, like, his self is an illusion.

• 51:49Josh Horowitz?

  And like, the Access Hollywood person's like, huh?

• 51:51Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, and they're like, alright, what are you wearing?

• 51:55Josh Horowitz?

  What are you wearing, exactly?

• 51:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, no, he's, he's profound, man, yeah.

• 52:02Josh Horowitz?

  Movie that makes you sad?

• 52:08Josh Horowitz?

  You have no tear ducts, you have no feelings, you're a cruel cat that has no emotion.

• 52:14Speaker 01

  I'm a dog and cat person.

• 52:15Josh Horowitz?

  Okay.

• 52:15Speaker 01

  I love, I love animals so much that I can't pick a winner, okay? And watching, watching cats and dogs interact is, is pretty amazing, because we had both cats and dogs in the same house.

• 52:25Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 52:26Speaker 01

  So it was over my dad, my dad's dead body, and then my mom wanted cats, and we ended up getting cats, and he, and then, and then he, and then he fell in love with particularly one of, one of the two cats.

• 52:39Josh Horowitz?

  I love that the most controversial thing that happened in this interview was the dog and cat take.

• 52:43Speaker 01

  Well, you're making it, because.

• 52:44Josh Horowitz?

  No, it's not me, you're very defensive all of a sudden.

• 52:46Speaker 01

  But anyways, watching cats and dogs interact is so funny, because cats, like, they fuck with the dogs, and the dogs are like, you know.

• 52:55Speaker 01

  You know, dogs, dogs lack integrity, I think.

• 52:58Josh Horowitz?

  Holy crap, what? What is wrong with you?

• 53:01Speaker 01

  Do you know what I mean? Like, like, they, you know, they're, like, a cat feels very, like, they're, they're very proud in a way. Like, and dogs are just like, you know, they're...

• 53:09Josh Horowitz?

  But they're loyal and they, they have connection with human beings?

• 53:13Speaker 01

  That doesn't, that doesn't, you know, I don't mean to be like derogatory towards dogs by saying that they lack integrity. I just mean that they're, you know, they're, um, the, the reason why we love them is that they're, they, you know...

• 53:28Josh Horowitz?

  They need us.

• 53:29Speaker 01

  They need us, they love us, they're very excited about everything, you know?

• 53:32Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 53:32Speaker 01

  And then cats, so like, what my cats would do is like, they would, they would just like jump up and sit on like, um, uh, on a shelf or something.

• 53:39Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 53:40Speaker 01

  And then, and then you would see, like, the dogs, and we had big dogs, so the dogs would just go by and you'd see them going...

• 53:48Speaker 01

  And the dogs are like, "Oh, oh, oh." And they just get so excited because they think the cats want to play.

• 53:53Josh Horowitz?

  Oh, no.

• 53:54Speaker 01

  No, they just want to fucking around, yeah.

• 53:55Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 53:56Speaker 01

  They're fucking, yeah, they're amazing. Cats and dogs are amazing. And the, the way they interact is something I, I found very inspiring.

• 54:03Josh Horowitz?

  So the movie that makes you sad is?

• 54:05Speaker 01

  Uh, City Lights by Charlie Chaplin.

• 54:11Josh Horowitz?

  And finally, I promise this is it, the food that makes you confused, Bill. This food you don't get, you see it on a menu, why do people eat that?

• 54:17Speaker 01

  Oh, man, you're, this is, you're, you're really hitting me with the hard questions.

• 54:21Josh Horowitz?

  I know, I know.

• 54:23Speaker 01

  Confusing food. Dogs!

• 54:28Josh Horowitz?

  No, unacceptable.

• 54:30Speaker 01

  Huh?

• 54:30Josh Horowitz?

  No, that's not acceptable.

• 54:31Speaker 01

  No, that's what I mean.

• 54:33Josh Horowitz?

  I know, but, but when's the last time you saw a dog on a menu?

• 54:40Speaker 01

  I'm not gonna go there. I've never seen it on the menu. I don't know, like, um, it's a joke. I don't, the confusing food, like, the people are, uh, kind of, um... Help me out here, what do you think is confusing?

• 54:51Josh Horowitz?

  Well, I don't like, you know, I'm not into beets, I'm not into mushrooms, I've got, there are things I'm just, I don't get.

• 54:58Speaker 01

  You find beets confusing?

• 54:59Josh Horowitz?

  Well, the color is odd, it's an odd color on a plate.

• 55:02Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, I think it's a pretty nice color, actually.

• 55:05Josh Horowitz?

  Okay, I don't know why you're being like this all of a sudden.

• 55:07Speaker 01

  Well, it's just not, okay, so what's, because it was confusing, right?

• 55:12Josh Horowitz?

  Confusing.

• 55:13Speaker 01

  Confusing food.

• 55:14Josh Horowitz?

  It's more confusing that other people enjoy it, so it can just be something you don't like, that you find it confusing, why would anybody else find that pleasurable?

• 55:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, I like, so I like cilantro, I know cilantro is sort of a big divider, and, I don't know, have you tried tripe?

• 55:32Josh Horowitz?

  I have, yeah, I'm not, I'm not big on the tripe.

• 55:34Speaker 01

  Not, not, not a big fan of that either, I don't like that. There's like, surströming, which is like, really, really fermented fish, Swedish fish.

• 55:46Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah.

• 55:47Speaker 01

  It's like, there's, you can eat-

• 55:49Josh Horowitz?

  Like the red Swedish fish you get in the candy? It's a bad joke.

• 55:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, no, no, no, that's terrible, this interview's over.

• 55:59Josh Horowitz?

  Very fermented Swedish-

• 56:00Speaker 01

  Don't make fun of Swedish fish, okay, it's the greatest candy ever.

• 56:03Josh Horowitz?

  Actually, it is my favorite.

• 56:04Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's great, yeah, yeah. No, but, no, surströming is fermented herring, and I think there's like, videos of people smelling this and trying it, and just vomit, like, it's like, a montage of people. And it's rancid, and, and I, I think that is pretty, it's part of Swedish culture, it's like a Swedish delicacy, that for some reason only like, older, kinkier people tend to be into, because it's kinky, man.

• 56:34Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 56:35Speaker 01

  It's like, you know the rancid smell of a garbage truck in August in New York?

• 56:41Josh Horowitz?

  Speaking my language, my love language.

• 56:42Speaker 01

  Don't you just wanna like-

• 56:45Speaker 01

  Drink that.

• 56:46Josh Horowitz?

  I'm gonna go down the YouTube rabbit hole and watch the videos of people.

• 56:49Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 56:49Josh Horowitz?

  Doing it.

• 56:50Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, I think it was like a segment on Kimmel or something where there's like the people just smelled it and gagged.

• 56:55Josh Horowitz?

  There's your tip for the day, guys. See Nosferatu and then learn about horribly fermented Swedish fish.

• 57:01Speaker 01

  Yeah, and check out the, check out the, um, the 1922 one.

• 57:06Josh Horowitz?

  Nosferatu, yeah, double bill.

• 57:07Speaker 01

  It's.

• 57:08Josh Horowitz?

  Which should come first?

• 57:11Speaker 01

  The first one. Do it in order. 1922, the Hertzog's one is fun too, so you can watch that. But, uh, the 1922 one is like, um, for, for all the youngsters out there.

• 57:20Josh Horowitz?

  For the kids.

• 57:21Speaker 01

  It's, it's, it's, it's cool. Yeah. And it's not long, you know, like, I don't, there's like the, the early, the, the early silent films that were like three and a half hours.

• 57:30Josh Horowitz?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's like 72 minutes, like one, I don't even.

• 57:32Speaker 01

  Yeah, Birth of a Nation or whatever, the, the first like.

• 57:35Josh Horowitz?

  Right.

• 57:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, those ones are like, but an hour and a half? Tight, man. Or now it knew what he was doing.

• 57:43Josh Horowitz?

  We did it.

• 57:43Speaker 01

  Also, by the way, I think movies are too long.

• 57:47Speaker 01

  Now.

• 57:47Josh Horowitz?

  One of the hot takes with Bill Skarsgard.

• 57:49Speaker 01

  Remember when the, when the movies were like, you know, an hour and a half, two hours?

• 57:52Josh Horowitz?

  Loved it.

• 57:53Speaker 01

  And like, why do they have to be three and a half hours?

• 57:55Josh Horowitz?

  97 minutes. If I see that on a runtime, I am a happy guy walking into the theater.

• 57:59Speaker 01

  Yeah, it's great.

• 58:00Josh Horowitz?

  Although The Brutalist is really good and it's three and a half hours. I will say that.

• 58:02Speaker 01

  I have, I still haven't seen it. I'm a, I'm a big Brady fan, so I'm excited about it.

• 58:06Josh Horowitz?

  Break it into two parts.

• 58:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's a little information, right?

• 58:08Josh Horowitz?

  There is.

• 58:08Speaker 01

  Yeah, nice.

• 58:10Josh Horowitz?

  We did it, guys.

• 58:13Speaker 01

  Thanks, buddy. So fun.

• 58:17Speaker 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.

• 58:37Speaker 06

  Well, summer may be over, but things are still hot on Turtle Time. Goodbye Next Gen NYC, goodbye The Valley, we'll see you next year. But now Turtle Time is gearing up to cover some of the most beloved franchises in the Bravo universe. Turtle Time is covering Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Real Housewives of Orange County and Real Housewives of Potomac. Salt Lake City, Orange County, Potomac. These are wonderful franchises. Could you imagine what Amy and I are gonna say about them? You'll hear some of the hottest takes you've ever heard in your life. You'll feel like it's still summer. Oh, these will be hot takes. Uh, fall and winter, great job trying to, uh, cool things off. No, it's still hot over on Turtle Time. You're gonna get that summer warmth. So put away your bathing suit.

• 59:22Speaker 06

  Put away the sunscreen. Summer's over, but you can still feel hot, hot, hot by listening to Turtle Time. Some of those other podcasts, you know it's fall or winter when you're listening to them. But Turtle Time, it's kinda like summer. It's hot. So enjoy the Turtle Time podcast. Co-hosted by me, Riley Hamilton, and Amy Scarlata. And it's available almost every single day of the week. Better luck next time, fall and winter.