Keep It is brought to you by Helix. Summer is officially over, which I voted against. But that means fall is coming up. And how am I preparing? Oh, honey, I'm going to sleep in my bed. And I'm going to sleep longer than usual. And I'm going to sleep, as you know, with one knee up. Kind of in a flojo position. Picture her mid-sprint. We don't know if she was juicing or not.
But we do know that she looked amazing on the 100 meters, okay? Coming in at like seven seconds. It had never been done before. Otherwise, I love my Helix mattress because, as you know, I need the sleep. And if I don't sleep well, it shows up on my Irish ass. face. And that's why I am forever thankful to Helix and the Midnight Luxe mattress for accommodating my sleeping needs.
Go to helixsleep.com slash keep it for 20% off site-wide. That's helixsleep.com slash keep it for 20% off site-wide. Make sure you enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you. helixsleep.com slash keep it. And we're back with an all new episode of Keep It. And where the hell are we? I'm Louis Furtel. I'll explain. I'm in Brooklyn this week with the show Jimmy Kimmel Live which is still on the air due to, get this, rights.
But we're here now. I'm recording this week with our special guest who has been on the show before, but never with me. Never. Is it personal? No, I think whenever you had something to do, I would feeling for you. Right. They actually kind of thought it would be too much to have.
the both of us. It could only be one or the other. It's Jay Jordan, the fabulous comedian. Thank you for having me. Hello, Keep It fam once again. Yeah, thank you for having me, Louis. I also want to say, you weren't positive you'd be on camera, and yet you look like the slickest member of West Side Story. Listen. And once again, as a shark...
As a shark, not a jet. I didn't know I was going to be fully on camera. So the pants, they might have not been as cute. But, you know, I had a little time. Yeah. I gave you the full look. You're welcome. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. No, we try to do full. glamour here, except no one even cares. You were bringing it. I'm happy that you're here in Brooklyn with a TV show that is still on the air. I am dazzled to be employed. How's the past two weeks or week been for you? Well...
My takeaway is the first... Five hours, we didn't have a show. It felt crazy. And then afterwards, the blowback was so intense. I'm like, I know how this works. We're going to get back on the air. So everybody else got to be astounded and really root for the Rudy comeback story of our show. But I saw the ending. I was Roger Ebert about it. I've seen this movie before. I was amazed that certain people didn't speak out instantly.
I was one of the comics in New York who was like, this is bullshit. And instantly was like, please, everyone say something. And there were people who waited a week. I believe Joe Rogan said he was on an elk hunting trip. And that's why he didn't speak out, which I was. talking to Rosebud Baker. She was like, that sounds like a joke you would submit about Joe Rogan. Yeah, right.
elk hunting trip and he didn't have any service and he didn't know this had happened. How long does it take to find an elk? Yeah, they're big. Like, is that a six-day thing? Like, they don't strike me as the fastest of the animals. No, they're a huge deer, but I don't know why he was so...
kind of like, I don't know why he waited so long to say anything. It did take a while. That was kind of surprising. Now, you are a comic and yet you are not in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia right now. How do you feel about that? From one loud queer to another, I'm good.
I'm good. Being a loud gay will really keep you out of places that don't like loud gays, except for one comic on the lineup. I think there is, and Wayne Brady's going. I was just going to bring up Wayne Brady as a part of it, and I believe he's pansexual. Yeah, yeah, he's pansexual. If you don't know, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is throwing this high-octane comedy fest where they're paying American comics.
More money than they've ever paid for any other single gig, certainly. And I'm sure lots of people have been offered who like... cautiously turned it down, but a lot of people didn't turn it down. And as you know, Saudi Arabia is, shall we say, not like here. So it's a curious gig to take. Well, no, they are like here last week when you didn't have a show. Ah, yes. They are like here. I think that if you're a comic who accepted performing at this festival and for The Prince specifically...
Let other comics give you a little shit. Let other comics make fun of you. You will be a bigger and better person for it. I've already seen Star Wars made fun of, I want to say, Chris DiStefano, Mark Norman, and Sam Murrell to their face in person. And that's what's going to happen.
to happen if you accepted the Saudi money we are going to make fun of you I don't know if it's going to destroy some friendships might destroy some hands but we are going to make fun of you people are going to laugh at you for a little bit and just take those lumps you're walking away with
I don't know, an extra $200,000 to $500,000. Take your friends making fun of you. Now, here's my... whole problem with the situation the indecent proposal aspect of it actually doesn't really interest me like I'm like okay some people are going to be dubious some people won't be fine my question is what is the comedy you do for a Riyadh audience because I'm just saying I'm thinking if I'm a stand-up
Relatability is kind of a key part of like conveying humor. And I can't think of a single meeting point we have pop culturally, day-to-day activities wise. I think there's some crossover when it comes to mass appeal pop culture. There's a whole push for having more entertainment in Riyadh, WWE, more football matches.
more boxing matches. So there is a push to make it seem like this is a new destination spot for kind of like top line, high level entertainment. The problem with comedy is that it does come with all these rules. With the WWE, WWE female... entertainers, the female wrestlers, they can't wear their traditional in-ring gear because of modesty rules there. So they have like these specific outfits they have to wear when they do a show in Saudi Arabia. And I think comics are also...
Otsuko posted a list of rules and kind of no-goes that they aren't allowed to do if they want to get paid. And I guess if they want to leave with their passports. Oh, Otsuko, I believe, turned it down, correct? Yes. But I'm sure she thought it was like a formidable amount of money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She made sure to redact the amount of money that was in the offer on the contract. And I think that's another part of it.
Sometimes I think they are throwing this huge kind of backing up the Brinks truck for people. But I don't know if that's the case for everyone. I know Tim Dillon, he had an offer and then it was rescinded because I think maybe he said some stuff about the Saudi government. Who knows? No, he has. But like, if I dropped you off in Riyadh right now, could you do five minutes and just crush it? Oh, yeah. I have a lot of material about slavery. So, yeah.
American. You just start with that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow, okay, going right for the jugular. Yeah. And I thought Wayne Brady was the only... queer person on the lineup. Is that right? No, Jess Carson's also queer. She's a lesbian. Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah. And, you know. The idea that they went for diversity is amazing. I know that.
I was not offered. Let me just go in regular and say it did not come my way. I don't know if I would have gone. I do not think I would have said yet. There is a fear there for me. Certainly. No, there's great unknowns. I mean, I don't know what the accommodations are, who you run into, whatever. I completely concur. Okay. Yeah. Also, hey, guess what? You can smoke hookah here. I don't know if you've been to Harlem. I don't know if you've been to the Bronx. Eric Adams is smoking hookah right now.
Okay. That's what you're concerned about? Yeah. The hookah quotient of Saudi Arabia? Okay, we have a stacked episode here in Brooklyn today. First of all, we're going to be talking about the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie, One Battle After Another. I believe this is his 10th movie.
At this point, he's the kind of filmmaker where you have to rank all of his movies. Like, what your favorite is says a lot about you. And so we'll do that, Jay and I. We've both seen the movie. I call it the Tiana Taylor movie. I guess there are other actors in it. Okay, I call it the Sean Penn movie. Oh, okay.
Oh, you do? Sean Penn. Now he's an up-and-comer. I remember him from the film Shanghai Surprise. Sean Penn, I think the physicality that he sort of makes sure comes across in the character. Oh, my gosh. From the beginning, there's a stance, both with his legs and with his jaw, where the military character, Lockjaw, that he's kind of portraying in this film.
From the first scene I see him in, I'm like, this is going to be a good performance from him. So I was really impressed. I was really impressed with Tiana Taylor, but I was blown away by Sean Penn. Yeah, we'll get into the Sean Penn of it all. And I just want to say before we move on. His jaw structure. We have that upcoming Bruce Springsteen biopic. Huge for those of us in the underbite community. Huge.
We'll get into that momentarily. Also, my interview today, which was recorded back in Los Angeles, is with, hold on to both arms of your chair, Jillian Anderson. She's in the new movie, Tron Aries. Is your mind not blown? Oh, my God. Lesbians, get ready. Right. And also, she's more soft-spoken than ever. Oh, wow. So lean in to the AirPods this time when you're listening. And then we'll also get into...
the new album from Mariah Carey. Oh my God, it feels so good to say that. Yes. So psyched. And also the new album from Doja Cat. Yeah. A lot of people claim to be 80s inspired. This queen fucking did it. So we'll talk about that too. But other than that, that's our episode and we'll be back with more. keeping.
Paul Thomas Anderson's new film, One Battle After Another, is here. Let me just go through the cast first of all. It's Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Tiana Taylor, Regina Hall, Chase Infinity. And I want to say about Sean Penn, and this is just the copy I have to read. Might have the worst case of jungle fever we've ever seen. My producer put that in the feed for me, Louis, to read. Anyway, Jay and I both saw... With me as a guest. Yes, right. Jay's over here.
Jay and I both saw the movie this weekend. It's time to get into it. Jay, what are your initial reactions to one battle? My initial reaction is, wow. so heavy handed on the nose as far as like the time we're living in right now and still a good movie. Yes. Still a good movie. Very, there's a part of me that was watching it and I went, this, the. It's just not going to be what I think it is. And it was, truly.
But it still was a good movie with a couple of really fun twists. And I was truly impressed by so many people in the cast. I kind of thought at this point I would be a little bit sick of Leonardo DiCaprio sort of. um being like a bumbling fargo type criminal like you know stuck in chase sequences like
dog, stupider than he should be, etc. He was hilarious at times during this movie. And I kind of forgot he was capable of that. My all-time favorite Leonardo DiCaprio performance is Django Unchained. Because he's a little bit like Tom Cruise to me. It's like, I would prefer you just to be full delirious. Yeah. You know, full creepy. You know, like that's like to me, like the height of his powers in a way. But in this movie.
I was shocked at the comic. And you saw some of that, of course, in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. But at the same time, that was the most surprising part of this movie to me, how funny it ended up being. But this movie starts out and it's about Leonardo DiCaprio and Tiana Taylor.
are this activist... Revolutionary. Yeah, revolutionary couple who then are quickly on the run. If you've ever seen the movie Running on Empty from the 80s, I believe they were... Paul Thomas Anderson was slightly inspired by that movie too. Anyway, Tiana Taylor, who is unbelievable in this movie.
Gets caught quite early. And she is basically cast away from the movie. And years later, Leonardo DiCaprio and his daughter. Played by Chase Infinity. Yes. Who is great in this movie. Yes. And by the way, I mean like everybody else in this movie has.
175 credits. Yeah. So for her to stack up against these people was really shocking. But I will say about this movie, it starts out and you kind of think it's going to be more about the politics involved of being a revolutionary. And as the movie goes on, it is... Just a thriller. It's just a thriller, but like you said, tons of comedy. There are, I think, two or three slapstick moments in the movie that are just...
Pure Pratt Falls. Yes. It's kind of funny. No, real like Ruth Buzzi stuff. Yeah. Like falling down. And a theater full of people laughing at that, you do look around and go, oh, yeah, this is a great movie. This is a great movie. good movie going experience which by the way it's a two hour and 40 minute movie and I was just preaching recently about the fact that a movie can be a hundred minutes long or 90 minutes long and still be too long yeah this
fills every single moment. It almost is like a David Lynch movie and how little time is wasted. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It does not feel long. It feels like there's always... there's always a threat there as a thriller, as a sort of like movie that moves with you. You're never bored, which is beautiful. And I think when you, when you think about like a story like this, specifically on the run, who, who's gonna.
Are they going to get caught? Who's going to get caught? Are you going to be able to save the girl? Sometimes they have these weird moments in between where you go away from that action and you go, hey, no, no, no, get back to saving this girl. They never do it. Right. As you said, Sean Penn in this movie plays this sort of villain character who also...
I don't want to give away the movie to anybody who doesn't want to see it. But no, he plays this military, this evil military guy who's in the pursuit of... both Leo and Leo's daughter because of his infatuation and kind of like obsession with black women, I think is the easiest way to kind of put it.
And he does a very good job of making this character both stupid, evil, and a little funny. Yes, I think... the the combination is he does feel like a hardened military veteran for real sometimes and then also he feels like fire marshal bill from in living color you know just that kind of like the neck is always a little jolted he's a little extra stiff like walking like actual G.I. Joe. And by the way, Sean Penn in this movie has never been more ripped
in his entire life? It is. Is it CGI? What's happening? No, you know this, and I also know this, just based on visits to the Pines. There is a level of ripped that happens with older gay men. Yes. Where because the collagen is gone, the vascularity really comes to the front of the arms. So he's ripped, but he's older man ripped. Yeah. Just truly. He looks like he could be like an eccentric. Silver commercial. Precisely. Or I'm sorry, what's the show on Nickelodeon where it was like...
Not claymation, but action figures who were ripped. The Action League Now segment of the show Kablam. Always the last block of SNCC if you were brave enough to stay up late. I had the little scuba figurine. Yes! That was a real G.I. Joe figurine they were able to use. used somehow. Right. It was like if the toys at Sid's house and Toy Story got their own show. Yeah. And they made them French, correct? Yes. Yes. God. They served us some fucked up shit. Then they were like, just have fun, kids.
What the hell was that? Anyway. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, and not for nothing, I think. There are two moments in this movie. First, it's Jungle Pussy in the Jungle Pussy line in the movie that some people online don't understand. I just thought it was very funny. It turns out the actress has a rap alter ego called Jungle Pussy. which was very fun. But the entire movie is about...
It's about race. It's about the military. It's about a racial reckoning and a revolution. It's also set in an America that's not this America, but is this America. Yeah. Well, also... It almost feels like a movie like Marathon Man to me where it is kind of going from one set piece to the next. Like, oh, here comes the big scene on the road. Here comes this big explosion in this place. But...
Unlike a lot of those movies where it just seems like they're setting up a giant explosion, what connects them is equally as fascinating. And I can't say I've seen many movies where that is the case. Now, if I have to name a flaw of the film. Name a flaw.
I do think the movie is begging for more Tiana Taylor. Yes. There's something about her and it's her, it begins with her resting expression. But I mean, like I, you know, a layman would just call it a don't fuck with me face. Yeah. But there's just something like she's. so immovable.
That you can only lean into it and it's almost like you're craving vulnerability from her. You want to see a break. Yes. You want to see some sort of like tell from this kind of forever bad bitch. Yes. And it is to me. It is also like, if you know anything about Tiana Taylor, to go from My Sweet 16 to this? Yes. That is an...
The arc, that is, I want to see her act more. And she's stunning, but she's scary. She's sweet, but she's so toxic. Did you see the movie 1001 she did? No, I haven't. You will not believe this. performance the minute the second she's on the
on the screen, it's like, oh, an Oscar someday. If not for this, then someday. The movie is staggering. And she brings the, also, when this movie begins, her relationship with Leo is not only are they these relentless revolutionaries, they are also hyper-sexual. Like they start like humping in the middle of like a big gambit, a big move. And so it sort of sets up the...
the hybrid of comedy and thriller you're going to get throughout. But at the same time, I kind of thought the movie was teasing a little bit more intense of a character inspection than we got. It kind of ended up just being like a bunch of pawns racing around each other in a cool way. Yeah, I think if we would have got one moment later in the film about what...
she is going through or what it's like to kind of have to leave all of this and be in Mexico wherever she is after she leaves. I think that would have helped us. You know, sometimes you just get one scene with the character who made it out and... they're kind of solemn and they understand they gave up a lot to be able to have this freedom. I think there's, there's, we.
We sort of get that when we see her leaving, but just to have one of those moments, maybe after, spoiler alert, the letter at the end, that would have kind of given you that moment. Yeah, right. In a way, I guess I'm proud of the movie for defying the expectation that she would come back.
Because another thing they set up that doesn't pay off in an interesting way is Chase Infinity doing martial arts. Yeah. And then you think, oh, well, later in the movie, she's obviously going to break somebody in half. She does have two very, very specific scenes where you see her practicing and you're like, okay.
she's going to kick a couple of dudes' asses. And no, but she, there's, I mean, she does, she has her moment to shine, but it's not with Marshall, it's with a gun. Yes, right. No, it's strange in a way. Now, how do you feel about... Paul Thomas Anderson in general. Where does this movie stack up in his filmography for you? Well, Paul Thomas Anderson, or as black people call him, Maya's husband. You know, PTA member. You're a member of the Harper Valley PTA. Member of the Harper Valley PTA.
you know. As a millennial of a certain age, you're told Boogie Nights is this movie that you have to watch. And first it's for these kind of like weird, horny teenager reasons. And then it's for like if you like movies. And so I loved it. It's not it didn't feel very.
Thomas Anderson, and I think that's a good thing. People are saying it feels Spielberg or feels Coen Brothers, and I like that I wasn't able to say, oh, this is exactly what he always does. I loved it. No, I feel the same way. The scene with the cars? The chase scene with the cars going up, the three cars. I love that. I love that entire sequence. Also, what you're talking about, there's a sequence where Chase Infinity is in a car and being pursued.
And we don't know what it's leading up to because it's this slow up and down hills. It almost looks like in Vertigo when he's following Kim Novak through San Francisco and you're just going up and down hills. But you realize it's setting up. Her getting one over on him in a fun way, using the car. It's really impressive. But I wanted to say, I don't know if you saw the Austin Butler movie recently, Caught Stealing. Yes, yes, yes. That was Darren Aronofsky. And I had a similar reaction, which is.
why is this Darren Aronofsky? There's usually some sort of psychological turmoil going on in his movies, and that's just basically a straight thriller. All the trauma is external. And in this movie, not one thing... reminded me of another Paul Thomas Anderson movie. And I feel like Phantom Thread was a similar thing. We saw that and we're like, are we sure it's Paul? But that's great. Yeah. As a person who...
Wants to see artists and directors and screenwriters grow. That's a really cool feeling to go. What's this? Yeah. You took a big. Go for it. I think it's doubly surprising because. the last movie, Licorice Pizza, does remind me of Boogie Nights. The setting, you know, I mean like the kinds of types that are sort of lingering on the outside. The weird one scene, great performances you get, things like that, things that are standard for his movies.
The only way this movie reminds me of other Paul Thomas Anderson movies is that no character is left behind. Everybody is a little bit fascinating. Like he refuses to bore you with anyone on screen. Like nobody in the movie is obligatory. Even the skateboarders are fascinating. I want to know more about these guys. These people appear for two seconds and you're like, what the hell is going on? And they're like fascinating and they're gone. Yeah.
But truly, the entire cast has followed us in this. We haven't even brought up Benicio Del Toro. Benicio Del Toro, also hilarious. Yes. Hilarious, cool, calm, and collected. Runs a dojo. The entire movie runs a dojo. Oh, the other thing I want to say about this film, it is going to piss off so many people. And the people who get mad at this movie are telling on themselves in a way that I think the election also told on them.
The people who are going to be like, I hated this movie. I'm going to say, well, why? And if it's just because of the race mixing and because of the message about Latino people and about immigration. It's going to really have a sharp divide amongst some people, especially I think some like center-right scenophiles who are going to be like, well, I didn't like this movie because it made the revolutionaries look like good people.
I will say the critical reaction, though, has been extraordinary. I mean, like it has something like a 95 or 96 on Medicare. It's like, okay, Carol level. Yeah. Jesus Christ. How do we feel about the fact that Sean Penn will likely beat Cate Blanchett to having three Oscars? Because I prayed on it. I think if I close my eyes, I don't know how Sean Penn is also...
Steve Lockjaw and Harvey Milk, so give him the Oscar. That is true. If I go, wait, what? Give it to him. I don't know that I've ever actually done the emotional debriefing with myself about how good he was as Harvey Milk. It just... First of all, he looks so much like him that it's like, of course it could only be him. And then he was amazing. Yeah, yeah. And played faggy, but not in a way that I was mad about. Right.
And then the story on set about how he texted Madonna when he had his first male-on-male kiss, and her response was congratulations. So good. That's awesome. Yeah. As far as my favorite straight gay people, Sean Penn, Jean-Marco. That goes to Ricey. No, I always say there's three in Conclave, which are Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Ralph Fiennes. The Stanley Tucci of it all. I mean, if we talk, once again, sidebar, easy A Stanley Tucci. Oh, sure. My God.
Lisa Kudrow? No. Who's his wife? His wife? Oh, my gosh. Oh, shit, shit, shit. It's not Lisa Kudrow. I'm blanking. Because they have that adopted black son and they have the hilarious line of, I'm adopted? Allow me. Patricia Clarkson. Patricia Clarkson. Sorry, Patricia Clarkson. Pieces of April's own. Yes, Patricia Clarkson. One, I mean, him, there's that scene that always pops. up on my Twitter of him in that Henley, and people were like...
Listen, he was higher than Penn Badgley in this movie. No kidding. Well, he used to do like literal guest commercials and stuff. Yeah. Oh, the tank top. The tank top and the jeans. Yes. And also you, of course, saw him at whatever that fashion show was this weekend with Meryl Streep. Yes.
For the Devil Wears Prada, too. Looking like some divorced parents going to see their gay son in Oklahoma. I cannot wait for that. Anyway, if I had to rank this among his films, I think I'd probably put it maybe... I'm going to go third. Okay. Because I love Phantom Thread. I'm sorry, I can't, like, Daniel Day-Lewis getting Oscar nominated for playing basically a meaner Tim Gunn.
Like if I had a hope chest, you better be, I would be there like making wishes about it. A meaner Tim Gunn. And then I think I would put Boogie Nights second. Magnolia, I wish I could say is up there, but I think the movie is like a slog and I just love the music. Okay. But then what's number one for you? You said third? Yes. Okay. Yeah, Fans of Thread, Boogie Nights, and then One Battle After Another. How about you? I'm going to argue it's...
It might be top two now for me. That's acceptable. It's the one I have most enjoyed. It's the one that I was like blown away by. It's the one that I'm seeing all of my friends agree with me on. It's also... Yeah. A Phantom Thread for me, the first time I saw it, I did have to be like, oh, okay. This isn't my type of movie, but it is beautiful. It's a very meticulous movie. I'm...
I put it top two. Boogie Nights is going to be number one for me because it's one of those movies where I was like, Boobs. Julianne, come on now. Boobs. Who knew? Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it's one of those movies where you go, this is a grown-up movie. I'm watching a grown-up movie right now. Do you know what my first one of those was? Starship Troopers. Wow.
I was at a friend's house and the dad was just like, let's put this on. And I went and watched it. I was like, my world is changing. The shower scene is zany. Wow. Well, okay. That's another. Do people not understand... The people who won't understand the message behind this, they probably also didn't understand the message behind the Starship Troopers. Oh, no. Don't look for the allegory in the boobs movie. Please. Okay, okay. Don't tell America to do that.
Anyway, no, I mean, if you haven't seen it, you have to. I think it's going to sweep the Oscars this year. Nothing seems to be even... Chloe Zhao, you've got your work cut out for you. I cannot wait to see that movie. Well, as the Singapore here... They only put out two movies a year now. I know. No, the Oscars are just going to be the five movies we put out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and then like Minions 9. Which definitely helps with marketing, but how do you feel this recent kind of...
naked and explicit kind of less is more approach to movie marketing. And I think that's because everything can come out on streaming now. We know tons of movies are made, but now it's kind of like, hey. The minute it's spring, they go, this Christmas. You go, wait, what? Right. Is there anything coming out this summer? They go, yeah, Superman. I guess in a way, I'm just in a way heartened that.
The campaigning, that people care to make Oscar campaigns. I don't know. I guess that's probably going to go away at some point, but the fact that it's still so heated feels like the one thing in the world that is lightly catered to me entertainment-wise. Yeah. You know? And so I'm believing in the illusion that I belong. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. It also makes you...
it makes your job easier because you don't have to talk about all these movies. You go, okay, let's be honest. These are the three movies. Oh, certainly. No, watch me not go and use all my AMC passes. Yeah. Precisely. Okay, we'll be right back with Herdiver Jillian Anderson. But before that, some housekeeping. Attention parents, aunts, uncles, and even the only remaining childless friends in the group. There are new onesies and toddler tees in the Crooked store. I beg for them and they're here.
One says, vaccinated but illiterate. And the other says, someone who loves me very much got me vaccinated. It's a scary time to be a parent and it's a scary time to be a baby. If you're a wonderkin baby who can read the news. Dress the kids in your life in something that makes a statement and stands up. Head to store.crooked.com to shop. All right, we'll be back with Jillian Anderson.
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This week's guest is an Emmy and Golden Globe winner known for her unforgettable performances in The X-Files, The Crown, The Fabulous The Fall, Sex Education, and much, much more, which we'll get into. Now she's tapping back into her sci-fi roots. Tron Aries, which hits theaters this weekend. Please welcome to keep it the fab Jillian Anderson. Hi. Hi. Well, hello. Well, I just said so in the intro, but you're primarily associated with sci-fi, but honestly...
you haven't done much other sci-fi since the X-Files. So did you regain a skill set in coming back or coming into this world? It has been a while. I feel like there was something else that I did that maybe went straight to video or something. But, yeah, this feels like it's the first foray in, gosh. a really long time, really long time. But it's fun. I mean, being invited to be a part of that particular franchise is, you know, an honor. And I'm happy to say that it's a really good ride.
Also, so you are the mother of Evan Peters' character in this, who I find to be a very mysterious... fun actor in whatever he's in because he can play anything, kind of like you. Like, you don't have a type. And so I was wondering what was interacting with him in this like because I feel like he can burst with any sort of character at any moment.
Yeah, you know what? I think you're right. I think he really can. I think he's incredibly talented. He, you know, a huge film like this that has the kind of budget that this had for Disney. you know, with humongous practical sets. And, you know, the room that we mostly... worked together in was the size of an airplane hangar and was pretty much empty because it was blue screen and later got filled with other things. But, you know, his character is...
And he completely fills that space from the very second we begin and you get a sense of his, you know, the mental state that he is. In and, well, just the stakes, I guess, because of his intensity, you really get a sense of the stakes, not just for... The company, my company, as his mom, he's now running the Dillinger company, but also potentially for the state of humanity because he's creating something that is the equivalent of a...
an AI warlord, in a sense. Pretty timely, yeah. Is it easy to be cowed sometimes by being on a gigantic set? Do you often feel like you have to kind of find yourself again or center yourself if you're placed in this utter gymnasium of a place? It is. It's intimidating. very often which was the case with this because the space is so big even if we're having an intimate conversation um
we were quite far from each other and having to throw, you know what I mean? We had to stand quite far from each other in this space in order to have this intimate conversation. And so just the practical... logistics of that um uh are are something to uh to wrestle with but you know it's um it's actually turned into one of my favorite scenes because there's so much that had that had to fill the history of our relationship and the relationship of the company all in that one first scene without...
that much exposition. And so it actually, it holds quite a lot of juice. No, this also just has a fabulous... ensemble but I feel like in a lot of ensemble films you don't actually get to meet it feels like the actors don't get to all meet each other since they're all filming at different times did you actually like get to know these people or are they all you know like just on a call sheet somewhere next to you.
On a call sheet. I didn't get to work with Greta Lee at all. She's absolutely phenomenal in this and everything, or Arturo. It was mostly me and Evan, but... You know, he's, as with a lot of actors, I mean, I wouldn't say that he's method in the way that... that Jared works. But, you know, you stay in your intensity sometimes very often if you're needing to keep up.
a vibration, you know, uh, so there's not much chit chat and goofing around between, uh, between takes, but, uh, he's great. And, and he really feels he, he. He absolutely steps up to the plate with his character. He's, yeah, he's very intense. Because you're also in one of my favorite ensemble movies of, I think it's now over 25 years old, playing by heart, where you spend most of your time with Jon Stewart.
But I was wondering about that ensemble just because you got Jenna Rollins in that movie and Ellen Burstyn and Jay Moore is so good in that movie. And Angelina Jolie. Angelina Jolie. Oh, yes. I remember her raver character days. Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It was quite a cast for that. Oh, my God. I need to see that again. I haven't seen that in a few centuries. What was working with Jon Stewart right the second before he took The Daily Show?
I know. It was funny. We became friends at that point, and we had quite a few conversations about should he, shouldn't he, should he, shouldn't he, should he, shouldn't he. And he did. And that's, you know, it was fun. I mean, it really was. It was way, you know, it was way before, in a sense, he became that guy.
It was so clear when talking with him at that time about why he was thinking about it. It was so clear that the way that he understood... government and culture and conglomerates and the way that society works in terms of the... the compromises and He understood it on such a different level for me. I felt like he was talking another language when we were talking about it. He was the perfect guy for that job. Speaking of...
stars and their specific gifts. I think one of my favorite things about you as a performer is just the level of... interiority of a character you can convey by looking somewhere like I can I feel like I can always watching your characters I can always watch them think and one show where I felt like that was always the case was The Fall like to me the compelling thing about that show was
We would watch you, you know, be on the serial killers following him around. But it was also about, like, this woman was so self-possessed and you were, like, just wanting to know where she was coming from and, like... Everything was a clue to her, and I really enjoyed that. But you must have had a lot of faith in yourself just to sort of exist on camera and have things about this character...
sort of feel conveyed without saying anything. Interesting. How did you go about like making this character feel so full, seemingly without doing much in certain scenes? Yeah, I mean, I... When I first got that script, it felt like such a gift in that moment. And I was stunned by how little... was on the page and yet you understood entirely who these characters were without hardly any descriptives it it came out in
How they, you know, how they spoke to each other and how the, I don't know, there was something was almost, I've said before that it almost felt alchemic. And, and so. I think because of that and because of how the show was approached, it felt like, you know, I'd been used to doing shows where you're just...
you're just having to move really, really fast and make really fast decisions. And there's so much to get done in a day. And, you know, for X-Files, for instance, it was, you know, we did 24 episodes a year, which is... It feels unfathomable and you would not have a soul afterwards. I did not have a soul for a while. And so there was a... There was a freedom to take time with scenes and to breathe. And so...
I think I really kind of latched on to the freedom of that. And so it's interesting that you say that because it was a very different... experience that i'd had before and i think i just um uh i i took advantage of it i guess i just you know i remember too many years ago working on House of Mirth. In which you are fabulous, by the way. If people have not seen this House of Mirth, you are stunning in it.
Thank you. It was one of the first features that I ever did. And, you know, again, it was right in the middle of doing X-Files. And we had and I remember Terrence Davies saying. you know, not to rush and that it was okay to just sit and be as the character in certain moments and allow the camera to sit, you know, with me and us.
And I almost panicked, I think. I didn't know how to do that anymore because I was used to just having to work so speedily. So when you do have the freedom or you're directed... into that space, it's nice to be able to take advantage of it and feel like you can fill it with the presence of that character. That was also a strength of his, that movie was Cynthia Nixon, A Quiet Passion, where she played...
Emily Dickinson, you get to sit with the character. She wasn't illustrating that she was Emily Dickinson at every given moment. Right, right. Now, speaking of characters you've played where I think... you had sort of an opposite situation when you were in A Streetcar Named Desire. That's obviously all on the page. I could not believe that performance. I saw, I believe, an early...
one of your first performances in it in New York. I can't believe that's almost 10 years ago now. And now I think that that character, Blanche Dubois, stands alone as... Someone who not just haunts the people who watch it, but haunts the people who play it. And just the sheer...
the heft of what she goes through. I mean, trauma is an understatement. She's utterly destroyed by that play. And to do it that often, I actually can't intellectualize what that would do to the performer playing it every night. It takes its toll. There was a period during the New York run, you know, just for my own, I felt... I haven't thought about this for a while, but I felt so vulnerable, you know, holding that vulnerability that I felt that I needed to do. I literally couldn't.
go to the corner store in between shows. I had a very small life when I was here because I just felt like I was existing for... for the play and um and i guess the toll is it's funny someone came um uh i've known for a long time who said You know, with this particular production, especially because it was so raw, that she could feel the audience not wanting to deal with the...
um with the actions that were happening and with the intensity of what was happening on stage so she could almost feel the whole audience like you know pushing back their experience back onto me. Like, I don't want this shit. You take it back. And so almost like I was... carrying not just Blanche's experience, but also the night after night. And I started to...
At the time, it felt almost like a spiritual experience because I felt so in it, particularly during... a couple monologues that I, it was, you know, I remember Corey Johnson coming to me after a couple of performances, you know. and saying, what's happening? It's a man like, you know, like, oh.
And it kind of felt like that until it didn't anymore. And all of a sudden I thought, I don't know whether I can come back from this. Like I got to tether myself. And so I needed, you know, I needed to find ways to. to ground myself throughout it where I could just almost, you know, when Blanche spends a lot of time in the bathtub, you know, a lot of people are doing scenes.
But those were moments where I could actually remember that I was an actor and I'm doing this play and I'm not Blanche. And I can, you know, and then get back into it by the time I step beyond the shower curtain. So that really made the difference. So, yeah. But I don't know. I mean, I'm always fascinated by that. Like, what makes the difference? Why is it that there are certain pieces that are so...
that really get under your skin. I mean, obviously, she goes on an intense journey, but there is something specific to her journey and that play and the complexity of the play. I don't know what Tennessee did that made it so many layers thick that if you start to excavate, it feels like you are taking on.
you're taking on more than just your experience it's almost like you're taking on the history of everyone's experience who's ever done it and you feel like you've joined a club almost that if you've you know if you've done that play you've joined that the club of the
Tennessee Williams Club. I feel like also the way that play ends or the way you guys staged it, like when you're nearer to the audience, that to me feels particularly brutal. Like after that, like you having to, I assume look in the faces of the people who have just watched this show. Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah, so it was in the rounds and it was also a revolving stage. And at the end, actually, when in that production, when the doctor and the nurse come and they take.
Blanche away. She's wearing this yellow sequined dress. She's just come, you know, she's wet. She's been in the shower in the bathtub. Her makeup is a mess and her hair is wet and she thinks, you know, she's behaving as if... That's not the case. And she's getting dressed and she puts her jacket on this wet dress and carries her purse. And her gentleman caller has come, the doctor, has come to take her to the asylum.
We did a couple of rotations around the stage, like right in front of the audience. We walked around a couple of times as the... as the stage continued to revolve to a Cat Power song, which was such a great song for that journey or the end of the journey for her. And yes, looked dead in the eyes of the audience sitting.
sitting there and so many of them, you know, weeping. My friend Jordan was crying next to me, like literally holding his face. Just as you said, it's like, I cannot be an actor having to look at a man crying. I'm sorry. I can't imagine. But speaking of Cat Power, I was going to ask about one of her contemporaries. On the All About Eve stage production you worked on, PJ Harvey did the music for it, and you...
sang a song of hers. And that to me is a dream collaboration. Tell me about working with somebody who I consider one of the few geniuses in popular music. I did a production in London with Lily James and she too had a song and we both for PJ who was going to. put out an album with the songs on it, we went in the studio and actually recorded our songs. But...
Yeah, I don't sing. I'm going to say, this seemed to be a new skill set. I really don't sing. And I'm not sure whether that is an example of singing at all. But there was enough... that I could kind of latch onto in it that it, yeah. But it, yeah.
It's out there. I love the music to it, by the way. I want to speak on Jillian's behalf here. Obviously, you are known for your collaboration with David Duchovny, but I was wondering if... you had other scene partners who have sort of stuck with you as in like... the way there's a sort of confrontational nature to it or what that person brought out of you or what you brought out of them surprised you? Any particular sort of tete-a-tetes that come to mind? Oh, interesting.
Actually, I just did a film, a Jane Schoenbrun film with Hannah Einbender. Whom we love, yes, yes. Whom we love. And really felt like she's, you know, incredibly talented young actress and felt like we, she definitely brought some stuff out of me that I haven't. um, access before necessarily. Uh, and, uh, oh, and also, you know, I did something that's coming out later this year, which is a, um, in the UK, a channel four.
series based on a novel called Trespasses, which is a love story that takes place during The Troubles. Another young actress, Lola Pettigrew, plays my daughter, and I play her alcoholic mother. That was a really enjoyable experience and felt like she, something about that dynamic as well. Yeah, it's interesting because you say goodbye to these people. You have these intense relationships for such short periods of time where you give so much.
of yourself to each other and um and then you know and then you never see you don't see them again until you start the press tour because you both get busy or you know whatever it's it's um It's an odd thing about our industry. Yeah, I'm trying to think of any of any collabs. I mean, you know, showing up for three seasons to Hannibal with with Mads or. Yeah, Asa, I guess, in sex education, you know, reuniting with people that you've shared that kind of vulnerability with.
I guess, for extended periods of time. You don't have to see each other necessarily in between, but you've got that, you know, that real intimacy that happens. My last question pertaining to sex education is you compiled a book of... um sexual fantasies submitted to you anonymously which is a sequel to a much older book basically um from the 50s called my secret garden this was called want
And now that that's been out for a while, what are the lasting impressions of that experience to you? Because I feel like if I read all those things, if I was picking all those passages, just like, I don't know. I feel like I would still be thinking about it. I would still be like, I need to know these women. Well, it's had an extended life. So the book came out a couple of years ago. The softcover has just launched. And, you know, we've been...
At least in the UK, I think we've been 10 weeks on the number one on the Sunday Times bestseller list, which means that people are still, you know, they're still... wanting to spend time with it and wanting to, you know, have that in their mind. So it's women who wrote in from around the world to me with their sexual fantasies. And, you know, in the process of... having that conversation during press and talking about the book. And it was really interesting talking to women journalists.
what comes up, not just when you're reading the fantasies, but when you're contemplating, which you can't help but do, is to ask yourself, If I were to write one, if I were to submit one, or even do I have a fantasy? And if I have a fantasy, have I ever shared it with anybody? If I haven't, why? You know, the book is called Want and it encourages women in a way to ask whether they actually.
get what they want you know what whether it's connected to the fantasy or not but do they get what they want in the bedroom do they if they don't why are they is it uh shame which seems to surface quite a lot, even in 2025? Is it nerves about asking one's partner to satisfy something? And if so...
Is that because one's nervous about, you know, hurting their feelings or that they might think that they're not performing or maybe it's too... uncomfortable and if so why if it could equate to a certain degree of pleasure so it it can't but uh open up all of those questions for oneself and then And then ultimately leads to, you know, if, if I don't, how am I, how am I complicit actually in not getting.
what I want? How am I complicit in not getting what I want outside the bedroom? How am I getting in my own way? And so it starts some really, really... big profound questions and um um we are in the process of um uh collecting more letters but we collected letters we're putting them together right now for the second book and
We've done a couple of events in the UK. There was a very big event that I held to raise money for War Child at the Barbican in London. It was a fantastic evening full of wonderful... women and uh reading letters from the book and um you know women particularly feeling seen and heard even though they are um anonymous but feeling that they recognize themselves in this book and um actually there was a woman who showed up for the the event who came and talked to me
backstage afterwards because her letter was actually read that evening by Olivia Wilde and which was surprising for her but she had fantasized about She was married in a hetero relationship, but had fantasized about a woman who lived down the street. But she actually came that night with that woman. Because she is now in a relationship. Oh, get out. What? Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. Isn't that amazing? I was going to say, it sounds like the sequel or the next book you make will be...
amazing anyway. I would like some of the same people to follow up. Do they still have the fantasy or has it changed or whatever? Very fascinating. Jillian Anderson, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. What a pleasure. Thank you. you. Thank you to Jillian Anderson. Tron Aries hits theaters next weekend. We'll be right back with more Keep It.
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This is a real good story about Bronx and his dad, Ryan, real United Airlines customers. We were returning home and one of the flight attendants asked Bronx if he wanted to see the flight deck and meet Captain Andrew. I got to sit in the driver's seat.
I grew up in an aviation family, and seeing Bronx kind of reminded me of myself when I was that age. That's Andrew, a real United pilot. These small interactions can shape a kid's future. It felt like I was the captain. Allowing my son to see the flight deck will stick with us forever. That's how good leads the way.
Christmas has apparently come early because after a seven-year hiatus, I can't believe it's been that long, Mariah Carey is back with her new album, Here For It All. I personally am here for most of it, but Jay might try to convince me otherwise. So we'll try to get into that. And then also Doja...
cat's new album vi so jay are you a big mariah carey fan are you a bad person huge mariah carey fan card carrying lamb mariah carey or her staff but i'm i'm choosing to assume mariah carey commented on a tick I had, I posted TikTok when I was on Fire Island. A tear is like falling from my face. I posted TikTok when I was on Fire Island, basically talking about how much I love...
Breakdown from the album Butterfly. Breakdown, one of the... Truly, if you're in the lamily, I think Breakdown is one of the essentials. It's like what deeper and deeper is from Adonis. Yeah, exactly. Okay, so Breakdown is one of those songs that made me go...
what is she doing with this layering? This is such a complex, it was one of my first, I think it was, Butterfly was one of my first CDs where I was like listening to it constantly by myself. And so I did a breakdown of breakdown. I basically made a joke. I was like, Mariah Carey's having this emotional breakdown.
The Bone Thugs are just humming in the background. Help that woman, please. Crazy. So she commented that like, you get it. And I was like, so this is great. So then when Here For It All came out, I was so excited. I really like this album, and here's why. I'm a queer of a certain age. This album feels like...
When you go to a lounge and you're excited because there are lots of seats. Right? Okay. It feels, it's auntie music, but it's still sexy. It's still elevated. Mariah, every now and then Mariah does want to remind you. that she never had a problem embracing being a diva. Mariah kind of was one of those people who never thought that diva was a bad word. She was like, it's an apt description for me. Very much in her Miss Piggy, like, call me, I'm a diva.
Right. What's wrong with that? Yeah, she's like Peggy Lee or something. Yeah, truly. And so, like, I really like this album. I like this album because it seems like it would be wonderful live. A lot of the production on it feels like it would translate to a live performance effort. in a way that sometimes there are parts of caution that I was like, how are you going to do this one lot? But I really, really like this album. I think Pitchfork gave it a seven. I think it's 8.5 territory for me.
I'm a lamb, though, so it's hard for me to get mad at her. But I really like this album. I also think it has a number of Mariah Touchstones in it. She's still giving you all the adverbs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Lots of long six-syllable words that end in L-Y. Thesaurus, Carrie? Yes. She loves a long word. And also, even during the loungiest song, she'll still slide in like... A little bit of a kiss off, some sassiness. Enjoy your Chick-fil-A. I was going to bring up the enjoy your Chick-fil-A line.
She refuses to be unfunny. And I feel like that's something that keeps me coming back to her. Even in an interview, there are times when just... Mariah sometimes feels like she has less, shall we say, effervescence than she used to. But then when it gets into the funny and she just drops into like a one-liner, it's like, that's what I love. Not only is that what we want, I think that she is so self-aware.
where she's been the public eye for so long. She's had so many different iterations of Mariah. She's had so many very public, not L's, but just things where you go, okay, what are we going to do? How do we, you know, how do we pivot this narrative? How do we tell this story? She gets a Video Vanguard Award, goes up and says, MTV, what took you so long? Perfect. That's exactly what you do. You go MTV.
This took way too long. It's her doing the tiniest amount of dancing when she has to do the honey choreography. It's her making sure she has a drag queen play Bianca in the Heartbreaker live version so she can do some very, very, very... silly stage fight choreography with that Bianca. She is a funny...
Yes. I love that she embraces that. Yes. I also, as you said regarding breakdown, I love that she stands her own deep cuts. Oh. Like a lot of artists don't, like a lot of, it's like, oh, well that didn't take off. And so like, it's almost like a point of contention when you.
bring up things like that. But she really, you know, she's a songwriter. She wrote these songs. She wrote them. Of course she's going to love them. So there's a pride there. Yeah, and now she's like, she did the interview with SZA, who's on Doge's album, but she did the interview with SZA where she like played snippets live of the grunge album.
Somebody's Ugly Daughter. This is an album that didn't come out that she recorded kind of as a gag in the 90s. And I love that about her. She really is... She's a rare talent who has been with us for a very long time. She's been so many different types of Mariah that I'm just happy that we still have her. And once again...
Kristen's going to come around and she's going to play the hits. Right. And she gives so many people opportunities. Kelly Price, the Price sisters, the background singers, she made sure we saw the power in Kelly Price. So I do love that about her. We also must talk about a collaborator I didn't know she had even met before, and that is Jesus Christ. Excuse me. I did not know they were acquainted. And I don't know if you know this. MC or JC? Yeah. Yes. They know each other.
She has a song. What's the name of the song? Jesus? Yeah, at the very end. Yes. With the Price sisters? Yeah, I think it's the second. No, with the Clark sisters. Clark sisters. Second to last song, yeah. Yes. Anyway, Jesus is brought up several times. He rarely collaborates. Yeah.
I believe he was on the track was that Michelle Williams solo song. And he said yes. Yes. When Jesus said yes. When Jesus said yes, no one can say no. You can tell Jesus wrote that line. Mariah's both celebration of... I don't want to say gospel roots, but her being celebrated through gospel. It comes through on the Christmas album. The Christmas album has two gospel, gospel songs. Like Jesus, Oh, What a Wonderful Child is a song that like...
That song, if you haven't called, listen, I don't go to church as much as I need to, but I catch a holy ghost in that song. So she, I think Jesus has, Mariah and Jesus, they speak. That's just, I underestimate the Christmas connection because when you listen to like a Carpenter's Christmas album.
There are two tracks deep in there where it gets real holy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like, so you guys are at church? Yes, yeah, yeah. So is this like a little bit like indoctrination? Like I don't actually know what's happening. But Mariah's. festiveness has always been so jingle bell Christmas that I underestimate that Christ could be a part of it too. Yes. And Mariah also with this album and it's tied to the Doja album and tied to one battle after another. Mariah.
Mariah has never had to be this little mixed girl who doesn't love her blackness. Mariah loves her blackness. When you see Mariah in pictures with the locks in 1998, when she put Bad Boys on the track. When she did songs with Jadakiss, when she did songs with Cam, when she, you know, when she...
was in love with Nick Cannon. Mariah loves her blackness and celebrates her blackness in a way that comes across in celebrating gospel, in celebrating other black singers, and in kind of like wanting to have little rappy punchlines. I always argue Mariah is a person...
who out-wrapped Eminem when it came to Obsessed. Yeah. Eminem put out Superman, which was about Mariah, and kind of making fun of her and whatever situation they had. And then she put out Obsessed, and then she put out an Obsessed remix with Gucci Mane and kind of... out-wrapped him anew and put him in his place. I also, I mean, like, this is boilerplate information about Maria Carey that everybody knows. I just love that she'll put out a pop song or whatever, an R&B song, and then...
Later, you get some remix version of it that advances on it, turns it into something else, adds like entire other layers and messages to it. Just like... It's so exciting. Yeah, and she would do that with her club mixes too. All of her club mixes, she would re-record and she would say, oh, I want to do a different arrangement on this. I want to make sure this is for this audience. I love her artistry in that regard. No, and...
on these remixes, you know what I just love? Is it the Heartbreaker remix where at the beginning she just goes, just play the record. Really like comedic delivery. She can't be stopped. She will always be, again, that's something that always kind of keeps me coming back to Nicki Minaj is like, Well, unfortunately, the woman is hilarious. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
She will assassinate somebody, and then I'll feel bad for saying that. Yeah, I'm sorry about her cousin's balls, by the way. Still, yes, to this day. Now, speaking of pretty funny, Doja Cat has a new album called Vi. Okay. I love this album. Okay, yeah. To me, it's like... Dripping in synth.
Yes. Dripping incense. Well, it just, as I said before, it makes me mad at people who claim to be 80s inspired because this album has songs that remind me of like Cameo, you know, like Word Up Cameo or Back and Forth Cameo. Yes. You know, Jeffrey Osborne, people like.
And it's like danceable 80s. Normally I feel like when people evoke the 80s, it's sort of always a little Depeche mode. You know what I mean? Like there's moodiness and there's electronic sounding things. This is danceable. It's very serious. the groove. Yeah, you know why? It's because she found the power in 80s synth and 80s sax. The amount of saxophone on this album, go off, Doja. I'm very happy for it. I mean...
When everyone was like, oh, Jack Antonoff is going to be very much involved in this, I was like, okay, we'll see. But it's great. I really like it. I think she is another person who really prides herself on writing all of her lyrics, both rap and song. I think that she loves popping and locking. Mariah and Doja both had really great VMAs. Mariah, because she was celebrating and kind of like finally got her flowers. But Doja, because Tate McRae said she wanted to dance. And Doja said...
Not on my show. If you can put a clip in and post, Doja dances her ass off in the dance break for, I think, Jealous Type. And it's insane. She's a breaker and she's like a very trained. break dancer, but she dances circles around her backup dancers, and I mean, I'll dance Tate McCray, in my opinion. And I know y'all like Tate. I like her too, but...
We're in an intense dance moment. People are dancing, as I used to say about Ciara, faster than ever. They can't be stopped. It's not just her, and it's not just Tate McRae. Dogey will get on stage, and I'm like, Jesus Christ, what is this? happening those listen i'm gonna sound oh those those little girls in cat's eye they can dance no gap notice they're like put them in denim yeah yeah they made it listen part of it is tiktok but people are learning choreography in a way that i
haven't seen since 99 yeah people are learning choreography i would almost call it like gamifying it no way like how can we make it more intense there's like this real like competition to edge out each other with choreography and keep doing it every now and then we see a hot boy in la with
abs, doing it shirtless in the studio, keep sending them to me. Please. I didn't realize you were getting just like a special delivery. Oh, every now and then I'm going to be like, have you seen this? It's like, I don't care about the dancing. Who is this boy? Yeah, right. No, it's a delightful album.
I know you said you hadn't listened to the Jade album yet. I haven't. Also very impressive. And I didn't realize there was such a huge demand for this person in concert suddenly. Yes. Also, I have to root for people who come out of... a girl group and want to make it. And on this album, she specifically samples Stop in the Name of Love by my favorite song on the album. Okay. I'm feeling that Diana Ross energy for her. I think she will sing in Central Park in the freezing rain.
She's got power. I'm psyched for her. That's what makes it Diana Ross. If you come out of a girl group and you do that. That's right. Those are all the steps. And one acting Oscar nomination. Okay, yeah. We kind of forgot about that. You know. Yeah, right.
By the way, speaking of playing Billie Holiday on screen, what is Andra Day doing right now? I don't know. Andra Day, she's in something. She's in something recently. She was in that movie with Glenn Close where she says nappy pussy. Yeah, nappy pussy. Yeah. What was that movie called? Lee Daniels. It was called Lee Daniels, the nappy pussy. Lee Daniels, the nappy pussy. I forgot. The Deliverance is the name of it. Here's the wild part. So this is all.
This is all connected. Okay. Biracial Mariah, Biracial Doja Cat, One Battle After Another, Jade, The Deliverance. Listen, I don't want to, this shouldn't be the swirl episode, but it does feel like a lot of artists right now. are kind of answering the question of what does this mean for America? What is it? Because these two very popular, very talented biracial women in Doja, once again, we know. There's been some like back and forth about how she views.
her rap audience and what she wants and like her frustrations as a performer. But I think these are really cool examples of like not living up or playing into like the tragic mulatto stereotypes. Like they're really kind of like showcasing their own and both incorporating it.
embracing their blackness in their artistry. And I do like that from both of them. And the Paul Thomas Anderson movie was about blackness. It was about female blackness at its core. So that was also very interesting to watch. I mean...
I take it as a love letter to his wife and to his daughter as well. Well, you actually are onto something also when it just comes to, I think all these people are both diving into a genre and then exploding it. Yeah. You know? So it's like you're getting what you expect from the genre and then...
also like so much more and like you realize like oh yeah why would boundaries keep you in like a pop album can be so much more than just you know one mode yeah and it's a pop album but it's an it's about dojo it's a pop album but like a love letter to the 80s, but still a fun rap.
album. She raps on a lot of the tracks. And the song with SZA is very good. The dance song, oh, it's a good song. There are times in this album when Doja Cat not only is hearkening back to the 80s, she's hearkening back to artists who hearken back to the 80s. There's a song called Silly fun where she sounds just like Gwen Stefani in a way I enjoy. Love Angel Music Baby era. She's very, and I mean this in the best way. There are moments where I go, oh, you really love Janet.
Yeah. On this. I go, you love Janet Jackson. I feel like also cultural appreciation for her is only going to deepen because her music weirdly. Might be the most timeless of any music from the 80s and 90s. Oh, oh my God. I mean, Velvet Rope is... I Get So Lonely could play right now. That's Ira's favorite song. Did this come out this year? Yeah. Did this come out this year? It's an insanely good song. And also, of course, the 21 second interludes that are called like.
Like my dripping ass or whatever. I mean, Escapade's amazing, but then like on... There will be like, just every now and then, you'll be like, Janet is the most soft-spoken slut I've ever met. Right. Every Janet in the interview is like, well, I don't, well, maybe. And then the minute she's on stage, she's tying men up and making them come hands free. Yes. Muttering under her breath about it. Yeah. So strange.
All right. Anyway, lots of music that you should listen to. Yeah, listen to it. I don't hate any of it. It's good. We'll be back with our favorite segment of the episode, Keep It. Keep It is brought to you by Tovala. Guys, imagine being sent meals, but that's not it. You also get sent the toaster oven in which to put them. And then you just throw it in there.
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This is a real good story about Drew, a real United Airlines customer. After almost four years of treatments, I was finally cancer-free. My mom's like, where do you want to go to celebrate? I'm like, let's go somewhere tropical. And then Pilot hopped on the intercom and started talking about me, and I was like...
what is going on here my wife beat cancer too and i wanted to celebrate his special moment that's bill a real united pilot we brought him drinks and donuts we all signed a card i was smiling ear to ear best flight ever for sure That's how good leads the way. And now we've come to my favorite segment of the episode. It's keep it. Jay, I know you came riled with some topic or another. Hit me. We teased it. Nicki Minaj, Twitter, keep it. Stop. Like, get...
Off of Twitter, Nicki, last night she tweeted at Cardi. Not again. Yeah, she was saying a bunch of shady shit about Cardi's album sales. And listen, on an episode where we talk about Mariah Carey, where we talk about Dojo.
where now we talk about Cardi, you can't beef with everybody and be in the right. You have a legacy. You have a family. You ran rap for close to 10 years. I don't see why you have to act like this and not for nothing if you make fun of someone and your brother has the criminal history he has they're gonna bring it up like it's Being this kind of cantankerous and ornery, it just makes you look so mean and so...
Oh, and for what? That one song, y'all beefing because of that one Miko song? Still, I just don't, I don't get it. It makes me so sad because I love Nicki Minaj so much. And once again, a person who is very funny. Yeah. A person who is always funny, a person who like really sort of like made a lot of queer men and women go, I'm going to listen to more rap. Totally. Guess what? We can do this too.
It just really breaks my heart. It breaks my heart. So these Nicki tweets, keep it. This beef with Cardi, get rid—do anything else. The problem also with being cantankerous is that you have so much— real time in life to be old. Like, save it for when you're truly in your late 50s, which is not even that old. Older than that, like, go ahead and be pissed at everybody younger than you then. But it's like, no, these are like still your peers. And at that point, people...
will go, let her do it. Right. It's funny. If you're mean and 70, they go, she should be. Let her be mean. Yeah. It doesn't make any sense to me. There's also this like... Whenever it makes her feel older. I mean, at one point, Lotto famously called her a super freaky grandma because she's a super freak. But also now she's acting like a mean old lady. And I know the barbers are going to get mad at me. Hey.
First of all, y'all need to be in school. Y'all need to be in school right now. Secondly, y'all agree with me. Nikki, stop this. But I always say what I love about Nicki Minaj fans is, like Madonna fans, we have been put through it. And nobody is under the illusion that she deserves 100% of the defense all the time. Like we all have kind of a bone to pick with her. But what you're saying, it's like Dionne Warwick's Twitter. No one's mad at her when she like...
says something mean to Chance the Rapper or whatever. You know, it's like, oh, now it's amusing. Oh, my God. I forgot about Dionne Warwick. And you know we're getting a Dionne Warwick biopic with Tiana Taylor. Oh, I was going to say with Edwin Wodum, but okay. Okay.
Echo Nordum, by the way, has a sick body. Oh, my goodness. I always say she's a brilliant model who happened to be insanely good at sketch comedy. No, the woman, she should be teaching me, like, boot camp. It's crazy. Okay, my keep it today. I can't believe that celebrity couples can still ruin my day. Oh. Yesterday, I heard.
Okay. And everybody did in the Kimmel room. And I was the only one that gasped loudly. Can you believe it? I know that's shocking. You're in bereavement right now. Why am I not? Yeah, like a character in Heathers or something. Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman. are allegedly separated. One of the headlines said it was Keith's decision. I didn't need to hear that. Don't tell me that. He packed up his flat iron and said, I'm out. Precisely. Okay. My initial takeaway is that...
I believe he was preventing her from being the most employed person in entertainment history. She's like, I need, literally, if all Nicole Kidman did was the television she does, she would be one of the greatest television stars of all time. She never stops doing TV, let alone all the baby girls.
and everything else she throws in. So I don't know what's happening there. But second of all, okay, let's look at her marriage history. It started with Tom Cruise. Yes. And then she said, I want the same silhouette in beige. And she picked... Keith Urban. He has the haircut that I call the peppermint patty. Imagine if peppermint patty worked at Pacific somewhere. You have Keith Urban. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now.
I think she's going to go for it again, but in another shade. And I thought I had it. Yeah? I thought I had it. Yeah? Australian. Okay. And you want somebody who's kind of a calming presence, but you want the hair. I immediately thought the guy from Silverchair.
Daniel Johns. Okay. Do you remember him? No. Very attractive man. A little young for Nicole, but like born in the 70s. And he was married to Natalie Imbruglia for a time. So there's a glamour quotient there. Okay. So I'm thinking she could hit that up. But. I just know she needs like a wonderful man with lank hair to calm down with.
I mean, I don't want to make this about race mixing, but this is why Aussies and Kiwis should never marry. Sure. Yeah, it's too close. It's too close. They're going through all of this in Nashville, by the way. Right. Which, that's funny. That's funny in and of itself. The fact that this is happening not in Hollywood, but...
In Nashville. I also am always amused when Australians end up in the country community because they have an affinity for it. There's a whole controversy in the 70s where Olivia Newton-John was the hottest country star and would sing about growing up in Nashville. It's like... We have the encyclopedia. We know from Australia. This is a lie. No, I think, yeah, I think the outback and the Australian kind of rugged exterior of it all does make them sort of be like, yeah, we're cowboys.
in a sense. Yeah, right. I get that. But yeah, this happening in Country Fried, Nashville, a suburb of Nashville is very funny to me. Right. No, I think you can travel through the wormhole in the ozone layer and go between Nashville and Australia. It's like the secret. It's basically hidden as a jump gate like for any space travel. Are you a Nicole Kidman stan? I love Nicole Kidman. I think she is so I think she's so talented.
think she is once again i love divas i love anyone who understands their power yeah and like rest in it my favorite nicole kidman kind of interaction and this isn't a plug for me but whenever she went to Fallon and was like, Jimmy, I was trying to fuck you and you wanted to play video games. And Jimmy Fallon, who is fun on his show, was like, no way. He's like on camera, but in his, I think in the darkest corner.
of his brain he was like what the fuck did I know right and also and it's always I mean even from a silhouette It's funny to watch her with him because she's like 11-4. And she points down at him like she's God in a Monty Python movie. And I don't know, the image of... This is before Baby Girl. This is before Baby Girl. But the image of Nicole Kidman sitting on...
Jimmy Fallon's bed or couch while he plays video games, just kind of waiting for him to make a move. Yeah. It's so funny to me. I actually refuse to picture it, so I won't. I love it. Speaking of Nicole Kidman and One Battle After Another, did you know that Chase Infinity is named after two things? One, Chase Meridian, Nicole Kidman's character in Batman Forever. And two...
To infinity and beyond. No. From Toy Story. What? Excuse me. Her parents were extremely inspired by the box office pull of 1995. That's wild. I don't know. Your name being tied that strongly to this. the year you were conceived, I guess, is... Interesting. No, it's like if I were named Take My Breath Away. Look it up. Yeah. I'm trying to think what came out in my ear. I don't know. I think it's like if I was named Candy by Cameo, I think. Oh, ain't nothing wrong with that.
I always think of you as candy by cameo. How interesting. Word up. Good cameo impression. I have a good cameo. Lauren, I have a great cameo. That was one of the things I was like. He and Paul Simon were just talking about how they need a new cameo impression on the show. If you need it, I can do it. I have it. Oh, I love those songs. I have it. Oh, the way you did that was so amazing. Thank you. Yeah. We have skills. We have talent.
Jay, thank you so much for being here. And thank you for being on my podcast with me. Thank you for having me, Louis. Once again, we're squashing the Jay and Louis beef. Everyone, remember, and keep it fam. Crooked, we like each other. We get along. We'll fight for money, but as it pertains to the show. Listen, there are so many Speedos to go around. We both, we're fine. No, Jay, you perform comedy. Where are you going to be doing it?
Coming up. I'm going to be in so many places. I'm going to be in Los Angeles at Dynasty Typewriter on October 29th. I'm going to be at the Brea Improv on October 30th. I'm going to be at the Crocodile in Seattle on, I want to say, November 8th. And I'm going to be at the Helium in Portland on November 9th. Tons of opportunities to see me all over the country. I'm on a new tour called Nothing Special. It's nothing special. And that's all I'll say.
I'm excited to hear more about that. And in person, I can't wait to see you in LA. I also just want to say, you're a brilliant stand-up comic. You could just go up on stage with Nothing Prepared and Kill. I'm positive. No, that's not true. I'm not Mrs. Maisel. She really hasn't. She's going to knock 1961 right out of the park. Yeah, I've never gone up and performed in my Teddy.
The pilot episode, she goes up in lingerie and a house coat. Right. Yeah. Really scandalizing the 1955. She was like Elvis. Yeah. My boobs are out though. Come see me. I'm in a tank. So please go see Jay on tour. And then we'll be back next week with more Keep It way back in Los Angeles. We'll see you then.
Don't forget to follow Crooked Media on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. You can also subscribe to Keep It on YouTube for access to full episodes and other exclusive content. And if you're as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review.
Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our producer is Bill McGrath. Our associate producer is Kennedy Hill. And our executive producers are Louis Fertel, Ira Madison III, and Kendra James. Our digital team is Delon Villanueva, Claudia Shang, and Rachel Gajewski.
This episode was recorded and mixed by Jarek Centeno. Thank you to David Toles, Kyle Seglin, and Charlotte Landis for production support every week. Our head of production is Matt DeGroote. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
This is a real good story about Drew, a real United Airlines customer. After almost four years of treatments, I was finally cancer-free. My mom's like, where do you want to go to celebrate? I'm like, let's go somewhere tropical. And then Pilot hopped on the intercom and started talking about me, and I was like...
What is going on here? My wife beat cancer too, and I wanted to celebrate his special moment. That's Bill, a real United pilot. We brought him drinks and donuts. We all signed a card. I was smiling ear to ear. Best flight ever for sure. That's how good leads the way. When the flu is keeping you up at night, don't try to tough it out. Knock out your flu symptoms with NyQuil Intense Flu. You got this. ... ... ... ... ...