"Aubrey Plaza"

Hey Shawnee, I was just thinking about um I'm just going I'm getting really reminiscent of the old days. Yeah, tell me about it. Well I was just thinking about back in the day, you used to be able to get 10 bucks out of a manufacturer handover ATM. So I'd I was so broken I'd take ten bucks out.

And then I could buy a pack of smokes, and I go to Hot and Crusty, and I could get a coffee and a Danish, and for 25 cents I could buy the New York Post, and then I'd go to the 87th Street entrance to the station on the upper west side and I'd wait for the subway doors to open and then I'd at the last second I'd run and I'd hop the turnstile before they had the big thing it was just a little turnstile.

So that I'd time it so I'd run in and beat the fair to get on the subway in case there was a a transit cop there. Do you know what I mean? And then I could Welcome to Smart. I'm gonna keep the gum very low. I'm just g I'm I've turned it down to one. Oh is this is this is this a suppressant gum type of nicotine? I I just have I have a lot going on. Okay. You know what I mean? Don't they have like they've got sprays now. Can't you just like spray your spray your mouth? Do they really?

Yeah, they've got like a nicotine spray. What do you mean? You just do a spray? And it stays and it's a good thing. Yeah, like Banaka. Remember Banaka? Where'd Banaka go? The Naka's still happening, I think. Is it really? You know what makes your breath worse? Oh, I can't say. Can we say the name? Those tabs, those those mouthwash tabs. No, no, no, they do not win. You mean the little sheets? Yeah, a little tongue rush. Yeah. Really? Who said? Yeah. You, your mom.

No, because I I I use those uh constantly. No, I know. No, but uh for me, I don't know what they do, they make my breath worse. Well, obviously we know that your breath is much more about your gut. But you know, the thing that J B it's about It might be all the ground beef you have for breakfast. Yeah.

When you have spaghetti bolognaise and a and a donut on the same plate, you're kind of headed to a road down the road of disaster. But here's the thing I know about JB that he hates more than just just bad breath, he hates a heavy breath. That's it. Right. Something hot, w warm and and You know what he said to me? Like a blanket. We were on the golf course. We were we were uh somewhere and we were in like a golf cart together and he goes he turns me with the look of utter just just Be led.

I can smell your laundry detergent. Yeah. Yeah but that smells good. But it was such a funny thing. It was such a funny thing to say. I must have been uh feeling a little extra grouchy that day. I know. Why am I naturally grouchy? What is this wrong with me? Do not though. I think I'm I'm not naturally grouchy. I'm just not unnecessarily Chip. Yeah.

I mean they're just like and you can tell they're they're not really in that good of a mood. That's uh almost like keeping you at arm's length by how happy they are. Hey, hey, how's it going? Go good to see ya. It's like well I I I no, I wanna bring you in with I'm not full of shit over here. I'm I'm I'm I'm Hi, how are you? One of the m one of the one of the many, many presidents of NBC when Will and Grace is on the air. Have you guys heard of that show?

Yes, yes, yes. Wait, Will, that's one I said that I want to try to see one of these days. Still not ringing a bell. I'm so sorry. It's still nothing. Wait, so one of the one of the presidents came in, you know, uh one day and was like, Something wrong with Sean to somebody and they're like, No, he's fine, like what? What's wrong? Well, it just wasn't just wasn't chipper.

And so it's like, you know, to your point, it's like you can't some days you just don't wanna you just wanna like talk like a person. You not want real today? I know and that's the thing, yeah, I think that uh for the most part we're pretty real with each other. We're pretty honest about where we're at. I love it. Yeah. But I won't but but I guess the difference is that you you you don't you hope people sort of like

They won't drag their stuff into your your your meeting, your your your time together. Like I'm I'm accountable for my own my own stuff. I'll put it in a little in a little drawer. I'm not gonna drag my bad mood around. But I but sometimes we sometimes we record a lot. We we make one of these a week. Yeah and sometimes life happens and you end up getting on and we start recording and you're in you are where you are and there's no Right.

I've I I had uh god, I had somebody uh I had a thing that came up on you are you ever going on that thing on threads? It's part of it's kind of like It's almost like you know what it is, right? It's Instagram's Twitter basically in a way. Yeah, yeah. Uh meta. And something somebody put my name in and they were talking about the show and they were like, Oh, I hate hearing him tell his story. I didn't even I is I was not looking for it like I would like thanks Meta.

I was like th no. I didn't even and it came up on me I wanna be like, Thanks a lot. And then it was just like a litany of like, Yeah, I don't really like that guy. You know what? Look at the talking about you. Yeah. شكرا للمشاهدة I hate that guy. You can stop reading. And by the way, you can't how can you? And literally came up in my thing. And so much of it was so um unbelievably mean spirited in this way that I was like I don't know you. I'm like wait a second. What did I do?

Yeah, but that's not about you. Didn't you want to chime in, Willie? Mm-hmm. I did this g this gal said something like he seems like like What did he say? He looks like he looks like uh he looks like a perpetual ex husband or ex husband or something like that. I'm doing my best over here. Thanks a lot. It looks like an axe. You know what I mean? And it was so like it was so weird. The mean spirited comments after were so rude. I'm a human be I I can hear this.

Just like drop your phone number and say, You know what? Just call me. Just comment yeah. Let's talk. What did I do? It would be kind of fun. Why don't we bring somebody on that hates us once a week? I listen, you'd have no evidently I'd have no there's no shortage of people who would love to chime in about We can buy it books itself. Awaiting. And by the way, what they think I am, which is amazing. Anyway.

I'm here to say you two are b uh two beams of sunshine. And you know what a third beam of sunshine is. Uh oh. Yeah. Today we've got a guest who's a real kick. Okay, this gal pal of ours is about as funny as they come. She's as dry as burnt toes. Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world. She's been nominated for heaps of awards. She's won plenty of them as well. She's a producer and an actor. Most important

She's one of our friends. You guys please welcome Miss Aubrey Plaza. I hate it. See, I thought you were both playing pedophiles in that. Wait, wait, wait. You're the one who's been commenting online about that. We did a uh we did a digital short for uh what was the product I saw that orbit. Yeah, yeah. Orbit. Oh yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You were not compensated fairly? I I honestly the only thing I remembered was I thought you were both pedophiles and one of you was my dad.

Wow. I was the dad in the pedophile glasses. Um and then Will showed up Will showed up as the as the the too old to be dating my daughter guy. Yeah. And um Oh right. We were dating. Yeah. And then what what role did the gum play? The goal the gum the gum I put in a stick of gum and then all of a sudden you seem like a good choice for my daughter, right? Wasn't that kind of the the I won't remember the script. It was on it. The computer is a digital. Fantastic, Aubrey.

You are late. How did that happen? I don't remember anything. Well I remember you came to us with the idea you were like how can we get gum going again? Yeah, that sounds like me. You you've always been a big advocate for guns. I've got a friend that doesn't chew gum because he doesn't understand why you chew something and not swallow it. Like he just literally doesn't understand the concept of it. I don't understand why you just kinda just

Move your body in the rhythm of the sound you're hearing. It's like why Boy, that's a that's a really tough Fuck, man. I understand. It just didn't it somehow it didn't just go with the idea. It feels good when you connect it feels good when you connect a part of your body at the same time the music is doing it.

Aubrey Plaza is on our show guys. What is going on? This is insane. Aubrey. I wanna get I wanna get down what makes you tick, obviously. I know that, so I'm not gonna get into that. I know what makes you tick, it's gum. Um Amen. It's gums. It's been a minute. I I w I'm trying to think. I had how I saw you I saw you last summer, I feel like. I saw you over the summer, yeah. Ja. Where where were we? We were out east, as we say, Okay.

Yeah. Which I'm always correct it'cause I always I always say up. Yeah. You know who does that you know who does that too? Who does that incessantly is Polar. Ja. She says up. She says up for everything. Never out. I think you need to be two hours north of Manhattan to be upstate. I don't know. I just don't know the I'm learning about the Long Island it goes the other way.

Well it does go east, but it does go kind of north too. It is kind of angled, so Aubrey Plaza's on the show today, everybody. Hey, welcome Aubrey. Uh well um Sean, do you wanna start with a little a little bit? Sure I I she knows I you know I adore you. Sean, I was at your opening. I forgot to tell I forgot to text you. Wait a second. You were? We were at an opening. But Jason wants to know about this. Okay, walk us through it. Wait, wait. Yes, I was. Yeah.

So we weren't at the opening. Where when were we there, Shawnee? The day after. You handled that great by the way. Oh thanks. Thank you. Thank you. Aubrey, you went to the show you went to the show and you enjoyed it and Sean was great, and then you did not go back and say hi to him. No, I bolted the minute it was over. Jason, thoughts. Okay. I understand that. No they don't. Well sh or well Sean does and then he wants to take a picture in the elevator. Продолжение следует...

Right. The photo book you could make in the elevator. What's the While people are standing. Got he takes all those. I know he does, bless him. Now uh Aubrey, uh you're a you're a you're a you're a theater gal. You've done your you've done your runs at uh what is it, ATC and uh a couple other hot spots I've seen on the Wikipedia page. I've done it. But yeah.

Well it's two more than I've done. I'm very jealous. But uh but you're so you're more seasoned than I am, so you might have a take on this. I have heard that it is polite Um polite and and industry norm to if you're famous and the person in the play is famous, well then you kinda have to go backstage and say, Hi, I'm famous, you're famous, I enjoyed your your show. And if you don't then that is you're effectively saying I didn't like the piece. No I that this is what I hear.

Not at the opening. There were everybody was there. impolite. Not at that opening though, right? Yeah. It doesn't matter either way to me, honestly. Swear to God, I know, but I guess... When core was there. Wow. And went to her and she emailed me after. Yeah.

I really did mean to email you. You were great. I really mean I meant to. Is it winter or winter? Wind tour, I think. In a winter? Um Aubrey, I remember the f I I said this to you before many times and I know I've we've run into each other a million times and I loved you. Is the first time I met you, which is I I'm it was in Amy Poehr's trailer. I was on the set of parks and wreck and the whole Amy lives in a trailer?

Yes. Yeah. And and you were sitting there with Aziz and Amy and just tons of other every like people on the crew, other people Yeah. I d it was. There was lots of people in there. And uh I said I said, st I look to you and I go, What do you do on the show? Do you are you working the crew or You said I'm I'm on the show? Really? I don't remember that. That's okay. I felt so bad and I emailed you a long email after. You felt bad enough that you wanted to bring it up again today?

Yeah. I'm out of the gym. Remember when I insulted you? And then we've got to be able to do that. What what did she did she strike you as a as a as as a P. Like you didn't say anything in the trailer. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't even realize I was on a television show for like two seasons. I do believe that. I do believe that.

Yeah. Now uh so let's go, let's let's stay with Parks and Rec. Um, is it true, Wiki says, that you talked Mike Scher and Greg Daniels into changing the part to be a little bit more How it beca how it is, how it became. It wasn't originally that. True, untrue. What do you mean like as the show went on? No, no. Like when you went in there and you first met with them, you were like the the part was written a certain way and you were like, Yeah, but wouldn't it be funnier if it was this?

I don't well they I don't think they had technically written it yet, but I remember I went I rem I r I went in as for like a general meeting and I had no and I really didn't have any idea how much like weight was on that meeting because I I was I didn't have any. Jones set you up with that general.

Allison Jones. I came out'cause I was screen testing for Judd Appitau's movie. The great movie. And that was huge for me because I was like plucked out of nowhere. And then I was in LA for a week and I hadn't really been to LA. So Allison was like Do you mind if I just send you on a couple other meetings? I didn't have any. What a nice uh what a nice lady she is. Uh Plaza WhatsApp. I didn't have an agent yet. What were you doing? Where were you where did she pluck you from and how?

He found me at a whore house. With the problem. No. I was at Howard Beach, Queens in a whore house. googling googling I was I was doing U C B uh shows and I was it was I don't know actually. She I think it was yeah, it was I was doing U C B and and Judd was doing like a very wide casting call'cause he wanted to cast an unknown comedian to play this part. And so I made it up the r ranks like

um like sending my videos in and stuff. And then I made it and then I kinda like made Alison saw my tape. I I somehow got a tape to her with the scene. Um and then I I and then sh yeah. So then it was like I made it all the levels to the point where they were like, and now you're gonna come to LA and do a screen. Yeah, and were you were you like on did you did you have uh like your own sketch group at UCB or Yeah, I was like I was in a sketch group called That's My Booze. Uh huh.

You were a little after I wasn't hanging around used to be as much then, but like it was like'cause I remember Aziz and those guys and Riggle and Sheer and those guys back in those days when they were all there. Yeah, like Aziz Aziz and I were kind of in the same class, but Aziz wasn't really doing like improv so much. But he w would he would be in the sketch, you know, part of it and then like

You know, it was like Kroll and Manzucas and Pali and Zach Woods and Lennon Parham and all those guys like were kind of above me. Like uh Anthony King and Kate Spencer and Joe Wangert and all the and Chris Gethard and I could go on. But they they were kind of like Seniors when I was like a freshman. Yeah. But I was kind of young and I was friends with them and I was like dating Joe Wengert at the time who was kind of running the school. Like the Yeah. I know that now it's over.

It's anxiety I have to move my arms like this. Would you go to like Ask Cat on Sunday nights and or at least watch or I w yeah. These are all. Oh yeah, I mean and when I was a yeah, I would I would watch I would stand in the back. I would see how Did we ever meet you back then, like back before we became friends? No, you're kidding. No, don't j don't But I'm I I'm sure we met. I don't remember anything. Do you miss sketch comedy? That's true.

Yeah, I r I love sk I miss sketch comedy. Yeah. I l I would love to do like a Where? Yeah, no, you can find it. By the way, we're Uh does you uh U C B still going, yes? Hello? Okay, anybody can answer. It's it's changed, right? I don't know. I think it I think it was gone like somebody bought it or then it went away or something and now it's back It's a very different it's a d yes, it's back. But it's a different I'm so I feel I do feel very f removed from

'Cause I was re I never did even U C B in LA. Like U C B L A to me was like what? This isn't Right, right. Right. Um Only New York. Yeah. Yeah, in the custodias basement. And we will be right back. Smartless is brought to you in partnership with Airbnb.

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And now back to the show. All right. So then uh Upright Citizens Brigade for for for Tracy and and the rest who don't that that is a an improv sketch place you go and um you see you you yell uh sort of a prompt to the to the talented folks on stage and they That was ASCAT. That was the one sho when they would do like a herald. That's one type of It was created by by Amy Polar and by uh Matt Walsh and Matt Besser and Mm-hmm.

Right. And they came from Chicago and they created this thing. They were a sketch group up Private Citizen Brigade and then they created this whole a theater and a school and stuff in New York back in the day. Like second city. They would do those heralds, like you said Sunday nights they do Ask at Jason which you went to many times. I was on a Herald team. That's how that's that was the thing. You wanted to be on a Herald team. That was the main

And a herald was that where you have a suggestion and then you kinda bring everything back and you're kinda telling a long form improv. Go ahead, Jason. But yeah. So my explanation was a t. Yours was gonna be. No, uh no. Mine was gonna actually be one of the rare Jason Short things. I don't know. Um I was going to get to this is a a place where you go where there is no pre-written and

Pre-written dialogue. Yes. You then, Aubrey Plaza, went on to start your acting career. Yes, with the scripted stuff. And how did you find that? How did you find that transition where you have to now instead of making up what you say, follow what is already pre-written? The typical actor journey.

I mean I always that's what I oh I I love movies. I'm like a movie person real. I mean I'm a co I love comedy and improv, but I for me it was always like How do I get to the m movies part? Like that was always And what was it what was the first what was it what was the first stuff? Were you doing some of that scripted stuff while you were while you were also um playing around

I mean I tried. I was like, you know, t auditioning for whatever I could when I was doing comedy stuff. But um But it really didn't start'til you came out here to LA? Yeah. I mean I really truly did have like a big break moment. Like the j With parks and right. People f funny people was technically first, but like Funny people. Yeah. You got that Judd screen test. You got it.

Yeah, so basically like I went out to LA for one week and I got I I I booked Funny People, Parks and Wreck and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World in one week. Oh my god. Bought a bank. And it was like, what? Did Allison did Allison cast uh Look for it Welcome to the What? Did Alison Cascott Pilgrim too?

Yeah, she she sent me on to all those meetings. And like the Parks and Rec meeting like t not to backtrack was like They hadn't written the script yet and Mike and Sher and Greg Daniels were in the room and I just went into Mike's office and I was just having a casual conversation with him and he just What else you booked? You know what else you booked that week? Michael Sarah. Let's talk about Michael Sarah.

Wait, but didn't you guys you guys dated for a while, right? Didn't you guys date for a while? This th this was the the but this was news to me when I was reading Wikipedia this morning. Well he's Baby right. He was my son! Yeah. And you were my daughter. Sorry. Oh, well that's kind of... Booked and bagged that booked and bagged him real good.

Well, we found our first cut. Hey, there we go. We found our first thing that we went. But Wiki said it was eighteen months. That's a significant relationship. That's a that's a good thing. Right. That was a long time ago. And we're still very good friends. I love him so much. Um we almost got married. We drove across the the country together, eating A bag of edibles.

crumbs of edibles and we drove to Vegas with the plan to get married and then get divorced right away so we could call each other our ex wife and ex husband forever. Because we thought that would be a really good bit. That is a good bet. But then I think it was a combination of being too high and paranoid.

And then at that time he was just very, very famous at that time. He like really if you remember like when Nick and Nora and all that stuff came out, he was super bad. He was so recognizable that like we won I feel like we got in line at the county office or something and then everyone started running and we ran. So that's kind of all I remember. Wow. The fame saved you. Yeah. The rare case. I'm pretty sure that's how it went down. We yeah, we we bailed but Yeah.

Crazy. Wha I I'm gonna stay I'm gonna stay into in in uh uh again what the great, great Wikipedia has laid out for me here that in going in chronological order, and I'm sorry if this is a we don't have to talk about this if you don't want to, but it is I think you've talked about it before.

There was at that time you had a s a rare s a stroke uh that a young person very rare for a young person to have a state. I did. I had one at I was twenty, so it was before then. But um it was when I was in New York, yeah. I was doing yeah, I was doing U C B comedy stuff. I was in college. What you've got Sean's attention. Sean Sean is running from a stroke every day. Yeah. No, no. Tell me wait, how did you how did you how did it mat like how did it happen? And what did you feel? Happen like

Truly in mid mid sentence out of nowhere. It's a h it's a horrifying Exploring your words. horrifying story. Um I had uh taken my sister to a Hillary Duff concert the night before. Sure. Um and you know how that goes. And then um And then I I was having lunch in Queens. I went I took the subway. I was feeling normal. I had my coat on still. I walked into my friend's apartment.

in Astoria to have lunch with them and I was telling them about the Hillary Duff concert and I said like Hillary Duff and then I stroked out and No way and I kind of The first thing that happened was like my right arm was numb and I looked down and I was confused. It wasn't slurring, but I was.

looking at my arm like that's not my arm. It wasn't even numb. It was just not connected to my body. And then Wow. Then I kind of blacked out for like a second. And then I came to Could move my arms but I couldn't speak'cause the blood clot was in my language center. Oh my gosh. So it was like not even slurring, it was just like not talking. But I could understand everything that was happening. How does somebody at twenty years old get a blood clot or get a heart attack or whatever or stroke?

I don't know. It's a honestly, it's a mystery. I I think it's it was birth control or it's a tricycline. That was the only thing I was putting in my body. Like I wasn't on drugs or, you know, doing anything weird. So um it was a real fluke. Like and even to this day, like I still have to f you know, whenever I go to the doctors, I have to fill out like my history and Right.

Right. I've seen I s I've seen top neurologists. I've been tested for, you know, all the blood disorders and clotting disorders and everything and it's just like I really think it I it must have been birth control,'cause they have the that on the label. So then what well did did they were you were you fine right then or did they take you to the hospital? Like how do they fix

I was not fine'cause I wasn't I wasn't I wasn't talking and so my friends were like first th of course thought I was doing a bit and they were like, Stop it. Um and then they realized like Something's wrong. And sorry, are you lucid at this point? Like are you aware that this is happening? I'm aware, like it's a really weird thing when you have a stroke. I've read books about it, um, and it's it's across the board really similar experience that people have.

you know what's happening and your brain there's it it really makes you understand that there's your brain and then there's something else going on, which is very profound to think about because I was whatever that other thing is was watching my brain mal malfunction. And so I was me was aware that my brain wasn't working right. So it's this really fucked up thing where you're like, wait a minute. Like

My consciousness is operating in w on another level. And so people would talk to me and I would know how to respond to them. I would know the answer, but I could not get it through the pathways of my brain out of my mouth. Did you did it did it I I mean this, did you After that experience, did it give you a sort of a different sense on on I don't know how to say it like spirituality? Did you did you feel like a d do you have Mm.

As you said, because you're sort of conscious or whatever this other thing that's operating Yeah. Yeah, one hundred per like one hundred million percent. Like I I definitely On the P. Hundo P just felt like All right. Well, if that's true then like something bigger is something bigger is going I'm I am very fascinated with that. Yeah, but I am too now.

Do you bel well, I g so I when I say I guess it did change, but were you I don't know, uh such sounds like such a sort of sweeping question Were you a spiritual person before? But did you have what were your thoughts on that kind of stuff?

Well I grew up really I grew up Catholic. I grew up very Catholic. I was I went to all girls You know, I went to all girls Catholic school my whole life and so, you know, my spirituality was like ra very wrapped up in like saints and God and Jesus and, you know. And things like that. But um But uh I would say that I've always I feel like I've always ha ha been a spiritual person, you know, now I've shifted into more the dark arts, you know.

Oh. Sure. You're like, by the way, can I get a sample of your guys' blood after this? She goes don't don't bother, I've already got it. My brain. It's my shtick. The whole witch thing. Um but no I am. I and I think I did really stop f at least for some time for some time like Sweating the small stuff a little bit. Like I felt I did have em I did really feel like wow.

A the trauma of something like that happening so out of nowhere changes the way your brain is because you're like, Well, okay, if th if that can happen like that, then the fuck fuck else can happen and what's the point of you know. But you're not walking around thinking like that can happen like today, are you? Like it. Yeah, I would be Yeah. Did it make you less cynical, do you think? I think yeah, I think so. Yeah. No, I don't think that you're cynical. I I at all. I don't.

But you so but you would never take um birth control, whatever that thing is now, right? Because I mean that's not a good thing. But if that was the one thing that you could kind of point to.

Um there's a baby inside of me. What's that? Hold holding. Wait. No, I said there is a baby inside of me right now. Is that a that's a true story? That is true. Yeah, that's true. That's so good. Oh thanks. It's very exciting. It's shocking, isn't it? I know it's real. Are they cool? That's it. Baby number one. Yeah. That's right. Exciting. I wan I'll just say this. I went today was a big day. I went to the doctors today and my dog is also went to the doctors. Awesome.

Both of us. My dog's getting a scan right now. I got a scan earlier. Um, I'm not kidding. Boy, An ultrasound on her stomach. Um she'll be back. When is she back? Two o'clock, we'll find out. Um what's I think she's okay. She had to get an ultrasound on her stomach. And then I got an ultrasound on my stomach and there is a baby in there. That's so exciting. So happy for you. Oh and it already has like a cloak and a little hat and um No I think it's gonna come out.

But let me ask you something. If you if the ultrasound was if you got the ultrasound out at the vet, I would recommend that you. No, no, no, no, Jason. Thank you. No that we did I did accidentally go to the vet first, but and then that's why I was late. Aubrey, I'm so happy for you. I just I just think you know that. I I just think you're such a great person and I just love you so much. Really happy. Yep. I'm really, really, really happy for you. That's so awesome.

You've always got you're oh you're so funny and you're so you're just such a great Aren't you excited about being a mom? I mean this is you're gonna be great. I I am, yeah. I've always I've always w I've always wanted I've always wanted to see what that's all about, you know. It just seems so interesting. Incredible. Thank you so much for sharing. Congratulations. This is all great news. It's very, very thrilling.

I mean you've been so busy too. I mean you Are you out of work? Are you working? First of all, I I was realizing last year I wanna talk about this because I don't think it got enough and I you and I texted about it last year. I watched your movie Emily the Criminal and I know it's long gone and whatever. I thought that was such a great movie. Your performance in that was so so good, Plaza. I mean Thank you.

Really, I don't know if you guys saw it. What an awesome movie and what a great performance. I'm not sure what I'm saying. how confident you are in being still. I just find it is it's it's such a it's so it's so um in f uh I don't know, it's not attractive or infectious is not the word I'm looking for. As an audience member, I'm just I'm drawn in and I can't stop watching somebody who's so comfortable

Not helping me as an audience member, knowing what's going on inside your head. You know, like I lean forward. And being able to do that, JB, like in a i in a drama where you have to be very sort of vulnerable, very real, and then being able to and also do it in comedy, you have so you have such facility with all of it. And I think it's really impressive.

So subtle it's Just I hope people go back and rewatch that and then uh continue to watch the newer stuff, but I wanted to say that'cause you know how much I love it. Thank you for saying that. I love that movie. That was such a baby of mine, that that film. I'm so Proud of it. Like I just want this script was so good. And I was like, as a producer, you know, just like if we could just it really taught me that it is.

Always the fucking script. It's like it is this fucking script. I'm like, if we shoot the script exactly how it's written, the movie is gonna be good. And it was we didn't compromise, and that was what I was so proud of. We did really didn't compromise the script. And then the movie turned out great. And obviously so many other things have to happen to make you know, to make that happen, but I yeah, it taught me that.

Where did you where did your where did your where did your taste for uh what your particular style where did that come from? Was you were one of your parents? particularly dry? Was there was there a uh an actor or an actress that you um really admired coming up? I don't know I don't know.

I don't even think I mean, I don't even know. It's hard for me to really have perspective on that at all because I feel like the dra the deadpan, yeah. Maybe I've ol maybe that's how I wasn't really always like that growing like

that wasn't like really my thing. But then I think that the things that I got cast in first, like character wise, for me, like I'm not saying like, oh, I'm a method actor, but like I do think that like I capitalized on this persona early on because the funny people role was really based on, you know, and and I know it wasn't officially s said, but I'm Pretty sure that it was based on Janine Garofalo. And so and I kinda knew that and I studied her and her stand up

Right. Also incredibly dry and hilarious. Right. And she was like s you know, she's such a hero of mine, like loved watching her. And then the Parks and Rec character was also kind of born out of that same there was a lot of stuff that there was a zone there that I was like I can do that.

Are you ever are you ever do you ever allow yourself to to think somewhat strategically about well maybe I should play a part that shows that I can do the all the the other side of the spectrum as well? I mean, is that y do you are you one of those actors that that Yeah. I mean d m I think m I think when I was on parks definitely because I was always like get me out of

Get me out of this zone. I gotta show people what I can do. Um you know, so I was always like, you know, dirty grandpa was an example where I was like, get me that fucking part like that has nothing to do with it. Um and but uh but now I'm more just like

I just wanna be I just honestly just wanna be in something good. I don't even care it's not even about oh I wanna you know blow everyone away with my performance, but I wanna be in movies that people remember, watch more than once. Yeah. That don't just Float away into the ether that it's like they never ha that never happened. And and the producing effort is is uh in that in that direction. Yeah. Is it to sort of like

Start to like cook your own food, right? And uh as opposed to just react to the phone ringing and

Yeah, I mean I wan I'm still an actor. Like I'm still like where why is no one calling me? Like Where am I? That might be hard to believe. All right, all right. Really hard. No, I mean no no no you no I get I get a lot of uh I get a lot of I'm in a very good I'm very grateful for my you know position, whatever. I get offered things of course, but like I still have that like actor thing where I'm like yeah. But uh producing I think was at first

very much about like all right, well if I'm not gonna get, you know, offered parts that I really want, then I'll just fucking do it myself. Um Right. But now it's more but then I really but I really I went to film school, you know, I studied film

pr at NYU. I studied directing and producing and I I truly love the craft of filmmaking. Like I really love movies. So like it all is it's also has nothing to do with acting and it's really about just start, you know, making something from the very beginning to the very end and seeing it through and being like, you know, how can I make a great Did you have a favorite movie this year? Um the Oscars was like a month ago. Um Did you love any of those?

This year was really tough for me. I I just could not get into any of it. I will say and I don't understand why Eddington Right. And I don't want to hear it. Yeah. That movie's great. So like I don't know what everyone's I totally agree. What the hell was that? How did that go? I don't understand. Apparently apparently like it wasn't embraced at Cannes where it where where it premiered. So the story goes.

Yeah, that was a stunning movie. I thought that was I'm sitting on a really stupid pun that g but it's too far removed from what we were talking about, but no Just go for it now. No, but it's just like O C D and now I just wanna get it out. You're saying you've stopped the momentum. So while we're stopped. Well you were saying the parts aren't coming and then you know the parts that you want and I go maybe you could do some parts for fun, you know, and they that you could call them

Parts for recreation. You know what I mean? And I'm just saying it would be Uh what I'm saying is had I said that back then I wouldn't have had to stop. And this is why people hate me on the show. We'll tighten it all up. Yep. We'll be right back.

And back to the show. All right, well I I I I I wanna I wanna w is there uh Delaware, right? That's where we started. This is where the That's what I was gonna ask too. But I was gonna ask, like, because I've only known you as an adult. I'm I'm fascinated with who you were as a child and were you this dry and funny and witty and were your friends

Did you have a like a circle of friends that shared your sense of humor? Or were you like I I mean I definitely I was definitely a shy kid up until when I discovered theater, like very classically like

you know, I I went to like the Wilmington Drama League, which is the the community theater I I learned at and when I was like eleven and I started to see, oh, people are pretending to be other people. This sounds really fun. And so then all of a sudden I kind of I just understood that that was a outlet for me and then I and then I think I came out of my shell more and then by the time I was like, you know, in middle school or whatever, I was like funny.

And then the and then your summer program at NYU, that was sort of like okay, there's a bridge has been built to uh to the to the big city and that's kinda how that is that how that role works? Well, I think like I had a friend who's a comedian, Neil Casey, who you probably know Will. Um, writer, really funny comedian you know you know Neil. I think I don't know. He's an old school used to be a guy. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah. Him and I grew up together. He was a little bit older than me, but he went to the all boys' brother school. He introduced me to John Waters movies. and to Oh wow. And to U C B, the the operated system to get show on those on television. And uh Kids in the Hall and Mr. Show and we got into like Stuff like that as teenagers, like young teenagers. And then I started to really become like a comedy freak and and then develop like my love for films and movies, you know, Yeah.

Who are your comedy idols? Sorry. Who are your Did you have to do that? Drop low. Yeah, but I always blank I always like blackout when people ask me I know. Well um was it was there any other like was there any other occupation Yeah. Or or or industry or career that was that was battling your your your your your your growing dream t for this uh to be an actor? Like w was there any other thing that you were thinking about maybe going to to college to study? No.

No. This this was it. You were all in. Fucking dope, I love that. I was all in. I was all in. I was like all in. M mom and dad were okay with that? What what what w what what did they do? Were they like Okay with it. My m my dad uh was in the finance world, he was a stockbroker and um my mom was a lawyer. No pressure to to go into either one of those professions from them.

Nope. Mo my parents were really young when they had me. They were nineteen when they had me and they had nothing when I was born, like really like hustled and worked their way up. in the eighties and um and like I learned from them like how to, you know, hustle.

Um and it didn't matter like what field you were in. It was just like they're that that's what they taught me and and and my mom I think also like she went to night school when I was a baby to be a lawyer and stuff but She's a really introduced me to like Saturday Night Live and she's got she's loves theater and movies and I think in another life she would have been doing what I'm doing.

So they've got to be thrilled for you then. They're so psyched, yeah. Um well let's let's let's stay there with Saturday Night Live. So you were you were a page um at one point at at 30 Rock. That's cool. Um and then a bunch of years later, uh What you? She comes back and she hosts Saturday Night Live. That must have been very surreal. That was crazy. Cray Cray. That was crazy. I was a page two thousand five. It was right after

Can't remember if it was after the stroke. I think it was before the stroke. I don't know, after the stroke. But um I was at an intern actually at as in the Thirty Rock building. Which is higher or lower on the power. It's weirdly higher than a page. Really? Intern doesn't get paid, but a page does. But page works for the network and the interim works for the show. Exactly. And I was not a very good page. I was like fucking around too much. What was your problem?

My problem was I was hung over pretty much every time. I would have to throw up in the um trash cans in the hallway. Like mid to What does a page do there? Well, if you don't get an assignment, which I never did, maybe once I got one, um, which means like you get assigned to a different a different show. Like the coveted position was the Saturday night live pages.

Um to get assigned on SNL. But if you don't get assigned, you're just giving tours. You're you're you're on the circuit. You're giving tours. Oh yeah. I get towards I would love to have seen that. What would be so great about being an SNL page, um, is it is it just the the fact that you get to hang out there at the desk and you the like basically mission control where everyone is passing by and You just get to be there. You just get to like watch what's going on and like see. Pretty amazing.

And like meet celebrities and get them coffee and like whatever. It's like So then when you come back as a host, were you um did you talk with them more? Did you was it just sort of just like a private little? You order that. No, I would never talk to a page. Never. Yeah. Um no, of course. I mean every every time I go in that building I'm like, you know, I know I still know the security guards. Like

Yeah. It feels you know, that building is so like it's such a family vibe there. Like it's the best. And like I'm still I love my bosses when I was 'Cause I I was an intern at S N L and a page, but I was an intern in the design department with um you know, Akira and uh Keith Raywood and Joe and Eugene and um The design of the of the sets or the costumes?

The set designers for the show. And then I did my when I hosted I did like my monologue about that. And I had those guys like come on stage and it came totally came full full circle, but they were all yeah, I mean I I love I love going back. Was it emotional at all? When you were hosting. Really trip it's tripped out. It's it was very trippy. It's like it's weird. Mm.

When you so when you grew up you grew up in Delaware, is that correct? Yeah. And then you and then you moved right to New York af right like when you were a kid. Yeah. Yeah. Oh so Delaware your whole you know, up until you were at college and then you went to college in New York. Had you been to New York before then and seen it in like I wanna go there and all that or

Yeah. I mean I yeah,'cause Delaware is really only two hours south of the city. People like think it's like five hours away. It's close. It's really close. It's really close. I take the train up all the time. Um and then you h and then you went out to LA so you basically my question is, um,'cause I always talk about Scotty about living s like in a small town somewhere because we're

We're constantly on either coast in New York or Los Angeles, back and forth, back and forth all the time. And there's something appealing about living In a small town somewhere like outside of a city, but I think I might go out of my mind a little bit because I do need the Yeah. Yeah, and I do need the the stimulation of the noise and are you like that? Um yeah. Yeah. I d yeah. I like the city. I like New York. I'm back in New York. You know I live in New York. New York now.

I'm back in New York, baby. You are. Yeah. So you wouldn't be able to move back to a small to a small town again, Sean, you wouldn't be able to do that either? I don't think I th I want to want it, but you I I don't think I could I I would last. Right. Um but but maybe I don't know. Some uh sometimes I feel like I could. But w uh where I grew up wasn't there was a it was a small town vibe in some ways, but Wilmington, Delaware is like it's a proper city also, so it's not like Super. You are now.

I yeah, I mean I I wasn't you know Not totally thought through. But um I'm like, yeah. I mean I I East Coast for sure. I'm my family's in Philadelphia and Delaware mainly. Oh great. So I loved like one of the reasons I came back here um was for that. So I can get on the train and go home, you know. Yeah. My grandmother, yeah.

How are you when you go on uh on a loc on a location, like when you're shooting something that's in a far away place? Yeah, on location, yeah. Like like White Lotus, for example. Like are you okay being disconnected from uh major cosmopolitan city for a long period of time? Yeah. I'm like very adaptable. Like I feel like I would I'm

If I go someplace and I'm there for w for one day and I'm like, this is it. This is my life for the rest of my life. Like I'm very I think I would be okay like in jail. Like I'd be like, this is You just make it your home. Right. Yeah. I'd be like, This is what I have to eat and this is where I say that when I get into an elevator. I'm like if it breaks down this is where I'm at That's not true. Freak out. Valume in the in your elevator in London. I know.

This is an absolute fallacy what you're saying right now. There's proof, recent proof of you not being I went through what is that therapy called? I went through that therapy. EMDR? Yeah, what no, like what is it called? Electro therapy. When you go through the thing you're afraid of. Shock therapy. Anyway, exp exposure. Exposure therapy. Yeah. Yeah. Just just open up your trench coat. No, I did it. I did exposure therapy and I got I got over it.

Uh let's let's talk about White Lotus for a second. Now where where where did you shoot that? Cicely. Cicily. Five mont uh it was like four or five months in Sicily and then one month in Rome. Wow. Wow, that's pretty nice. That's pretty f that's pretty fun. Yeah. That sounds pretty pretty good. Good. Are you okay? I'm hearing something in the other room. It's probably the Alexa. Chirping off. Um Fuck. Electronics are revolting.

Did you um is it true that the the scripts are really secretive when you're doing White Lotus? Like you're not allowed to like talk about them. It's like like doing Star Wars. Uh is that did you have a problem with that? I didn't have a problem with it but yeah, I mean you're not really you're you're uh you're not supposed to'cause he writes all of them. So you get all of them. You you've read all of the episodes before you Wow, that's awesome. He being Mike White.

Right. Right. But is there like it there's so there's a big there's a big secret you can't say and on these shows, right? It's about somebody that dies, right? And that that's the thing that's To to to anyone to the boat. Like like what is what are their they're trying to keep it secret and locked down because at the center of each one of these seasons is the reveal murder. Right, a m the murder mystery. Yeah, I mean I didn't read other people's lines and other people's I didn't even know.

Wait, you're not e you're not you're not given the pages that you're not on? Who you are. Oh, you are? Oh she's given them. Don't worry. I've heard of productions like that. You're only given the scenes that you I just go bullshit, bullshit my line. Uh-huh. Remember? Yeah. Different. Nor maybe slightly different because or maybe it wasn't different. I don't know the secrecy. But I don't yeah, I actually like I read the scripts obviously, but I I was so focused on my

Right. You know, storyline that I was I didn't I didn't even really know what was going on in the rest of the show at all. But I will say I just was aro uh with Sandra Bernhardt, who's gonna be on the next season. Right. And um and I was hanging out with her last week and I was and I was like, Did you get all the scripts? And she was like, Yeah. And I was and just nothing.

No, and I didn't care. I'm not like trying to get the secret out of her, but like she had that that white lotus look in her eye. You know it well. Did you?

All time favorite movies. Bobby, what do you have what do you have coming up that you're super excited about? Because I know you got a lot of projects going on. W oh the well the main thing that I bel and I believe this is like dropping the day that this comes out which is today. Um which is Kevin, my new animated series that I co created and starred in and produced on Amazon Prime video. Prime video. Excuse me. Um and and and let's tell our listeners what that is about, the show Kevin.

So Kevin So I know. It's a lovely title. What who is Kevin? Oh God. Um Kevin is a cartoon based on a real true story that was about my actual cat that I shared with Joe Wengert when we lived in Astoria, Queens. at the time that we were talking about Will, all the U that U C B era. And we had a cat named Kevin who was a alley cat. Uh we actually had two cats, Kevin and Howard. They were brothers.

Um, but this Kevin uh survived longer, so the show's about Kevin. Um, but the show is basically about a couple that li is living in Queens based on me and Joe. that break up and they have to tell their cat because in the show animals and humans interact and they tell Kevin like we're breaking up.

So who are you going with? Me or him? And Kevin's like, You know what? I'm not going with either of you. I don't wanna be with you, I don't wanna be with you, I wanna go out on my own and be with the single cats and I wanna play the field. Um so Kevin goes and lives at a shelter with all the other single cats and they kind of they date owners and see and decide, you know, negotiate with humans and decide, well, maybe I'll live with this guy. I don't know.

And who and who's play who's playing Kevin? Kevin is uh voiced by Jason Schwartzman. Nice. Um, who's so funny because Kevin's th this kind of like neurotic cat. He's got a Really messed up butthole that he's fixated on He's constantly talking about his his weird butthole in therapy and um and he's just got a lot of like interest. And Jason Jason Jason Jason wrote the music. Jason wrote the music for the show too. Jason.

Wrote the theme song, which is so fucking catchy. Um You know, Jason's a killer drummer. Yeah. As a crazy good drummer. He's so talented. Um it's awesome. It has this like really like yeah, early two thousands like indie rock vibe. Um, and then the cast is just insane. It's like John Waters. That's great. Wow. Snobby Persian cat um queen that lives in in Queens. Um Whoopi Goldberg plays a hairless freak cat.

Um Amy Sederis plays like a little yappy dog that's bossing everybody around. Oh man, she's um I play a human uh among other things. I play a drunk spider and different kinds of characters. That's great.

But you didn't have to play two or three characters, you know. You didn't run out of people you could have gone to. I mean you you got you got Will who's done quite quite a bit of voice work. Um Sean's done some, I've done some. Um if you ever get tired of playing multiple characters, you know Just saying. Oh, sorry. That is a really good cast. Isn't it? It's fucking stacked. And the guest stars are amazing. The whole the show's really, really funny. We've been working on it for

Since before the pandemic. You know, animation takes so long. And it's uh it's it's really funny. I'm so proud of it. I think people are gonna love it. He used to do a show, a weekly show on Sirius XMU, uh, where he'd play all sorts of like uh you know Yeah. Yeah, deep independent uh music cuts and it was it was so good. I used to listen to it every week. I'm such a fan of his in every way. Yeah, his taste in music is so Really good. So good. Yeah, really, really good.

Yeah. It's not like a big thing. Theme song to Orange County, isn't that right? Orange County. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Wait, wasn't that on while we were doing arrested development? But at the same time, yeah. Yeah, I wonder if he uh if he's like in a dad band right now, how great would that be? That is cool. Don't put him in that. He can be... Okay. But that doesn't need to be his identity, man.

No, it doesn't be a side gig. Oh uh well listen, Aubrey, we hit it. We did it. Okay. Two minutes past our time already. I mean, you're amazing. Firing on all cylinders. Congratulations on the incredible news. Oh my god. Really. Really, really awesome. Very Thank you guys. Um and uh and the and the birth of your new show today as well. कर वा So uh just um Celebrations all around. Yes. Um thank you for doing this. Thank you. For birthing this episode today. Fucking too much. Yeah. Thanks so much.

Great to see you again, Aubrey. Plaza, love you so much. Just so happy for yeah, just so happy for you to do the best. Hey just looking at the You take care of yourself. You hear me We're gonna watch Kevin. We're gonna watch Kevin on Amazon Prime t starting today. I'm logging on right now. Oh yo the reviews are in. Meow says the meet. Kitty likes to scratch, says the post. It's the perfect show. Ruin it, don't ruin it for me. Okay, you're right. We love it. We love it. We love you. Um

Thank you. Enjoy your day. Bye, honey. And uh I played. Bye. Uh there she goes. Aubrey Plaza. She came and there she went. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What a pleasure. What a pleasure. Yeah, she's um I like I love her particular talent and taste and style. Uh Cool as the kids say. This is real cool. Well yeah. Well, she just does something that I think a lot of actors are not really comfortable doing, which is you know, like I I don't know.

Exactly, yeah. And that they're not they're not screaming their performance at you, you know? Yeah. I mean she has she's just she has so much I don't know again, just sort of facility with all of it. It's amazing. And that uh honestly, I mean I always I've always been a fan and and sort of bias, but Then when I just last year when I saw that, uh, Emily the Criminal, it was just I it was like another layer, like another really rich

Heavy duty lair. I was like, wow, uh this kid I'm not uh not kid, that sounds almost uh you know, this this person is just got it all. Yeah. Yeah. And then I think about and then I look at J B and I'm like, what is what's going on? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, how is he still going? because he's just so There's an enigma

Well no, it's not your ability. I you as a t as a talent, you're great. You got so much talent, but as a person you you're like you got the personality of a Waymo driver. You know what I mean? I just leave you alone. But I'm reliable and I'll get you there on time. Yeah, but then it's I uh it but it's uh it's basically nothing. Right. You know what I mean? Like that's Robot. Like there's nothing like you put your hand in. Expensive, but like not even there. So Just a waste.

The other problems. You're so you've priced yourself out. You know what I mean? You have priced yourself out. Thank you. Shani, no, Shani. Yeah I have I've th I have a good buy. Oh, I know you do. Well I was gonna say um What's his hat today? This is Glombard West. This is my high school. It's a castle on a hill. Is that something that you purchased? No. They gave this to me and Never thrown out a freebie. Yeah, I know. Like this is like somebody's production company. Yeah. I know.

Uh Uh-huh This is something. The sweats of the college, the has the high school, and this is somebody's company. I don't know what it is. That is pretty crazy, isn't it? I didn't realize it until now. It's so good. Well maybe one of these days you gotta get yourself out to a store and actually There we go. Okay. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjer. Barbico and Michael Granter. Smart. Yeah. Yes.