RE-RELEASE: Matthew Rhys

Sorry that you guys caught me off guard. I was just talking to Jason's wig maker, and he, um, had said that, uh, they don't make the hair that Jason uses for the wig anymore. Um, because it's a synthetic thing, and it has to do with, uh, cause it's they use a certain petroleum, uh, component to it. And blah blah. Anyway, the point is, if you see Jason on the street, just please say, Hey, man, your natural hair looks great.

It's an all new smartless.

Smart, wise, smart, wise, smart, wise.

Are you guys excited?

I'm excited.

Is it? Do you know what I'm talking about? I think, are you

talking about our, uh, we're on, we're on the TV Yeah, on coming up

the with the the dots,

we're gonna be on TV. I told my whole smartless family, like, on the road

smartless on the road on on on Max.

on Max, that, uh, that that that new platform. Yes, what, uh, should we do? what? uh, should we see? should we watch it together?

let's watch it together, that would be super

oh god, that's not a bad fun. idea. I'm s I'm really excited. I'm excited for people to.

See Will Ferrell?

It sounds weird to say, well, yeah, I'm excited for people to see. Well, we have so many great guests Yeah, so for smartless, say some, that's a great say some point.

of the guests. We have Will Ferrell, So Will starts Will

it off, though, doesn't he? Will starts Yeah, Will is

off, and then we have, for sure. uh, Conan, Um, Kevin Hart uh, well, hang on, Letterman, hang on, hang on. Then we have Letterman, then we have, uh, a AOC with special appearance by. Can we mention that Bradley makes a special Yeah, Brian, appearance? Bradley Cooper that's comes in and changes Bradley Cooper,

the light for us. Yeah, uh, and then

we go to Chicago. We have Andy Richter and Jeff Tweedy from, uh, um, Wilco, who Mark Cuban um, Mark and um, Cuban, and then, uh,

who else we got? Maddie, Matty Damon, Matt Damon, the Matt octor, Damon? Yeah, Yeah, Octurtle, Cordle, Wordle, or turtle. perennial

wait a minute.

third place finisher, Matt Damon.

And then one of the biggest guests of the entire tour is Tracy from Wisconsin, Tracy

And then we have Tracy from Wisconsin from Wisconsin. comes on, you guys, Tracy, Sean's sister, my sister. Yeah, Oh, Sean's sister makes an incredible appearance. yeah, it was oh, and

very good.

and doesn't your mother's, uh, your mother's right eye makes I mean, your an appearance mother's eye as well?

makes an appearance too. It's all true, by And also

the way, it's all true, and you can see it. Get it, um, on, uh,

don't get it.

on Max Smartless on the road, check it I'm glad you out

asked, cause I don't think they get it smartless. And then, by the way, we come, we come back to LA. and then we, we, we end here with our with, with Kimmel with Kimmel

and Kevin Hart. with, I mean,

we get to have. It's it's what a come, what a soft landing to come back and have our good buddy, uh, Jimmy Kimmel. And then Jan makes an appearance, and God, I mean,

And then what's the final meal of the whole thing?

Oh yeah, then we're over at Sean and's house for some,

oh, there we go. uh, was it Sean, That's right, sloppy right,

was it spaghetti and meatballs, joe, Yes, sloppy we need sloppy joes, joes, sloppy joes. I made sloppy

sloppy joes.

joes from scratch for you guys. It's all on the dock.

it's all on the dock.

We're all. G- Are we watching it at your house,

Yeah, let's watch it.

Sean?

I don't care.

Let's watch it, we'll watch it, uh, on Max, it's kind of so fun. I think I I hope people like, who knows? but um,

We hope it looks real good, too. Sam Jones did a great job directing it, it looks real handsome, it's black and white.

and I hope people like, it's, it's, it's what? It's May twenty third, right? May twenty

third on Max. Um, I have a crazy story that happened. I told, well, I said I was gonna save it f to tell you today.

you have some pre-show patter. you know, Sean, and his go ahead, Sean,

no, this is crazy. Sean, what have you This is

prepared?

I've prepared this. This happened.

Sean, Sean's, by the way, not to interrupt, but speaking of prepared, there's somebody preparing some, uh, something in the kitchen behind Yeah, Scott you.

is gonna make me some tea right now.

Tea? Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you fasting?

he's on Broadway, man, he's on Broadway,

I'm on the Broadway. London, he was Oh, to in Bolasco,

keep keep your pipes nice and, London, he was uh, lubricated.

in Bolasco. He was in Bolasco.

Well, it is one o'clock. Uh, there. What's what was for lunch today?

I just had a b Ugh, uh, a, um, wait, I had a a, what's it called? Like a kaiser roll with egg and cheese and a little bacon I

Wait, what, what, what? mean and apple Did you just say? juice. I had what? What do they call it? Like a foot long sub? Uh,

a kaiser roll. Kaiser I mean, where do you have to go to get that? Like downstairs, a bread, a bread shop? downstairs,

downstairs, no. Zabars, Kaiser Zabars is a Jewish deli. Uh, we live right, you know, near it. And then there's a cafe, and they don't do bagels with egg. You'd think they would do bagels, cause they sell bagels in the store part, but not the cafe part, which is really crazy.

you know, you gotta go full Kaiser on it. All right,

all right, so this is the story. This is crazy, this is gonna blow your mind. I think it blew my mind. So the show takes place in 1958, backstage at the Tonight show. Oscar Levant is the guest on the Tonight Show that night. The other guest, which we never see, we only reference a lot, is Jayne Mansfield. Okay, who was, you know, this big star back in the fifties? Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, very similar.

So Mariska Hargitay, you know, Mariska Hargitay?

I do.

Yeah, she's the star of, uh, uh, um, uh, the SVU thing. Oh, thanks, Scotty, and um, this

thanks, buddy. guy Thanks, buddy. for this. He nice to meet you.

came, he just made me tea. Um, so she's the star of this show for, like, twenty some years, right? So I'm so she's like, I'm outside of your theater, come out. And I'm like, Oh my god, I came out, gave her a hug, uh, said hello, we took a photo, we're done, and she go, and somebody in the show whispers in my ear. Her mom is Jayne Mansfield. I go, wait a minute, what? whoa, Mariska Hargitay's mom?

I go, your mom is Jayne Mansfield. I go, Do you know that we reference your mom in this show over and over again? Did your mom know Oscar Levant? She's like, I don't, I don't know. Um, you know, unfortunately, she was very young when her mom died. So then we go back and we say our goodbyes. I go back in the theater and, uh, I forgot. I text her. I go, by the way, your mom made her Broadway debut in this theater that we're working in right now.

Isn't that no way. he's crazy, crazy?

crazy. Yeah.

That's right.

So, um, did you at least offer her tickets to the show?

No, she's gotta pay for those.

Yeah, yeah, I mean, you can give her access to the house Yeah, I get her, anyway.

I can get her.

Her dad, her dad was, um, Mickey Hargitay, who was like, a a Yeah, yeah, that's bodybuilder guy from Hun- Hungary.

How do you know that? I know that She just googled and

no, I didn't. I knew that before. And um,

Wait, why do you know? Uh, vague Hungarian bodybuilder? look, I should do you wanna

know that?

see my magazine collection or not?

I don't wanna see your search history either. I do, I actually do.

I read something in my search history. The other day, there was such a bonkers all over the map, the weird. I go, here, you wanna know what I've been searching up for the last twenty four hours? And it was just the weirdest, stupidest stuff. Um, I wanna say, just because I wanna be, uh, and I don't wanna bring it down. But I gotta be honest about where I'm at, if that's okay today, and then we can switch gears.

Is that okay? Just yeah, of cause please.

course it is. it's very real. Um, Do you want me to say? Do you want me to describe it?

my my my oldest friend in the world, Jeremy, passed away. And, uh, I loved him so much.

oh well, I'm so sorry. And, uh,

Yeah, you just found out yesterday, yeah,

yeah, uh, and um, fuck

Oh god, I am so sorry.

and and I just gotta be honest about it, cause it's what's going on in my head. And and um, I just wanted to, I just wanted to say that I just I love the guy so much. And it's so Jason and I were talking today, um, this morning, and it's funny. We we always get surprised when people that you say it's such a surprise, such a shock. And we know that the deal is that everybody's gonna die at some point.

we're here for five minutes. Yeah, Yeah, and

so you passed suddenly. Well,

y- you know, the the the last few weeks were kinda came out of nowhere, certainly, but then and then he finally passed. And I and I'm happy he did. He was, he was, you know, obviously, he was in a lot of pain. And I just thinking about his family and and um, and all of them, and I've known them forever, and and you know, his daughter and his wife, and and m, his parents, who my parents knew, and their grand, and our great grandparents knew each other.

Our families are intertwined for generations. And and um, he was So Jeremy was great, up in Toronto, or, he was in Toronto, yeah, and uh, and he was one of the great guys. He's a I always say, he's a first ballot Hall of Famer, just a great guy. You could always rely on him and and I miss him. And you know, you never, um, and I was just thinking this morning, and I was taking the kids to school, and I was just thinking, like, Oh man, hug the people you love,

yeah, for sure.

tell them as much as you can. And if you're thinking about somebody, call em, let em know, just let em know you're you're thinking about em. You love them, how important they are to you. Um,

I love that.

and I just wanted to say that, cause it's on my mind and I love you guys so much.

We love you, we love You know, you too. so

it's um, it, it is. You're right, it is this sort of like you. We're always shocked that people die, but everyone here is going to, everyone listening will. And it's like, it's a terrible thought. And we somehow have managed this little device inside our head and our heart to kind of put it in a little box and keep it away and deal with it at near the end of our life. Um, we just kinda pretend it's not ever gonna happen, but oh, it does, and we just hope we use our time correctly.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah, for sure, you know, I, I just did this, I just did this article, uh, this interview. And Jay, you were so kind. I just read it. You said such nice things about me and I well, you get appreciate it. what you pay And and

for. I appreciate your generosity.

and um, and I said, um, I said, you know, if I can pull this thing off, great. If not, I'm still alive is my quote, you Know about know?

the play? So you're feeling bullish about the play? Yeah, it could suck, but at least I'm not dead, No, but the point right?

is, to your point, well, it's like, we're still he, we're here, we're here, yeah, we're right? here, and We're here. Nothing matters and other than our health and our no, and people we love the and the and all of that. people we love. And Yeah,

and I just, Yeah, I wanted to say that, just say, Jerry, we love you. And, uh, and that's it, you know, I'm thinking about you, buddy. And and I also know that he was. He was always so quick with a laugh, and he loved to fricking laugh. This guy made me laugh. And so I don't know I. He would, he'd be like, great, well, get your guest and and But uh,

you have a nice opportunity to give him a nice goodbye, uh, this weekend with all of those people you're talking about. that's right, Um, that'll be a

that's great.

a a a wonderful thing for for him to watch,

that's right.

too. You know, I mean, the, uh, the that's one. That's one of the good things about after we go, right? We get to what, like, it's a narcissist's delight. You get to just pull up a chair and watch everybody say nice things about you.

yeah, yeah, yeah, I I love it.

At least that's my fantasy,

I know well, that's one of your fantasies.

right? Just a big Jason session for a full day

What are you eating?

right now.

No, in that situation where you get where it doesn't matter anymore.

just, uh, super salty, puff-inducing things, cause, you know, you can be as puffy as you want upstairs.

Sure, you can.

you can. Turns out, you can be as puffy as you want downstairs too.

well, actually, you lose water weight, uh, almost instantaneously down there, cause you're always sweating. Yeah, it's hot as shit, oh, oh, where you're

going. Yeah, you're gonna be, you're gonna do a lot of sweating going on. That's it's a good point.

a it's a constant schtick. Um, to switch gears, Sure,

you know, if we can, uh, as much as we can, to somebody who's not puffy. Um, really. no, this gentleman keeps it very tight in the best way. I really,

I'm a lucky son of a bitch.

yeah, I know he really is. He's got. This is a guy you wanna talk about. First ballot Hall of Famer. This is the guy who's got it all. I mean, he's when you got, when you got, when you got talent and good looks, oh shit, forget about it, when you got an easy way about you oh boy, for freaking. Get it. This guy's done everything. He's been on the big screen, he's been on the little screen, he's been on the boards, you know, on stage, if if you will.

Uh, this guy's from the other side of the pond. always a British, Uh, yeah, well, he's actually Welsh. His first language is Welsh, according to the internet. He's a guy who's done so much and he's he's one of those guys who, like you, just every time you see him, you're like, Oh, I love this guy, everything he does. I this is the way I feel, you know, he was for years, he was on, you knew him from brothers and sisters, and then he was on the Americans forever.

And one. The thing I love about him, maybe the most, is that he is partnered with one of my all time favorite people, the delightful Kerry Russell. Guys, it's the incredibly talented Matthew Rhys. Oh, Matthew,

oh my god. Oh, look at,

yes, sir.

look at him. Look at the s, Is look at what they he gorgeous or what? stash, look at the Oh well, there's no stash. Look at him.

water in that fish at No, look, no, all.

not for ye, not for We have a fifth years.

guest today.

He just he proved that the mustache was real, he pulled out it just to prove

No, no, I'm just checking the I'm checking the glue.

Listener, he's got a thirty pound mustache on and it's looking strong. Are you playing a motorcycle cop?

N Uh, no, I'm doing the the Tom Selleck biopic.

you could, you could. Welcome to Smartless,

Matthew? Matthew Rhys. You still Thank you, thank good to see you very you?

much. You know, that's, uh, that's the that's the real terrifying moment, the reveal. Is that is this? Well, at the beginning, I was like, Is he t who is he talking about? Ian McKellen? Who are they expecting? What is this? This is gonna go It's Karen terrible.

Edgerton, everyone.

The real Welshman who can sing

wow, it's such a. It's so cool to meet you. I know, Yeah, very, very you too, and thank

you, thank you very much for for having me on, gents. This is a real pleasure. Matthew,

I, I. I wish we don't know each other well enough. We've crossed paths a few times because, obviously, uh, uh, f- Kerry and I are old friends, and so we've met through Kerry. And she's such a delightful person as you are well aware. And and then she's like, I just, I love the idea. I'm like, y- you're as good as the people you hang out with, and the fact that you and Carrie are together. I'm like, Matthew's a good guy, he's a great guy.

I can No, I just just

know I took, I took, I took that idea, and then I latched myself onto Carrie so that those around us would think the same thing. that,

by the way, that's smart, that's smart living.

How long did you guys do that show together? Was it five, six?

it was si s, oh six, it was six years, it was. It was meant to be five. And I think the the the poor showrunners had kind of arced it for five. And then FX went, you know what? let's do one more, and they went, what? Oh, what? We ha, we that's don't know how to s nice. We we don't see had the opposite it.

on Ozark. That's a good sign Yeah,

on a show. We're talking, of course, about the Americans.

And Margo Martindale is a friend.

And dear, dear Margo Martindale, that that that char- they were both reunited on Cocaine Bear recently. Yes, so Margo, Yes,

and you did you were in Cocaine Bear as well. I, come on,

I muscled my way in just what? Looking after the kids in Ireland and reading the script, and I and and that first opening scene. I said, I was like, Who, who who's playing that guy? the guy who bangs his head and falls out the plane? She's like, I, I, what, what, who? I don't know. And then I sa- I said, ask Ba- ask Elizabeth Banks, I said, ask Banks who's playing that part? So she texts Banks, Oh, we haven't cast you yet.

I said, tell, I'll do it, tell no, ask, but no, I just ask her if I can do it. And she very kindly said, Yes, you can come in and fall out of an airplane.

by the way, what a what a what a absolute treat. So you're directing a movie and then you got a guy who's got like one scene, basically, and then you're like, Matthew Rhys calls, and he's like, Hey, can I just do this one scene? And you're like, Uh, hm, are you kidding And, uh, me?

yeah, she smelled the desperation on me. I was like, Can I please get out of the house? I can't do another zoo or aquarium, please.

Sean, is it true? The rumor? Sorry, uh, d is that? That's how you and Scott met, right? Didn't, didn't, didn't you put in the search for cocaine bear? And no, did I not hear that? Right? bravo,

No, I think it was technically bravo, it was coke, cocaine cub, wasn't it?

it was cocaine cub. Yeah, it was the prequel that they haven't Oh, Scotty, done yet.

Oh, Scotty, if he only knew. So so you do cocaine, but l and and of of course, I wanna get I, I, I. I don't wanna just gloss over the delightful Margo Martindale, whom we all adore.

Oh yeah, she's the greatest,

No one can swear like Margo Martindale.

the best.

I mean, t she should, she should have a a kind of course at NYU, like swearing for film and television, cause no one can, no one can swear like her.

And and no one can get their ire up quicker and then l- get to swearing over like something that seems trivial. We we did that show together, uh, uh, the Millers. And she'd be like, old school Can you believe they just did this rewrite? And I gotta fucking remember this fucking thing? And they wanna shoot it this afternoon? You're like, Jesus, what?

She said of one very famous actor who's in our show, she went, Can you fucking hear the way he breathes? I went, I went, I went, well, I, I before then, I had no, I haven't actually, but I can hear it now. You've oh, I wanna taught me that

work with her. so Jason, you Oh, Jason, love I wanna work

him, love his work. Jason,

with her. So bad.

you will. S. You will so fall in love with Margo Martindell, you won't be able to contain yourself. Guys, am I right? Yeah, she's oh, gold, the greatest. She's absolute gold, gold. Um,

Now, uh, tell me, wha- uh, I I Welsh is a language. Is that what I heard you say? is, Will oh my

it is. god. First of all,

wait? So it's not in

get ready for the letters.

English?

It's not, it's not English, it's much older than English, it's one of the oldest in Europe.

so let's start there. So I just wanna say, so, Matthew, you are. It says that your first language was Welsh. Is that true?

It is, it is. I grew up speaking Welsh, so the whole family speak Welsh.

But isn't Welsh just English with an accent? I don't understand.

Yes, basically, we, we just we. What we do is trying to adopt such a harsh accent, no one really understands the English we're speaking.

No No, that's he's, he's, uh, he's putting one. So I've been. I've spent some time in in Cardiff, which is where you're from. Yeah, Matthew,

it is. What were you doing there? I was filming

Looking for you?

there, uh, a few years ago, and I remember we had

What were you driving?

this, uh, I had I. I was gonna say, the driver I had when I was working on that show, you know, the guy, um,

Jerry Locket? yes, Jerry Lockett, Oh, the fa- the locket, Rocket, Yeah, the fam- the famous the only the Jerry Lockett. original. Yes,

What do you mean, driver? that What are you talking about?

You go to Rolls Royce? That's what I was trying to bait you to. Didn't, didn't take the bait. no, I had Did he loan a you a

no. They loaned me a a a Bentley when I was in, uh, when I was in London, that I was You're disgusting, drove around for a few weeks. you're fucking I know it's a long disgusting. story. right side drive, wait, did you drive

yourself in this movie?

Yeah, I did, I did, I drove side, myself, drive. sure, did. Oh my god, And then I, I dro- I drove And then I'm him to Ricky's,

rolling down the door.

to Jervis's house in, uh, in London, because I was going to have going to his house to have a just a visit.

Who are you? Who's my And I called him dentist?

and I and he and This is I said, I'm outside. And he came out and he saw me in this Bentley. I go, Where can I park this thing around here? And he's like, Jesus fucking Christ, look at it wasn't mine. It was literally I don't drive a Bentley. That was why I made a point anyway. So you're from Cardiff? We know Jerry Lockett, we've, we've got Jerry out there, we know that he's listening, we love you, Jerry, so we know rocky that you're top how are you?

Um, and I knew that you guys knew each other, cause he was always like, Do you know Matthew Rhys? And I was like, I do, I do a little bit, cause I know Kerry. And he says, Yeah, Matthew, Matthew's from here. And he's so proud of you, and all the Welsh are so proud of Matthew uh, this, for what you've done. the I think there's Right?

on there because there's only 3 million, it was 3.5 million.

that's all of, but that's all of Canada, isn't it? What? First of What is the all,

population of Canada now? thirty, thirty, thirty Oh, okay, men.

he missed it by a zero.

ten out of ten, yeah. So anyone who's Welsh and has done anything, even if they haven't done anything, we're just inherently proud for a country the size of Connecticut, which I'm talking two of them about.

are named Bale, and one of them is named Reese.

Yes, that's it, that's basically So Christian it. Well,

Gareth and Ma Bale and and Matthew Rhys.

well, there's also Hopkins, you also got Hopkins in there.

you do, you do. Yeah, and Yeah, yeah, then Burton, obviously, there are a bunch.

So wait, I don't know, I don't know anything about you, and I, I, I know you. I'm a fan of you, but I don't know anything about did you? So, were you one of those people that grew up and did theater and stuff as a kid? And you're like, Oh my god, if I can go to America, wow,

We're gonna get to that, Sean, that's exactly right.

yeah, she, she's right in the middle of a stor- He's telling I mean, she's the story, so he well, what story she's

grew up in Cardiff. So she's about, uh, Rolls she's all hopped up Royce and a on cheese, Bentley? speaking of Welsh,

isn't it?

is his first language. Oh, gosh, there was No wonder So you're so many. saying, someone he's Welsh.

landing the plane on that?

okay, sorry, go ahead. Go ahead, Matthew, and

bought some Welsh.

Sean, check your chat, please.

So talk about no. But growing up speaking, well, you s you guys spoke Welsh at home. Yeah, We did, we

did, and and in in Wales, there, there's, uh, there's a great, you know, there's a great reverence for, you know, performing arts. And there's a very there's kind of an ancient tradition. Kind of dates. It's pre-Christian, whereby everyone congregates, in the old days, everyone would congregate. And then you would sing competitively, or recite poetry or anything of that ilk, basically. And it's very modern these days, but twice a year, all the children of Wales will will gather and they've it's a compet- it's, you know, it's a competition now.

But you're very much encouraged to get on stage and in some form, art form or another, and compete for your school or your county or or whatever. So, yeah, so from a very early age, you're you're kind of kicked onto a stage, um, whether you want to really. or not. Yeah, yeah,

and now a word from our sponsor.

all right, back to the show.

So you, you grow up, you're speaking well, obviously, you speak English as well, and they they speak both there. The signage and stuff in Wales is is delightful. That it's it's, you know, one in English and one in Welsh, and it's a it's tough to read.

it was a hotbed of contention. Yeah,

What's the distance between English and Welsh? I mean, c- I've absolutely no idea what it sounds like, what it looks Yeah, I'll tell like.

you, talk a little bit in Welsh, just so we can hear it.

I'll just get, uh, one of the one of the oldest poems in Welsh is about 600 BC, and it just says Goira,ich, ca trysta, i tryst, fy thiglas, feri, han, cwina, gwenivvi, chwech, cantruberi, anten, catay, gwadi, a luch, tawe luch vi.

It's Lord of the Rings, the elves, it's how the elves speak in Well, Lord of the Rings.

yes, well, Tolkien based, uh, elfish on Welsh.

Oh, I just made that up. Is that true?

Oh, yes, it is. Yeah, what? Are you kidding Why? I mean,

me?

I'm a I'm a fifty four year old man that, uh, is not living in a cave. Why have I never, ever heard Welsh

It was the golden cave.

spoken?

Let me, let's be honest here. Well, yes, a beautiful There's no cave. I've heard te signs here, I've heard

it, let's be clear.

tell, yes, one cave to bind

But why?

us all.

What, what? I don't understand how that's gone by me. Um, Oh, I do

Well, I think, I think, listen, I don't wanna get into on the English bashing soapbox, but the English d, you know, if we're gonna, we'll do a quick history. The English did their best to kinda eradicate all the Celtic languages for the Scots, the Irish, the Welsh, the Cornish. You know, they, they, they weren't too Celtic friendly, so there was a a a lot of stamping out of the language and the culture.

wow. And and was it influenced, uh, uh, by, um, uh, mo- folks more northern, like, was there a Viking influence to all of those Celtic languages? Um,

I mean, there's, I mean, there's the great ev- evolution, it's Germanic-based. And then, you know, the C, I think the Keltoi were a a Spanish tribe initially. And they, you know, then the Gauls got I involved and it, it amalgamated, and then and then they s, you know, set up camp in Britain, and then the Romans came.

we're all such babies here in America, we're well, you so young.

don't learn any e- e- even if you did pay attention, I mean, you know, even if you did in in America. Go to school, not on a massage bus. You, you, you learned, you learned, you learned history,

How dare you?

you learned history. But at least in Canada, we did. We had to take British history, so we knew we. Uh, we were always studying the fucking battle of Culloden and all that shit. Like, Well, is the what was this?

EM is the, uh, was the EM, is the empire still stamped down your throat? In Canada?

Oh, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, I don't I. I haven't lived there in thirty years, so I, I, I'm This is not sure.

a guy who reads World War II books on the can, going to bed. It's not as bad as Justin Theroux, who will watch World War II documentaries through the face hole of a massage table. But bye-bye, okay, that's that he's. He takes it to a new level, this, this lust for World War II.

He lines it just for comfort and stuff, he lines it with his, uh, discarded sleeves, just to protect his face. just to pad the So so rank. so Matthew, so you're, you're in, you're what? You're sort of seventeen, and you go to Rada. Yeah,

went to the went to, yeah, went went the Royal to Rada. Yes,

Academy of Dramatic Art in in London, which is the preeminent classical, uh uh, acting school in the world.

that's what I tell everyone. Yeah, that was how I told my parents they allow me to go.

it's like everybody who goes to Rada,

that's so cool.

uh, you, they'll tell you, and it's the same way with everybody who's ever gone to Oxford. Uh, make sure to let that be known.

Well, yes, we'll drop it in. You know, they're all call there. You walk in and they've left the the honor boards are still up in in in the, uh, in the foyer. So, like, you know, has Peter O'Toole and Anthony Hopkins, and

It's incred- I did a so sum, I did a summer course there years ago, in nineteen did you eighty, nineteen, eighty seven. Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah,

the Shakespeare?

I did. Yeah, I did the whole thing you've for a few days come on, there. Yeah, at Rada,

come on.

at Rada, I sure did.

How was that? That was amazing, man, What did you do

He seems so dumb. it was amazing. Um, Is there a lot of pressure when you go to a school like that to to make it? I mean, obviously you did, but I mean, is there? Uh, could just sort of culturally, do you feel there like, Oh my god, okay? So I'm in Rada now. I gotta, I gotta, I gotta, I gotta maintain our, our batting average of. Or is there a lot of people that go there and and and then go into other fields?

Is that was that more common?

it, it is, it is, it's a it's a very small intake, there's only thirty to each year, fifteen bo- fifteen men, fifteen women.

every year?

Um, yeah, yeah, so it's it's very small, so you s you feel the pressure im immediately. And and um,

that's small. Did they do it on a bus?

yes, like a massage bus. Yeah, they just tr- it just k- kinda goes around around to Just pick up any circus.

wait thirty on the massage bus comfortably.

That's what that's what I heard.

and then you guys stop, you guys stop for lunch at Jinkies on Ventura, right? We mentioned

it's a reading at the Bode Tree. That's

so, but it's very exclusive. But you here, you are, you're, you're a kid from Cardiff. Were, were the you the only Welsh person in your year?

Um, yes, I was, I was. I had a friend who was a year older. And then Michael Sheen had just come through and kind of blazed a trail and was kind of, you know, setting the West End on on fire. So so there was this, you know, there was a, uh, the the flag of Wales is is the dragon, so there was a kind of a dragon firmly stamped. Uh, as to, you know, the Welsh are resurging again.

Um, but, you know, like I said, Hopkins, Anthony Hopkins, was the the chairman of the board at the time. So he'd be in and out, and he'd ch he'd just done, um, Shadowlands. So, you know, there was this, there was this great air that, you know, anything was, anything was possible, really. I think I think one of the things that the Welsh and Wales suffer from enormously is small person syndrome. And at that time, there was just this little bubble of of a few, you know, Welsh people doing incredibly well.

Catherine Zeta was bursting through the ranks, so I was there at this renaissance when anything felt possible.

Um, you know what? My question is gonna be, I'll, I can s ask it now or later. Oh, Hank Green,

did you ever forget a line on stage?

What's your favorite theater story, Matthew? Yeah, I Is

because you gotta have one or two.

Yes, I have, I have, um, well, I have quite a few, in fact. No, but but po- possibly when I was, C, because I was doing theater for for the first, what, five years solidly? And then at twenty five, um, I thought I I'd. I got the role that was gonna change my life and my career. It didn't, but I got, uh, to play Benjamin Braddock in a stage adaptation of The Graduate with Kathleen Turner as my Mrs.

Robinson. And to me, it was the first real introduction to Hollywood, cause I'd never experienced anything like it in every sense. Like PAs that I was like, What's a PA? who has a PA? It was just incredible. Anyway, fast forward, we're ha halfway through the run. Um, it it g- it got a little, you know? There were a f- a few bedromantics in in in the production. And there's one moment where I jump in bed and we're simulating sex.

And I have to kind of plunge my face between her legs, as if I'm I'm pleasuring her. Or she had she did have the, you know, the obligatory kind of, you know, f- flesh toned, um, underwear on. But anyway, I had a I had a streaming head cold. And being the m malicious, vindictive type that I am, I d I wouldn't let the understudy go on, so I went. I went on and I had my nose was just streaming, my col- my nose was streaming, and I couldn't.

I didn't wanna kind of sniff heavily during, you know, during silence, so I never, never and and I'm doing

great idea. this, yeah, and Yeah,

I go, Oh, I know what I know what I know what I know what I'll do. I'll just clear my nose in that quiet moment when I'm between. I know, and I just, well, I didn't think so. I jumped in and I'm between Miss Turner's legs, and I just went and inhaled deeply. And the covers kind of shot up. And she's looking down me, like, what the fuck, what the fuck are you doing? And I was like, Oh, oh, no, I'm not.

No, I'm not. I'm. I'm not sniffing, I have a cold, I have a cold, I'm not sniffing you, you're not I'm not sniffing. trying wine out. Yeah, No, no,

My god, no way.

yes, that I, I. I always live with this deep regret of that moment. That and when a someone, there was a paparazzi photo when the in the moment she, uh, she took off her her robe, and this paparazzi photographer stood stood up and and photographed her. And a big whoa, flash went off. I know, and I looked at her on stage in this moment, and I was like, Oh, we should, s we should stop. And she came in with the next line, and I always remember thinking, regardless that she was an consummate professional.

Went, I'm gonna come in with the next line, I'm gonna ca- carry on. I bitterly regret, in that moment, not stopping the production, because the next day, in a tabloid newspaper, there Oh Lord, was a yeah, uh uh, a huge

that's a tough. photograph of Yeah, Yeah,

yeah, I was ashamed, I was ashamed. oh my god. Well, Oh, you know, I know. God, guess that's but it was, who's? and they had yeah,

to table, and the and the headline just, it just said, Welshman, uh, you know, just fucking cowers under pressure. You know what I mean?

yeah, ye- yeah, yes, spineless Welshman does nothing.

We'd leave it to the English tabloids to say that

I love that.

Oh my god.

I fucking so you, so Matthew, so you, you did, as you said, you did, did, did you play another great Welshman? You played Dylan Thomas, didn't you I did, at one point?

I did that. Yes, uh, oh, my god, it feels so long ago, it was l about twelve years ago now. Yeah, um, he, he had this, he had this incredible moment, the the poet Dylan Thomas had this incredible moment. I i in his life where he was having an affair. Uh, th- that part was played by Keira Knightley, and my and Turner, Miller's playing my wife. And Cillian Murphy, um, is the husband of Keira Knightley. And this is all true.

The that he burst in on Dylan Thomas with a machine gun, cause it was during the Second World War, he came in with a machine gun. He opened fire, he like, and then missed everyone and took out a grenade, pulled the pin and the grenade didn't go off. And it was that story, uh, we we told in, um,

No way.

In the Age of Love. Yeah, it was kind of it was an unbelievable, uh, story that he survived and then tragically drank himself to death.

Wow, talk about, uh, this about the worst assassin you could ever imagine.

Yes, and I was like, but I was like, but t talking to Killian about it. I was like, but you're playing a C- you're a commando, you're a trained commando. What, uh, do you wanna play this part?

So you are, you are not you. D You do not live in Wales, correct?

I do not know. I now live in leafy Brooklyn,

Leafy Brooklyn.

Yeah, so you live in, you live in Brooklyn, but you, you come over, you do theater, as you say, for basically five years, and then you move over to America to do what? What was the first thing that brought you over?

the first thing I did. I was doing, I was doing a play, I was actually doing a two-hander at the Royal Court with Paul Paul Bettany. Called One More Wasted Year, and everyone called it One More Wasted Evening, cause it wasn't. It wasn't good. My own family said as much, it was terrible. Um,

Did they really?

So they come ba- they come backstage, and what? what were they saying to you backstage? Did my you?

uncle was the first person of the entire group and the Kimmy and is an old Sea captain, very salty, and he went well, that was shit, uh, and I couldn't argue. I went, You're absolutely right. And then, yeah, Stephen Daldry, who was the Stephen Daldry, who was the artistic director at the time, and press night came in, went, darlings. Was it the play we need to see right now? Probably not. Should we go to the party?

That's hysterical. oh God,

Wow, that's so hardcore. So you come over with Paul Bettany, you do Sorry, yes, that.

yeah. And an American agent came to see the play and he said, Do you wanna come over for pilot season? And I had no idea what it was. And uh, uh, and I said, yes, and then came came to LA. And then the first audition he set me up with, it was it was Julie Taymor's first movie, Titus, with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. And I just thought, Oh, my god, Los Angeles is truly the promised land, where you just turn up and get these huge movies and everything's great.

Yeah, you just sign it.

And then I did that, yeah, and I shot that in Rome for six months, and then I went back to LA. And didn't get a job for a decade.

yeah, here's another. Another time I'm gonna my career's gonna be made. And it was just like, Eh, meh, just just pay a few

Isn't that amazing? bills. Isn't it? I love that feeling of like, Yeah, it's gonna be like this forever.

yeah, yeah, it, it, it's like the Klondike I arrived. It was like the Klondike, where they throw you these scripts and go. This is being made for MGM with this as a lead. And you're like, Oh my, and you're allowing me to audition for this. This is madness. All I have to do is get the part and I'm set for life.

you never know anything, you really don't. I mean, look, look at us three morons, like, we've, we've each of us have had great success, uh, as I knock on wood. We're super grateful for in our careers. But then, you know, this thing comes along, it's more successful than anything we've ever done. And it was just us three in its chatting during Covid, right? Like, And then what do we do the taverns, and no, yes,

And the world, the world basically was saying, we don't want you guys to do the thing that you think that you're good at. Just yeah, or stop.

the things you're pro, you're professional Yeah, you at, you know?

can keep doing that a little bit if you want, but we just want you to be that you're we. We wanna hear your idiotic thoughts on stupid shit.

yeah, just just like, well, you know, wonder at the the moment where Sean learns that Wales was, you know why, you know where Wales got its name, Sean? You know, that's where they made the first harpoon. You know, That's not true, it's not true, that's not true, correct? But you bought it for a second, I always yeah, and that's what buy it, they tune I always buy that in to hear.

shit. Because he'll fuck with me and he'll say something that's completely not true, and then he'll say something that's completely true. I never know what The to believe.

It's tough, I know, ain't But it? wait a minute, they d. They

did shoot Moby Dick in Wales with Gregory Peck, and my grandfather worked on it.

Is that true? is that

is that true? true? is

that true?

Yeah, yeah, they built three large rubber whales, uh, and one of them, one of them, I know they were like, this is the great joke is like they came to Wales, um, and one of them sailed off into the Irish Sea, which I think is fantastic. That there was I have this

I have a whale that needs a rubber, but go ahead, hell,

my grandfather caught Moby Dick, but there's a queue over it now. hey, oh

Wait, wait, wait. What did your grandfather do on on the on that?

His his friend Edgar was a carpenter, and I think he kind of they kind of helped out. And I think in the f- in the framing of the Wales,

I love that.

that's cool. Wait, I wanna ask, um, about Carrie, and I wanna know, like, did you meet each oth- cause I'm an idiot, I don't know. Did you meet before Americans or on the set? And how did that go? And what? When did you know the sparks flew?

just one question at a time.

we do, because I get easily confused,

Cause I loved Carrie, I loved so Carrie.

do I. Um, it, we me. We met quite a few years before the Americans, um, i in in Rustic Canyon at a kickball party that Jennifer Grey hosted, and I had no idea what kickball was.

Boy, all of that adds up, by the way.

Yes, yes, as how I just amble through life, bumping into the furniture and ending up going, How did I get here? How did this happen? Um, and we were we. We were the last two to leave. We were in the parking lot and I was trying to open a bottle of beer for her with a key and failing. And I asked for her number then and then, and that was k- and that was all I can remember.

She was moving, she was moving to New York. The c- uh, the two days after that, on the Tuesday, it was a Sunday, and that's all I still remember. And then, uh, the the road to the Americans was a long, crazy one. And then, on the first day of fight training, I said to Kerry, I said, Oh, we've met, we've met before, actually. And she was like, No, no, we definitely

Oh, I said, it had been haven't. years.

It's been years at this point. And I said, Yeah, yeah, we met before. We met at a kickball party in Rustic Canyon. She went, I know who you are, and you left me a message on my answering machine, a very drunken message. And I went, Did I did I? I'm so sorry. I have no memory of leave leaving a long, rambling, incoherent, drunken message, which is probably why she returned my

way, did you really?

wait, can I can I be a a a super moron? Are you guys together? Okay, wait, did you? So you got together, you started

You know, I would just working together bring him that they're just good friends,

well, be no, because they weren't they have a kid together on the Americans together, for six years.

that's what I'm saying. That's why I was asking,

they have a son. right? Did it happen

But then.

then? or no?

But during that, you guys fell in love, got married, had a kid. we did. Yes, Thank you,

Yeah, but I wanna know what happened. So she goes, Oh, okay, now I remember you, and then what?

and and then it was, it was just a very, it was a very slow burn. The first season, you lo- you know, I g- m I think we were both trying to be sworn off to that thing. Where you're gonna go, I'm not gonna do what everyone tells us never to do, I'm not gonna do that. And then, uh, but the beginning of the second season, it was

It was awesome.

it was, it was, uh, Yeah, ship yeah,

of sale.

Oh wait, so okay. So now were the producer, did the producers take each of you aside individually and say, Hey, w- this is w- you're dealing with an asset here. Okay? W- everyone has jobs. If you guys go south, we have to shut the show down. W- was, were there conversations?

no, no. They were very gracious about it, cause I, I, I've They were had friends,

all so nervous.

I know, I've had friends who c- you know, who've had that conversation. The sit down from the producers going, look, we've all been down here before. You guys are in your your mid-thirties now, you kn- you know, you're not twenty two. Right off the company Um, and they were very, pen. yeah, they were very kind and gracious about it. Do you know, do you know the TV director Tommy Schlamme? Yeah, so Schlamme, the G- was directing the beginning of the second season.

Um, and he has that kind of beautiful voice. But Kerry and I were t having a, uh, we were doing a sex scene, and Schlamme just goes. These two have been naked together before. And then then just was like, called out

oh, really. by Mr. Schlamme, So at that point, no one knew, but he could tell

he could, he could tell. And then and then there's a longer story as to how we got found out, which was, uh, just

we've got time.

well. Kerry got broken into. I was in the H- I was in, I was in the house at the time, and the and the robbers kind of grabbed my backpack, Hold on, hold on, shoved it full of her hold on. You're stuff. Yeah,

in the house alone during a home invasion. Wow, start there.

well, so here's the other thing is it's early day, and this is this is just a testament to my abject stupidity. But we were in early days of our of our relationship. And she wakes me up, she says, there's someone in the house, and I go, No, there's not. And then I just heard this voice, Oh shit, and I remem- and I remember thinking, in any logical moment, you'd go, let's lock ourselves in the bathroom and call nine, one, one.

And for some stupid reason, because it were very early days, I thought what I do next, she will judge me on for the rest of our lives. Have you s What's that, um, film

force majeure. force majeure? how? why when the avalanche

are you doing this?

comes and he just runs, he leaves the family behind. right, right, I, I It's a brilliant

swear to God, I. I was movie. Yeah, like, if I suggest to go into the bathroom and call nine, one, one, will she think me a coward?

your relationship's over.

I had all these weird things going through my head, so what did I do? She had a she had a working fireplace in the in the in the in the bedroom. So I picked up the poker and with not a stitch on me, I walked out to meet my fate.

And we'll be right back after these messages. Okay, wait, so now we're back.

so so now we're back, so now you're now, now so, after you're, you're.

eight months of treatment, yes, I was fine. No, I'm kidding,

So so, uh, did you, eh, face to face with this fella?

no, because what I did was, uh, I think, what most people do is you turn the light off light on and they run straight away. Yeah, so I heard them kind of run, and, uh, and they they ran, they ran out the front door. Oh, thank God, Um, I know, I know Jesus.

So you do this, and now Carrie thinks that you're her hero.

I, I wouldn't go that far.

Or did she think you were stupid for going for chasing after the guy?

basically, yeah, she was like,

She was locked in the bathroom. Yeah, calling Yeah, waiting, waiting

nine, one, one. for you. Yeah, Yeah. Then seven cops turn up and they start, they clock her, and they're like, looking, they'll have no idea why, but they're looking at her. And then and then all of a sudden, the DA will, like, they catch them, and the DA said, Oh, uh, I tell you what. We would love to return your belongings on set with a photographer to Kerry, if that's okay. Uh, and she's like, Uh, she wasn't wild about the idea.

Tried to put her off. No, no, no, cause the DA was retiring that year, he wanted kind of a, you know, hero ending. So the NYPD come on set with a photographer, and then they they're holding up my bag. And, indeed, one of the young PAS went, Wait, that's not Carrie's bag, that's Matthew's bag. And, uh, as I'm running, trying to go, and that's how the g- that's how the co- crew kind of found out. Yeah,

So arbitrary. That's crazy.

there was a lot to go through just for the big reveal.

that's kinda cool.

So then this guy managed to grab a few things before he went running. He did, he did, Yeah,

he did. And when I saw the paint, when I saw the, uh, the picture of him when he was arrested, I said, Oh, I said, Look, there's a picture of the guy that caught him. Uh, I said, look, look, and he's he's being cuffed by two little tiny cops. And she said, they're not tiny. And yeah, he's I saw this, big. oh my, and I saw the size of him. He could have, he could have turned me into a kebab with that poker and done what he wanted.

I wouldn't have had a Now. Did a

you have any sort of war cry as you turned on the light? Was there any sort of get the heck out of there's you're going, Hey there? bear, hey bear, Yeah, you know, was there any of Every. No, that?

no, as much as I, as much as I

I have a poker?

was, yeah, yeah, as m as much as I love that moment in Gladiator, when all the Celts kind of attack the Romans. And I always think, you know, if it, if it came to it, that's how I'd react. I was n- I couldn't move my legs. Oh my god,

don't make me come down there.

Yeah, yes, I'm, I'm classically trained, you know, I've done fencing.

totally naked.

Yeah, yes, let's just let's get this going. Yeah,

And we will be right back,

And now back to the show.

all right. So you and Carrie have a child, that's a boy or a girl,

he's a boy, he's a boy. Kerry Kerry has two older ones, so there's three, you know, there's three in the house who outnumber us.

and what are the ages of all three?

Fifteen, eleven and six.

Fifteen, eleven and six, then the fifteen and eleven are boy, girl,

a boy, girl, so it goes boy, girl, boy. boy, girl, boy. And Yeah,

how are you liking being a dad? I love it, Do you love I do it?

love it. I, I. It's the it's the madness that I love. It's when it's, and it's most, the small stuff irks you, but when it's catastrophic, it's brilliant. When he was mornings, when the wheels so royally come off, that's when I can sit back and go, Oh, this is, this is just brilliant.

Who's the pa- who's the more patient one with all of the with with the chaos? Is it you or her? Uh, her, her Yeah,

ca- chaos. I'm fine with, but if, uh, but manners like rudeness, I don't tolerate, and that's when I

no, me neither.

no, that's, that's what I got. How old are yours now, Jason?

I got sixteen and eleven, two girls. Yeah, um, and I'm totally permissive and the guy that plays around, and I don't have to really be the disciplinarian. But then but if it's, if it's the rudeness, if it's stuff like that, and I just like, the switch gets thrown. yeah, same, Yeah, I pick same. and choose my moments.

Yeah, the chaos is great. The, yeah, rudeness I I don't.

I've got, we've got, uh, we've got, uh, fourteen, we've got fourteen, twelve, and then my partner, she has a five-year-old, and then we have an almost three-year-old. All boys, all

What? boys. way.

You've almost got the hockey team.

almost got the team. And it's a fuck, and it is. Sometimes it is absolute, just, uh, abject chaos, like, just

Uh, how do you? how do you like it?

I love it. The chaos It's great.

of it?

Yeah, I love it. It's I don't know. I just wouldn't have it any other way. I, I, I embrace it. It's fun. Uh, same same thing. All they're all nice, they're all nice kids, and everybody, you know, is, uh, has good manners and stuff. That's one of the thing, but but I love it, man. I love it when it just gets absolute. You know, sometimes, w- when you get into the witching hour, sort of near bedtime, it gets

We? fucking b bonkers. Um,

how about the complications, Matthew, of the of travel and stuff? Since you guys are both very active in your careers and your kids are now deeply entrenched in in school and having that sort of social and academic continuity. Like, you can't really pick them up and take them places with you as much as you want. I'll bet, right? How do you guys manage that? Is it easy or tough,

it's. It is tough. We, I mean, we try and live by this ridiculous rule where one of us works, one of us doesn't, and the, you know, the kids stay at school. But it's it's just,

That never works out, right? Because, like, what

it doesn't.

if it's somebody gets a great, great call and it's, uh, you just can't say no, but this is your turn, and you know?

yeah, this is what. This is what happened last year. And grandma came in, and, you know, the kids ate sugar for six solid months. They they, they love, they loved it.

I think that my my sort of view on it always is is that is that you have this idea of how you want it to go. So you say, like, one of us is gonna work, one of us not, whatever that thing is. And you try to set those parameters, and you try to get as close to it as you can. And you have to be flexible and allow yourself to, you know, that that there are gonna be moments when it's just pure chaos.

And And the truth is,

kids are so incredibly resilient, like they don't know any different. You know, I grew up in a house where my mom was a stewardess for Pan Am, or f- flight attendant, so she was gone two weeks of every month. That was just normal to me, you know, I just had my mom half the time, and that was just, uh, normal. yeah, I Not a big

had my dad, Al, No, right, um, so the uh, no, Matthew's gonna

love this story. oh, Matthew,

no, no, yeah, go. So it starts it's

with a with a a Chevy Pontiac, uh, the the engine turning on,

yeah, and it, and it ends with a peel out. Yeah, just a peel out, and a and and a

in a, in a, in a, in a real sort of a distant kind of fuck fuck you.

y'all, fuck all y'all, mama

This is John. This isn't true, is it?

yeah, it's true. My dad left when I was five, five

and he. and a half, And he left, and he was left his mom to to keep an eye on all of them. And I stress His mother and I has one eye, and I stress you know, and I Matthew, it's it's brilliantly, at one point, uh, tragic. You tragic. have to laugh, It's funny, yeah,

yeah, it's the only thing anyway, we have to do.

we have to laugh at our misfortunes. Because

but wait, I'm gonna ask you a weird question only because you're wearing a black T-shirt and you've seen, and I've seen a lot of photos of you and stuff. Like, where you're, you seem very, you seem very kind of fa- like you. You're into fashion when you have to be like, I know nothing, like, I'm terrible. But like, you're do tell, probably like, Will, you're probably like, Will, where you're? Like, I, I like to look good when I even go to the store, I like to look good when I go out in public.

Like, is that? It seems like a lot of effort.

oh, no, no, if if you truly knew me, it it's. Uh, Kerry said the other day, cause I have, I have. I have these beaten up car hearts, and I wear, uh, usually just the same black T-shirt every day. And even Kerry's like, You've, you've got, you've got to change for the school run. You've worn the same thing for m for. It's now m, it's now months, and my car hearts are really beaten up. And there's, there was this, there was this

What cards? w- car car Car hearts,

hearts. Sorry, it's the way it's a I'm saying it's a brand it. clothing brand. Car It's like one of the hearts the carpenters car hearts, yeah, all the carpenters wear them, and the and the real, real worker guys. And and and I wear them into the ground, so they look so terrible. That there was the I was standing in school pickup in the line. And this mother come, looked at my trousers and she went, What, what is it you do?

And I went, I went, I, Oh, I'm, I'm, I'm actually an actor. And she went, Oh, oh. And it's like, almost like, why are you wear, why are you masquerading as someone who works for a living?

well, you have your uniform.

well, it's like Jason always gets the question. When they see him, they always say, What, what? What time's your tea time? right? isn't that the question I asked that gets most him that today. Well, PEOP-

what I wear, this little outfit, it's it's clear, you Yeah, he's a know, you know what

little different.

I do get a lot, you know what I do get a lot is, uh, do your col- do you color your hair? And now recently, cause of this, uh, this film where I play in a guy in 1985, they think it's a wig, just a full blown wig On the that I'm wearing.

head? I'm looking forward to that immensely.

yeah, no one thinks that my hair is the right is because the real color,

you're lucky, because you're s, and it's just cause in your seventies, like you are, it's n- nobody. That's not it's un. It's true. But a lot of

not believable that a seventy year old would not I, have any gray I. I have hair.

to admit that there have been. I've had a few people in the last year who have asked me, Jason, if If I you color your color my hair, hair, yeah, same,

I tell everyone that you color your hair. it's you started

that's what it is.

that, huh? You son of a bitch.

it was, it was, yeah, it was during that, it was during that moment. Do you remember, what do you? I don't know if you remember this. In the Golden Globes, that as this is sound perversely pretentious, but it still makes me laugh. That kind of green, the virtual green room, if you remember, is you, me, Bob Odenkirk, um, Josh O'Connor. And then we were all waiting for Al Pacino to kind of pop up, do you remember, into the virtual green room?

And we were all wait, we were all waiting. And then he pops up. Because we're all at home during the pandemic. And he looks like a Bond villain, cause he has like a small dog in his lap, and he's stroking, and he's six cars on, choking it. Yes, and we all sort of say, we all go hi, hello, hello, hi, hi, hi. And then then there's silence, and then we s kind of do a second round.

We're like, going, hello, ha, no, nothing. And then I think you said, I don't think he can hear us. And then Pacino just goes, Oh, I can hear you. oh boy, yeah, We all went, Oh, oh,

just doesn't wanna do the group hug.

and then he said, I think he colors his hair.

yeah, oh, this guy, oh, oh, hair color. Charlie, Oh oh, hey, so

that's a problem. so Matthew, Yeah,

yeah. Quick question for Jason Why is it the the emblem? why is the person holding an umbrella? What is that?

Oh, this is some silly golf

Mary Mary Poppins? sweater.

oh yeah, what is that

Yeah, it's, it actually is a Mary Poppins. This is a, uh, I believe this is an ATT thing. Willie, this was,

from ATT?

uh, yeah, this was one of the, From that uh,

swag room we went into?

yeah, free sweater.

we have, um, smartless golf stuff coming out soon.

I love it.

Oh, let's let's take the opportunity to do a merch tie-in, Well, shall we? Smart Same, Matthew, would Matthew,

can you commit right now to wearing smartless, uh, golf merch to on the school run?

but I my entire closet is mainly made up of clothes I've stolen from jobs. I don't buy Yeah, yeah, same, things. well, we're gonna same.

send you some some smartless golf swag. I love So like some, uh, some, uh, plus fours, right? for the the

Oh, we have twins.

golf ants, you know, you can wear that, you know, yeah, uh, you, instead of we were, you.

we were listen, li- I do wanna say your show gives us so much joy and we were listening. Yes, it does. We were listening to it recently. And Will, I think you went to dinner with Sean at Jar, and you and Sean, you Yeah, I was were, um, not invited. Yeah, uh, yeah, I well, we, we. We brought that up in the car. We were like, that wasn't Jason,

yeah, yeah, I never am. These guys have been all over the world together. Oh my god, I've never asked never. I mean, they've been to Turkey, they've been to where else, guys,

Yeah, we have, uh, Venice,

where else? Your passport's been stamped? Venice, Italy,

right? We went to Venice, Venice, Italy? too. Yeah,

you guys play golf every day. Okay, go ahead, man. yeah, no, that's

see, it's a trick. Oh yeah, different. so so you did say that you were wearing Uggs, well, this kind of slipper Uggs for dinner. Is that right? Did I remember that right? And I said to Carrie, went, See, it's fine. And she went, They live in LA.

She's right.

Sean, that was you wearing the comfy, uh, shoes? he's been doing

why not?

it for years, he's been doing it Who for years.

looks at your shoes? Nobody looks at your shoes I in a dark restaurant.

would, and then I would choose to never come to dinner with you Cobbler's again.

around the world. Cobbler's Yeah, listen, um, uh, so Matthew. So now, recently, in the last couple years, you've partnered with our, with our, uh, our good friend, uh, Mr. Downey Jr. Um,

Oh, yeah, Perry Mason. Uh, that's a handsome looking show.

talk to us a little bit about that. First of all, how that came about and what a an absolute terror he is as a executive producer. Oh, this Downey, oh my god, oh my god, I mean, oh my god. Yes, and he speaks stories, God, yeah, Shetland yells and screams,

oh, what a screamer.

he strikes people.

Yes, yes, with a glove, has a leather glove, a small gauntlet that he sometimes put a metal thimble in it. Just for a little shat. Yeah, yeah, oh, Christ, he's here, he's here. He speaks so Yeah,

highly of you.

how did that come? Uh, how did? Yeah, he loves you, Yeah, he does, uh, Robert,

he really does. He speaks Robert loves you, so highly.

and and talk to us a little bit about, and and Susan as well, she Susan does loved you too. not like, Great, Susan, Oh, she does well, yes, the great Susan, uh, the the brains, uh, of that duo. Um, if I the wind beneath may,

the wings and the brain in the head,

yeah, um, how did that come into into your sort of into your world? Uh, uh, the Perry Mason project,

I mean, ugh, well, I'm trying to think, what, y- what year it was now, cause it was a, it was a. It was a while back. We had probably a big

three, four years ago, maybe

yes yes. Um, and I, I always, and this is what, this is how my brain works. When when my manager calls and he goes, you know, team Downey, wanna talk to you about, um, a reboot of Perry Mason? My first question was like, Who who's turned it down? who's turned it down?

right? Why does a robber wanna do it?

Yes, well, so that was, and I think he did. I think that was the whole point that Robert was was supposed to do it. And and it took them almost ten years of development and it it went through m many, very many guises of a TV film, a a series. And I just think it, ne- Robert never quite got there. Um, so, yeah, they reached out for a, for a, for a meeting, which I was terr- terrified about.

and the brilliant Mr. Van Patten, um, directed that, didn't Oh my god, he? Yeah,

yeah, yeah, yeah, there was just the yeah, it was just hey, a it was no, me a dream, it was a dream genius. And neither.

by the way, I love that d their their company's called Team Downey, which is always fun to me. I think that's a great company name. It's I've always been jealous of that, um, but I don't want ro- Robert's I would've rule.

called it Touchdowny.

Yeah, oh, that's good, that's Yeah, that'd be good nice, that's

too, right?

fun. Yeah, that's fun.

It's just like, I'm, I'm looking to call rename mine, Master Bateman, um, but it will not. It has not cleared.

So Robert, so so team Downey, so team Downey, uh, reaches out and you go and you meet with these guys and you're like, you're like, uh, uh, did you know that it was gonna become this great? Like, what was your first thought of it? When you were you, like, excited, were you sort of skeptical? were you

I mean, I was, I was, I was slightly skeptical, cause I've I have,

like, did you develop it with them, or was it a script?

Well, you're also carrying a bunch of pedigree out of the Americans won the Emmy The Americans with it. It was

and and brothers and sisters that you did for five years with our with our old buddy, Robbie Bates, my old you did not want friend. it to suck, No, no, but

but, uh, that was never in doubt. Cause, you know, I think when you saw team Downey, you know, um, the the writers on it, Tim Van Patten, HBO, it was it kind of it was streaked of. I wasn't concerned that it wouldn't, wouldn't be of a certain caliber. If, if anyth, if anything, might, you know, it's, uh, usually, it stems from my own insecurities. What, you know, what, how how I can turn it into a c catastrophe more than anything else.

But I was very excited, I loved it. It was pitched as a one-off, uh, and they were like, Look, we just wanna do the origin story and that'll be it. And then, you know, halfway through, they were like, You know, this is it's. It works pretty good, it looks good. We should, we should think about doing this a little, you know, we should think about doing more of this. I did, I did have that small reservation where I've done, where I kind of, you know, Perry Mason is so revered.

Well, it was in the UK, it was huge. Uh, and and here also. And there there is a certain generation of an age group up that kind of go, No, no, no, you can't, you can't touch Mason. But, you know, you have to, you have to leave that alone.

And then a ton of people have no recollection of the show whatsoever.

And that's what Susan said. She said, Look, there's, there's, there's an entire, there are swathes of generations ready for a new Perry Mason.

Yeah, we can do, we can make it whatever we want. And where did you? where did you guys shoot that?

In, uh, in L. A. They went back to the origin story in the books, which was 1930s L. A. Which to me was, you know, with Chinatown and everything else, was such was so alluring. And and and as a kid growing up watching old movies, I was like, Oh my god, I get to wear a fedora in

and you're doing an American

L. A. accent. Yeah, yeah,

You get to wear a fedora in L. A. Like everybody else in Venice, right? Like, yeah, or yeah, or Just, Los Feliz, yeah, Yeah, As as an actor, or Los Feliz.

is it? Is the American accent a tough thing to do? And, uh, uh, you do you have, like, a phrase that clicks you right into the typical American sound? That's a sort of like a a shortcut for you,

there no, there's no real short. It's still, it's still a, it's still a huge. It's like a, I say, block. like hamburger, I'll tell you what, ki, well, yeah, why? I'll tell you what, kill. I went I went up to, uh, one of the writers early on in in, um, in Perry Mason. I said, Is there any chance we can change, like, murderer to killer? And he's like, you do realize you've signed on for Perry Mason, like, you're gonna be saying murderer a lot.

And I was like, Yeah, hadn't quite thought that one through. That's a. It's a bit of an Achilles heel for me. That, like, always sound like that's a tough I've. word to say, right, Yeah, like, your batteries run out halfway through, you just go murderer, murderer, murderer. I was like, you say, killer, what about suspect? suspect would be great.

right? Because the British accent would put an A H on a murderer, Yeah, mur- right? murder, murder, murder. Murder. Yeah,

murder. By the way, if you're gonna live in America, you gotta learn how to say murderer. I mean, I'm sorry, I know, especially that's like a showbiz. be the thing you're gonna say the most. Jesus Christ. Well, yeah, I mean, now. So now you've got the second season, uh, of of Perry Mason coming out, which is fantastic, which you never thought you'd do. And and

and that was that was delayed a bit, yeah, with, uh, Covid, perhaps,

hugely delayed because Susan to a, you know, detriment. No, we're gonna wait, we're not gonna, we're not gonna shrink the show and make a smaller show of of the first one. We'll wait until we can make the same big show with hundreds of supporting artists and do it right.

right? Because there there's a lot of background players in in in a lot of crowd scenes. Yeah, it's a massive yeah, production.

Oh, my, it's, it's a beast. It's, uh, the there. There are those days I turn up on set and I go, I don't even know how this, how this works. My brother, my brother-in-law, was a tank commander in the British Army Whoa, for most of his life. And he said, it's all. Uh, like, if you think about the logistics they have to do, it's insane. But he came on set one day and he went, How does this work?

And he was just so shocked. He goes, What amazes me, he said. What amazes me is that so many components have to come together in one tiny moment and be quiet. He said. It was it sort of stag. It staggered him. He was like, he was, like, amazed that the cut

it's true.

call sheets and everything it is.

it's true. When you watch, when you go to a when you go to a big film television set and you watch all these people who are at the top of their game. And they're seeing, like you said, come together in that moment where everything's gotta be silent and everything's gotta be great. And you see it pulled off. Sometimes it has the timing of something that has to happen in the shot, some whatever it is, it is pretty amazing to watch.

W Uh, how good these people are at what they do. yeah, and filming Yeah,

filming in New York, which we'd obviously do. The Americans are. It's Sta- It's staggering that they get away with what they do in the kind of like, location departments should be, uh, given flak jackets these days for the amount of the amount of abuse they just get from people who wanna go park, drive down the street, or, you know, en- enter a shop.

but how many times have you had that? When you're shooting in New York on the street and then some, it's like, pretty good. And then, like, somewhere in the take, you just hear somebody out leaning out a window going, I wanna be in the fucking movie.

Yeah, all the time, or or All right, when and

let's go again.

always. If it says exterior night in the Americans, you know you're looping it, you know you're ADRing it, cause you know there's someone shouting along the line. There was this one time in Harlem I was doing a scene and it was like f- eight guys, cause I had to shout the scene. Eight guys were shouting the exact same words along with me, and the director they've heard it was. so many times. Yeah,

Um, Matthew, we have taken up so much of your time. My God, I just realized

what a pleasure.

we could talk to you

this has been a treat. forever. Uh, this has been a real

man, dude, you're a conversationalist. treat.

you're one of us, you're one of us.

God, you're one of us.

this has been a real treat. Sean, I can't wait to see the show. We're all coming to see it. We're very excited about it.

Oh, that's so nice, thank you. How? How are Yeah,

previews going?

really well, really exhausting, but I bet, thank you for asking. I walked down

I bet.

the street one day, uh, w- today, walked down the street to go get th- my little sandwich, my egg sandwich, On a Kaiser roll, and a kaiser roll. And this woman, this woman stopped me. She was really sweet, but this is how much energy was in her voice. She grabbed my arm. She goes, I saw your show last night. I go, Yeah, thank you for coming. She goes, It was really good. And she just kept walking.

I love New York,

New York, I'm defeated. And that's it. That was like it, though. She was I mean, last very nice, time I though.

last time I did a play, I was, I was, I, I was walking f- from the theater, and this woman just shouted, You're an asshole! And I just went, I hope you saw the show. Yeah, that's, that's not personal. Yeah,

Matthew Well, when when we come to New York, I hope that we can grab a meal. You, me I would love and Carrie, and that. maybe one of these, uh, ding dongs as well, be That would be great. Let's let's go, incredible.

yes, please. get Sean and Scotty Incredible.

and JB, and we'll do it up. It'll be great to see you, man.

thank you for having me. This has been such a treat. as such as life

thank you, Matthew.

and and send all of our love to Carrie.

I will. We adore her

as well, and we adore you. You are, as Sean said, you're one of us. It's been such a pleasure, buddy, and, um, continued success. Perry Mason comes out, uh, what, what's the release? It's

It's out now, it's out, it's out it's out now, now. Monday

it's out now.

nights and at nine. Yeah,

Monday nights at nine, there we go. HBO Max. Yeah, HBO

Congratulations, Matthew. So, f- Yeah, congratulations, thank you,

all the success, buddy.

thank you guys. Thanks a million. Thanks for being

Cheers, buddy. here, buddy. Have Bye-bye, a good day. bye-bye, See you soon. bye-bye bye-bye. Bye.

and he slam it shut.

now. There's a nice guy. Well, what's How a nice guy

about killing?

like that being? Uh, how is he friends with you? Like, Because you know, like,

that's the kind, that's the ilk of people that I attract, you know what I mean? It's just He's great, like-minded people, he's birds of a feather, cool Yeah, he's charming, dudes.

he knows how to carry on a conversation.

yeah, I know I'm always He'll do, impressed with guys like that who are just so, like, relaxed, like, completely like,

well, he's confident, you know, he's comfortable, he's you know, he's I don't have got his uniform, that.

he's got his black T-shirt, and he's his, his,

not like you guys. his, He doesn't have an axe to grind, you know what I mean? yeah, you He doesn't have know what I mean, something to prove he's. He's not trying all the time.

to prove anything with his fun tops that he wears. Yeah, he doesn't. Sean,

I'm a fun top. Now, listen,

I know you are. Listen, Speaking of which, where's the cocaine bear? What's he fixing now, huh? he's fixing

what?

some Scotty. What are you making? What kind of sandwich? Oh, he had a Turks, he had a Turk sandwich.

Oh, a Turk sandwich. What? Wait, what What? What else is on it? what? what

percentage of the day? goes on a what percentage

Turk sandwich?

of the day?

What?

Hang on, what percentage of the day? When you yell out, Hey, uh, Scotty, what are you doing? is the answer, I'm making a sandwich.

Well, usually it's for me. No, that's what I

Making sandwiches?

mean, that's what I mean.

Well, so what do we got on the turkey? So how do you like your turkey sandwich then, Sean?

I ordered one. Yes, I had one yesterday for lunch. It was a turkey avocado lettuce and extra, extra, extra mayo.

Oh, and are we toasting the bread? Really? How about a light toast? A little snap it's like a on it, huh?

real soft thing there. Yeah,

Extra e- Do you literally say extra, extra, extra mayo?

yes, I always do, because they never put enough you know what I on.

like? I like it when you get one of those, like, uh, sort of like an Italian, you know what I mean, with, uh, the different cuts of meat, some cold cuts, Usually, you lettuce, tomato, drop it into get some the Brooklyn some oil and vinegar, Accent. get a little salt,

yeah, stuff it in there, peps. stuff it in You know, by there, folks.

the way, it reminds me of a thing about the wearing the hats. All right, I remember, um, remember, Thoreau went through a a long phase. He was always wearing like hats and little pork pie hats and fedoras and stuff. And I remember Pauler Pauler said to him one day, You look fedorable. And, uh, That's it just good, that's a good really killed one. us. Yeah,

Hey, what kind of hat do I have on today?

you got one of those smart less merch hats. That's right, yeah, wait, where do oh what,

you get one of those?

Sorry to interrupt, guys. It looks like Kerry Russell's entering the waiting room. She might just wanna say hi, you want to just pause Put her on, for a second

put her on, put Carrie on, then we're gonna air it. There she is,

there she is.

If you can hear us, hello,

we'll have to have her on.

they. I will tell the boys they can't hear you right now, cause they're on the other system. you were But, um,

f- you were fantastic. Thank you. Bye.

okay, thanks for everything. Really appreciate it. Well done.

I love that. We just had a we just had a quick visual v- uh, visit from Carrie Russell. And Carrie and we couldn't hear her, but we got to see her. And she was there. She was probably with the kids, right, Sean? yeah, she was

yeah, she probably would. It's, uh, about time for pickup. yeah, it's That was the other probably t or thing I'm missing, for nap time huh?

for her kids, which she would then sing. What she would, what would she sing to them? If Oh my god, she was gonna put her kids to bed, she'd probably sing like, Rock Rock. a bye baby, baby,

Oh, God, Jason hates when we go up.

He just, he just pinches that voice off. Yeah, by game. Smart, Less, Smart, Less,

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