"Aubrey Plaza"

Hey, Shawnee, I was just thinking about, I'm just going to, I'm getting really reminiscent of the old days. You have to 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 was so broke and I'd take 10 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 a New York Post and then I'd go to the 87th Street entrance to the 86th Street station on the Upper West Side and I'd wait for the subway doors to open and then the last second I'd run and I'd hop the turnstile before they had the big thing. It was just a little turnstile and I'd hop it so that I'd time it so I'd run in and beat the fare to get on the subway in case there was a transit cop there. You know what I mean? Yeah, welcome to SmartLess. Welcome to SmartLess. Smart. Smart. I'm going to keep the gum very low. I'm just going to have turned it down to one. Oh, is this is this is this a suppressant gum type of nicotine thing? A medicinal gum. I just have, I have a lot going on. Yeah, I get it. And he needs it today, Sean. Okay. Yeah, yeah. It's so easy. You know what I mean? Don't they have like, they've got sprays now. Can't you just like 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's like. Yeah, like binocca. Remember binocca? Where binocca goes? Oh, that binocca. Binocca is 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 little tabs, those mouthwash tabs. No, no, no, no, they do not. You mean the little sheets? Yeah, little tongue rubs. Yeah, little sheets. They make my breath worse. Yeah. Really? Who said? You, your mom. No, cause I use those constantly. The little tongue rubs. No, I know. No, but 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 your gut. Yeah, it might be all the ground beef you have for breakfast. Yeah, it could be. Yeah, and you have spaghetti bolognese and a doughnut 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 J.B. that he hates more than just bad breath. He hates a heavy breath. Yes, this is true. Right, J.B.? Something hot, warm, and yeah, it's like a blanket. We were on the golf course. We were somewhere and we were in like a golf cart together and he goes, he turns me with the look of utter, just, heavy lid, just disgust on his face. And he goes, he goes, I can smell your laundry detergent. Yeah, but that smells good. It does. But it was a funny thing. It was a funny thing to say. I must have been feeling a little extra grouchy that day. I know. Why am I naturally grouchy? What's wrong with me? You're not, though. I'm not naturally grouchy. I'm just not unnecessarily chipper. Giddy. Yeah. I mean, do you guys like, Well, sometimes you are. They're just like, and you can tell they're not really in that good of a mood. That's almost like keeping you at arm's length by how happy they are. Hey, hey, how's it going? Go, good to see you. It's like, no, I want to bring you in with, I'm not full of shit over here. Right. I'm, hi, how are you? One of the many, many presidents of NBC, 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 presidents came in 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 chipper. And so it's like, to your point, some days you just don't want to, you just want to talk like a person. I know. You don't want real today? I know, and that's the thing. Yeah, I think that for the most part, we're pretty real with each other. We're pretty honest about where we're at. I love it. But I guess the difference is that you hope people sort of like, they won't drag their stuff into your meeting, your time together. Like I'm accountable for my own stuff. I'll put it in a little drawer. I'm not gonna drag my bad move around. But sometimes we record a lot. We make one of these a week. And sometimes life happens and you end up getting on and we start recording and you are where you are. And there's no, I had somebody, I had a thing that came up on you. Have you ever gone 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, it's Twitter basically in a way. Yeah, yeah. Metta. And somebody put my name in and they were talking about the show and they were like, I hate hearing him tell his story. I didn't even, I was not looking for it. Like, I was like, thanks Metta. I was like, thanks. 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? He looks- They're talking about you? Yeah, and they're like, I hate hearing his stories. I don't even listen to them. I hate that guy. And you couldn't stop reading. And by the way, you can't, how can you? And literally came up with my thing and so much of it was so unbelievably mean-spirited in this way that I was like, whoa. I don't know you either. But we talked about this, it's not about you. It seems like a real douchebag. I'm like, wait a second, what did I do? Yeah, but that's not about you. That's about them. Didn't you wanna chime in, Willie? I did. This guy said something like, he seems like, like, what did he say? He looks like a perpetual ex-husband or ex-husband or something like that. And I was like, hey, fucking, I'm doing my best over here. Thanks a lot. He looks like an ex. You know what I mean? And it was so weird. That's really funny. And then the mean-spirited comments after were so rude. I was like, I kinda wanted to go like, hey, I'm a human. I can hear this. You just wanna just like drop your phone number and say, you know what? Just call me. Just call me. And let's talk this through. Listen, what did I do? It would be kind of fun. Why don't we bring somebody on that hates us once a week? Listen, you'd have no, evidently I have no, there's no shortage of people who would love to chime in about it. Hey, books itself. Awaiting list. By the way, what they think I am, which is amazing. Anyway, guys. You two are two beams just on chime. And you know what a third beam of sunshine is. Uh-oh. Guys. Uh-oh. Today we've got a guest who's a real kick. Okay, this gal, Palo Vars is about as funny as they come. She's as dry as burnt toast. 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 Ms. Aubrey Plaza. Get it out here. Aubrey Plaza. Oh, baby. Oh, God. Oh, great. Yeah, I hate you all. Will, do you remember when she was your girlfriend and she was also my daughter at the same time? Yes. What? See, I thought you were both playing pedophiles in that. Wait a second. I was probably talking about reform. You're the one who's been commenting online about me. Yeah. We did a digital short for, what was it? Oh, that, I saw that. Orbit. Orbit, no, Orbit gum. Orbit was a travel site. Oh, you're saying it's Orbit gum. Orbit gum, yes, thank you. That was a commercial? Yeah, it was like a digital ad. I don't. You were not compensated fairly? I honestly, the only thing I remembered was I thought you were both pedophiles and one of you was my dad. Wow. That's how I remember. I was the dad in the pedophile glasses. And then Will showed up, Will showed up as the too old to be dating my daughter guy. Yeah. Oh, right, we were dating. It was really funny. And I was in like a slightly dresser. And then what role did the gum play? The gum, I put in a stick of gum and then all of a sudden you seemed like a good choice for my daughter, right? Wasn't that kind of the bad? I don't remember. Was that on television? I went over to the script. It was on the computer. It was on the computer. You were fantastic, Aubrey. You're right. I 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? I think it's like, Oh yeah, that sounds like me. Gums, you've always been a big advocate for gum. 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. Is that kind of like, if you think about it, kind of makes sense. I feel that way about dancing. I don't understand why you just kind of just move your body in the rhythm of the sound you're hearing. It's like, why are we doing this? That's a really tough connection. No, I understand. I'm not proud of it. It just somehow 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 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. Nope. What? It's gum. It's been a minute. I went up trying to think. I saw you last summer, I feel like. I saw you over the summer, yeah. Yeah, I saw you. Where were we? We were out east as we say. Okay, well on Long Island. Yeah, we're on Long Island. Which I'm always corrected because I always say up. Up east. I'm going up state or up whatever. You know who does that too? Who does that incessantly is polar. Yeah. She says up. She says up for everything. Never out. I think you need to be two hours north of Manhattan to be upstate. Right. I don't know. I just don't know. 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 England. So you're not gonna leave. Aubrey Plaza is on the show today everybody. Hey, welcome Aubrey. Sean, do you wanna start with a little? Sure. She knows that you know I adore you. I run into you at the gym sometimes. Sean, I was at your opening. I forgot to text you. What a second. You were? We were at the opening. Oh my God, Jason wants to know about this. Okay, walk us through. I was there. You were at the opening when the lights went out. Yes, I was. That was really. So we weren't at the opening. When were we there, Sean? You were the day after. The day after. Wait, so Aubrey. You handled that great by the way. You were awesome. Thanks. Really? You went to Aubrey. You went to the show. You went to the show. You enjoyed it and Sean was great. And then you did not go back and say hi to him. Oh, here we go. No, I bolted the minute it was over. Jason, thoughts. Okay. I understand, I understand. Nobody wants to talk after. No, they don't. Nobody wants to talk. Well, Sean does. And then he wants to take a picture in the elevator. Oh no, not me. Wait, JB, go. JB, go. The photo book you could make in the elevator. What's going on, Sean? I leave while people are standing. Scotty takes all those photos. I know he does, bless him. Now, Aubrey, you're a theater gal. You've done your runs at, what is it, ATC and a couple other hot spots I've seen on the Wikipedia page. There's someone sinuating when you say it like that. I've done it on two plays. I know. Well, it's two more than I've done. I'm very jealous. But you're more seasoned than I am. So you might have a take on this. I have heard that it is polite. Oh, here we go. Polite and industry norm to if you're famous and the person in the play is famous, well, then you kind of have to go backstage and say, hi, I'm famous, you're famous, I enjoyed your show. And if you don't, then that is you're effectively saying, I didn't like the piece. No. This is what I hear. Well, not at the opening. Everybody was there. Very impolite. Not at the opening though, right? The opening is a, there's just too many people there. It doesn't matter either way to me, honestly. Swear to God. I know, but I guess when I'm done. Anna Wintour was there. Wow. Anna Wintour and she emailed me after. Anna, really? Really, so nice. I really didn't mean to email you. You were great. I really mean, I meant to. Is it Wintour or Winter? Wintour, I think, because it's TOUR. Anna Wintour, I don't know. Aubrey, I remember the, I said this to you before many times and I know we've run into each other million times and I love you, is the first time I met you, which is, I was in Amy Pollard's trailer. I was on the set of Parks and Rec and the whole cast was in there. Amy lives in a trailer? Yeah. And you were sitting there with Aziz and Amy and just tons of other, like people on the crew, other people. Sounds like a packed trailer. It was, there was lots of people in there. And I said, I said, I looked to you and I go, what do you do on the show? Dude, are you working the crew? Or you said, 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 and get a reminder? I thought we met at the gym. Remember when I insulted you? And then we met at the gym. What did she, did she strike you as a PA? No, you were the quietest one. Like you didn't say anything in the trailer. So I was just like, 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 it. I do believe it. Now, so let's go, let's stay with Parks and Rec. Is it true, Wiki says that you talked Mike Schur and Greg Daniels into changing the part to be a little bit more how it became, 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 part was written a certain way and you were like, yeah, but wouldn't it be funny if it was this? I don't, well, I don't think they had technically written it yet, but I remember I went in, I went in 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 was, I didn't have an agent. Alison Jones sets you up with that general? Alison Jones. I came out because I was screen testing for Judd Apatow's movie. The great Judd Apatow. 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 Alison was like, do you mind if I just send you on a couple other meetings? And I was like, aren't you your agent supposed to do that? Sure lady, I didn't have an agent. What a nice lady she is. Wait, wait, Plaza, what were you doing? I didn't have an agent. Where were you, where did she pluck you from and how? UCB. She felt me at a whorehouse. Don't, don't, don't. Don't, don't, what's the problem? What's the problem? What's the problem? It seems hard out there. No, don't say that Plaza. I was at Howard Beach Queens in a whorehouse. Don't. Sucking. Googling, Googling. I was, I was doing UCB shows and I was, it was, I don't know actually. She, I think it was, yeah, it was, I was doing UCB and Judd was doing like a very wide casting call because he wanted to cast an unknown comedian to play this part. And so I made it up the ranks, like sending my videos in and stuff. And then I made it and then I kind of like made, Alison saw my tape. I somehow got a tape to her with the scene. And then I, and then yeah. So then it was like, I made it all the levels to the point where they were like, and now you're going to come to LA and do a screen test. Yeah. And were you, were you like on, did you, did you have like your own sketch group at UCB or? Yeah, I was like, I was in a sketch group called That's My Booz. Who were your contemporaries at that time? Did any, cause I remember you were a little after, I wasn't hanging around at UCB as much though, but like it was like, cause I remember a Z's and those guys and Riggle and Sheer and those guys back in those days when they were all there. Yeah. Like a Z's and I were kind of in the same class, but a Z's wasn't really doing like improv so much, but he would be in the sketch, you know, part of it. And then like, you know, it was like Kroll and Manzuchus and Pally and Zach Woods and Lennon Parham and all those guys like were kind of above me. Like Anthony King and Kate Spencer and Joe Wenger and all the, and Chris Gethard and I could go on, but they were kind of like seniors when I was like a freshman, but I was kind of young and I was friends with them and I was like dating Joe Wenger at the time who was kind of running the school, like the, that, there's a flyster. I know, now it's over here. It's anxiety, I have to move my arms like this. Were you, would you go to like Ask Out on Sunday nights or at least watch or? I would, yeah. The sketch shows, these are all sketch shows. Yeah, I mean, when I was, yeah, I would watch, I would stand in the back. I would see you. Did I ever meet you back then, like back before we became friends? We've never talked about this. No, you're kidding. No, don't say anything like that. So many times. Don't say it like that. I'm sure we met. I don't remember anything. Do you miss sketch comedy? Everyone was drunk in those days. That's true. Yeah, I love, I miss sketch comedy. I would love to do like a sketch. It's still happening, you know, you guys. It's still going on. Where? Yeah, no, you can find it. By the way, where? Does UCB still going, yes? Hello? Yeah. I don't, yeah. Anybody can answer this. It's changed, right? I don't know. I think it was gone, like somebody bought it or something and now it's back. It's a very different, yes, it's back, but it's a different. I'm so, I feel, I do feel very removed from, because I was, I never did even UCB in LA. Like UCB LA to me was like, what? This isn't anything. You were only in New York. You were up on 8th Avenue. I was on that, Cressiti's basement. Yeah, Cressiti's basement. Yeah. And we will be right back. This is a paid ad by BetterHelp. If you've been feeling overwhelmed, stuck, anxious, or unsure that is okay, those feelings are more common than we think. Whatever you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone. Having someone with you to listen and understand can make all the difference. Whatever is keeping you up at night, therapy with BetterHelp can provide you with tools to help you check in with yourself and gain support from experienced professionals. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform. Just take a short questionnaire to identify your needs and preferences and BetterHelp will handle the initial therapist matching work for you. You can also feel confident knowing BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully qualified. You don't have to be on this journey alone. Find support and have someone with you in therapy. Sign up and get 10% off at betterhelp.com slash smartlist. That's betterhelp.com slash smartlist. And now back to the show. All right, so then Upright Citizens Brigade for Tracy and the rest, that is an improv sketch place you go and you yell sort of a prompt to the talented folks on stage. That was Ascat. That was the one when they would do like a Herald. That's one type of it. Yeah, basically, I thought it was. It was a place that was created by Amy Poehler and by Matt Walsh and Matt Besser and Ian Roberts. Right. And they came from Chicago and they created this thing. They were a sketch group by Upright Citizens Brigade and then they created this whole theater and school and stuff in New York back in the day. Like Second City. And they would do those Heralds. Like you said, Sunday nights they do Ascat, Jason, which you went to many times. I was on a Herald team. That's how 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 kind of bring everything back and you're kind of telling a long form improv. Go ahead, Jason. But yes, so. My explanation was a tenth of how long yours was gonna be. No, mine was gonna actually be one of the rare Jason short things. I was going to get to, this is a place where you go where there is no pre-written dialogue. Yes. You then Aubrey Plaza went on to start your acting career. Yes? 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, I love movies. I'm like a movie person, real. I mean, I'm a, I love comedy and improv, but for me it was always like, how do I get to the movies part? Like that was always, you know. And 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 playing around over there? I mean, I tried. I was like, auditioning for whatever I could when I was doing comedy stuff. But it really didn't start till you came out here to LA? Yeah. I mean, I really, truly did have like a big break moment. Like the, the funny people, funny people was technically first, but like, you know, I've told the story. So then 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 Rec and Scott Pilgrim versus the world in one week. Boom. Oh my God. Wow. That's crazy. Boom, Bada Bing. And it was like, what? Did Allison, did Allison cast Scott Pilgrim too? What? Yes. Did Allison cast Scott Pilgrim too? Yeah. She, she sent me on all those meetings. And like the Parks and Rec meeting, like 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 kind of, you know what else you booked? You know what else you booked that week? Michael Sarah. Let's talk about Michael Sarah. Wait, what? She's got Pilgrim in me. What? Wait, didn't you guys, you guys dated for a while, right? Didn't you guys date for a while? This, this was, but this was news to me when I was reading Wikipedia this morning. Well, he's our baby, right? He was my son and you were my daughter at one point. Sure, sure. You know, so it was like, oh, well that's kind of Yeah, I booked him back. Booked him back to him real good. Booked him back. Well, we found our first cut. Hey, there we go. We found our first thing that we put. I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But Wickey said it was 18 months. That's a significant relationship. That's a good thing, right? Was it? That was a long time ago. We know, we were, we were, we were. We were gonna get married for a second. And we're still very good friends. I love him so much. We almost got married. We drove across the country together, eating a bag of edibles. 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's a great, that is a good bit. 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, he was too. The rare case. I'm pretty sure that's how it went down. We, yeah, we, we bailed. But now what, what, I'm going to stay, I'm going to stay into, and 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 rare stroke that a young person, why rare for a young person have a stroke. I did, I had one at, I was 20, so it was before then, but. It was when I was in New York. Yeah, I was doing, yeah, I was doing UCB comedy stuff. I was in college. What, what, you've got Sean's attention. Sean, Sean's running from a stroke every day. Oh, you didn't? Yeah. He's, he's convinced. No, I didn't know that. Tell me, wait, how did you, how did you, how did it, like, how did it happen? And what did you feel? It happened like truly in mid, mid sentence out of nowhere. It's a, it's a horrifying story. You just started flooring your words. It's a horrifying story. I had taken my sister to a Hillary Duff concert the night before. Sure. Yeah. And, you know how that goes. And then, 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. 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. I 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, then I kind of blacked out for like a second. And then I came to, could move my arms, but I couldn't speak because the blood clot was in my language center. Oh my gosh. So it was like not even slurring. It was just like not talking. Not talking. But I could understand everything that was happening. And how does somebody at 20 years old get a blood clot or get a heart attack or whatever in our stroke? I don't know. It's a, honestly, it's a mystery. I think it was birth control or with 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 it was a real fluke. Like, and even to this day, like I still have to, you know, whenever I go to the doctors, I have to fill out like my history and 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 must have been birth control because they have that on the label. So then, well, did they, were you fine right then? Or did they take you to the hospital? Like, how did they fix it? I was not fine because I wasn't talking. And so my friends were like, first, of course, thought I was doing a bit and they were like, stop it. And then they realized like something's wrong. And so the paramedics came. And sorry, are you lucid at this point? Like, are you aware that this is happening to you? I'm aware. Like it's a really weird thing when you have a stroke. I've read books about it and it's across the board, really similar experience that people have. You know what's happening and your brain, 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 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 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 mind. Wow, stop writing. I mean this, did you, after that experience, did it give you a sort of a different sense on, I don't know how to say it, like spirituality? Did you feel like a, do you have, as you said, because you're sort of conscious or whatever this other thing that's operating. Yeah, did it change your view of life? Yeah, did it change the way that you look at stuff and look at spirituality and stuff like that? Yeah, 100, like 100 million percent. Like I definitely, Hondo P. Hondo P just felt like, all right, well, if that's true, then like something bigger is, something bigger is going, I am very fascinated with that. Yeah, I am too now. Well, so when I say, I guess it did change, but were you, I don't know, it sounds like such a sort of sweeping, were you a spiritual person before, but did you have, what were your thoughts on that kind of stuff before? Well, I grew up really, I grew up Catholic, I grew up very Catholic. I was, I went to all girls, I went to all girls Catholic school my whole life. And so, my spirituality was very wrapped up in like saints and God and Jesus and things like that. But I would say that I've always, I feel like I've always been a spiritual person. Now I've shifted into more of the dark arts, you know? Oh, goats and, yeah. Sure, yeah. And the hoaxing coaches. You're like, by the way, can I get a sample of your guys blood after this? Then she goes, dope, dope, bother, I've already got it. I've already got it. It's my shtick, the whole witch thing. But no, I am, and I think I did really stop, at least for some time, like sweating the small stuff a little bit. Like I felt, I did have, 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 that can happen like that, then the fuck else can happen. And what's the point of, you know? Right, you're not walking around thinking like that can happen like today. Are you like? Not anymore, but I was after that. I was very like PTSD. Yeah, I would be too. Did it make you less cynical, do you think? I think, yeah, I think so. Yeah. Even though contrary to popular. That might straighten you out, Will. No, I don't think that you're cynical at all. I don't. So, but you would never take birth control or whatever that thing is now, right? Because, I mean, that was the one. For Aubrey, for Aubrey. But if that was the one thing that you could kind of point to. Well, there's a baby inside of me. What's that? Hold, hold. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait, what did you say? Dude, dude. What did you say? No, I said there is a baby inside of me right now. Is that a true story? That's true. Yeah, that's true. What? I'm sorry. I love that. That's so good. Oh, thanks. Oh, that's very exciting. I know it's shocking, isn't it? No, it's really cool. That's really, really cool. Is this baby number one? Yes. That's right, number one. How exciting Aubrey. 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. Also pregnant? My dog's getting a scan right now. I got a scan earlier. I'm not kidding. Boy, really well. Frankie's getting an ultrasound on her stomach. She'll be back. When is she back? Two o'clock, we'll find out. 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 amazing. I think that's so exciting. I'm so happy for you. Yeah. And it already has like a cloak and a little hat. And no, I think it's gonna come out. But let me ask you something. If the ultrasound was, if you got the ultrasound out at the vet, I would recommend that you go. No, no, no, Jason. No, we did, I did accidentally go to the vet first. But I ended up, I was late. Aubrey, I'm so happy for you. I just think, you know that, I just think you're such a great person. And I'm just like, I'm so glad to have you. Oh, you'll be a very classic mom. I'm really happy for you. Yep. I'm really, really, really happy for you. That's so awesome. You've always got, you're so funny and you're so, just such a great person. Yeah, aren't you excited about being a mom? I mean, this is, you're gonna be great. I am, yeah. I've always wanted, I've always wanted, I've always wanted to see what that's all about, you know? This just seems so interesting. That whole thing. How incredible. Thank you so much for sharing it with us. Congratulations. This is all great news. Thank you. It's very, very thrilling. Aubrey, you've been so busy too. I mean, you, are you working right now? I feel like you are. First of all, I was realizing last year, I wanna talk about this because I don't think it got enough. And you and I texted about 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, really, I don't know if you guys saw it. What an awesome movie and what a great performance. All I know is every time I see you in any, I didn't see that particular one, but every time I see you in anything, I'm always stunned by how confident you are in being still. I just find it is, it's such a, it's so, it's so, I don't know, it's not attractive or infectious. It's 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, 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. And so, so subtle. I hope people go back and rewatch that and then continue to watch the newer stuff. But I wanted to say that because you know how much I love that movie. Thank you for saying that. I love that movie. That was such a baby of mine, 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 really didn't compromise the script. And then the movie turned out great. And obviously so many other things have to happen and make, you know, to make that happen. But I, it taught me that. Where did your, where did your, where did your taste for what your particular style, where did that come from? Was it one of your parents particularly dry? Was there, was there an actor or an actress that you really admired coming up? I don't know. 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 drop, the deadpan. Maybe I've, 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 I know that it wasn't officially said, but I'm pretty sure that it was based on Jeanine Garofalo. And so, and I kind of knew that. And I studied her and her stand up. Also incredibly dry and hilarious. Right. And she was like, 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 couldn't do that. Are you ever, do you ever allow yourself to think somewhat strategically about, well, maybe I should play a part that shows that I can do the other side of the spectrum as well. I mean, is that, are you one of those actors that considers that kind of thing? I mean, I think when I was on Parks, definitely, because I was always like, get me out of this zone. I got to show people what I can do. Right. 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. But now I'm more just like, I just want to be, I just honestly just want to be in something good. I don't even care. It's not even about, oh, I want to, you know, blow everyone away with my performance, but I want to 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, that never happened. And the producing effort is in that direction. Yeah. Is it to sort of like, start to like cook your own food, right? And as opposed to just react to the phone ringing and, yeah, I mean, I want, I'm still an actor. Like I'm still like, why is no one calling me? Like, where am I? My heart. It's hard to believe. It's really hard to believe. No, I mean, no, no, no, no, 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 at 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. Right. But now it's more, but then I really, but I really, I went to film school, you know, I studied film. NYU. At NYU, I studied directing and producing. And I truly love the craft of filmmaking. Like I really love movies. So like, 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? The Oscars was like a month ago. It was, did you love any of those? This year was really tough for me. Yeah. I just could not get into any of it. I will say, and I don't understand why Eddington just got, why everyone's pretending that movie didn't happen. Hello. I love that movie. That movie's fucking great. And I don't want to hear it. Yeah. It's great. So like, you know what, everyone's. I love that movie too. I totally walked in with him. What the hell was that? Where did that go? I don't understand. Apparently, like it wasn't embraced at Cannes where it premiered. Whatever, no divisive filmmakers. Oh, I'm gonna say. You know? Yeah, that was a stunning movie. I thought that was incredible. I'm certain regard this, motherfucker. I'm sitting on a really stupid pun that it get, but it's too far removed from what we were talking about. But not it. No, but it's just like OCD. Now I just want to get it out. Okay. So you were saying you stopped the momentum. So while we're stopped. Oh, you were saying the parts are coming. And then the parts that you want. And I go, maybe you could do some parts for fun. You know, and you could call them parts for recreation. You know what I mean? And I'm just saying you would be. No. 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. Well, I get it. We'll trim it. We'll tighten it all up. Yep. We'll be right back. And back to the show. All right. Well, I want to, is there a Delaware, right? That's where we started. This is where the dream. What a question. That's what I was going to ask too. But I was going to ask like, because I've only known you as an adult. 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 like a circle of friends that shared your sense of humor? Or were you like? I mean, I definitely, I was definitely a shy kid up until when I discovered theater, like very classically, like, you know, I went to like the Wilmington drama league, which is the community theater I learned at. And when I was like 11, 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 understood that that was a outlet for me. 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 your summer program at NYU, that was sort of like, okay, there's sort of like a bridge has been built to the big city. And that's kind of how that, is that how that role worked? Well, I think like, I had a friend who's a comedian, Neil Casey, who you probably know well, writer, really funny, you know, Neil. I think I do know Neil, yeah. He's a old school UCB guy, but he and I grew up together. He was a little bit older than me, but he went to the All Boys Brothers School. He introduced me to John Waters movies and to UCB, the operating system for the show on those on television. And 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 then develop like my love for films and movie. Who were your comedy idols? Sorry, who were your? Did you have? I mean, Graph-Lo. What you mean? I mean, I always blank, I always like blackout when people ask me. I know, I don't forget. Was there any other occupation or industry or career that was battling your growing dream for this to be an actor? Like was there any other thing that you were thinking about maybe going to college to study? No. No? 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. Mom and dad were okay with that? What did they do? Were they like? They were okay with it. My dad was in the finance world. He was a stockbroker and my mom was a lawyer. No pressure to go into either one of those professions from them? Nope, my parents were really young when they had me. They were 19 when they had me and they had nothing when I was born like really like hustled and worked their way up in the 80s. And like I learned from them like how to hustle. And it didn't matter like what field you were in. It was just like that's what they taught me. 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 really introduced me to like Saturday Night Live and she's loves theater and movies. And I think in another life she would have been doing what I'm doing. Oh, that's great. Yeah, so I think like. They've got to be thrilled for you then because you just did all self-created. They're so psyched. Well, let's stay there with Saturday Night Live. So you were a page at one point at 30 Rock. Oh, that's cool. I didn't know that. And then a bunch of years later. What year? She comes back and she hosts Saturday Night Live. That must have been very surreal. That was crazy. Kray Kray, right? That was crazy. I was a page 2005. It was right after, can't remember it was after the stroke. I think it was before the stroke. I don't know after the stroke. I was at an intern actually in the 30 Rock building. Which is higher or lower on the power scale? It's weirdly higher than a page. Really? You would think that because. An intern doesn't get paid, but a page does, right? But a page gets paid. So you would think but like, no. A page works for the network and the intro 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 hungover pretty much every time. So I would have to throw up in the trash cans in the hallway, like mid-door. What does a page do there? Well, if you don't get an assignment, which I never did, maybe once I got one, which means like you get assigned to a different show. Like the coveted position was the Saturday Night Live pages to get assigned on SNL. But if you don't get assigned, you're just giving tours. You're on the circuit. So you had to give tours? Oh yeah. I get tours. And then. I would love to spend that. What would be so great about being an SNL page is it just the fact that you get to hang out there at the desk and you do 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. It's 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, did you talk with them more? Did you, was it just sort of just like a private little order them around? No, I would never talk to a page. Never. Never. No, of course. I mean, every time I go in that building, I'm like, you know, I still know the security guards. Like 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 was an intern at SNL and a page, but I was an intern in the design department with, you know, Akira and Keith Raywood and Joe and Eugene. And they were. The design of the sets or the costumes or? 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. It came, totally came full circle, but they were all, yeah, I mean, I love, I love going back there. Was it emotional at all? When you were hosting? Yeah, it's really tripped. It's tripped out. It was very trippy. It's like, it's weird. It's very weird. I think that's weird. So when you grew up, you grew up in Delaware, is that correct? Yeah. And then you moved right to New York, after right, like when you were a kid. Yeah. I mean, I moved to, yeah, to go to college. To go to college. Oh, so you Delaware your whole, you know, up until you were at college and then you went to college in New York. Yeah. Had you been to New York before then and seen it? Like I want to go there and all that? Yeah. I mean, 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. I take the train up all the time. And then you went out to LA. So basically my question is, cause I always talk about Scotty about living like in a small town somewhere, because 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- You feel too isolated? Yeah. And I do need the stimulation of the noise. And are you like that? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I like the city. I like New York. I'm back in New York. Are you back in New York now? I'm back in New York, baby. You are? Yeah. I'm back in New York. So you wouldn't be able to move back to a small town again. Sean, you wouldn't be able to do that either. I don't think, I want to want it. But I don't think I could, I would last. Right. But maybe. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I could. But where I grew up wasn't, there 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- And you want to raise your family in a city like you are now? Yeah. I mean, I wasn't, you know, not totally thought through, but I'm like, yeah. I mean, East Coast for sure. My family's in Philadelphia and Delaware mainly. Oh, great. So I loved, like one of the reasons I came back here was for that. So I can get on the train and go home, you know. My grandmother, yeah. How are you when you go on a location? Like when you're shooting something that's in a faraway place. Like a location? Yeah, on location. Yeah, like White Lotus, for example. Like, are you okay being disconnected from a 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 one day and I'm like, this is it, this is my life, the rest is my life. Like I'm very, I think I would be okay in jail. You just make it your home, right? Yeah. 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. This is here for several hours. That's not true. You have, you kept a volume in your elevator in London. This is a true story, Aubrey. I know, I know. He kept a bottle of, he kept a bottle of volume in his elevator at his place in case it broke down so he wouldn't freak out. So this goes, this is an absolute fallacy what you're saying right now. There's proof, recent proof of you not being okay being stuck in an elevator. But I went through, what is that therapy called? I went through that therapy. EMDR? Yeah, what? No, like what is it called? When you- Electrotherapy. You do the thing you're afraid of. EMDR. No, I forget what it's called. Shock therapy. Anyway, exposure, exposure therapy. Oh, okay. Yeah, so I did that with an elevator. With a subway? And then I got you. You just open up your trench coat? What's going on? No, I did it. I did exposure therapy and I got over it. Let's talk about white lotus for a second. Where did you shoot that? Sicily. Sicily. It was like four or five months in Sicily and then one month in Rome. Wow. Wow, that's pretty nice. Oh yeah. That's pretty fun. Yeah. That sounds pretty, pretty good. It's pretty good. Is everything okay, Jay? Jay, are you okay? I'm hearing something in the other room. It's probably Alexa chirping off. Oh, fuck. Jason, just get attacked by a Roomba. Did you? Tronics and revolting. Did you, is it true that the scripts are really secretive when you're doing white lotus? Like you're not allowed to like talk about them. It's like doing Star Wars. 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 not supposed to. Cause he writes all of them. So you get all of them. You've read all of the episodes before you. Wow, that's so cool. He being Mike White. Mike White. Right, but is there like, so there's a big, there's a big secret you can't say on these shows, right? It's about somebody that dies, right? And that's the thing they don't, to anyone to vote. Like, like what is, what are 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? The murder mystery. The murder. Yeah. I mean, I didn't read other people's lines and other people. I didn't even know. Wait, you're not, you're not, you're not given the pages that you're not on. No, she's giving me. You are. She's giving them. So worry. I've heard of productions like that. You're only given the scenes a year in. I just go bullshit, bullshit. My line. Right. All right. Remember? Yeah. No, I didn't read. My season was different, or 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 was so focused on my, you know, storyline that I was. 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 with Sandra Bernhardt, who's gonna be on the next season. And I was hanging out with her last week and I was like, did you get all the scripts? And she was like, yeah. And I was, and just nothing. Tight line. And I didn't care. I'm not like trying to get the secret out of her, but like she had that white lotus look in her eye. Sandra Bernhardt, you know it well. Did you guys all see King of Comedy way back in the day? Of course. Yeah, yeah. One of my all time favorite movies. Yeah, I love that movie. Yeah, but you tell that in the recent years. Aubrey, what do you have coming up that you're super excited about? Because I know you got a lot of projects going on. Oh, well, the main thing that I believe, and I believe this is like dropping the day that this comes out, which is today. Which is Kevin, my new animated series that I co-created and starred in and produced on Amazon Prime. On Prime Video. Oh, great. Prime Video, excuse me. And let's tell our listeners what that is about, this show Kevin. So Kevin. It's a good voice. I know. It's a lovely title. Who is Kevin? Oh, God. Kevin is a cartoon based on a real true story that was about my actual cat that I shared with Joe Wenger when we lived in Astoria Queens at the time that we were talking about Will, all that UCB era. And we had a cat named Kevin, who was an alley cat. We actually had two cats, Kevin and Howard. They were brothers. But this, Kevin survived longer. So the show is about Kevin. But the show is basically about a couple that 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 want to be with you. I don't want to be with you. I want to go out on my own and be with the single cats. And I want to play the field. 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, maybe I'll live with this guy. I don't know. And who's playing Kevin? Kevin is voiced by Jason Schwartzman. Nice. Who's so funny. Because Kevin's 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 weird butthole in therapy. And he's just got a lot of like interesting. Grow up, Jason. Jason wrote the music. Jason wrote the music for the show too. Jason wrote the theme song, which is so fucking catchy. You know, Jason's a killer drummer. Yeah, he's a crazy good drummer. He's so talented. Yeah, he wrote the theme song. It's awesome. It has this like really like, yeah, early 2000s like indie rock vibe. And then the cast is just insane. It's like John Waters plays Armando. And then the cat who's this kind of snobby Persian cat, queen that lives in Queens. Whoopi Goldberg plays a hairless freak cat. Amy Sedaris plays like a little yappy dog that's bossing everybody around. I play a human among other things. I play a drunk spider and different kinds of characters. That's great. You didn't have to play two or three characters. You didn't run out of people you could have gone to. I mean, you got Will, he's done quite a bit of voice work. Sean's done some. I've done some. We can't afford it. If you ever get tired of playing multiple characters, you know, just saying. I will. So that is a really good cast. Isn't it? It's fucking stacked. And the guest stars are amazing. 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 really funny. I'm so proud of it. I think people are gonna love it. Schwartzman used to do a weekly show on SiriusXMU where he'd play all sorts of like, you know, deep cuts. Yeah, deep independent music cuts. And it was so good. I used to listen to it every week. I'm such a fan of his in every way. He's a good- Yeah, his taste in music is so- Really good. So good. Yeah, really, really good. I wonder if he, is he, he's not, I think he used to be in a band back in the day. Yeah, he was in a band. Yeah, yeah. He's not like in a dad band now. His band wrote the theme song to Orange County. Isn't that right? Yeah. Oh, that's John. Oh, that's John Orange County. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, wasn't that on while we were doing the rest of development? It sure was. It was right at the same time, yeah. It sure was. Yeah, I wonder if he's like in a dad band right now. How great would that be? That is cool. But don't put him in that. He can- Well, but he's a dad. Okay. He's a dad? But that doesn't need to be his identity, man. No, it doesn't need to be his side gig. Well, listen, Aubrey, we hit it. We did it. Okay. We're two minutes past our time already. I mean, you're amazing. Aubrey, you're such a delight. Firing on all cylinders. Congratulations on the incredible news. That is awesome. Thank you. Really cool. Really, really awesome. Thank you guys. And the birth of your new show today as well. Good one. Good one. So just, you know, celebrations all around. You're a hero. Thank you for doing this. Thank you, I mean. For birthing this episode today. Oh, fucking too much. Yeah, that was too much. Too much? Sorry, we'll turn that later. Great to see you again, Aubrey. Plaza, love you so much. Love you too. Just so happy for you. You're the best. You're the best, huh? You're the best. You take care of yourself. All right. You hear me? We're gonna watch Kevin. We're gonna watch Kevin on Amazon primed starting today. I'm logging on right now. Oh, the reviews are in. Meow, says the meteorite. Meow. Kitty likes to scratch, says the post. It's the perfect show. Don't ruin it, don't ruin it for me. Okay, you're right. We love it. We love it. We love you. Thank you. Enjoy your day. Bye honey. And see you down the road. Bye Plaza. Bye yeah. Bye. There she goes, Aubrey Plaza. There she came, there she went. Yeah, yeah, yeah. What a pleasure. What a pleasure. Yeah, she's, I love her particular talent and taste and style. She's real cool, as the kids say. She's real cool. Yeah. She just does something that I think a lot of actors are not really comfortable doing, which is, you know, like, I don't know. Believing that they're enough. Exactly, yeah. And that they're not, they're not screaming their performance at you. You know? Yeah. I mean, she has so much, I don't know, again, just sort of facility with all of it. It's amazing. And that, honestly, I mean, I've always been a fan and sort of biased, but then when I saw it, last year when I saw that Emily the criminal, it was just, it was like another layer, like another really rich, heavy duty layer. I was like, wow, this kid, I'm not, not kid, that sounds almost, you know, this person is just got it all. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. You know? And then I think about, and then I look at JB and I'm like, what is, what's missing? You know, what's missing? How is he still going? What am I missing? Because he's just so... He's an enigma. An enigma. Well, no, it's not your ability. I guess as a talent, you're great. You got so much help, but as a person, you're like, you got the personality of a Waymo driver. You know what I mean? I know. So... I just leave you alone, mostly. Yeah, I guess. But I'm reliable and I'll get you there on time. I'll get you there, but then it's, but it's basically nothing, right? You don't even like that. It's a robot. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But it's not even, like there's nothing, like you put your hand in, nothing. Expensive, but like not even there. So expensive. It's just a waste. That's the other problem. You're so, you've priced yourself out. You know what I mean? You have priced yourself out. Shiny, no, Shiny. Yeah, I have a good buy. Did you take some off? Oh, I know you do. Well, I was gonna say, what's this hat today? I don't know, there's something about it. What's today's hat? Oh, this is Glombard West. This is my high school. It's a castle on a hill. Is that something that you purchased? He doesn't, you don't wear a lot of things that you buy that you buy. No, they gave this to me and I wear it. Have you ever thrown out a freebie? I know. I was like, this is like somebody's production company. Yeah, I know. I'll bet the sweats are... The sweats are the college I went to. Uh-huh. The sweats are the college that 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 till now. It's so good. Well, maybe one of these days you gotta get yourself out to a store and actually buy something. Yeah, there we go. Nice. Smart. Lass. Smart. Lass. Smart Lass is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjurf, Bennett Barbaco, and Michael Grant Terry. Smart. Lass.