"Ambition" (w/ Reese Witherspoon)

This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human. No gloss, no filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. A person who is not generous cannot be an artist. The world will be at peace only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhachon on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. Look, man, I see him. Oh, my. Bowen, look over there. Is that the culture? Yes, goodness. Wow. Las Culturistas. Ding dong, Las Culturistas calling. I don't know that I've been more excited. And this is the thing. We're already getting along, I'd say gangbusters with our guests. Love. I can't believe she's here either. It's like staring at the sun. It's hello sunshine. I can't look at the guest. I want to say hello sunshine. Is there a front runner for title of that? But we can't do that. No, no. It's good we're going to find it. Do you remember yesterday when we were talking about iconic line reads of our guest? Yes, but that's every day. On most days. So on the red carpet at the culture awards, someone asked us like, what's an iconic line from cinema history that like jumps out right now? Who is it? Was it Mark Malcom that asked that? No, it was Vulture. It was Vulture. And I go, what? Like it's hard? And yesterday I said to you, this is what pings and palms in my brain. For any time I open mail. Any time I open mail. This is what you ready? This is it. Bruiser, what's this? Bruiser, what's this? Bruiser, what's this? But any time I open an envelope, I'm telling you the reason I bring it up is because I actually know what it is. OK. This was maybe the culture that made me say culture was for me. Which is a big statement on this podcast that being the central question. Pleasantville. Oh, here we go. Our guest's first scene. She's on the phone talking to her friend and she's talking about what outfit she's going to wear for a date. And she's discussing wearing one particular thing. And she goes, it's not slutty. She looks in the mirror and she goes, it's fun. And I saw myself in it. You just channeled. You just channeled the muse. I channel constantly. I'm always channeling our guest constantly. It's true. Our favorite show is back. My favorite show is back. Thank the Lord. We got the screeners. We watched episode one and then Matt Rodgers steps away and goes, how many did they send? I just ask off hand. I said the whole season. I've never seen you happier. I think I did a backflip. I think I did a Tom Daly officer for it. Gymnastically moved the furniture in the hotel room that we were staying in. That is the thing I do when I get nervous. I move furniture. You move furniture. I was interior designing the hotel. The hotel. Morning Show season four is now out. Now that this episode is out, September 17th, the same day as the new incredible season of the morning show. It's giving everything you've wanted it to give. And I have so many questions for our guests about the rip from the headlines nature of it because they can't possibly have guessed some. One thing that happened in season three that then happened in life. But suffice it to say that our guest today is an Oscar winning actress and Emmy winning producer, a bona fide pop culture icon on the list of the iconic 400 twice as herself and as a character. Which that doesn't really happen. This is such a great moment in Moscow history because our guest is... Reese Weissman! Oh my God! We love you. Flushing. That was so nice. I'm so excited to be here. We're so happy to be here. Oh wait, no, this is... So this was the moment where the wheels started turning about this moment happening. Yes. Was it two Emmys ago or one Emmy ago? I think... Did I like be lined for you at an award show? And I was like, go in? When am I on your podcast? Like, how did you even do it without me? Exactly. But the way you approached me, do you remember where your initial line was? It was the most Reese thing. And I immediately texted this one afterwards. We go in for a hug, you whisper in my ear, well hello, Miss Culturista. I died. Cause that was true much. That was the moment I knew the podcast I got and now I have it. That's when we fell in love. That's when we fell in love. I think you facethied me. You were like, the hand, the phone is shaking. I'm like, who is it? I was like, don't tell me it was Reese. No, like it was like you had a party and you didn't invite me. You're so rude. You're so sorry. I was so happy. It only took like 14 publicists later. I know. Two short years. Two short years later. And 1,800 emails. That does, it really does feel like... They really slow the wheels of progress. Well, at least our people. Yeah, I know. Cause you did, cause the biggest gag was you were like, DM me. And I was like, I guess you could just DM her. You can. Well, yeah. You can't, but you can. Not everyone. Not everyone. And you were thinking at that MoMA show, at that MoMA event. I didn't see it again and he was so sweet. My son is the cutest. I told him I was coming on your podcast. He goes, Mom, come on. That's gonna be so fun. He goes, tell me what the building looks like and what the studio looks like. Really? He's into buildings and studios? He's, no, he's into, you guys, like pop culture. And he loves the way that you set, like they're taste makers. Of course you love that. Oh my gosh. That is true. I mean, very sweet. Well, just to talk about that, I will say, you know, in thinking about like this episode with you, I really can go back to one of them, I think first really formative memories I have of going to the movies with my mom and my sister. We sat down, I remember where we sat in the theater. Like it was like on Patchog, like on Long Island. Patchog. And we went to go see Legally Blonde. And it was one of those things where I'm sure you have this, like you see the movie once and you know every line. Like it's just one of those things. Those kind of movies just are sticky. Yeah. Did you, you're playing Elle Woods. Like you're doing this character, you're on set. You know that everyone there is great. But are you thinking like, what are you thinking doing it? Like, is this... Okay, well, let me get my time machine because it was 25 years ago. Sure. It also has to be kind of surreal. That was so surreal. Well, I was a new mom. I had a little baby and my daughter on set. And I just remember I took comedy really seriously. Like it was not a joke. I had studied Goldie Hahn, like my life depended on it for that role. And I studied her in Private Benjamin. Yes. And then I studied comedy like you would try and cure a rare disease. For sure. It was so important to me. I watched SNL religiously. So for me, creating a character, like I had just done it the year before with, maybe two years before with Tracy Flick. It was really important to me that she had a very particular way she talked, a very particular way she walked. My early career was a lot about building characters that didn't have a lot of self-awareness. They just were like a bullet through the world, determined to make their mark and determined to reach that goal. So that's what it was like. And we had our, I think, 20th year reunion of Legally Blonde and all the lovely cast members were there. And we all got on a Zoom from Jennifer Coolidge, Blake Wilson and Selma Blair. And they were all like, it was like kind of fun. But it's hard to remember because it was like a job at the time. I was really serious. Like I was a very, very, very serious young person. You have to be. I mean, I mean, it all, it all, it all translates to the final project. But like this is why like people come to SNL, as you know, and like you, you expect it to be like riffing and like everyone's just improvising and just the chemistry is off the charts. We're there to like turn the page and read the script. And like hit our marks. It's technical. And also in your brain, aren't you thinking I got to think of something that no one else is thinking of? Totally. So my thing was always how can I be contrary? How can I play this? How no one else would play this? Totally. Because that's what I'm here to be original, not be basic. And there were a hundred ways to play L Woods that I was like, seeing it, done it, not doing them. Yes, of course. So if you thought she was going to be bitchy or spoiled rotten, now she had a really soft center. Yeah, very sweet. If you thought she was going to be dumb or say the wrong thing, she was going to say it laser sharp and really crisp words and say it with daggers. Yeah. So I was always trying to startle people with the switch. Right. But it's interesting that you bring up Tracy. In the context of Tracy and Al and that early stuff, like I would say there's a common thread there where it's like underestimation. People underestimate them and like what is what is that relationship to ambition? Like does one breathe the other? Do you need the other thing for it to happen? Yeah. Yeah. Well, I think ambition threads through all my characters because I don't know, I just wasn't here to do average. And I feel like a lot of people can relate to that. I wanted to be. It's not like I want to be the best, but I wanted to be original. I want to be wholly original in this world. I want to make them laugh harder. I want them to cry. I want them to think they understood the smartest girl in school. She was actually a little broken inside. It's beautiful, you know. I actually modeled Tracy on a girl I went to high school with. And I didn't know a lot about her personal life, but it was really important to me as Alexander Payne and I were building that character. I was like, she just had a moment with her mother where he realized her mom's a single mom and she like curls her hair every day. And she's living out her mother's broken dreams. Right. And there's one scene, but it it it cracks the whole thing for you. Like, I can't make fun of this person. Sure. You're right. But you and Alex built that together, like that scene. Yes. He. Yeah. I mean, he's incredible about understanding the day to day lives. The satire of living in middle America. And then also having big dreams. But maybe your dreams are just to go to Northwestern, right? You know, or like run for city council. Yeah. I love that answer. I have read the sequel. You have. Yes. So because I'm a huge election fan, like, in fact, we ran into Matthew Broderick actually at SNL 50. Yes. And I we ended up seeing him twice. And both times I said, I just watched election. He's like, you told me. I was like, it's true. I did because I frequently returned to it. And I watched it again after I read the novel. Is that in play right now? Is there is that is that something that's like, where is that on the list in terms of? Well, you don't want to say too much. But there is a follow up novel. Yes. We're thinking about making a movie because it goes in a really interesting direction, I think, for people that care about that character. Yeah. And it ends dark. And it's it's it's I'm really interested to see how it. Trapped. It's going because. It's also a comment on the fact that when you're someone that's super ambitious, one of the things that can happen is you don't meet that ambition. And you then that is a really sad thing. And I think one of the smallest thing can derail you. Oh, yes. And she gets derailed by something. Yes. And but you can't stop the internal monster. No, you couldn't help. She can't help herself. And so basically one of the things I think is the most heartbreaking about the first film, I'm already talking about it as if it's two. I guess I'm not a fan. But in a lecture, which is the the sudden after she's lost the cut to just how heartbroken and devastated that she is. And I think that's when you realize like how much work you've done. And it's interesting to look back that she's sort of an antagonist of the movie because she's antagonizing Matthew Broderick. But when you look at it now, when you think back and you look at how heartbroken she was and what she went through going up to that, it feels really right for revisiting. I think so, too. Yeah. There was a whole The New York Times, I think it was A.S. Scott or something about 10 years ago, went back and watched it again and said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Yeah. This girl was like a high school girl. Yeah. Yeah. Groomed and manipulated by her science teacher. That's not what I remember that movie. And then his peer got mad at her. Yeah. Yeah. And Matthew Broderick's character, Mr. McAllister, was actually complicit. Yeah. What do you know? This friend, he's kind of groomed a teenager. Yeah, sort of. Kind of sort of. And he just mad at her and just decided to destroy her. And then she got a smoothie thrown at her at the end. That's not good. God damn it. DC. Hey, DC. That first shot of Tracy, they're shooting up her hand, is like iconic cinema. It's last thing. It's last. And that's a good shot. Do you know what I mean? No, I don't know what shot you're talking about. Like when you first see Tracy, she shoots up her hand. Oh, she raises her hand in class. On your face, being like a little distorted. It's like it's meant to humiliate this child. And do you know what the question is? Who knows the difference between ethics and morals? Love it. Wow. The irony. The irony. I love it. The irony. No, it's an amazing script. It is incredible. And you're a part of so many of those. No gloss, no filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the Saab Siddhi Khachakar. The reach, the pinnacle, it's stung by the snigger and I've fallen down again. Yeah, I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt Show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty. Stay for the fire. The impact that you had, not the beginning of your career, but after had been going for five, six years, it felt like you had like these not even just like successes in pop culture, but also like critical hits. So it's like there's Pleasantville, which I think is so many people's favorite movie. It's one of mine. And there's obviously Legally Blonde. There's Cruel Intentions. So I would imagine that like as you're going forward in your career, does your team like at that point are they just like, let's just keep you busy? Or are you at when you look back at that point, are you will you always someone who was like trying to pick and choose what the next move was? It was always very strategic. And it was me and my manager, Evelyn O'Neill. And that was that was it. It was just her and I. And then what was the planning? Like what was the initial conversation behind? Let's do let's do this Hello Sunshine thing. Let's actually make the taste. OK, that was a different iteration of my life. So Evelyn and I, that was my early career. And then I decided to kind of go my own way when I was 34. And I the business had shifted a lot. So I don't want to get into the nitty gritty with the DVD business left. And so all the development of films about women were kind of the mid-range budget. And that's where it just went away. They weren't they weren't developing things for women. So I thought, OK, if I don't take this moment to start developing for myself and for my friends, right, incredible, shame on me. First of all, being so successful and then not doing something about the lack of storytelling for women. So it was a moment where I had to meet the moment and I was really scared. Yeah, because also truthfully, that ambition thing is not always appealing to everybody. You know, like course not. Well, that's why a lot of I think the characters are people blanch at them at first. And then they learn to love them because they learn to understand them. And what it but you're right. It is well, it's like for all our ambitious listeners out there. Sometimes you rub people the wrong way. Yeah. And people know that every ambitious friend of yours knows it's irritating to feel that like, come on, let's do more. Let's do this and we can do it. And let's throw the homecoming all together. And then let's do the class project. I'll take over everything. It's an annoying character trait. But then what's the way out? Like we're not there. There's a way out for me. And it was learning to not be embarrassed of it. Making peace with it and going, I know I work harder. It's just how I'm made up and it's not my fault. And how can I use that to harness more people and rub them into things that I think will be beneficial for them instead of just serving my own agenda, which was making my own career. When Hell of Sunshine began, I was like, oh, my God, this is my opportunity to widen the net, bring people into a family of storytellers. And that's when my whole life changed. Yeah. I mean, truly, I think that there was like, it did feel like there was this like incredible second phase for you, which started with producing Gone Girl and then being in Wild. And I've always wanted to ask you about Gone Girl, because that was the was that the first big title that you had produced or? Yeah, that was the first book I ever optioned as a producer. Jackpot, that is. It was crazy. We read it in Gally's. We read Wild. I read Wild and Gone Girl in Gally's. My producing partner was Bruno Popindrea, and we were both like, these books are amazing. Yeah. I had no idea they were going to be within six months. They were number one. Yeah. Yeah. Sitting next to each other on The New York Times for months and months and months. And I was like, oh, shit, I can't mess this up. No, I think that was the perfect one to punch for you, for one to not be a vanity project and for one to be a vehicle for you. Does that make sense? Yeah, I agree with that. Because that is what I think you innovated and established, John. It's like, I'm going to be a woman actress, whatever. And I'm going to start my own production company and it will be holistic in that way. I think it could have gone. It might not have been sticky if we're going to use that word. Like it just would not have stuck if it had been one thing. I agree. And they were both substantive, right? They were about what we perceive women as, how they subvert that. Gone Girl is the ultimate mind turning. So yummy. And Fincher just killed it. And last night is so diabolical and Ben Affleck is sort of the the rub on the other side of it. We're supporting cast to Kari Kuhn. I mean, Kari. Yeah, no, don't forget. And also our friend Casey Wilson, like I just. That was one of those Neil Badger here. Oh, again, against type playing, playing with a lot of against type stuff. And I did want to ask you about that particular role, though, because I had read, I think a lot of people that, you know, follow this stuff that you had been attached to do Gone Girl. And then after a conversation with David, you guys decided that maybe the audience would have had a gauge on you already. Or like, what was that conversation? How did you feel about it at the time? Well, yes, I had optioned it to star in it and I was supposed to star in it. There'll be a whole chapter of a book one day about Gone Girl, because that started my producing career. But it also told me, hey, nobody's happy for you to have this producing career. Nobody wants you here. Wow. And David sat me down and this is not on David. But David's like, you're totally wrong for this part and I'm not putting you in it. So that was at first. How did you probably like hold on a second? Well, because I had all these conversations with the writer, Gilly and Flynn, and she was like, no, I'd really like you to do it. But he was like, you're wrong. And that was first of all an ego check for me. I was like, no, you're not right for everything. And he was right. He was totally right. But why was he right? How did he rationalize that to you? He didn't have to. He's David Fincher. He's like, oh, yeah, OK. He literally says it this you're wrong for this part and I'm not putting you in it. But I'm asking like, was he sit? Like, did you get an inkling of like, oh, because people will project onto me all of their preconceived notions about me as an actor? I think that's probably for him. Yes, I brought an audience with me. Sure. That likes me. I want me to win. I remember, I remember thinking we've talked about this topic on the show. I'm not sinister, diabolical. Sure, sure. Yeah, but isn't that the thing that would have been the surprise? Exactly. Like not to go back in history and fight with David Fincher in my own head because the movie is perfect and so good. No, and Rosamund is perfect. She's great. And I mean, it also started to start really started a whole other type of career for her, too, which is like a testament to the producing of that movie. Yeah. And I think it's important. Producing also means get out of the way when you're so optimistic, you know, get out of the way, do your job to promote, continue to pull people together, continue to build creative groups so that the ultimate result is the best work that it could possibly be. So that was a lesson to me. But behind the scenes, a lot of stuff happened that was not cool. In terms of like my credits and which is so boring. But it took me till Big Little Lies. So Big Little Lies was like a year later and Nicole and I produced that together till people started taking me seriously as a producer, because honestly could not get traction even as a producer, even with those hits. With those two big hits. Three Oscar nominations. Yeah. It was really hard. That's wild. Wild, no pun intended, but especially because I feel like wild in particular. The whole story, the whole narrative was like, this was a film that she produced alongside Gone Girl. But that performance, that performance is just like it is a 360 and it was so different from what you had done. I would imagine that felt incredibly vulnerable. And alongside the statement of I'm producing this. Yeah. Was that the moment? If you look back that are one of the moments where you felt like this is a watershed thing, like that had to be a high anxiety moment. Yeah. Oh my God. So much anxiety. But doing wild was a reset for my whole life, my whole career, which was great for me. I had to work, I couldn't talk. You know, my superpower is talking really fast. It was mostly backpack. Yeah, it was all contemplating the earth and yeah, it's hard. But the realism of that movie is kind of the sort of corollary to like everything you had done up to that point. Also, you let out one of the great screams. Yeah, the foot. I'll die. Never forget the foot. And I threw my shoe. Yeah, both shoes. That was one of the best opening scenes in movies. So good. Did you end up watching it on the plane last night? OK. I'm so glad. I'm not watching. I'm watching. It's not a hardship to watch your movies. Yeah, I put twist my arm. I got I got to watch race. That was intense, though. Yeah, that is an intense. It's an intense one. And of course, there's that. Oh, God, the heartbreaking scene where you discover that your mother has passed and that you weren't there and great Laura Dernpines. And we just talked about Laura Dernpines. That actually was kind of where I was going. So was that the start? Were you friends with Laura before that? Or no, we met on that movie. Great. So you met on that movie because it does kind of feel like she was doing her death scene. Oh, was that the first one? Day one. She's dead. I walk in and I'm like, she was like, I'm going through a divorce. I was like, just been through one. Let's get into it. Let's go. So then there and friendship and there begins that friendship. And it does feel like you guys are like sisters. Oh, my gosh, we are so connected. And we laugh all morning, all night. I would just FaceTimers this morning. I was like, I'm going on. Let's go to Rista. Oh, my God. I was like, that's that. No. I just. I'm right out. So it was like it was like it was a two second thing. But I was just like, I didn't get time with her. But I was like, God, she really. Similar to you. It's like, like she will always have that other place in your mind where it's like, I once saw you on a screen and you changed my life. And you are walking around and really producing the show that I would. The Pomeroyale show, like really there on her day off there in the nuts and bolts. And it's really amazing to see because you guys bring perspective. Yeah. That is not usually there. She's just so encyclopedic about her understanding of film, television, performance, how movies come together. She's a savant and she's also lovely and kind and humble. But she can eviscerate you in a scene and you're like, yes, she can. Some of my favorite stuff I've ever done my whole life was scenes between Madeline and Renata on Big Little Lies. I'll never forget. I just be done. Letting it rip at each other. You better not cancel my daughter's. And I was like, I'm going to Disney on. We've got an Avenue Q being like these tentpole plot points. The best in that show. I mean, I will also say like. You're going to queue with the puppets. The puppets. That show. Yes. Perfection. No, it really and talk about again, like yet again, like just watching everything about it. I mean, like in like just the shots of the crashing waves, etc. White Lotus, we see you. We know where you got that from. Listen. But that's that you have to feel like that probably opened so much up in TV. Then it was such that was a watershed. Yeah. Yeah. Not just for you, but for television. Yeah. But I think a group of that esteemed level actresses doing a TV show was unheard of. Also, just like Nicole, myself and Laura and Zoe Kravitz and Shailene Wendley, like all in our French. You heard more about our friendships than you heard about our work or what is going on with our kids. Like who cares? We're best friends. Yeah. Angry at each other. Angry at each other. Through the screen. But it was, you know, it was just the the inner workings of female relationships. And I think the really beautiful thing about Big Little Lies is it's it's actually an entire show about domestic violence. Yeah. And it had this again, this emotional resonance where you think it's this frothy thing, right? But it's actually something very, very real that happens to one in three women. Yes. And so you could laugh about it, right? It's funny. I tend to migrate to like little paths. Yeah. Yes. Yes. And scenes with me and Laura. Amazing. Yeah. We're in a totally different show than Nicole Kibman. Right. And Alexander Scargard. Absolutely. And it all comes together at the very end. You're like, holy shit. Well, I think one of the really powerful things was the dichotomy of like there are these women arguing about this play and literally blocks over. There's this thing happening. And so, yes, there are two different shows. But it is in one reality and it is also the reality, which is that these things are happening and the shock with which you guys receive that information, but the immediate way you know, to protect and act, I think was so powerful. And certainly all my female friends, all our female friends that we talked to were just like so empowered and emboldened by the fact that we will have each other's backs and that that's what that show was about. And we'll also have joy. And we'll also have laughter and we'll also be petty and then we'll make up for it. And we'll still get into it afterwards. And we're still going to do it and we're going to have this great life together. But truly. Yeah. Yeah. No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the sub-credits. Reach the pinnacle. Stung by the snake and I've fallen down again. Yeah. I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty. Stay for the fire. Babe, it's Gem. Just for snowing you because I'm so busy. I can't even type right now. I'm working on that big presentation for my new launch. I'm making it on Canva Mobile like you suggested. And it's making everything iconic. It's a bit noisy, babe. Marbs is going off. Anyways, I'm going to ping the presentation to you now so you can see what I mean. Got to go, hon. Thanks for introducing me to Canva. Love you. I feel like that combination of the frothiness with the weight of something is to transition into the morning show is is the thing that we love about morning show. We've made a lot of light about like the the campiness of it, obviously. We love it. But so good. But especially watching this season, I go, you need the campiness. I think you do. You need Bradley Jackson going to space. I know. In order to talk about these things that even TV now doesn't want to tackle like the pandemic, like the fucking insurrection, like all of these really fucked up things about the world. You know, like, I think was that like the vision for the show the whole time? Because it also mimics the dichotomy between morning news shows, which we've had experience on now. We're like, OK, we're going to talk about a war going on in some place at any given time. And we're also going to do. How do you fold a handkerchief? We're going to find out the best way to use a plunger. It's like, it's so good. That's the dichotomy. Yeah, like that's life now. So I think you're right. And you call it campy and soapy. But for me, it's like, where's the the human experience? So if you you're talking about really earnest subject matter, you have to lighten it up to 100. You have to be having like the news producer and the on air athlete talking about like, why didn't you why were you late at work today? Right. You know, that's loved that scene by the between. Oh, my God, Karen Pittman and the whole bar. Karen is I mean, like she's so special. I know like we are Karen Pittman, super stants. And she's also one of the most stunning individuals on planet Earth. And like Helen of Troy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys know what? Yeah, we both were up in Nashville. Really? Where we're rock. She went to the one girl school, the other girl school and same age, exact same age coming up together. And we finally met on the first season of Morning Show. So we're natural girls. And oh, I love that. It's just great. I so celebrate all her wins. And she was on and just like that. Yeah, she's just killing it. She definitely is. I mean, I feel like the thing too about about the Morning Show that that like I was referencing earlier was when you did go to space and then matter of 10, 11 months later, we see the blue origin. Yes. What did that feel like? Because they're just forecasters, these writers. It's Simpsons level. They predicted. It's odd. Yeah. It's odd because at the end of season one in the very last scene, Alex Levy has him melt down on camera and she's like, screw this bullshit. And there's an I'm talking about right before she says that I'm like, and there's a mysterious illness on a cruise ship off the coast of China. Yeah. And then literally within six months, it was COVID. That episode aired before COVID. I know. Crazy. I don't know. There's some weird stuff happening on the show. That's why I'm like, so they stopped the whole season of the show, of the new season and we freaked. But now I'm like, oh, gosh, what's what's it going to pretend at the end of the season? That's going to befall us. I don't know. Well, you do know. I do know. But I just love. I love the tone of the show. Like it's just it's so fun. It's so enriching. Every character is like rich now in the fourth season and even the new entrances like Marion Cotillard is just so perfect in this. And when I heard that she was cast, I'm like, what is that going to feel like? And she comes in and she just brings all her marionnes to it. And it does feel she feels impenetrable and untouchable and very, you know, and her family owns the entire network now, right? Along with a lot of other assets and some are sort of maybe a little dubious on savory that comes around. Yeah. That she's sort of the queen of this empire's family empire and that they're doing some shady stuff. Yeah. And she's doing shady stuff all over the. Don't get me started about episode eight. Eight maybe nine. Maybe it's like, see a penultimate episode. Just wait. That's where the real shit goes down. Yeah. Celine. Now it's Celine. Celine. And I said that her name was Celine. I was like, that's just perfect. Of course it is. Did you name Bradley Jackson? Who named Bradley Jackson? No, our original writer, Carrie Aaron, Bradley Jackson. We just love that name. It's very newscastry. Totally. But newscast out of like a rural like network who is then spotlight on national television goes back. It's like it works both ways. Yeah, you know, it's true and ambitious and ambitious. Are we sense of threat? We clearly do. Are you a news junkie or did you feel? Have you always been? Are you now? No, but I like to read very specific things about technology. I'm really interested in technology. Yeah. Biomedical innovation is really interesting to me. And and marketing is really interesting to me. Like how do you consider like figuring out what consumers like? I love it. Yeah. And why and why? Right. Culture. Culture. What do you how does it move markets? Like Taylor Swift moving. Yep. Markets in cities. When her production comes there and economies grow. Let's talk about that. Oh, yeah. That's interesting to me. Why do people like certain people and really can't stand others? Yeah, yeah. Is it better for people to for you to be controversial or no one cares about you? Is the Q rating a real thing? Yeah, it is the Q rating. When they run diagnostic. We can run it on you guys. I'd be scared to run the Q rating. No, I'm the Q rating on us. Maybe do. Maybe do. Wait, how much? You might want it. You might want that. This is a hundred and fifty. No way. You guys like data. Do you like data? But the right. I mean, there are some little flames that I don't want to touch. You know what I mean? I find it really fascinating. Like I don't want an aura ring. Like when I'm going to do it. No, so you're not. Well, you're not. Let's talk. What's it giving today? My resiliency score is down to adequate because we were on a red eye. My resiliency score. My grip. I got to get my grit score up. I mean, my sleep score. Listen, she tracks the naps with eerie precision. But what are you doing with this information? Like, does it make you feel better? How would you become more resilient? How I will it gives me knowledge that I've trended downward, right? So I really got it. OK, let me be more intentional about my sleep. Let me be more intentional about my like working out in the morning. Let me be more intentional about time to read, which I want to ask you about. Like it does give some shape to the outlook of the day. OK, it gives you a readiness score based on your sleep, based on your activity the day before. OK, but if something woke you up in the morning and said, you're so tired, you look really tired. Are you tired? Sleep. God, why are you tired? Well, actually, we see is going to start doing that. I have data. I have data. You are 100 tired. And you look at it. And how are you going to feel for the rest of the day? Yeah, probably not good. I am so susceptible. It will tell me how to feel. Well, oh, totally. I didn't sleep. I don't have a crown. I think I don't know. They give you a crown on the score if you do. I don't even know that. That is just like human behavior. One on one, they're trying to like, you know, like engineer. But you're letting them. But the tone is actually quite gentle. Like, should I read the readiness score today? It's actually quite. It doesn't. I'd like to know your saltiness, your sassiness. There's a measure for saltiness. There should be. How much crap can you handle today? So this is it's like if you if you did like go on a bender the night before and you only got like whatever three hours of sleep it goes. Maybe think about taking it easy. It's very gentle. OK, so it's nice. It's nice. You need sobriety. No, no, no. I was kidding. I wasn't going to. It's loading it up right now. But like that's what I said. It's it's never been like finger waggy. OK, you're not doing so well. This loads up. I think it's also how you hear it. Yeah, it's true. How you take criticism. I just window into me. Don't take it well. Well, I was going to ask you that ever like as someone who's like a metrics getting like and but also a sensitive person as a result of like what you do. I've always been like interested in this people that are very producerial and people that are real. You know, you're a business person and so but you're also an actor. And so you maintain a lot of like openness, vulnerability, sensitivity in order to do what you do. How do you balance those two things as someone who's like out there publicly as a product in a way that we all are but also someone who markets that product? Like how do you like how do you walk that line and maintain this? Oh, OK. Well, I got well, that's a good question. It has different levels to it too. Because when I'm in work mode, it's a full different personality. And that's where I've kind of been for a while now. The acting I have to switch on. I have to kind of tune out what's happening in the business. And then but I knew if I didn't tune in to the business and kind of level up, I wasn't going to make change. You may get or you may get lost. I would get lost. But I also just think not enough of like I wasn't an executive, but I had to become an executive nine years. And I don't enjoy it per se, but it's important if I want to affect change and actually create a company that has enterprise value in a market and see where the ball is going in terms of media. So I have to pay attention to all that. Yeah, even be so outside of those things, it's like, I think with Hello Sunshine, you've like created the trend of actor starts production company. Great. But that's but what you've always avoided, which is what's common is that an actor starts production company as a way to be a boom to the changing tides of showbiz. I don't think that's ever been true for you. Maybe in the beginning, when you were having to like prove yourself, quote unquote, but now I feel like with the pipeline of the book club, you have this way to create taste. You you are a taste maker more than we are, to be sure. So like, what is the difference? But like, how do you like changing that dial has to be a very intentional, very difficult thing. Well, I think taking some of the intense spotlight I had as a very young person. And I learned a lot about marketing through sitting about meetings, people talking about me like I was a product. And they were like, well, it plays well in Russia and Brazil, but it doesn't play well in Japan. And I was like, you're talking about me? Yeah. Why did they not? OK, so I have to learn to depersonalize it. Yeah. Why do they not like me in Japan? I don't know. Yeah. And I don't know because they haven't met me. That is probably what you said. I should go. Oh, yeah. I'll do a meet. Book the place. Let's go on the meet. OK. No, let me emphasize. But no, I started to learn about how audiences receive information. What things trend this way and that way. So as I started thinking about a book club as a business enterprise, right? What were the advantages, first of all, being first to market on having read something ahead of time and then going to those authors and saying. First, you did the hard work. You broke the back of the story. These characters are indelible. Can I help you promote it with this spotlight that I have that's all on me? But can I shine a little bit on you and help you out with some marketing stuff online? And then also, if you feel inclined to give me the first right of the option, let me know. But there was never like you have to give me an option in your book. So I wanted to clarify that, because that was a lot of people say, oh, she got the first right of refusal. I didn't. But people were so appreciative of the marketing. And then I also said, if you give me the rights, I'm not going to stick it in development hell. I'm going to work my ass off on it for two years. And if I can't get it made, I'm going to give it back to you. You know, but and we had a great success rate from little fires everywhere to, you know, big little lies to Morning Show to last thing you ever told me. And and now we have another one coming out with Anya Taylor Joy called Lucky. And it's been great. Where the car is staying. Yes. Is it that you're looking at projects and you think, oh, this is something I really want to do with Carrie. This would be fun to do with her. Yes. We always joke this podcast started out as a way for us to have a play date once a week. And you're looking, you see these things and you're like, this is my play date with Kerry Washington. For real. Yes. And I get to play with my favorite people and, you know, what a gift. And also empower them. We all get to make something together and and have a blast while we're doing it. So it isn't, I don't mean to diminish it and say it's easy because it's really hard work in long hours. And but, jeez, it's like reaping the rewards of 30 years of hard work. Yeah, totally. I get to love. I love my job. I love it. You can tell. It's so clear. We love that you do your job. I'm just such a nerd. I read constantly. I was going to ask between reading about technology and and biomedical stuff. An hour a day. I'll read that like while I drink coffee. Yeah, some total of the day. How much of it is reading? Because this is what I want to kind of engineer in my own life. I'm like, I got to fucking read books instead of scrolling on this. I know. I do think people are kind of getting off the phone and saying, like, touch grass, read a book, told paper. Yeah. I read an hour at night. Love it. An hour in the morning and an hour at night. And then I'm on a plane, the whole plane ride. Yeah. So I can get through a lot on planes. And how much can you ever stop yourself and just be like, Reese, I'm just going to enjoy this book and stop thinking about the fact that I'm going to like, all right. Who should play this female lead? Yeah, exactly. You know who would be amazing in this? Bradley Cooper. Yeah. As a female lead. No kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. No, but there's no I think in cinematic terms. I'm always casting the movie in my mind. Nothing wrong with that. It is so fun. Nothing wrong with that. No gloss, no filter, just stories, spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease and it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people and the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the sub-series, Hachakar. The Reese, the pinnacle, stung by the sneaker, I've fallen down again. Yeah, I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt Show on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty. Stay for the fire. Speaking of the mind, let's take an odyssey into it. We're going to ask you the question that we ask everyone on our show, which is what was the culture that made you say culture was for me at least for their spread. Like so many things came into my mind when we were talking. I know, I bet. I mean, when I thought about it, you know, when you first asked me, I was like, was it this? I mean, I remember when MTV started, that was a big deal in my childhood and John Monjovey or JVJ, as I call him, came out with this music video called Living on a Prayer. Yeah, come on. And he wore these thigh high red leather boots. And you would think, a resource is not like into guys with thigh high red leather. Oh, yes. It was a moment. It was a moment and I had a lot. There was a lot of kind of feelings about that. And that to me was like MTV movie awards and video awards. Yeah, huge in my childhood. Yeah, because I grew up in a little town in Tennessee and I was seeing people like talk about, you know, gender fluidity, whether they were talking about it or they were just exhibiting it. That was cool. They were edgy or like when Gwen Stefani came out with, I'm just a girl. And she had this ska song about how women are always sublimated and ignored and underestimated. I was like, that's my anthem. Yeah. But as you're sitting here, I was like, oh, my God, I know what culture was for me. I remember being going with a group of friends to the movies and seeing First Wives Club. Oh, and seeing Diane Keaton, Bedmiller and Goldie Hahn do that dance at the end. Well, yeah. And I was like, I think I was the only 11 year old watching it like that's revenge. You know, their own happiness is no event. And then express it through song and dance. And on a huge screen, they say, you don't know me. Yeah. I was like, this is it. That's it. I used to rent that from Blockbuster all the time. Like I can't believe my mom just wasn't like, oh, my son's gay. Like, because it was like I was like, I was renting it from Blockbuster all the time and watching it. And I don't remember like the rest of it from that time. But that scene, that scene, by the way, your Blockbuster strategy was culture like on Friday night. One thousand percent. Were you like the basics that like ran for the new hits? Or were you like, hmm, I think I'm going to go rent Blue Velvet. It's by David Lance. What I would do is the Winona Ryder Film Festival that I was always having. There was I'll never forget walking down the aisle and I saw Batman Forever and Nicole Kidman had her Veronica Lake hair. And I said, I know something about myself as a result of the way I'm reacting to this picture. And I took that movie and one day when she sits in this seat, I will tell her that that Dr. Chase Meridian. Her hair is seared into my consciousness. Yes. It's a core memory for her. Her like it's like it's like a noir scene. It's just a rabbit. Absolutely. She gathers up her like linens and she goes over to like, you know, the curtains blowing and then Batman comes and they're having this scene. And I'm like, that might have been a little bit of an awakening for me, to be honest with you. That was my Blockbuster. It's like it's all coming back to me now. It's like like women at a window with linens. You know, white linens and a blowing in the breeze. Yeah. That was my intro to Nicole. But your Blockbuster strategy is your culture because it would be like, are you going to go to the wall with the new releases where it's like 10, 20 copies of one thing? Or are you going to slowly peruse the aisles? And I'm like nine years old. I'm going, what's the deer hunter? Like not like. Like nine years old. The deer hunter. Well, and I was a Goldie Haun completed. So it was either overboard or Wildcats when I had to go down. And then I could get a group. I could always get a group of kids to kind of watch what I wanted to watch. I was considered like you're producing them. I was like, you guys just don't know. Follow me. Come on. Come with me. So Goldie Haun was huge, huge. Yes, she was huge. And when a writer was huge and I felt like I felt like I knew her. Sure. Overboard. I almost had to wait. That movie is everything. It's the Earth Enemy. But this is everything. The end of First Wives Club is like this light that's refracted three different beams. Yes. Among those women. And you had you could choose all three of them to model yourself after. Like even for us, it's like, I want to be all of them. Well, and your life, your life wasn't a result of what the bad relationships that had happened to you. It was what your friendships that were going to help you rise above and overcome. And how interesting that came back around for you. I know. And who knew? That was my. Until we just talked about it. We do know. It's funny. It's like someone said to me one time, like, you'll look back on your career and you'll see you'll see a through line. And so it's funny. You talk about ambition being a through line. You talk about female friendship being a through line and to be where you're at now and know that those things have stayed consistent, but also inspired people. That has to be really, really, really, really special. Yeah. And I feel lucky that I continue. I get to do it. I get to continue to do it at a really high level with really fun people is is really awesome. But I had a friend say to me the other day, she said, you know, do you feel like you were born with a finite amount of stories to tell? And you've told a lot of them. Why would she say that? She was an author and she's probably 61 or something. And she's like, I feel like I'm kind of rewrapping every story, but it's always the same theme. But that's OK. Yeah, maybe we're all here for a purpose that you have to find. As Oprah would say, you have to find your purpose, you know, or what? Like, do you know the themes of your storytelling lives? Not. It's coming into focus. OK. Slowly. And for you to say that, like, when would you say that it came into focus for you? Not till I was 34, 35. We're at that age, basically. So it's it's it's weird that like people, pleasing starts to diminish and you start to go, oh, wait, what I've been doing is kind of good. Is I'm kindling, right? Like I've had one success and it's building on another. And now it's time for me to step into a leadership role and start being and you'll start to see. I mean, you probably are seeing this. People are looking at you and going, what do you want to do? Instead of going, can you please cast me or can you please put me in X? And so you have to spend that good look at me like life coaching your. I know, I feel something. You're imparting. Like you guys are super creative and it's important that when you figure that out for yourself, your life opens up in a beautiful way. And you start to go on a different path. Where it's like, OK, I'm only going to follow those those threads that serve my real purpose and let people into my life that are helping that purpose. It's funny when you know what I'm saying, yeah, because it's like I feel like when I was younger, growing up, like and I had that moment where I was watching the Oscars and I was I was I think I was eight years old. We always talk about that same that Titanic Oscars. We call it 97 98. That was the moment I looked in the screen and I was like, oh, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm supposed to be with them. And then you get in the industry and you understand more about it and you work and you get the awards thing. And you maybe even get to a point like you where you win the Oscar. And yet it's not like you hit the jackpot and won the game. And now the rest of your life is roses. You still had struggles after that Oscar in terms of being taken seriously as a producer. Is that that must have been something that you really felt like I've won an Oscar and yet still, you know what I mean? And you hear that over and over and over again that there's a curse that there's like, what are they going to open a magic, you know, vault with the great scripts that they've been waiting to give you? No, it's not. It's actually it's an opportunity to start creating your own. But I didn't understand that and it took me four years to figure it out. Yeah, because you're thinking after you win the Oscar for Walk the Line. It's going to get easier. Yeah, you think it's going to get easier. They're going to all of a sudden not going to be where, you know, so and so is. And then all of a sudden you say, wait, who am I talking about as so and so? Because we're all here. Yeah, women in Hollywood, even at this level. And it's not like there's like this abundance. Right. And it's yeah, exactly. You nailed it. And there is an Oscar curse. I think it feels like there might be. I mean, I think there's empirical data at this point. Yeah, for data people. But there are people not there were people who like, you know, yeah. But it's interesting. I guess it's interesting what ultimately does give you that satisfaction and purpose. Right. It's like, of course, winning the Oscar probably felt incredible. Like I would love to win one. But you know that it's about what you can provide to people and what you can like be a part of that really affects change. Probably someone coming up to you that watched Big Little Lies and said, I felt empowered to say something or I asked my friend if they were OK. You know, or I made sure that I just hang out with my female friends more as a result of watching that. That probably can give you something that an Oscar never could. Oh, my God. Morning show. People talking about I was harassed in my workplace. Yeah. I didn't have a voice and you illuminated in the show. And now everybody at work is behaving differently. Yeah. So a lot of the way our amazing friends who work in the corporate world have to walk through a lot of sublimation and humiliation or just it has radically changed in the past seven years. And with reporting structures and harassment is like that's not flirting. That's actually like leave me the F of O. Yeah. I'm not interested in even the jokes about like, can you believe we can't do this? Are now met with like, shut up. You know what I mean? Like I've been how many times like when you get cast on a new project, you have like, you know, the sexual harassment training. And it's the people who are like, I can't believe this. When I was on 15 years ago, it's like, OK, dude, OK, like listen to yourself. I've had people roll their eyes during it. And it was usually people who were harassing people. Exactly. It's like, what? I can't tell you I like your shirt. It's like, no, you can tell me you like my shirt and you know the difference. Yeah. And so the fact that you're stunting on this right now is inappropriate. But it's but then that's when you remember people just want attention. Well, you know, but I think morning shows great too, because we get to watch things shift. Right. So we were there during mean two. We were talking about workplace harassment. But now we're here talking about the man over the rise of the male podcaster, having massive influence. Yes. Perfect casting, by the way. Perfect casting. We love it. Boyd Holbrook is amazing. And he has, you know, this ease and charm about him, but he's also kind of a good old boy. It works for that character too. Because yeah. Yeah. And so I think it's it's great that we can talk about journalism in this way that, you know, we're not attacking anybody, but we're just sort of illuminating how disturbing it is that people are getting their new sources from people who are maybe not experts in the things they're talking about. Well, that's one of the biggest problems I have with, I mean, in our podcast and community, when suddenly a lifestyle podcast or a comedy podcast host thinks that they can have a politician on their show and have a real conversation with them. I just don't think it's something that we should be doing. We're not we're not qualified necessarily to do that. Like, I think it's smart to say that, you know. During the election, we were pitched democratic politicians to come on here. Presidential candidates. Presidential candidates. And we had to pass because I was like, I think then I would have to and Bo and would have to follow up with some with some topics. And yeah, like, I don't know if you want this person on our show. Right. I don't know if it's best for us to do this. It's like good to trust your instincts because, again, what is your purpose here? Are you going to break political news? No, we should make people happy. Guys, you make people happy. Yeah, exactly. Like having your own award show. Exactly. Which was, you watched it. You guys, come on. You're invited to come up with that. We just sort of try to make each other laugh. And if we do it, we just follow that. And did you tell people, I guess, that they had to come on to accept their awards? Well, we so peek behind the curtain. It was our amazing, amazing, amazing team to help us. You're so proud of your title. No, I can't believe you watched it. I can't believe you watched it. I can't believe you watched it. I can't believe you watched it. It was so fun. Repeated some clips that were very funny. Oh, you're invited any year. Well, here's the thing. It's like, I literally was thinking I was like, no, the first time we meet Reese has to be like this. And then we're going to open the box. Yeah. But anyway, it's there. But no, we just know we like look, it was a lot of work because it was just the two of us plus two writers, which is very understaffed in terms of award shows. It was hard. We wrote all the presenter copy, all the speeches, because everyone was like, we don't know what this is yet because it had been televised. The tone. So we had to write all the speeches. We like we did everything. How long did that take you guys? A couple of months. And that really challenging part was that moment. And this is why like it's great to talk to you is because then you suddenly have to be like, oh, I'm snapping into being talent now. And now we have to learn. Lines. Abracadabra by Lady Gaga. We have to learn a dance. The dance. And that's when I that's when I finally was like, I have an anxiety problem and I'm getting on propane a wall. OK. Because this Abracadabra dance almost took me out. And you know, I'm so proud of it. Can we talk about our relationship to anxiety in like. Yes. Can we? Because I want to hear tools that you've learned and what I've learned and it's real. You talk about this. I'm a high anxiety person. OK. And so I'm actually really happy to hear you say that because sometimes I think when someone talks about themselves as ambitious and I identify with that, it's sort of what people don't say is the amount of anxiety that sometimes can be driving that ambition or accompanying that ambition. So even just to hear you label it as being as your ambition being a symptom or how do you think of it? I mean, anxiety manifests like itself. Depression looks like anxiety sometimes too. So it can be really highly performance based. Like you have to perform. You have to show up, which is a lot of my anxiety. So I used to have panic attacks, bad panic attacks, like crying and I tried meditation. It's hard for me to listen. I also have like some ADD stuff. So I can't listen to stuff for very long. Honestly, this sounds so crazy. But I worked with a hypnotist who also did. And no, I took medicine. Sometimes I'd have to take at a van to calm down. And then it would make me feel like a zombie. Right. And then I wasn't performing. And that's depressing. That's depressing. And I wasn't performing at the level I wanted to. And I wasn't as funny. But by the way, PS, if you need medicine, please take the medicine. Of course. And this is all very individual. Don't be a hero. Yes. And I'm not a doctor. Do I need to put that little thing? I'm not a doctor. But I started doing some work about with a hypnotist. And she actually works for this thing called Neural and Glystic Programming. So it's called NLP. And she helped me realize that I was going to get the same result. But I could get rid of all the anxiety. Yeah. When was that? I was 30. 34. 34 is like a magic. Well, time for me. We're at 35. And so this was this was I think I've. Well, how long we've been now like like engaging with the center of the way for like what, two years a year each? Yeah, sure. So always thinking like, what if I dull myself? Or, you know what I mean? And lots of my our friends with with mental health stuff. Oh, for sure. I don't want to lose the thing. And sometimes I drink too much. I drink too much. And then I was like, why am I doing this? I don't feel good. Or I take it out of hand and I was sleepy. Or so that actually changed my whole life. And I want people to know anxiety is real. And when I see girls going through it or guys going through it on and they post videos in there, I'm like, want to hug them. I want to cry because it's very real and you're not alone. And you can calm yourself down. Yeah. There's tools to calm yourself down. I mean, there is no like magic single solution. I think it is just you finding like on an individualized level, like the matrix of things that that can help you through. I don't know. But the cornerstone of that work is understanding that you're going to perform at the same level, whether you're stressed about it or not stressed about it. Yeah. So decide to take the stress out. Yeah. And she she does a lot of exercises where you talk to yourself after you've completed the task, you've done this show, you're walking backstage. You guys are like going, you're reviewing and you're happy. And so you kind of just tell yourself ahead of time, we're going to get there. The way I process it is actually who I am and how I show up as a leader. Sure. Yeah. But the cognitive script that you have to undo, which is I'm sure the work that you did is to go. But no, I mean, the way that I do it, even if I like the anxiety and the stress is just the way through, that's the journey. Like, like at what point do you believe that to be true, that like you don't need all the stuff in the middle, that you will perform at the same level? When you can let the compliments in. Ah, you hear that? My biggest issue. But just sit down at the end of the night, maybe even like just circle certain texts or take a screenshot and like give yourself a moment and let it in. Yeah. Because you really are that talented. And you really, really deserve where you're at. And but even if it's just quiet and private to you. Totally. You know. One last thing before we move on, I don't think so, honey. And I would have always wanted to ask you. OK. Yeah. What I've always wanted to ask you. And what we kind of maybe brought up earlier with with the book club, it's like people assumed that like you have the like you have a first look at everything, right? That must be a frustrating thing. And that is probably two things. One's the estimate underestimation that we've talked about, which is another through line with the ambition. The other is people projecting things onto you, Reese Witherspoon, this accomplished, high functioning, beautiful, charming, decorated person. But then it but then at what point does that like work against things? Like at a certain point, I go, wait, no, that's not everything there is about me. I mean, the people assume things about me. I don't know what they assume about me. I don't know. I'm just probably. I really don't know. It's like the book club, though. It's like, well, she must get first. It's like, they just assume that you have these things at your fingertips when you have to work hard for them. Yeah. I think no, I think like the joke is out about me that I work really hard. No, I don't know if people assume like things that what really gets my out is people assuming things about my friends or women who are in the spotlight. Drives me up a wall that you think you understand someone's emotional experience when you have never met them. Yes. And you project things on them like sometimes I'll get all my comments about people in my life who've had kids and people in my life who haven't had kids. And there is a massive judgment there on either side. Right. And it's just not cool. Yeah. We need to not do that to each other. Yeah, no. And don't assume that people don't have any consciousness about children, even if they haven't given birth to them out of their body. Of course. You know, that really bugs me. Oh, that's that this whole conversation that's like suddenly. I mean, I thought I was coming in to do. I don't think so, honey, about something very light. Well, no. Well, no, we'll move into the lighter. Remember when you said before we get into, I don't think so, honey, I have one more thing you fucked up because I have one more thing. Now, don't think that you're going to come out lost. Coach Reese, that's the podcast and we're not going to at least bring up big little lice season three. OK. All right. So as you go, OK, I'll look down. I just feel like we do need it. And I would like to ask in a real way about like, how much brain space it takes up for you on the on the on the day to day? And like, what are we thinking about? What are we talking about? I mean, the idea of it is so exciting to me. And then this is where my anxiety and perfectionism and ambition comes in. Yeah, for sure. And I don't want to do that to you. Excellent. Of course it does. So I'm not going to give it to you guys. But you know it will be. Chris, can I say and the. Perfect. The the and I like. You're just one of my like number ones. And like so I will say big little eyes. Season one, episode six, the scene with you and Catherine and where she's out on the hammock and you're going to over to her to confront her about the fact that she's going to like sell her virginity on the Internet. And when you tell her your secret about the fact that you had stepped out on Adam Scott. That to me was just like that was like Reese. That scene was like there was so much fire and there was spirit and there was vulnerability and that there was there was all this like I just think that's character was is like the character that you were like born to play after all of them. And you've done you've brought so much to life in these different ways. But I feel like Madeline Martha McKenzie is like that's you. That's like the one. And I just hope that in season three, she tears it up. Thank you. That's what I'm going to say. I have that big little eyes. That's that's Madeline show. Well, I'm going to pick your brain for cool set pieces, too, because I think what's important, too, is yes, you get all the wonderful inner personal dynamics and you get all the friendships and all the great women. But we really live for our set pieces, too. Oh, yeah. Oh, God, whether it's, you know, the trivia night where we all dress like Audrey Hepburn or we have a disco party for our daughter. Yeah. So those are really important to me, too. And like it all has to cook into this beautiful, delicious meal. It has to be perfect. I mean, they do such an amazing job. You all do such an amazing job at picking those places, too. I remember that you guys went to go get coffee at a place one time. This is when you have this scene with Merrill and she reads you for being short. Like I just like this outdoor coffee spot where you ordered an Americano. I was like, I want to go order an Americano at that place. I was influenced. I love everything about that show. The fact that the show was so yummy that Merrill was like, yes, please. She was like Tracy Thurge was like, man, you brought Merrill to TV. Oh, well done. Nicole did. She called Nicole and she was like, I got to be in your show. And that's how you and Nicole. So I would imagine you said something one time. I think it was when you were giving a tribute to to Nicole, where you were talking about how like Nicole calls and she's like, you've got to understand. Don't understand. She's an actor. This director. She's amazing. We must get her. Then she does say stuff like, we must go on a girls trip. I have to have a tequila. We have to. We must. She really does. Yeah, she really does. She needs to have a tequila. And she is. She's like, you and I, we're the property girlies. We love to buy property. Well, we please totally right. He's a great folks. 73 questions, by the way. So you're real estate questions. Call us. Did you really do that backflip on that trampoline in the end? That was you. Because for a second, I was like, did that. In Vogue, 73. 73. You did that backflip. Yeah, I was a gymnast when I was a little. I was a diver and a gymnast. You were a diver and a gymnast. You were flying through the skies. I was taking big risks. And a very small stature, very big risk. What was your event in gymnastics where you were uneven bars queen? I was more floor beam. Beam. Beam. It was so scary. All the short queens love beam. Because you know, low center of gravity. Low center of gravity. My sister was too tall to be doing gymnastics and we would just be white knuckling in the sea. Oh, wow. This girl's going down. You're like just legs and arms and legs. Bars was good for her. Sorry, Charles. He was so precarious. And there's there's symbolism in that. No gloss. No filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. Addiction is a disease. And it should be looked upon as any other disease. How did you cope with a reckless father like me? Join me, Pooja Bhatt, as I sit down every week with directors, actors, musicians, technicians, and beyond. You don't need to work with the biggest people in the biggest sound to have great music. I have gone through the Saab Siddhi Hachakar. The reach, the pinnacle, stung by the sneaker, I've fallen down again. Yeah. I am not writing actively anymore. And when I see my old work, it kind of saddens me. I'm only as good as the last shot that I gave. Mom's gone, but don't shut the theater. The show must go on. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Pooja Bhatt show on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty. Stay for the fire. OK, it's time for I Don't Think So Honey. Yes, this is I Don't Think So Honey. It's our 60 seconds time where we take a minute, which really, if you crack it down, is 60 seconds to rant and really take down something in culture that's been getting us. And I was thinking earlier about like, in how you see the threads in your work. This kind of feeds into what I'm saying. Exciting. OK. This is Matt Rodgers. I don't think Sony has time starts now. I don't think so, honey. People telling me I can't say y'all. I can say y'all, even though I'm from Long Island, New York. Yeah. You all is a catch all. Because I'll tell you what, I'm not doing folks. I'm not doing folks. I can say you all. You guys, like, of course, you guys is like, you know, it's it lives inside me. Right. But I can say y'all, you know, who else says y'all? Bo and Yang. Every now and then. Also, don't come for me for code switching. OK. Let me tell you how I survived. It is the theme in my work thus far. I'm sure it will. Wow. It's true. Code switching for professional survival and social survival. And y'all can relax. 15 seconds because I am not going to stop saying it. Probably because also Kelly Clarkson is one of my formative cultures at the age of 12. She was like, y'all, y'all, y'all. I'm American Idol and I did imprint on her and Reese's here. And I've made it clear how much I love her. So y'all, I don't think so, honey. And that's one. Then y'all's big for me. That was so good. Thanks. But do you know what I'm saying? Yeah, y'all belongs to everyone. So even as a national queen, as you noted, thank you, Nashville Queen. It does. All right. So you you're allowing it. Yes, of course. Open up the gates. Open up the gates. Now I just remember at Sweet Home, Alabama, when you got to the dogs grave. You know who loves that? Roger Ebert. He did. Roger Ebert. I'm telling you, I'm like, I have the bibliography on my back. Oh my gosh, how do you know so much? Because I love you. Oh my God, you're amazing. You're really doing this. You're my favorite. It's the fact that you know that Roger Ebert loved that scene of me crying over my dad's dog. Sweet Home, Alabama. He studied. In his review, I remember this from when I was reading like the reviews like way back when it was like Roger Ebert was like, I think he gave the movie like a two and a half star review or whatever. And then he was like, but the thing is, Reese, when she gets down and she does that, you would like that speech to the dog. And I was like reading it. And I was like, Mom, we have to go to the movies. We have to see Sweet Home, Alabama. She's like, OK, let's get off my back. No, yes, of course. Y'all know we're studied. The bruiser. What's this? I'm telling you is that's a deep cut, obviously. Elwood speaking of I've got my own things. OK, here we go. And I am I'm swinging big and this might not go over well. But I'm going to I'm going to do it. And you are allowed to respond however you would like. OK, he's a chemistry major from NYU before we get into it. OK, this is Bo and Yang's. I don't think so, honey. His time starts now. I don't think so. Honey, Elwood's pronouncing it ammonium thio-glockalate when the pronunciation is ammonium thio-glocolate. Theo-glocolate. I fucked it up, too. Oh, no. How dear. Unlike El, I was a chemistry major and I couldn't even do it. So I guess I have no fucking leg to stand on. And El herself with her working knowledge, the rules of beauty are hair care, hair care, and fine night. Any Cosmo girl would have any Cosmo girl would have known. Thirty seconds. I think for that to be the punch that threw chutney in jail. Love you, Linda. Love you, Linda. Oh, my God, we love Linda in this house. I think the impact would have been even greater. I think it is thrown industrial chemists in disarray since the year 2000 because they have not known how to pronounce this name that it's thrown even me off. And it really was a bump in the road to my chemistry education. But I could never be mad at Elwoods. I could never be mad at Reese. It's one of the best movies of all time. And that's one minute. I'm so sorry. I fucked it up. But see, ammonium thio-glocolate lives in my head forever. Now it's how it's pronounced. The rest of it is the ammonium thio-glocolate. Was it a topic? Like, did you guys talk about it? We did not talk about it, but it's like you you must understand that it did confuse the community. It's like, how do we pronounce this chemical? That's molecule. I mean, you were influenced. And you thought that I was correct. 25 years later. But, you know, Elwoods is a fashion and merchandise major. Yeah, she's not. She's not. Oh, and I have a four point now. But I want you to know also, did you know they show at NYU? I went to dramatic writing school at Tisha and NYU. They show the opening sequence of Legally Blonde to show how to establish tone of the letter being passed. Really? Yeah. It's like, no, I don't know. There's like a whole scene and like just of ever of the girl riding in the bike and it gets you a bruiser. What's this? And then you open it up. They show that whole thing. And we did a whole day about how like that is a perfect way to establish the tone of a movie and get the audience ready for what's to come. Oh, wow. Yeah. I think that's so great. But yeah, I can't even watch the beginning of the movie because they replaced somebody my hands with somebody else's hands. I can't look at it. And that's just my little inside scope. I understand. I need to just I mean, this isn't my things. I can't I don't think so, but it was like hand doubles that don't look like the human like I can. No. I spent a lot of time picking feet. Doubles. You got to understand the feet and hand doubles. I also can't. How are you really throw me? How are you with ADR? Whenever I see something that's even a little bit idiot. No, I mean, like you're good at it. But when you when I'm watching it and like I can tell something is ADR, I'm like, I'm out. Yeah. Totally. Yeah, that's hard. I think I think we're pretty good at it. I just did some and for Pomeran. I wasn't even supposed to say that I'm on it, but I did. Sorry, guys. This comes out in a little, you know, people are excited. I know. Like, we want to keep it a surprise. I love it. So good. And so doing it was so I'll show you a picture of my. Yeah, please. It was so. Oh, my God, they're going to be mad. But it was so like rich. I was like, wow, to be honest, set that like a period has a budget. Like, this is crazy. Did you know the costumes on her same person as Big Little Eyes? OK, I was gagging for the costume designer. She didn't say that. Yeah. Oh, my God. She's amazing. She's helped like Laura Darden. She worked really close for years and years. I'll tell you after. And I mean, the looks, the looks for days. Works for years. That was one of those shows, too, where it's like they're going to do a measurement fitting and I was like, OK, cool. I think I'm going in for a fitting. Every every single of your. The everything. I was like, oh, my God. And then I was wearing a fully aspeed. Oh, and the whole thing. So I was just like, OK, I don't know if we need this. They're like, they're going to make it. They get your glove size. Everything. I just get them up again. I was like, I need those measurements for something. You know your glove size. No, I don't think I do. Not off the top of the dome. Not off the dome. I'm a 15 neck. All right. Anyway, Reese, we got to get you out of here. You got to get out of here because you have to do. I don't think so. And this is going to be iconic. Do I really? You have to. You'll be the first person ever to not do one. And that could be iconic. You get to innovate that. No, she's going to do one. Don't put that thought in her head. OK. She has something. She's got something. What? I mean, are you kidding me? All we have is topics. I'm just like, which ones do I share with you guys? Oh, yeah. Well, on the mic. Ready? I'm picking what's right for today. OK. Pick what's right for today. Well, because like what's on my mind is what I came in. There's like somebody came up to me at a party and was like, said something terrible my friend. And I'm like, now you're going to ask me a question. We're going to be friends. Let's go. This is your. No. But then like, I also want to talk about is like, people who bring smelly food on like the trains and like on the airplane. And like, oh, OK, OK. Or and if you feel 30 seconds. Also, I have another thing, which is like standing in line for a cinnamon roll. Like, why are we doing this with our lives? I think this is cinnamon roll. Good cinnamon roll. OK. Yeah. Do this and know the form is yours to break. If 30 seconds in, you want to talk shit about your friend. Do that. That is up to you. OK, here we go. This is Reese Witherspoons. I don't think so, honey. Her time starts now. OK, I don't know why people do this, but like, why do you stand in line for like a cinnamon roll you saw on TikTok? Because the nick looks better. What? Like a special food or something like you should touch grass. You should touch grass. You should read a book. Oh. You know, and I have friends who will spend all day searching TikTok as like a search tool for places to take a picture, places to eat special foods, and they will stand in line for hours and hours and hours and hours for sourdough bread. And I just can't. 30 seconds. Is it they want to stand in line secretly, but they don't want to tell people? No one ever wanted to stand in line ever for anything ever, and especially not a baked good. Like, no. Like, sometimes I get it about like those beautiful drinks that have the like the frosty meringue tops. Like, that's cute. And it's going to look cute on your feed. Cinnamon rolls are not cute in pictures. I don't want to see it. And I really don't want to hear about it. Five seconds. OK. I really don't want to. I also want to stand in line for lip gloss. The end. That's one minute. That does feel like something that is not in my culture, because it's never had to be. But lip gloss, you have to be standing in line. Get a grip. What's worth standing in line for? Oh. OK. A really amazing once in a lifetime live performance. Yeah. You know, like somebody you are really moved by. What's your favorite concert you've ever seen? Well, the thing that's coming to mind is... Oh, my God. Come on. So many things. Well, Gwen Stefani when I was 12. Yeah. No, I wasn't. I was like 20 when she came. When am I talking about? When were you? I saw her in Minnesota. I was making a movie with Paul Rad. It was called, Every Night Delivery is a terrible, terrible, terrible, terrible movie. We had the best time. Sarah Silverman was at One Line in the whole movie. She was hysterically funny. That's when we made friends. And it was just a time. And then we were in Minnesota and it was the beginning of ska and girl punk and just all the rising talent. And it was really fun. And I went and saw Gwen Stefani in the tiny, tiny theater. Love it. And it was cool. And she was just a girl. But she really wasn't. She wasn't just a girl. She did Coachella last year and it felt like... And it was no doubt. So it did feel like we were back. It was just... Good times. The way she was like, I'm just a girl in the world. I mean, it was every feeling I forgot. Yeah, she was a total beast. That is... Is a total beast. She contained multitudes. Yeah. Truly. And in a crop top. Yeah, of course. And a strong red lip. Oh, always. And the hair. And that. And that. And the pony. And I just can't. And it was just all... And also what blew my mind was realizing she was having to bleach her hair all the time. And she still has it. Yeah, that's weird. That's a mystery. I had a bleach blonde moment all of last year and... I don't think it would have gone that way. That was out. She's burnt. I don't know how she's doing it. But it's still to this day. Nutrified. Our sponsor. Our sponsor. Well, listen. This has been so much fun. Oh my gosh, you guys. And I feel like... I'm so glad we finally did this. I know. And like, trust me, when he... And I had to chase you down. And just for the record, I chased you guys down. Listen. No, you did not. It was... It was not... You did not need to convince us. It was the easiest yes. I FaceTimed this one. The second you part of it. We just never think someone as cool and talented and busy as you is gonna come spend time with us. And so we are so happy that you did because we have to tell you, Morning Show is like... It's one of those things where... It's one of the only things I get super excited to wake up. I'm like, oh, there's a new one. And now that we have all of them to binge, sorry, y'all, y'all don't. But we'll still be keeping updated. And it's just as much fun as it is every year. And... If I only came on this podcast for one reason, it was to watch you guys connect Morning Show, the new iPhone, Taylor Swift's album, and the color of orange. Well, that all happened off mic. But we did get it, right? Okay, we got all of it. And then you hitting it with the iconic whoever said orange is the new pink. Like seriously disturbed. I mean... I saw Kevin and Diaz wearing a truly heinous and gora sweater. I talked to him about it. I talked to him about it. I had to buy them as truly heinous and gora sweater. Ah! Okay, well, maybe we have to come back and we have to talk more about all these things. This is Race Witherspoon. Morning Show season four is out now. We love you. Thank you. We end every episode with a song. That's a gonna be. Should we do... Sons out! A little after 12. Make breakfast for myself. Need to work for someone else. If you wanna hear the rest of that, do yourself a favor and be like a film student and watch the first sequence and then the whole film of... Wiggly Blonde. Goodbye! This was amazing. That was awesome. Thank you so much, guys. MUSIC Lost Culture Race is a production by Will Ferrell's Big Money Players and I Heart Radio Podcasts. Created and hosted by Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang. Executive produced by Anna Hosnier and produced by Beccar Ramos. Edited and mixed by Doug Bame. And our music is by Henry Kamperski. MUSIC No gloss, no filter. Just stories. Spoken without fear. A person who is not generous can not be an artist. The world will be at peace only when it is ruled by poets and philosophers. Listen to my weekly podcast, the Puja Bha Show on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Come for the honesty, stay for the fire. MUSIC This is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human.