March 19, 2024 • 49 mins
Meet Jesse Tyler Ferguson, a Tony-Award winning actor, author, producer, and host known not only for his creative work but, for his ongoing advocacy in the LGBTQIA+ community. Ferguson starred as the widely beloved character “Mitchell Pritchett” on the Award-winning ABC comedy MODERN FAMILY, which ran for an impressive 11 seasons. Check out his new podcast call Dinner’s On Me here. EnJOY!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Craig Ferguson Fancy Rascal Stand Up Tour continues throughout
twenty twenty four. For a full list of dates and tickets,
go to the Craig Ferguson Show dot com slash tour.
See you out there, the Greig Ferguson show dot Com
slash Tour. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of
this podcast is Joy. I talk to interest in people
(00:24):
about what brings them happiness. You probably know my next
guest from his work on Modern Family. But let me
tell you this. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and he's one of
the Tyler Fergusons, which makes him better than me. Has
a fascinating career and story. Let's listen to it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I have my own podcast now that I'm going to
talk about. Oh yeah, that's always the thing. When it's
like a friend of mine, I was.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Like, oh, I'm gonna, yeah, we're rolling out somebodyeah talk.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
About something like they might you know, I not want
to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
But ilwa was try just I mean I would try
you in a position today, Well you talk about something
you don't want to talk about. But there's very little
that I won't talk about. But you know, the truth
is as well, I think that it's it's I don't
want to do that to people anyway. Yeah, so why
would you do it in a like I'm not a
journalist of course. Now tell me about something you're so
(01:22):
ashamed of. Yeah, like, I don't I want to hear
that from you.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Got to get that question now, I don't know what
it would be.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Okay, Then tell me something you're really ashamed of. Yeah,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I don't want to talk about that right now.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You I've always been jaious of you for two reasons.
Tell me, Well, one your Broadway Royalty, which is I
think a great thing to be. I just admirable and aspirational.
And the other thing is, you know, not just Jesse Ferguson,
you're Jesse Tyler.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, there's already a Jesse Ferguson, and yeah, I figured
it might be that. Yeah, So I had to go
with my middle name, and I'm named after my grandmother,
so I really wanted to keep the Jesse.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I like the name Jesse.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, this is nice name.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
And I wanted kids and that I grew up with
to know that I had succeeded because I was bullied
a lot as a kid.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You surprised me. You from Montana or something.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm was born in Montana, raised in Albuquerque, Okay. And
I was just not very popular, you know. I was
a sort of an awkward kid, and I was pretty
ruthlessly bullied. And then when I made well, I you know,
became very successful, and the thing that I wanted to do,
I wanted all the assholes who bullied me to know
that I'd made it.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
So I kept Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So they're going to remember that name, Jessica when I
throwned the tyler.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So it's funny because have you ever met the head
of the Ferguson clan name? No, he's a friend of mine,
No really, yeah yeah yeah. His name is Adam. He
lives in a place called cal Karen, which is the
seat of the Ferguson name in Ayrshire and Scotland and
island Tom. He's spectacular, that's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I have him.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
When my grandmother passed away, I took a book from
our house and it was all about the Scottish Tartans
and I she had a little squatch of fabric from
the Ferguson Tartan so I.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Have that you don't have a kilt in the Ferguson tartan.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I don't, I don't. I should get one made.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I feel like I feel like I know what's coming from.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let me tell you what though, I feel like the
Ferguson tartan is the same as the private school uniform
that I had to grow up wearing our Lady of Fatima,
and I think, I mean, it's listen, it was.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
It's a very lovely tartan. But like that's what it
will remind me of.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
But maybe it's time. Maybe it's time to let it go.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Yeah, to let it go and like reclaim.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Reclaim the reclaim the plaid. I feel like, actually that
that sounds like a rallying cry right, reclaim the plaid. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I might be doing that for fashion Week this year,
reclaiming the plaid. Yeah, I'm reclaiming the plaid. It's funny
because when I think of you growing up in Albuquerque,
because you look like a lot of guys that I
grew up with. You, you have the coloring and the
(04:01):
complex and of a lot of people I grew up
with in Albuquerque. Must have been tough for someone of your.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
My my skin tone of right, I'm not the greatest
place to raise the right head, well.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Redhead in the sun like that. Then you were bullied
at school, I'm amazed you're not a stack up community.
It sounds traumatic. Was it really bad?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Do you think it was pretty bad? Yeah? It was
pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
In fact, when I was in grade school in my
eighth grade year, I well, right before my eighth grade year,
I told my parents was like, it's really blea good. Yeah,
well they actually changed I changed schools.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Listening to you, did it help?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean it was nice to be relocated to
a different like a different pool of people. I was,
you know, didn't like I didn't. It didn't change who
I was. I was, you know, a very shy kid,
so you know, I still wasn't super popular, but it
sort of gave me a little bit of a relief
from the constant bullying. But then I went to the
high school I went to was the one Catholic high
(04:57):
school in Albuquerque, and so a lot of the people
that I went to grade school with I saw them
again when I was in high school.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
But it was a bigger pond, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Right, so it was easier to escape you. Are you
an observant Catholic?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
No, no, no, no, no, all right, there's your coffee.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
What did you get?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Just I like a thank you very much. It's just coffee.
I like just a regular coffee. No sugar, no sugar,
no milk. Two shorts of this spread. So but in
a cup that normally has three.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Okay, okay, so that's a clever red eye.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah that's right, it's a slightly let Do you want
a cup of coffee?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
No, I've had my I've had two today and.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, that's that's all I get. As well, this is
my second, and then that's I get two cups. Ago.
I have become that guy. Yeah, that used to be
so bad. You never you never fail into that drugs
and alcohol and all that kind of stuff. No, no, no,
but I did cut back on drinking a lot this year.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Just you know, but your kids are young.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
My kids are young, and I'm just I can't deal
with a hangover. So my coffee intake has definitely opped.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever get like this is the
sight of middle I think, do you ever get to
the point where it's nighttime and you're excited, oh because
morning's coming and you can.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Go, you know, Craig something. I wake up and I'm
excited for night time.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I'm like, oh my god, in twelve hours, are going
to be back in the same spot.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
It'll be time again. Oh god. Absolutely, I get excited
for breakfast. I mean that pathantic is that it's like, oh,
I'm going to I can't eat late at night because
I'll get you know, into gest but in the morning,
I'm going to have such a breakfast right right right.
So let me tell you that you're you're growing up
in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, Yeah, right where they have
(06:34):
got the Rattlesting Museum. I believe we've discussed this, Yes, yeah,
we talked, and I think myself, No, you're a theater
kid and you're growing up in a society at that
time it's not really cool to be a theater kid
who's emerging as a gay man as well.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's going to be especially in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There
just wasn't a community there to sort of support that
probably is not I would think more so now. Yeah, absolutely,
you know, I think Albaque has changed a lot, and
I I do. I do still I've always loved Albuquerque,
even though I had a kind of tricky childhood there.
But I do like going back and visiting. I've I've
taken my kids for that. They have the largest international
(07:13):
hot air Ballymfiesta there.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yes, that's which.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Unbelievable. So I really like, I really like going back
for that. I saw a family that lives there. I
love the food there. I I have grown to sort
of appreciate the state as as a as a nice
place to visit now. But yeah, when I was a kid,
you know that, especially as a theater kid, there wasn't
a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
There was a great we had a pretty great.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Community theater program, and I you know, I had auditioned
for the shows. But in my my my high school
didn't have a great theater program.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
But you but you're a Catholic. There's plenty of theater
in the Catholic church.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
You know, circumstance because I was raised as a Protestant Scotland.
I mean we get you know, the wolves are painted
why and maybe we get a heater in the church.
Maybe don't. That's it. But you know, the Catholic kids,
they go wow, they kind of scared me. Actually, was like,
go the Korra.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I mean, looking back on it, I'm just you know,
that was you know, I go to Mass every day.
Every morning would start with and when I was in
grade school, every morning would start with a Mass, you know,
an abbreviated Mass, thirty minutes usually, but then we would
go to Mass, take the Eucharist every morning every morning. Well,
you know, after my first communion. Uh yeah, but I
had my first communion, I was baptized, I did all that,
(08:32):
all that stuff. And it's funny because my parents weren't.
They weren't super observant sort of the it felt like
a community that they were raised in and then decided
to raise their kids in. But you know, I kind
of broke the mold for what.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
About because you're a parent, you got little kids. I
mean that sometimes changes people's perception of their religion and
their upbringing. Sure, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, we aren't a religious family, you know, just since
what didn't go to church. But you know, I think
that it's sad thing of as I'm as I'm teaching
my kids, you know, I'm learning that you know, certain
ideas that I'm trying to teach them are rooted in
like my faith and certain things are rooted in like
just my my who I am as a person. Now,
(09:18):
you know, I meditate a lot and I like to
I'm spiritual, I guess in a different way. So you
know a lot of those a lot of those ideas
are pasted down to my kids. But like I you know,
I'm I haven't we haven't taken them to church. We
haven't done any of that stuff. You know, we certainly
certainly around. It's interesting because we you know, my son
now understands what Christmas is, and you know, it's you know,
(09:39):
I I was like, well do we start talking about
this other thing, this like Catholic component to it or not?
And and you know, I when I was a kid,
I created a Nativity scene for myself and it's this
really adorable thing, created on blocks with pieces of felt.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And I enjoyed points.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's so it's so adorable, and my parents saved it
and they pas down to me and so we put
it out every year.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But it's just like weird thing.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
It's you know, my kids don't know what it is.
I'm like, well, this is the baby Jesus. I'm like,
what am I talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
But I love all the tradition of all. I mean,
I think I feel like with religion, what I do
now is I take what I want and I leave
the rest. Yeah, and if anyone's got a problem with that,
then they had a problem in the first place. Right,
It's that whole thing of you know, a lot of
people who are angry, they were angry before they even
heard are you that's right? You know, so it's kind
(10:31):
of you got to let it go. Yeah. I wonder though,
because I think you said you're a spiritual person, and
I think about that a lot, and I'm not a
religious person, but I find that I can't. For a
while there I thought it was an atheist, but it
felt like too dogmatic and rigid to take like you
(10:53):
knew the answer.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, it's like, you know, all these theologians, Thomas of Aquina, Einstein,
they were all wrong. But I'm right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Right, right, I mean, I certainly I never thought of
myself as an atheist, but I don't know, it's sort
of I think it's okay to be uncategory and uncategorizable.
I think that's okay, totally fine.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I think actually, with things that are going on right
now in lots of areas of society. Huh. I think
that that's actually good, it's healthy, because I was thinking
that there. I was. I was thinking about, you know,
what's the statute of limitations on gay because when I
was eighteen nineteen years old, I gate for you, Yeah,
(11:42):
how are you going to know something you like something
unless you try? And I tried it thought well, it's okay,
and I like the person involved, but it's not really
for me. And then I thought, but does that you know,
what does that? Where does that place me in the Well?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I think everything's on a spectrum, you know, So that's yeah.
I know so many people who are very straight and
have kids and have wonderful marriages, and you know, they
dabbled a bit in high school and college, and you know,
it's and.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
The other way around. By the way, I know plenty
of gay men who were straight.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Now, hey, now, now that's something I haven't done. Well,
I've never dabbled.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Wow, you know, I look, if you're making fail.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I know, that's right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Did you know right away you were like, oh gosh,
this is what I'm dealing with.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Well, I don't necessarily know how to categorize it. But
I knew that it was something that was not you know,
growing up Catholic. You know, that's sort of all you
hear about is like.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, anal It's.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Like, oh gosh, it just seems like it's something I'm
not super interested in. Or I didn't see a place
for myself in that, you know that in that arrangement.
But like I I don't know if I knew that
it was gay until you know, I was a little older.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
But I wonder if do you think that's what I
tried to do to theater and broadways because it has
a lot of the drama and the pageantry and the
ceremony even of Catholic church, but it famously much more
accepting of gay people, right.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I mean perhaps I did like the you know at
Christmas time, the live Nativity scene. Who does you know
that the shows in church were really exciting. Yeah, but
you know it was all about for me, like the
production value. If it looked good, then I was into it,
you know, I didn't want to look great.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I just find that so kind of it's something very
wholesome about that. I think something lovely about it. Sure,
So how did you how did you get from Albuquerque.
To to broadly what happened.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I came to New York right after I graduated high school.
I was accepted into a performance arts academy called the
American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Uh And so my dad
and I drove cross country and his suburban and we
packed all my stuff up in the back seat. And
it was like a four day road trip for me.
You no, I know, he's so sort of him to
(14:06):
drive me. And then we drove into Manhattan and the suburban.
You know, my dad, it's you know, he's a used
to driving driving in Albuquque in Mexico. Here we are
in Manhattan and people are honking at us, and you know,
they are very aggressive drivers in New York.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And my dad's, you know, a rule follower.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, he's the type of guy that, like Hanks
twice before backing up to make sure no one's behind him.
You know this, this type of timid driving was not
going to fly in Manhattan. So he dropped me off,
we unloaded the car. I think he stayed a few
days with me while I sort of settled in, and
then he drove back to Albuquerque and left me behind
in New York and did you feel.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Like you were you were where you were meant to be. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You know, it's interesting. I had never even before I
went to New York, I knew that's where I wanted
to go. And I think part of it is just
because I would watch the Tony Awards on TV and
I knew that this place that had this incredible theater
scene called Broadway was you know, it existed only in
New York City, and I just I had I was
aware enough of that that culture.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I had all these cast albums and I would collect
the musical scores of these shows. Even though I didn't
really play piano. I would just like to look at
the photos and like, look at the sheet music, and
I just had a great appreciation for the work that
went into putting these shows on and I want to
be a part of that in whatever capacity.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It is a real world into itself Broadway as well.
It's fascinating that there are people who are big stars
on Broadway that you know, cross the East River and
you know, people are like, I'm sorry, I don't know
who you were talking about, you know, I mean, it's
it's I had.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
To explain the other day to someone who Patty Lapone was,
and I was like, I'm sorry, I don't know if
I can do this.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Wait, yeah, but I think that it's quite an interesting
thing because you there's somebody that there was anctor called,
you know, Jim Dale, of course, and Jim Dale was
a huge Broadway star, but in Britain. I knew him
from doing these kind of cheesy comedies when I was
a kid growing up. We used to that and I
only heard years later he had become this force on
(16:05):
on Broadway. It's such a such a strange thing. Well
have you done there recently?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
My most recent thing on Broadway was a play called
Take Me Out, about a baseball team. The lead player,
who's like a Derek Jeter type, comes out of the closet.
That role was played by Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy Okay,
who's a fantastic stage actress. It was his stage debut,
and I played his business manager, who is a gay
man who doesn't know anything about baseball and then falls
(16:32):
in love with the game. C It's a beautiful play
written by Richard Greenberg.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Who.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Is such a lover of baseball, and I had these
amazing soliloquies about baseball and how they're so you know,
it's like democracy, and how it's.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
A weird game. It's an interesting thing because it does
contain something that I don't think other sports do. Yeah,
it's weird. I feel that about baseball.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
It's that thing of first of all, it's lonely sport.
You know, you're not you're playing kind of by yourself.
You each have your own positions. And then it's something
else that there's no clock, which is so interesting. You know,
there's no countdown. It's you have this moment on the
plate and you have Everyone has the same opportunity and
the same chance to achieve something, and they're given the
(17:19):
space and time to do it. And that's sort of
what this character found so beautiful about the game of baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
When I became an America uh huh, it was about
baseball was the thing that I've think explained America to me,
okay in a way that I didn't understand before, and
why I was so attracted to it. And here's what
it is. It is Failure is unnecessary and probably the
majority of what you will do is fail And it
(17:45):
doesn't matter if you can swing at the ball and
head it one time out of ten, you're a Hall
of Fame. Yeah, And I thought, oh my god. Yeah,
So if you fail, it's just part of the process.
It's just part of it. Spot a thing because where
I'm from, you fail. I tried in the first place,
audible we boys. But if you in America, you fail,
(18:10):
you go, well missed it next Yeah, you know, And
I love that about That's why I kind of like,
I'm not a baseball for Thattica or any means, but
I kind of like I respect it in a weird way.
I think it as a as a real soul in
it that I that I'm.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Very emotional sports.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
It is right and the idea of when you have
you you've been to games, right, so you know that
they particularly actually in the Midwest or in the West
where the sun hangs forever, and there's that vibe. It's
a very it's like it has a it has a
spiritual quality about it, which I've never been able to
achieve watching other sports. It's it's amazing. Yeah, it's a
(18:50):
great a theater about it. Yeah, spiritual theory. The Craig
Ferguson Fancy Rascals stand up to her continues throughout the
United States in twenty twenty four. For a full list
of dates and tickets, go to the Craig fergusonshow dot
com slash tour. See you out there. Talk to me
(19:13):
about meditating, because I'm trying to do it, and it's.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
It's what do you find hard about it? Finding the
time or just calming your body down?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Are both?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know? I feel like what it is is that
when I try and meditate, I do. I do do it,
and I try and do it every day. It's I
kind of put a value on it, like that was
a good meditation that was it worked then or it
didn't work then. But I suspect that's probably not the
(19:42):
correct go about that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I think that's right right, Well, you said right there,
you know the correct way. I don't think there is
a correct way to do it. But the type of
meditation that I started practicing was TM transcendental meditation that
I'm actually dead. Director David Lynch set up a foundation
here in Los Angeles because he became so enamored with
this type of meditation and he wanted to make it
accessible to everyone, you know, kids and people who were
(20:05):
suffering trauma. So he basically set up this nonprofit and
you pay, like, say, I want to learn how to
do translated on meditation. I find a week that I
want to do this, and I pay a fee and
that that money goes to help teaching other people how
to do it. So I did a week long seminar
with the David Lynch Foundation, and like, you go every day,
(20:26):
and I think I only had to go three or
four days, and it was just you know, you find
like I think it was like an hour and a
half or two hours, but you have to be able
to do it every day.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
So I had to sort of carve it.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
It was when I was shooting Modern Family, and so
I had to really make sure I had It was
my hiatus week and I didn't have any other work
to do, so I was able to clear out some
afternoons to do it.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
But you know, they what it requires of you is.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the
evening or the late late afternoon. And to be completely honest,
I've not been great about doing it twice a day,
and I'm trying to get back into the habit and
I feel like what I need right now is a
refresher course.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Is there a lot of instruction required.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
That's the thing.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, you're you're, you're, you're assigned to mantra, and
you know, they teach you how to do it. And
I learned in a group of people and then I
had sort of one on one sessions as well. But
it's really just quieting your body down, repeating this mantra
in your head and then coming into the state. And
it does take practice to sort of tune out the noise.
(21:24):
And some people are really good now they you know,
and they've been this for so long they can do it,
you know, in a in a loud room and they
can still go into that state of meditation.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I'm not that good.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I'm fascinated by that because I became kind of and
you know, I've been sober for a very long time,
so you know, prayer meditation is something that comes up
and there's an essential part of it and I've always
been fighting with because it was raised in Judeo Christian
you know environment. I'm like, prayer is fighting like you
say sorry and move on, and you're so big and
(21:57):
it's my fault. And over time I kind of, you know,
progressed a bit with that, But meditation always felt there's
a I don't know where I came up with this,
but I always felt a little indulgent, you know what
I mean. I felt like I was indulgent myself guilt. Well, yeah,
it's the same thing. It's just a different set of
a different set dressing the same guilt. I think that
(22:18):
that's that's right. It was like I shouldn't. Oh you
have to meditate. Oh, of course you do it because
you can show business. Yes, you know.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I mean I think that, you know, living here in
Los Angeles, that's certainly a trope to fall into. You know,
if people here that you live in LA and you meditate.
Oh boy, okay, well we know what you know.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, we know how much kill you get through. And
I don't live in LA anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Where do you live now?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Well? New York and Scotland mostly. Really, I'm here to
do this, I well, this this podcast thing that I do.
I made a rule for myself that I wouldn't do
any of them remotely, that I would sit across. I'm
so glad you. Yeah, well you do that with your
person as well. Difference I think it does because I
(23:02):
think during COVID when we all go into doing the
Zoom stuff because now they do pictures by Zoom all
the time.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Pitches by Zoom, auditions by Zoom.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Do you hear the scandal recently about fake auditions on Zoom? No? Oh,
this is amazing. So a bunch of agents apparently again
in trouble because they're saying that their clients or you're
up for this big role, but you have to put
your cell phone tape. They're not up for the big rule.
But the clients put them cell phone tape. I think
they've got a shot. So the agent looks like they're
getting them these good things.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
I just said no to putting myself on tape for something.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Well, come on, you're Jesse Tyler, fucking fair.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Talk about this.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
It was like the role and it's it was being
directed by an actor who I very much admire is
also starring in it, and the role to me on paper,
I only read the sides was sort of gay best
friend one on one like there wasn't anything.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Super interesting about it. But it was a well written part.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
It was sure not bad at all, and I was
only would have entertained the their job before it was
offered to me, but he wanted me to put myself
on tape ten pages of this sort of gay best
friend one on one on tape, and I said, you know,
I just feel like, after eleven years of Modern Family
and Tony Award, like, I just feel like, when is it?
When have I proven myself? And I just said I'm
not going to do it. And they said, well, he
(24:18):
really needs to see see it. And I said, okay, well,
I guess I'm not going to get this part. And
I just saw that it was announced that a friend
of mine got the part, and I'm desperate to call
my friend and be like, did you put yourself on table.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Or he just offered to you?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
But you know it's that look. I've directed things as well,
and I've I've done this into my shame. I shouldn't
have done it. But it was a long time ago.
But I asked for people to audition that I know
they could do them. Yeah, I knew. I knew they
could do the part and they would be great in
the part. But I was the director and I was
you know, I was being I was being a deck
(24:53):
quite frankly.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
I don't mind auditioning for things, especially I feel like
if I feel like, uh, it's thing that I'm not
sure I can do because I want to make sure
that we're on the same page, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well, you're a proper, growing up actor who's no epetulant
when it comes to edition, because that's what I think
I was doing. It was like I was making people addition,
it was some kind of weird parapley. I mean, it
was a long time agoing out. I don't do that
because direct and you've directed right a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
I don't love it. Did you enjoy it?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I didn't mind it. It's not my passion. I haven't
directed anything of great importance.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
But you know, it's interesting because I thought for a
while it was like, I think I could actually direct
some episodes Modern Family, and Julie Bowen was the only
cast member who actually directed us. And I ended up
not even throwing my name into the ring. And I
think they would have let me do it if I
wanted to, but I just after, like, you know, this
(25:50):
was like the end of the run, and after like
nine or ten years of being with this this cast,
I just felt like I didn't want to step out
of that role of being a co star or a
co acting partner and into this directorial position, like I
could not picture myself like giving Ed O'Neal direction.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I just couldn't do it. But yet I think I
would have been really good at it.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So I think, well, it changes the family dynamic. I mean,
if you were in a cast that long, it's a
kind of familial sh and it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Would have been nice to be surrounded by people who
trusted me and the crew that already I already knew.
And the thing is, Julie Bowen did a great job.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
I could see Julie being great. She's so organized, she's
a very good let's get it done. She was great. Yeah,
I can imagine she would be. She has a podcast
as well, of course she does. Yeah, I think who does.
It's a bit like having a tattoo or our blog stage. Yes,
(26:48):
tell me about your podcast that you do. Then dinner
with dinners on me? Dinner's on me. People eat food
from your naked.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Body, not dinners on me physically.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Honest, thataway, like it's like the people eat from you.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Although yeah, that could be an interesting twist. No, dinner's
on me meaning I pick up the bill or rather
Sony picks up the bill because they're my producers. And yes,
I take I take a friend out to to a
meal and we have a conversation over dinner and what
I love about it and what always gives I have
several friends who have podcasts as well, and some of
(27:25):
them have been on the show, and you know they
Doak Shepherd was just on an episode, and you know
he has obviously Armchair Expert, which is such a popular podcast,
and he arrived at the restaurant and he was just
he couldn't let the micromanaging go. He was worried about sound.
He was worried about, you know, the the ambient noises.
He was worried about the fact that a third person
(27:47):
was coming over to the table to like give us
our menus and tell us a special He was like, oh,
what's happening.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I was like, well, he's a director.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
He's a director.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But That's what I love about my podcast is it
is feels very it feels very fly on the wall.
You feel like at this you're the third chair at
this table and you're having lunch with us or dinner
with us. And I love that you hear the way
to come over with the table and get the specials
and you hear about our dietary restrictions, and like it's
just a normal dinner service except for it happens to
be recorded.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You go to like Chili's and all of dark, or
you go to like.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Fancy usually we'll not always super fancy.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I you know, I took Weird All Yankovic was a
recent guest and he's vegan, and I took him to
uh Cafe Gratitude here in Los Angeles, which is, you know,
a very casual dining place that has amazing vegan food. Uh,
and obviously he had been there before. And then I
took Sophia Vagara to Dante, which is this beautiful new
restaurant on top of the hotel.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
In Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So you know, it's just sort of a mix of
where I think these people would enjoy and restaurant. I
choose it with sometimes the help of my guests, and
I try and match up, like where I think they
might like to go.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I'm going to tell you no Yankovic story. Tell me
so favorite. I love this. So out comes to visit
me in Scotland, this very old house in Scotland, and
just before your eyes, I'm in the basement slash dungeon
of this old house and I find an accordion, an
old ACCORDI like an old, fancy accordion, and I bring
(29:15):
it up the stairs and and Al arrived like later
that day, and he's like, oh yeah, this is a
sprinkledanger forty eight or something. And he fixed it. He
fixed it, fixed it well, he said, you know, I've
fixed it as much as I can.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That's incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
But it was like I couldn't believe it an accordion,
and then I'll arrived. It had a spiritual.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Compati is incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
MESSI Al Yankovic. I think it's like amazing happened that.
I just I really told you the story to let
you know that Al Yankovic show enough.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I met him for the first time at his house
in Hawaii. I don't know if he was if it
was his house, if he was renting it, or if
he actually.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Oh yes, because the reason was in Scotland is because
the volcanic ash thing was going on Hawaii and he
couldn't go.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
There, gotcha, Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
So the only reason I so you went to his
houseband Hawaii? Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
He and Eric Stone Street were kind of buddies. Uh.
Eric was a music video of his Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
And Eric and I happened to be in not only
in Hawaii, but at the same resort with our significant
others at the time. Mine I went on to marry
who's not my husband, but Eric was. I was dating
his the girlfen he was dating at the time, So
we were all at the same resort. And uh, I
mean just totally by happened. Chance happened, stance happened, chance happen.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
It's probably correct. Chance stands is. I was like, you're
about to start a number. Yea happened by Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I have a real good habit of making up boards
and mispronouncing things all the time.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Don chance.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Uh So anyways, Eric like, do you want to go
have dinner with Alan Susan his wife, And uh, I
was like, yeah, let's let's meet them, and he all
went out to dinner together.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
It's such a sweet, sweet guy. Yeah, he's lovely. He's
really a lovely man. So let's talk a little bit
a bit more than family then, because it's come up
a couple of times, it's one of those like it'll
be a legacy thing for you for your entire life. No,
of course. I mean it's like me doing the late
night show is like, no matter what you do, it's
going to committed the conversation. It doesn't matter what you do.
Now it's a thing. Yeah, did you Were you aware
(31:24):
of it at the time when it started out that
you were going in that way.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
It felt I mean, I'm sure you felt the same
way when you were doing your show. You know, when
you're in the bubble of it, you just kind of
got to.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Do the job.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Ye's every day.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, It's interesting because now we've been off the air
for almost four years, and I find that a new
group of a new generation of people are discovering it
and or people haven't been watching or like watching it again.
I feel like there's a new wave of I don't know,
(31:55):
I'm receiving a lot of love from it from strangers
in a way that I hadn't before.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
It's a great show, which is oh, well.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
I mean, I'm really proud of it, but I I
think now that like I'm out of it, I really feel,
oh gosh, this is kind of a big thing, and
I can compare it to the shows that I grew
up watching that I love so much, like Friends and
Will and Grace and uh, you know Steinfeld, Like I
adore these shows, and I was like, oh, guy, I
guess I am that for for a lot of people.
I am that that thing, or I was part of
(32:23):
that show for a lot of people. But when it was,
when it was happening, it just felt like, you know,
it was a job. It was a great job, and
you know, we were It's it's interesting because we were
we could be because we were on for so long.
We went through that whole trajectory of like, you know,
we were the new show and everyone was excited about us,
and then we were winning Emmy Awards and then like
(32:43):
we kind of sort of felt like, oh god, people
are maybe getting a little sick of us. And then
we stopped winning the Emmy Awards, and then it was like, oh,
Modern Family's gone downhill, and you know, you go through
the whole thing, and they've jumped the shark and then
and then the show's done, and then it's like, oh
my god, but we missed the show so much and
we wish it would do a reboot, and now we're
in that place like people wanting the show to come
back so it's just, you know, I feel like, because
(33:06):
because it is a blove show, we're going to see
all those different phases of love for the show and.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Be interested that comes back because you had kids on
that show. Of course, kids do what they do as
they grow up and grow up, and then everyone's like, wait,
why isn't Manny And Manny's like six foot five with
a bad.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Well, you know, and like, I still keep in touch
with Aubrey who played my daughter on the show, and
they're still close, and I've gone I went to her
school play a few months ago, and I'm going to
go to her school musical that's coming up soon, and
I love supporting her. Her mom was like, you don't you know,
that's really sweet of you to come to this. It's like,
I feel like, you know, I'm proud of her. I
met her when she was three years old, and I
(33:46):
have a three year old now, and it's like I
can't even you know. That's part of the reason why
I feel so connected to hers. Like the age that
Beckett is now is when I met Aubrey, and like,
it's just such a there's so much happening in that
little brain right now that I entered her life at
that point, like, I want to be there for all
these big moments because she means something to me.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
You know, it's very special, it's nice. It is nice.
It's a funny thing though, as you mentioned it with children,
because now you know you're a very busy parent and
that very busy part of parenting, which in my experience
so far, there isn't a not busy part of parenting.
You'll never sleep well again ever, Like my oldest is
(34:24):
coming up on twenty three. I'm like, oh, it's okay, Yeah,
trying to go to sleep, and I hope he's okay.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
I kind of hope. I always feel that way.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, I guess. But the thing is it changed me
as a person alone, becoming Did you just stop drinking
when I was twenty nine? Oh okay, so this is
before kids. Oh yeah, I was ten years sober before
my son was Wow. So like I survived and I
go better. The ten years before is one. But I
don't think I became anyone I really would like to
(34:52):
be until at least my first kid came along. And
then I was like, okay, wait, wait a minute, I
chan used to lot. Did it do it to you? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I mean the Oscars were last night and Emma Stone
one Best Actress and she said something about her daughter,
who I think she said it was three, and she's like,
you know, our world is technical her now. I was like,
oh god, that's so, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah. Yeah, I get nostalgic for the kids shows that
I used to watch, Like when Mila was very young,
I used to watch Teley Toby's with him and I
was like, oh my god, I wish I still smoked. Yeah,
(35:38):
it's be great and it's like and I still remember
all the Talley Toby's names. Is that still a thing?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I think that was so now, but it's like vintage.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's like maybe the cool two year
old watch Toby's. That's right. I don't know. I loved it.
I mean it was it's so ahead of his time. Well,
if you look at it, lacky, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
It is made for people who are on Hashi ship.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I think so. I think there was a lot of
hash involved in the development of that. You were never
called to any of that. Where are you drugs and
alcohol and everything? No.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I partake in weeds sometimes, but mostly it's like it's
you know, very very casually and.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Weeds like having a podcast. Yeah, Cannon does it. I don't.
I actually I'm very I'm no good around it.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yeah, weed, people aren't.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
I get angry about it because I'm in New York
a lot and it's the street stink of it.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yeah yeah, oh yeah, I know. Now that it's legalized,
it's kind of everywhere.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
And I'm like, and I see an old fashioned drunk
with a bottle of you know, touching a paper bag
and a paper bag and why does he have to
hide Yeah, his scouch in a paper bag and he
smoked weed, and everybody else I guess to inhale it
or people will go cigarettes get annoyed. But if it's weed,
they're like, oh yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I mean I was young enough when I moved to
New York that I still remember, you know, it was
legal to smoke inside restaurants.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh yeah, that was the era I.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
You know, where there was a smoking section and you know,
it didn't really matter.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
I can remember smoking sections on airplanes, yes, like oh
my god, the idea absolutely so dangerous, dangerous.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Like oh no, can we why do airplanes still have
the little cigarette dispensers because.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
They're old, they look new.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
And I just feel like they they're creating new airplanes
with these little.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Well maybe they maybe there are certain markets in the
world where you're like smoke. I don't think.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
I think what it is is they're not new. They're clean, right, okay,
I think. I mean they're not on the seats. That's
when it's really old. But like in the bathrooms there's
like the ones on the door. Sometimes it's as fascinated
by that. Maybe I don't know. I was on a
plane yesterday, which I didn't No, I don't think I
saw any cigarette anything, but they do say that thing
about you know, I had a friend of theater rector
(38:00):
actually who who couldn't take a long flight without sneaking
a smoke in the bathroom. And I was like, man,
they will put you in jail. And he's like, you know,
I just take a couple of puffs and then I
put it out.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
I'm like, there's some sort of a smoke detector in there.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That he says that if you put your head right
inside the bathroom, and I'm like, no, no, that's so dangerous.
But but you never you smoke a little weed and
that's it.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Mostly audibles too.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Yeah, that's the way people do it now. I couldn't
do it. Any kind of cannabis product made me very antsy.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Yeah, just sometimes tells me sleep.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, well you got your meditation for that now. Plus
you don't get to sleep now. Now you've got kids,
young children. Do you have theatrical ambitions for your children?
Do you have any rooms about that?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (39:00):
It's you know because I I it's interesting because I
I was just talking about Aubrey, who I met when
she was Beckett's age, And I can't imagine, first of all,
doing the show Modern Family without Aubrey. I can't imagine that, right, So, yeah,
she's part of the experience. But I also can't imagine
bringing Beckett into an audition. I just don't think you,
(39:22):
first of all, would do that. Well, like, he's a
great kid. I just don't think he has. But also
just asking it, you know, it's a lot to ask
of a.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Kid, I think. So I wouldn't let my boys do it. Yeah,
And both of them were interested, and I'm like, nah, really,
the youngest ones.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
What age did they show interest?
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Well, they were around it all the time.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
You know.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I mean it was like I had I mean, I
had the Wiggles on Late Night show because Milo liked
him when he was two, right, you know, it was
like they were always always been part of the family dynamic.
And I said, you know, Milo, who's twenty three now,
and is you know this, he graduated at SVA and
animation and he has his own animation studio and he's
you know, he's uh so, he's so in that world
(40:07):
that I kind of said, no, not until you decide
to be in it. But he did decide to go
in it, right right, But I didn't want to. I
didn't want to push it. And my youngest boy, yeah,
I have the same feeling, like if you're old enough
and you want to do sure.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
So for me it was theater was something that brought
me out of my shell. Like I saw a play
with my mom when I was very young. I remember
sitting in the audience thinking, oh, I don't want to
be sitting in the audience. I want to be on
stage doing them what they're doing for the people in
the audience. And I asked my mom if I could
join the local I mean, it was a community theater
group wasn't anything professional, but like, uh, you know, I
(40:41):
think she was sort of shocked that I wanted to
do that. And I've now and I think it was
so good for me, and it really gave me a
sense of like community, and I was like, ok, here
are my people, and like I felt very comfortable around
this group of kids who are interested in this thing,
Whereas you know, at school, I didn't think I had
that that network of people that I trusted. And uh,
you know, I've taken Becket, my son, to you know,
(41:05):
kids shows, but like live performances of things, and he's
a really attentive audience member and he loves he loves
seeing live theater. I mean, listen, I'm taking to kids shows.
But still and I feel like if he wanted to
explore that, I would say, okay, I'm just kind of
knowing that that's what I did. But yeah, it's tricky
(41:25):
because we live in Los Angeles. Like the opportunities are there,
like I wanted to like bring them in and I
have an audition for something, but I just I don't know.
It's uh, it's that tricky balance of like it's an
occupation I personally love so much, but at the same time,
I know how complated and terrible it can be.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Well, it can be very painful. The rejection thing and
the idea that that I mean, look, everyone, everyone swings
and missus. Everyone you know, experiences rejection and business everyone. Yeah,
but I just couldn't bear it for my children, the
idea that they uh, you know, someone somebody would let
them know they went right, the right, right, Like I
(42:05):
couldn't be all. But maybe that's more about me than
as about we had.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
You know, we our cast of Modern Family won four
SAG Awards, I think for our second, third, fourth, and
fifth season Aubrey again in place. My daughter joined us,
I think on the third season, so she had two
SAG Awards, you know, like that's she was six and
she had two SAG Awards, like the collective weight of
the both awards were double her weight.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
It's a human being.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And I remember the year we didn't win, uh for
the first time, she was very upset. She cried and
she was like she climbed on her mom's lap and
she was bawling. And I feel like it was Francis McDermot,
who was sitting at the table next to us.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
I think it was the year of like no mad
Land or one of the one of the shows she won.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
And she looked over at Aubry because uh, disappointment only
gets worse as you get older, like she was so.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Jaded by it all, and I just thought, well, it's true. Yeah,
but I guess what you learn to do when you're
older is is you compartmentalize and it's not personal. And
I mean to any degree, I mean not always, but
I mean look, when I hear no, I'm still not great. Yeah, yeah,
I mean I'm still so I won't even ask. It's like, no,
(43:25):
I don't. I don't ask because I might hear no.
I think that it's it's a good thing though, for
a for a parent to try and protect children from
from that kind of thing people talk about. You know,
well I was spank as a kid and didn't do
me any harmy, didn't it. I mean, listen to you,
(43:46):
you know, like, I don't know, do you have any
do you have any kind of hard and fast rules
about parenting that you find controversial or others find controversial?
Speaker 2 (43:55):
May I don't think so, I mean who knows. But
I know when Justin and I first, you know, told
our family that we were pregnant, were like, you know,
no iPads, no screens in this house, and of course
not and you know, yeah, good luck with that, right,
And I'll.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Never ever meet a better parent than somebody who's just
about to have their first kids.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
I know, you know, these these things that we think
we're gonna do.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
It's but anyway, Yeah, we definitely pivoted quickly. And I
don't think that I do anything super controversial.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Uh uh, they're they're you know, I mean, well, I
guess look, you're you're you're a two daddy family, is
they say in the in the.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Elementary schools in LA. That's no controversial around here, though,
was it?
Speaker 3 (44:41):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
That's as parts of it, maybe maybe further further into the.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he said.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Becket did ask us about you know, a mom, like
where like why do some people have moms and some
people don't?
Speaker 1 (44:54):
You know? It was It's interesting, I guess, because do
you have to try and explain I don't know how.
I mean, look, I haven't been in the position. I
don't know what does one do. Well.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
We just explained that there are different types of families
and so people have you known want a beach, and
some people have just one mom one dad, and some
people have two dads and two months.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, he gets it.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
I think that's all you didn't need to do. I
think to go too much deeper than that.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Yeah, we went a bit like that because Megan and
I got married when Milo was uh, well we got
together when he was four, so he's very young and
didn't quite understand the like, well, how come mom lives
over there? Megan's like mom, but she lives in the
house year And there was a great book about it.
(45:35):
There's a couple of good kid books about it, and
there's lots of different Love Makes Families or something some
guy called Todd something. I remember, the great kid's book
about all different like two daddy families, two mommy families too,
you know, one mommi family, one daddy family.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
You know, our youngest is obsessed with Lama Lama, Red
Pajama and it's this it's this pretty famous book, but
you know it's all about Mama Mama and the Lama
Mama Lama and write pajama and too much trauma. He's crying,
but it keeps repeating the Mama, Lama Lama, Yeah, Mama
where's my Mama? And but he loves the book, and
(46:11):
so like I was like, well, yeah, we're going to
read this book because I'm not going to like change
it to Papa for that, because the whole rhyme is
built on the whole books built on this rhyme. Like
I'm going to destroy the integrity of the writing.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Good for you. That's a well trained actor, you know,
respect the text, find the way to make it work.
Don't go change in the text the act. Yes, it's right, right, Yeah,
that's right. I remember having an interesting discussion with the
Night the Ones about this classic, like my character wouldn't
say that, yes, I had written the part, okay, And
(46:45):
I said, well, that's the character I wrote. So if
your characters wouldn't say that, you're playing the wrong guy, right, right, right.
It wasn't a great day. When did you read? You
presume you read to your kids, right, yes, So when
I was reading to the kids, I really enjoyed myself
doing different voices and as would you do all that
as well?
Speaker 3 (47:05):
I try to. Yeah, I'm really bad at dialects, but
you know that's mixed up.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
Man. I love I love doing Danny and the Dinosaur.
U there was. There's a line and that I still
remember because I always a suggestive. A carry On movie,
there's a line in it where a woman says to
the dinosaur who helps her with her groceries. She said, oh,
thank you for helping me with my bundles, said a lady.
(47:30):
And I used to and I don't know why I
get such and I can still do Curious George by her.
Oh yeah, yeah, because I was on the road a
little bit when Liam was very young. So I used
to it and I i'd phone in and then I
would do the bedtime story and I just learned it. Yeah, yeah,
So now I can do it if you need me
to do Curious George for you right now?
Speaker 3 (47:52):
Who did the audio book? You should do it?
Speaker 1 (47:54):
You should recorded you know why? I can do another one. Yeah,
I'll do it for nothing. Yeah, I'll do it to
be should for the coffee, right, yeah, right, right right.
It's a joy to speak to you. You're You're such
a lovely man. I enjoyed even though you're one of
the fancy tyler Ferguson's as opposed to just an old
fashioned Ferguson, you seem to still keep your feet on
(48:14):
the ground.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
I know where, but I know where you came from.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
Yeah, I know where you came from. Yeah, yeah, you
should go there one day.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Yeah. Yeah, you'd love it. They'd love you.
Speaker 3 (48:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
They live in this big, giant old country estate in Scotland,
the original Ferguson's. They're still there. I've got to go.
I should. You'd love it.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
Take the kids.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Yeah, it'd be a fun thing.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
Yeah, I've been. I've been to Ireland, but not Scotland.
Next d of my family's Irish, right, yeah, the Doyle side.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
Yeah, I've got that too. Yeahs yeah it is. But
it's great to see.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
Get out of here at Popo Taker for two per
The Craig Ferguson Fancy Rascal Stand Up Tour continues throughout
twenty twenty four. For a full list of dates and tickets,
go to the Craig Ferguson Show dot com slash tour.
See you out there, the Greig Ferguson show dot Com
slash Tour. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of
this podcast is Joy. I talk to interest in people
(00:24):
about what brings them happiness. You probably know my next
guest from his work on Modern Family. But let me
tell you this. Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and he's one of
the Tyler Fergusons, which makes him better than me. Has
a fascinating career and story. Let's listen to it.
Speaker 2 (00:49):
I have my own podcast now that I'm going to
talk about. Oh yeah, that's always the thing. When it's
like a friend of mine, I was.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
Like, oh, I'm gonna, yeah, we're rolling out somebodyeah talk.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
About something like they might you know, I not want
to talk about.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
But ilwa was try just I mean I would try
you in a position today, Well you talk about something
you don't want to talk about. But there's very little
that I won't talk about. But you know, the truth
is as well, I think that it's it's I don't
want to do that to people anyway. Yeah, so why
would you do it in a like I'm not a
journalist of course. Now tell me about something you're so
(01:22):
ashamed of. Yeah, like, I don't I want to hear
that from you.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Got to get that question now, I don't know what
it would be.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Okay, Then tell me something you're really ashamed of. Yeah,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I don't want to talk about that right now.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
You I've always been jaious of you for two reasons.
Tell me, Well, one your Broadway Royalty, which is I
think a great thing to be. I just admirable and aspirational.
And the other thing is, you know, not just Jesse Ferguson,
you're Jesse Tyler.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah, there's already a Jesse Ferguson, and yeah, I figured
it might be that. Yeah, So I had to go
with my middle name, and I'm named after my grandmother,
so I really wanted to keep the Jesse.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I like the name Jesse.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Yeah, this is nice name.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
And I wanted kids and that I grew up with
to know that I had succeeded because I was bullied
a lot as a kid.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
You surprised me. You from Montana or something.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
I'm was born in Montana, raised in Albuquerque, Okay. And
I was just not very popular, you know. I was
a sort of an awkward kid, and I was pretty
ruthlessly bullied. And then when I made well, I you know,
became very successful, and the thing that I wanted to do,
I wanted all the assholes who bullied me to know
that I'd made it.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
So I kept Ferguson.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
So they're going to remember that name, Jessica when I
throwned the tyler.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
So it's funny because have you ever met the head
of the Ferguson clan name? No, he's a friend of mine,
No really, yeah yeah yeah. His name is Adam. He
lives in a place called cal Karen, which is the
seat of the Ferguson name in Ayrshire and Scotland and
island Tom. He's spectacular, that's fascinating.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
I have him.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
When my grandmother passed away, I took a book from
our house and it was all about the Scottish Tartans
and I she had a little squatch of fabric from
the Ferguson Tartan so I.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Have that you don't have a kilt in the Ferguson tartan.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
I don't, I don't. I should get one made.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
I feel like I feel like I know what's coming from.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let me tell you what though, I feel like the
Ferguson tartan is the same as the private school uniform
that I had to grow up wearing our Lady of Fatima,
and I think, I mean, it's listen, it was.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
It's a very lovely tartan. But like that's what it
will remind me of.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
But maybe it's time. Maybe it's time to let it go.
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Yeah, to let it go and like reclaim.
Speaker 1 (03:39):
Reclaim the reclaim the plaid. I feel like, actually that
that sounds like a rallying cry right, reclaim the plaid. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
I might be doing that for fashion Week this year,
reclaiming the plaid. Yeah, I'm reclaiming the plaid. It's funny
because when I think of you growing up in Albuquerque,
because you look like a lot of guys that I
grew up with. You, you have the coloring and the
(04:01):
complex and of a lot of people I grew up
with in Albuquerque. Must have been tough for someone of your.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
My my skin tone of right, I'm not the greatest
place to raise the right head, well.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
Redhead in the sun like that. Then you were bullied
at school, I'm amazed you're not a stack up community.
It sounds traumatic. Was it really bad?
Speaker 3 (04:21):
Do you think it was pretty bad? Yeah? It was
pretty bad.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
In fact, when I was in grade school in my
eighth grade year, I well, right before my eighth grade year,
I told my parents was like, it's really blea good. Yeah,
well they actually changed I changed schools.
Speaker 1 (04:34):
Listening to you, did it help?
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah, I mean it was nice to be relocated to
a different like a different pool of people. I was,
you know, didn't like I didn't. It didn't change who
I was. I was, you know, a very shy kid,
so you know, I still wasn't super popular, but it
sort of gave me a little bit of a relief
from the constant bullying. But then I went to the
high school I went to was the one Catholic high
(04:57):
school in Albuquerque, and so a lot of the people
that I went to grade school with I saw them
again when I was in high school.
Speaker 3 (05:02):
But it was a bigger pond, you know.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
Right, so it was easier to escape you. Are you
an observant Catholic?
Speaker 2 (05:08):
No, no, no, no, no, all right, there's your coffee.
Speaker 3 (05:12):
What did you get?
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Just I like a thank you very much. It's just coffee.
I like just a regular coffee. No sugar, no sugar,
no milk. Two shorts of this spread. So but in
a cup that normally has three.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
Okay, okay, so that's a clever red eye.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Yeah that's right, it's a slightly let Do you want
a cup of coffee?
Speaker 3 (05:31):
No, I've had my I've had two today and.
Speaker 1 (05:33):
Yeah, that's that's all I get. As well, this is
my second, and then that's I get two cups. Ago.
I have become that guy. Yeah, that used to be
so bad. You never you never fail into that drugs
and alcohol and all that kind of stuff. No, no, no,
but I did cut back on drinking a lot this year.
Speaker 3 (05:50):
Just you know, but your kids are young.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
My kids are young, and I'm just I can't deal
with a hangover. So my coffee intake has definitely opped.
Speaker 1 (05:57):
Yeah. Yeah. Do you ever get like this is the
sight of middle I think, do you ever get to
the point where it's nighttime and you're excited, oh because
morning's coming and you can.
Speaker 3 (06:05):
Go, you know, Craig something. I wake up and I'm
excited for night time.
Speaker 2 (06:09):
I'm like, oh my god, in twelve hours, are going
to be back in the same spot.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
It'll be time again. Oh god. Absolutely, I get excited
for breakfast. I mean that pathantic is that it's like, oh,
I'm going to I can't eat late at night because
I'll get you know, into gest but in the morning,
I'm going to have such a breakfast right right right.
So let me tell you that you're you're growing up
in Albuquerque, in New Mexico, Yeah, right where they have
(06:34):
got the Rattlesting Museum. I believe we've discussed this, Yes, yeah,
we talked, and I think myself, No, you're a theater
kid and you're growing up in a society at that
time it's not really cool to be a theater kid
who's emerging as a gay man as well.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's going to be especially in Albuquerque, New Mexico. There
just wasn't a community there to sort of support that
probably is not I would think more so now. Yeah, absolutely,
you know, I think Albaque has changed a lot, and
I I do. I do still I've always loved Albuquerque,
even though I had a kind of tricky childhood there.
But I do like going back and visiting. I've I've
taken my kids for that. They have the largest international
(07:13):
hot air Ballymfiesta there.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
Yes, that's which.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Unbelievable. So I really like, I really like going back
for that. I saw a family that lives there. I
love the food there. I I have grown to sort
of appreciate the state as as a as a nice
place to visit now. But yeah, when I was a kid,
you know that, especially as a theater kid, there wasn't
a lot of opportunity.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
There was a great we had a pretty great.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
Community theater program, and I you know, I had auditioned
for the shows. But in my my my high school
didn't have a great theater program.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
But you but you're a Catholic. There's plenty of theater
in the Catholic church.
Speaker 3 (07:48):
Oh my god.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
You know, circumstance because I was raised as a Protestant Scotland.
I mean we get you know, the wolves are painted
why and maybe we get a heater in the church.
Maybe don't. That's it. But you know, the Catholic kids,
they go wow, they kind of scared me. Actually, was like,
go the Korra.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
I mean, looking back on it, I'm just you know,
that was you know, I go to Mass every day.
Every morning would start with and when I was in
grade school, every morning would start with a Mass, you know,
an abbreviated Mass, thirty minutes usually, but then we would
go to Mass, take the Eucharist every morning every morning. Well,
you know, after my first communion. Uh yeah, but I
had my first communion, I was baptized, I did all that,
(08:32):
all that stuff. And it's funny because my parents weren't.
They weren't super observant sort of the it felt like
a community that they were raised in and then decided
to raise their kids in. But you know, I kind
of broke the mold for what.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
About because you're a parent, you got little kids. I
mean that sometimes changes people's perception of their religion and
their upbringing. Sure, what do you think.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Well, we aren't a religious family, you know, just since
what didn't go to church. But you know, I think
that it's sad thing of as I'm as I'm teaching
my kids, you know, I'm learning that you know, certain
ideas that I'm trying to teach them are rooted in
like my faith and certain things are rooted in like
just my my who I am as a person. Now,
(09:18):
you know, I meditate a lot and I like to
I'm spiritual, I guess in a different way. So you
know a lot of those a lot of those ideas
are pasted down to my kids. But like I you know,
I'm I haven't we haven't taken them to church. We
haven't done any of that stuff. You know, we certainly
certainly around. It's interesting because we you know, my son
now understands what Christmas is, and you know, it's you know,
(09:39):
I I was like, well do we start talking about
this other thing, this like Catholic component to it or not?
And and you know, I when I was a kid,
I created a Nativity scene for myself and it's this
really adorable thing, created on blocks with pieces of felt.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
And I enjoyed points.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It's so it's so adorable, and my parents saved it
and they pas down to me and so we put
it out every year.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
But it's just like weird thing.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
It's you know, my kids don't know what it is.
I'm like, well, this is the baby Jesus. I'm like,
what am I talking about?
Speaker 1 (10:09):
But I love all the tradition of all. I mean,
I think I feel like with religion, what I do
now is I take what I want and I leave
the rest. Yeah, and if anyone's got a problem with that,
then they had a problem in the first place. Right,
It's that whole thing of you know, a lot of
people who are angry, they were angry before they even
heard are you that's right? You know, so it's kind
(10:31):
of you got to let it go. Yeah. I wonder though,
because I think you said you're a spiritual person, and
I think about that a lot, and I'm not a
religious person, but I find that I can't. For a
while there I thought it was an atheist, but it
felt like too dogmatic and rigid to take like you
(10:53):
knew the answer.
Speaker 3 (10:54):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
Yeah, it's like, you know, all these theologians, Thomas of Aquina, Einstein,
they were all wrong. But I'm right.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Right, right, I mean, I certainly I never thought of
myself as an atheist, but I don't know, it's sort
of I think it's okay to be uncategory and uncategorizable.
I think that's okay, totally fine.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
I think actually, with things that are going on right
now in lots of areas of society. Huh. I think
that that's actually good, it's healthy, because I was thinking
that there. I was. I was thinking about, you know,
what's the statute of limitations on gay because when I
was eighteen nineteen years old, I gate for you, Yeah,
(11:42):
how are you going to know something you like something
unless you try? And I tried it thought well, it's okay,
and I like the person involved, but it's not really
for me. And then I thought, but does that you know,
what does that? Where does that place me in the Well?
Speaker 2 (11:56):
I think everything's on a spectrum, you know, So that's yeah.
I know so many people who are very straight and
have kids and have wonderful marriages, and you know, they
dabbled a bit in high school and college, and you know,
it's and.
Speaker 1 (12:13):
The other way around. By the way, I know plenty
of gay men who were straight.
Speaker 3 (12:18):
Now, hey, now, now that's something I haven't done. Well,
I've never dabbled.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
Wow, you know, I look, if you're making fail.
Speaker 3 (12:26):
I know, that's right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
Did you know right away you were like, oh gosh,
this is what I'm dealing with.
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Well, I don't necessarily know how to categorize it. But
I knew that it was something that was not you know,
growing up Catholic. You know, that's sort of all you
hear about is like.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You know, anal It's.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Like, oh gosh, it just seems like it's something I'm
not super interested in. Or I didn't see a place
for myself in that, you know that in that arrangement.
But like I I don't know if I knew that
it was gay until you know, I was a little older.
Speaker 1 (12:58):
But I wonder if do you think that's what I
tried to do to theater and broadways because it has
a lot of the drama and the pageantry and the
ceremony even of Catholic church, but it famously much more
accepting of gay people, right.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
I mean perhaps I did like the you know at
Christmas time, the live Nativity scene. Who does you know
that the shows in church were really exciting. Yeah, but
you know it was all about for me, like the
production value. If it looked good, then I was into it,
you know, I didn't want to look great.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
I just find that so kind of it's something very
wholesome about that. I think something lovely about it. Sure,
So how did you how did you get from Albuquerque.
To to broadly what happened.
Speaker 2 (13:45):
I came to New York right after I graduated high school.
I was accepted into a performance arts academy called the
American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Uh And so my dad
and I drove cross country and his suburban and we
packed all my stuff up in the back seat. And
it was like a four day road trip for me.
You no, I know, he's so sort of him to
(14:06):
drive me. And then we drove into Manhattan and the suburban.
You know, my dad, it's you know, he's a used
to driving driving in Albuquque in Mexico. Here we are
in Manhattan and people are honking at us, and you know,
they are very aggressive drivers in New York.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And my dad's, you know, a rule follower.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
You know, he's the type of guy that, like Hanks
twice before backing up to make sure no one's behind him.
You know this, this type of timid driving was not
going to fly in Manhattan. So he dropped me off,
we unloaded the car. I think he stayed a few
days with me while I sort of settled in, and
then he drove back to Albuquerque and left me behind
in New York and did you feel.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Like you were you were where you were meant to be. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
You know, it's interesting. I had never even before I
went to New York, I knew that's where I wanted
to go. And I think part of it is just
because I would watch the Tony Awards on TV and
I knew that this place that had this incredible theater
scene called Broadway was you know, it existed only in
New York City, and I just I had I was
aware enough of that that culture.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
I had all these cast albums and I would collect
the musical scores of these shows. Even though I didn't
really play piano. I would just like to look at
the photos and like, look at the sheet music, and
I just had a great appreciation for the work that
went into putting these shows on and I want to
be a part of that in whatever capacity.
Speaker 1 (15:23):
It is a real world into itself Broadway as well.
It's fascinating that there are people who are big stars
on Broadway that you know, cross the East River and
you know, people are like, I'm sorry, I don't know
who you were talking about, you know, I mean, it's
it's I had.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
To explain the other day to someone who Patty Lapone was,
and I was like, I'm sorry, I don't know if
I can do this.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
Wait, yeah, but I think that it's quite an interesting
thing because you there's somebody that there was anctor called,
you know, Jim Dale, of course, and Jim Dale was
a huge Broadway star, but in Britain. I knew him
from doing these kind of cheesy comedies when I was
a kid growing up. We used to that and I
only heard years later he had become this force on
(16:05):
on Broadway. It's such a such a strange thing. Well
have you done there recently?
Speaker 3 (16:10):
My most recent thing on Broadway was a play called
Take Me Out, about a baseball team. The lead player,
who's like a Derek Jeter type, comes out of the closet.
That role was played by Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy Okay,
who's a fantastic stage actress. It was his stage debut,
and I played his business manager, who is a gay
man who doesn't know anything about baseball and then falls
(16:32):
in love with the game. C It's a beautiful play
written by Richard Greenberg.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
Who.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Is such a lover of baseball, and I had these
amazing soliloquies about baseball and how they're so you know,
it's like democracy, and how it's.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
A weird game. It's an interesting thing because it does
contain something that I don't think other sports do. Yeah,
it's weird. I feel that about baseball.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
It's that thing of first of all, it's lonely sport.
You know, you're not you're playing kind of by yourself.
You each have your own positions. And then it's something
else that there's no clock, which is so interesting. You know,
there's no countdown. It's you have this moment on the
plate and you have Everyone has the same opportunity and
the same chance to achieve something, and they're given the
(17:19):
space and time to do it. And that's sort of
what this character found so beautiful about the game of baseball.
Speaker 1 (17:23):
When I became an America uh huh, it was about
baseball was the thing that I've think explained America to me,
okay in a way that I didn't understand before, and
why I was so attracted to it. And here's what
it is. It is Failure is unnecessary and probably the
majority of what you will do is fail And it
(17:45):
doesn't matter if you can swing at the ball and
head it one time out of ten, you're a Hall
of Fame. Yeah, And I thought, oh my god. Yeah,
So if you fail, it's just part of the process.
It's just part of it. Spot a thing because where
I'm from, you fail. I tried in the first place,
audible we boys. But if you in America, you fail,
(18:10):
you go, well missed it next Yeah, you know, And
I love that about That's why I kind of like,
I'm not a baseball for Thattica or any means, but
I kind of like I respect it in a weird way.
I think it as a as a real soul in
it that I that I'm.
Speaker 3 (18:26):
Very emotional sports.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
It is right and the idea of when you have
you you've been to games, right, so you know that
they particularly actually in the Midwest or in the West
where the sun hangs forever, and there's that vibe. It's
a very it's like it has a it has a
spiritual quality about it, which I've never been able to
achieve watching other sports. It's it's amazing. Yeah, it's a
(18:50):
great a theater about it. Yeah, spiritual theory. The Craig
Ferguson Fancy Rascals stand up to her continues throughout the
United States in twenty twenty four. For a full list
of dates and tickets, go to the Craig fergusonshow dot
com slash tour. See you out there. Talk to me
(19:13):
about meditating, because I'm trying to do it, and it's.
Speaker 2 (19:16):
It's what do you find hard about it? Finding the
time or just calming your body down?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Are both?
Speaker 1 (19:22):
You know? I feel like what it is is that
when I try and meditate, I do. I do do it,
and I try and do it every day. It's I
kind of put a value on it, like that was
a good meditation that was it worked then or it
didn't work then. But I suspect that's probably not the
(19:42):
correct go about that.
Speaker 2 (19:44):
I think that's right right, Well, you said right there,
you know the correct way. I don't think there is
a correct way to do it. But the type of
meditation that I started practicing was TM transcendental meditation that
I'm actually dead. Director David Lynch set up a foundation
here in Los Angeles because he became so enamored with
this type of meditation and he wanted to make it
accessible to everyone, you know, kids and people who were
(20:05):
suffering trauma. So he basically set up this nonprofit and
you pay, like, say, I want to learn how to
do translated on meditation. I find a week that I
want to do this, and I pay a fee and
that that money goes to help teaching other people how
to do it. So I did a week long seminar
with the David Lynch Foundation, and like, you go every day,
(20:26):
and I think I only had to go three or
four days, and it was just you know, you find
like I think it was like an hour and a
half or two hours, but you have to be able
to do it every day.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
So I had to sort of carve it.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
It was when I was shooting Modern Family, and so
I had to really make sure I had It was
my hiatus week and I didn't have any other work
to do, so I was able to clear out some
afternoons to do it.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
But you know, they what it requires of you is.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
Twenty minutes in the morning and twenty minutes in the
evening or the late late afternoon. And to be completely honest,
I've not been great about doing it twice a day,
and I'm trying to get back into the habit and
I feel like what I need right now is a
refresher course.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Is there a lot of instruction required.
Speaker 3 (21:03):
That's the thing.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
I mean, you're you're, you're, you're assigned to mantra, and
you know, they teach you how to do it. And
I learned in a group of people and then I
had sort of one on one sessions as well. But
it's really just quieting your body down, repeating this mantra
in your head and then coming into the state. And
it does take practice to sort of tune out the noise.
(21:24):
And some people are really good now they you know,
and they've been this for so long they can do it,
you know, in a in a loud room and they
can still go into that state of meditation.
Speaker 3 (21:33):
I'm not that good.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
I'm fascinated by that because I became kind of and
you know, I've been sober for a very long time,
so you know, prayer meditation is something that comes up
and there's an essential part of it and I've always
been fighting with because it was raised in Judeo Christian
you know environment. I'm like, prayer is fighting like you
say sorry and move on, and you're so big and
(21:57):
it's my fault. And over time I kind of, you know,
progressed a bit with that, But meditation always felt there's
a I don't know where I came up with this,
but I always felt a little indulgent, you know what
I mean. I felt like I was indulgent myself guilt. Well, yeah,
it's the same thing. It's just a different set of
a different set dressing the same guilt. I think that
(22:18):
that's that's right. It was like I shouldn't. Oh you
have to meditate. Oh, of course you do it because
you can show business. Yes, you know.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
I mean I think that, you know, living here in
Los Angeles, that's certainly a trope to fall into. You know,
if people here that you live in LA and you meditate.
Oh boy, okay, well we know what you know.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, we know how much kill you get through. And
I don't live in LA anymore.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
Where do you live now?
Speaker 1 (22:42):
Well? New York and Scotland mostly. Really, I'm here to
do this, I well, this this podcast thing that I do.
I made a rule for myself that I wouldn't do
any of them remotely, that I would sit across. I'm
so glad you. Yeah, well you do that with your
person as well. Difference I think it does because I
(23:02):
think during COVID when we all go into doing the
Zoom stuff because now they do pictures by Zoom all
the time.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Pitches by Zoom, auditions by Zoom.
Speaker 1 (23:10):
It's crazy.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Do you hear the scandal recently about fake auditions on Zoom? No? Oh,
this is amazing. So a bunch of agents apparently again
in trouble because they're saying that their clients or you're
up for this big role, but you have to put
your cell phone tape. They're not up for the big rule.
But the clients put them cell phone tape. I think
they've got a shot. So the agent looks like they're
getting them these good things.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
I just said no to putting myself on tape for something.
Speaker 1 (23:35):
Well, come on, you're Jesse Tyler, fucking fair.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Talk about this.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
It was like the role and it's it was being
directed by an actor who I very much admire is
also starring in it, and the role to me on paper,
I only read the sides was sort of gay best
friend one on one like there wasn't anything.
Speaker 3 (23:54):
Super interesting about it. But it was a well written part.
Speaker 2 (23:57):
It was sure not bad at all, and I was
only would have entertained the their job before it was
offered to me, but he wanted me to put myself
on tape ten pages of this sort of gay best
friend one on one on tape, and I said, you know,
I just feel like, after eleven years of Modern Family
and Tony Award, like, I just feel like, when is it?
When have I proven myself? And I just said I'm
not going to do it. And they said, well, he
(24:18):
really needs to see see it. And I said, okay, well,
I guess I'm not going to get this part. And
I just saw that it was announced that a friend
of mine got the part, and I'm desperate to call
my friend and be like, did you put yourself on table.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
Or he just offered to you?
Speaker 1 (24:31):
But you know it's that look. I've directed things as well,
and I've I've done this into my shame. I shouldn't
have done it. But it was a long time ago.
But I asked for people to audition that I know
they could do them. Yeah, I knew. I knew they
could do the part and they would be great in
the part. But I was the director and I was
you know, I was being I was being a deck
(24:53):
quite frankly.
Speaker 2 (24:54):
I don't mind auditioning for things, especially I feel like
if I feel like, uh, it's thing that I'm not
sure I can do because I want to make sure
that we're on the same page, that's.
Speaker 1 (25:03):
Well, you're a proper, growing up actor who's no epetulant
when it comes to edition, because that's what I think
I was doing. It was like I was making people addition,
it was some kind of weird parapley. I mean, it
was a long time agoing out. I don't do that
because direct and you've directed right a little bit. Yeah, yeah,
I don't love it. Did you enjoy it?
Speaker 3 (25:23):
I didn't mind it. It's not my passion. I haven't
directed anything of great importance.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
But you know, it's interesting because I thought for a
while it was like, I think I could actually direct
some episodes Modern Family, and Julie Bowen was the only
cast member who actually directed us. And I ended up
not even throwing my name into the ring. And I
think they would have let me do it if I
wanted to, but I just after, like, you know, this
(25:50):
was like the end of the run, and after like
nine or ten years of being with this this cast,
I just felt like I didn't want to step out
of that role of being a co star or a
co acting partner and into this directorial position, like I
could not picture myself like giving Ed O'Neal direction.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I just couldn't do it. But yet I think I
would have been really good at it.
Speaker 1 (26:09):
So I think, well, it changes the family dynamic. I mean,
if you were in a cast that long, it's a
kind of familial sh and it.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
Would have been nice to be surrounded by people who
trusted me and the crew that already I already knew.
And the thing is, Julie Bowen did a great job.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
I could see Julie being great. She's so organized, she's
a very good let's get it done. She was great. Yeah,
I can imagine she would be. She has a podcast
as well, of course she does. Yeah, I think who does.
It's a bit like having a tattoo or our blog stage. Yes,
(26:48):
tell me about your podcast that you do. Then dinner
with dinners on me? Dinner's on me. People eat food
from your naked.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
Body, not dinners on me physically.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Honest, thataway, like it's like the people eat from you.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Although yeah, that could be an interesting twist. No, dinner's
on me meaning I pick up the bill or rather
Sony picks up the bill because they're my producers. And yes,
I take I take a friend out to to a
meal and we have a conversation over dinner and what
I love about it and what always gives I have
several friends who have podcasts as well, and some of
(27:25):
them have been on the show, and you know they
Doak Shepherd was just on an episode, and you know
he has obviously Armchair Expert, which is such a popular podcast,
and he arrived at the restaurant and he was just
he couldn't let the micromanaging go. He was worried about sound.
He was worried about, you know, the the ambient noises.
He was worried about the fact that a third person
(27:47):
was coming over to the table to like give us
our menus and tell us a special He was like, oh,
what's happening.
Speaker 1 (27:51):
I was like, well, he's a director.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
He's a director.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
But That's what I love about my podcast is it
is feels very it feels very fly on the wall.
You feel like at this you're the third chair at
this table and you're having lunch with us or dinner
with us. And I love that you hear the way
to come over with the table and get the specials
and you hear about our dietary restrictions, and like it's
just a normal dinner service except for it happens to
be recorded.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
You go to like Chili's and all of dark, or
you go to like.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Fancy usually we'll not always super fancy.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
I you know, I took Weird All Yankovic was a
recent guest and he's vegan, and I took him to
uh Cafe Gratitude here in Los Angeles, which is, you know,
a very casual dining place that has amazing vegan food. Uh,
and obviously he had been there before. And then I
took Sophia Vagara to Dante, which is this beautiful new
restaurant on top of the hotel.
Speaker 3 (28:41):
In Beverly Hills.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
So you know, it's just sort of a mix of
where I think these people would enjoy and restaurant. I
choose it with sometimes the help of my guests, and
I try and match up, like where I think they
might like to go.
Speaker 1 (28:53):
I'm going to tell you no Yankovic story. Tell me
so favorite. I love this. So out comes to visit
me in Scotland, this very old house in Scotland, and
just before your eyes, I'm in the basement slash dungeon
of this old house and I find an accordion, an
old ACCORDI like an old, fancy accordion, and I bring
(29:15):
it up the stairs and and Al arrived like later
that day, and he's like, oh yeah, this is a
sprinkledanger forty eight or something. And he fixed it. He
fixed it, fixed it well, he said, you know, I've
fixed it as much as I can.
Speaker 3 (29:28):
That's incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
But it was like I couldn't believe it an accordion,
and then I'll arrived. It had a spiritual.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Compati is incredible.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
MESSI Al Yankovic. I think it's like amazing happened that.
I just I really told you the story to let
you know that Al Yankovic show enough.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
I met him for the first time at his house
in Hawaii. I don't know if he was if it
was his house, if he was renting it, or if
he actually.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Oh yes, because the reason was in Scotland is because
the volcanic ash thing was going on Hawaii and he
couldn't go.
Speaker 3 (29:57):
There, gotcha, Yeah, okay, yeah, yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 1 (30:00):
So the only reason I so you went to his
houseband Hawaii? Yeah? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (30:07):
He and Eric Stone Street were kind of buddies. Uh.
Eric was a music video of his Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
And Eric and I happened to be in not only
in Hawaii, but at the same resort with our significant
others at the time. Mine I went on to marry
who's not my husband, but Eric was. I was dating
his the girlfen he was dating at the time, So
we were all at the same resort. And uh, I
mean just totally by happened. Chance happened, stance happened, chance happen.
Speaker 1 (30:35):
It's probably correct. Chance stands is. I was like, you're
about to start a number. Yea happened by Yeah.
Speaker 4 (30:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I have a real good habit of making up boards
and mispronouncing things all the time.
Speaker 3 (30:51):
Don chance.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Uh So anyways, Eric like, do you want to go
have dinner with Alan Susan his wife, And uh, I
was like, yeah, let's let's meet them, and he all
went out to dinner together.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
It's such a sweet, sweet guy. Yeah, he's lovely. He's
really a lovely man. So let's talk a little bit
a bit more than family then, because it's come up
a couple of times, it's one of those like it'll
be a legacy thing for you for your entire life. No,
of course. I mean it's like me doing the late
night show is like, no matter what you do, it's
going to committed the conversation. It doesn't matter what you do.
Now it's a thing. Yeah, did you Were you aware
(31:24):
of it at the time when it started out that
you were going in that way.
Speaker 2 (31:27):
It felt I mean, I'm sure you felt the same
way when you were doing your show. You know, when
you're in the bubble of it, you just kind of
got to.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Do the job.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Ye's every day.
Speaker 2 (31:35):
Yeah, It's interesting because now we've been off the air
for almost four years, and I find that a new
group of a new generation of people are discovering it
and or people haven't been watching or like watching it again.
I feel like there's a new wave of I don't know,
(31:55):
I'm receiving a lot of love from it from strangers
in a way that I hadn't before.
Speaker 1 (32:00):
It's a great show, which is oh, well.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
I mean, I'm really proud of it, but I I
think now that like I'm out of it, I really feel,
oh gosh, this is kind of a big thing, and
I can compare it to the shows that I grew
up watching that I love so much, like Friends and
Will and Grace and uh, you know Steinfeld, Like I
adore these shows, and I was like, oh, guy, I
guess I am that for for a lot of people.
I am that that thing, or I was part of
(32:23):
that show for a lot of people. But when it was,
when it was happening, it just felt like, you know,
it was a job. It was a great job, and
you know, we were It's it's interesting because we were
we could be because we were on for so long.
We went through that whole trajectory of like, you know,
we were the new show and everyone was excited about us,
and then we were winning Emmy Awards and then like
(32:43):
we kind of sort of felt like, oh god, people
are maybe getting a little sick of us. And then
we stopped winning the Emmy Awards, and then it was like, oh,
Modern Family's gone downhill, and you know, you go through
the whole thing, and they've jumped the shark and then
and then the show's done, and then it's like, oh
my god, but we missed the show so much and
we wish it would do a reboot, and now we're
in that place like people wanting the show to come
back so it's just, you know, I feel like, because
(33:06):
because it is a blove show, we're going to see
all those different phases of love for the show and.
Speaker 1 (33:10):
Be interested that comes back because you had kids on
that show. Of course, kids do what they do as
they grow up and grow up, and then everyone's like, wait,
why isn't Manny And Manny's like six foot five with
a bad.
Speaker 2 (33:23):
Well, you know, and like, I still keep in touch
with Aubrey who played my daughter on the show, and
they're still close, and I've gone I went to her
school play a few months ago, and I'm going to
go to her school musical that's coming up soon, and
I love supporting her. Her mom was like, you don't you know,
that's really sweet of you to come to this. It's like,
I feel like, you know, I'm proud of her. I
met her when she was three years old, and I
(33:46):
have a three year old now, and it's like I
can't even you know. That's part of the reason why
I feel so connected to hers. Like the age that
Beckett is now is when I met Aubrey, and like,
it's just such a there's so much happening in that
little brain right now that I entered her life at
that point, like, I want to be there for all
these big moments because she means something to me.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
You know, it's very special, it's nice. It is nice.
It's a funny thing though, as you mentioned it with children,
because now you know you're a very busy parent and
that very busy part of parenting, which in my experience
so far, there isn't a not busy part of parenting.
You'll never sleep well again ever, Like my oldest is
(34:24):
coming up on twenty three. I'm like, oh, it's okay, Yeah,
trying to go to sleep, and I hope he's okay.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
I kind of hope. I always feel that way.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, I guess. But the thing is it changed me
as a person alone, becoming Did you just stop drinking
when I was twenty nine? Oh okay, so this is
before kids. Oh yeah, I was ten years sober before
my son was Wow. So like I survived and I
go better. The ten years before is one. But I
don't think I became anyone I really would like to
(34:52):
be until at least my first kid came along. And
then I was like, okay, wait, wait a minute, I
chan used to lot. Did it do it to you? Yeah.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I mean the Oscars were last night and Emma Stone
one Best Actress and she said something about her daughter,
who I think she said it was three, and she's like,
you know, our world is technical her now. I was like,
oh god, that's so, that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1 (35:17):
Yeah. Yeah, I get nostalgic for the kids shows that
I used to watch, Like when Mila was very young,
I used to watch Teley Toby's with him and I
was like, oh my god, I wish I still smoked. Yeah,
(35:38):
it's be great and it's like and I still remember
all the Talley Toby's names. Is that still a thing?
Speaker 3 (35:43):
I think that was so now, but it's like vintage.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Yeah, yeah, it's it's like maybe the cool two year
old watch Toby's. That's right. I don't know. I loved it.
I mean it was it's so ahead of his time. Well,
if you look at it, lacky, it's crazy.
Speaker 3 (35:58):
It is made for people who are on Hashi ship.
Speaker 1 (36:01):
I think so. I think there was a lot of
hash involved in the development of that. You were never
called to any of that. Where are you drugs and
alcohol and everything? No.
Speaker 2 (36:09):
I partake in weeds sometimes, but mostly it's like it's
you know, very very casually and.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
Weeds like having a podcast. Yeah, Cannon does it. I don't.
I actually I'm very I'm no good around it.
Speaker 3 (36:25):
Yeah, weed, people aren't.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
I get angry about it because I'm in New York
a lot and it's the street stink of it.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
Yeah yeah, oh yeah, I know. Now that it's legalized,
it's kind of everywhere.
Speaker 1 (36:36):
And I'm like, and I see an old fashioned drunk
with a bottle of you know, touching a paper bag
and a paper bag and why does he have to
hide Yeah, his scouch in a paper bag and he
smoked weed, and everybody else I guess to inhale it
or people will go cigarettes get annoyed. But if it's weed,
they're like, oh yeah, you know.
Speaker 2 (36:56):
I mean I was young enough when I moved to
New York that I still remember, you know, it was
legal to smoke inside restaurants.
Speaker 1 (37:02):
Oh yeah, that was the era I.
Speaker 3 (37:05):
You know, where there was a smoking section and you know,
it didn't really matter.
Speaker 4 (37:09):
I can remember smoking sections on airplanes, yes, like oh
my god, the idea absolutely so dangerous, dangerous.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Like oh no, can we why do airplanes still have
the little cigarette dispensers because.
Speaker 1 (37:27):
They're old, they look new.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
And I just feel like they they're creating new airplanes
with these little.
Speaker 1 (37:32):
Well maybe they maybe there are certain markets in the
world where you're like smoke. I don't think.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (37:38):
I think what it is is they're not new. They're clean, right, okay,
I think. I mean they're not on the seats. That's
when it's really old. But like in the bathrooms there's
like the ones on the door. Sometimes it's as fascinated
by that. Maybe I don't know. I was on a
plane yesterday, which I didn't No, I don't think I
saw any cigarette anything, but they do say that thing
about you know, I had a friend of theater rector
(38:00):
actually who who couldn't take a long flight without sneaking
a smoke in the bathroom. And I was like, man,
they will put you in jail. And he's like, you know,
I just take a couple of puffs and then I
put it out.
Speaker 3 (38:15):
I'm like, there's some sort of a smoke detector in there.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
That he says that if you put your head right
inside the bathroom, and I'm like, no, no, that's so dangerous.
But but you never you smoke a little weed and
that's it.
Speaker 3 (38:34):
Mostly audibles too.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
Yeah, that's the way people do it now. I couldn't
do it. Any kind of cannabis product made me very antsy.
Speaker 3 (38:45):
Yeah, just sometimes tells me sleep.
Speaker 1 (38:46):
Yeah, well you got your meditation for that now. Plus
you don't get to sleep now. Now you've got kids,
young children. Do you have theatrical ambitions for your children?
Do you have any rooms about that?
Speaker 4 (38:59):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (39:00):
It's you know because I I it's interesting because I
I was just talking about Aubrey, who I met when
she was Beckett's age, And I can't imagine, first of all,
doing the show Modern Family without Aubrey. I can't imagine that, right, So, yeah,
she's part of the experience. But I also can't imagine
bringing Beckett into an audition. I just don't think you,
(39:22):
first of all, would do that. Well, like, he's a
great kid. I just don't think he has. But also
just asking it, you know, it's a lot to ask
of a.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
Kid, I think. So I wouldn't let my boys do it. Yeah,
And both of them were interested, and I'm like, nah, really,
the youngest ones.
Speaker 3 (39:38):
What age did they show interest?
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Well, they were around it all the time.
Speaker 2 (39:42):
You know.
Speaker 1 (39:42):
I mean it was like I had I mean, I
had the Wiggles on Late Night show because Milo liked
him when he was two, right, you know, it was
like they were always always been part of the family dynamic.
And I said, you know, Milo, who's twenty three now,
and is you know this, he graduated at SVA and
animation and he has his own animation studio and he's
you know, he's uh so, he's so in that world
(40:07):
that I kind of said, no, not until you decide
to be in it. But he did decide to go
in it, right right, But I didn't want to. I
didn't want to push it. And my youngest boy, yeah,
I have the same feeling, like if you're old enough
and you want to do sure.
Speaker 2 (40:19):
So for me it was theater was something that brought
me out of my shell. Like I saw a play
with my mom when I was very young. I remember
sitting in the audience thinking, oh, I don't want to
be sitting in the audience. I want to be on
stage doing them what they're doing for the people in
the audience. And I asked my mom if I could
join the local I mean, it was a community theater
group wasn't anything professional, but like, uh, you know, I
(40:41):
think she was sort of shocked that I wanted to
do that. And I've now and I think it was
so good for me, and it really gave me a
sense of like community, and I was like, ok, here
are my people, and like I felt very comfortable around
this group of kids who are interested in this thing,
Whereas you know, at school, I didn't think I had
that that network of people that I trusted. And uh,
you know, I've taken Becket, my son, to you know,
(41:05):
kids shows, but like live performances of things, and he's
a really attentive audience member and he loves he loves
seeing live theater. I mean, listen, I'm taking to kids shows.
But still and I feel like if he wanted to
explore that, I would say, okay, I'm just kind of
knowing that that's what I did. But yeah, it's tricky
(41:25):
because we live in Los Angeles. Like the opportunities are there,
like I wanted to like bring them in and I
have an audition for something, but I just I don't know.
It's uh, it's that tricky balance of like it's an
occupation I personally love so much, but at the same time,
I know how complated and terrible it can be.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Well, it can be very painful. The rejection thing and
the idea that that I mean, look, everyone, everyone swings
and missus. Everyone you know, experiences rejection and business everyone. Yeah,
but I just couldn't bear it for my children, the
idea that they uh, you know, someone somebody would let
them know they went right, the right, right, Like I
(42:05):
couldn't be all. But maybe that's more about me than
as about we had.
Speaker 2 (42:09):
You know, we our cast of Modern Family won four
SAG Awards, I think for our second, third, fourth, and
fifth season Aubrey again in place. My daughter joined us,
I think on the third season, so she had two
SAG Awards, you know, like that's she was six and
she had two SAG Awards, like the collective weight of
the both awards were double her weight.
Speaker 3 (42:31):
It's a human being.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And I remember the year we didn't win, uh for
the first time, she was very upset. She cried and
she was like she climbed on her mom's lap and
she was bawling. And I feel like it was Francis McDermot,
who was sitting at the table next to us.
Speaker 3 (42:49):
I think it was the year of like no mad
Land or one of the one of the shows she won.
Speaker 2 (42:55):
And she looked over at Aubry because uh, disappointment only
gets worse as you get older, like she was so.
Speaker 1 (43:01):
Jaded by it all, and I just thought, well, it's true. Yeah,
but I guess what you learn to do when you're
older is is you compartmentalize and it's not personal. And
I mean to any degree, I mean not always, but
I mean look, when I hear no, I'm still not great. Yeah, yeah,
I mean I'm still so I won't even ask. It's like, no,
(43:25):
I don't. I don't ask because I might hear no.
I think that it's it's a good thing though, for
a for a parent to try and protect children from
from that kind of thing people talk about. You know,
well I was spank as a kid and didn't do
me any harmy, didn't it. I mean, listen to you,
(43:46):
you know, like, I don't know, do you have any
do you have any kind of hard and fast rules
about parenting that you find controversial or others find controversial?
Speaker 2 (43:55):
May I don't think so, I mean who knows. But
I know when Justin and I first, you know, told
our family that we were pregnant, were like, you know,
no iPads, no screens in this house, and of course
not and you know, yeah, good luck with that, right,
And I'll.
Speaker 1 (44:12):
Never ever meet a better parent than somebody who's just
about to have their first kids.
Speaker 3 (44:17):
I know, you know, these these things that we think
we're gonna do.
Speaker 2 (44:21):
It's but anyway, Yeah, we definitely pivoted quickly. And I
don't think that I do anything super controversial.
Speaker 3 (44:29):
Uh uh, they're they're you know, I mean, well, I
guess look, you're you're you're a two daddy family, is
they say in the in the.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Elementary schools in LA. That's no controversial around here, though,
was it?
Speaker 3 (44:41):
I don't think so.
Speaker 1 (44:42):
That's as parts of it, maybe maybe further further into the.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah, yeah, I mean he said.
Speaker 2 (44:48):
Becket did ask us about you know, a mom, like
where like why do some people have moms and some
people don't?
Speaker 1 (44:54):
You know? It was It's interesting, I guess, because do
you have to try and explain I don't know how.
I mean, look, I haven't been in the position. I
don't know what does one do. Well.
Speaker 2 (45:03):
We just explained that there are different types of families
and so people have you known want a beach, and
some people have just one mom one dad, and some
people have two dads and two months.
Speaker 1 (45:10):
Yeah, he gets it.
Speaker 3 (45:11):
I think that's all you didn't need to do. I
think to go too much deeper than that.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Yeah, we went a bit like that because Megan and
I got married when Milo was uh, well we got
together when he was four, so he's very young and
didn't quite understand the like, well, how come mom lives
over there? Megan's like mom, but she lives in the
house year And there was a great book about it.
(45:35):
There's a couple of good kid books about it, and
there's lots of different Love Makes Families or something some
guy called Todd something. I remember, the great kid's book
about all different like two daddy families, two mommy families too,
you know, one mommi family, one daddy family.
Speaker 2 (45:51):
You know, our youngest is obsessed with Lama Lama, Red
Pajama and it's this it's this pretty famous book, but
you know it's all about Mama Mama and the Lama
Mama Lama and write pajama and too much trauma. He's crying,
but it keeps repeating the Mama, Lama Lama, Yeah, Mama
where's my Mama? And but he loves the book, and
(46:11):
so like I was like, well, yeah, we're going to
read this book because I'm not going to like change
it to Papa for that, because the whole rhyme is
built on the whole books built on this rhyme. Like
I'm going to destroy the integrity of the writing.
Speaker 1 (46:22):
Good for you. That's a well trained actor, you know,
respect the text, find the way to make it work.
Don't go change in the text the act. Yes, it's right, right, Yeah,
that's right. I remember having an interesting discussion with the
Night the Ones about this classic, like my character wouldn't
say that, yes, I had written the part, okay, And
(46:45):
I said, well, that's the character I wrote. So if
your characters wouldn't say that, you're playing the wrong guy, right, right, right.
It wasn't a great day. When did you read? You
presume you read to your kids, right, yes, So when
I was reading to the kids, I really enjoyed myself
doing different voices and as would you do all that
as well?
Speaker 3 (47:05):
I try to. Yeah, I'm really bad at dialects, but
you know that's mixed up.
Speaker 1 (47:09):
Man. I love I love doing Danny and the Dinosaur.
U there was. There's a line and that I still
remember because I always a suggestive. A carry On movie,
there's a line in it where a woman says to
the dinosaur who helps her with her groceries. She said, oh,
thank you for helping me with my bundles, said a lady.
(47:30):
And I used to and I don't know why I
get such and I can still do Curious George by her.
Oh yeah, yeah, because I was on the road a
little bit when Liam was very young. So I used
to it and I i'd phone in and then I
would do the bedtime story and I just learned it. Yeah, yeah,
So now I can do it if you need me
to do Curious George for you right now?
Speaker 3 (47:52):
Who did the audio book? You should do it?
Speaker 1 (47:54):
You should recorded you know why? I can do another one. Yeah,
I'll do it for nothing. Yeah, I'll do it to
be should for the coffee, right, yeah, right, right right.
It's a joy to speak to you. You're You're such
a lovely man. I enjoyed even though you're one of
the fancy tyler Ferguson's as opposed to just an old
fashioned Ferguson, you seem to still keep your feet on
(48:14):
the ground.
Speaker 3 (48:15):
I know where, but I know where you came from.
Speaker 1 (48:16):
Yeah, I know where you came from. Yeah, yeah, you
should go there one day.
Speaker 3 (48:21):
I can't wait.
Speaker 1 (48:22):
Yeah. Yeah, you'd love it. They'd love you.
Speaker 3 (48:24):
You know.
Speaker 1 (48:24):
They live in this big, giant old country estate in Scotland,
the original Ferguson's. They're still there. I've got to go.
I should. You'd love it.
Speaker 3 (48:32):
Take the kids.
Speaker 1 (48:33):
Yeah, it'd be a fun thing.
Speaker 3 (48:35):
Yeah, I've been. I've been to Ireland, but not Scotland.
Next d of my family's Irish, right, yeah, the Doyle side.
Speaker 1 (48:41):
Yeah, I've got that too. Yeahs yeah it is. But
it's great to see.
Speaker 3 (48:52):
Good to see you.
Speaker 1 (48:53):
Get out of here at Popo Taker for two per
Popular Podcasts
1. The Podium
The Podium: An NBC Olympic and Paralympic podcast. Join us for insider coverage during the intense competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. In the run-up to the Opening Ceremony, we’ll bring you deep into the stories and events that have you know and those you'll be hard-pressed to forget.
2. In The Village
In The Village will take you into the most exclusive areas of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games to explore the daily life of athletes, complete with all the funny, mundane and unexpected things you learn off the field of play. Join Elizabeth Beisel as she sits down with Olympians each day in Paris.
3. iHeartOlympics: The Latest
Listen to the latest news from the 2024 Olympics.