Michael Kelly isn't working

This week S.E. chats with Michael Kelly, star of House of Cards and Jack Ryan, among so many more. They talk about Michael's serendipitous start in acting, his deep love of baseball, and when he almost quit acting (and what gave him the courage to continue). S.E. and Michael get honest about managing demanding careers and parenting, the pain of missing milestones and also the need to pursue one's passion. Stay tuned for a very special lightning round spanning facial hair, politics and sports.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is so good, and I'm so embarrassed because these
kids don't do this perfect. And that's why I'm telling this.
This is why I'm telling this story.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Welcome to Off the Cup, my personal anti anxiety antidote.
I've told you guys this before. My job is weird.
It's weirder than you might think. Yeah, I do the news.
I cover politics. I've covered every presidential since two thousand
and four, midterms, local state elections, national politics, foreign affairs, war,

(00:34):
national disasters. But being in the news has also opened
very fun, weird doors to other things like Bravo as
you know, which is also so fun. I love going
on watch What Happens Live or interviewing bravolebrities at Bravo
con or for this podcast.

Speaker 3 (00:52):
I also did.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
I did a Seinfeld and Curb talk show.

Speaker 3 (00:57):
I did Jeopardy. I've been at a bunch of docs.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
I once shot a pilot Get This with Dion Sanders,
Bobby Bones, Juliana Ransick, and Lauren Sanchez. Yeah that Lauren
Sanchez never saw the light of day. That's probably for
the best, But I don't know how I've ended up
in some of these places.

Speaker 3 (01:17):
It's a wild ride. It's upmost have been a lot
of fun. Okay, So one of.

Speaker 2 (01:21):
The coolest things I've ever done involves my next guest.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
And I don't know if he knows this.

Speaker 2 (01:28):
You know him from countless TV shows and movies, from
Jack Ryan to Criminal Minds, The Adjustment Bureau to Lioness.

Speaker 3 (01:35):
He's so talented.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
I mean, he just always disappears into his roles and
yet you cannot take your eyes off of him. He's
also kind and thoughtful and funny. And he's a big
baseball fan, which I love. Michael Kelly, Welcome to Off
the Cup.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
Oh thanks for having me. What a pleasure to be here.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
I'm so glad you're here. I just think you're so great.
So I purposely left out the thing. You're perhaps apps
best known for your Emmy nominated role as Doug Stamper
in House of Cards?

Speaker 3 (02:07):
Did you know I was also in House of Cards?

Speaker 1 (02:09):
I did not. I'm embarrassed to say that. Did you
Did you play yourself?

Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I played myself in two episodes they did like a
CNN panel. It was like me Van van Jones, Paula
Gala Yes, yes, and like On with Jake, I think
On with Jake Tapper and we did two episodes and
it was the coolest thing I've ever done.

Speaker 3 (02:32):
I still have the script. It's framed in my office.

Speaker 2 (02:35):
I loved it, but I love we have that we
share this.

Speaker 3 (02:38):
Little connection, even though I didn't get to meet you there.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Yes, that's that's super cool. I love that they did that.
On Ause of Cards. They use a lot of real
people and you know, just everything that bo Willheman did
with that show, though it was made everything so infinture,
you know the way they you know, if you had
an if you were holding a newspaper article, it actually
had what you were talking about. It was a written article.

(03:01):
They actually went to the effort of making the newspaper
article about what you were talking about, which is never
the case never.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Yeah, yeah, it was pretty wild.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, that very similitude and you know, commitment to getting
it right is something we loved as well in my business.

Speaker 3 (03:17):
And it's really funny. The common saying was.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
That Politics was actually a lot more like Veep than
House of Cards, But I think that's why we loved
it so much.

Speaker 3 (03:27):
And Veep was hilarious.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
We but like real close to reality, like real close, and.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
House of Cards felt more like a true escape.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
And then of course reality decided to say hold my
beer and gave us Donald Trump, and then it was.

Speaker 3 (03:40):
Like, oh, you know, House of Cards was was a comedy.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
It was the insane, look at wild political ride, right,
and then all of a sudden weren't so crazy anymore,
and it was just like, oh wow, yeah, so while
we were making it, that actually happened, and that was
pretty pretty wild. Man, it was wild.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
I I don't think it's wrong to say that you
were the breakout star of that show. I mean, we
just loved watching your intensity. And you know, I was
just looking at a post headlines every person Frank and
Claire Underwood kilt.

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Those two were just terrorists.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
Man, that's so good. There's many, There's many, There's so
many directly and indirectly.

Speaker 3 (04:24):
Right.

Speaker 2 (04:25):
What did you think when you saw the finale, the
script for the finale, I mean.

Speaker 1 (04:31):
So that was so crazy, right, because all that stuff
happened with Kevin, and you know, he was gone, and
all of a sudden, the writers had to I had
to rewrite an entire season in a very shortened amount
of time. And so really it was Frank and Melissa
and God bless in the writers and chowrunners at the time,
and Robin and myself and we would sit there and

(04:53):
we were brainstorming and talking things through as we were filming,
because it was they were given and the almost impossible
task of having to rewrite your entire season, like I said,
in such a limited amount of time without a full
writer's room. It was insane and without oh, without your
lead actor. Right, there's that too, So you know, I

(05:16):
knew it would just sort of it all happened while
we were working, you know, the the ending. They came
up with the ending while we were doing it. So
not not that episode that day, but they're during the crison.
You know, I knew, or at least I figured that
he was gonna go.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
He's going, right, yeah, And I don't know was I
assume assassination was discussed rights his political figure, like I
assume a number of things were discussed of how to
get rid of your lead who also happens to be
playing the president, right.

Speaker 1 (05:46):
Right, yeah, Like what do you do? What do you have?
How's it going to happen? And then and then the
fact that I did it is just it's crazy, it's crazy.

Speaker 2 (05:55):
Remarkable, remarkable, And that was Yeah, as you mentioned, that
was around Kevin's downfall. Woll What was he like to
work with before any of that happened.

Speaker 1 (06:07):
I mean, look, for me, you know, honestly, I got
the job and I was just like, oh wow, I
get to go learn with you know, Kevin Spacey and
Robin Wright and Kamara and David Fincher and like all
those people were set when I got the job. So
for me, I was just like, I just want to
go be a sponge. I want to learn as much
as I can. And so every day working with him,

(06:28):
I just watched him, you know, and I you know,
did my stuff, but I very much paid attention. He
was one of my favorite actors. You know, he's so
incredibly talented. Yeah, and I think that's one of the
most unfortunate things from everything that happened, is we will
be deprived of most likely deprived of seeing that man's talent. Yeah.
Ever again, probably right. So for me, it was just

(06:51):
one of those things that I was like, I'm just
going to watch this guy and I'm going to learn
and I'm going to see how he does it. And
you know, we all do it different, we all do
the same, we all do it different, you know. So
for me, it was just it was fun to watch
and learn every day, you know, and and pick his
brain when I could. And he was pretty He's pretty private,
you know. He got in his corner and worked really

(07:12):
hard on his stuff. I'd be in my corner working
hard on my stuff and they'd say we're ready for
you guys, and you go and you can do it.
And it was an incredible experience as a as a
you know, I say young actor, I wasn't so young,
but it was. It was ten years ago. I was,
you know, I was younger than I am now. Certainly
you were younger thirteen years ago, and I wasn't. I
didn't really have had a career, but I didn't. The

(07:35):
House cards really put me on the map. So for me,
I was just like, oh, gonna I'm gonna absorb here, you.

Speaker 3 (07:40):
Know, Yeah, how did that role come to you?

Speaker 1 (07:43):
So crazy? I auditioned for every male role you saw
on that show like I was originally. When I auditioned,
I would go into my agency and just put myself
on tape for Hammerschmidt, the guy who ran the paper
for Lucas, who was Kate Mart's love interest for the
Corey Stall character. Yeah, I love that character me too.

(08:04):
And I kept kept going back in. They kept every
week or two weeks will pass and they'd be like,
they want to see you again for another role. They
want to see you again for the role. It's like great.
And so eventually lay and David Fincher came to New
York and they were you know, they're in LA and
they they came to New York to meet some folks
and I had like this, I had a callback for

(08:25):
Lucas and the Corey Stall character. I'm like, you know
his name. It was just the two of them in
the room and myself and Fincher just kept was pacing
in the background. Loray's reading with me, and he would say,
all right, try like this, Okay, now do it like this,
all right on this take, I want you to think
about this and this and this and this. He's just
throwing all these different like forty five minutes. I was like,
oh my god, this is so cool. And at the

(08:49):
end of it was like and I read for these
two different characters. At the end, he goes, all right, Honestly,
I think you can play anybody, but I'm going to
have you read for somebody else, and in my head,
I'm like, I have auditioned for every male character who's left.
In my head is like and thinking back, I was like,
well Stamper didn't really say a lot in those first
two episodes, you know. And he was like he's And
I said, okay, well, I'll just go sit outside and

(09:11):
go over and I'll come back in and he was
like no, no, no, no, you can put it on tape.
And I was like, I'd really rather do it with
you here in the room. And he was like, I
promise I'm going to watch it. And I was like
he was telling me no, and so I said, okay, right,
and I left and I went with Julie Shubert in
New York City into her office, like I don't know.
A week later and put myself on tape for Stamper.

(09:32):
And then this is crazy. I went to New Orleans
to film now you see me, yep, And I was
down there when they had what's called the test. And
for people who don't know, a test is when they
you're making it to the semifinals, they and they basically
they bring you in and you go in front of producers, directors,

(09:52):
studio and in this case, it was Netflix, and I
wasn't available to go because they couldn't let me go
because some locations that we had locked down, and so
I literally couldn't go to the callbacks. And they were like, well,
they're just going to play your tape at the callbacks,
and I was like, that's gone. And I literally was
like it's gone because you you know, being in the

(10:14):
room and being able to do things on the fly,
it's just it's so different. And so I just wait
to myself. I was like, that was a great experience
and I'm grateful for it, and David Finch or Laray
Mayfield know who I am now and that's great, right,
And then I don't know, like a few days later,
I'll never forget the exact place the window. I was
looking out, how far that window was open. A pebble

(10:38):
I knocked off the window sill. I got a call
from my manager and he said the assistant got on
and said, hey, Michael, I be for you, and I
was like cool, And so he gets on. He was
like hey Doug, and I was like, alb it's Michael.
I said, I said, you got me mixed up, and
he's like, oh, I'm sorry, I was looking for Doug Stamper,
and I literally just stopped and I was like, you know,

(11:00):
I just had a tear in mind. I was like,
oh my god, like I get I get emotional talking
about it now because it was so that was a
life changing moment. And somehow at that moment that I
was looking at that window when I knocked that pebble
off and looking down the street in New Orleans, I knew.
I just knew, and uh yeah, that was That was

(11:20):
a moment I'll never forget ever. I Mean, it's a
very long winded story about how it came about.

Speaker 2 (11:27):
It's a great story, and I have like a vicarious
hill because we all hopefully have at least one of
those moments in our life where we know everything is
going to change, we get the thing we're desperate to get,
you know, kind of against all.

Speaker 3 (11:42):
Odds, and we remember where we were. I like, I
can feel it. That's incredible.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, pretty well.

Speaker 2 (11:50):
Man, did you know at the time that it was
going to be this huge phenomenon or I mean, I'm
sure you could tell the talent was good and that
the people at attached to it were good, But did
you know what it was going to be.

Speaker 1 (12:02):
No, No, I knew at that moment. At that moment,
I knew that I was going to have this opportunity
to go work with people who I just you know,
had on the highest of highest pedestals. Yeah, from Bow
to Fincher to Robin to Kevin, everyone involved, And so
I was like, I'm going to go have the time
of my life working with the best of the best.
Right Netflix, at the time, this was their first streamer,

(12:23):
this was the first show. Like, yeah, it's crazy to
think that that was thirteen years ago and that was
the first streaming show. So no, I had no idea
that it was going to be what it became. To
the point, yeah, where I was, I don't know. I
guess we were on the second episode and David Fincher

(12:45):
and I had become somewhat close, and he said we
were I forget what we were doing, but he was like, Hey,
do you want to go watch a rough cut of
the first in my office? And I was like yes.
He was like all right, and so I went in
there and I watched it, and I came out and
I was like, He's like, what'd you think. I was like,
holy shit, He's like, what did you think I was

(13:05):
going to do? I was like, I know, but holy.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Shit, it was unreal.

Speaker 1 (13:10):
And he was like He's like, were you down of me?
And I was like, no, it's not that. I'm just
like that was And I remember calling my manager and
I was like, Buddy, we are making something so special
and so different that people are going to lose their minds.
I said, I don't know if anyone's ever going to
see it, but we're making something really special because oh
my god, who knew what that was going to be?

Speaker 3 (13:33):
Right, Like, yeah, that's the craziest and this was going
to be Yeah that's what I mean, Like, was this
going to be?

Speaker 1 (13:39):
Like? You know how many failed networks and things have
there been?

Speaker 3 (13:42):
Right?

Speaker 1 (13:43):
Is this something that we just we made this incredible content.
We're to just disappear into the ethos, you.

Speaker 3 (13:49):
Know, listen, it didn't matter because it worked. It more
than worked.

Speaker 2 (13:52):
Yeah, all right, I want to talk more about your work,
but first I always like to ask Michael what kind
of kid were you?

Speaker 1 (14:10):
I was not a great student. I was very mischievous,
but not in a bad mean way, never mean spirited
trouble I was, but I was in trouble a good amount.
I had a hard time, had our time focusing. I

(14:30):
still do, but at the time, at the time, it
wasn't adhd or whatever though, you know, they were just like, oh,
he's a spas or yeah he's nuts. Yeah. But I
was outside all the time at the same time, you know,
like we got on our bikes in the morning and
we would come home when you heard the back porch bell,
like it was right. You'd be at the pool, the
tennis courts, the bike trails or whatever, you would hear

(14:52):
the bell and you go home. So very active, yeah,
and somewhat mischievous.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
What you're born in Philly, What age do you move
to Georgia?

Speaker 1 (15:05):
Like a year like I was a year and a
half old. I think we moved to Georgia to Atlanta
suburbs Atlanta. Then we moved to Texas until I was
in fifth grade and then fifth grade on my folks
or my father passed this year, but my mother still
lives in the same house we grew up in. So
pretty cool, pretty cool.

Speaker 3 (15:25):
And I know your dad just passed and I'm so sorry,
thank you. What kind of dad was he?

Speaker 1 (15:31):
The best? He really was, truly the best. He was
a flawed man, like many men of that generation, you know,
But he was the best at that I could have
have had rest asked for. And he was a best friend,
and he was he was so many things to the
four of us. I'm the oldest of four. So he

(15:54):
was an incredible role model. Like I said, there was
a he eventually quit drinking and smoking and everything, but
there was a period there where he probably wasn't the
best role model. Yeah, but at the same but at
the same time, he was a hell of a lot
of fun of your own. Maybe not as much for
my mom, but for the kids he was us. But
he was a good man too, and he taught us.

(16:15):
He taught us all how to be how to be
really good people, and how to have a good sense
of humor about life in general, and just have fun. Man,
he had a lot of fun, and he taught us
how to have a lot of fun. And we still
we still do. We're very very tight family. Mom and
the and the forces and all the grandkids.

Speaker 2 (16:32):
Now, what did he make of your decision to become
an actor.

Speaker 1 (16:37):
I think he thought I was fucking nuts. If you
don't know the you know my mom, especially though she
was like, because I was studying political science, I wanted
to be a lawyer and and I fell into it.
And I remember calling her and she was like, well, Michael,
if you think about it, if you if you're a lawyer,
you're going to get to act all the time. And
I was like, no, Mom, this is this is really

(16:58):
what I want to do. And but then to their credit,
they came to see me in the Glass of Menager
and and afterwards I remember both my mom and dad
having having tears in their eyes, now like we're behind
you one thousand percent, Like they didn't have a lot
of money, and you know, they weren't like we're behind you,

(17:18):
go get a place in New York, like yeah, you're
a good kid. It was it was more like we
believe in you and there's no and that's it for me, man,
Like that that was it Like having them and my
siblings never doubt that I was going to be an actor,
like that's everything. They never said what about this or
what are you gonna do if it doesn't work out?
They've never said that to me, And so I think

(17:40):
this half the reason I made it. You know, yeah,
I'm believing in you like that someone that you care
about so much, believing in you like that.

Speaker 2 (17:46):
You're at Coastal Carolina right studying. So when do you
fall into it? How does it fall onto your lap?

Speaker 1 (17:53):
I think it was my third year. That's why I
stayed for five. I was I need an elective. My
advisor was like, well, if you want to be a lawyer,
you're gonna have to be comfortable getting up in front
of people. I recommend you take this acting class. And
I was like, wow. He said you had too many.
I was trying to take too many core classes. And
he was like you're going to fail. He's like, you
need some electives. And I was like okay, and so

(18:15):
he recommended this class. And then you know, the teacher
was like, I don't know, two weeks in me to
do the scene. And I was like, I'll go and
I do it with my my scene partner's Sonny and
and she was like, can I talk to you after class?
And I was like yeah. She's like, how long have
you been acting? I was like, I've never done this before.
And she was like, oh, you got something, and she
just her and the other professor, Chuck Wessell, and her

(18:38):
name was Sandy Shackelford. They just encouraged me, and you know,
it was this. I was the first person to graduate
with a theater degree there, so they finished the program
for me so that I could graduate with that degree
in five years. And they you know, there wasn't a
lot of kids, so I basically had two private teachers,

(18:59):
and you know a lot of our plays were cast
with some mostly the school, but people were taken from
the community as well because we didn't have a big
but we had this gorgeous theater still to this day,
one of the most beautiful theaters I've ever performed in.
And so it was just just a total fluke. Or
maybe it's just like that's where you're supposed to be,
right where you're supposed to, where you're supposed to be

(19:21):
because I went only was that coastal, because I was
a runner and I had a scholarship to a few
small regional schools and that was one of them. My
dad and I went to visit and we left and
he was like, oh, you're going here, right. It took
us down to the He took us down to the
beach and he's like, so we train here sometimes and
I don't know, I don't know if we ever went
back there to train again, but he was it was

(19:42):
a selling point. I'm sure. Yeah. We drove away from
the beach in like one minute, and the drive days
like you're going here, right, I was, Yeah.

Speaker 3 (19:52):
That's incredible though.

Speaker 2 (19:53):
So you you have the schools sort of not only
nurture this talent in you, but also create program around
you basically, so I imagine you feel pretty obligated like Okay,
I'm going to go out and do this now.

Speaker 1 (20:06):
Yeah right. Yeah. They actually helped me get my first
job too, which was a I was I did like
this touring children's theater. It's like it's like four people
in an eighties custom van.

Speaker 4 (20:24):
With with the sets and the actors and everything, and
you would you would take off and you would go perform,
the kids throwing snot at you and ship it was.

Speaker 1 (20:36):
And I was like when I remember I got the job,
I was like, yeah, like I want to do it.
I said, just don't. I don't want to. I don't
want to play a tree, you know. I'm They're like no,
it's usually like the Prince and then the bad guy,
and then the big bad the big bad Wolf, and
then the princess and I was like, all right, So
I did that for like six months and then and

(20:57):
then they asked me to run the program, which simply
you were the driver of the van and you were
in charge of four people. It wasn't was It wasn't
a big You got like fifty bucks more a week
or something. And I was like, no, I'm going to
go to New York man, I'm going to go for it.
And that was it. I moved to New York City
and I went for it.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
Was it a slow start or did you get in
pretty very quickly?

Speaker 1 (21:16):
No, it was it was I want to say, it
was about seven years before I started to make a
living wow as an actor, and even then I probably
kept a job, a side job for a few more
years after that. Just you know, I was seven years
when I got my first TV show. But all along

(21:37):
the way, there were baby steps. And that's what I
always say to young actors. I'm like, as long as
you have as long as you're taking baby steps, as
long as you're making some progress. You know, if you're
just flatlining, you're there. You know, I'm never wanting to
say give up on your dream. But at the same time,
I'm like, you're forty years old and you're not seeing
baby steps. It's time to good teach acting, you know,

(22:00):
like because it's hard as shit, it's really really hard.
But all along the way, you know, it's like seventy
five dollars a day and then one hundred and fifty
dollars a day, and then you know, it just it
got better and better, but slowly. And that was you know,
going back to the family thing, like sharing every baby
stuff with them and then being like, yeah, you know, yeah,

(22:22):
I get a commercial, you know, and then I once
I started getting commercials and I started making good, you know,
good money there. And that was back when they used
to pay you to do that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2 (22:32):
Uh huh, right, did you ever consider stopping?

Speaker 1 (22:37):
I did?

Speaker 3 (22:38):
You did?

Speaker 1 (22:39):
I very much did. I was about thirty eight years
old and I was making a living. I make good money.
And my brother, who's my best friend, had a very
successful business building houses. He and his wife are design
build team in Atlanta. And I love that stuff, like
this house that we just did is our fifth or

(22:59):
six renovation. Like Karen and I love it. We love
doing this stuff. So he was like, I can't find
someone to take on that I need someone. The business
is growing and I need someone and I've offered it
to so many people and be like, here, I want
to give you part of my company. He's like, but
nobody has our work ethic. And I was like, you
know what, man, I was a year of getting you know,

(23:23):
three episodes of Sopranos at like five thousand dollars an
episode or whatever it was. It was not a lot
of money, and it was a whole year of being like,
it's between you and somebody else, and it was somebody else,
somebody else, somebody else, somebody else do the three episodes
of Sopranos. I end my year with fifteen thousand dollars
and I was like, my brother's like, dude, we could
crush together, right. And I called my manager and I

(23:46):
was like, Buddy, I think I'm gonna I'm gonna go
to Atlanta and build houses. And he was like, no,
you're not. And I was like, I could be happy, dude,
I know I could be happy doing that. And he
was like, give me to your forty I promise this
is how you're doing with the rest of your life
if I absolutely promise you, And so wow, I don't know.
A couple of weeks went by, and maybe a month

(24:07):
or two, and it was a lot in that month
or two. I remember there being a lot of like
talking with Karen and you know, She's like, I don't know,
and it was just back and forth. And then I
booked the HBO limited series called Generation Kill and that
sent me to Africa for six months. And while I
was doing that, I booked the Clint Eastwood movie Change

(24:28):
Link with Angelina Joe Lee Yep, And that's sort of
that was Prehouse of Cards. But what Clint and Angelina
said about me publicly before the film came out, they
both said things about me publicly that that in the
Whispers of the movie got me in that tend to
watch that year for Variety, which sort of really puts

(24:50):
you out there, and then and then things just kind
of went from there. So it was really I was
very close, yeah to not giving up to just change
in horses. You know, I never thought of it as
given up, because I was like, I've done it, I've
made a good living doing it. I'm not I know,
I'm gonna do it again, but it's like how much
do you want to to do this? Like it's hard.

(25:14):
And I tell young actors that all the time. I'm like,
it's not just hard when you start, it's hard forever,
Like it's yeah, I have all these great jobs that
I've done in my career, and you know, you don't
you never know, you never know. I've had friends be
very successful at this and they don't do it anymore.

(25:34):
You know. Yeah, it's very difficult to maintain. You know.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Wow, Yeah, I do know. What was your worst audition?

Speaker 2 (25:44):
And tell me, like, who were you auditioning with against
when you were coming up? Like what other guys would
you see in the room all the time.

Speaker 1 (25:52):
Well, that's funny, that's you know David Harbor, Yeah, from
Stranger Things. So David and I would see each other
all the time, and and to the point where where
it was mostly the commercial circuit that we were in
together and Jim gaff again, the three of us see
each other. We're totally totally different, but we would see
each other all the time. And it's funny because now

(26:13):
all these years later, like I saw David at the
Emmys one year and we're like, oh my god, wait,
we never we never hung out, but you knew each
other so well from and and Gaff again we both
had kids at the same little elementary or kindergarten school
whatever in the city, and we reconnected there and so

(26:35):
and now he's got a place up here near me
as well. And so it's funny you see these cats again.
So those are two guys that just they really stick
out of my head as they were always around. And
it's great when we see each other now. But Tom
Scott was good, good buddy of mine that we sort
of you know, he was ahead of me and I
would always ask and be able to ask him for

(26:56):
advice and he was always so great, great to me
for that.

Speaker 3 (27:01):
What was a bad audition, Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (27:03):
So it was for this is so good. And I'm
so embarrassed because these kids don't do this. And that's
why I'm telling this. This is why I'm telling this story.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
It's a cautionary tale. Got it.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
So it was the first night that I kissed my
now wife and we went out and I was just like,
oh my god, I'm just head over your this is
this is my this is my wife like I know it.
And we went out and we stayed out until I
don't know, we closed the bars. Now I was like

(27:38):
four right in the city. And then I walked her
home and then we stood on her stoop and made
out for probably an hour and just like not wanting
to say goodbye, you know, like just kissing and hanging
out and kissing. And then I went home and so
now it's and then I walked home because I was
on such a high. And it was probably like five

(27:59):
thirty morning. In my audition was like at nine thirty,
and it was for or ten o'clock maybe, and it
was for a Johnny Knoxville TV shown us to play's brother.
And I went in there and I guarantee you I still,
I mean, I must have reek of alcohol, like I
was hammered hammer. I was still. I'm sure I was
still drunk. And I went in and she literally the

(28:22):
castal director, she was like, are you okay?

Speaker 3 (28:24):
And I was like, and I was like, oh.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
Shit, I'm not hiding this one. You know. I had showered,
I had brushed my tea that listerine and done everything
I could to try to make myself presentable. And what
I should have done was just I never had ever
called in sick or been like I'd never not shown
to a very good work ethic, and I was like, yeah,
I gotta go, when really a smart thing would have

(28:46):
been like I'm sick, yea, because I was. I was
definitely sick, and one shape or form, I was sick,
and so I remember asking me okay, and then it
was just kind of like one of those things when
when I did it and then I left and she
was like okay, Michael, and I was like, I'll see it.
We knew each other, you know, I've been doing it

(29:08):
for a little bit.

Speaker 2 (29:09):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
I was just so embarrassed and nothing was ever said
of it again. But she maybe she had a conversation
with manager who knows. But you can't do that.

Speaker 3 (29:20):
You can't.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
I'm really lucky that I had another chance with her.
Like there's a lot of castin writors who rightfully would
be like, I'm not seeing this is you have a
These are opportunities that are not everyone who wants to
go out for a Johnny Knoxville TV spin off ship whatever,
gets the opportunity to read for it to be seen
for it. They only see some people. Yeah, your agent,
your manager worked hard to get you those appointments, and

(29:42):
to just throw it away like that was so needless
to say that never happened again.

Speaker 3 (29:47):
It was that's a terrible feeling.

Speaker 2 (29:49):
But listen, I feel like you made the right choice,
Like it works out with you.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
I have the most amazing wife and uh and that
night's unfre gettable and yeah.

Speaker 3 (30:02):
That's an awesome story.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
What's the what's the hardest thing you've had to learn
as an actor Spanish?

Speaker 1 (30:09):
For Jack Ryan? That was I. And this is really
funny too, because I was I was on the final
season Outs the Cards and my manager called me and
he's like, hey, Jack Ryan. They had done the first
season and they said, Jack Ryan's really interested in you

(30:31):
for to come join the show. And it's a one year,
one year commitment, and I was like perfect because I
didn't want to sign up for another six years on something.
So I was like great. And so they sent me
the first episode of the first two episodes of the
first season and the first script for the second season,
and I watched the show and I was like, holy shit, man,

(30:54):
this is really good. And I loved John like I
had met John before because Emily and I did a
movie together and I met John. I just I love yeah, yeah,
and now we're dear friends. And then I can read
the script and say, my character is the uh. He
was the chief of station for for the CIA in
crocuss Venezuela, so obviously flute in Spanish. And there's this

(31:15):
whole interrogation scene where I'm speaking Spanish most of the time,
you speaking English. There's a whole introgation scene where I'm
speaking Spanish and then odd Spanish here and there. And
I was like, huh, and I was like so I.
So They're like, they want to do a zoom with you,
the creators, and I was like great, and so I
said to them, I was like, guys, I just write

(31:37):
up right out of the gate after the niceties and
nice to meet you and all that I said, but
I want to be very clear out of the gate here.
I love the show. I love John, I love this script.
I love this character. I would love to do it.
I'm letting you know now I do not speak a
word of Spanish. And they're like, and they were like,

(31:57):
you should just see him looking at each other, and
they're like, no problem, No, it's just a little bit.
It's a little bit. Don't even worry about it. Maybe
it wasn't even the full interrogation scene that was in
the first in the episode that I read, because I
remember it being more later and I was just like, guys,
like I told you, and they're like, no, no, no,

(32:17):
it's not a problem at all. So having to learn
Spanish for that was was incredible. Obviously I've done more
difficult things acting, but I just remember it's just so
funny because I was like, it was really hard because
you had to first you had to memorize it, and
that's one I'm not very good at memorizing. Funny enough
being okay, but you had to memorize it in English

(32:40):
first so that you understood what you were saying.

Speaker 3 (32:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
Then you had to go and memorize. Then you had
to match all your words in Spanish so you knew
what you were saying and where to put the inflection
on words and whatnot. Like it would be like you
learning Russian and having to make it make sense. I
know it doesn't sound as like the same thing, but
it's I know nothing I know Spanish. I mean, the

(33:04):
four or five words you learn waiting tables, most of
them bad and bad words. My character didn't say any
of those. Yeah, So that was one of the more
difficult things.

Speaker 2 (33:33):
The adjustment Bureau is one of my favorite movies, and
it's just cool. It's so cool and conceptually and everyone's
great in it, including you. And that was sort of
a Doug Stamper character, sort of a man behind him.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Man. Yeah, he was exactly he was. He was his
uh like handler, he was yeah, like a chief yah,
fixer and best friend yeah and best friend.

Speaker 3 (33:59):
Yeah. Yeah, what a cool project?

Speaker 2 (34:02):
Did it look as cool when you got the script
as it ended up being when we all saw it?

Speaker 1 (34:08):
It got cooler actually, Like you know, you because when
you're reading it, you're like, okay, and they go through
this door and then you then there's.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
This you know, yeah, the hat. So yeah, it's it's.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
What you're it's what your mind is capable of trying
to trying to imagine.

Speaker 3 (34:22):
Right, right.

Speaker 1 (34:23):
But then when you see what they did and you
know the DP and how he did it, and it
was just like, oh shit, you're making it. Because you know,
I didn't do a lot of the door jumping and
all that kind of stuff. I think, yeah, they froze
me at some point in time. They did, but it
was you know, for me, I was like, oh, man,
Matt Damon and Emily Blunt you know this is this

(34:44):
is yeah, crazy crazy, like what an opportunity. And and
now Matt Emily we're all good friends, like it's it's wild.
He was, you know, a couple of blocks from hither.
He has a fris a couple of blocks from me here,
so it's uh and John, We're all just for all
his buddies, you know. The John thing though. When I
went to the kickoff party for Adjustment Bureau, John and

(35:08):
Emiley were playing darts and drinking beers and I was like, oh,
those guys look like fun. I went by myself with
with a hole in the back of my head from
where I cut my own hair and shaved a big patch,
and they and my wife's like, you're going to the party.
I was like, no, I look an ass on. And
I was like, I'm gonna wear a hat and she's like,
don't wear a hat, just just own it. You'd be
better off. And yeah, so I go, I see John Iman,

(35:31):
I'm I gonna go hang out with those guys because
I'm all self conscious and nervous and I don't know anyone,
and so I went over to them and I was like, hey, man,
you you guys mind if I join you, and they're like, oh, yeah,
come on, and I was like, oh, I'm playing Bubba
and they're like oh cool and uh. And then so
we're with my turn to throw the darts. I throw
the darts and then I'm like, shit, I gotta get
the darts. And I was like, look before I went,

(35:52):
I got, I got. I just cut my own hair,
and they're like, oh, I needn't worry about it, over silly.
And meanwhile, I know that two of them and they're
wicked senses of humor. The second I walked up there
like oh my god, covering their faces when I'm walking back,
you know. So it's like, like, you cut your own hair.
I was like, guy, do uh because typically i'm or

(36:15):
most of the time i'm working and someone else is
cutting my hair. So I don't like have a barber,
you know, I don't. I just let it go and
I'm like, got like shit. So then I started learning
how to just clip it myself. Kind of. I wish
i'd a a flow beat or whatever. I just used clippers,
and when I was using the clipper, the guard just
popped off and it went and I was like.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
Oh fuck, oh no, too good.

Speaker 1 (36:42):
But then but so that's when when they came to
me for Jack Ryan. I just remember I was like,
oh my god, you had to spend time with that dude,
are you kidding me? Yeah, at the time of my
life with them that night. So yeah, that's great.

Speaker 2 (36:55):
When does baseball enter your consciousness?

Speaker 1 (36:58):
Be easier to answer when it leaves you means as growing.
I thought you met like daily.

Speaker 3 (37:05):
Now like, when does it first enter your consciousness?

Speaker 1 (37:09):
I think, like, you know, I don't remember how old
I was when I tried out for a team and
I was I remember kicking rocks in the outfield where
they just like stick him out there, They're never going
to hit him, and I didn't and I never played,
but so it was probably like i'd say, I was
about fourteen fifteen years old when I was working for

(37:33):
my brother's now father in law, Mark Epstein, who was
a builder. I worked for him in the summers. I
worked for him all year round doing stuff around his
house and then but he gave me tickets to a
raise game once and I remember going. And then it
was shortly after that that I discovered that Dale Murphy
was our neighbor. And then I met Dale and he

(37:56):
was only our neighbor for a year. Once he got
his contract, he was.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
Okay at the big contract.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
He's like, I'm going to a nice neighborhood. So he
has got now Dale and I are friends, so it's
it's it's it's fantastic. But it was around that age
and uh and it was the Land and Braves and
that's my team and it's always always been.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
I know, I'm a I'm a Met fans for rivals, but.

Speaker 1 (38:16):
Good good, good year for you guys.

Speaker 3 (38:18):
I mean, yeah, this is.

Speaker 2 (38:20):
You know, I was just thinking back though, like the
late nineties we had the Mets. I don't know if
you remember, like nineteen ninety nine Sports illustrated the best
in field ever. We had Robin Ventura, Mike Piazza, John
olrud and Gardola, Fonso Rare, Doniez. And at the same time,
you guys have the best pitching staff of all time.

(38:43):
You have Maddox, Glavin, Smoltz, Rocker. I mean, what is awesome?

Speaker 1 (38:48):
Everyone forgets Avery. Avery was such a rae. You know,
everyone says Glavin Maddox smalls Avery was That's right.

Speaker 3 (38:56):
It was amazing, and of course we called him Larry.

Speaker 2 (38:59):
Yeah, but like what an awesome era the late nineties
with Mets braves like that was just so fun.

Speaker 1 (39:08):
Incredible, incredible, man like just incredible and and and look
you know they are with their their rivalries and the
Phillies now, like we we all hate each other, but
we love each other. Like it's you know, it's I
think people love Chipper Jones. They hated him, but they
you know, yeah, you don't respect someone like that, right,
you respect him? Like like Bryce Harper. He gets booed
every time he comes to Atlanta. But you'd be hard

(39:29):
pressed to find someone that hates Bryce Harper, Like, yeah,
great baseball player, and he plays the game hard as hell.
Like yeah, I hate the Mets, but I love Francisco Lindora.
I love you know, I love Yeah. I don't like
Pete A. Lonzo. I don't like I think it's take.
I think he does everything too serious, you know, I
think he just there's like, have a little fun, kid,

(39:50):
You're getting to play a game for a lot of money,
for a living. Have some fun. The home run derby
is a fun contest. It is not a stress. You know,
you don't have to get all crazy anyway. That's my
that's my team. Team Oh my god, the time of
my life. That's why I have this mustache right now. Well,
I'll tell you why I kept it. But I got

(40:12):
to play in the celebrity softball game. It was at
my field. I stood at home plate and got a
hit at Truest Park, and I swear to god, I
was a ten year old kid like I was like,
this is the greatest, one of the greatest things I've
ever and I got to do it all with my
son that weekend. So if you play in that, if

(40:34):
you play in that game, then they give you tickets
to everything. So you're at the home run derby and
you're in a suite and you're at the you're at
the All Star Game, and you can do anything you
want in It's like amazing because so there there we
were the night of the All Star Game and we
go up to the suite and it's my mother, my
brother in law, my son, myself, and there's Gary Sheffield

(40:59):
and Paid Martinez and uh and Ryan Howard and I
was just like, oh my god. And Sheffield comes over
and a couple of guys recognized me. So then we
all kind of get to know each other. And Pedro
was a big fan, and I was like, dude, And
again there's a great example of always love Pedro Martinez. Always. Yeah,
it doesn't matter if you're a brave fan or not.

(41:19):
You recognize the greatest and you appreciate them, right. And
so Sheffield's like show me your swing, kid to Clint
to my boy and he was like what He's like
going on, let me see your swing, And so I'm like,
oh my god, I just step back. I get my
phone out. I'm like video and my son getting batting
lessons from Gary Sheffield, and I'm like this is and

(41:40):
every night my son and I just get into bed
and laughing, are just like I can't believe this. Like
he was so appreciative too, and it was just one
of those moments to share with your son. It was
like just magical man magic.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
Yeah, well, I feel like baseball is magical, and even
if you don't get that kind of magical experience, I
feel like it's every time I go into a stadium,
it's magical. It doesn't matter who I'm seeing. My husband's
a Red Sox fan. We're from Boston, so we go
to a lot of Sox games with my son and
it's just the most magical. It's religious for me, and

(42:16):
I'm not religious. It's the closest thing I know to religion.

Speaker 1 (42:20):
Yeah, it's it really is right like that, you step
into those parks and you feel it doesn't matter what
park either. Like I've been to many many parks, you know.
Wherever I am working, I'll try to go to the
ballpark there. Yeah, And it's just even if it's my
team or not. Like I'm like, it's baseball.

Speaker 3 (42:38):
It's baseball.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
In my opinion, it's the greatest game ever created. And
so watching my son play, I'm at every practice I'm
in town. I'm at every single practice for the whole practice.
I'm at every game. Yeah. Yeah, just yeah, I live
for it. Love it.

Speaker 3 (42:53):
Yeah. My son plays too, and I love it also.
It's creating. It's incredible.

Speaker 2 (42:57):
But I feel like there's two things baseball and Broadway.
I'll see anything on Broadway, and every time I'm there,
I will start crying during the overture.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
No matter what. I don't have to know the show.
It's funny.

Speaker 2 (43:12):
My mom and I just took my son to see
a regional production of Annie Regional and real Regional.

Speaker 3 (43:19):
Okay, real regional, you know what that means yes, real regional.

Speaker 2 (43:23):
Okay, yeah, but can I tell you my mom and
I are both in tears at the overture. I just
I get overwhelmed and overcome in those two in those
two sacred spaces for me, Yeah, it doesn't matter what
it is.

Speaker 3 (43:36):
I'm just happy to be there. And I just hope.

Speaker 2 (43:39):
Everyone in their lives have has something like that, a
place like that, a sacred space where they feel like
a kid again, or they can just magically get overwhelmed
and everything else from the world, the anxiety, the news, whatever,
disappears for an hour or two.

Speaker 1 (43:55):
Yeah, that's so important. That's my daughter. She's so very young.
She was saying and carrying. Neither one of us sing,
but she could really sing. And then she was like, oh,
and then she saw Hamilton. We took her to see
Hamilton and the end of that first song when it's
like and she turned to me just like what did

(44:19):
I just see? And like and now she is full
on just got back from camp, like she's full on
musical theater and wants to be an actor. And you know,
she played She did get to play my daughter in
Lioness The Last Last for a couple episodes. Yes, but
she's like, no, I want to be a Broadway That's

(44:40):
what I want to do. So she's in she's going
into eleventh grade and that's so I'm very fortunate I
get both both my son plays. Basically, I'm like, I'll
go to anything everything.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
So she just did.

Speaker 1 (44:53):
And this ripped my heart out. And it's one of
the hardest things, you know, with what we do for
a living, and you miss things right. And we were
doing Jack Ryan and we were in Dubai and at
this point we're in London. Very early on, I was like,
I need these dates. Three days of performances. My daughter
was playing Doraley in nine to five and I was like,
I got to get on for it. And Alice, and

(45:14):
the producer is a dear friend of mine. She was like, dude,
we'll put you on a private if we have to.
And come to find out, we got screwed. It was
over a weekend where we had these locations. It was
the only look and it was a military base. It
was very hard to get. It wasn't just like you know,
a street corner and I missed it and it killed me,

(45:36):
like it killed me, like it just yep, you know,
And I got to see a tape. There was a
video of it, and Karen Snack, you know, she she
went all three performances. So I was like, just the
first night, I was like, just enjoy the first night.
The second night, sneak me some VIDs. Yeah, right, give
me some good quality because I know what I know.
The other one's gonna be the big wide performance. But

(45:58):
I got to see it. I get to feel and
my wife's videos were actually fantastic, and so I did
feel like I was and I talked to her after
every performance and whatnot. But it's one of the things
that sucks about what we do for a living. It's
it's very there's no you know, there's no weekends off
always you know, I.

Speaker 2 (46:17):
Do know, and it's Yeah, I was talking to my
son about this. He's ten, and listen, I've been lucky.
I've been around a lot. I you know, I do
a lot of work from home, and but you know,
every four years, mom's work goes into hyperdrive, right, And
it's so crazy because last year, last year, I spent

(46:39):
six months in Philadelphia covering the election in a swing state,
and so I was like back and forth. Wow, you know,
a week in Philly weekends home, and I remember toward
the end of the year, someone was asking him. I
was there and someone was like, so, you know, how
what kind of vacations did you go on this year?
And he goes, not many, because you know, it's an

(47:00):
election year, and that's just the how it goes. I'm like,
oh my god, I cannot believe this is like just
his life now. And then he was like, but next year,
next year, twenty twenty five won't be as bad.

Speaker 3 (47:11):
You know, we'll have a lot more vacation time.

Speaker 2 (47:12):
And now I just got this new show covering the
New York City mayoral election, so it is an election
year again for me. And he's like, Mom, you don't
need this many jobs, and.

Speaker 3 (47:24):
It's so hard, but you know what this is like.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
And I try to tell him, Hey, you don't know
my finances. B you know, mom likes working and mom
doesn't like being away from you. That's not the part
I like at all. But I love my work and
I want him to know.

Speaker 3 (47:41):
For you need it, for you, Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
It makes me a better mom, yeah, and a better person.
It's good for my mental health to work. But also
I want you to I want you to know that
I love what I do, so that you go and
chase something that you love and don't just feel like,
oh I just need the paycheck.

Speaker 3 (48:00):
I want them to know and see.

Speaker 2 (48:01):
That that's like the only silver lining of how much
it sucks when I have to be away.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
Yep, my kids know that. I can't say it enough.
If you love what you do, you'll never work a
day in your life. Once I started making a living,
I've never once said I have to go to work tomorrow.
I get to work tomorrow.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
Yeah, I get.

Speaker 1 (48:20):
Yeah, I fucking love what I do. Yeah, And when
I don't do it for a while, I get it's
not good for me. It's not good for my head,
it's not good for my well being. Like I can,
I can work out, and I can do all this
stuff for the family. But I realized that I need
it to fulfill me as a person in some way,

(48:41):
you know, it makes me me.

Speaker 3 (48:44):
Yeah, So s they'll understand that.

Speaker 1 (48:46):
Yeah, I think they will when they find a thing
in life, you know, and they're like, oh, exactly right,
I get it. I get it.

Speaker 3 (49:08):
You mentioned lionis is that going to get a first season? Okay,
maybe it looks.

Speaker 1 (49:17):
It looks it looks very promising right now. Yeah, yeah,
and I I couldn't be any happier about.

Speaker 3 (49:23):
That, Like that's my husband loves that show. My husband
watches that show.

Speaker 1 (49:27):
So Karen and I love it. We love watching it together.
Like it's I tell people, I'm like, it's not because
a minute, man, like, watch this show.

Speaker 3 (49:36):
It's it's really good.

Speaker 1 (49:38):
Taylor Sheridan knows how to create drama, man, Like apparently, yeah,
I wanted dude, man, he wrote them all like that's crazy, crazy, crazy,
He's so good and it's and and get to get
to work with those women on a daily basis. And
Morgan Freeman, I mean, are you shitting me? It's that

(50:00):
first time that I sat in that conference room, you know,
and Jenniferly and Bruce McGill and I sat down at
that table and I was just like, holy Ship, Academy,
warg Academy, Ward, Academy, word, God knows Accounts, Awards and
that nominations in that room and I was just like
and then you just you know, some of those scenes
are nine pages long, so it's like little one one

(50:21):
act plays because they'll run them straight through and we'll
just do them over and over and it's just like
to watch the Volley and the you know, it's just
that that's that's a high. Being an aver room hard.
It's hard as ship to get all that to memory,
especially for me to memorize all that to make it

(50:41):
so that I can make it make sense too, because
it's a lot of it is very complicated, and with
all the political stuff I've done a lot of it's
a foreign language to a certain extent.

Speaker 3 (50:51):
So well, at least at least it's English.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
Yeah exactly, yep, Yeah, that show.

Speaker 3 (51:00):
I just I love it.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
I love love love it. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (51:03):
Well, I hope it gets another another season. Okay, it's
time for a lightning round.

Speaker 1 (51:09):
All right.

Speaker 2 (51:16):
Who's the real person you'd like to play in a
film or television series? Burt Reynolds, Ah, listen with that
stash Man, you are halfway there? Why can I ask why?

Speaker 1 (51:32):
I don't know? I mean Georgia connection, and you know,
I just I always thought, uh, before I wanted to
be an actor, there was something about Burt Brynholds and
all those movies and from Smoking the Bandit the Cannonball
Run to Hooper. You know, I would love to do
Hooper play that character or I don't if you remember,
he was a stunt man. He was hooked on pain

(51:53):
pills and just got to be really really cool to
redo that lightly less McColl uh huh uh huh yeah,
but yeah, yeah, and an aging stun man. I'm kind
of aging. I'm kind of prime. Bert was much younger
when he played it, But I think it can work
right now for me.

Speaker 3 (52:12):
It's great.

Speaker 1 (52:12):
I don't know, I just always there's something about the dude.
I just thought he was so cool. You see. It's
such a wicked sense of humor too.

Speaker 3 (52:18):
Bert.

Speaker 1 (52:18):
Did you watch all that fun stuff that he and
Johnny Carson did back in the day, right, And that
guy was just fun. Man, he was just fun.

Speaker 2 (52:28):
Okay, what's the best movie about politics?

Speaker 1 (52:31):
Uh? What do you call it? With Robert Ridford and
presents Man? Yeah, that's my favorite.

Speaker 3 (52:38):
Yeah, yeah, classic.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
I mean yeah, just so.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
That's most people's like top of the Cannon. Yeah, you know,
did you ever see the Contender?

Speaker 1 (52:46):
Was that Russell Krusch?

Speaker 2 (52:48):
No, that's the insider. The contender is Jeff Bridges plays
the president. Joan Allen is vying to be the vice president,
Christian Slater, Gary Oldman, Oh my.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
Yeah, I don't know. You've got to see You've got
to see myself right now?

Speaker 3 (53:04):
So good? What's the best baseball movie?

Speaker 1 (53:08):
All square? Now, I'm kidding, I get that one did exactly.
It's a movie I did.

Speaker 2 (53:13):
I know.

Speaker 3 (53:14):
I looked that movie up.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
It actually is a really fun little indie that we
did for a you know, a million bucks. A car
screw to make it with me and uh and jumped
on board. We made not even a million bucks like
seven and fifty. But it's actually a fun movie. It
is not my favorite. It's a tough one because you
got you know, good ones. I love Bad News Bears,

(53:39):
but I think Major League is also wow. And then
the female one, uh oh, A league of their own,
a league of their own. But you know what, I
just watched Funny just Is and I really loved it.
And it's one that not many people or maybe people
know about. But it's I think I've seen every baseball more.
I thought I did a little big league. Have you
seen that one?

Speaker 3 (54:01):
A little big league?

Speaker 1 (54:02):
No, little big league? It was really good. It's this kid.
The grandfather gives him the baseball team. Okay, he's got
a bright baseball mind, and he dies the grandfather. They
have a relationship in the movie. Grandfather dies in his will.
The kids like, what, I have a baseball team.

Speaker 3 (54:18):
I'll have to check that out.

Speaker 1 (54:19):
Yeah, it's a really fun one yourself.

Speaker 2 (54:21):
Watch with my son. Oh great for yours. I think
it's Bullderham. Oh yeah, yeah, it's so good, just like
both of their like all three of them, their monologues like, yeah,
Kevin's Tim Susan's like they're all so good.

Speaker 1 (54:38):
And then and and you have all that talent in
that movie too, I mean all the talent those are
the three actors. Like that's insane.

Speaker 2 (54:43):
It's insane, and like the Roman, it captures the romance
of baseball.

Speaker 3 (54:48):
So so yeah, that's a good one. What was what
was your worst vacation?

Speaker 1 (54:54):
They're vacations, and I don't think I've had one. Actually
there was one where where but but but again, and
we were with the family, so it wasn't that bad
my family. Yeah, but my wife had to go down
a few days early because I was working. I met
them there, but we went down to Florida. Forget the
name of this place, but it's everyone gets like their

(55:15):
own massive home and it could sleep twenty something people.
One of those things had its own pool and everything.
It rained, oh for seven straight days. And I'm not
saying just like, oh it rain. It Florida rained, yep
from start to fucking finish every single day we were there,

(55:35):
and we're just like, so it was great. We were
with our family, you know, so it wasn't terrible, but
it was like are you kidding right? Like every day
we'd be like, are.

Speaker 3 (55:42):
You sitting still going?

Speaker 1 (55:44):
Yeah, my son was a baby, my son was like
and my poor wife had to go down without me.
Like it was just so that was pretty rough. Recently, though,
I will say we went to and the vacation itself
was amazing, but what happened while we were away suck.
So we went down to Puerto Rico. We're renovating this home.
We were tapped out financially, so I was like, we're

(56:06):
gonna use points well, fly out Jet Blue to Puerto Rico.
We're in an air We got an airbnb. It was
like it was like three quarters a mile from the
beach and we just rented a jeep for literally a
couple hundred bucks for five days. It was an amazing
vacation and marine come while we were there. We got
this dog recently, and she has anxiety and she can't

(56:29):
be in the house for more than like three and
a half four hours without doing bad shit to the house.
So we hired a guy. We said, one of those
doggy apps. Whatever. We said, here, here's the deal. You
can live in our house. It's nice. You do whatever
you want. This is your home for a week. Okay,
one thing you can't do is leave that dog for

(56:50):
more than three and a half hours. And the sun
of a bitch. We're having dinner one night and my wife,
we've just finished dinner and she picked up her phone.
It was just like put it and she was like,
oh god, oh god, oh god. And he had sent
pictures of what Jovi, our dog had done to the
windows in the rental house we were in. Oh my god.

(57:12):
And she had eaten the windows and the doors. And
he had left her for seven and a half that's
what he said. So I'm sure it was more than that.
But his girlfriend went to the hospital or some shit,
and oh my god, all you do is call, bro,
All you do is call And we had to call
a neighbor and someone would have gone yeah, no. So
if we were coming home and and he knew we

(57:35):
were flying home and we're in the car, and she
text him and said, hey, we're so, we're in we're
at the airport, we're heading home. You can And he
was like, do you want me to be here when
you get home? And and she just Karen turned me
and goes. He just asked if he should be there
when we get there. I was like, I beg him
not to be there when I get there. I mean,
that would be a very bad idea for him. So

(57:57):
he was gone. The windows were there, and it sucked.
And this cheap, inexpensive vacation that we took cost twice
as much to fix all the windows.

Speaker 3 (58:06):
So that hurts. Yeah, so that was it hurts.

Speaker 1 (58:09):
It was a great vacation, yeah, but at a cost,
at a cost. Oh may you had a bad one?

Speaker 2 (58:18):
Well, I've had one of those Florida ones. And with kids,
it really sucks because it was just like you said,
like raining so much you couldn't actually leave, Like you
couldn't you didn't even want to walk to your car.

Speaker 3 (58:28):
It was raining so hard. So like rightly, so like
forget the beach of the pool? Can I even can
I go like to a movie? Inside?

Speaker 2 (58:36):
Not really I mean, so you're just cabin fever stuck
in a We were in.

Speaker 3 (58:40):
A condo at the.

Speaker 2 (58:41):
Time, you know, Yeah, I've been on that, yeah, and
then the other the other, like bad vacation. I was
in my twenties and we went to Rome with some
friends and my luggage went to Osaka. So I land
and it's a five day vacation. For five days, I
have nothing. It comes on the fifth day, I'm running

(59:05):
around Rome. I have no money at this time, so
I'm running around Rome looking at like street street vendors
to buy clothes and toilet trees and trying to make something.

Speaker 3 (59:17):
That wasn't great.

Speaker 2 (59:17):
The vacation was fun minus that part. Okay, this is
a quiz. The Braves have won four World Series, but
only two as the Atlanta Braves. What were the first two?

Speaker 1 (59:30):
Milwaukee and in Boston.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
You're correct, You're correct. I knew you knew that one
of each.

Speaker 1 (59:39):
I wasn't positive it was one of.

Speaker 3 (59:40):
Each, but it was one of each.

Speaker 2 (59:42):
It was Boston Braves nineteen fourteen and Milwaukee Braves in
nineteen fifty seven.

Speaker 3 (59:46):
What is your guilty pleasure?

Speaker 1 (59:50):
It was nic Grette, but I quit it. I'm very,
very happy about that many many years of doing that shit,
and I got a hypnotist and I and I did
it and I quit it.

Speaker 3 (01:00:02):
The hypnotis worked.

Speaker 1 (01:00:03):
It worked. He was a quick smoking hypnotist. Yeah, and
it freaking worked. No, And I was like, no way.
So I go I go for my physical and my
doctor calls me and she was like, hey, so you're
pre diabetic. And I was like what, and she's like,

(01:00:24):
I know, it doesn't make any sense. Your numbers came
back as pre diabetic. You're I know how much you work,
I know how you work out. I know what you eat,
like I eat right, I don't really drink hardly ever.
And so I was like, I know, I don't get it.
And she's like, I don't get it either. I want
to test you again. I was like okay. I tested
again a month later and she was like, you're pre diabetic.
So Karen, my wife, who's like she helps women through

(01:00:47):
menopause and personal trainer and yoga instructor. She's just a
warrior and a health nut, and she was like, you
texted me and she's like, you fucking idiot. It's a nicorette.
So yes, it has because it has that. It's all
sugar free, so it.

Speaker 3 (01:01:03):
Has that fake sugar stuff, fake sugar stuff.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
Which triggers your body and the thing. And I was
consuming so much of it. Anyone who takes niggarette knows
that it's worse, not worse for you. You're smoking, certainly,
but you consume so much of it. Like I never
didn't have a piece of my mouth ever. Ever, there
was always a piece of my mouth, whether there's a
mint or a gum or whatever. And it's so it

(01:01:29):
was definitely messing with my So so a friend was like,
gay man should try the shypnotist. And I did it
and it worked.

Speaker 3 (01:01:39):
That's amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:40):
Yeah, incredible.

Speaker 2 (01:01:43):
Okay, this is the last question. It's the most important
question to me. Okay, when is it iced coffee season?

Speaker 1 (01:01:50):
Always I think you can do it. Whenever I think
you can do it whenever.

Speaker 3 (01:01:54):
Now you can do it whenever I do.

Speaker 1 (01:01:58):
I think it's you know, there's I don't do it
in the winter, but why not? Like but for me,
I would say I would go and and for me
it's just like in every now and then, after I've
had my morning coffee, my morning coffee will always be hot, hot,
no matter what. Yep, An afternoon to light. I would
do it anywhere from say May to late August early September.

(01:02:23):
What about you? You obviously it's year round.

Speaker 2 (01:02:26):
The answer is year round, and I only I only
have it iced in the morning. If I'm camping, I
might have it hot, but like, oh yeah morning, dead
of winter, it's iced because I want it like in
my veins.

Speaker 3 (01:02:39):
I want to drink it quickly. I want it immediately.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
See, it's so interesting to me. The immediacy comes from
that hot and it has to be hot.

Speaker 3 (01:02:47):
And yeah, I get if I get.

Speaker 1 (01:02:49):
Half a cup and it's and I'm getting warm chips
tossed the cup. Yeah, can't do it. Can't do it.

Speaker 3 (01:02:55):
But at least you allow me to have it year round.
I do.

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
Of course you can, because you know you can do
whatever you want.

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
I knew, I like I knew.

Speaker 2 (01:03:03):
I liked to Michael Kelly, this was so delightful and
wonderful and I'm so glad it happened.

Speaker 3 (01:03:09):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
I can't thank you enough. It's it's an honor spend
an hour with you, and I'm grateful, so thank.

Speaker 3 (01:03:15):
You, Oh, thank you.

Speaker 2 (01:03:19):
Coming up next week on off the Cup, I talked
to Broadway star of In the Heights, The Lion King,
Hell's Kitchen, and of course Hamilton Christopher Jackson.

Speaker 1 (01:03:30):
Glynn and I are on stage during the performance of
In the Heights and he says to me, I'm my
next thing. I think.

Speaker 3 (01:03:38):
I was like, cool, what is it?

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
He's like, It's a hip hop concept album about the
Treasury Secretary. Time to go on out and then we
go out into the big number of ninety six thousand, right,
so what? Off the Cup is a production of iHeart
Podcasts as part of the Reason Choice Network.

Speaker 3 (01:03:58):
If you want more, check out the other.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
Reason Choice podcasts Spolitics with Jamel Hill and Native Land pod.
For Off the Cup, I am your host Se Cup.
Editing and sound design by Derek Clements. Our executive producers
are me Se Cup, Lauren Hanson, and Lindsay Hoffman.

Speaker 3 (01:04:14):
Rate and review wherever you

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
Get your podcasts, follow or subscribe for new episodes every Wednesday.