August 7, 2024 • 60 mins
Paul and Skip welcome the award-winning actor to discuss his remarkable journey that saw him go from the inaugural host of E!'s TV clip round-up Talk Soup to acting alongside Harrison Ford in Sydney Pollack's remake of Sabrina just a few short years later. He also discusses going to Jack Nicholson's house to audition for his iconic role in As Good As It Gets, the trials and tribulations of bringing Little Miss Sunshine to the big screen, and demonstrates his stunning array of flawless impressions.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Our Way with yours truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this
is Paul.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Anka and my name is Skip Bronson.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We've been friends for decades and we've decided to let
you in on our late night phone calls by starting
a new podcast and.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Our Way. We'd like you to meet some
real good friends of ours.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Your leaders in entertainment and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Join us as we ask the questions they've not been
asked before, tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I guess it's just the study of a person. If
you take the time to study someone long enough, you
can better understand who they all. You know, that's kind
of always what I took away from it, So you know,
it's it's worth having a longer conversation than the one
you were going to have with somebody, and maybe we
(01:16):
could all learn something from that.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
Hello, Skippy, what's going on? Believe me? Uh? Just getting
over the Olympics. Yeah, really something kind of miss it, Yeah,
I really miss it, But I'm excited. Man. You know,
my cousin, Mamoris Abraham, was a director on the Greg
in Your Show. And you know I'm a huge fan
(01:47):
of Greg anyways, great actor and here he's a wonderful
guy and anybody you have ever brought in here, they're exceptional.
But I'm going to ask him. I want to get
a read on my cousin because I never saw him
a lot and I didn't know. And hiss flame to
fame with me was I'm doing the Greg Kenneer Show.
I said, great, Morris, and then I never heard from
Morris for about a year. Oh Greg, Greg will love that.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
He will love that when you tell him that.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
But I know he's a good buddy of yours, and
you know, anybody of yours is open toward me. But
I'm really looking forward to it because you know, he's
just a solid actor and you look at the films
that he's done. Everyone he's stepped up to being amazing,
and I'm looking forward to getting to know them because
you only hear good things about it. He's a guy,
(02:33):
you know. I spent a lot of time with him.
We play golf together, we hang out, We're good friends.
We've traveled together. He's terrific. But he's just the most
authentic guy. He's not at all full of himself. It's
just totally down to earthing. He lives a life of
gratitude and that's the truth. And you know, he's just
he's so much fun to be around. Every everybody loves him.
(02:55):
There I've never anybody that didn't, you know, think the
world of him.
Speaker 6 (02:59):
And some of these spells say he's done as good
as he gets. I mean, I could watch that film
five times. It's just spectacular with Nicholson and Helen Hunt
and Greg and then of course you know Little Miss
Sunshine which was another, you know, huge hit, and.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
His impression Skip. I mean, when I think about it,
some of the the impressions that he's done, you know,
Carvey and Copple all that they're right on this spot
on you know which is And I started doing impressions
when I was a kid of singers, but that was easy.
But you know, doing the kind of people that he does,
(03:36):
who it's fascinating to watch great voice. Well, I asked
them to do the podcast and England that obviously you
and I were doing it together. He was excited about
you know, talking to you. So I'm sure I'll have
questions for you, not just you asking him questions. Well,
I hope not too many, man, because I don't think
it's gonna be fascinating a good thing with with what
(03:57):
we're doing, because we're talkers, you and I. You know
what we're like. But to sit back and get great
guests and just sit back and let them talk and
keep our mouths shut as best we can, man, that's
a luxury to learn. You know.
Speaker 6 (04:13):
I was looking at the list today. It's stunning. I mean,
I'll put our guests that we've had on up against
any podcast that's out there. Nobody's had the kind of
guests that we've had and we've you know what, I
think it's when you and I first thought here talking
about doing this. You know, we're not trying to get anybody,
We're not trying to make news. We're just kind of
(04:34):
have a great conversation with great guys. And you know,
because like your friends that you've brought on right and
just starting with you know, Bill Burn, Michael Boublay and these,
you know, they're really close friends of yours, not just
people that you've met, and it just makes it so
much easier. There isn't one that we've had on that
one of us isn't intimately familiar with, and that's made
(04:56):
it really special.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Well, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it.
Which I'll be going to bed tonight.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Tonight is probably gonna be i'd say lights out, no
later than ten, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
I'll be thinking at you about one in the morning.
I'm gonna do some more work on the documentary, and
I look forward to Greg kinnear. Yeah, yeah, you're gonna have.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
I can't wait for you to talk to him. You're
gonna become friends right out of the box. I'm sure.
Oh that's always stimulating. All right, Billini, I'll catch up
with you later. Okay, So we need a golf to more?
You got a golf to No, I'm gonna play golf
right now. Actually, I'm running off. The play says we're gone.
I'm going to play pickleball at three o'clock. But I
love the pickleball. Watch I've watched you. You're good at
(05:41):
it too.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
We have a lot of fun. So I'm gonna head
over there. You go hit your balls and I'll go
hit my balls. We'll both have it. We'll both have
a ball. I love it.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Let's see you later.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
By there, he is, I knew.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Look, we got three girls, three girls. Five Oh my.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Gosh, well, well nine grandchildren, Oh my gosh, five five daughters, Paul, Yeah,
five daughters, five daughters, and I got a son who's eighteen.
All right, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Between Audrey, Lily and Kate. You thought you had to
mark your corner down girls until you just ran into
a guy who has five of them.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
What are their ages?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I just the oldest just crossed out of the teen years.
So for the last year and a half, you're looking
at a guy who had three teenage daughters. So I
crossed that rubicon for about eighteen months when they were
all in that zone. Great girls, I'm very very fortunate.
(06:54):
But you know, I've said, it's like weather patterns. One
minute it's sonny, and then it's very cold, it's misty,
and it's snowing, and then it's ceiling and that it
keeps changing.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
But boy, are they a handful. I tell you I
got three now that live in Europe. But raising those
five girls, I put them in a convent. I just
I got up one day, I said, you're all going
to fucking convent with the nuns. I couldn't handle it,
so I put them on a convent up in Carmel
and I moved to Carmel. They were pissed for the
first six but they they all came out well.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And now why are they all that's interesting? Why are
they all in Europe?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, we traveled all over the world all the time,
so they got very used to Europe. Because my wife
may she rest she's from Paris. We spent a lot
of time and they met, you know, on some of
the trips. One met a guy that was Tour de
Frost bicyclists, and then they started meeting people as we
travel and they they got married over in London, Mante Carlo,
(07:55):
ones in Geneva. You know, they moved around, but they
met them in their travels. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, Speaking of that, Greg's dad was in the State Department,
so he was what they would call a foreign service
brat and ounced all around, right like, where did you go?
I know you were in Greece for a while, that's true.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
We were in well, it was DC and then what
hopped not that many places. I was fortunate I'd meet
these poor kids that come through, and I'd say, you know,
they'd be literally getting off the plane and they'd last
six months and be on to their next assignment. But
for whatever reason, we had a fairly consistent situation in
(08:36):
the sense that we went to Bayward Lebanon. So we
were in Beirut for about a year and then got
evacuated during the Civil War to Athens, Greece, and he
was assigned in Greece then for the next like five
and a half year or six years. So it's where
I finished high School's where I spent a lot of
my life growing up. And I was lucky to not
(08:58):
have to bounce aroun around the numerous places, and incredibly
lucky to grow up in Greece. I mean, that's winning
the lottery. In case anybody a where.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
That, Yes, great country bay Root must have been interesting,
because I've been there a few times. I put my
brother through school in Beroot in that school up in
the mountain.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Oh oh right, right, yeah, I was at I was
at ACS, which is like kind of an American community
school there, and those are throughout Europe. In fact, when
I was in Greece, that was at American Community School
so there was one in in bea Route, and then
of course there was the American University where Steve Kerr's
father was, you know, famously the uh tragically killed but
(09:38):
he was the president of that university, not at exactly
the time we were there. I think he came a
little bit later. But uh. But there were two a
few different, a few good schools in Beyroute, but I
never went to the one up in the mountains.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The French language is used a lot in Beirut. Did
you ever pick up any French? Wes?
Speaker 4 (10:00):
I'm so bad at language, Paul. How many languages you speak?
Because I know, skip skip how many languages you got
under the belt?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
There one one, one, one one.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That's our golf joke.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
What are.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
We do that all the time?
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Child?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
There's so much. I was speaking like Italian and German
and French, and uh, those are my best mine.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But you recorded, Paul, recorded songs I can in various languages.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Actually, yeah, vice versho from by Lance vault No. No.
I was so patty by the time I finished over there,
die they get home? Because I was up every morning
at eight with these teachers who are like you've learned
(10:53):
now at eight in the.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Morning, and you must put your tongue up here. I said,
I put my tongue everywhere else put up here. You
already put it up vice Manish was ah, I said, okay,
So I did two albums in Germany.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Italy was easier, obviously, right, little Japanese.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
But did you did you speak the languages or did
they just kind of if you the syntax and you
would kind of give the sounds like abba. I was
told they famously really didn't speak English, but.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
They well they didn't. Yeah, I knew I. That was
my partner in Sweden. I knew him, and then he
developed the group. And you're correct. But I learned the languages,
you know. I took French and school in Canada, and
the Italian I could speak, and you know, a little Spanish.
I got along pretty well with all of it. The
problem is you never get to use it. So ex
(11:43):
Geskilde I got to it was my Greek, I.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Think American keep it as there. I can kind of
bullshit my way through enough Greek where I look like
I know what I'm talking about, and actually it ends
up with me being yelled at by a cab driver.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Right right, Look, Greek so you're not going to get
very far now. It's hey Greg, Greg, I'll just go
through a name atch because I've got to get this off.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Morris Abraham, Oh my gosh, yeah, Morris Abraham one of
the greats, one of the greats. He I've known him
for a hundred years and I you know, he was
one of the first directors who I worked with in
in what I was kind of just starting out on
some television show fully buried deep below the Earth's surface.
(12:33):
Morris Wreck did it, and then I ended up after
I was doing talk soup, I ended up going from
that to also hosting NBC. Did a show at NBC.
I took over for Costas at at one thirty in
the morning on Later, which is where you get your
smokers and your tokers, as Tom Snyder used to say.
(12:54):
And I basically had Morris come over and direct the show.
And he was great, and he's a he's a great guy.
How how do you know?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Okay, he's my cousin. Oh my god, tell me that
he's the only successful family member that ever made it
in the whole tree. Me and my cousin Morris somehow
showed up and he called me one day and he
starts raving about you. I said, you're finally earning more
(13:26):
goddamn money than you got a dreamed of Morris. How
did you wind up down here? And he went on,
but he loved working with you.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Well, it's so funny because he's also been one of
the few guys in show business that doesn't actually, you know,
mooch Off his his successful family member. He didn't. I
never even knew that he was related to you until
this zoom right now. I'm this is the first time
I'm hearing this.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Well.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I used to send out memos to all my family
after my first hit. I said, I'm only signing the
back of checks.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Don't call, not the front, not the front the checks.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And then I had a rule. If I don't loan
money the family, and if I do, it's not alone.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Take it.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I don't expect it back, but don't ever come back again.
You know what you know it is all of us
who've achieved. They come out of the woodwork, and it's
very tough. Even your kids. You know, you've got to
sit there and monetize your actions as to what to
give them, how to raise them. It's hard not to
spoil them, but family, I just cut it all off.
I wouldn't loan money. I give it to them. Take it,
(14:30):
You'll never get it back.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm going to take the fifth on this, your honor.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
It's like my line on the weekends. I used to
say to my kids, the Royal Bank of Dad is
closed on the weekend.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Es Well, trust me when they're teenagers and the Royal
Bank is wide open on the weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, Cat exactly. Hey Greg, my son in law Bateman,
Jason Bateman. Yeah, his sister. She played a big role
in your career, didn't. Can you talk a little about that.
I'm very curious.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, absolutely, it's amazing. Actually, when I was starting, I
asked it was basically answering phones at this kind of
low budget film company over in Hollywood and just trying
to get through the day, not really sure what the
future held. I just I liked LA very much, and
(15:20):
I was glad to be here, and I was grateful
to have any kind of gig, and I thought, you know,
maybe I'd get into marketing movies or something like that.
I wasn't sure where the road was going to lead.
But I was on this desk, and while I was there,
my buddy of mine who I knew through another friend
was Bobby Anderson, an old friend of mine. Sound great
(15:43):
sound mixer. He's worked on a number of shows I've
done over the years. He was dating Justine Bateman and
so they were. She was doing Family Ties and she
got offered to go to do MTV and Daytoto Beach
back in the day, and they came back and they
were like, hey, we got an idea. You should call
(16:04):
this guy Jodavola at MTV A auditioned to be a host,
and I was like, what, I'm the guy who answers phones.
So I have to give her credit because she was like, no, no,
I think you'd be good at this. And Justine had this,
you know, she kind of her and Bobby were like, yeah,
you'd be good at this and kind of encourage me.
And so I put together some bad tape. In fact,
(16:27):
I went to Justine's house and interviewed her and I
got this tape out of it, and I ended up
going and submitting it to MTV, which was very hot
back in the day. You sat on the steps and
you talked about music videos and there was JJ Johnson
and Martha Quinn and all these people there at the time,
(16:47):
and I didn't get the job, but I got a
very cool looking tape out of it that said MTV Audition.
So when there was a channel starting up which was
kind of the precursor to EAT, it was called Movie Time,
I had an audition to that said MTV audition, and
they were like, holy shit, this guy must be for real.
I wasn't, but it looked like I was, and through
(17:08):
Justine's good natured helping hand, I suddenly had something to
hand over to this channel, which ended up putting me
on the air. It was the first kind of broadcasting
job that I ever got. And I wasn't a guy
driving around town with like, will you know born to act?
Bumper sticker on my car. I wasn't. I didn't have
(17:30):
an agent, I didn't have really anything sort of triangulating
towards the business.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
I'd had some interest as a kid, I'd done a
radio show and on some acting, but I just didn't
think that was I didn't know anybody out here for
the most part, so I never thought that was a
real possibility. So just through the happenstance of meeting her,
for them going to the thing, for going to MTV
and not getting the job. I ended up with my
(17:57):
first broadcasting job, which you know ultimately led to some
other stuff and ultimately movies after that.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
So so Talk Soup that was nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Came after all of this.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Oh got it.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, So this came after. I mean, I'm talking, I'm
taking you back to the eighties, ladies and gentlemen, and
I am it's like late eighties, and I have tried
out unsuccessfully for MTV, and I have suddenly got a
you know, I got an opportunity with a twenty four
(18:31):
hour entertainment channel which was kind of like it was
E before it was E. They basically ran trailers and interviews,
they ran anything they could get for free. And I
did that for three years and made, you know, not
a lot of money, but it was great experience and
kind of got me on television. And then ultimately, you know,
(18:54):
a year or two later, Movie Tom turned into E
and E had various shows on it and one of
them ended up becoming Talk Soup, which was, you know,
the first thing that really broke out that I ever
had a hand.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Will Leo fan of Talk Soup.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I started it, so I it was basically, they they
had a few clips of daytime talk shows and I
saw it, and they I got a call from Age
saying that they have this idea to turn this into
a show where you would look at, you know, look
at a few clips of daytime talk shows, which didn't
(19:31):
really seem like the greatest idea I'd ever heard, and
they wondered like more of a was supposed to be
like a serious, serious look at you know, HAROLDO and
Richard Bay and all these crazy shows. And so I
went in there, and I think I did keep a
straight face for about forty eight hours, maybe the first
two episodes, But then it became very clear that you know,
(19:55):
we we we were just doing a you know, this
show was just wacky and kind of caught a moment
in time where people were weird. Daytime talk shows were happening,
but they weren't getting their fill of them until they
got home, and so it just kind of hit in
a lot of different areas, mostly college students who would
(20:15):
go home and smoke his belief and watch him talk to.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Is that how you got to Sydney Pullock, Well, Sydney, Yes,
was he a fan of this show?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Yeah? It actually is. I just got a text from
John McEnroe. By the way, just breaking news, ladies and gentlemen,
Now you are talking. Okay, there you go. That's what
I just got from John. I don't know if that's
from referring to us doing this. Didn't John come on
your Guys show?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah? Yeah he did, Yeah he did.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, there you go. Maybe he knows that.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I've loved the shows that we've done. Paul's very friendly
with Harvey Levin from TMZ, So we did TMZ. We
actually went to the studio where they do it in
Marina del Rey. They have they have like two hundred
people working there. I mean, that is an unbelievable business.
And he's got so many you know, anything that pops
up it then turns into a documentary that he does.
(21:20):
I mean, it's just talk about a phenomenon. Look at TMZ.
That's crazy, totally true.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I mean, I mean he really took something there that
was I mean just so easily dismissed and kind of
found the right way to you know, make it pop
and to monetize found a place. And I think, you know,
some of that has to do with you know, good timing.
I certainly you know was the beneficiary of that with
with Talk Soup, But yeah, there's a lot of work too,
(21:51):
and I, you know, while I was doing it, I
did it for three years, and I had decided, I'm
only going to do this for three years. I don't
know what the hell because I didn't have like a
backup plan. But I was coming to the end of
three years and they came to me and offered me
a big deal, like more money than anybody, you know,
(22:12):
a really very impressive offer, and I was grateful for it.
But at the same time, I had met with Sydney
who had called me up and asked me to come
in and talk about Sabrina and audition with with you know,
the casting people at Paramount, and I knew I was
in the mix for this thing, but I didn't know
(22:34):
if I had it. And it kind of came to
a point at the end of the three years I
had done Talk Soup where it was like I got
to make a decision. Either I'm gonna say yes and
take this Talk Soup out for another year, or I'm
going to let go and hope for the best with
the movie. That's what I ended up doing, and I
just didn't I felt like it had run its course,
(22:56):
and even though you know it hadn't. It went on
for many years, but I kind of checked out. And
about two weeks after I did, after I left it,
I got the call from Sydney saying, you want to
come and do a movie, And that.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Sounded like that's a shocking leap, isn't it? From television?
And then Sid Nepaul one of the greats obviously, and
you worked with the you know when I started as
a kid starting out as you did. You know, he
was in au of Sinatra. When I was around him
and Sammy Davis and I'm the kid. You know, these
(23:33):
guys are twice my is. It was just mind bobbling.
What was it like for you when you first encountered
Jack Nicholson? How good was that? What was that like
when you were of auditioning? Did you go to his house?
Speaker 4 (23:44):
I did?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
I went, I went up to Mulholland.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, the first I think the first time I met him,
I went to I went to meet him at his
house up on Mahawk. It was first introduction to Jack,
which was like the most stomach turning, refining just you know,
I mean, it had helped It wasn't like this was
my first gig. I had done a little work by
(24:08):
this point, and I had done Sabrina. But Jack, come on.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Did you do your Jack impersonation for him?
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Are you out of your mind? No? Because it's so
good issue they didn't say it work.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I want to a couple before we're done. Couple. I
want you ah.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Oh, the taed cop. Nobody even knows Ted Copple anymore.
A bunch of impersonations of people that no one knows anymore.
I give you the whole list. It's like a Who's.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Who, Who's Johnny Gusson?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Ny? I gotta listen, we gotta turn the tables. You
gotta tell me. I mean, I can't think if I
think about the history of television, of modern television, and
I think about music. I mean, most iconic song like
ever recorded, unequivocally has to be The Tonight Show thee
(24:59):
It is thirty years worth.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Well, you know he worked, he worked with me, Greg
when he was starting out. I was doing this TV
special in England and I said, nobody wants to hear
me for two hours with these cockamamie teenage songs. I said,
I need some comedy so they sent me a bunch
of kinescopes over to London, and I saw this guy,
Johnny Carson, who did a bit where he was, you know,
an alcoholic till four in the morning. Then he had
(25:25):
to get up and run a kiddie program with kids
at night, so of course you can imagine it was.
It was an amazing bit. I said, that's the guy.
He flies over, he works with me, you know, not
an easy guy to get to know, never was, but
brilliant at what he did. And I go back to
New York and I run into him and like, you
who were going to You're going to do the show
(25:45):
for three years? He said, I'm doing this new show
for a couple of years, and you know, the Tonight
Show and blah blah blah, and I'm changing this and this.
He said, I think I might need a theme song. Well,
you know, I'm the wrong guy to ask, right because
I mean it'll come out of me like this. I said,
you got it. So I went to the studio and
I recorded for Bok two hundred and fifty bucks Dad,
(26:08):
and I send him over the demo and he called
me back and he said, I love it. He said,
but we can't use it because the guy that's been
here for years, Skitch Henderson, you know, he was twice
h Yeah, he said he doesn't want some kid getting
involved in the show. He's going to do it. So
and I've been rejected all my life up until then, right,
(26:30):
So I said, oh okay. So then I thought about it,
and I called Johnny back. I said, look, I'll give
you half the soul. I'll give you half the publishing.
I'll put you down as the writer. You'll get fifty
percent of everything that discerns over the next two or
three years. So he called me back a couple hours later, said,
you got it. So when you look at the music,
(26:51):
it's got Johnny Carson, Johnny Gard's right. Well, Skitch was pissed.
It goes on not for two years, but for what
thirty nine whatever the bucket was and it was the
largest earning theme song ever on television. And I call
it they called my college song. Put all the kids
through college with it. And that's how it was there.
You know, it was just the fifteen seconds of simplicity,
(27:13):
that's all it was.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
It all came down to I I am going to
make a fuck load of money off of this.
Speaker 7 (27:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You gotta rub the eye. Remember you had all the
shtick you'd rubbed the eye. Those were all sickmas the nose,
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
But pivoting back the Nicholson, I have to say, as
good as it gets, it's not just one of my
favorite moves. It seems it's like one of everybody's favorite movies.
It was just so so special, and that was in
ninety seven. But the movie Little Miss Sunshine, it holds
a special place in my heart because of an experience
(27:50):
you and I had Greg at a golf club. Paul.
You don't know this, but at the at the private
country clubs when they had each one has a major event.
I know that, okay, they have like a three name,
three name ever a guest tournament, and while if you're
not playing in the tournament, we had reciprocity with other
clubs where our members could go over to their club,
(28:14):
you know, because our course was tied up with this tournament.
So Greg and I wind up at another country club
in the LA area with two other friends of ours,
and we play golf. It's a very chilly, daddy. We're
got our jackets, sweaters, hats, the whole thing. The end
of the round. We said, well it was great, let's
get something to eat. And two of the guys said,
now we have to be somewhere. So Greg and I
(28:34):
went into the grill room. And as we walk in,
the grill room is packed and there's a woman, a
little old woman, sitting by the front and she spots
Greg and she says, oh, I loved you and little
miss sunshine. And Greg said, oh that's that's thank you
so much. And we sit down order I order a
diet code. Greg says, alb and Arnold Palmer. We're sitting
(28:56):
for like ten minutes and they haven't brought our drinks
and that's sort of And we look over and there's
a gentleman in a sport jacket and tie and he's
on the phone at the desk and he walks over
to us and he said, oh, good afternoon, good afternoon.
Are you members? Yes? Oh oh, what's your member number?
(29:17):
So I give him my member number. It's three digits.
He said, well, our member numbers have four numbers. I said, well, no,
that's the number at our club that we belong to.
We have reciprocity here, so we just want to order
a couple sandwiches. Well, you don't have reciprocity for the
grill room. That's only for the golf course. I'm afraid
(29:38):
you're gonna have to leave. So Greg looks at me.
We've got our stuff piled up on the chair, right,
the hat, sweaters, jackets, hats. Greg looks, Greg looks at me,
He goes, grab your shit. We got to do the
walk of shame, and we had everyone in the grill
room was like watching what was going. They didn't know.
They knew something was up there, they didn't know quite what.
So everybody there's maybe one hundred and eighty people in
(30:00):
grill room and we have to walk out carrying our
hats and jackets, and we get to the door to
leave and a little old lady Looksie Greek and says,
I still loved you in that movie, just not enough
to eat us.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, that was an indie film, right right, it was.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
It was an indie By the way, Skip forgot to
tell you that when he's able to carry all his
sweaters and hats out and he was still able to
flip off everybody and drive room. Yeah, no, it was
humiliating and uh, but but they did send us a
bottle of wine. Uh that I skip went and found
(30:40):
the price on it. I think it was not eight
dollars two buck chuck or something. They set of it
because they felt bad for what had happened, which made
the story even funnier by.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
The way, of course.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
So uh yeah, Little Sedghine was a was an independent movie,
and it was a very very good script by Michael
Aren't And and the truth is it really wasn't going
to be made. There's a producer named Mark turtle Toob
who just literally went out of his pocket and there
wasn't any time left because you know, John Jonathan Dayton,
(31:17):
Valerie Ferris who I saw recently, you know, were the
directors on this, and they had stuck with it through
and through for like you hear these stories about how
long it takes to get movies made. This was kind
of one of them. And our little Olive, of course,
continues to get older, and they kind of got to
the point where Olive was going to age out of
(31:37):
the role, and obviously we were all set on her
playing the girls. So so Mark just wrote a check
for I don't remember what the number was, like seven
million bucks or something like that, and we all found
ourselves in the course of five or six weeks making
the movie, and yeah, it's a great, nice little film.
(31:59):
Turned out really well. We actually rehearsed, which movies don't
do very often, and it premiered at sun Dance, I think,
and just kind of took Do.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
You think you could make a movie like that today?
Speaker 4 (32:14):
I think you have more chance of making like a
Little the Sunshine than you do. As good as it gets,
I mean, you know, as good as it gets, a
big studio, you know, forty to fifty million dollar movie
that is really just about some very great issue, you
know things. It certainly deals with love, and it deals
with but it deals with this misogynous racist guy at
(32:37):
the forefront of it. And it's a it's an odd
ball script. I mean, it was kicked around for a
lot of years Forrest Gump. There's so many movies that
aren't those kind of unusual stories that can only be
realized if they're ultimately somebody takes the chance and puts
them together and gets them out to a mass audience,
(32:58):
and they can get turned into something that that audiences
ultimately appreciate. But I think the risk factor on that
now is so high that those kinds of films seem
to have kind of gone to gone to the wayside.
You know, if you're spending five ten million dollars to
make something that's small, that that has a contained story
(33:20):
and you know, finds as humor and joy, I guess
it's still possible. I like to think it's still possible.
You know, I'm an optimist. But definitely an unusual time
right now, I think for.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
The entertainment business, yeah, I think it's I don't think
it's a business anymore. It's so changed. The movie business,
it's not like it used to be years ago when
I grew up around it. It's just very strange business today.
Like the music business, it's also changed.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yeah, And I guess at the end of the day,
you know, you wonder what was the key what's the
key factor that has changed it?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (33:57):
Is it us or is it that I often think
it's this These things have changed it, you know, whether
it's through music or whether it's through the you know,
watching a movie on your iPhone. It is it is
the ability to have all of this information in your
pocket all the time. That kind of cut into both
the music and entertainment business. But I still you know,
(34:21):
I went to the screening of of something recently and I,
you know, you've felt the whole crowd in on the experience,
and I was like, Oh, this still happens. This still
can be a fun group experience to see a film.
So I haven't counted it out yet.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Well, AI looms. You know, Artificial intelligence is the other
dynamic that we haven't really experienced, knowing it's a threat.
It is in the music business and I think the
film business ultimately in some way.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Yeah, So can AI write write a song? It probably can't.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
You know. I don't want to drop names, but I
got a call about a year and a half ago
from Warren Buffett, who's a buddy, and he was with
Bill Gates. He said, Polly, you won't believe it. The
Gates just showed me I got this computer thing. Here
was that geez thing that the one that we're experiencing.
Because I'm not into that stuff, he said. I asked
(35:22):
the machine to give me four different versions of my way,
and in one minute, it spit out four different versions
of my way in one minute. So the answer is yes,
they can duplicate visual voice right, whatever you want. It's
doing it, so we have to look at it differently
(35:44):
in terms of licensing, you know, what we're going to
do in the future, like I think across the board
are culturally and for everyone, We're gonna have to look
at it all differently because it's it's going to take
over without doubt.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It is. It is. It is when you talk about
doing things differently. So you guys are both unicorns. I mean,
you know, how many people can sing, but then how
(36:18):
many people turn in to be, you know, a superstar singer.
How many people can act, but how many people get
to be in the kind of you know, extraordinary films
that you've been in. So if you hadn't become an actor,
if what was your fallback or what would you what
do you think you would have pursued if you weren't
going to be an actor?
Speaker 4 (36:37):
Honestly, I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't
have a great answer for that. I I think I
was young enough and stupid enough to feel like you now,
I'll figure this out. I definitely didn't have a you know,
full blue pret you know when I remember talking to
Costas about later and he showed me that Mickey Male
(36:59):
baseball card that he kept in his wallet since he
was five because he was interested in being a broadcaster,
and I was like, that, ain't me. I definitely did
not know what they wanted to be when I came
out here, and I certainly am grateful in a way
to have kind of kept a loose hand on the wheel.
(37:19):
I do think it's you know, I you know, not
that it wasn't a you know, very difficult time even
back then to kind of find your way through all
of this. But now I just worry about, you know,
anybody trying to come out to Los Angeles and make
a crack at it, because I feel like there are
(37:41):
you know, less opportunities, less jobs, and maybe the AI
think Paul's talking about that's bringing the room down, quite frankly,
is true. I mean it's true. I mean, like, if
you think about it, it is pretty uh, you know
a lot of stuff that we experience and entertainment is
going to become more automated. That's just unavoidable.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
But did your parents at that point were your parents thinking, wait,
you don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer?
I mean, were they supportive of the idea of your
being an actor?
Speaker 4 (38:12):
I don't think there was ever a moment skip where
Ed and Susie Knier were thinking I was going to
be a doctor or a lawyer. I think the goal
was to keep little Greg out of prison. I think
that was the highway that they were. They reached the
that bar early on. So I don't know, I mean,
(38:33):
I don't really think there was a you know, and
I don't like I said, I mean, I was I
was grateful, I guess, to get out here and get
fine kind of a job doing anything in the entertainment business.
And I have so many friends who were on desks
of people and working and you know, whether it was
an agency or a management place. You know, I was
(38:54):
at this you know, it was called Empire Pictures. Charlie
Bann was making these kind of movies like Reanimator and
uh just crazy Experience. They had this three floor building
over in Hollywood. And I don't know, I mean, I
don't know where that might have led in terms of
the entertainment business if I hadn't have been become a actor.
(39:14):
But I thought maybe i'd find my I'd find some
step into it or some step into maybe the business
side of it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
How about this, So Paul saying you are my destiny,
and so you this was your destiny, right, this was
your You just assumed that this was going to be it.
You didn't have a backup plan, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, I think that's I think that's true. You're giving
me anxiety. But the fact that you're saying I didn't
have a backup plan is making a little late, little.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Late Like if Audrey Lilly or did they have they
given any sort of indication that they'd like to be
actors or zero I I I have.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
None of them have express that. I certainly would be
supportive of whatever my kids wanted to do, but none
of them have shown really a lot of interest in that.
Maybe even if there was anyone, maybe my youngest, but
but I not a lot and I don't encourage it
or discourage it. In fact, I find of the more
I stay out of it, the batter. So hands off
(40:21):
at this point, but not seeing a lot of interest.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Oh your upcoming projects, Like, I know you've just spent
a lot of time in Vancouver. What what film was
that for?
Speaker 4 (40:30):
So that's a that is a Apple TV show? So
I did a show a couple of years ago Dennis
Lahane was a wonderful novelist and showrunner as well. Did
this show Blackbird with Paul Walter Hawser Taron Edgerton. That
was a great experience and and we did I think
(40:51):
six episodes of that for Apple TV. So I'm back
with a lot of that same gang again. This is
another true time series, nine episodes about a true crime
that based loosely on a true crime that took place
here in Los Angeles that involves Arson and Taron Edgerton's
(41:13):
in it, and John Leguzamo and myself and a lot
of great actors and Journey Spilette. It was amazing at it.
So we just just completed that this week. So we
completed so recently. I haven't had a chance to shave
my mustache off yet, which I'm getting a lot.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
Fresh around the house to do.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
So it's amazing. Paul. You know, we played golf. One
of the other guys in our regular golf game is
Luke Wilson and Greg and Luke. They're always working.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
By the way, I did a movie with I did
a movie with Luke. I was thinking we should have
had we should have done it with We should have
had Luke on here as well. It has been a
lot of fun to actually talk about it. We did
a little movie about a true story about a baseball
team out of Dallas that ended up weren't very good.
They ended up making it to the World Series, and
(42:05):
we play these two fathers who were kind of dual
coaches on the team, one of us, one of the
one of the guys dads we played, got ill and
ultimately very sick, and it's kind of a story about
how the team persevered. And the movie, it's called You
Gotta Believe, comes out at the comes out at the
(42:25):
end of August. But it was very weird to work
with Luke Skipp because you're right, we're old friends, and
like you're sitting on set, you know, suddenly face to
face with somebody actually working a dialogue. Somebody who usually
just used to talking shit with is suddenly now you're
reliant on to actually perform a scene with. So I
(42:46):
have to say that we had a blast, and.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Luke's really great in the movie. So you were also
in the highlight. I'd have to say, you were in
the finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Speaker 4 (42:59):
It felt like the the whole twelve seasons of Larry's
show was was leading up to the Courtroom featuring me.
I'm not I'm not taking anything away from the other
you know, twelve the other eleven seasons and epping shows
before they got to me, because I'm sure those were good.
(43:19):
But uh man, did we stick the landing at the end.
It was actually really fun. Obviously known Larry for uh,
you know, for for the through many years, and I
had talked to him over the years about doing doing
it and just for whatever reason, this worked out and
and it was great fun to do. And he is
(43:42):
unequivocally the Michael Jordan of comedy. I mean, he just
was so fun to watch. Uh it was like having
a front row seat to the to the big show,
you know, I mean, here they are. You had Jerry,
everybody in the show. So it was great fun to
go want to do that.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
You know, Greg, you've done such great works over the years.
You're truly a good actor, a great actor. And you've
placed so many historical figures over the years, you know,
from Crane to Hope and JFK. Is it difficult harder
doing that other than just regular fictional characters.
Speaker 4 (44:30):
Well, you know, I think there's a it's kind there's
kind of a two sides to it. I mean, on
the one side, if you play somebody that people are
familiar with, it does come with a certain amount of baggage.
People are watching closely, they have a preconceived idea of
who that is, and so I do I think you
(44:52):
feel inherently more pressure doing that. But you also have
just a you know, treasure of facts about them. A
lot of times you have you know, footage and speeches
or whatever you got in order to kind of, you know,
really represent that character in a way that hopefully feels
(45:15):
authentic to the audience. So when you create a you know,
when you're just doing a character that you you know,
nobody knows or his uh fictional character, you it's it's great,
it's yours or as did call it. But with that
comes I always feel like a certain you know, it's
it's also kind of think that takes a lot of
(45:39):
you know, it takes some thought because you're trying to
create something that feels organic to the story you're telling
and the person doesn't really exist, so you're it's kind
of whatever you say it is at the end of
the day, it's all, you know, it's all the script.
If the script's good, you can get held of some.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Of these, Like people obsessed, including my assistant Aaron, with Blackbird,
just obsessed with it. People. I mean, you know there
are people you watch a film, right, you watch one
of the films and you know that's about it. But
people became obsessed with Blackbird. Just unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Yeah, it's it's a really nice it is it's a
it's an incredible, incredibly powerful story. It's it's really well told.
I think Dennis is writing is there's just no better
in the business right now. His dialogue, his sense of pace,
and I do think you're talking to a guy who's
(46:41):
you know, I mean he's done something like, you know,
twelve fifteen novels. I think maybe more that skill, you know,
that muscle is just so developed for him that it's
it's a pleasure to kind of get to work with him.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
You know, Greg, I don't like listening to a lot
of the music I've recorded through all the years, maybe
because there's too much of it. But how often do
you watch your movies? Well, what do you take away
from it?
Speaker 4 (47:06):
Yeah, it's it's I find I don't watch as much
as stuff that I but today that I used to
kind of like, you know, watch rough cuts and things
of stuff I've done. But I find now it's like
a lot of stuff will come out and then maybe
you know, a month or two, I'll catch it or
(47:27):
see it at something, maybe even later than that. I
don't find the urgency to see it as much anymore.
I hope, you know, anything I do, you hope for
the best. You hope the movie works and that it
finds an audience. But I think with time you start
to realize. It's probably similar in music. You know, you
realize how much of that is really out of your control.
(47:50):
And at the end of the day, if you feel
like you've you know, you've you've played the right note,
that's all you can hope to do. And so the
you know, all of the what comes out of that
later is not worth really tracking and even watching it.
I mean, doing it is great fun and great, very satisfying,
(48:11):
but you know, going and watching it afterwards is always
fraught with why.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
I do it that way? Yeah? Why do that?
Speaker 2 (48:24):
With all the historical figures that you've you know, you've played,
is there one that you would have liked to have
played or still would like to have played a person
from history that would be meaningful to you to play.
Speaker 4 (48:34):
Yeah, there there's something that I'm tracking. I'd always say
what it is because there's there's some complicated issues tied
to it. But there's there's a there's a guy that
I'm I'm very interested, but I I don't know. I mean,
like I know, the answer is I have occasionally somebody
that I think, oh, well, that would be ripe to do.
(48:54):
But for the most part, it's not like I have
a book full of characters that in playing, because at
the end of the day, you can fixate on somebody
you think, oh my gosh, why don't they tell this story?
I mean, like I never read a million years. I've
certainly watched you know, Hogan's Heroes as a kid, but
(49:14):
you know, until I read the script, you know, Paul
Schrader's version with Michael Jibosi of Auto Focus, Who the
hell would think to do that movie? No, nobody wants
to see Bob Crane, But you know it's the script,
dynamic script in this great movie.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Great you know, So.
Speaker 4 (49:34):
At the end of the day, if the script's good, Hellalujah,
would you do Carson? Yeah, I for sure.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
I think somebody should do a Johnny Carson film. That's
a great story, a great story.
Speaker 4 (49:45):
I agree. I'm afraid that it hasn't been done done.
I'm surprised it hasn't been done.
Speaker 1 (49:50):
I know that that backstory is amazing with Johnny. You know,
it was just, but somebody should do Carson.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
When you say he was hard to know, like what
what do you?
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Well, look, I love Johnny Carson. We all agree. You know,
he holds that mantle. Nobody quite did it the way
that he did. But it was just, you know, I
really am very hesitant about talking about it because I know,
but it was just a backstory to it that was
not what you would think. And it was not a
(50:21):
happy life. It was just, you know, with what comes
with some lowners. Even some can deal with the space.
But you know, he liked to drink, and that's a
whole other story. And you know, my introduction was early
in the sixties, and you know, knowing that he liked
Frank Sinatra, for instance, and Frank really didn't care. He
(50:43):
didn't want to meet anybody. And Johnny was a drummer,
as you know, and he loved drumming, and he'd go
into Jilly's. Jilly was Sinatra's guy, and they had this
hanging place called Jittlies in New York, and you know,
Johnny in and played the drums some nights, and you know,
one night he came in him and head and they
(51:07):
like to drink and they were blasted by the time
they got in there, and Johnny started like messing around
with these girls at the bar, you know, pinching them
and flirting with them. Well, back then, you know the
Mafia guys. On Friday nights, they had what's called side dishes,
which were the girls the mistresses. On Saturday night they
bring the wives. So the distinction between the mistresses and
(51:30):
the wives on Saturday was very distinct. So he started
messing with one of the side dishes and the guys
happened to see him, and they took him and they
threw them down a flight of stairs, but six stairs
down of the bathroom, and all you heard was this
ruckus and somebody yelling they're beating up Tonny cars. So
Jillie had to go down and rip them off Johnny.
(51:52):
And it was but a lot of stuff like that,
just different things, but it's a great backstone. Or if
somebody did their homework, you'd find that it had a
lot of depth to it. And he's there's no figures
we know in our business, like Johnny Carson.
Speaker 4 (52:08):
Well, it's and that loaner thing I did. I do
remember like seeing video or some stories about him after
he retired, you know those three or four years where
gues he'd go and watch little tennis and stuff. But
it did seem painfully reclusive. And I had a famously.
(52:28):
I had Gary Shandling was a good friend of mine.
And Gary was friends with Johnny a little bit. And
I was going somewhere. He was like, literally a kid,
my kid's birthday party. But I couldn't miss it. I had.
I was taking her her birthday party, but it was
a way I had to take her. There was no
(52:50):
getting around this. And I think Helen was away and
so I'm like, honey, I'm the guy. And then I
get a call from Gary saying, hey, do you want
to Jerry and Jerry and I are going to have
dinner with Johnny Carson. Can you make it? And I
was like, no, I can't, and it he tortures me
(53:11):
that I.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
Do that.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Yeah, he he's socially, you know, even a lot of
the dinners at events he'd go to here in town,
he'd go off to himself in the corner, you know,
was not very social.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
He's like, he's a lot like Skip in that way,
a lot.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
Yes, Yes, we were trying to We're trying to draw
it out. We're trying a few of us are making
it a mission to bring it out and Skip. But
it's tough.
Speaker 4 (53:36):
It's tough possible, Skip plays Johnny Carson. I mean, I'm
just thinking I'm spitballing here, so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
Yeah, the last couple of years, Yes.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
I played the part where he gets thrown down the
flight of stairs. It's perfect. I like you.
Speaker 1 (53:51):
That really the earlier in his career.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
But Greg, before we run out of time, I want
to I want to ask you a sort of a
serious question. All Right, there's a great line in the
movie as Good as the Cats, That's just great. And
the line was, if you look at a person long enough,
you can see their humanity. And I'm just wondering, I've
always loved that line and wondering what that what that
means to you? There was quite a powerful, a powerful thought.
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Yeah, I mean, well, Jim Brooks is the master of
powerful thoughts. I mean, if you think, like every one
of his movies, you know, broadcast news terms, I mean
all just you know, even the ones that aren't haven't
been you know, box office you know successfully as much
box office wise, are still filled with three thoughts and ideas.
(54:42):
And I don't know, I mean, I guess it's just
the study of a person, if you believe, you know,
if you if you take the time to study someone
long enough, you can better understand who they are always
what I took away from it, So you know, it's
(55:04):
worth having a longer conversation than the one you were
going to have with somebody, and maybe we could all
learn something from that. How about that?
Speaker 1 (55:13):
You know, you know, Greg, the are thousands of listeners
don't have the benefit of the visual that I'm looking
at and I'm looking at you, you know, away from
all the films and everything. You're in great shape. You
look great and I'm a health nut. Well, what's your routine?
I'd like to know, what do you eat? What's your
(55:34):
focus on your body? How do you take care of yourself?
Because we get a lot of people, you know, in
life that we've grown up with with the time they
hit fifty or sixty. It's tragic. What do you do
for yourself? Do you have some kind of a set routine?
Speaker 4 (55:46):
Allright, Well, first of all, can I call you every day? Paul?
Speaker 1 (55:50):
Yes you can.
Speaker 4 (55:51):
Yeah, I want to call you every day the rest
of my life. And you just get me this run
down you just gave me.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Yeah, I'm a Carls Junior from one to two of it,
McDonald's from four to six, a bit pizza hunt from
seven to nine. But you can get me on myself. No,
but seriously, look, you look as I I don't.
Speaker 4 (56:10):
I don't know. I mean, like I'm I think I am.
I think I had pretty good jeans. My my father
passed away a couple of years ago, but he was
he was pretty good, pretty good shape. He was a
tennis player. And I don't have like a regular cardio game,
which I you know, I think there's no better game
than tennis. And my dad just told me that golf
(56:30):
good but not really. No, no, no, So this morning
I was down at the gym, you know, working out,
you know, but I'm not. I'm pretty moderate. I mean,
I either I take a hiker, you know, try to
get some cardio every day. And it waits in a
couple of times a week and stay off the French fries.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
And uh so you eat carefully, you do eat carefully.
Speaker 4 (56:55):
I guess I'm a little careful. I don't I yeah,
I definitely am careful, carefuler than I would otherwise be.
My dad, before he got involved in the State Department,
actually had a you know, big vending business, vending machine
business back in Indiana with his father. And I think
(57:15):
Ausman was like, you know, if things had gone slightly differently,
I'd weigh about four hundred and fifty pounds and be
selling like everything people take out of a vending machine
these days. So it's in the back of my mind
enough so that so that I get after it. It's
some capacity every day, but I'm not nuts about it.
Speaker 1 (57:36):
Those three girls will keep you business.
Speaker 4 (57:38):
They certainly will.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
Yeah, look out.
Speaker 2 (57:40):
Man, you're a prince to do this. But leeve in
or not, I have your spot in the golf game
this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (57:47):
Oh you do.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
Got Doc Rivers and Peter they're waiting on the tee.
Speaker 4 (57:51):
So I played with him yesterday, by the way, and
I know I don't want to say who who won,
but you know, you can you're asking yourself. I don't
really care, but I know there was a winner. I
just can't remember.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
Yeah, I think I'm looking at.
Speaker 4 (58:10):
Him maybe with this, Guys, that's that's me. My wife
just reminded me. Gave me this the other day because
I got it from my mom. That's me. Wow, records
in Athens, Greece.
Speaker 1 (58:22):
Oh, that's wild.
Speaker 4 (58:24):
And I don't know and Paul, I don't know. I
probably probably spun something connected to Paul ank in no doubt.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
Well there's enough music out there. Hey, I gotta tell you,
I've really enjoyed this.
Speaker 5 (58:36):
Greg.
Speaker 1 (58:36):
I'm very Uh, I'm very impressed with humanity. Uh. You're
a great guy to talk with and I get a
real good vibe from you, and I'm very happy for
your success. And I thank you for all the great
work that you've done. You know, I know it's not
an easy business. We all are confronted with the challenges,
but you're an impressive human and I like that.
Speaker 4 (58:57):
Well, thank you, and thanks Skip and the show guys.
Pleasure to come on and hang out for a little bets,
So thanks for having.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
Me, Thanks for doing it, and keep spinning my records,
will you please, I could use all the help. We
all do all the help. Yah yah, yes, cool messy
bo cool don shu donka shunet.
Speaker 4 (59:25):
Do you want to jump in on.
Speaker 2 (59:26):
This great Buck Kennere everybody, He's the man.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
He is the man. Thanks, Greg, love you a lot.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Thanks, Thanks for being a friend.
Speaker 4 (59:33):
All Right. Cheers, guys, Cheers.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
Sea Our Away with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson is
a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (59:46):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runtogg, with supervising producer
and editor Marcy Depina.
Speaker 1 (59:54):
It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson, mixed
and mastered by the wonderful Marry Do.
Speaker 3 (01:00:01):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.
Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Our Way with yours truly Paul Anka and my buddy
Skip Bronson, is a production of iHeartRadio. Hi, folks, this
is Paul.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Anka and my name is Skip Bronson.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
We've been friends for decades and we've decided to let
you in on our late night phone calls by starting
a new podcast and.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Welcome to Our Way. We'd like you to meet some
real good friends of ours.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Your leaders in entertainment and.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Sports, innovators in business and technology, and even a sitting
president or two.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Join us as we ask the questions they've not been
asked before, tell it like it is, and even sing
a song or two.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
This is our podcast and we'll be doing it our way.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
I guess it's just the study of a person. If
you take the time to study someone long enough, you
can better understand who they all. You know, that's kind
of always what I took away from it, So you know,
it's it's worth having a longer conversation than the one
you were going to have with somebody, and maybe we
(01:16):
could all learn something from that.
Speaker 5 (01:26):
Hello, Skippy, what's going on? Believe me? Uh? Just getting
over the Olympics. Yeah, really something kind of miss it, Yeah,
I really miss it, But I'm excited. Man. You know,
my cousin, Mamoris Abraham, was a director on the Greg
in Your Show. And you know I'm a huge fan
(01:47):
of Greg anyways, great actor and here he's a wonderful
guy and anybody you have ever brought in here, they're exceptional.
But I'm going to ask him. I want to get
a read on my cousin because I never saw him
a lot and I didn't know. And hiss flame to
fame with me was I'm doing the Greg Kenneer Show.
I said, great, Morris, and then I never heard from
Morris for about a year. Oh Greg, Greg will love that.
Speaker 6 (02:10):
He will love that when you tell him that.
Speaker 5 (02:12):
But I know he's a good buddy of yours, and
you know, anybody of yours is open toward me. But
I'm really looking forward to it because you know, he's
just a solid actor and you look at the films
that he's done. Everyone he's stepped up to being amazing,
and I'm looking forward to getting to know them because
you only hear good things about it. He's a guy,
(02:33):
you know. I spent a lot of time with him.
We play golf together, we hang out, We're good friends.
We've traveled together. He's terrific. But he's just the most
authentic guy. He's not at all full of himself. It's
just totally down to earthing. He lives a life of
gratitude and that's the truth. And you know, he's just
he's so much fun to be around. Every everybody loves him.
(02:55):
There I've never anybody that didn't, you know, think the
world of him.
Speaker 6 (02:59):
And some of these spells say he's done as good
as he gets. I mean, I could watch that film
five times. It's just spectacular with Nicholson and Helen Hunt
and Greg and then of course you know Little Miss
Sunshine which was another, you know, huge hit, and.
Speaker 5 (03:15):
His impression Skip. I mean, when I think about it,
some of the the impressions that he's done, you know,
Carvey and Copple all that they're right on this spot
on you know which is And I started doing impressions
when I was a kid of singers, but that was easy.
But you know, doing the kind of people that he does,
(03:36):
who it's fascinating to watch great voice. Well, I asked
them to do the podcast and England that obviously you
and I were doing it together. He was excited about
you know, talking to you. So I'm sure I'll have
questions for you, not just you asking him questions. Well,
I hope not too many, man, because I don't think
it's gonna be fascinating a good thing with with what
(03:57):
we're doing, because we're talkers, you and I. You know
what we're like. But to sit back and get great
guests and just sit back and let them talk and
keep our mouths shut as best we can, man, that's
a luxury to learn. You know.
Speaker 6 (04:13):
I was looking at the list today. It's stunning. I mean,
I'll put our guests that we've had on up against
any podcast that's out there. Nobody's had the kind of
guests that we've had and we've you know what, I
think it's when you and I first thought here talking
about doing this. You know, we're not trying to get anybody,
We're not trying to make news. We're just kind of
(04:34):
have a great conversation with great guys. And you know,
because like your friends that you've brought on right and
just starting with you know, Bill Burn, Michael Boublay and these,
you know, they're really close friends of yours, not just
people that you've met, and it just makes it so
much easier. There isn't one that we've had on that
one of us isn't intimately familiar with, and that's made
(04:56):
it really special.
Speaker 5 (04:58):
Well, I'm looking forward to it. I'm looking forward to it.
Which I'll be going to bed tonight.
Speaker 6 (05:02):
Tonight is probably gonna be i'd say lights out, no
later than ten, that's for sure.
Speaker 5 (05:08):
I'll be thinking at you about one in the morning.
I'm gonna do some more work on the documentary, and
I look forward to Greg kinnear. Yeah, yeah, you're gonna have.
Speaker 6 (05:17):
I can't wait for you to talk to him. You're
gonna become friends right out of the box. I'm sure.
Oh that's always stimulating. All right, Billini, I'll catch up
with you later. Okay, So we need a golf to more?
You got a golf to No, I'm gonna play golf
right now. Actually, I'm running off. The play says we're gone.
I'm going to play pickleball at three o'clock. But I
love the pickleball. Watch I've watched you. You're good at
(05:41):
it too.
Speaker 5 (05:42):
We have a lot of fun. So I'm gonna head
over there. You go hit your balls and I'll go
hit my balls. We'll both have it. We'll both have
a ball. I love it.
Speaker 6 (05:49):
Let's see you later.
Speaker 7 (05:52):
By there, he is, I knew.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Look, we got three girls, three girls. Five Oh my.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Gosh, well, well nine grandchildren, Oh my gosh, five five daughters, Paul, Yeah,
five daughters, five daughters, and I got a son who's eighteen.
All right, all right.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
Between Audrey, Lily and Kate. You thought you had to
mark your corner down girls until you just ran into
a guy who has five of them.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
What are their ages?
Speaker 2 (06:32):
You know what?
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I just the oldest just crossed out of the teen years.
So for the last year and a half, you're looking
at a guy who had three teenage daughters. So I
crossed that rubicon for about eighteen months when they were
all in that zone. Great girls, I'm very very fortunate.
(06:54):
But you know, I've said, it's like weather patterns. One
minute it's sonny, and then it's very cold, it's misty,
and it's snowing, and then it's ceiling and that it
keeps changing.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
But boy, are they a handful. I tell you I
got three now that live in Europe. But raising those
five girls, I put them in a convent. I just
I got up one day, I said, you're all going
to fucking convent with the nuns. I couldn't handle it,
so I put them on a convent up in Carmel
and I moved to Carmel. They were pissed for the
first six but they they all came out well.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And now why are they all that's interesting? Why are
they all in Europe?
Speaker 1 (07:32):
Well, we traveled all over the world all the time,
so they got very used to Europe. Because my wife
may she rest she's from Paris. We spent a lot
of time and they met, you know, on some of
the trips. One met a guy that was Tour de
Frost bicyclists, and then they started meeting people as we
travel and they they got married over in London, Mante Carlo,
(07:55):
ones in Geneva. You know, they moved around, but they
met them in their travels. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Yeah, Speaking of that, Greg's dad was in the State Department,
so he was what they would call a foreign service
brat and ounced all around, right like, where did you go?
I know you were in Greece for a while, that's true.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
We were in well, it was DC and then what
hopped not that many places. I was fortunate I'd meet
these poor kids that come through, and I'd say, you know,
they'd be literally getting off the plane and they'd last
six months and be on to their next assignment. But
for whatever reason, we had a fairly consistent situation in
(08:36):
the sense that we went to Bayward Lebanon. So we
were in Beirut for about a year and then got
evacuated during the Civil War to Athens, Greece, and he
was assigned in Greece then for the next like five
and a half year or six years. So it's where
I finished high School's where I spent a lot of
my life growing up. And I was lucky to not
(08:58):
have to bounce aroun around the numerous places, and incredibly
lucky to grow up in Greece. I mean, that's winning
the lottery. In case anybody a where.
Speaker 1 (09:06):
That, Yes, great country bay Root must have been interesting,
because I've been there a few times. I put my
brother through school in Beroot in that school up in
the mountain.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
Oh oh right, right, yeah, I was at I was
at ACS, which is like kind of an American community
school there, and those are throughout Europe. In fact, when
I was in Greece, that was at American Community School
so there was one in in bea Route, and then
of course there was the American University where Steve Kerr's
father was, you know, famously the uh tragically killed but
(09:38):
he was the president of that university, not at exactly
the time we were there. I think he came a
little bit later. But uh. But there were two a
few different, a few good schools in Beyroute, but I
never went to the one up in the mountains.
Speaker 1 (09:52):
The French language is used a lot in Beirut. Did
you ever pick up any French? Wes?
Speaker 4 (10:00):
I'm so bad at language, Paul. How many languages you speak?
Because I know, skip skip how many languages you got
under the belt?
Speaker 1 (10:07):
There one one, one, one one.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
That's our golf joke.
Speaker 1 (10:17):
What are.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
We do that all the time?
Speaker 4 (10:21):
Child?
Speaker 1 (10:21):
There's so much. I was speaking like Italian and German
and French, and uh, those are my best mine.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
But you recorded, Paul, recorded songs I can in various languages.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
Actually, yeah, vice versho from by Lance vault No. No.
I was so patty by the time I finished over there,
die they get home? Because I was up every morning
at eight with these teachers who are like you've learned
(10:53):
now at eight in the.
Speaker 8 (10:55):
Morning, and you must put your tongue up here. I said,
I put my tongue everywhere else put up here. You
already put it up vice Manish was ah, I said, okay,
So I did two albums in Germany.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
Italy was easier, obviously, right, little Japanese.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
But did you did you speak the languages or did
they just kind of if you the syntax and you
would kind of give the sounds like abba. I was
told they famously really didn't speak English, but.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
They well they didn't. Yeah, I knew I. That was
my partner in Sweden. I knew him, and then he
developed the group. And you're correct. But I learned the languages,
you know. I took French and school in Canada, and
the Italian I could speak, and you know, a little Spanish.
I got along pretty well with all of it. The
problem is you never get to use it. So ex
(11:43):
Geskilde I got to it was my Greek, I.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Think American keep it as there. I can kind of
bullshit my way through enough Greek where I look like
I know what I'm talking about, and actually it ends
up with me being yelled at by a cab driver.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Right right, Look, Greek so you're not going to get
very far now. It's hey Greg, Greg, I'll just go
through a name atch because I've got to get this off.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
Morris Abraham, Oh my gosh, yeah, Morris Abraham one of
the greats, one of the greats. He I've known him
for a hundred years and I you know, he was
one of the first directors who I worked with in
in what I was kind of just starting out on
some television show fully buried deep below the Earth's surface.
(12:33):
Morris Wreck did it, and then I ended up after
I was doing talk soup, I ended up going from
that to also hosting NBC. Did a show at NBC.
I took over for Costas at at one thirty in
the morning on Later, which is where you get your
smokers and your tokers, as Tom Snyder used to say.
(12:54):
And I basically had Morris come over and direct the show.
And he was great, and he's a he's a great guy.
How how do you know?
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Okay, he's my cousin. Oh my god, tell me that
he's the only successful family member that ever made it
in the whole tree. Me and my cousin Morris somehow
showed up and he called me one day and he
starts raving about you. I said, you're finally earning more
(13:26):
goddamn money than you got a dreamed of Morris. How
did you wind up down here? And he went on,
but he loved working with you.
Speaker 4 (13:32):
Well, it's so funny because he's also been one of
the few guys in show business that doesn't actually, you know,
mooch Off his his successful family member. He didn't. I
never even knew that he was related to you until
this zoom right now. I'm this is the first time
I'm hearing this.
Speaker 5 (13:49):
Well.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
I used to send out memos to all my family
after my first hit. I said, I'm only signing the
back of checks.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Don't call, not the front, not the front the checks.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
And then I had a rule. If I don't loan
money the family, and if I do, it's not alone.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Take it.
Speaker 1 (14:07):
I don't expect it back, but don't ever come back again.
You know what you know it is all of us
who've achieved. They come out of the woodwork, and it's
very tough. Even your kids. You know, you've got to
sit there and monetize your actions as to what to
give them, how to raise them. It's hard not to
spoil them, but family, I just cut it all off.
I wouldn't loan money. I give it to them. Take it,
(14:30):
You'll never get it back.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
I'm going to take the fifth on this, your honor.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
It's like my line on the weekends. I used to
say to my kids, the Royal Bank of Dad is
closed on the weekend.
Speaker 4 (14:42):
Es Well, trust me when they're teenagers and the Royal
Bank is wide open on the weekend.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
Yeah, Cat exactly. Hey Greg, my son in law Bateman,
Jason Bateman. Yeah, his sister. She played a big role
in your career, didn't. Can you talk a little about that.
I'm very curious.
Speaker 4 (14:58):
Yeah, absolutely, it's amazing. Actually, when I was starting, I
asked it was basically answering phones at this kind of
low budget film company over in Hollywood and just trying
to get through the day, not really sure what the
future held. I just I liked LA very much, and
(15:20):
I was glad to be here, and I was grateful
to have any kind of gig, and I thought, you know,
maybe I'd get into marketing movies or something like that.
I wasn't sure where the road was going to lead.
But I was on this desk, and while I was there,
my buddy of mine who I knew through another friend
was Bobby Anderson, an old friend of mine. Sound great
(15:43):
sound mixer. He's worked on a number of shows I've
done over the years. He was dating Justine Bateman and
so they were. She was doing Family Ties and she
got offered to go to do MTV and Daytoto Beach
back in the day, and they came back and they
were like, hey, we got an idea. You should call
(16:04):
this guy Jodavola at MTV A auditioned to be a host,
and I was like, what, I'm the guy who answers phones.
So I have to give her credit because she was like, no, no,
I think you'd be good at this. And Justine had this,
you know, she kind of her and Bobby were like, yeah,
you'd be good at this and kind of encourage me.
And so I put together some bad tape. In fact,
(16:27):
I went to Justine's house and interviewed her and I
got this tape out of it, and I ended up
going and submitting it to MTV, which was very hot
back in the day. You sat on the steps and
you talked about music videos and there was JJ Johnson
and Martha Quinn and all these people there at the time,
(16:47):
and I didn't get the job, but I got a
very cool looking tape out of it that said MTV Audition.
So when there was a channel starting up which was
kind of the precursor to EAT, it was called Movie Time,
I had an audition to that said MTV audition, and
they were like, holy shit, this guy must be for real.
I wasn't, but it looked like I was, and through
(17:08):
Justine's good natured helping hand, I suddenly had something to
hand over to this channel, which ended up putting me
on the air. It was the first kind of broadcasting
job that I ever got. And I wasn't a guy
driving around town with like, will you know born to act?
Bumper sticker on my car. I wasn't. I didn't have
(17:30):
an agent, I didn't have really anything sort of triangulating
towards the business.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
I'd had some interest as a kid, I'd done a
radio show and on some acting, but I just didn't
think that was I didn't know anybody out here for
the most part, so I never thought that was a
real possibility. So just through the happenstance of meeting her,
for them going to the thing, for going to MTV
and not getting the job. I ended up with my
(17:57):
first broadcasting job, which you know ultimately led to some
other stuff and ultimately movies after that.
Speaker 2 (18:04):
So so Talk Soup that was nineteen ninety one.
Speaker 4 (18:07):
Came after all of this.
Speaker 1 (18:09):
Oh got it.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
Yeah, So this came after. I mean, I'm talking, I'm
taking you back to the eighties, ladies and gentlemen, and
I am it's like late eighties, and I have tried
out unsuccessfully for MTV, and I have suddenly got a
you know, I got an opportunity with a twenty four
(18:31):
hour entertainment channel which was kind of like it was
E before it was E. They basically ran trailers and interviews,
they ran anything they could get for free. And I
did that for three years and made, you know, not
a lot of money, but it was great experience and
kind of got me on television. And then ultimately, you know,
(18:54):
a year or two later, Movie Tom turned into E
and E had various shows on it and one of
them ended up becoming Talk Soup, which was, you know,
the first thing that really broke out that I ever
had a hand.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
Will Leo fan of Talk Soup.
Speaker 4 (19:10):
I started it, so I it was basically, they they
had a few clips of daytime talk shows and I
saw it, and they I got a call from Age
saying that they have this idea to turn this into
a show where you would look at, you know, look
at a few clips of daytime talk shows, which didn't
(19:31):
really seem like the greatest idea I'd ever heard, and
they wondered like more of a was supposed to be
like a serious, serious look at you know, HAROLDO and
Richard Bay and all these crazy shows. And so I
went in there, and I think I did keep a
straight face for about forty eight hours, maybe the first
two episodes, But then it became very clear that you know,
(19:55):
we we we were just doing a you know, this
show was just wacky and kind of caught a moment
in time where people were weird. Daytime talk shows were happening,
but they weren't getting their fill of them until they
got home, and so it just kind of hit in
a lot of different areas, mostly college students who would
(20:15):
go home and smoke his belief and watch him talk to.
Speaker 1 (20:18):
Is that how you got to Sydney Pullock, Well, Sydney, Yes,
was he a fan of this show?
Speaker 4 (20:25):
Yeah? It actually is. I just got a text from
John McEnroe. By the way, just breaking news, ladies and gentlemen,
Now you are talking. Okay, there you go. That's what
I just got from John. I don't know if that's
from referring to us doing this. Didn't John come on
your Guys show?
Speaker 1 (20:45):
Yeah? Yeah he did, Yeah he did.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
Yeah, there you go. Maybe he knows that.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
I've loved the shows that we've done. Paul's very friendly
with Harvey Levin from TMZ, So we did TMZ. We
actually went to the studio where they do it in
Marina del Rey. They have they have like two hundred
people working there. I mean, that is an unbelievable business.
And he's got so many you know, anything that pops
up it then turns into a documentary that he does.
(21:20):
I mean, it's just talk about a phenomenon. Look at TMZ.
That's crazy, totally true.
Speaker 4 (21:28):
I mean, I mean he really took something there that
was I mean just so easily dismissed and kind of
found the right way to you know, make it pop
and to monetize found a place. And I think, you know,
some of that has to do with you know, good timing.
I certainly you know was the beneficiary of that with
with Talk Soup, But yeah, there's a lot of work too,
(21:51):
and I, you know, while I was doing it, I
did it for three years, and I had decided, I'm
only going to do this for three years. I don't
know what the hell because I didn't have like a
backup plan. But I was coming to the end of
three years and they came to me and offered me
a big deal, like more money than anybody, you know,
(22:12):
a really very impressive offer, and I was grateful for it.
But at the same time, I had met with Sydney
who had called me up and asked me to come
in and talk about Sabrina and audition with with you know,
the casting people at Paramount, and I knew I was
in the mix for this thing, but I didn't know
(22:34):
if I had it. And it kind of came to
a point at the end of the three years I
had done Talk Soup where it was like I got
to make a decision. Either I'm gonna say yes and
take this Talk Soup out for another year, or I'm
going to let go and hope for the best with
the movie. That's what I ended up doing, and I
just didn't I felt like it had run its course,
(22:56):
and even though you know it hadn't. It went on
for many years, but I kind of checked out. And
about two weeks after I did, after I left it,
I got the call from Sydney saying, you want to
come and do a movie, And that.
Speaker 1 (23:11):
Sounded like that's a shocking leap, isn't it? From television?
And then Sid Nepaul one of the greats obviously, and
you worked with the you know when I started as
a kid starting out as you did. You know, he
was in au of Sinatra. When I was around him
and Sammy Davis and I'm the kid. You know, these
(23:33):
guys are twice my is. It was just mind bobbling.
What was it like for you when you first encountered
Jack Nicholson? How good was that? What was that like
when you were of auditioning? Did you go to his house?
Speaker 4 (23:44):
I did?
Speaker 1 (23:45):
I went, I went up to Mulholland.
Speaker 4 (23:47):
Yeah, the first I think the first time I met him,
I went to I went to meet him at his
house up on Mahawk. It was first introduction to Jack,
which was like the most stomach turning, refining just you know,
I mean, it had helped It wasn't like this was
my first gig. I had done a little work by
(24:08):
this point, and I had done Sabrina. But Jack, come on.
Speaker 2 (24:13):
Did you do your Jack impersonation for him?
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Are you out of your mind? No? Because it's so
good issue they didn't say it work.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
I want to a couple before we're done. Couple. I
want you ah.
Speaker 4 (24:26):
Oh, the taed cop. Nobody even knows Ted Copple anymore.
A bunch of impersonations of people that no one knows anymore.
I give you the whole list. It's like a Who's.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Who, Who's Johnny Gusson?
Speaker 4 (24:38):
Ny? I gotta listen, we gotta turn the tables. You
gotta tell me. I mean, I can't think if I
think about the history of television, of modern television, and
I think about music. I mean, most iconic song like
ever recorded, unequivocally has to be The Tonight Show thee
(24:59):
It is thirty years worth.
Speaker 1 (25:02):
Well, you know he worked, he worked with me, Greg
when he was starting out. I was doing this TV
special in England and I said, nobody wants to hear
me for two hours with these cockamamie teenage songs. I said,
I need some comedy so they sent me a bunch
of kinescopes over to London, and I saw this guy,
Johnny Carson, who did a bit where he was, you know,
an alcoholic till four in the morning. Then he had
(25:25):
to get up and run a kiddie program with kids
at night, so of course you can imagine it was.
It was an amazing bit. I said, that's the guy.
He flies over, he works with me, you know, not
an easy guy to get to know, never was, but
brilliant at what he did. And I go back to
New York and I run into him and like, you
who were going to You're going to do the show
(25:45):
for three years? He said, I'm doing this new show
for a couple of years, and you know, the Tonight
Show and blah blah blah, and I'm changing this and this.
He said, I think I might need a theme song. Well,
you know, I'm the wrong guy to ask, right because
I mean it'll come out of me like this. I said,
you got it. So I went to the studio and
I recorded for Bok two hundred and fifty bucks Dad,
(26:08):
and I send him over the demo and he called
me back and he said, I love it. He said,
but we can't use it because the guy that's been
here for years, Skitch Henderson, you know, he was twice
h Yeah, he said he doesn't want some kid getting
involved in the show. He's going to do it. So
and I've been rejected all my life up until then, right,
(26:30):
So I said, oh okay. So then I thought about it,
and I called Johnny back. I said, look, I'll give
you half the soul. I'll give you half the publishing.
I'll put you down as the writer. You'll get fifty
percent of everything that discerns over the next two or
three years. So he called me back a couple hours later, said,
you got it. So when you look at the music,
(26:51):
it's got Johnny Carson, Johnny Gard's right. Well, Skitch was pissed.
It goes on not for two years, but for what
thirty nine whatever the bucket was and it was the
largest earning theme song ever on television. And I call
it they called my college song. Put all the kids
through college with it. And that's how it was there.
You know, it was just the fifteen seconds of simplicity,
(27:13):
that's all it was.
Speaker 4 (27:14):
It all came down to I I am going to
make a fuck load of money off of this.
Speaker 7 (27:19):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (27:24):
You gotta rub the eye. Remember you had all the
shtick you'd rubbed the eye. Those were all sickmas the nose,
Yeah yeah yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
But pivoting back the Nicholson, I have to say, as
good as it gets, it's not just one of my
favorite moves. It seems it's like one of everybody's favorite movies.
It was just so so special, and that was in
ninety seven. But the movie Little Miss Sunshine, it holds
a special place in my heart because of an experience
(27:50):
you and I had Greg at a golf club. Paul.
You don't know this, but at the at the private
country clubs when they had each one has a major event.
I know that, okay, they have like a three name,
three name ever a guest tournament, and while if you're
not playing in the tournament, we had reciprocity with other
clubs where our members could go over to their club,
(28:14):
you know, because our course was tied up with this tournament.
So Greg and I wind up at another country club
in the LA area with two other friends of ours,
and we play golf. It's a very chilly, daddy. We're
got our jackets, sweaters, hats, the whole thing. The end
of the round. We said, well it was great, let's
get something to eat. And two of the guys said,
now we have to be somewhere. So Greg and I
(28:34):
went into the grill room. And as we walk in,
the grill room is packed and there's a woman, a
little old woman, sitting by the front and she spots
Greg and she says, oh, I loved you and little
miss sunshine. And Greg said, oh that's that's thank you
so much. And we sit down order I order a
diet code. Greg says, alb and Arnold Palmer. We're sitting
(28:56):
for like ten minutes and they haven't brought our drinks
and that's sort of And we look over and there's
a gentleman in a sport jacket and tie and he's
on the phone at the desk and he walks over
to us and he said, oh, good afternoon, good afternoon.
Are you members? Yes? Oh oh, what's your member number?
(29:17):
So I give him my member number. It's three digits.
He said, well, our member numbers have four numbers. I said, well, no,
that's the number at our club that we belong to.
We have reciprocity here, so we just want to order
a couple sandwiches. Well, you don't have reciprocity for the
grill room. That's only for the golf course. I'm afraid
(29:38):
you're gonna have to leave. So Greg looks at me.
We've got our stuff piled up on the chair, right,
the hat, sweaters, jackets, hats. Greg looks, Greg looks at me,
He goes, grab your shit. We got to do the
walk of shame, and we had everyone in the grill
room was like watching what was going. They didn't know.
They knew something was up there, they didn't know quite what.
So everybody there's maybe one hundred and eighty people in
(30:00):
grill room and we have to walk out carrying our
hats and jackets, and we get to the door to
leave and a little old lady Looksie Greek and says,
I still loved you in that movie, just not enough
to eat us.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
Yeah, that was an indie film, right right, it was.
Speaker 4 (30:20):
It was an indie By the way, Skip forgot to
tell you that when he's able to carry all his
sweaters and hats out and he was still able to
flip off everybody and drive room. Yeah, no, it was
humiliating and uh, but but they did send us a
bottle of wine. Uh that I skip went and found
(30:40):
the price on it. I think it was not eight
dollars two buck chuck or something. They set of it
because they felt bad for what had happened, which made
the story even funnier by.
Speaker 2 (30:51):
The way, of course.
Speaker 4 (30:55):
So uh yeah, Little Sedghine was a was an independent movie,
and it was a very very good script by Michael
Aren't And and the truth is it really wasn't going
to be made. There's a producer named Mark turtle Toob
who just literally went out of his pocket and there
wasn't any time left because you know, John Jonathan Dayton,
(31:17):
Valerie Ferris who I saw recently, you know, were the
directors on this, and they had stuck with it through
and through for like you hear these stories about how
long it takes to get movies made. This was kind
of one of them. And our little Olive, of course,
continues to get older, and they kind of got to
the point where Olive was going to age out of
(31:37):
the role, and obviously we were all set on her
playing the girls. So so Mark just wrote a check
for I don't remember what the number was, like seven
million bucks or something like that, and we all found
ourselves in the course of five or six weeks making
the movie, and yeah, it's a great, nice little film.
(31:59):
Turned out really well. We actually rehearsed, which movies don't
do very often, and it premiered at sun Dance, I think,
and just kind of took Do.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
You think you could make a movie like that today?
Speaker 4 (32:14):
I think you have more chance of making like a
Little the Sunshine than you do. As good as it gets,
I mean, you know, as good as it gets, a
big studio, you know, forty to fifty million dollar movie
that is really just about some very great issue, you
know things. It certainly deals with love, and it deals
with but it deals with this misogynous racist guy at
(32:37):
the forefront of it. And it's a it's an odd
ball script. I mean, it was kicked around for a
lot of years Forrest Gump. There's so many movies that
aren't those kind of unusual stories that can only be
realized if they're ultimately somebody takes the chance and puts
them together and gets them out to a mass audience,
(32:58):
and they can get turned into something that that audiences
ultimately appreciate. But I think the risk factor on that
now is so high that those kinds of films seem
to have kind of gone to gone to the wayside.
You know, if you're spending five ten million dollars to
make something that's small, that that has a contained story
(33:20):
and you know, finds as humor and joy, I guess
it's still possible. I like to think it's still possible.
You know, I'm an optimist. But definitely an unusual time
right now, I think for.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
The entertainment business, yeah, I think it's I don't think
it's a business anymore. It's so changed. The movie business,
it's not like it used to be years ago when
I grew up around it. It's just very strange business today.
Like the music business, it's also changed.
Speaker 4 (33:49):
Yeah, And I guess at the end of the day,
you know, you wonder what was the key what's the
key factor that has changed it?
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Is it?
Speaker 4 (33:57):
Is it us or is it that I often think
it's this These things have changed it, you know, whether
it's through music or whether it's through the you know,
watching a movie on your iPhone. It is it is
the ability to have all of this information in your
pocket all the time. That kind of cut into both
the music and entertainment business. But I still you know,
(34:21):
I went to the screening of of something recently and I,
you know, you've felt the whole crowd in on the experience,
and I was like, Oh, this still happens. This still
can be a fun group experience to see a film.
So I haven't counted it out yet.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Well, AI looms. You know, Artificial intelligence is the other
dynamic that we haven't really experienced, knowing it's a threat.
It is in the music business and I think the
film business ultimately in some way.
Speaker 4 (34:54):
Yeah, So can AI write write a song? It probably can't.
Speaker 1 (35:00):
You know. I don't want to drop names, but I
got a call about a year and a half ago
from Warren Buffett, who's a buddy, and he was with
Bill Gates. He said, Polly, you won't believe it. The
Gates just showed me I got this computer thing. Here
was that geez thing that the one that we're experiencing.
Because I'm not into that stuff, he said. I asked
(35:22):
the machine to give me four different versions of my way,
and in one minute, it spit out four different versions
of my way in one minute. So the answer is yes,
they can duplicate visual voice right, whatever you want. It's
doing it, so we have to look at it differently
(35:44):
in terms of licensing, you know, what we're going to
do in the future, like I think across the board
are culturally and for everyone, We're gonna have to look
at it all differently because it's it's going to take
over without doubt.
Speaker 2 (35:57):
It is. It is. It is when you talk about
doing things differently. So you guys are both unicorns. I mean,
you know, how many people can sing, but then how
(36:18):
many people turn in to be, you know, a superstar singer.
How many people can act, but how many people get
to be in the kind of you know, extraordinary films
that you've been in. So if you hadn't become an actor,
if what was your fallback or what would you what
do you think you would have pursued if you weren't
going to be an actor?
Speaker 4 (36:37):
Honestly, I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't
have a great answer for that. I I think I
was young enough and stupid enough to feel like you now,
I'll figure this out. I definitely didn't have a you know,
full blue pret you know when I remember talking to
Costas about later and he showed me that Mickey Male
(36:59):
baseball card that he kept in his wallet since he
was five because he was interested in being a broadcaster,
and I was like, that, ain't me. I definitely did
not know what they wanted to be when I came
out here, and I certainly am grateful in a way
to have kind of kept a loose hand on the wheel.
(37:19):
I do think it's you know, I you know, not
that it wasn't a you know, very difficult time even
back then to kind of find your way through all
of this. But now I just worry about, you know,
anybody trying to come out to Los Angeles and make
a crack at it, because I feel like there are
(37:41):
you know, less opportunities, less jobs, and maybe the AI
think Paul's talking about that's bringing the room down, quite frankly,
is true. I mean it's true. I mean, like, if
you think about it, it is pretty uh, you know
a lot of stuff that we experience and entertainment is
going to become more automated. That's just unavoidable.
Speaker 2 (38:02):
But did your parents at that point were your parents thinking, wait,
you don't want to be a doctor or a lawyer?
I mean, were they supportive of the idea of your
being an actor?
Speaker 4 (38:12):
I don't think there was ever a moment skip where
Ed and Susie Knier were thinking I was going to
be a doctor or a lawyer. I think the goal
was to keep little Greg out of prison. I think
that was the highway that they were. They reached the
that bar early on. So I don't know, I mean,
(38:33):
I don't really think there was a you know, and
I don't like I said, I mean, I was I
was grateful, I guess, to get out here and get
fine kind of a job doing anything in the entertainment business.
And I have so many friends who were on desks
of people and working and you know, whether it was
an agency or a management place. You know, I was
(38:54):
at this you know, it was called Empire Pictures. Charlie
Bann was making these kind of movies like Reanimator and
uh just crazy Experience. They had this three floor building
over in Hollywood. And I don't know, I mean, I
don't know where that might have led in terms of
the entertainment business if I hadn't have been become a actor.
(39:14):
But I thought maybe i'd find my I'd find some
step into it or some step into maybe the business
side of it.
Speaker 2 (39:23):
How about this, So Paul saying you are my destiny,
and so you this was your destiny, right, this was
your You just assumed that this was going to be it.
You didn't have a backup plan, That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 4 (39:36):
Yeah, I think that's I think that's true. You're giving
me anxiety. But the fact that you're saying I didn't
have a backup plan is making a little late, little.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Late Like if Audrey Lilly or did they have they
given any sort of indication that they'd like to be
actors or zero I I I have.
Speaker 4 (39:59):
None of them have express that. I certainly would be
supportive of whatever my kids wanted to do, but none
of them have shown really a lot of interest in that.
Maybe even if there was anyone, maybe my youngest, but
but I not a lot and I don't encourage it
or discourage it. In fact, I find of the more
I stay out of it, the batter. So hands off
(40:21):
at this point, but not seeing a lot of interest.
Speaker 2 (40:23):
Oh your upcoming projects, Like, I know you've just spent
a lot of time in Vancouver. What what film was
that for?
Speaker 4 (40:30):
So that's a that is a Apple TV show? So
I did a show a couple of years ago Dennis
Lahane was a wonderful novelist and showrunner as well. Did
this show Blackbird with Paul Walter Hawser Taron Edgerton. That
was a great experience and and we did I think
(40:51):
six episodes of that for Apple TV. So I'm back
with a lot of that same gang again. This is
another true time series, nine episodes about a true crime
that based loosely on a true crime that took place
here in Los Angeles that involves Arson and Taron Edgerton's
(41:13):
in it, and John Leguzamo and myself and a lot
of great actors and Journey Spilette. It was amazing at it.
So we just just completed that this week. So we
completed so recently. I haven't had a chance to shave
my mustache off yet, which I'm getting a lot.
Speaker 1 (41:31):
Fresh around the house to do.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
So it's amazing. Paul. You know, we played golf. One
of the other guys in our regular golf game is
Luke Wilson and Greg and Luke. They're always working.
Speaker 4 (41:41):
By the way, I did a movie with I did
a movie with Luke. I was thinking we should have
had we should have done it with We should have
had Luke on here as well. It has been a
lot of fun to actually talk about it. We did
a little movie about a true story about a baseball
team out of Dallas that ended up weren't very good.
They ended up making it to the World Series, and
(42:05):
we play these two fathers who were kind of dual
coaches on the team, one of us, one of the
one of the guys dads we played, got ill and
ultimately very sick, and it's kind of a story about
how the team persevered. And the movie, it's called You
Gotta Believe, comes out at the comes out at the
(42:25):
end of August. But it was very weird to work
with Luke Skipp because you're right, we're old friends, and
like you're sitting on set, you know, suddenly face to
face with somebody actually working a dialogue. Somebody who usually
just used to talking shit with is suddenly now you're
reliant on to actually perform a scene with. So I
(42:46):
have to say that we had a blast, and.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Luke's really great in the movie. So you were also
in the highlight. I'd have to say, you were in
the finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Speaker 4 (42:59):
It felt like the the whole twelve seasons of Larry's
show was was leading up to the Courtroom featuring me.
I'm not I'm not taking anything away from the other
you know, twelve the other eleven seasons and epping shows
before they got to me, because I'm sure those were good.
(43:19):
But uh man, did we stick the landing at the end.
It was actually really fun. Obviously known Larry for uh,
you know, for for the through many years, and I
had talked to him over the years about doing doing
it and just for whatever reason, this worked out and
and it was great fun to do. And he is
(43:42):
unequivocally the Michael Jordan of comedy. I mean, he just
was so fun to watch. Uh it was like having
a front row seat to the to the big show,
you know, I mean, here they are. You had Jerry,
everybody in the show. So it was great fun to
go want to do that.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
You know, Greg, you've done such great works over the years.
You're truly a good actor, a great actor. And you've
placed so many historical figures over the years, you know,
from Crane to Hope and JFK. Is it difficult harder
doing that other than just regular fictional characters.
Speaker 4 (44:30):
Well, you know, I think there's a it's kind there's
kind of a two sides to it. I mean, on
the one side, if you play somebody that people are
familiar with, it does come with a certain amount of baggage.
People are watching closely, they have a preconceived idea of
who that is, and so I do I think you
(44:52):
feel inherently more pressure doing that. But you also have
just a you know, treasure of facts about them. A
lot of times you have you know, footage and speeches
or whatever you got in order to kind of, you know,
really represent that character in a way that hopefully feels
(45:15):
authentic to the audience. So when you create a you know,
when you're just doing a character that you you know,
nobody knows or his uh fictional character, you it's it's great,
it's yours or as did call it. But with that
comes I always feel like a certain you know, it's
it's also kind of think that takes a lot of
(45:39):
you know, it takes some thought because you're trying to
create something that feels organic to the story you're telling
and the person doesn't really exist, so you're it's kind
of whatever you say it is at the end of
the day, it's all, you know, it's all the script.
If the script's good, you can get held of some.
Speaker 2 (45:58):
Of these, Like people obsessed, including my assistant Aaron, with Blackbird,
just obsessed with it. People. I mean, you know there
are people you watch a film, right, you watch one
of the films and you know that's about it. But
people became obsessed with Blackbird. Just unbelievable.
Speaker 4 (46:18):
Yeah, it's it's a really nice it is it's a
it's an incredible, incredibly powerful story. It's it's really well told.
I think Dennis is writing is there's just no better
in the business right now. His dialogue, his sense of pace,
and I do think you're talking to a guy who's
(46:41):
you know, I mean he's done something like, you know,
twelve fifteen novels. I think maybe more that skill, you know,
that muscle is just so developed for him that it's
it's a pleasure to kind of get to work with him.
Speaker 1 (46:55):
You know, Greg, I don't like listening to a lot
of the music I've recorded through all the years, maybe
because there's too much of it. But how often do
you watch your movies? Well, what do you take away
from it?
Speaker 4 (47:06):
Yeah, it's it's I find I don't watch as much
as stuff that I but today that I used to
kind of like, you know, watch rough cuts and things
of stuff I've done. But I find now it's like
a lot of stuff will come out and then maybe
you know, a month or two, I'll catch it or
(47:27):
see it at something, maybe even later than that. I
don't find the urgency to see it as much anymore.
I hope, you know, anything I do, you hope for
the best. You hope the movie works and that it
finds an audience. But I think with time you start
to realize. It's probably similar in music. You know, you
realize how much of that is really out of your control.
(47:50):
And at the end of the day, if you feel
like you've you know, you've you've played the right note,
that's all you can hope to do. And so the
you know, all of the what comes out of that
later is not worth really tracking and even watching it.
I mean, doing it is great fun and great, very satisfying,
(48:11):
but you know, going and watching it afterwards is always
fraught with why.
Speaker 1 (48:17):
I do it that way? Yeah? Why do that?
Speaker 2 (48:24):
With all the historical figures that you've you know, you've played,
is there one that you would have liked to have
played or still would like to have played a person
from history that would be meaningful to you to play.
Speaker 4 (48:34):
Yeah, there there's something that I'm tracking. I'd always say
what it is because there's there's some complicated issues tied
to it. But there's there's a there's a guy that
I'm I'm very interested, but I I don't know. I mean,
like I know, the answer is I have occasionally somebody
that I think, oh, well, that would be ripe to do.
(48:54):
But for the most part, it's not like I have
a book full of characters that in playing, because at
the end of the day, you can fixate on somebody
you think, oh my gosh, why don't they tell this story?
I mean, like I never read a million years. I've
certainly watched you know, Hogan's Heroes as a kid, but
(49:14):
you know, until I read the script, you know, Paul
Schrader's version with Michael Jibosi of Auto Focus, Who the
hell would think to do that movie? No, nobody wants
to see Bob Crane, But you know it's the script,
dynamic script in this great movie.
Speaker 1 (49:33):
Great you know, So.
Speaker 4 (49:34):
At the end of the day, if the script's good, Hellalujah,
would you do Carson? Yeah, I for sure.
Speaker 1 (49:40):
I think somebody should do a Johnny Carson film. That's
a great story, a great story.
Speaker 4 (49:45):
I agree. I'm afraid that it hasn't been done done.
I'm surprised it hasn't been done.
Speaker 1 (49:50):
I know that that backstory is amazing with Johnny. You know,
it was just, but somebody should do Carson.
Speaker 4 (49:57):
When you say he was hard to know, like what
what do you?
Speaker 1 (50:01):
Well, look, I love Johnny Carson. We all agree. You know,
he holds that mantle. Nobody quite did it the way
that he did. But it was just, you know, I
really am very hesitant about talking about it because I know,
but it was just a backstory to it that was
not what you would think. And it was not a
(50:21):
happy life. It was just, you know, with what comes
with some lowners. Even some can deal with the space.
But you know, he liked to drink, and that's a
whole other story. And you know, my introduction was early
in the sixties, and you know, knowing that he liked
Frank Sinatra, for instance, and Frank really didn't care. He
(50:43):
didn't want to meet anybody. And Johnny was a drummer,
as you know, and he loved drumming, and he'd go
into Jilly's. Jilly was Sinatra's guy, and they had this
hanging place called Jittlies in New York, and you know,
Johnny in and played the drums some nights, and you know,
one night he came in him and head and they
(51:07):
like to drink and they were blasted by the time
they got in there, and Johnny started like messing around
with these girls at the bar, you know, pinching them
and flirting with them. Well, back then, you know the
Mafia guys. On Friday nights, they had what's called side dishes,
which were the girls the mistresses. On Saturday night they
bring the wives. So the distinction between the mistresses and
(51:30):
the wives on Saturday was very distinct. So he started
messing with one of the side dishes and the guys
happened to see him, and they took him and they
threw them down a flight of stairs, but six stairs
down of the bathroom, and all you heard was this
ruckus and somebody yelling they're beating up Tonny cars. So
Jillie had to go down and rip them off Johnny.
(51:52):
And it was but a lot of stuff like that,
just different things, but it's a great backstone. Or if
somebody did their homework, you'd find that it had a
lot of depth to it. And he's there's no figures
we know in our business, like Johnny Carson.
Speaker 4 (52:08):
Well, it's and that loaner thing I did. I do
remember like seeing video or some stories about him after
he retired, you know those three or four years where
gues he'd go and watch little tennis and stuff. But
it did seem painfully reclusive. And I had a famously.
(52:28):
I had Gary Shandling was a good friend of mine.
And Gary was friends with Johnny a little bit. And
I was going somewhere. He was like, literally a kid,
my kid's birthday party. But I couldn't miss it. I had.
I was taking her her birthday party, but it was
a way I had to take her. There was no
(52:50):
getting around this. And I think Helen was away and
so I'm like, honey, I'm the guy. And then I
get a call from Gary saying, hey, do you want
to Jerry and Jerry and I are going to have
dinner with Johnny Carson. Can you make it? And I
was like, no, I can't, and it he tortures me
(53:11):
that I.
Speaker 2 (53:13):
Do that.
Speaker 1 (53:14):
Yeah, he he's socially, you know, even a lot of
the dinners at events he'd go to here in town,
he'd go off to himself in the corner, you know,
was not very social.
Speaker 4 (53:25):
He's like, he's a lot like Skip in that way,
a lot.
Speaker 1 (53:28):
Yes, Yes, we were trying to We're trying to draw
it out. We're trying a few of us are making
it a mission to bring it out and Skip. But
it's tough.
Speaker 4 (53:36):
It's tough possible, Skip plays Johnny Carson. I mean, I'm
just thinking I'm spitballing here, so I don't know.
Speaker 1 (53:42):
Yeah, the last couple of years, Yes.
Speaker 2 (53:46):
I played the part where he gets thrown down the
flight of stairs. It's perfect. I like you.
Speaker 1 (53:51):
That really the earlier in his career.
Speaker 2 (53:54):
But Greg, before we run out of time, I want
to I want to ask you a sort of a
serious question. All Right, there's a great line in the
movie as Good as the Cats, That's just great. And
the line was, if you look at a person long enough,
you can see their humanity. And I'm just wondering, I've
always loved that line and wondering what that what that
means to you? There was quite a powerful, a powerful thought.
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Yeah, I mean, well, Jim Brooks is the master of
powerful thoughts. I mean, if you think, like every one
of his movies, you know, broadcast news terms, I mean
all just you know, even the ones that aren't haven't
been you know, box office you know successfully as much
box office wise, are still filled with three thoughts and ideas.
(54:42):
And I don't know, I mean, I guess it's just
the study of a person, if you believe, you know,
if you if you take the time to study someone
long enough, you can better understand who they are always
what I took away from it, So you know, it's
(55:04):
worth having a longer conversation than the one you were
going to have with somebody, and maybe we could all
learn something from that. How about that?
Speaker 1 (55:13):
You know, you know, Greg, the are thousands of listeners
don't have the benefit of the visual that I'm looking
at and I'm looking at you, you know, away from
all the films and everything. You're in great shape. You
look great and I'm a health nut. Well, what's your routine?
I'd like to know, what do you eat? What's your
(55:34):
focus on your body? How do you take care of yourself?
Because we get a lot of people, you know, in
life that we've grown up with with the time they
hit fifty or sixty. It's tragic. What do you do
for yourself? Do you have some kind of a set routine?
Speaker 4 (55:46):
Allright, Well, first of all, can I call you every day? Paul?
Speaker 1 (55:50):
Yes you can.
Speaker 4 (55:51):
Yeah, I want to call you every day the rest
of my life. And you just get me this run
down you just gave me.
Speaker 1 (55:55):
Yeah, I'm a Carls Junior from one to two of it,
McDonald's from four to six, a bit pizza hunt from
seven to nine. But you can get me on myself. No,
but seriously, look, you look as I I don't.
Speaker 4 (56:10):
I don't know. I mean, like I'm I think I am.
I think I had pretty good jeans. My my father
passed away a couple of years ago, but he was
he was pretty good, pretty good shape. He was a
tennis player. And I don't have like a regular cardio game,
which I you know, I think there's no better game
than tennis. And my dad just told me that golf
(56:30):
good but not really. No, no, no, So this morning
I was down at the gym, you know, working out,
you know, but I'm not. I'm pretty moderate. I mean,
I either I take a hiker, you know, try to
get some cardio every day. And it waits in a
couple of times a week and stay off the French fries.
Speaker 1 (56:52):
And uh so you eat carefully, you do eat carefully.
Speaker 4 (56:55):
I guess I'm a little careful. I don't I yeah,
I definitely am careful, carefuler than I would otherwise be.
My dad, before he got involved in the State Department,
actually had a you know, big vending business, vending machine
business back in Indiana with his father. And I think
(57:15):
Ausman was like, you know, if things had gone slightly differently,
I'd weigh about four hundred and fifty pounds and be
selling like everything people take out of a vending machine
these days. So it's in the back of my mind
enough so that so that I get after it. It's
some capacity every day, but I'm not nuts about it.
Speaker 1 (57:36):
Those three girls will keep you business.
Speaker 4 (57:38):
They certainly will.
Speaker 1 (57:39):
Yeah, look out.
Speaker 2 (57:40):
Man, you're a prince to do this. But leeve in
or not, I have your spot in the golf game
this afternoon.
Speaker 4 (57:47):
Oh you do.
Speaker 2 (57:48):
Got Doc Rivers and Peter they're waiting on the tee.
Speaker 4 (57:51):
So I played with him yesterday, by the way, and
I know I don't want to say who who won,
but you know, you can you're asking yourself. I don't
really care, but I know there was a winner. I
just can't remember.
Speaker 1 (58:08):
Yeah, I think I'm looking at.
Speaker 4 (58:10):
Him maybe with this, Guys, that's that's me. My wife
just reminded me. Gave me this the other day because
I got it from my mom. That's me. Wow, records
in Athens, Greece.
Speaker 1 (58:22):
Oh, that's wild.
Speaker 4 (58:24):
And I don't know and Paul, I don't know. I
probably probably spun something connected to Paul ank in no doubt.
So there you go.
Speaker 1 (58:31):
Well there's enough music out there. Hey, I gotta tell you,
I've really enjoyed this.
Speaker 5 (58:36):
Greg.
Speaker 1 (58:36):
I'm very Uh, I'm very impressed with humanity. Uh. You're
a great guy to talk with and I get a
real good vibe from you, and I'm very happy for
your success. And I thank you for all the great
work that you've done. You know, I know it's not
an easy business. We all are confronted with the challenges,
but you're an impressive human and I like that.
Speaker 4 (58:57):
Well, thank you, and thanks Skip and the show guys.
Pleasure to come on and hang out for a little bets,
So thanks for having.
Speaker 1 (59:06):
Me, Thanks for doing it, and keep spinning my records,
will you please, I could use all the help. We
all do all the help. Yah yah, yes, cool messy
bo cool don shu donka shunet.
Speaker 4 (59:25):
Do you want to jump in on.
Speaker 2 (59:26):
This great Buck Kennere everybody, He's the man.
Speaker 1 (59:29):
He is the man. Thanks, Greg, love you a lot.
Speaker 2 (59:31):
Thanks, Thanks for being a friend.
Speaker 4 (59:33):
All Right. Cheers, guys, Cheers.
Speaker 1 (59:35):
Sea Our Away with Paul Anka and Skip Bronson is
a production of iHeartRadio.
Speaker 3 (59:46):
The show's executive producer is Jordan Runtogg, with supervising producer
and editor Marcy Depina.
Speaker 1 (59:54):
It was engineered by Todd Carlin and Graham Gibson, mixed
and mastered by the wonderful Marry Do.
Speaker 3 (01:00:01):
If you like what you heard, please subscribe and leave
us a review.
Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
For more podcasts on iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Host
Paul Anka
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