Episode 14 - Josh Hopkins

Josh Hopkins is an actor and director from Lexington, Kentucky. He is most known for his roles in TV and movies, including Cougar Town, G.I. Jane and Rust. Josh is also an avid Kentucky Wildcats fan.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
This is interrupted by Matt Jones on news radio Wait
forty WITJS Now Here's Matt Jones Matt Jones Podcast, presented
by Cornbread Hemp. This is the good life actor in
Kentucky and Josh Hopkins. He's one of my favorite people.
He's a great actor, a good friend, and has been

(00:25):
a friend of the show for a long time. We've
never really gotten to sit down with him and talk
long form. So I thought this would be a great
context and a great way to do it. And it's
nice to have Josh in here, all right, Episode fourteen
of the Interrupted Matt Jones Podcast. I was trying to scramble, Okay,

(00:46):
who are gonna have money? Because we've got a lot
of people set up for the next three or four
weeks they couldn't do this week. And then my buddy
Josh Hopkins says, Hey, I'm in town. Would you like
me to come in? How nice? I was going to
ask you in the next few weeks. I do not
want to burden people, and then you just volunteered, and
so Josh Hopkins, actor extraordinary Lexington, Kentucky UK fan, Josh,

(01:08):
how are you?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
I'm great man, I'm happy to be here.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
You listened to this show, right?

Speaker 2 (01:12):
I text you I was like, I listen man, and
I'm really enjoying it.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Why do you like it? It feels like I mean, I
just you can compliment me here or just talk about
what you like it podcast.

Speaker 2 (01:22):
Uh, well you're in your bag fully here. Okay you
can you know, not that you've shied away from anything
in your in your sports stuff, but here, well, one
can't say stick to sports.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
This is what it is. Yeah, this is what it is.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
If you don't like it, be doing Yeah, don't come here.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Plenty of sports so people who don't know you. You
are from Lexington, grew up here, went to Sair High
school state football champs. Can you? Did you ever think
there'd be a time your little rinky dink high school
next to Transylvania would win the state football title?

Speaker 2 (01:57):
No? Sure, didn't didn't have football in half, but we
wouldn't have had I'd had to be You could have played, Yeah,
I had to play. We would have been we had
all been hurt.

Speaker 1 (02:10):
So yeah, so now who would have thought you were
an athletic powerhouse? Those are your your friends at coach right?

Speaker 2 (02:16):
Yeah? Yeah, Rob Goodman, Jay Atkins, are you know, head
coach and assistant over there both played with me. Yeah
at Sayer and it's it's a lot of fun to
go watch them play. They've done a great job obviously
with the with the program.

Speaker 1 (02:32):
So you you become an actor, I want to go back,
I'm in a minute talk to when you went to
Auburn and left legs and takes here. But you're an actor,
go to Hollywood? How long you been acting between your
first gig and now?

Speaker 2 (02:44):
I mean my adult life? You know, I moved to
New York City when I was twenty one or twenty two,
immediately booked understudy on Broadway for the show Picnic.

Speaker 1 (02:57):
I did not know you were on Broadway? Was that understudying?

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Yeah? It was very you know, I was brand new
in New York.

Speaker 1 (03:03):
So what's an understudy? Is that? Like if somebody gets sick,
you come in? So did you ever have to come in?

Speaker 2 (03:08):
I didn't, But Ashley Judd was was in that production? Really? Yeah? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (03:16):
Was it just a coincidence?

Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, two people from from there actually was for a
little bit. And uh yeah, So I remember during rehearsals
because I'd have to be there and we'd have to
I'd have to do stuff. And it was during the
tournament and me running in and out going we're up
six seventeen minutes.

Speaker 1 (03:36):
You know, that's a funny story. I saw Ashley Judd
on I believe it was cat on a hot tin roof.
I believe that it was what she was doing, but
she was doing a play. I didn't know her at
this point. I know her now, but I went with
my parents and I during the bowels, you know, when
they were I said, we beat Louisville because it was

(03:56):
the day we played basketball against Louisville, and she from
the crowd, yeah, I went, we beat Louisville. And she
looked at me and went really and I said yes,
and she started celebrating. And many years later when I
got to know where she was like, that was you?
I remember so like you were you were the same thing.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, yeah, running in and out. Okay, now we're down
for seven minutes.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Wow? Do you know what tournament?

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Was? There?

Speaker 1 (04:20):
No idea? All right, so you go to Broadway? Have
you did you do any more Broadway? Or was that
the long time? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah, but never I never sang.

Speaker 1 (04:29):
You didn't have to sing. But you've been you We've
been like a stage actor.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
Yes, hard, Yeah, but it's all hard. It's just completely different.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
But you get there's no like there's no second cut there.

Speaker 2 (04:42):
Right, no, no, But you also have weeks to months
of rehearsal, you know, so you're not worried about the
lines as much.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Did you ever ever your mind like go blank when
you were doing it and you forget any of the
lines or did it just become.

Speaker 2 (04:56):
Had that happen?

Speaker 1 (04:57):
Oh?

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Yeah, that's fun. But that's the person kind of saves
you save stuff and also that kind of stuff. It's
horrifying as an actor, but that's why the theater's great. Yes,
you know, the people that come are like it feels.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
Like big actors are doing more of that. Like I know,
Clooney did a show recently and there was the what
was it, the one that had Bill Burr and Bob
oden Kirk and all of them bonfire of the vanities?
Like is that? Do you feel like people want to
kind of go back? I don't think did that always happen?

Speaker 2 (05:30):
Was that we're there was an aspect of it that
always happened. I mean the film and television there's not
much going on.

Speaker 1 (05:39):
See, so talk to me about that for a second.
You've been doing this now for thirty years. Is it
fair to say this is the hardest time to be
an actor?

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yeah, and explain to people why that is. Well, this
is long winded. I'll make it really short. But the
pross what they built in Hollywood to make shows and television,
it's dried up because now people are watching fifteen second

(06:08):
clips on their phone like TikTok. Yeah, and so there's
a lot less. And as streaming started, all these studios
and Amazon and Netflix came up and they were making money,
so they went crazy and gave out all these deals.
There were shows everywhere, all this stuff, and they were
like expanding, expanding, expanding, And that's the time when you

(06:32):
had to be like, no, now I only can have
Netflix for this, I have to see this, I have
to have Apple Television, I have to have Amazon. Then
no one could tell that the industry would go the
way it did and it all dried up.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Is that because of COVID No before that, it started
because of TikTok and things like that, and kids not
watching television, and so then they had all these deals
out there and they were going broke. Nobody, Well, there's
too much stuff to watch, right, even if you wanted
to watch everything, you couldn't write.

Speaker 2 (07:08):
And it was started to get watered down and worse.
It wasn't like, oh look the Sopranos. There's still great
stuff out there. Yeah, but it was watered down. And
they had all these deals out there for people that
potentially to do shows. It spent so much money. Then
they started going broke and consolidating and canceling stuff. Then

(07:29):
the actor strike happened and writers and that was a
terrible idea because they used the studios and corporations used
that to cut all those deals. Gotcha, and so now
there's a lot less on.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
So it was a perfect timing of a lot of
bad things happening. Yeah, and COVID obviously you I always
read these stories about how La is dying, like Hollywood
as we know it, Studios in La are dying. You're
one of the first person people I know who moved
from LA to Austin. You did that like twelve fifteen
years ago. Right? Is that correct that La just as

(08:07):
a place, not the city as a whole, but as
a place for Hollywood is kind of dying.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, Well, it's an industry town and the industry's leaving,
you know, so it's la is not a fun But
when I moved there, it was Hollywood. It was great
and it was an exciting time in my life. And
now you go back and it's really it's just depressing.
It hasn't been that long. I've moved right before COVID's

(08:33):
like six six years.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
I thought it was before that.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Oh yeah, so but what had happened was I was,
you know, even then before COVID, before everything went online,
in all the meetings, but it was already happening. I lived,
you know, I'd been there twenty five or six years,
and I lived twelve minutes from Warner Brothers. And they say,

(08:56):
you've got a meeting with these producers at Warner Brothers.
I'd be like great. They'd be like, ah, but we're
gonna do it over.

Speaker 1 (09:03):
Zoomah, even though you were twelve minutes. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (09:05):
And then they started doing auditions and other meetings like that.
I'm like, why why am I here? Yeah, over in Austin.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
And now like then a ton of people went to Austin.
I know, your friends, like James Marsden's your friend lives
in Austin. But then Rogan went and it felt like
all these bro comedians went. And now I'm almost hearing
backlash to Austin. Now there's people saying, now I don't
want to be in Austin anymore. Do you do you
feel that too? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Sure, I mean that's just the natural ebb and flow
of things. If you know, see yourself a here long
enough to become a villain, and that's just the way
of Houston.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
I love it you.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
So.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
People used to give me a hard time on KSR
when I would visit Austin, But I actually started liking
Austin when you were there. I think I went one
time you were there, we hung out, we watched basketball game.
I liked it. I came back during COVID, I came
a few times. Everybody thought like I had a secret girlfriend,
But I just liked Austin and and not. But I

(10:06):
haven't been in a while, but but you're still there.
So let's talk about some of your acting stuff you did.
I think most people know you from Cougartown. Yeah, i'd say,
is that the biggest thing you think you've done in
terms of like the role you had in it?

Speaker 2 (10:19):
I mean I think, certainly, I don't know it's most successful,
but it was. It was the best for me six years,
So six years of Cougartown.

Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, you get a show like that, did you know
immediately this is gonna work.

Speaker 2 (10:35):
No? No, you do know how many shows I've done,
and they were it was the show. It was the
thing coming out of pilot season everyone talked about and
either the pilot didn't go probably fifteen pilots, you know.

Speaker 1 (10:51):
I've done fifteen pilots. More than that, it didn't end
up on the air.

Speaker 2 (10:54):
I mean, at least I'm not sure how many. Yeah,
like some big, big pilot, like there was one uh
l A Confidential you remember the movie, Well, uh, this
was the biggest and I was cast as the Russell
Crow part she for Sutherland was the what's his name is?

(11:18):
Canceled Kevin space Yeah, he was a Spacey part. And
they put a lot of money into this. So it
was you and Keifer Sutherland. So you gotta think this
is gonna work. Everybody. This was the biggest pilot of
the year.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
So what made it not work?

Speaker 2 (11:33):
Well, the pilot was good because I've done something like that,
and then the pilot I was like I knew when
I was doing it, wouldn't work. Yeah, but I knew
it was gonna cost a lot of money because it's
period and that's that's tough to pull off. But this,
and this happened a few times. The studio had I

(11:54):
think it was Warner Brothers changed after we did that.

Speaker 1 (11:58):
So the person that said yes, now.

Speaker 2 (12:00):
Gone, and the person that comes in is like, I
want to do my own thing. I'm changing everything up.

Speaker 1 (12:05):
Like the Seth Rogan show. Studio like it shows some
of that at the beginning. Exactly is that show like,
oh it's I mean, I know it's satire, but is
it kind of.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Dead painful to watch?

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Is it really?

Speaker 2 (12:14):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (12:15):
Yeah, I love hilarious, but like that absurdity you think it? Absolutely? Wow?

Speaker 2 (12:21):
Absolutely? And so that was a huge swing and miss
for me. I mean that would have made a huge
difference in my career.

Speaker 1 (12:29):
It feels like a lot of that. Then it's just
what luck, Like you do this show it's good. You're like,
I'm next to Keifer Sutherland, this is a movie franchise.
I could do this for years and then it just
doesn't happen. But you said it was good, So it's
just kind of bad luck.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Right, Yeah, I mean as life is, you know, that's
the way it goes for everybody, right, you know. And
some shows I've done that were good and made it
to air and then didn't work in their time slot
or the or the the network.

Speaker 1 (13:01):
What's the one you look at and you go, I
wish I had that one to do over again, because
it could.

Speaker 2 (13:06):
Have been the thing that that's a pretty good one.
I did a show that was on CBS called swing Town,
and it was originally supposed to be on Showtime, or
so I think CBS owned ship owns are owned. It's
there's still showtime.

Speaker 1 (13:22):
Yeah, And.

Speaker 2 (13:25):
It was about these couples in the cul de sac
and one was were swingers.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
It was a show about swingers. Yeah, oh wow.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
And then had it CBS liked it so much they
put it on CBS, which is that doesn't sound like
a CBS show.

Speaker 1 (13:41):
Murder, she wrote, bloods you would then go Tom Selleck
to people swinging.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, yeah, well that's just back then, it's murder. She wrote,
it's you know, it's the original, it's the original guy.
So I'm like, why are they doing that? And on Showtime?
You know, it could have been a little raunchier, racier.

Speaker 1 (14:04):
I could see that as a showtime show.

Speaker 2 (14:06):
Oh sure, sure, but it was good. It really was good.
But all these people came out against it, like moms
didn't want this on the air, and it wasn't. There
was all sort of implied there was so you no, yeah,
we did like eight episodes and then and it was

(14:26):
doing pretty well considering you know where it was. And
then there was a writer strike and then it's gone
and we know where it came back after eight months
of that.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
All right, so let's talk about what works here Cougartown.
You get on Courtney Cox coming off of friends, I know,
she became your real life friend. What was the moment
that you went, Okay, this is a thing.

Speaker 2 (14:52):
I mean you constantly live in Uh this could happen
because you've been burnt a thousand times.

Speaker 1 (14:58):
I tell you, you can't even enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Uh, there's an aspect at some point, of course. What
what was great was we all got along. I thought
the show was funnier than the title and looking into that.
So then I lived and it shot in La So
I got to be with my dogs and sleep in

(15:20):
my own bed every day six years. That was what
a gift?

Speaker 1 (15:23):
Right? So?

Speaker 2 (15:26):
I I mean once I thought, because of her, you know,
we got a real shot here. But I've been burnt
a lot. And then we got on the air and
it did really well. To begin the first six were awful.
They were really bad.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
So you know when something's awful, Yes, as you're filming.

Speaker 2 (15:47):
It, I thought, this is kind of goofy, but maybe
they'll cut it differently. Whatever. They just weren't off. They
were not good, and it hadn't established its rhythm, which
happens with a lot of shows, especially used to happen
with shows like famously Seinfeld, you know, and takes a
little while to.

Speaker 1 (16:05):
To Parks and w Reck is another one that the
first season feels like it's a different show.

Speaker 2 (16:09):
It takes a while to get its legs. Well, now
you can't do that because if all it was premiered bad,
it's gone because it costs money and it's about now
now now, me, me, me culture. So it did really well,
but those weren't very They weren't great. And then about
six or seven caught a rhythm and they started being

(16:30):
what it was and finished all right. And I wasn't
sure if we were coming back, but then we were.
And then they thought about renaming the show because you know,
it was her cougar Town, She's out, and it became
I was her boyfriend, and it became I started as
her neighbor across the street who made fun of you.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
I was with young.

Speaker 2 (16:52):
Girls and jusual old you know, young guys, and it
was always meant to be that attraction and those two
get together. But they thought about changing the title because
it wasn't that and it.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Was so it was interesting. I knew you when it started,
and I wanted it to work because you were my friend.
And I remember thinking, I think you didn't like the
title from the beginning.

Speaker 2 (17:15):
It was limiting, yes, and I but on one hand,
it could be what helped us get on the air.

Speaker 1 (17:21):
You're probably right. So Drew and I watched the first episode.
I remember, because we were so excited for you, and
we watched the first episode and we talked and we go, yeah,
that's not good, and so we didn't watch anymore. And
then it started being a hit, and so I turned
it back on, say, halfway through season one, and then
I was like, oh, this is good, and I so

(17:41):
you're right now. I didn't watch episodes two through six
to eight to get there. But I did note because
Drew and I were so pulling for you on the
first one and we were just like, yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:53):
Hey, I get it.

Speaker 1 (17:54):
Yeah. But then it got better.

Speaker 2 (17:56):
And then well, they couldn't change the name after the
first year because what are you gonna do. It's it's
marketed that way, and this was the time when you
had your tvOS and it was already put in that way,
you know, So then people would stop.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
Recording Mario's too young to even though what TVO is
look at that, How does that make you great?

Speaker 2 (18:15):
I don't know, And so we had to keep it
and it was always limited it but the people who
watched it really liked it. Became a show about snarky
neighbors who all drank winding made fun of each other.

Speaker 1 (18:32):
And that was the thing. It was great and you
during that time. I visited you once. You took me
to Courtney Cox's house. Still one of the most bizarre
nights of my life. When what's his face? Her face? Natalie?
And or no that Nally and who's saying the rest
is Natasha betting film Natasha betting Field asked me to
pick pick something out of her teeth. It was me

(18:56):
and you we were talking. This woman came over. She
had dated John Mayor, and she was mad about how
you treated her. You knew the woman. I did not.
She was complaining. And then here comes Natasha Beddingfield and
she knew you, or at least actel like she knew you.
Said hello, and then she looked at me and said,
do I have something in my teeth? And she had
like spinach and she goes. I try to show her
and then she like takes my hand and I reach

(19:18):
in her mouth and get the spinach out of her teeth.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
I remember, and I remember just I didn't watch you do.
I just watched your face because you turned red and
were like.

Speaker 1 (19:27):
What is good? I mean this was like the rest
it's still unwritten. And I'm like picking her teeth and
the Corney Cox has one of the nicest houses I've
ever seen. Did it survive all the stuff? It did? Good?

Speaker 2 (19:41):
It did?

Speaker 1 (19:42):
And then we all sat in a circle like this
is your life, but this is not my life. We
all set in a circle and then they everyone started singing.

Speaker 2 (19:51):
It wasn't like kumbaya.

Speaker 1 (19:53):
People had a guitar and they were like singing their
own songs. And I remember James Marsden, who at the
time I I didn't know, but was your friend. He
got up and he sang the Hallelujah song. Oh yeah,
and I thought, this dude is way too good looking
to also be able to sing.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
I don't know that I've ever been more jealous of
a person than watching this beautiful Malibu residence James Marsden
singing Hallelujah, And I was like, see these people they just.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
But like, like stunningly he could be a singer. Oh yeah,
he's been offered that.

Speaker 1 (20:28):
Imagine it's tough to he's your friend.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
Tough to be like best friends with that guy, right,
he looks like that, he sings like that. He's super successful,
he's a great actor, he's nice, fabulous person, a great dad.
And the most mad I ever got at him was

(20:53):
because he's got all that. And everywhere we go, James Jans.

Speaker 1 (20:57):
Everywhere I've been out to eat with you all like
he gets stopped everywhere but.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
One time because I have a hard time dyslexia, and
then I have a hard time memorizing my lines. You know,
it's like.

Speaker 1 (21:06):
Hard for me.

Speaker 2 (21:07):
I gotta work pretty hard. I didn't know that, so
I'm working, he goes, I never go up on my lines.
The only time I go up on my lines is
when I forget to turn the page in my head. God. So,
and you have a photographic memory. It's like you're DNA
needs to turn the page in his head. Yeah, because

(21:30):
he could just read it from his memory.

Speaker 1 (21:33):
Wow, that's crazy. But yeah, So what is it like
to have a best like he's one of your best friends? Right,
to have one of your best friends be in your
field and be super successful, I mean not just like
makes a ton of money, but does big, big movies.
I thought his show, I thought his Jury Duty show
is one of the best things I've seen in years.

(21:54):
You're happy for him, But are you at all like
a little competitive?

Speaker 2 (22:00):
That would be cruelty to myself, right, I mean why
would I do that? Like, oh yeah, lost again? Next
time I'll show him. No, man, this all my any
friends that have any success in it's a tough field,
and I got so many that haven't that.

Speaker 1 (22:22):
Oh you do, so you're friends with people that just
never made it?

Speaker 2 (22:25):
Sure most of my friends. Okay, you know, I know
what you see as you come out and you see
me with all these I was.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
With you with a couple guys who weren't once, but
I didn't know who they were. They were just guys
right to me, right right.

Speaker 2 (22:37):
So anybody that does anything, if you're anything other than
happy for them, you're just going to be a miserable person.
That's it. That's just in life itself. Celebrate your friends.

Speaker 1 (22:47):
That's a great perspective. So you you went back to
on the bars and thing. Just second. He went to
dinner one time and we're sitting at this table, and
I was amazed at how we're just sitting there. Strangers
would come up to the table and wanted pictures with

(23:07):
him and wanted all that, and you were making fun
of it while it was happening. That though, That was
the moment, because I don't I don't think I ever
knew someone like that. How exhausting it must be to
be like that, right?

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Yeah? Yeah, I mean, you know when people come up
to me to get a picture or something in the airport,
they're like, I just must be so I'm so sorry.
I'm like, thank you. Oh yeah, this is awesome. Do
you want some war? Could we could do an action show?
Run around? Can we go over there where everyone can
see you getting your picture taken with me? Yeah, see

(23:44):
that pretty girl go over there. I'm gonna talk to
and come.

Speaker 1 (23:47):
Ask for my picture.

Speaker 2 (23:48):
That's great, But he just handles it, you know, always
with he does.

Speaker 1 (23:53):
He was ver all of those people you mentioned with
the pretty girl. I'm not gonna say any names, but
you've dated famous people a lot. And what's that like
to be the boyfriend of someone that is uber famous?
Don uh, you've had a few. I'm not going to
say they are, but you've.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
Got uber famous. I don't know, I.

Speaker 1 (24:19):
Harden.

Speaker 2 (24:21):
I mean I never had a long, long relationship. Okay,
you know, I've short lived and not annoying, and I
wouldn't really wouldn't go out in public.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Oh really yeah, I just wouldn't go out in public annoying.
Interesting you. So that's a quote unquote celebrity relationship. Hard.

Speaker 2 (24:43):
Oh, I mean it wasn't. I never got to the
point where I was in love or anything, you know
what I mean. So it wasn't, and it was it
was interesting stores fifty four.

Speaker 1 (24:54):
Okay. One thing I mean you are on a much
different level, but you and I share is I'm forty, SI,
you're fifty four. We've both been single our entire life.
Do you get as tired of as I do of
why haven't you married somebody? Like, I'm sure people say
that to you.

Speaker 2 (25:11):
Oh my whole, whole, whole life. The thing is is
I never this was not my plan. If you know,
you talked to twenty four year old Josh and fifty
four year old Josh had never been engaged and it's
no kids, I'd be like, what is wrong with me?
I get that that was never my plan. But life,

(25:31):
life's you know what I mean. I think being in
LA was really tough. I think my industry, I would
start to get a little momentum with someone and then
I'd have to leave for six months. Yeah, so that
all times of the country. Sometimes you know, it's a
it's it's difficult, it's really. That's one of the reasons
I got out too. It was one of the like,

(25:53):
this is not going to work.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
One of the reason you got out of La.

Speaker 2 (25:56):
Yeah, okay, Yeah, I was just okay, I've exhausted this
city and I'm too old and tired to go pursue
it here. Yeah, you know, you've got to drive forty
minutes or you go say, you know, it's terrible, but
I don't know what the question, but oh yeah, I
never would have thought. And everyone's like, you'd be such
a good father because I love kids.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
You do love kids, you really do.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
And I've had to accept at some point maybe this
just isn't in the cards for me. You were like,
you could do it because you're a bad Yeah, but
I'm like, if I had a kid now, i'd have
to hire someone to throw ball with him, like I
can catch it and they hand it off, Mario, you
come throw to my kid, I catch and then then

(26:39):
I'd be like, could you could you pick them up
and call holy or okay?

Speaker 1 (26:45):
So because cause let me, I'll be honest with you.
I'm dealing like with this with myself because people will
say to me, now, when you meet a woman, thank you,
They'll say something like, well, do you not want kids?
And I always have to give the same answer, which is, well,
if it happened, that would be fine, but I don't
want to consider my life a failure if I don't,

(27:05):
and I have this mixed reaction. I'm not lonely and
I don't live in any regret of not being married.
At the same time, you know, if you said to me,
would you like to die and have never been married?
The answer would probably be no. So there ends up
being this like weird thing where I'm not unhappy and

(27:28):
there's no moment that I could say that was I
look back at regret. But at the same time, I
don't want to not have that person. So I don't
know what did you get what I'm saying, Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (27:43):
It's it's a great joke with my friends. You know,
I'm still great best friends with all my friends.

Speaker 1 (27:49):
Yes, like as of mind, I'm telling you and I
share people we've known since before all this.

Speaker 2 (27:54):
I'm super crazy blessed because all of my LA friends
are great friends with my Kentucky friends, yeah, you do.
They entered a lot, you know. So I would be like, hey,
what you doing to a buddy and now he was like, oh,
I'm in Lexington. I'd be like what, Yeah, I didn't
even know. So, but most of my friends, all of

(28:15):
me here, really are a family men, you know, And
because of that, they've always like called me like living
through me, you know.

Speaker 1 (28:24):
Yeah, they do. Like when people get married, then they
want to live through the single friend, and then sometimes
the single friend wants to live through the married friend.
I think that's just natural. My married friends are the
same way. They want to know who I went out
with or when I did something fun. And then I
don't know that I want to see their kids play,
but I envy their relationships sometimes they have with their kids.

Speaker 2 (28:43):
Right absolutely, it's like because my friends call me dvent
about their wives, you know, like, gosh, she did this
and whatever, and you know, and but I know inside
that they never call me and go, you know, oh,
go yesterday morning and the sun was just coming right
in onto her hair, and I said, that's that's the

(29:07):
woman I'm spending my the mother of my children. And
she smelled like an angel. So that just doesn't happen.
They called me like and then she was like the
card not so but I rationally know that's not the
way it is. But also it's funny because they'll be like,
I have do this, this, that and that, and and
I'll go, well, I'm today, I'm gonna do whatever I want. Yeah,

(29:28):
and then they're like but they go, yeah, but it'll
be tough dying alone. So so it goes back and
forth real quickly.

Speaker 1 (29:37):
Yeah, and I get that. What There have been times
in my life where I I consider you a good friend,
but like we don't. They'll go be long stairs where
we don't talk. Sure, but then there are times where
I call you because I know you're like the only
person that can relate to what I'm going through, you
know what I mean, Like that's happened a number of
times where something's happened and I go, Josh Hopkins is

(29:59):
the only person that can understand this on any level
that I'm close to. No, but I do. But do
you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 (30:06):
Though, like absolutely get it.

Speaker 1 (30:08):
Yeah, Like like the idea of you know how much
it bothers me to disappoint people.

Speaker 2 (30:13):
Sure, yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 1 (30:15):
Like to disappoint fans or disappoint listeners. It disappoints it,
like it hurts me to disappoint them. And you can
say that to somebody that doesn't live in the public
eye and they don't get it. But you you do,
and you have said to me sometimes it's okay because
then you feel guilty, going, well, my complaints are so

(30:36):
like I've got a great life, but you've you've been
a person over there to say it's okay to feel
that way, because there have been times you're like one
of the few people I can get to relate.

Speaker 2 (30:45):
Well, people don't really. I think you've talked about it
some in well, the the show you did the Netflix, Yeah,
the wrestling, you know, it was a kind of a
light into your character and more people see Matt Jones
got you know, on the radio, and you have to
have an opinion and this and that, and you're a

(31:06):
sensitive guy overly since you're very sensitive, and a lot
of people don't don't realize that. I think people have been,
you know, listening to your show for years and years
kind of get that. But so I understand when you call,
I'm like, yeah, he's a sensitive guy and he needs
to yeah, and I'm usually it's it's okay. You know.

Speaker 1 (31:27):
There was a time I went to Austin and I
remember we watched UK Auburn together and you and I
were separately having difficulty for completely, like in our personal
lives separately, and we sat there and we watched Kentucky.
I believe we lost to Auburn in that game, but
we sat and watched in your house and I remember
thinking like, this is really nice just to be able

(31:47):
to just be exactly how I feel in the moment.
And then you you know, I both got so pissed
that can be lost that we were able to forget
about everything else because we were so mad at Bruce Pearl.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, that that's it. There's a show Kentucky Therapy patch
a game.

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Well, talking about basketball, how many think about how many
people could do that? Yeah, I want to talk about
your Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (32:14):
I missed opportunity. You know how many missed opportunities I've
had personally Kentucky. I need to make my free throws
in life.

Speaker 1 (32:24):
I want to talk about Kentucky basketball Phantom in a minute,
But let's go back. What is the piece of art
or work that you've been in that you think was
the best, even if it wasn't the biggest role. What's
the movie or the TV show that at the end
you went, this is the best thing I've done.

Speaker 2 (32:40):
You know, people always ask what's my favorite, and it's
hard to do that because my favorite can be I
I did g I Jane years ago, and I remain.

Speaker 1 (32:48):
Close with all those people when you're young.

Speaker 2 (32:51):
Yeah, my first studio film, and I've remained close with those.

Speaker 1 (32:58):
Happy when she kind of had to renew with Speaking.

Speaker 2 (33:00):
Of bad, I have a I have a bad titles
g I J. I mean that's second running with my career.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
That was bad.

Speaker 2 (33:10):
Better movie than the title, you know, Ridley Scott movie.
It was it was good. Uh what were you saying?

Speaker 1 (33:19):
I was asking you what your what do you think
was the best thing?

Speaker 2 (33:22):
Oh? Yeah. So sometimes it's that. Sometimes it's like Cougartown
because I've made a whole lot of money and it
was a great show to just stay home and do
and I liked everybody. Sometimes it's been the artistic experience,
just something I'm working with someone in the director and
I really, you know, I could I could go deep
in something, you know. So I always just kind of like,

(33:44):
I feel like it's the last thing I did in
some ways, if it's a if it's an art, if
it's not something selling, you know, detergent on television. You know,
that's what it is.

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good life. Well, let's talk about right because you know
you for people who don't know, they certainly know of
the movie Rust was where your movie with Alec Baldwin,
where the woman who what was her job.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
That she was the DP director of photography.

Speaker 1 (35:03):
Director of photographer, which is a huge that's at a
huge job.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
That's one of the top three for yes, I mean
that's everything that you see on the screen is she's
responsible for as far as the lighting, the background, the look, everything.
And it's a Western which is it makes it even
more dp's dream. So she's on the shoot and cinematographer

(35:29):
you'll hear called Oka director of photographer, you.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
Know, And that was the movie where she was accidentally
shot and unfortunately killed. This happened many years ago, and
the movie just came out not that long ago, but
but of course led to many years of with Alec
Baldwin and the I don't know to what extent you've

(35:52):
talked about it. Were you on the set the day
it happened. I was.

Speaker 2 (35:56):
I was not there. I was not in that room.
I was not on the immediate set, but I was there,
you know. I was at my trailer very close.

Speaker 1 (36:05):
So talk to me. Just talk to me about what
happened that day.

Speaker 2 (36:08):
I mean, from my perspective, it was obviously one of
the most it was a horrible day and one of
the most surreal experiences of my life. But I mean,
I'm in my trailer and the days just as they
to hurry up and wait. That's you know the cliche.
Your here's the cliches are for a reason. And I

(36:29):
just you know, I was supposed to shoot a while ago,
you know, and I'm always that happened, But then I
see a lot of radioactivity, people running around and stuff,
and so then I go to like a PA or
a D that you know, they're supposed to keep everything quite,
you know, like what's going on. There's been an accident,
someone's gotten hurt, because they don't even know everything at

(36:51):
this point, and I thought it was probably a stunt
gone wrong because there were a lot of stunts, and
I remember there were stunts that day, and I was
worried about a stunt man having been heard or something.
But this is unfathomable to me. Then you hear obviously, uh,
there's someone got shot, and then you hear who and what,

(37:14):
and then there's helicopters coming in to airlift her out
and please flying in, you know, and the ambulances and
then you're in rural New Mexico right right, and you're
just kind of like this, this, this, this can't be happening,
and you know this is going to be and then

(37:34):
you hear Alex Alex Gunn went off it shot Helena.
The DP went through her and hit Joel the director
in his shoulder, and then you see they're airlifting her
out and you're just scared to death. I called my parents,
my family, Oh no, I text on our family text chain,

(37:56):
I said, you're going to be hearing about this thing
in the shooting, and I am fine, okay, I just
want you to know that I can explain later, you know.
And even my sister remembers going, what's he We're not
gonna you know. And immediately there I am on my

(38:17):
phone in my trailer and I can see my trailer
from up there's helicopters live on my you know, I'm watching,
and I'm just freaked out. Obviously, this takes a long time.
They drive Joel out in an ambulance. They airlift her
to a hospital, and one of the medics comes down

(38:39):
and he says she's gonna be fine. That's what he
says to me and people, and we're like all freaked out.
And so then at some point we're all sitting there
and we all start on our phone on our phone
getting She's passed, all of us like at the same time,
different outlets, and I like news report, yeah, and I'm

(39:01):
like this camp, this guy just told me. I'm here.
This guy just told me she's gonna be fine. He
was up treating her. And then that sinks in as
much as it can now you're just numb. And then
the police come in. It's like, no one can leave

(39:22):
this as a murder scene.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (39:27):
So you know, I get emotional talking about it because
she was you know, it was an emotional time. She
was a wonderful person. And so we all had to
stay there for a long time and get questioned and corralled,
and eventually they let us out. And then then there's

(39:49):
police coming off of this ranch we were on. I mean,
there were people, you know, paparazzi and all these people
trying to get pictures. And then the next day, maybe
it was two I think the next day, I mean,
I know we're getting shut down. I think this is all,
you know, like who cares? But we have a huge

(40:14):
meeting in the ballroom of a hotel that a lot
of the crew is staying at. And Helena Hutchinson Hutchins
is her was her is her name, and her husband
and son came. He was nine, and we have this
big discussion about it, and they're there and and and

(40:36):
her husband is amazing. He's like, you know, she loved
this more than anything in the world. She loved this
art more than anything in the world. He was joking,
like we came second, and he was making this crew
of one hundred people feel good, which was one of

(40:58):
the most amazing things I've I've ever seen. You know,
I'm sure they're all, but there's the sun and you're
it all's hitting and it can't. So it just hurts
my soul. Now them were released, and I didn't want

(41:18):
to go. Uh, I didn't want to go back through
the airport and go back to Austin because they were
waiting for us, you know. And Jensen Eccles, you know,
he was he was on the movie and he and
I drove. He had lived in Austin too, he and
I drove back, so you wouldn't have to, yeah, deal

(41:40):
with any of that. And then I mean, that's a
very quick version.

Speaker 1 (41:46):
So then it becomes a circus because of Alec.

Speaker 2 (41:49):
Probably then I can't heal from it, or no one can.
I mean, and you know, it's not like I'm the
main one to have to heal from this, but it's
a it's a tough event. And when you're on a
movie set or TV and you are on location, it's
really is you become this community because I camp, yeah,

(42:10):
because you're the only one that knows each other. And
so we're the only ones that knew what this felt
like at this time. And I try and really in
my mind what it must like in a way to
be at a school shooting, you know, where only people
in the school really understand what this is feels like

(42:31):
in this moment. But then it's on TV, every channel,
on your phone constantly.

Speaker 1 (42:39):
And are you just getting bombarded by press requests by.

Speaker 2 (42:44):
Yes, and you know how they find my numbers? Weird
how they all on you know, Instagram and requests and
you know, obviously I'm not going to say anything. I
don't even know what's going on. I don't know what
happened for you know, I'm hearing rumors the same way
everyone else is.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
So it's Alec Baldwin. Obviously, had you become close to
him at that point, had you all become friendly? Oh
oh yeah, yeah? Okay. So now, I mean there's two
issues here, Like there's the deceased and then you have
what's happened without Baldwin. So you said you all have
been through this. Now do you talk to him? How

(43:24):
do you deal with that with him? Because that's also
a big a piece of this.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
Uh yeah, you know, we definitely talked about it. He
was when we were there and talked. He's still in
complete shock. I mean, I try and can you imagine
being in that room, everyone's trying to set things up.

(43:52):
She's actually telling him ways to kind of point the
gun because she's trying to get the lighting right, you
know this is and get the camera over here. And
she's like, dude, all right, and everyone's working and the
director's behind her trying to see because that day the
screens where they could look from from there, the director's

(44:15):
hut was were down, so they were there trying to
see exactly how it would look. And the gun goes off,
and can you imagine being First of all, they're in
a small place. It's a full rap, so you know
how loud that is in a small place. It's like
a stun gun went off, and then she falls back

(44:39):
and he falls down streaming, and everyone's just stopped and
and you look and you're sitting there holding a gun.
What that would do? You cannot get over that your
entire life. So he was very much just you know,

(45:03):
he had a thousand yards there and just sort of
But once he went back to New York, we spoke
a couple of times, but he was leaning on his
family and going through a lot, and I just you know,
he'd call a couple of times, Okay, I just but
you know, he had other people to talk to about that.
But what they tried to do to him is completely unfair,

(45:28):
So talk about that.

Speaker 1 (45:29):
I mean, there it was clear that there became an
effort from some people, for whatever reason, to not only
blame him, you had people trying to blame him legally.
You had people who just didn't like him who were
blaming him in the press. When you were watching it,
did you felt like it was unfair?

Speaker 2 (45:45):
Yeah, completely and motivated, motivated politically, and I felt like
the DA there was trying to make a name and
a lot. It was infuriating in a lot of ways.
You know, And then you read things online what you
shouldn't do. But people don't know anything about a set
and how it works, and they don't know about anyone's

(46:07):
heart and anything about the situation, and they're, oh, he's
this and that, and Donald Trump juniors selling t shirts
that say guns don't kill people out Baldwin does. And
I just think it's so gross. And you know, when

(46:27):
you're on a set, I've shot a gun. I don't
know how many times on a set. A lot of
times even just to carry a gun on a set.
They come up and the armor comes in and they
you know, I usually had clocks because I was doing
police stuff or something. They come and they shine a
light through the barrel and then they show you there's
nothing in it. And then they take it and they
cock it and they boom, shoot it and give it

(46:48):
to you.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
Right.

Speaker 2 (46:50):
Well, I always do, I will say, I always cock
it and go boom again. I just right. But these
were this first time I'd worked with six shooters, and
they're old guns, very old, and so some of them
wouldn't fought, you know. I it was different. I was
not used to this. You know, they'd show you and

(47:10):
there's these dummy rounds in the chamber and so also
I didn't even know. This is how dumb I was
about six shooters. I was like, you know, those old guns,
you have to pull the trigger back for it to work.
You don't just pull the trigger and the trigger comes
back like an old cap gun, yeah, and does it itself.

(47:32):
Doesn't do that. Those you had to pull it back
and shoot it and had it. That's why you see
guys doing the bang bang bang, you know, with their
hand on the trigger. So there's a myriad of possibilities.
What could happen, you know. I'm sure they were saying,
pull that back and see how this you know, uh,
and people taking advantage of the situation just made me

(47:54):
sick and made me really sad for him, for her family,
for her on, for this to be going on, and
as soon as it die down, then oh they're back
in court. You know, a few months later. It just
kept happening. I just felt for her son having to
relive this.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
So you go through all that. I talked to you
some during that. I know it really affected you. And
then there's the question of are you going to finish
the movie? And then people decide to do it when
you what was your thought? Did you want to do it?

Speaker 2 (48:24):
Well? I never in a thousand years thought that we
would finish it. And there's a thought of that could
be very much in horribly bad taste. Yeah, well there
was talk of things, and so they called me. The
director called me and he said, look, the family wants

(48:49):
it done. They want this finished. They said that's what
she would want. She was so excited. They want the
world to see her work. And I said, I said, look,
I believe under and you're not gonna lie to me.
But I ain't going anywhere until I hear it from
the husband's mouth. So they put me on a zoom

(49:11):
with him and he said he asked me to come back.
He said, this is what she would have wanted, and
we want the world to see her work, and we
want this finished. So not only did he want it done,
her parents and sister all were in agreeance. They wanted
it done, and all the money from the movie went

(49:34):
to them. There's this is not a cash making or
deal anymore. So then I'm like, this makes total sense.
I'm not going to tell you no. And it was.
It was a difficult thing, and.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
I feel when you got back on set.

Speaker 2 (49:50):
Yeah, really crazy. We had switched locations. Thank god, we
didn't go back to that, you know, so we went
to Montana and finished there. But yeah, but that also
felt like, wow, we have a real big responsibility, now.

Speaker 1 (50:13):
Did you. So now you go back or have you
had a situation when you've had to now hold a
gun in your head?

Speaker 2 (50:21):
Well, on that set, now, obviously there were no working guns, okay, now,
which is the way I think it should be all
the time, and I don't understand with with c G.
I then the things they can do today. Put a
muzzle flash now becoming on YouTube. Be a mime now

(50:46):
you know, I've got to recoil with the shot. Who airs?
But that was just we're there, and of course every
time we'd the armor of the new armor would pass
out guns and whatnot, even though there were no working guns.
We'd go through a whole thing before it.

Speaker 1 (51:05):
But did you still find yourself struggling to pull the trigger?

Speaker 2 (51:11):
Not really? Okay, Now I had done something in between
there where I had to shoot at someone and it
was an air pistol thing that looked very real, and
I was weirded.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
Out, yeah, I would think, so.

Speaker 2 (51:30):
Yeah, And no one on the crew knew I had, well,
they didn't, they couldn't. I wouldn't noticeably. I was inside
weirded out, you know, but no one knew what I
was kind of going through then, and you know, they
give me this air pistol and I would just be
like just bang bang bang bang bang. They're like, I
told it's cleared. I'm like it fella, And so that

(51:54):
was weird. But once, I mean I I there was,
it didn't work.

Speaker 1 (52:00):
So that's been now a number of years. Do you
like do you like? I don't know to say, do
you do you want to do you talk about that
you were in the movie? Do you think it hangs
over you? Does it? I mean, I know there's people
I've tried to like, never ask you about it because
I don't want to be your friend going tell me

(52:21):
about this experience. I'm sure people want to talk to
you about, like how do you deal with it now
five years later? Because like Russ, that's that right, you know?

Speaker 2 (52:31):
Right? Well, I don't know. I mean, there's just natural curiosity,
you know, that's going to be. You can't blame people
for that. Now. Some people have no tact, you know.
But I knew when I got back, and to a
certain extent my friends were called. I was like, you
know what, why don't we all go get a beer

(52:52):
and I can say this once interesting instead of twenty
seven times.

Speaker 1 (52:56):
That's interesting, you know, And I don't you just want
to really one time? Yeah? Look, yeah, this asked me
whatever you want this one time? It's funny. Completely different situation.
Had a friend in college who, when he got out
of college, came out of the class and he told
he made us all get together and he said, I'm
going to answer all of this one time. Yeah, and

(53:17):
he set with all of us and he did it,
and then like it never got brought up again. But
I still distinctly remember he's like, I want all your
questions everything, because this was twenty years ago when you didn't.
And I thought that was a really interesting way to
handle it. One time sounds brilliant, and that's kind of
what you did to this.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
Yeah, well I it's it's amazing to have to have
gone through. And you now did the movie. When the
movie came out, did you watch it?

Speaker 2 (53:45):
Yeah, yeah, I watched it. I went and had to
do press for it, which is really difficult.

Speaker 1 (53:50):
Because this is why they ask you right in New York.

Speaker 2 (53:53):
I was there for a week doing stuff. But amazingly,
everyone was very respectful about it. And I had a
message to get out, which was the family wanted it done.
This isn't the producers like trying to make what money
we can get back. The money's going to them, and
it was I think it's a beautiful movie. I got

(54:14):
to see it on the big screen there, which is
you know, if you're going to watch a western. That's
the real way to see it. And I didn't realize
years later when it was completed, how it would have.
Once I saw her beautiful work up on the big screen,
I just welled up. I couldn't. I didn't realize that
what happened to me, you know. But her work is

(54:37):
so beautiful in it. And the movie got so so reviews.
I think, pretty good considering everyone wants to hate it,
you know, they all want to be like I can't believe.
They all want to be outraged. And I got really
good reviews, which was nice, and I'm very proud of

(54:59):
my work in it. Now. The second part of that
is which was tough for me. My father loves movies,
loved he passed three years ago, former congressman yep, yeah,
and he loved movies and he loved westerns. He would say,

(55:19):
my whole life, you should do a Western, and I'd
be like, well, I can't.

Speaker 1 (55:23):
It's not really I don't have the western.

Speaker 2 (55:25):
Yeah, well I don't. Really, it's not up to me.
I gotta get a Western. I can't go. I want
to do western. Okay, call somebody.

Speaker 1 (55:36):
Josh Hopkins is demanding a Western.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
Yeah, yeah, so, but my whole family would laugh at him,
say you gotta do it. And then finally this happened,
and I he was then out of the house for
good and like he's a very social guy, and COVID
happened and he was in there alone, couldn't you know

(55:59):
for almost a year You're all yes, yes, And he's
so excited when I went off to do this movie,
to do a Western. He was so excited. And then
the accident happened, and it was hard to explain to him,
you know, just that that is over. And when we
came back, like I could just you know, feel him,

(56:22):
and it's tough to watch it in the he would
have he would have watched this movie fifty times. And
there's one day in particular. You know, you're always you know,
it's not as glamorous as you're tired. You know, we're
there sixteen hours, let's say, for this day. And it's
a big shootout in a bar, in a saloon, excuse me.

(56:42):
And I come in and I opened this saloon door,
you know, and I'm back lit and a cowboy hat
and a sheriff's pin and you know, tickling my gun
and I'm like, you get up, you know that sort
of thing, and to ching to chink to chink, you know,

(57:05):
walking in and then bang bang do this shot where
you shoot a guy off the classic shot where he falls. Yeah, yeah,
bag bang, all this stuff. It takes all day. And
at the end of this scene, smoke's going on. People
cry and I'm the only guy still standing.

Speaker 1 (57:24):
No, what's kind of badass?

Speaker 2 (57:26):
And that took so long to shoot and they were
oh God. And I remember thinking, I hope this last forever.

Speaker 1 (57:33):
You probably thought my dad would love this.

Speaker 2 (57:35):
Oh, I could feel him. I was just I hope
this day last forever because I could just I could
feel him. And so there's a lot of emotion tied
to this film for me. And I think this goes
back to what your favorite most proud work. I'm gonna
say now, especially after this, I'm really proud of the

(57:58):
work I did. Of course, like as his the actors,
there's some of my favorite scenes were cut. But I
have a lot of motion tied up into this movie
so well.

Speaker 1 (58:14):
I appreciate you talking to me about that. I was
hesitant to even figure out if I was going to
ask you about it. So I'm this is the first
time we've chatted about so I appreciate that. Let me
let me do one more acting thing. They I want
to talk to you k sports for yes, sir. If
you people think the acting life is not only glamorous,

(58:38):
they think like you make all the money in the
world and it's the best thing in the world. I've
talked to you at times where things are hot and
where they're dry. What's it like when it's hot and
then what's it like when it's dry?

Speaker 2 (58:51):
Uh? You know, every actor that's you know, maybe not
Leo or has dealt with this.

Speaker 1 (59:01):
Yes, I mean our Jerry O'Connell say, I'm kind of
a failure. Just said that a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
I mean, yeah, I mean every actor deals with hot
and cold times. I mean I always say to people
I know a lot of people more talented than I
that that gave up because they couldn't handle rejection. Yeah,
I mean I've been rejected more than That'd be hard

(59:28):
for me. A lot of people, you know, like I,
but I have this ability to be like next, forget
about it. I did the best I can. I did
the best I could in that audition or this and
move along. Now, when it gets really, really really close
to something that could change your life and you don't
get it, that that's heartbreak.

Speaker 1 (59:50):
Is there one that sticks out?

Speaker 2 (59:52):
Yeah, yeah, Jerry maguire, you were going to be who
funny you should say that, But Jerry O'Connell's part the
really Yeah, they flew me from New York to read
I read with Tom Cruise. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, that
would have been a big one. That would have been
a big one. And later I saw the casting director

(01:00:15):
and she could have just been you know, but she
was like, if you'd lived in La you'd have gotten that.
They they did everybody so many times and made him
come in. But and I was perfect. It was the
cocky quarterback. I was only twenty whatever, you know. Plus
I got a howitzer for an arm I could throw

(01:00:36):
the Oh yeah, I got a cannon, had a cannon,
and uh, it would have changed my life completely, like
I would have had a movie career. But I don't
know for how long. And I always I don't regret
stuff like that. I always look back and go, I
was probably too dumb to get that responsibilitiability then, And

(01:00:57):
I always think I'd probably had done some dupid shoot
that embarrassed my family.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
Yeah, you know, I'm.

Speaker 2 (01:01:04):
Like, I probably just wasn't mature enough, and I just
trust in it. And then immediately afterwards, I booked Ji
Jane and met some of my best friends for life
on that. So I'm like, there's just reasons for y.

Speaker 1 (01:01:19):
You know. Clayton and Cream was founded on a simple idea,
all leather goods should last a lifetime. They make everything
from bags, belts, wallets, and much more. And the best part,
they're doing it right here in Kentucky. You can check
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Or you can visit their flagship retail store in Louisville
at two sixteen South Shelby Street. That's in New lou

(01:01:41):
It's Clayton and Kreme quality leather goods, built to last.
All right, So let's switch gears. Let's talk a little
UK sports. I met you because when I was doing
the blog pre radio show. Okay, so this is this
is just when I'm a dorky kid riding on a
blog out of nowhere, this actor writes me and tells

(01:02:03):
me how much he likes it, and I I remember thinking,
this is the coolest thing in the world. This is
an actor and he likes my blog. That's wild. And
we end up talking and I just realized, you're not
just like famous person that's a UK fan. You are

(01:02:25):
a crazy UK fan I am.

Speaker 2 (01:02:28):
It's not as you know a lot of Igglination attests.
It's like basketball is. It's not fun. It's like it's
fun game to game. We win, but like come March.
I almost enjoyed this march more than many others because

(01:02:53):
it's not fun when you are the best team.

Speaker 1 (01:02:57):
It's weren't you. It's like there's almost too much pressure,
too much, too much.

Speaker 2 (01:03:01):
And when you when you win, you're not happy, You're
just relieved. You're like, whoa, we got through that one.
Let's go. And when you lose, it's devastating, you know.

Speaker 1 (01:03:15):
Uh twenty fifteen, So twenty fifteen, you when we lost
to thirty eight and one team. You came on the
postgame show, and if people could go back and listen,
you and I sound like we're both like we don't
even know what to say. We're so sick by the way.

Speaker 2 (01:03:31):
I didn't come on the postgame. I stumbled upon it.
I left that dome. Yeah, and was a zombie walking
around Indianapolis for two hours.

Speaker 3 (01:03:46):
Like I was like, you know, there's a thriller dance.
I was absolutely you know you were a satisfy you
were you did you had to look like your soul
had been taken from you.

Speaker 2 (01:04:05):
I and I stumbled upon you, guys. We were in
a lobby somewhere. I was just and you ever come
over and I just sat there and we just commiserated,
but still just stunned. And that was awful. But that's
to me, the fandom is almost so much it's just
it's almost not fun at times. But last year I

(01:04:26):
really liked it because we all knew we weren't going
to go the whole way. We all knew we had
this new start, and it it was a dream season,
especially once we met to the Sweet sixteen. It was
like this is this is unbelievable. You know, what a
great year and so, but usually my fandom is such
a it's hard to enjoy.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
But you like follow recruits, like you would text me
before the Harrison Twins decide and you're like, is it
gonna happen? And then you would go I remember Julius Randall,
I came out and said he's gonna go to Kentucky
and you were like, are you sure? Before where I
get my hopes? Yeah, he's not gonna go to Florida, Duke.
I'm like, I'm telling you it's gonna be Are you sure? Like?

(01:05:05):
I mean, you follow it on an intense level. Do
people in your life that are not Kentucky fans ask
you what is wrong with you? Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:05:15):
They do, but more like in Hollywood, everyone everyone knows
I'm from Kentucky. I have so much pride in it,
and I rep Kentucky all the time. But also it's
annoying to people.

Speaker 1 (01:05:30):
But in Paradise, the show that James Marsden does, they
got good reviews and he was was he the president?
Is that? What's I diduld say? There are multiple Kentucky
basketball references? Can you say that you are the reason
that Paradise has multiple Kentucky basketball references? Yes? I assume

(01:05:53):
some time. First time, I assume, so right? Did you
he did James do that for you? Well?

Speaker 2 (01:05:59):
I was staying with him out there while I was
shooting something else and he mentioned the samsay, this should
be Kentucky.

Speaker 1 (01:06:06):
Oh it was gonna be something else.

Speaker 2 (01:06:08):
Well, if they were talking about a team, and then
that you know, they talked about Latner and I was like,
this should be a thread here because then his name
was this call signed to the Secret Service with Latner Lightner.
So yeah, how cool.

Speaker 1 (01:06:24):
But everything I've done to get your friend to put
references to Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (01:06:29):
Basketball, well everything I've done like a TV show, it's
there's always been like my character on the walls, like
the diploma from the University of Kentucky. He opens his
closet and there's a Kentucky shirt. Always put little things
in just for fun.

Speaker 1 (01:06:45):
Yeah, no, that's that's that's great. You went to Auburn, You,
if I'm correct, if I remember, broke into the Kentucky
locker room when they played a road game at Auburn
to steal Kentucky paraphernalia.

Speaker 2 (01:06:58):
Yeah, yeah, it's not because you just wanted it. I
was in the plan I was in the planning stages
of it. We had a buddy who was a uh,
you know for Auburn's team or are they the manager manager?
And he said I'm gonna leave it open. And then

(01:07:21):
one of my roommates and so then uh, one of
another buddy who was visiting who didn't go to Auburn
went in there and got the.

Speaker 1 (01:07:28):
Booty and what did you get?

Speaker 2 (01:07:31):
I still have this Mashburn shooting shirt. It says Mashburn
on the back. That's so there on my Instagram if
you were way back.

Speaker 1 (01:07:40):
I took pictures of it. So this was when Mashburn's
on the team. You went and got Mashburn shooting shirt
and then.

Speaker 2 (01:07:46):
We were like, this is so awesome. Oh, we can't
wear them.

Speaker 1 (01:07:49):
You could never wear them. And didn't you grow up
like an insane fan of Rex Chapman.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
Super It hit me at the exact spot of you know,
he was only three or four years older.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
But did you like go and take pictures with his car?

Speaker 2 (01:08:08):
Yeah? Of course? When when when he would be like
at Fayette Mall and be there, Remember people went to
the mall because there was That's how bored we were.
And go to the mall and like a couple of
times Directs was there, and then they had to go
to a pay phone and be like rech here and
people come and we kind of like follow him around.
He turned around and we'd be like, look at our watch.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
You became friends with him, like you became wanted to
be like Mario becoming friends with Bronni, Like you became
friends with the guy that was your hero.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
That was bizarre. It's still wild. We're really close. And
still when my phone will light up and says calling
Rex Chapman, I'd be like, oh, oh my god, it's calling.
I'm all tingly and then sub dude, Yeah man, I'm

(01:09:02):
just chilling.

Speaker 1 (01:09:04):
Yeah, that's that's that's awesome. And so you live and
die by these wins. Favorite win of all time for
UK besides like a national championship, what's your favorite?

Speaker 2 (01:09:15):
That's that's that's tough. You know that Anthony Davis block
at Reperino over Carolina.

Speaker 1 (01:09:24):
Were there, Yeah, so loud.

Speaker 2 (01:09:27):
I really enjoyed that. Such a great environment. You know,
there's just.

Speaker 1 (01:09:33):
Well let's go let's just let's you know, further our Kentucky.
Let's just go over a few things, John Wall crossing
them over and rup and like when you knew we
had John Wall.

Speaker 2 (01:09:42):
Oh that was I contended at the time, because you know,
people do not realize this before cal through our era
of basketball, we had an amazing lack of NBA players.

Speaker 1 (01:09:56):
For a long time.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
I mean, for a program that was still the best program.

Speaker 1 (01:10:00):
Ta Sean and Rondo and that's about it for fifteen years.
I mean Bogans, I guess, but not many.

Speaker 2 (01:10:08):
But they weren't MVPs and not in All Stars, and
you know this wasn't uh but that's three and then
you know, Cayle came in and now we have this,
We have them, which is so much fun. So when
John Wall came, you know, Carolina and Jordan and all
these schools, Lynn Bias and we just didn't have the

(01:10:29):
coolest player.

Speaker 1 (01:10:30):
Yeah, and you were insane during the John Wall recruitment.
You texted me every day.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
He's got the best what do they call them, mixtape?

Speaker 1 (01:10:42):
Mixtape ever, best mixtape ever, Yes, best mixtape ever. Mario.
You need to see his mixtape, best mixtape ever.

Speaker 2 (01:10:50):
It's unbelievable, unbelievable, the blocks that you know, and then
you're seeing him dunk left handed more than right. You know,
we didn't realize DeMarcus.

Speaker 1 (01:10:59):
I mean I was.

Speaker 2 (01:11:01):
I'm still scared of him. I mean, he's scary dude. Yeah,
I mean it was fantastic. That was one of the
worst losses. But run with the twins so much fun.
You know, it was great about that was I was
shooting something in Montreal, and the tournament started and I
went to a place like they're not watching it. I

(01:11:23):
went to a sports bar and they got junior league
hockey on every TV, and I'm irated. I'm like, what
do you do? And then see if yeah, we'll see
if we can find it. Ah yeah basketball, Yeah, I
like the dunk shot. Eh, yeah, we'll see if it's
streaming on here, and we'd get him. And then finally

(01:11:44):
when we got to you know, out of the first round,
they were on TV. You know, they had the New
York feeds and and I just remember being in my
hotel room watching those alone. And I had a thing
like every year, like when uh where I'd.

Speaker 1 (01:11:59):
Have to set my just right, got to be in
the right spot.

Speaker 2 (01:12:02):
And that year one of my worst thing. I don't know,
every time someone would text me because people that are,
like I said, everyone knows I'm this huge fan, and
people that aren't good enough fans to be like, hey,
they're doing good. And I wanted to jump through the
phone and kill people. Yes, And I somehow, in my

(01:12:24):
worry about I had to write everyone back. I'm like, yep,
sure are thanks, And then they were like yeah, you watch, yes,
click and there there'll be all these people. I felt
like I had to answer we were gonna lose. Yeah,
uh so that was awful. But hitting those shots that
was a run in sports just playing sports history, you know,

(01:12:44):
if that had happened in soccer league anything.

Speaker 1 (01:12:48):
What about when we lost to Luke May the Luke
May jumper with Fox Monkey.

Speaker 2 (01:12:53):
Yeah that was because that was one of the most
fun years.

Speaker 1 (01:12:57):
When did you jump off like you were like I
loved caw, but we need to change or did you
never you have friends who were way off like and
you were always having to deal with that.

Speaker 2 (01:13:10):
I guess what happened with me was probably similar with
from what I can hear happen to you and several people.
I was like, we owed him a lot, and he's
a Hall of Fame coach and his stick got tired
here and it was obvious that it would be better

(01:13:33):
for everyone, but I was and get who you know,
I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (01:13:43):
You know, that's a big You were nervous about Pope
during that time. Everybody was.

Speaker 2 (01:13:48):
I was like everyone. I went to bed that night
like what in the world and woke up like, let's
go because that's all you can do, you know, and
it's turned out to be so great so far. But
you know, there's the I was pumped about Billy Gillespie.
You don't know what you're gonna get.

Speaker 1 (01:14:04):
You're like, he doesn't he doesn't have a wife, He's
got plenty of all. It's all he does is basketball.
That's exactly married to the game.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Yeah, you know, yeah, and then uh, you know, I'm
I'm in Austin and I see they've they've done this
with their football coach for a decade. You know, they
finally got a guy in in their back. But they
got the most money to spend and everything. You do
not know what you're gonna get with a coach.

Speaker 1 (01:14:31):
Do you.

Speaker 2 (01:14:31):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (01:14:33):
The famous people in Hollywood that we think are Kentucky fans,
actually Judd is a real fan. Yeah, it's about like Clooney.
Is he a fan?

Speaker 2 (01:14:42):
I mean we did the perfect storm together and we
talked about it. You know, Uh he is. You know,
he's northern Kentucky almost Cincinnati Ish, and he's a big fan.
But I don't think he's I don't think he was
a Cow fan. Okay, And so I think that.

Speaker 1 (01:14:56):
Clooney call headline for you.

Speaker 2 (01:15:00):
I don't know that he was. You know, that's the
lot year we go. But I just don't think he
was as invested during that time. I don't know why.

Speaker 1 (01:15:08):
You know, it was like in the Rick era.

Speaker 2 (01:15:11):
Yeah, I think I believe.

Speaker 1 (01:15:12):
So who else is famous that's a Kentucky fan that
you know of that maybe you would know that we wouldn't.

Speaker 2 (01:15:17):
Is there any well you know Josh Hutchinson.

Speaker 1 (01:15:18):
Yes, Hutchinson from what Hunger Games? Is that right? Yeah? Yeah? Yeah?
And you introduced me to what him once? He was
a nice guy.

Speaker 2 (01:15:25):
And of course the best Steve's on. Dude, Steve's on,
I mean, and he's a transplant fan, yes, and he
is as deep into it as anyone.

Speaker 1 (01:15:35):
Especially football. He really in the football.

Speaker 2 (01:15:38):
I love it. I love it. And he was here
for the build up of Stoops. But I said, I
saw him in the airport a few months ago. I
was like, now you're gonna get a taste of Kentucky football.
Can I see?

Speaker 1 (01:15:54):
He's not got through the normal years?

Speaker 2 (01:15:57):
Yeah, yeah, so I hope we can right the ship.

Speaker 1 (01:16:02):
But I was like, all right, last one, this year's team,
you know, all the players, you know.

Speaker 2 (01:16:08):
I sometimes sometimes instead of saying you know, Modiabatte. I'm
like the Alabama guys in the celebrity I'm like the
Florida guy. He was a senior and could have because
he ran point and average fifteen points before.

Speaker 1 (01:16:25):
It says that guy.

Speaker 2 (01:16:26):
Yes, so I call him different things. If I can remember.

Speaker 1 (01:16:29):
Rumors the Croatian gets here today or tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (01:16:32):
Really yeah, that is a good thing about not having
him this long is it's only going.

Speaker 1 (01:16:38):
To a Croatian Slovenia, Slovenia.

Speaker 2 (01:16:41):
Not Croatian. Remember, but yeah, because well I remember Tony
Kok coach, and.

Speaker 1 (01:16:49):
You know, there was I think he's Slovenian.

Speaker 2 (01:16:51):
Yeah, and uh but at this point, because we've been
without it, if he's great, it's only icing, you know.
If he's just not all that, we're kind of like,
oh yeah, yeah, I forgot he was coming, you know.
But I'm excited to hear stuff. I thought it was
really interesting. You know, it's not just Kyle that does

(01:17:11):
the the coach talk to the press right to talk
to his team through it. And I think we're going
to be hearing a lot from Pope about the defense.

Speaker 1 (01:17:22):
Yeah, they got to get better.

Speaker 2 (01:17:23):
Yeah, because he came right out with that. The first thing,
saying they've just were just terrible on the defense because
he knows that's where we're going to hang our hat
this year. Yeah, we're going to. If we're going to
be great, we've got to be great at defense.

Speaker 1 (01:17:38):
I want to tell you, I like to do this
with people that people may know to say to whatever
extent a seal of approval for me matters. Josh is
you are one of the nicest people. When I say
a good friend, you're like a great friend. You're not
only a great friend to me, You're a great friend
to a lot of people. And you it's very kind of.

(01:18:01):
You have been there for me in some difficult times.
And you're also the kind of person who out of
nowhere text and says, dude, wrestlers is really good, Like,
but that.

Speaker 2 (01:18:11):
Would support your buddies, you know, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:18:13):
But you were like but I think you even said
not like you're my friend, and it's good. It's like,
legitimately now gonna lie to you.

Speaker 2 (01:18:20):
But I like, I didn't.

Speaker 1 (01:18:22):
I'm not.

Speaker 2 (01:18:22):
I didn't grow up like you liking big time wrestling. Yes,
you know I didn't, right me, But I always thought
this is even when I was like nine, I was like, stupid, stupid,
it's fake. It's obviously. Look he missed him, and like
I felt that like even when I was little. But

(01:18:44):
I did enjoy the spectacle. You know, it's a Saturday
morning if there was nothing else on, you know. But
uh so, I knew this was going to be something.
It had to be more than that for it, and
I knew you had and I really did enjoy and
like coming back to earlier, I thought it was a
chance for people to see the sensitive side of you

(01:19:06):
that they don't get to see.

Speaker 1 (01:19:08):
Yeah, well it was. It was very nice of you,
and you are a ton of fun. And I'm going
to make you, now that we've done the Josh uh
Like career interview, I'm gonna make you during the season
just talk basketball with me sometimes.

Speaker 2 (01:19:24):
I mean, the one i'd rather do.

Speaker 1 (01:19:26):
Yes, yes, you're gonna We're gonna, no, but we're gonna.
I'm gonna make you come on and we talk about
the team at some point that yeah, all right, good, okay, good,
I'm glad, Josh, thank you very much, thanks for having
me