Brie Larson & Courtney McBroom

Phil and David are thrilled to welcome Academy Award-winner Brie Larson ("Room") and former Milk Bar culinary director Courtney McBroom to the "Naked Lunch" room to celebrate their new book, "Party People: A Cookbook For Creative Celebrations," published by Penguin Random House on October 21st. This is a sweet and satisfying conversation serving up tasty topics like mixed feelings about ice cream, favorite international frankfurters, dream party guests in world history, the psychology of theme parties, the best party music, "The Bear," Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" and favorite food scenes in movies. To order Brie and Courtney's book, go here. To learn more about building community through food and "Somebody Feed the People," visit the Philanthropy page at philrosenthalworld.com.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Phil, are you ready to party?

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Always? You know me exactly when I fa as long
as it's before eight exactly am or pm. The pm we.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Are today, we have a very exciting and party like
atmosphere because we are. Our guests today are the authors
of a book called Party People. We have the Oscar
winning Dree Larsen and her very close friend and a
major food guru like much like Phil Courtney McGroom, who

(00:36):
have this great new cookbook. It's Party People, a cookbook
for creative celebrations. It's out October, uh and it is us.
It's a great book. I've actually already read it on
my computer. I couldn't turn the pages, but I've already
read this book, and I'm already wanting to make half
the things. And I'm if I ever get invited to

(00:56):
a party, I'm going to take all of this to heart.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
I think that's the goal tonight is to see if
we can actually get invited to one of their parties.

Speaker 1 (01:05):
I don't think we're nearly cool enough. But they met
at a party, and we're gonna ask about that. They met.
We did not meet over molten caso, but they met
over molten caso, and we need to know the secret
of that.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
Ladies and gentlemen breed Lawson and Courtney Broom.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
Let's build the beans to the fat, food for thought
and jokes on tap, talking with our mouthsfull, having fun,
the peace of cake and humble pies, serving up slice love,
leave the dressing all the side. It's naked, lush clothing option.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
Yes, absolutely, yeah, thank you, thank you. This is such
a pleasure. The book is so fun. You whoa, what's
that one?

Speaker 4 (02:28):
Nice?

Speaker 5 (02:30):
There's like coconut that's founded very.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
That's where it's from.

Speaker 5 (02:35):
That's dangerous.

Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:39):
I'm an actor, you know. I'm looking at you, and
all I want to talk about is Electra at the
West End.

Speaker 4 (02:43):
Oh my god?

Speaker 5 (02:44):
Why?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Because you're cool and you did that.

Speaker 5 (02:47):
Are you familiar with the play?

Speaker 2 (02:49):
I am because I was the theater major and so.

Speaker 5 (02:52):
Better than me.

Speaker 2 (02:54):
But wait, you were the youngest person ever to be
admitted to the Come on, yeah.

Speaker 5 (03:01):
Well that was we have to check. I still stand by,
like maybe somebody I.

Speaker 1 (03:05):
Checked just now.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
It is true.

Speaker 1 (03:07):
No, I did not check, but I believe.

Speaker 5 (03:08):
I'm just like, there's got to be some weird four
year old that's gotten in at this point. That's the
world we live in, but yeah, does act It's an
actress conservatory.

Speaker 1 (03:19):
Robin Williams eventually studied there to much. I think he
was not the youngest to ever study there, but I
think that was an important place for him.

Speaker 5 (03:25):
Yes, exactly. I mean that was It was in San Francisco,
and that was where I was auditioning for like a year,
I guess my first year of auditions because I lived
in Sacramento and it was like every big audition was
to play Robin Williams's daughter, and I never booked it,
but it was like always that was always the thing.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Yes, look at you now.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
It held you back at all. No, I was just
in London but missed your performance. But I did. I did.
I did hear about it after and I wish I
had been there.

Speaker 5 (03:57):
It's just fine.

Speaker 2 (03:58):
What was it like?

Speaker 1 (03:59):
What was the experience?

Speaker 5 (04:01):
It was amazing. I mean it was my first time
I had done two weeks. I did two weeks of
our Town at the Williamstown Theater Festival when I freshly
turned twenty one.

Speaker 2 (04:09):
Oh Emily, Yeah, I was Emily. That's I did that
play twice when I was fourteen.

Speaker 5 (04:16):
It's the best play.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
I played Emily's brother. Oh, so it's so tender, the
world's greatest play.

Speaker 5 (04:24):
It's the best play, and having that is my only experience.
Even though it was brief, I found it incredibly profound
and spiritual, even as like a twenty one year old
that's right, And so I knew what the best version
of it was and it had sort of ruined me.
And so any time I had gotten even the slightest

(04:45):
bit of an opportunity for another play, I was like,
I don't know if I can grow with this in
the same way that I did with Art Town, where
it was like you were just profoundly met with your
mortality and time and family and love and just the
bigness of life. Yes, And the audience is having such
a profound experience because they're going with you on that too,

(05:07):
And so I'm like, well, it's got to be that
we're all on the edge of our mortality crying about
how beautiful existence is. Where I'm not doing it, and.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
It runs for everything I did it. I did it
when it's nineteen in summerstock and New London, New Hampshire
for the towns like Sesquentennial Anniversary, and they did our
Town and I think I was nineteen, and I played
the milkman, of course, and my research was the Pepperidge

(05:36):
Farm guy perfect that Bridge Farm remembers. That's how you
do that accent, watch those commercials. But the great thing
about that production all the other people, like in the
smaller parts were townspeople who really talk like that and
the old people from the So it was triple the

(05:57):
emotion if you can imagine.

Speaker 5 (06:01):
No, of course, so when I did it, it was the.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Well, Williamstown is kind of near there, it's not very.

Speaker 5 (06:06):
Much has the vibe like it gives you the vibe
of the play. And also it was the director Nicky Martin.
It was his last play that he was going to
direct and this was what he wanted and so had
that feeling of like life has, there's only so much
time we have, and so it gave that I think

(06:27):
similar to what you're talking about of like it kind of.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Blends everyone listening watching. Please go if you can't see
a film of our town, if your local theater company
is doing it, doesn't matter who's doing that play or
read that play, but to see it, even on a
high school level, it will get you.

Speaker 6 (06:48):
Yeah, I've never seen it to do that.

Speaker 5 (06:57):
Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2 (06:57):
I'm sure this was one of the maybe four universal
plays ever written, completely universal from no matter where you
are on Earth or your background, it's a universal play.

Speaker 1 (07:11):
And you do not remember, you do not remember how
our town figures and our friendship one of the We
already talked about Molten Caso, but I'll just say that
our Caso we met because I reviewed his show in
Rolling Stone, but we bonded that during the tribute to Heroes,
the telethon after nine to eleven, which was on every

(07:33):
channel in the world, and we were talking about it
because we were writing for this thing, and it was like,
there's never been a telethon like that. Not there's never
been a nine to eleven. Now we have them all
the time, but no, we never had anything like that.
And I remember what we said was, we're doing our
town for the whole world, Like, how do you that?

Speaker 2 (07:53):
Give me that?

Speaker 1 (07:54):
How do you do something that's about the universal experience
like that?

Speaker 2 (07:58):
And it's informed everything I've done since doing it as
a teenager.

Speaker 5 (08:02):
It makes perfect sense. I know exactly what you mean, right, Yeah, Well,
I gotta get my hands on.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
You'll cry, I mean, you'll crime it's heaven.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
It's so beautiful.

Speaker 2 (08:16):
Don't you want to do it again?

Speaker 5 (08:18):
Our town old? But yeah, of course, I mean that's
the that is the the thing about you know, an
Electra as well. It's like when there are these eternal
stories that you do want to return to them over
and over and over again.

Speaker 1 (08:34):
But from Electra, the natural transition is back to Keeso.
How did how did this friendship partnership start? And it
did happen over over?

Speaker 5 (08:45):
Yeah, it did, of course, as.

Speaker 6 (08:47):
Most important things. I started at a party. We were
at a party with a mutual friend was throwing for
It was like a presidential debate party.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
In like twenty sixteen.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Hillary was running and how'd that go?

Speaker 6 (09:05):
The cao was great and I was on and I
had gotten there a little bit early because I was
making the case. It was on the stove and it
was melting, and Bree came in and we hadn't met before,
so I was like, Hey, I'm Courney, Hey I'm Brie.
And then she's like what's that and like grabbed a
chip and just like went straight into the pot on
the stove like started eating. It's like, this is the

(09:25):
best thing I've ever had. And I was like I
love this person so much and it was like best friends.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
Oh yeah, yeah, that's so nice.

Speaker 5 (09:34):
And then we threw so many parties together. Yeah, throw
so many and it's isn't it hard to parties?

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah? I do it every weekend, but it's it's pretty
easy for me.

Speaker 5 (09:45):
What do you do?

Speaker 2 (09:47):
We have a movie night? Love that right, So so
we have a little screening room that we built.

Speaker 6 (09:54):
Do you do food that goes along with the movie,
because that's fun.

Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, it's it's Uh. I put in a wood burning
pizza oven.

Speaker 5 (10:03):
In the kitchen, well done in the kitchen.

Speaker 2 (10:05):
Yah'll show it to you.

Speaker 5 (10:05):
Okay, great, I want to see that.

Speaker 1 (10:07):
And the greatest pizza chefs in the world.

Speaker 2 (10:09):
And then we have like a guy from Moza come
and make pizza or or pizzana and they come and
make pizza and uh salad.

Speaker 5 (10:20):
To come in for as journalists. Just check out what
you're doing.

Speaker 6 (10:24):
People, we are.

Speaker 2 (10:27):
Now that we're friends, you're you're invited anytime, and uh,
we've had some wonderful nights and usually we have someone
associated with the movie come also and I sroeduced them
with pizza well and brilliant.

Speaker 6 (10:41):
So you're a natural you're a natural party persons.

Speaker 2 (10:44):
It's I'm not cooking anything. It's funny that your your
these are your recipes, right, Yeah, so I have two
cookbooks out. Maybe I have a recipe for how to
make a chocolate eg cream? Is that in your book?

Speaker 5 (11:00):
No, we don't chocolate ice cream, but let's just swap recipes.

Speaker 6 (11:02):
But this is why Brain and I are such a
good team is because I'm a chef, so like I
handle the food and rehandles like the party.

Speaker 5 (11:10):
Like decor.

Speaker 2 (11:13):
No recipes from you.

Speaker 5 (11:14):
No, No, there's recipies for me in the book. We're
not talking about the book. We're talking about in terms
of actually throwing a party, especially in a world where
like we're very busy, it's I highly recommend having a
counterpart to do it if it's just you alone, like
especially because we like to throw elaborate parties, Like we
just threw a spelling bee the other day, and it

(11:35):
was like she was making the pizzas and I was
like hosting, figuring out the whole list of the tiers
for the spelling bee and like making the sign and
getting the PA system and all of that. And so
that's like a lot for someone to throw together a
week before you decide to do it. Yeah, so I
we think it's like find your friends that are like

(11:57):
down to help you with certain things that are like
who's your friend that loves to do dishes. There is
somebody out there that loves to do dishes, especially if
they've had some cocktails in them. Enlists them, Like it
doesn't have to be that like it's all buttoned up
and perfect and you did everything for everyone. And also
even in the book where like, let's be real, this
book is part of it is like a blueprint for

(12:19):
how to throw a party, right, and part of that
includes like if there are barriers to entry, figure out
what those are and like break them down. So if
it's you don't want to have a bunch of dishes
at the end, there's composable plates. Now you're not going
to ruin the planet and you can just have a
little less to do at the end of the night, right,
Or it's the cups, like pick something you can do
a nice plate and like a disposable cup, that's fine.

(12:41):
Or if you figure out who your friends are, that'll
help you great. If you just want to order pizza
and make like a salad from the.

Speaker 6 (12:47):
Book, you don't have time to deal with it. You
don't know how to cook, like order pizza. Like our
whole thing is like, yeah, we give you a ton
of amazing recipes, but we also give you permission to
like hack the system. And the most important thing I
would say about our book is we want to inspire
people to get together in real life and to commune
with each other.

Speaker 2 (13:05):
That's overtasty food.

Speaker 6 (13:06):
Yeah, and if like you don't feel like like being
in a kitchen and cooking the whole time, like order
takeout or tell you have your friend who can.

Speaker 5 (13:14):
Cook help with the food.

Speaker 6 (13:15):
But like we really it's so important, especially now, for
us to come together and like look each other in
the eyes and be like, hey, we're in this together.
We like, let's do this, Let's have some fun, let's
be serious.

Speaker 5 (13:28):
We need to be serious.

Speaker 6 (13:28):
Let's laugh and we need to laugh. Like that's the deal.
That's a party person. So you're a party person even
if you aren't personally making pizzas.

Speaker 5 (13:36):
It's not about that who did the most work for
the party.

Speaker 2 (13:39):
How much work do you put into like the spelling beak,
what was that? Like how much plan?

Speaker 6 (13:45):
Well we're doing we're doing we're like party people extra
at this point.

Speaker 5 (13:48):
Yeah, we're party people.

Speaker 6 (13:49):
It's like what you're advanced party we're hiring right now?

Speaker 2 (13:53):
Are people hiring you to do their parties?

Speaker 5 (13:55):
And actually no one.

Speaker 1 (13:56):
Can afford them.

Speaker 5 (13:57):
We have people ask and I think it would be
fun like maybe in a bit when things calm down.
We're not trying to like beg people to buy the book.
Then you know the book, Yeah, I just mean you
know all of that, so, but I do think it
would be helpful to, like, and we try our best
in this book to like break it down for people.

(14:19):
And we even have things like these are the things
you can make before, these are the things you can freeze,
but like spelling bee for example. Like some of the
hardest parts is just like sourcing certain materials if you
want them. Like I'm a big believer in keeping giant
rolls of craft paper in your home at all times
because they work to roll down on your tables. They

(14:41):
make you can draw on them, You can make all
kinds of different table scapes with them. So I have
like your brown paper bag type of craft paper roll,
but I also have like turquoise, I have like different
colors and they're just around. You can use them to
wrap gifts, you can use it to put on top
of your table, and in this case, I use it
to make a giant sign that I pay with acrylic
pens that says first and maybe only average adult spelling

(15:06):
the twenty twenty five found some scotch tape taped it
up on my balcony.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
That was that how many people?

Speaker 5 (15:14):
There's like fifteen? Oh yeah, I was about to say ten, fifteen.
It was quite a nice scrip. Yeah, right now. We've
been also like trying to not make every single party
we throw a blowout because it's expensive as well. Like
that's the other part that we've been trying to explain
to people with parties, which is like you can have
a party with five people and open a bottle of

(15:34):
the tubut Chuck and that's just fine. You know.

Speaker 2 (15:37):
It's the key is to see the people. Yeah, So
what kind of food was that? The spelling bee pizzas?

Speaker 5 (15:43):
We did pizzas?

Speaker 2 (15:44):
You made pizza? Wow?

Speaker 4 (15:46):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (15:46):
Oh I have one of those Gosny ovens.

Speaker 2 (15:49):
Yeah, oh yeah, that's great.

Speaker 4 (15:50):
We did.

Speaker 6 (15:50):
And like for the food, like I always back it
out right, So I'm like, okay, like what can I
makes making everything as foreign advance as you possibly.

Speaker 5 (15:58):
Can and get away with doing.

Speaker 6 (16:00):
Like and the pizza dough that I make, it's like
a really easy recipe. It's like a no need dough
and ferments overnight, so you make the dough overnight, and
then like I made the sauce night before, the white,
the red sauce night for the white sauce the night before,
and let's.

Speaker 5 (16:12):
Like get everything ready to go, and then she tells me.
So she then texted me, these are all the things
I'm thinking, and she came up with the funny idea
of how to tie it into the archetypes in our book.
So then she sent it to me, and then I
hand drew out the menus and I was in charge
of making the menus, printing the menus, having enough pens
for everybody to order.

Speaker 6 (16:33):
People replacing their orders too. We had people in Techo
which kind of pizza they wanted. We opened. We basically
opened a pizza restaurants slash spelling b arena. Yeah, for
one night, one night only, put together and do you
do pizzas often for these parties? Yeah, I mean pizzas
are pretty easy and has a pizza oven, so like,
I mean, pizzas are pretty easy and they're fast.

Speaker 2 (16:55):
Are you making dough yourself?

Speaker 5 (16:57):
Wow, I'm a class trained pastry chef.

Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yes that I know milk bar right, Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:04):
Can you talk a little bit about your food because
Phil is a food guru without cooking, But you have
a real.

Speaker 5 (17:13):
Guru without cooking.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
Too.

Speaker 2 (17:17):
They say you have this food trow you know cook?
I say, yeah, I meet a lot of great chefs
in the world. They can't ride a sitcom. We all
contributed in our way.

Speaker 5 (17:27):
Yeah, of course.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
And by the way, he is a great appreciator of food,
which he doesn't look like he is.

Speaker 2 (17:32):
Chef chefs like me because I love that. Yeah, I couldn't.
I'm the number one fan.

Speaker 6 (17:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
So that was about it.

Speaker 6 (17:40):
Well, so well, I went to journalism school actually, and
then I direct path Direct paths Working and food is
go to journalism school first. After I graduate, I was like,
I don't really want to be a journalist anymore.

Speaker 5 (17:50):
And I was like, I guess I'll go to culinary school.

Speaker 6 (17:53):
So I went to baking pastry school and this was
all in Texas and then one day I was in
Austin at the time because I went.

Speaker 1 (18:00):
To you a great food town where Phil took me
on a barbecue barbecue. Where did you go that area?
What is that area? That was just a dream?

Speaker 2 (18:11):
Oh yeah, the with all the food trucks where they.

Speaker 6 (18:14):
Like very like very Cruz Tacos Yaco spot.

Speaker 5 (18:19):
If I'm thinking right.

Speaker 2 (18:20):
Place, there's a there's yeah, like a whole pods.

Speaker 1 (18:23):
Right.

Speaker 6 (18:24):
We gotta go, We just we just got to go.
So fun.

Speaker 2 (18:27):
We'll go to either south By Southwest or the Bustin
Film Festival. They would love you there, or the TV Festival.
They would love you there.

Speaker 6 (18:36):
It's a good Yeah, it's a great town. But so
but so this was like a long time ago. South
By Southwest is still going what's going on?

Speaker 5 (18:43):
And it was like very cool and tiny then.

Speaker 6 (18:45):
But I was like Okay, I want, I want, I
need to do something. I need to make a move.
And it's like I think I need to move to
New York. And like literally two weeks later, I like
packed up my my Toyota with like whatever it would
hold and literally drove to New York with two thousand
in my pocket, didn't have a place to live, didn't
have a job. I was just like I know that

(19:06):
I have to go to New York and like, I
have to go now. And so when I got there,
I emailed Momofuku General like Sombar had it on Craigslist.
It was like, we're hiring. So I emailed them and
I was like, hey, what did I don't want to
work for you. I want to work for milk Bar
because milk Bar just open. I was like, so could you?
I was like, but there's no listings, so can you
just like give someone at milk Bar that my resume?

(19:28):
And like two days later, Christina Tosti called me and
she's like, hey, come on in, and I did and
the rest was history.

Speaker 2 (19:35):
She's brilliant, she's great. Yeah, I think tell me if this,
if this is just me, I reached an age where
some of milk Bar stuff is almost too sweet for me.
Oh yeah? Did you find it sweet when she reached
that age film?

Speaker 6 (19:50):
Yes, oh no, I definitely have. It's very sweet.

Speaker 5 (19:53):
It's very sweet, for.

Speaker 2 (19:54):
Sure, but you can always tone that down if you're
making these recipes right, absolutely, yeah.

Speaker 5 (20:00):
Absolutely yeah.

Speaker 6 (20:01):
We have a bunch of sweets and are not a bunch.
We have a dedicated dessert section and one of my
favorite recipes and there's Olive oil cake. It's called them, yeah,
and it's I love it so much. Is because it's
decidedly not very sweet.

Speaker 5 (20:15):
Because she's also making a book with me. Who does
not like sweets at all?

Speaker 2 (20:19):
Not really, You're not a dessert person.

Speaker 5 (20:21):
No, I'm like the person that has truly gone back
to the beginning and I order another appetizer that's the
best when everybody else is having it in.

Speaker 2 (20:29):
Front of TV. You're having pretzels and chips, and.

Speaker 5 (20:33):
It's like always funny when people go, You're so lucky
that you don't like sweets, I'm like, what do you mean?
Like I eat a whole bag of chips instead. It's
not I'm not free either, but I'm just consuming too.

Speaker 2 (20:43):
So does ice cream.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
I want to love ice cream so much, so much.
It's so romantic, and like I'm the person that would
be like, let's get an ice cream cone and then
I'll like take a couple of licks and then I'm like,
how do I get out of the situations?

Speaker 2 (21:01):
It's different too, like that you're like this is sweet.

Speaker 5 (21:05):
Yeah, sweet, it's very sweet to me. Yeah, but not
it is. I you know, one time, like you know,
everybody was doing those glucose monitor things.

Speaker 2 (21:15):
Yes, I did that.

Speaker 5 (21:16):
Yeah, I did it too, like and I had like
I had it for a day and like I ate
like a fruit snack, like a natural fruit juice fruit,
and my glucose went crazy.

Speaker 2 (21:27):
So, by the way, it happened to me when I bread,
I don't.

Speaker 5 (21:30):
Know what the deal is. I don't know if I
have some sort of thing. It's been like that my
whole life, like understand you or pretzels, just the stuff
with just the sugar. I didn't have it with that.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
I do all you know in your blood anyway, I know, but.

Speaker 5 (21:46):
Not for me. When I was in elementary school, I
brought a cheese and salam tree to school for my
birthday instead of cake because I didn't wok cake or cookies,
which was so excited for me. And I made zero
friends that day because I was like, what, you're sophistic?
What person is second grade is bringing salami?

Speaker 2 (22:07):
I love it?

Speaker 5 (22:08):
Thank you?

Speaker 2 (22:09):
Yeah, I think that's the coolest.

Speaker 5 (22:11):
It's still all I want.

Speaker 4 (22:12):
That's great.

Speaker 2 (22:40):
It's it's you know what I love in your book.
It's the hot dog section. Are you a hot dog
Lover's crazy?

Speaker 5 (22:53):
What do you put on your dog?

Speaker 2 (22:55):
I love the very personal course. First of all, all right,
we can talk about this for a while, but I'm
a mustard onion, sour kraut, lovely some pickles sometimes like
I love this. I love the Chicago dog. I think
that's great. I think have you been to Scandinavia at
all and had the hot dogs in Iceland? Or I
haven't know what I'm talking about?

Speaker 6 (23:17):
Right, for their dogs they are and Iland.

Speaker 2 (23:20):
They love hot dogs and they do them up.

Speaker 5 (23:23):
Hot dogs are the town of food. They are everyone right.

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Says, but wait, you had a discussion, a fight, even
over whether it's a sandwich or not? Right?

Speaker 1 (23:37):
Yes, now, who's we were on that podcast? There was
a whole podcast.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
About Yeah, but I have a go ahead.

Speaker 6 (23:43):
Your position is it's not a sandwich, and your position
is very much the opposite. I proudly believe that it is.

Speaker 2 (23:52):
Here's what I think. It's technically a sandwich, but nobody thinks.

Speaker 5 (23:58):
Of it that way or pogetically it is not.

Speaker 1 (24:01):
Do you know how many relationships have ended over this
exact debate?

Speaker 5 (24:04):
Means incredible.

Speaker 2 (24:05):
I can tell you this.

Speaker 5 (24:06):
We are really like the model of like you can
deeply fundamentally disagree with your best friend.

Speaker 2 (24:13):
And still be incredible life. That's nice.

Speaker 5 (24:15):
You can build a business together.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
I think we can all. If everyone's listening, we can
all learn from this.

Speaker 5 (24:19):
Real you're modeling for America and us be your guide.

Speaker 2 (24:23):
But I just heard something where old timey menu listed
on their.

Speaker 5 (24:28):
Hot dog sandwiches a hot dog sandwich.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
They literally called.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
It in here that is the hot dog sandwich the
bridge to a better tomorrow.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
But like if you have a submarine sandwich on a
roll and it's not cut all the way through, Yeah, okay,
it's still a sandwich, isn't it.

Speaker 5 (24:49):
I understand what you're saying.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
You understand your error in I get it. Hot dog
is its own thing, and I agree with you. Hot
dogs is its own thing. But technically, if you were
a scientist and you've played one, you have to know
that that is a type of sandwich.

Speaker 6 (25:07):
Like in the same way that all wrecked all squares
are rectangles, but not all rectangles are squares.

Speaker 2 (25:14):
Listen to this.

Speaker 6 (25:15):
All hot dogs are sandwiches, but not all sandwiches are
hot dogs.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
Like Julius, maybe you should have had that part. Yeah,
I didn't know that.

Speaker 6 (25:30):
You work together, and that's what inspired us to kind
of do this book, like we actually really love working together.
It's like we're cried a dynamic duo. Let's let's keep
it going, let's run it back, all right.

Speaker 2 (25:41):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (25:42):
That's great because you on your side of writing cookbooks,
you are an Oscar winning movie star. Let me ask you,
what are your favorite food party scenes in all the film?

Speaker 6 (25:55):
Good?

Speaker 5 (25:55):
What do you mean anything food scenes? And I was like,
let's get into it. Oh gosh, okay, Well, there's like
a one wonner in Selena when they're working at the
Mexican restaurant, and that means like actually everything to me,
And I almost don't want to say anything else from

(26:15):
another movie because it makes me cry. My publicist has
her head and her answer. She's laughing because she knows
that Jaylo is my inspiration and it always all roads
lead back to her. But I think that is such
an amazing, such an amazing scene, because there's great shots
of food in movies and television. But I also love

(26:39):
the whole thing, like it's part of why I loved
watching The Bears because like I and and Courtney, it's
too close for Courtney to watch, but it's like you
were It's like the way that I can't watch the
studio because it's too inside and it's like too real
and stresses me out. That's the same for her with
The Bear. But like, I think there's so much about
not just like the food styling of putting beautiful food

(27:02):
in a movie, but like capturing the reality in the
environment and like the fight. And that's part of why
I love restaurants that have like that are open and
you can like look in and like it makes me
so happy, and you can feel when it's legit or
like when it's performative, or when they're just like you're
part of us, like watch the whole thing go down.

(27:23):
I've got Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 2 (27:26):
I've never seen Selena look at faces.

Speaker 1 (27:30):
I just I just saw it. I just never saw it.
With j Lo two months ago, on an award show
she hosted.

Speaker 5 (27:36):
The was she like, was you everything to you?

Speaker 1 (27:39):
I've worked with her over the years quite a bit.
She's amazing.

Speaker 2 (27:42):
She is amazing.

Speaker 5 (27:44):
She's amazing.

Speaker 1 (27:45):
And by the way, you have an actor, but you
were amazing this episode of The Bear, you you did
very I don't know when you filmed it a year ago,
but it to me gets at the essence of something
about parties in that like this is a wedding scene.
I won't ruonder if anyone, but part.

Speaker 2 (28:00):
Of it is it's been out for a while, the
way people but.

Speaker 1 (28:03):
The way people adjust to the unexpected at a party.
It's like that sort of captures like the people rising
to the challenge of going under that table, and like, wow,
that captures the magic of what happens.

Speaker 5 (28:16):
In a party, right, it really did, because it's like
we're all there for this ritualistic moment for the sake
of the show, of the episode of the show. It
was this wedding where it's like beautiful moment, but like
tensions are running, high emotions, family that sometimes haven't seen
each other in a long time, and like all of
this clash and like the beauty and complication of all
of that that, Like, it's so funny how we've been

(28:39):
thinking and talking about this a lot because we're like
throw parties and most people like their understanding of a
party is like a wedding Thanksgiving. I would say that
those are in a way like high stress environments.

Speaker 2 (28:53):
I mean, I'm sure.

Speaker 5 (28:55):
We've had also incredible experiences on those days too. I
don't say that it's that, but like even just all
of those things are it's a lot of planning, it's
a lot of build up, it's a lot of believing
like you're supposed to act and be a certain way.
And what we're talking about is like there's a reason
why those are like once in a lifetime or like
once a year activities. Right, the types of parties and
gatherings we're talking about are like a more casual You

(29:17):
should be able to like handle doing these every couple
of months or every month, or do a weekly dinner
series or whatever you want to do, just like you
found that way. Yeah, and so the Bear, I feel
like showcases exactly exactly why we made this book, which
is just like it's okay, Like it doesn't have to
be this perfect, buttoned up thing and you have and
you feel the need to invite people that you maybe

(29:38):
didn't want to or confront something you didn't want to,
Like you can just have a casual thing with people
you love and eat some pizza and sing karaoke and
that can be that.

Speaker 2 (29:47):
But let me ask you, because you have these themed parties.
Once you throw a theme on a party, aren't you
adding a layer of stress?

Speaker 4 (29:56):
No?

Speaker 2 (29:56):
What if your theme doesn't work. What if nobody's into
the spelling Bee or maybe they wouldn't come if they
weren't into it.

Speaker 5 (30:03):
Yeah, the difference is we have like weird friends, so.

Speaker 1 (30:07):
That always helps them everything.

Speaker 5 (30:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (30:08):
Well, but also I would argue, like, so what if
people aren't into it, like they're still very slow, Like
so it didn't work. At least you tried.

Speaker 2 (30:17):
You're all still.

Speaker 6 (30:17):
Together, so like, yes, like okay, no one's enjoying the
spelling Bee, let's instead have a dance party or really
talk about that happens. I mean most of our parties
turned into dance parties eventually. But but I think it's
that's another thing.

Speaker 5 (30:33):
Of the book. We give you permission to fail.

Speaker 6 (30:37):
Like it's okay if like you throw a party and
it doesn't go exactly as you expect it, if you
burn the soux fle or like one time I was
like grilling zucchini for a party and completely forgot about
it and and found charcoal on the girl next day
of like the zucchini, like like it does, Like it's
the most important thing is again just to get together,
to be in the moment, and to like be okay,

(30:58):
if it doesn't work, you have to like try like
use it as like a practice of like doing things
you're afraid of, Like I'm afraid no one's gonna like
my party, but I'm still gonna throw a party because
it's important.

Speaker 2 (31:08):
The theme is the excuse to get the people to doe.

Speaker 6 (31:11):
Yeah, and the themes can be I mean, yes, the
themes from our book are themes that we've done a
million times in love. But like you can come come
up with your own themes. It can be something as
simple as Bree was saying the other night, like it's
just the theme can be where something that you've always
that you've had your closet for a million years and
just really want to wear but have never had an
occasion like.

Speaker 5 (31:29):
The end and come over for dinner and just do that.
Because as somebody who has struggled in the past with
being scared to go to parties because it makes me anxious,
me too, Yeah, yeah, I think that's normal.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (31:41):
I actually find the theme is so helpful because it
gives you the immediate icebreaker and guide to a conversation. If,
for example, it's the it's a dinner party. But the
twist is wear something that you always that you never
get to wear. They always want to. It's the most
easy thing in the world. We don't know each other.
Oh wow, what is that? That's really cute? Where'd you
get that? Why don't you get to wear that? You
should wear that more often? Like it guides you, just

(32:04):
like the spelling bee, Like you can think, oh, these
these ideas for these parties are so crazy, but they
actually just give you a little bit of structure to
kind of wrap your arms around what it is and
not feel like you're constantly needing to like handhold people
into conversations. Yeah, it's part of why, Like so long ago,
I started always keeping a jigsaw puzzle on a coffee
table in my house so that whenever I at a party,

(32:27):
you'll find that the people who are maybe not quite
ready to join the party and the conversation, they're over
there working on the puzzle. They're still part of it,
but not fully. And sometimes it's easier to talk when
you don't have to make eye contact and it just
kind of like smooth things over. There's little things like
that that. Again, I think it's about trying to really
get real with yourself about like why am I afraid

(32:49):
of throwing a party? Why am I afraid? Is it
because I'm afraid of the attention and celebrating myself, or
I'm afraid of failing at it or being bad at it.
I'm afraid no one's going to have fun or just
small talk scares me. I mean so many of these
party ideas that came up with truly because I think,
deep down I have just the hardest time of small talk.
So you come up with another way that like guides

(33:11):
it and makes it fun.

Speaker 2 (33:13):
Do you prefer sit down dinners or Lucy Goosey informal I'm.

Speaker 6 (33:17):
More personally Lucy Goosey informal, right, but I do love
a sit down dinner.

Speaker 5 (33:23):
It depends on the occasion.

Speaker 6 (33:24):
But if I had to choose one, it would be
Lucy Goosey. Like here's some food, eat it, Like here's
you know, everyone come walk around mill about and eat
your food.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Right yeah, yeah, no rules?

Speaker 7 (33:37):
Yeah, so please don't be knocked Barker.

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Do you have dream living or dead dream party? Guest?
One thing is Phil's movie Nights have had some of
those moments where I got to know Elaine May who's
been on the podcast. You know, she came and showed
one of her movies and the stays with Phil or
you know everyone. I don't. I won't name drop for him,
but like a crazy crazy people will show up here.

(34:31):
But do you have a dream party guest you would
love to have?

Speaker 6 (34:37):
I mean, yeah, have so many? I would say, Oh, okay,
hold on. I feel like a cool scientist like Albert
Einstein would be fascinating because I want to ask him
about like space and stuff and see what and see
what he thinks about what all of the new science
stuff that's come out.

Speaker 5 (34:55):
I want to hear his thoughts.

Speaker 2 (34:59):
Very good, I guess.

Speaker 5 (35:03):
I mean really, I just am such a fan of
Buster Keaton and what does he have to say? You too?
I'm obsessed. I've always been obsessed, and like he's one
of those people that I just adore, but like I
don't really know enough about.

Speaker 1 (35:19):
We can get you, Harold Lloyd, but we cannot give him.

Speaker 5 (35:21):
Can I give you a munch of game? Yeah? So yeah,
I'd say I love that.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
By the way, silent movie stars are such a great
answer because we love them without what does he sound like?

Speaker 6 (35:32):
Like?

Speaker 5 (35:32):
What is he like like? Or what's he like when
he's just hanging out? You know? Weirdly had dinner not
that long ago, and David Blaine was there and like
he actually did magic the entire time and blew my mind.
But like I always wonder about people at dinner parties
because like if I'm invited to a dinner party, like, please,
don't expect me to do a monologue, Like obviously I'm
gonna just be some I'm gonna be myself, right, But

(35:54):
I'm always fascinated also by the people who like are
actually the experience.

Speaker 1 (35:59):
Well, Robin Williams, who you mentioned it, I worked with him.
He made every thing you did around him a party.
And but in a way that the thing that I
always love is he did it with everyone in the space,
Like if you were backstage, he was get drinks for
the PA. He would hand snacks, you know, he would,
he'd do a joke for everyone, And it's like, how
do you make making everyone welcome? Which is good party?

Speaker 2 (36:23):
Can we go back to hot dogs? Tell us about
the hot Dog Chapter and your favorite hot dogs?

Speaker 6 (36:32):
Well, the hot Dog Chapter is based on a festival
that we throw every year. The hot Dog Festival is that,
well it's coming up in a few weeks. Actually to join,
where's it going to be? Is that breeze Mom's house.
It's a family affair.

Speaker 5 (36:48):
She can't tell you.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
No, no, no, I don't need the exact address. But this
is the lah Yeah, and you do all the different
hot dogs.

Speaker 6 (37:01):
Yeah, we just like so we get a bunch of
different hot dogs from like different places.

Speaker 1 (37:05):
I have.

Speaker 2 (37:05):
I have a place I want you to try because
that's where I get mine. It's European Deluxe Sausage Kitchen.
Do you know about this? So it's on It's on
Olympic near Dahini. Okay, it's a it's an old German
Deluxe European Deluxe Sausage kitchen. It's a good name for

(37:27):
a band, such a cool name. It's an old German
uh butcher shop. And my favorite hot dog there and
I've tried them all is their turkey Francs because there's
no processed meat, there's no and they've got a snap.

Speaker 6 (37:44):
Okay, actually that's actually my favorite hot dog?

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Is that hot dog?

Speaker 6 (37:51):
Have you ever gotten hot the dogs.

Speaker 2 (37:53):
Buns that you gotta do? Martin's Potato.

Speaker 5 (37:59):
Is our second year a road to be sponsored by
Martins Potatoes and we just love them.

Speaker 2 (38:02):
So ch I mean the festival is sponsored wait a minute.
The festival is like has sponsors? What's happening?

Speaker 5 (38:08):
It's typically a family barbecue that has sponsors.

Speaker 2 (38:12):
How do people do have.

Speaker 5 (38:13):
Like seventy five? Wow? But I think this will probably
be the last year that No, no, that it'll be in.
My parents were just like, it's.

Speaker 1 (38:22):
Your experience going to be this is this is your
dream festival?

Speaker 2 (38:27):
Yeah, and if I can turn you guys onto this
hot well.

Speaker 6 (38:30):
Have you Another one of our sponsors is Walters. Have
you ever had Walters?

Speaker 2 (38:34):
Of course from New Jersey?

Speaker 5 (38:35):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (38:35):
So good?

Speaker 6 (38:36):
And then but in l A have you been to
It's called Continental Gourmet Sausage Company. No, got, that's where
we get another that's a good one.

Speaker 5 (38:45):
Another the curve Ball German butcher.

Speaker 2 (38:48):
And which Frank is great there.

Speaker 5 (38:50):
They're called wieners. They're they have like by the.

Speaker 2 (38:53):
Way, I didn't want to say wieners, but that's what
they call them.

Speaker 6 (38:57):
Exactly turkeys brought worst and stuff.

Speaker 5 (39:00):
But like there's just the wieners and that's.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
What you yeah together, but what do they call it?

Speaker 5 (39:08):
Wieners?

Speaker 2 (39:09):
They're literally just the wiener that I'd like a wiener?

Speaker 6 (39:13):
Please, Ye'll have a dozen wieners to go.

Speaker 1 (39:16):
You said band name. And that's the one thing I
would like to commission your sequel follow up book to
this book, which is a book that has more intensive
or maybe it's for the paperback expanded edition, the on
Music on party Music. And in fact, for this episode,
I made a playlist of songs that have party in

(39:37):
the spent No I spent I get. For years I
was asked to make playlists for different hotels and parties
and things like that and so but for this what
I thought was, for this episode, we will work in
party songs throughout the show. Let me see if I
can and see, okay you but I don't know this

(39:58):
is suited. We want to the songs you might like.
So here's the list, and you tell me. All songs
with party and the title in one case in parentheses
by the Beastie Boys, but so uh pick five of
these all Tomorrow's Parties by Velvet Underground and Nico, which
is a pre show because it's about the night before.

Speaker 5 (40:18):
Yeah, I'm really party vibe but it's but it is
the party.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
An underrated song that I once had to do a
TV I did a teen choice of words and had
to watch it rehearsed four hunder times in a row,
Never Got Tired of It. Party in the USA, of
course by Miley Cyrus, of course, Having a party by
Sam Cook Loves Him Soul.

Speaker 2 (40:37):
You know that song, play play, I'm gonna.

Speaker 1 (40:39):
Play ten seconds of it.

Speaker 6 (40:44):
Yeah, have.

Speaker 7 (40:53):
So good.

Speaker 2 (40:57):
So south Side South uh So?

Speaker 1 (41:00):
Rod Stewart's covered it a lot. Yes, so we'll put
that in. Okay, great, we're starting.

Speaker 5 (41:06):
With that is getting off this list.

Speaker 1 (41:08):
Then the fears of ruining a party are represented by
the Beatles. I don't want to spoil the party. Do
you know that song?

Speaker 5 (41:15):
I don't know what that is.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
I don't want to.

Speaker 2 (41:34):
Show there. I don't know the song. I thought I
knew every What is that from?

Speaker 1 (41:47):
It's It's there is?

Speaker 5 (41:49):
How cute? Early mid period see Party Anxiety, Unite.

Speaker 1 (41:56):
Now more your generation party rock Anthem, l M A
f f AO, don't know Okay, we'll skip it.

Speaker 5 (42:04):
Wait, keep going. I like these this is your generation?
Well how dary No, sorry, he's not making it.

Speaker 2 (42:14):
So if that beat is going on, that's a bad
party in my opinion, absolutely, because you can't hear yourself, right.

Speaker 6 (42:20):
I think that's a very important rule for a party.

Speaker 2 (42:22):
You've got to be able to talk the music so
that you can hear it, enjoy it.

Speaker 6 (42:26):
But like quiet enough you can have a conversation.

Speaker 2 (42:29):
I like old timy music forty.

Speaker 1 (42:32):
One of the greatest songs of all time, one of
the greatest party songs. One my mother and father loved.
I Love, I Think you will love. Everyone loves. In fact,
when Quincy Jones passed, he produced this record and it
is people.

Speaker 5 (42:47):
Heaven so good.

Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, everybody likes that song.

Speaker 5 (42:52):
Perfect.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
Okay, So Leslie Gore makes your playlist for this episode.
Party by Beyonce. You are you familiar with the no
with Andre three thousands of.

Speaker 6 (43:01):
Out that.

Speaker 4 (43:05):
You get the swag the swago.

Speaker 1 (43:13):
Okay, I'll have. That's an un optional to put in
the episode. Optional skip the pitbull, don't stop the party.

Speaker 2 (43:20):
Here's my party, hold on.

Speaker 5 (43:25):
Chicken, very nice.

Speaker 2 (43:31):
Chicken.

Speaker 1 (43:34):
I have to rule it ineligible. It's no party in
the title chicken replacement swinging party is I didn't I
had it on my longer list. I cut it, but
we're putting it on.

Speaker 6 (43:49):
We gotta go get it. One of the best all time.
I mean, kind of micabo, but I think it's actually
about death, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Yes? But Paul.

Speaker 1 (43:57):
That's that's it's a very good I think I will
rule in Billie Eilish when the party is over for
sort of the end. Yeah, I will probably put in
uh Punky Reggae Party by Bob Marley because I find
just for a certain part of a party in my
correct this and then for the end, I think we

(44:18):
end with Billy Eilish when the party is over and
Willy Nelson the parties over lovely exactly everyone.

Speaker 2 (44:24):
That is excellent, excellent the word because songs.

Speaker 1 (44:30):
If it was my party, Tae, I would have all birth,
wind and fire. Oh yes, you know I have certain artists.
I put in everything. But again this is party. People
were being very different.

Speaker 6 (44:40):
I love this about you. I love that you made
this playlist because I love to do the same thing,
make a playlist that are like very specific, like get
your put in the book. Actually we have we have
some songs.

Speaker 5 (44:50):
Yeah, we have songs. We have playlists.

Speaker 2 (44:53):
Photos are in your book.

Speaker 5 (44:54):
I'm really happy with them.

Speaker 1 (44:56):
Oh, by the way, colorful like like great food, back party.
This book is so colorful, so beautiful. It's a party
in a book, yes, exactly.

Speaker 5 (45:05):
Yeah. Playlist suggestions game night for the next one.

Speaker 6 (45:09):
We should go like deeper on it. Maybe you can
be like, you can come consult with us.

Speaker 2 (45:13):
He's very good at this. What kind of games you're
playing on game night? What's in there besides spelling Bee?

Speaker 5 (45:20):
Well, I just taught Courtney yesterday. Monopoly Deal Deal Monopoly Deal.
It's a card game version of Monopoly. It moves a
lot faster. It's like a fifteen minute game rather than
like a four hour games. Fun.

Speaker 6 (45:33):
It's really fun.

Speaker 5 (45:34):
I really like card games because I just put them
in my purse and anywhere you can play them. I
also have gotten really into backgammon recently, so that has
also been a thing. I found one that's like a
roll up kind also can fit my purse.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
That's a great party thing.

Speaker 5 (45:52):
It's so good.

Speaker 2 (45:53):
How important or not important is booze at the barn?

Speaker 5 (45:57):
Is as important or not as you want it to be. Yeah,
I just like drinks in general. You know, it doesn't
have to be alcoholic.

Speaker 6 (46:04):
I would say, if I'm at a party, I want
to drink alcohol. I need for there to be some
love of I don't. I can't tell you the last
time I went to a party and didn't drink unless
I was like on like a cleanse or something. But
I don't. But I think that there should always be
options because not everyone drinks.

Speaker 2 (46:20):
But that it's the social lubricant, right, Yeah, it can be,
it can be not too much.

Speaker 5 (46:26):
Yeah, you don't peak too early. I also think though,
having a selection of non elk that feels equal to
because the other thing. Yeah, I just it never feels
good as somebody who has for various reasons, like I'm
training to be Captain Marvel and it's like when.

Speaker 2 (46:41):
You're we've all been through that, you know, training for.

Speaker 5 (46:44):
Five hours a day, one beer will like knock you
out on your ass. It's intense. And so there were
times like that where like you want to go out
with people and then like there's just I cannot stand though,
when you're the person with the glass of water and
I was like, what are you doing?

Speaker 6 (46:59):
Like what up?

Speaker 5 (47:00):
Let me get you a drink? Like no, let me alone.

Speaker 2 (47:03):
I hardly drink at Ail anymore. I had a sip
of this because I want it to be with the
kids at the party.

Speaker 5 (47:09):
Thank you for that, but hey, no no reason to
do that.

Speaker 1 (47:13):
You just said though about the special non alcoholic beverages
is completely I can I don't not drink, and I
drink more parties than any time else. I like champagne,
and that's always good at certain parties. But I will
say that like even my kids, like I just got
back from Japan and like my one of my sons
loves the Japanese cool little non alcoholic sodas and drinks

(47:35):
that you know, and that if you do that, if
you make that effort, I think that's fantastic.

Speaker 2 (47:40):
Some restaurants put.

Speaker 5 (47:41):
In their glass yeah, great mocktails.

Speaker 2 (47:43):
Incredible taking with the tasting menu. They do this different.
It's fantastic.

Speaker 5 (47:49):
I've been to so many amazing rocks that do that,
and it's really fun because the thing about when you
go to those fancy restaurants and you're doing like sixteen
courses and they pair a glass of wine with every
single one. At a certain point, you think that you're
having the time of your life, and the next day
you're like, I don't remember that, and I spent so
much money on that dinner, and suddenly I don't remember
it because I drank so much. That is so nice.

Speaker 2 (48:10):
And also if you're drunk in the middle of the meal,
the rest of the meal is not fun at all
because all you feel is kind of sick.

Speaker 6 (48:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (48:20):
Yeah, mocktails. People try try a mocktail.

Speaker 5 (48:22):
Wants something amazing? Yeah, I love a mocktail.

Speaker 6 (48:25):
I think it's important. I'll have off offer the full
gamut of everything.

Speaker 2 (48:29):
People.

Speaker 5 (48:31):
Everybody can party together nice.

Speaker 1 (48:33):
Now. Another party thing I will do is I'll think
in advance if there's something I want to a topic
I want to ask. So I've thought of a couple
topic one or two for each of you that if
you have enough time to ask all those for you.
Wichita Falls is that where you you grew up? Chi Now,
one of my favorite records all time is a jakesactly

(48:54):
I don't know anyone from Wichita Falls. Pat Metheeny, who's
a great jazz guitarist, made a record which is called
as Wichita Falls, So Falls, wichital.

Speaker 6 (49:01):
Falls, As Falls, Wichita Falls, Wichita Falls, which.

Speaker 1 (49:04):
Is one of my favorite and it's just a great album.
Is that the Wichita Falls. Are there other Wichitas.

Speaker 6 (49:10):
Well, Kansas and which is where my mom is from,
strangely enough, and then there's Wichita Falls, Texas. I'm sure
there's other There might be more, but like that's specifically
what that song was talking about.

Speaker 1 (49:21):
Oh, my god, that's good to know for you. I
have two Well, one is for our podcast. We had
an episode where Destin Daniel Creton, who directed Short Term twelve,
was on our podcast and I had not seen that
movie until just the other day, and I watched it

(49:41):
and it's amazing, and it brought it made me realize
the time I met you once. You wouldn't remember, but
you might remember the moment because I met you at
the Spirit Awards. I was writing the Independent Spirit Awards
and you, I think we were speaking outside and Ronnie
Malik walked by, who then becoming a big star, and
you had this beautiful reunion moment. And I'd never until

(50:04):
I saw this movie the other day, I didn't realize
you guys basically were kids beginning your career. Is that
was that experience on that movie life changing or no?

Speaker 5 (50:15):
The experience of making it, Yes, I mean the yes,
I mean personally and artistically it was. It was my
first time ever being the lead of a movie, which
felt like the biggest win of my life, having at
that point i'd been auditioning for like fifteen years, so
that was just a miracle. And for it to be

(50:38):
something that I really believed in and thought was good,
and we were had no money. I think that was
like a five hundred thousand dollars budget.

Speaker 1 (50:45):
Not a big catering budget.

Speaker 5 (50:47):
No, it was like everything was tiny and we were
never had enough time and so you'd have to like
run to change. All of the clothes were a combination
of either my own personal clothes or dustin Siss clothes
because we didn't have budget to buy anything. So it
was very intense and cozy and destined instilled in me

(51:11):
very early that I didn't need to try and prove
so much. Like my first big breakdown crying scene. I
you know, I'm supposed to be like smoking a cigarette
and I was like shaking and like about to cry,
and he was like cut moving on, and I thought
I felt all the shame because I thought, oh, does

(51:32):
he not think I can do it? And I was like,
I give me more time, I can do it again.
And he was like, oh, I don't need to watch
you torture yourself. That was perfect.

Speaker 2 (51:42):
Oh, And I was like.

Speaker 6 (51:43):
Oh my gosh, wow.

Speaker 5 (51:44):
And after, you know, I realized that I I don't
know that he realized at that time how much that
meant to me. As somebody who had been throwing myself
into so many auditions trying so hard to make it
that you think more is the answer, because I really
got to show how much I care. And he was like,
do what's honest, not what is showing off, so that
you can prove that you know how to do something.

(52:06):
And it was an important lesson that I learned right
at the right time, because I think it helped with
the tone of that movie, and then it like really
guided me through the rest of my career.

Speaker 1 (52:16):
Have you ever seen that movie Phil which one it's
short term twelve, never saw and will watch it now,
sreeing it the other two nights ago or whatever. I
just thought like it was so cool because I at
that moment, it was like everyone was talking about Rommy,
it was Freddie Mercury and everyone was talking about Room Both.
A lot of talk about that wonderful things. Yeah, but

(52:38):
I realized, oh my god, that's maybe why more than
people think, show business can be a little bit of
a party, because you have these you know, catch ups
with people.

Speaker 5 (52:48):
Oh you mean like the award shows and yeah, oh yeah,
I mean that's like a huge reason to go. I mean,
even if you're asked to, you know, present or whatever.
It's like the true time. It's like this brief moment
before everybody gets on the other train. You know, it's
like the train station of the entertainment industry. Because we

(53:08):
film it's not the idea that people think where it's
like everybody's in Hollywood and we're all just passing by
each other, Like we're filming in London, and we're filming
in Canada and New Orleans and Georgia, and like everybody's
all over the place all the time. It's really hard
to stay in touch with people. And those moments are
so fun because it's generally it's just a celebratory moment,

(53:30):
like for the people that are nominated, but also just
for the experience and like it just feels like it's
an amazing time where you're basically running into everybody you've
ever met.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
And have you ever used your oscar as a party
favor or as a does is it ever at.

Speaker 5 (53:45):
The center of I don't even know if Courtney's ever
even seen it, like I have where is it?

Speaker 1 (53:53):
If anyone finds it.

Speaker 5 (53:54):
Please contact I think I know where it is. I mean,
it's just I don't know, it's just one of the
things that I don't have out because I don't like
to make it the center of my life. I'm so
grateful for it, and it was like one of the
best things that ever has happened to me, and it
like lives in me, and so it's like, I don't know,

(54:15):
it's got its own thing, you know, So just try
and let that be what it is and keep making
good work.

Speaker 1 (54:22):
I also went I Think with my wife and watched
a little Lessons in Chemistry and realized Lee Eisenberg used
to be across the street my neighbor.

Speaker 5 (54:30):
No way, he's my neighbor and he moved.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
From Yes, and Susannah Grant, I don't even know if
you've done. Susannah lived on my couch for the first
four months in LA she moved out, and like to watch.

Speaker 5 (54:43):
Her career is amazing and huge inspiration for how I
played Elizabeth. I feel like she is Elizabeth Zott. She
was just an incredible It was just a scheduling thing
as to why she didn't continue being the showrunner. She
had a film that she really wanted to make that
got funding, and so it was we wished her best
of luck with making that and then had to keep
judging forward with the show. But that experience of working

(55:05):
with her, it was profound for me because she's like,
no notice is too small, you know, in our industry,
it's like a lot of like trying to do like
compliment sandwich or whatever. And she was just like, I
want the truth. I want to know exactly what it
is you think about everything I'm writing. I don't want
any fake stuff in it. And even the smallest thing
is not too small to tell me. And so we

(55:27):
just had this incredible work relationship and more than anything,
I mean, she just helped me see how an Elizabeth
Zop person actually exists in the world.

Speaker 1 (55:39):
And great, it's a great show, and you should invite
a party. Phil. It I don't need to be at
the hot dog party, but maybe Phil, Susanna, Dustin, all
these Destin would be all good party.

Speaker 6 (55:50):
You've got to come to the hot Dog party.

Speaker 7 (55:52):
Yes, guy, I.

Speaker 1 (55:53):
Don't think I'm before you came. We were literally I
think in the intro maybe we caught some of it. We
were talking about like still being the middle school or
the high school, or not thinking you're cool enough to go.

Speaker 4 (56:03):
To the party.

Speaker 5 (56:04):
And this is definitely why you're coming to well, no.

Speaker 1 (56:07):
I think no, I think I'm plenty cool. No, No,
I'm only cool by association.

Speaker 5 (56:12):
No, I think you're cool because you made a cool playlist. Yeah,
ask great questions. And it's been really nice hanging with you.

Speaker 2 (56:20):
How nice?

Speaker 1 (56:21):
Yeah, that's never Can you say that again. I'm gonna
get my wife on the phone. I did think about
that last. Maybe it's a last question if we're running
out of time with you. But like, what's a party?
Is there a life changing party? Like I was thinking
about a party basically where I sort of got to
know my wife and you know, it's like, what is

(56:41):
there a life change phill? Is there a party that
changed your life?

Speaker 5 (56:44):
Great question?

Speaker 2 (56:47):
I'm never invited. I don't know. I'm trying to think
does it happen at parties?

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Actually? And in a film sense, he invited me for
a few years and then I've gone in recent years.
But remember the old night before the Oscar parties exactly
what I was going.

Speaker 2 (57:05):
They were awesome, not anymore, but they were.

Speaker 5 (57:08):
Why I don't think there is awesome because.

Speaker 2 (57:10):
They put the VIPs in the private room and so
you can't.

Speaker 5 (57:14):
Talk to Yes, Okay, I don't even know about that.
For me, it's because it used to be like a
carnival and it was all in the rooms and the
first time I was ever invited to that party. Party
was like all these carnival games, oscars, trivia, which was
my favorite thing to watch, to be like who won
the Oscar last year and you're watching like a famous

(57:35):
act or like not the It was like the best
and there's no cameras. Everybody wanted to go because you
actually got to talk with you games like crazy, and
when you played the games, you got raffle tickets. I
was so focused on all of this because I didn't
even really know anybody at the time. Yes, drink Margarita's
played all these games, got a ton of tickets, And

(57:56):
at the time of my life when I was so
freaking broke and out, they called me and they said,
bre you won the grand prize and I won that
trip to Hawaii. Oh my god, that was a life
changing party for me. And I'm telling you, I was
like walking in Beverly Hills, going from one audition to another,

(58:16):
like feet killing me. Had a terrible audition, terrible day.
And they called me and said, you won the grand
prize and I was like, maybe there is a god
you know.

Speaker 1 (58:25):
Like and you too, you took that trip.

Speaker 5 (58:27):
I went on the trip.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
That's a great party many years ago, the first time
I ever went with Phil, I think before Lily, your
daughter started being cool enough to want to go. One
year we went. I remember I ran into Chris Isaac
was an old friend, a great you know, and Susannah Hoffs.
But then you said, I have to go talk to
Daniel day Lewis. And as one does the night before, it's.

Speaker 2 (58:49):
Fun because every year you could meet whoever was about
to win Best Actor or Actress, you could shake their
hands the night before their biggest life changing moment. Yes, sorry,
you go up to Daniel d Lewis and say I
didn't recognize you without the memorial.

Speaker 5 (59:08):
Really good necessary?

Speaker 6 (59:10):
Yeah, court a party, I'm trying to think and like
life changing party. I'm gonna I don't think I have
an answer for you right now.

Speaker 5 (59:19):
I will say a party that we threw that was
life changing was the Murder Mystery party that we threw
last year that is now become going to become a
yearly tradition. We turned my house into a cruise ship.

Speaker 2 (59:32):
Oh and it was.

Speaker 5 (59:34):
A multi day load in event. My mom's an event planner,
so she had to cure me, like the core elements
in a stage, there was a whole there was a
whole show. It was a whole thing. But it was
like five or six hours and how many people then
fifty people in my house, a lot of people. It
was so much work. But what happened was like you

(59:56):
checked in, we'd take your phone away, give you a
that gave you some objectives in it as your character.
Everybody came dressed up. They knew what their characters were
ahead of time, and when you walked in, it was
like you were walking into like an immersive theater experience.
It was alive and it was going, and everybody was
fully committed. And even the people who showed up that
were like I want to come, but like I'm not

(01:00:17):
sure if I know how to do this were like
going for it. And it was so much fun. And
I realized that to my point earlier, like giving people
a bit of structure, they really open up, right. And
I also think we all just deserve a break from
the dramas of our lives and the dramas of the world.

(01:00:38):
Just a couple hours, you know, there's a lot going
on in the world, and I think putting the phone
away and not being somebody's partner or sister or like anything,
someone's child, you are just like you're playing. I was
Margarita Rocks. I was a waitress with a dream and
it was amazing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:55):
I heard you were excellent.

Speaker 5 (01:00:57):
I was quite saying a song, you did a number?
Yeah I did. I ended up being pulled up on
stage because I had a whole storyline that my character
really wanted to be the performer on the cruise ship
but wasn't given the opportunity. And like the other are
other friends, I mean, and to this day we have
people that say, oh, I don't know who that towl
boy was, but I did you ask him all? But

(01:01:18):
I'm like, wow, nobody still so many people because there
was friends from so many different walks of life, they
didn't know who each other were because they were going
by different names. So that, I think is one of
my favorite parties we've thrown. And to the point of
saying like Thanksgiving is a one year thing, the our
Murder Mystery party is a one year thing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:34):
But when you say it like that party or saying
like a cruise ship space, the room a big word
in your career. Room that's important too, Like the night
before the Oscar party used to be at the Beverly
the Beverly.

Speaker 2 (01:01:50):
Hotel, Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Hills Hotel, in eighteen different rooms, and I think to
have spaces you can sort of navigate, I think is
very exciting for a certain kind of part. Yeah, for
a big crowd, whereas the party now is in one
big feel very different. You can feel a little too exposed.

Speaker 2 (01:02:08):
Yes to me, but and they separate the.

Speaker 5 (01:02:15):
I've never been told about this area.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
Just so you know, the only party that we may
have had that you may never have had would be
bar Mitzvah's I've never even had.

Speaker 2 (01:02:25):
It was the worst, really, the worst, the cheapest, the worst,
The food was terrible. One guy played an accordion and
he had a beat box, and it was so it
was just everything about your background, your religion, your your
how you grew up is all on display, and it's
just humiliating. Mine.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
Mine was the first themed bar Mitzvah I knew of,
which was rock and roll. Well, and the amazing thing
is a couple of years ago I realized and my
parents got like twenty posts and put them all the
kids table had posters of all my heroes. And years
later I did realize I've gotten to work or meet
with all of them except John Lennon because they were

(01:03:09):
the Beatles, and I got to meet all of them
except And it's like, but I thought, wow, that's like
if you could have told me then I would not
have believed that.

Speaker 2 (01:03:17):
Well, by the way, wonderful Jimmy Kimmel's famous birthday party.
He had a David Letterman themed birthday party that is
so darling, and then he becomes today's David Letterman and
friends and friends with let wow, yes, yeah, it's cool. Right.

Speaker 5 (01:03:33):
Party has become the way that you can dream m hm.

Speaker 2 (01:03:36):
But yeah, I mean we're talking to you. You had
your dream since six years old, even less, right, even.

Speaker 5 (01:03:42):
Right whatever memory basically.

Speaker 2 (01:03:44):
And now you're a party person.

Speaker 5 (01:03:46):
And now look at me.

Speaker 1 (01:03:47):
Now party legally, you're recognized party people. Yes, and we passed.
I took the quiz. I think we both passed the quiz.
We are party people as well. We do not know
what archetype, so we'll have to leave that for some future. Yeah,
we'll discuss which archetypes. Do you know what archetypes you logic?

Speaker 5 (01:04:04):
One for sure? Yeah, I'm a I'm a mix of
party animal and know it all.

Speaker 2 (01:04:10):
That's do you have one of the archetypes one hundred
year old who goes to bed early.

Speaker 5 (01:04:19):
With Obviously we've missed somethings, so good to know maybe
that's one of them.

Speaker 1 (01:04:25):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:04:26):
Well, the two of you are delightful. You're welcome anytime
to movie night or another podcast or whatever. Uh remember
European de luxe sausage kitchen, the turkey wiener, not the
veal wiener, not as actually not as good.

Speaker 6 (01:04:42):
Okay, turkey wiener once you try it, okay before your party,
but right because you don't.

Speaker 2 (01:04:48):
Want to buy a bunch and then have a disaster. Yeah,
you have to, you have to test it.

Speaker 6 (01:04:53):
Okay, thank you for the.

Speaker 2 (01:04:56):
I will where's that it's it's in Bourbank. I believe
you said that. Okay? And is there a place that
makes hot dogs in LA that you love? Like ready
to eat hot dogs? Like where do you go when
you want?

Speaker 5 (01:05:12):
You mean one of the one of the name brands
place the places Freeman's. Did you ever go to Freemas?

Speaker 6 (01:05:17):
And greekman's now it's.

Speaker 5 (01:05:18):
In Silver Lake.

Speaker 2 (01:05:19):
They just like, yes, of course, Yes.

Speaker 6 (01:05:21):
They had a great hot dog.

Speaker 2 (01:05:22):
Yes, el Prado.

Speaker 6 (01:05:23):
Makes a great dog.

Speaker 2 (01:05:24):
There's Waltz.

Speaker 6 (01:05:25):
They dog tail.

Speaker 2 (01:05:27):
Steven Spielberg used to talk about the Franks at Nate Now's.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
Yes in the history of somebody, I feed field traveling world.
What's the best hot dog outside of the America.

Speaker 2 (01:05:37):
I think in Copenhagen.

Speaker 6 (01:05:39):
Yeah, So you were there and didn't have I didn't
have it.

Speaker 2 (01:05:42):
They have them all over.

Speaker 5 (01:05:43):
To be fair, I was there for like three days.
I got a ticket to go to Noma and and
so I I got there.

Speaker 2 (01:05:50):
Good for you, that's great. You know they're coming here.

Speaker 5 (01:05:53):
Trust me. The second that happened, I was like emailing
every person I knew, being like help me, help me
get everybody and their mother is going to be fighting.
We're working on it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:05):
Good for you.

Speaker 6 (01:06:07):
They haven't. I've been to Nomah, but I haven't eaten there,
which is weird. But I went like during Mad you know,
like the Mad Symposium. Yes, I was at that and
like no several years.

Speaker 5 (01:06:17):
Ago, and we went to Noma.

Speaker 6 (01:06:19):
But it was just to like meet up with some
people and we like were given like the tour of
the restaurant. I don't remember why I didn't actually either,
I guess because I was eating somewhere else. We had
there's a lot of there's a lot of great restaurants
in Delicious Hot.

Speaker 1 (01:06:37):
I think one of the come back, one of the
freeing lessons of this book to is that what you've
said about it doesn't have to be a giant group
for a party, like even in a food sense. Thomas
Keller was on this show recently and I told him
I did a I was there when he tried to
cater a function for like hundreds of people, and it
wasn't his thing because you don't. You don't have a

(01:06:58):
party can be small and meaningful.

Speaker 2 (01:07:01):
Maybe it's your favorite type.

Speaker 5 (01:07:03):
Yeah, have you ever heard of a date that's a
party if you wanted to be. I mean, we went
out to dinner last night and we just had a
lovely time, like laughing because we're so tired and playing
Monopoly deal Like I would argue that's a party, Like I.

Speaker 6 (01:07:17):
Don't know, I would argue having a party right now?

Speaker 8 (01:07:20):
Yeah, the part is over and tomorrow starts. The same
little thing. Once I had a love I'm dye didn't

(01:07:43):
keep it?

Speaker 1 (01:07:44):
What run?

Speaker 9 (01:07:49):
Naked Lunch is a podcast by Phil Rosenthal and David Wilde.
Theme song and music by Brad Paisley, Produced by Will
Sterling and Ryan Tillotson, with video editing by Daniel Ferrara
and motion graph by Ali Ahmed. Executive produced by Phil Rosenthal,
David Wilde, and our consulting journalist is Pamela Chella. If
you enjoyed the show, share it with a friend. But
if you can't take my word for it, take Phil's.

Speaker 2 (01:08:11):
And don't forget to leave a good rating and review.
We like five stars.

Speaker 9 (01:08:14):
You know, thanks for listening to Naked Lunch, A Lucky
Bastard's production.