Heather Graham

Beloved actress, director and passionate foodie Heather Graham joins Phil and David for a fun and sandwich-filled episode of "Naked Lunch." Over sandwiches from Lorenzo California -- including a new tasty collaboration with Phil and Lorenzo --  Graham discusses her journey from being the self-professed nerdy daughter of an FBI Agent to the stunning movie star in films from "License To Drive" to "Drugstore Cowboy," "Boogie Nights" to "Bowfinger," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me" to "The Hangover." Click here to follow Heather on Instagram.  To learn more about building community through food and "Somebody Feed the People," visit the Philanthropy page at philrosenthalworld.com.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
David, You'll never believe who's here.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
I do believe it. I'm overwhelmed, but I do believe.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
You've seen movies.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
Oh have I seen movies. Not only that, I have
talked to perhaps the greatest filmmaker of our times about
her in the last for eight hours.

Speaker 1 (00:17):
I'm going to guess it's Paul Thomas Anderson.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Oh indeed, last night, two nights ago, when we won
at the Dodgers. This is going to place this in
baseball history. But yes, we'll talk about that. We'll talk
about another filmmaker later. And I also had a moment
where Heather might not realize this. We both arrived in
front of your home area at an intersection, and I,

(00:41):
without knowing it was Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
Yes, I gave.

Speaker 2 (00:45):
The right of way. I did the gentlemanly thing, and
then I really thank god I did it, not just
for anybody, but for one of you know, one of
the great stars of our house.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Sweet.

Speaker 1 (00:56):
That's a real lesson. I think people be courteous, be kind,
because the person that you wind up helping might turn
out to be today's guest. Heather Graham. Everybody, Oh that's sweet.

Speaker 4 (01:14):
Let's build the beans to the fat food for thought,
jokes on tap, talking with our mouthsful, having fun, the
peace Cake and humble Pie serving.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
Up slass lovely.

Speaker 4 (01:30):
The dressing on the side it's naked lunch.

Speaker 2 (01:36):
Clothing optional.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Sorry, maybe was this to talk during? No?

Speaker 2 (01:40):
No, this is would improve our ratings. We're super loose, okay,
but yes, I will tell you, Heather. I was at
the Dodger game game three, uh, and I had spent
I went with the guy who just called Brad Paisley
who and then I went to the suite for the
MLB and then thinking at the eighth inning we should
go see the Playtne suite, which is where the Tom

(02:02):
Hanks company, and I thought, well, we'll go there for
the ninth inning, not realizing there we're going to be
eighteen innings. So during that time, Paul Thomas Anderson was
there and we started talking and I said, I was
watching Boogie Nights earlier before the game because because we
were speaking to you, and he just said, well, Hea,
there's the most wonderful person. He gave me permission to

(02:24):
say that there's going to be some new edition of
Boogie Knights, like it's some expanded edition. And he was
talking to you recently because he wants you on the
cover of it wo and so yes, Now do you
think he's okay after all that?

Speaker 3 (02:38):
No, I mean I just saw his new movie, which
is amazing. So I just texted him.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
And I was just like, this the movie of the year.

Speaker 3 (02:44):
Yeah, I'm so happy for him. And that's really nice
he said those nice things. I'm still really honored. That's amazing.
Thanks for telling me that.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
What year was that, because it was I want to say,
I think it.

Speaker 3 (02:57):
Was we shot at nineteen ninety six and then I
think it came out in nineteen ninety seven.

Speaker 1 (03:01):
It's one of the all time greats. I think it
holds up really well.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
It's astonishing, and it's sometimes stylish. You think something seems
now copied so many times. It's still his eye as
a director, it's unbelievable, and his eye in casting like
that was a pretty big would you say it's a
very big moment in your.

Speaker 3 (03:21):
Three Yeah, it was a huge moment. And so many
of those actors weren't really famous at that time. I mean,
you know Burt Reynolds, Julian Moore, they were famous, but
you know Philip Seymour Hoffman, you know Don Cheatle like
all these people, they became fame. And Mark Wahlberg, you know,
they became famous from that movie.

Speaker 2 (03:37):
Yep. And that's also true The Hangover when I did
not go back to watch The Hangover again. But I
know some of them. I know some of those who
haven't Hangover. But at the time that movie came out,
really you and Ed Helms were the famous people. This
Bradley Cooper kid. Nobody knew.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
It's funny.

Speaker 1 (03:55):
Tell us about making Boogie Knights, how you were cast,
what that was like.

Speaker 3 (04:00):
Well, okay, so you know what it's like coming to Hollywood.
You don't have a lot of money. Well, I mean
I had to act it in things, right, but you're
going on auditions and you are.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
Where were you coming from?

Speaker 3 (04:12):
Well, my father was an FBI. We traveled around as
a kid. I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I lived
outside of Washington, d C. In Virginia in the suburbs,
and we moved to Agora when I was nine.

Speaker 2 (04:22):
So I just in Milwaukee, of Los Angeles. Agora.

Speaker 3 (04:25):
No, No, Agora's gotten very glitzy. I mean when I
moved out there, it was pretty much just like suburbia.
Now there's like all these fabulous people living there. But yeah,
so I was just auditioning for things, and I had
acted in some things. But when I got that job,
that really helped me, you know, buy a house and
get offered things and not have to audition, which was amazing.

Speaker 2 (04:47):
Your early career is the most remarkably eclectic list of
movies because and now again this could be Wikipedia being wrong,
like maybe it is.

Speaker 3 (04:55):
Kind of wrong. And I was like, I want to
change this is wrong, and they're like, you can't change it.

Speaker 1 (05:00):
You can change it.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
I don't know how to change it.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
If you can, I want to know.

Speaker 1 (05:04):
I mean, can't you prove that it's you? And then
it changed?

Speaker 3 (05:07):
No, No, I'm not sure. Let's tell me after.

Speaker 2 (05:09):
People right into us and tell us how were you
in missus soho? Or is that a cameo?

Speaker 3 (05:15):
That's wrong?

Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's crazy wrong.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
Some of these things are wrong. That is completely wrong.

Speaker 2 (05:19):
Okay that I was like, where do you wish?

Speaker 3 (05:20):
I wish?

Speaker 1 (05:21):
I says you played Queen Elizabeth in the Crown?

Speaker 2 (05:23):
Is that not true? You're just remarkable.

Speaker 3 (05:30):
It's just make up a credit list. Like I was
in Goma the Wind, you know, that was amazing.

Speaker 2 (05:35):
I thought Missus into License to Drive is quite a
That would have been quite.

Speaker 3 (05:39):
A t I was in miss that would be Yeah.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
You would have been with Diane Keaton, who I have
to imagine any bit of a hero to you or
I'm obsesstered there.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
Yeah, sad she died. She's she's an incredible inspiration. Oh yeah,
but No License to Drive is my first movie. I
was in high school. I was seventeen, and it was
so exciting. I mean you you know, like when you
go from just I'm just a normal person to driving
onto a studio lot with your little past and you
say that you're cat, it's so exciting.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Were you in the high school place I was?

Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, I was kind of a nerd. I was kind
of quiet, nerdy, shy. But then when I was in
the plays, I'd just be like really like, you know,
out there and I could, you know, release my alter ego.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
But do you realize that when you say I was
a nerd, like John Appetite was and said he was
a nerd? And I had a little trouble believing that.
We have no trouble believing each other we're nerds. We're
still there.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
I could send you some photos I mean, okay, when
I was in school, I did wear neck gear at
one point. You know that's when you have the brace
with the thing like that and it goes there. Yeah,
well that's that's that's pretty nerdy.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
But when it comes off, it's like, we don't have braces, right,
did you have braces?

Speaker 2 (06:49):
I did not. My parents didn't apparently know what your
teeth are?

Speaker 1 (06:53):
Good? Yes, but what were the what were your high
school roles?

Speaker 5 (06:59):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Okay? So one of my most exciting moments in high
school was I was Lola and damn Yankees great okay,
which is very provocative for it and it's kind of
very sexual for a kid when in reality, like, of course,
I had never had sex. I don't think I even
really kissed anyone. But I was pretending to be like
the Devil's.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
Who amazing, really funny. Same the Devil's whore.

Speaker 2 (07:25):
That's what somebody you feel is translated to that in
many countries, right right, I knock them the beggar, which
was also a very provocative.

Speaker 3 (07:36):
On the roof too what I was from Sarah At
that point, they were annoyed at me because I was
starting to act professionally and they didn't give me A lead.

Speaker 1 (07:44):
Is cool.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
Yeah, it's great.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
You come in, you steal the show.

Speaker 3 (07:47):
Yeah, I was covered in weird gray like crazy person makeups.

Speaker 1 (07:50):
Oh guess what the food is here?

Speaker 3 (07:53):
So exciting.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
I love that Heather was excited about actually researched the lunch.

Speaker 3 (07:58):
I don't know if you do this, but whenever going
out to dinner somewhere, I read all the reviews first,
and I like, look at what to get because of
what everyone's saying is good. Because I really want to
make the most of it.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
I'm totally do that. Listen. I plan all my trips
around where we're gonna eat and the sight seeing and
the museums and the cultural stuff. That's what we do
between meals.

Speaker 3 (08:18):
Now, when I'm eating lunch with my friends, I start
thinking what should we have for dinner? Like once I'm eating,
like I need to think constantly about what I'm what
I'm going to be eating.

Speaker 1 (08:26):
Okay, I just want to say that one of the
things in this box or bag here is my collaboration
with Lorenzo.

Speaker 3 (08:34):
That's great.

Speaker 1 (08:35):
And they wrote me a no, we hope your team
loves the sandwiches as much as we've loved bringing this
collab to life with you Phil with love Cynthia.

Speaker 2 (08:47):
And Phil Rosenthal. You get notes with your food delivery.

Speaker 1 (08:51):
No, no, but this is a special one because all
month people. If you're listening, not sure when this is airing.
I hope it's still on, but look they not only
did they do, Oh this you're having this first?

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Really? That's your chicken palm. I gotta paste myself though.

Speaker 1 (09:05):
That's all right.

Speaker 3 (09:06):
I'll try a few.

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah you can. And David, you're going to have the
other hand.

Speaker 3 (09:10):
Can we share it? Yeah? Actually I could just eat.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Like a third quarter, fill a knife a quarter. We
can cut that.

Speaker 3 (09:17):
Yeah. No, but I was online reading like every which
sandwich should I order? I spent like thirty minutes reading
the reviews.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
You're you're a lot like me. Actually, uh yeah. They
gave us a lot of napkins because we'll need them.

Speaker 3 (09:32):
Okay, No, I hope I don't get it on there.

Speaker 2 (09:34):
They've seen the podcast and they know I'm gonna need listen.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
You're a chef, so choose a knife and cut off you.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
Guys don't have any real knives downstairs.

Speaker 1 (09:43):
Take a minute. But if that doesn't work, I'll run down. Okay.
Lorenzo California. I'm gonna say this is mass maybe the
best sandwiches right now in Los Angeles. And I'm not
just saying that because I did the collab because I
love them.

Speaker 3 (09:59):
Yes, okay, but I'm just cutting up.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
You can use your fingers too, because I.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Want to try all the different sandwiches. So do you
are you eating half or you want half as well?

Speaker 1 (10:07):
For I had a huge I'm gonna I'm going to
donate my piece to David and to whoever else wants,
Like Xavier, I sees smile, all right, I want your reaction.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Okay, all right, here's here's David.

Speaker 1 (10:24):
You want to you want to do it?

Speaker 3 (10:27):
I like this on your shirt where you eat food
and you're like you're waiting for your reaction.

Speaker 1 (10:30):
Yes. Mm, so that's a not just the tomato sauce,
but a vodka sauce. And then instead of just basil,
they did a pesto, so it's double sauce.

Speaker 2 (10:45):
M Now here's a question.

Speaker 1 (10:48):
We they did it?

Speaker 3 (10:49):
It's bad. This Wow, It's like if you can't decide
if you want a bread sauce or pesto, you get both.

Speaker 1 (10:54):
And it actually goes with it. What are you thinking?

Speaker 3 (10:58):
It is so good.

Speaker 2 (10:59):
And the bread, the bread, the bread is really amazing.

Speaker 1 (11:03):
It's almost like somebody took the best pizza dough and
made it into m hm, did cheese people get to Lorenzo?

Speaker 2 (11:12):
That's all I was saying the day that I saw
Paul at the ball game. Uh, we had a plan
with Brad to go to Craig's restaurant, you know, well
well after the game because the game usually ends, you know,
would end it like eight, right, The game went till midnight,
so I was going to have dinner with it was

(11:33):
an agent, Brad rob Low. That was the and just
for that one picture for my wife somewhere where she
could be married to someone in a picture with Rob Low. Yes,
I was very disappointed the game went that long, but
it still had a happy ending.

Speaker 3 (11:50):
It sounds like a fun thing. Can I open this you?

Speaker 2 (11:53):
That's the best chicken parm I've had in La Do
you like? Have you?

Speaker 1 (11:56):
This is great?

Speaker 3 (11:57):
That is insane. Okay, let's see did you guys get
they went think it's so fun, went.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
A little overboard because they're so sweet. Okay, show this camera.

Speaker 3 (12:09):
Okay, yes you can use our camera. So I couldn't
decide what to order. But now I get to try.

Speaker 1 (12:14):
Tilted up a little bit so that people can see
that camera. I want them to see the quality of
the sandwiches. There you go, careful, it's a little work
of art.

Speaker 3 (12:23):
We don't want anything to happen.

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Do you see it?

Speaker 1 (12:26):
All? Right? Good?

Speaker 2 (12:27):
That is so, by the way, usually we have like
jud Appeta, there was one sandwich for the three of us.
Somehow true, it's become.

Speaker 1 (12:35):
So what what?

Speaker 3 (12:38):
And no? I think they love you guys and Lorenzos.

Speaker 1 (12:42):
I think yeah, I think we order from them a
lot more.

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Now, okay, let's try that. Looks you're not having any.

Speaker 1 (12:49):
Of it, or you know what, if there's left over,
I'll have it for dinner.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
Okay, but I'm sure there's going to be leftovers because no,
oh that's my publicist.

Speaker 1 (12:59):
Okay, let them Oh my god, okay. No.

Speaker 3 (13:03):
So I was reading everyone's reviews like this sandwich and
that sandwich and trying to figure out which sandwich to order.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (13:09):
Is that what you do when you go places?

Speaker 1 (13:10):
Always?

Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (13:12):
Always? Because I want to I want to make sure
I get the best thing that they have. Yeah, that's
the mortadella.

Speaker 3 (13:18):
Okay, is that the best super.

Speaker 1 (13:19):
Famous for them, but that there's no bad They don't
do a bad one. It's like a little trip to Italy,
isn't it. In fact, it's a little better, I'm going
to say, than some of the sandwich places in Italy
that I've been. The bread is very special, The bread
is half the sandwich. David, don't make me say it again.

Speaker 3 (13:39):
So why should I try them? All?

Speaker 1 (13:40):
Of course you should. I love Heather's Gusto.

Speaker 3 (13:44):
I have foody friends and they would literally die to
be here right now, you with Phil, No, they would.

Speaker 1 (13:50):
They live in Greece, though, Oh I'll visit them.

Speaker 3 (13:52):
Then that's a really good food place too.

Speaker 1 (13:54):
That's you know what. I've never been there, really, I've
been around the world a couple of times.

Speaker 3 (14:01):
And these other halves or do you want this whole box?

Speaker 2 (14:03):
Or what want?

Speaker 1 (14:05):
No?

Speaker 2 (14:05):
No, I'm I'm good, I'm going to eat. I'm the
other half of this.

Speaker 1 (14:10):
But take whatever you want.

Speaker 2 (14:12):
It's all for Montana. We have a feeling.

Speaker 1 (14:15):
I'm keeping. I'm keeping whatever's left for dinner for my family.
Oh my god.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yea. Now we were also thinking. I think we ordered
actually more Phil because we thought we should explain. I
don't know how well you know Heather through Tom?

Speaker 1 (14:31):
That hell, you guys, it's many years now, it's and
then we run into each other at the night before
Oscar party, which is the last time I saw you.
I think last year. That party, I have to say,
used to be better because the everyone up for an
Oscar would be there, would show up, and I think
for ten years I would shake the hand of the

(14:53):
person who was about to win Best Actor the next day,
and it was so much fun, especially if you love
movies and you love the business like I do. I
love every aspect of show business except the business. But
the people that you see on screen that you think

(15:14):
are amazing, that never gets old to me. That's why
I'm excited to have you here to.

Speaker 3 (15:22):
Oh that's so cool, You're terrific. Well, it was so
fun to see you guys at that party. And you know,
I think I met you because Tom and I went
to Korea.

Speaker 1 (15:29):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (15:30):
That food show, yes, talk about Yeah, I'm obsessed with food.

Speaker 2 (15:34):
I mean and Tom, we should explain is one of
the great Raymond writers?

Speaker 1 (15:37):
Great? Right?

Speaker 2 (15:38):
Friend of.

Speaker 1 (15:41):
That's right?

Speaker 3 (15:42):
Is that bad?

Speaker 1 (15:42):
I love it? That might be the same?

Speaker 3 (15:45):
Is this the same?

Speaker 1 (15:45):
It looks the same.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
This is the same that does it?

Speaker 1 (15:48):
Does it look the same or is it a different
special crudo? No? No, but that that mortadella there, Yeah,
I think it's I think they gave us maybe two
of those.

Speaker 3 (15:58):
Yeah, okay, so you know, because you've it looks the same, nobody,
this is the one that has troubles.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Oh, there you go.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
That's a different topic.

Speaker 3 (16:04):
Yes, okay, listen, I spent thirty minutes online reading about
every sandwich.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
I love that you're into it, and that one is
not the same. You see, the spice is not the same.
That might be the diabolo.

Speaker 3 (16:15):
I mean, just having a good meal just makes your
day so much better, right, Yeah?

Speaker 1 (16:20):
Did you love Korea?

Speaker 3 (16:22):
Yeah? I mean the food is amazing. I got to
go with a friend, I got to become friends with Tom. Yeah,
and uh you know, yeah, it was incredible. I love
visiting other countries like you and cultures and things like that.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
What's funny is that Tom is in my career show
as well. Really we did soul.

Speaker 3 (16:38):
Oh my god, he he went with you.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah he came.

Speaker 3 (16:42):
I got to watch that one.

Speaker 1 (16:43):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (16:44):
M oh my god.

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Okay, best catering. What was the what movie in all
your movies. What was the best catering and what was
the worst catering on any movie you've ever been?

Speaker 3 (16:57):
Well, most movies are pretty I don't understand. I mean
that they're good better than like terrible, but I mean
it's just like mass produced food. But I would say
Austin Powers, they had pretty good, good catering.

Speaker 2 (17:12):
And a good movie. Yeah, yeah, it's very important.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
What about on everybody loves best.

Speaker 1 (17:16):
Craft service in town? I made it my business. I
actually set out to have the best craft service in town.
So we had a guy there, What did you have?
He would make fresh soups every day. He would do specials.
He would do sandwiches, not unlike this, he would do
oh you name it. He would every day was another

(17:37):
giant pot of delicious soup. People. You know, why why
doesn't anyone know their lines? Because they're having soup at
sandwiches and backstage it was. It was great. And once
in a while we'd fly in food from other cities
to have on the craft service, like Deli sandwiches from

(17:58):
New York Tea. We brought in stone crabs from Florida.
Oh my god, and go in the writer's room and
get the hammers.

Speaker 3 (18:05):
From everyone have loved you so much.

Speaker 1 (18:07):
Right, it does inspire loyalty because you know, the army
travels on its stomach, and one of the best ways
to show that you care about people is to feed them.

Speaker 3 (18:20):
No, I know. That's why I like having people over
for dinner or lunch and I make food. It's one
of my favorite things. And in fact, my friends are like,
you should have a food show or somewhere. I know
I kind of want to, so I'm kind of thinking
about it. But I love having people over and making
them food. It's the best. And I love when people
have me over and make meat foods. Yes, it's very loving.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
You were here for a movie nine, I think, yeah,
I was there, so you saw that we make pizzas
and stuff and the best I mean.

Speaker 3 (18:46):
And Tom makes the best bread, right, he really does.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
I don't know if he can make a bread like this.
He makes a different kind of bread.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Now. Tom has been of all the writers in the
riem and the world he was. Also he's become a
huge foodie and connected to a lot of great chefs
that I remember. Yes, But did you inspire each other?

Speaker 1 (19:05):
I think yes.

Speaker 3 (19:07):
I think I met you before you had your show.
Actually I think I'm going to do this show, and
I'm like, that sounds amazing, And the next thing, you know,
eight seasons.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Later, by the way, you're killing it wasn't the next thing?

Speaker 2 (19:17):
You know?

Speaker 1 (19:17):
It took me ten years to get the food shop?

Speaker 3 (19:19):
Yes, how did you do it?

Speaker 1 (19:21):
Persistence? I think, And I tell people this who look
at me and go, wow, how can I have that job?
You can have any job you want as long as
you make it a priority in your life to do so.
If you make something a true priority in your life,
like a goal to have this thing, and you devote
yourself to it, it may take ten years.

Speaker 3 (19:43):
Wow, why did it take that long? Because you're such
a successful person in television, Like I would think they
would just.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Go over in this department making a sitcom. So when
you switch lanes, I don't know if you've tried to
switch lanes, and how they would? They see you as
one thing they like you is that one thing They
think that you'll make money for them at that one thing,
and you exactly. So that's what I was up against.

(20:10):
It was like I had never worked in show business
at all, because first of all, you on camera. They
said to me, who wants to look at that second.
That was his wife said that this is, you know,
a completely different avenue. And by the way, that avenue
doesn't make the money that sitcoms make, or may if
they were right made. Yes, they're barely alive the sitcom

(20:34):
format right now. Yeah, especially the four camera sitcom with
the live audience that we loved.

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Speaking of which Tom, our friend, Tom did say to
me right before you walked up that he was and
he thought, it's a crazy story. I don't know if
you want to tell it, but he said, you did
do a sitcom that he was at one point going
to help you with. That, he said, was one of
those crazy situations that.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
Go, Yeah, tell me about that, your experience.

Speaker 2 (21:02):
In the sitcom world, because we're to talk mainly about
all these great movies.

Speaker 1 (21:05):
It was.

Speaker 3 (21:06):
It was a single camera, but no, we did I
did a series and then it didn't get picked up.
But Tom was one of the writers. And actually that's
the first time I met him.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
Ah, when you of that, that would have been I
don't know, actually maybe somewhere in the two thousands ish,
I think that's right. Yeah, I think it was after
Raymond certainly because he was available.

Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, maybe right after him.

Speaker 3 (21:25):
You know, he's like so cool, funny guy, like talent
that's going you.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
Know what, don't call him handsome because.

Speaker 2 (21:35):
He was also Just for the record, I believe when
I was hanging around, he was the only single writer
on the in the in the group of writers, so
he was you go out of anger towards him. Really,
I think a lot some jealousy. Is that fair to say?

Speaker 1 (21:50):
Philmuh He was the only single one, Yes, And he
would ask us, why, what's wrong with you? Just moved
the suitcase when somebody came in and was complaining that
he was having a fight with his wife over who
was going to move the suitcase after a trip.

Speaker 3 (22:07):
But now he's married, right, he has a kid, and.

Speaker 1 (22:09):
Now he knows why he doesn't know? Hello, everybody, I
am no stranger to therapy. Let me just tell you
that I think it's great if you need it. It's
a wonderful tool. Like you'd go to the doctor if

(22:31):
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in your head, why not go to a doctor for
that too. But when I was younger, out of school,
struggling in New York, struggling with being maybe a little
depressed that I wasn't getting ahead the way I thought
I should. At this time, you know, I couldn't really

(22:52):
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Speaker 2 (23:15):
Think about it.

Speaker 1 (23:15):
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(24:44):
Naked Lunch. You deserve mental health care that works with you,
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Speaker 3 (24:55):
Great, you guys, look at the destruction I've created right here.
I tried every sandwich.

Speaker 1 (24:58):
By the way, I've been watching you, and I'm really
get it. I'm actually really proud of you. This is
what I want from a guest, is someone who's excited
about the lunch.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
There's never been on our podcast in one hundred and
eighty episodes, as elegant a guest who has destroyed as
much sandwich a range of an eclectic range of sandwich
in front of us, wear night, a beautiful nightgown. This
is all Elaine May didn't even do that. Alison Janney
didn't do that.

Speaker 1 (25:33):
You're also, yeah, she's elegant doing it.

Speaker 2 (25:34):
She is very elegant.

Speaker 1 (25:37):
Not if you look at this, can I I want
to ask a question. You don't have to answer this
if it's too like cringey. What did your Your dad
was in the FBI, You were nerdy in high school,
you come out, now you're in boogie Nights. What do
your parents say?

Speaker 3 (25:56):
Well, I'm estranged from my family. Yeah, mainly my father,
but he kind of like rules the family. But no,
he's very, very extremely religious in a very judgmental way.
He basically is like, doesn't believe in sex before marriage. Yes,
I had a boyfriend and I was living with him
when I was twenty three, like disso he was like,
I won't sit at the same table with him.

Speaker 1 (26:17):
You're twenty three, you're grown up.

Speaker 3 (26:18):
Yeah, yeah, I was a grown up. I was supporting
myself financially.

Speaker 1 (26:21):
Like your teen bride or something.

Speaker 3 (26:22):
No, he sent me a letter saying, I know, Hollywood
Slash Satan has claimed your mortal soul.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Hollywood Slash say, I've never heard that should be the
name of your book. Yeah, has claimed your mortal SOULO.

Speaker 3 (26:36):
Yeah, but you know these people that are so religious
and they're always judging everyone. You always like, what are
the skeletons in your closet the worst? They're the worst?
Like so he was quite abusive person, but like he
was always like acting like everyone else is going to
go His main thing was like, oh, you're going to
go to hell. Like if we watched like by Accident,
like a PG thirteen rated movie, he would be like,
you know, you could go to hell, or watching people
have sex out of marriage, things like that.

Speaker 2 (26:58):
Wow, by the way, when you said from hell. The
other person I spoke to I was texting with today
is Alan Hughes, who's a friend who was on the podcast.

Speaker 1 (27:07):
And who you started in the podcast.

Speaker 2 (27:10):
Yes, this podcast, greatest guy. I worked with him on
the Defiant Ones, said Jimmy. I even Doctor Dre documentary
and he he just said, she is I think an
angel or wonderful and wonderful And.

Speaker 3 (27:25):
I thought, okay, when you said bad things if someone
said something bad, would you say it?

Speaker 2 (27:28):
I would not have brought it up. No, I only
asked Paul Thomas Anderson and Alan you so they both
love you. So that's a good start. I won't ask
any more directors today unless they're at the Dodger game.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
They're gonna say nice things.

Speaker 1 (27:42):
Do you have a favorite project that you did or
have done? We're still doing well.

Speaker 3 (27:47):
I mean, Boogie Nights was a special moment. And of
course so many people have seen like Austin Powers. But
I started to get into directing and writing and producing.
So I directed a movie called Chosen Family recently that
was really fun to be like behind the camera and
writing something. And now I'm working on a bunch of
other like development projects, and I'm working on having my
own production company, you know, doing like female driven stories.

(28:10):
So my two things. I'm working on production company telling
like female driven stories, kind of like a Hello Sunshine,
Lucky Chap type thing. And I would also like to
have some kind of food show too.

Speaker 2 (28:21):
She's here, Yeah, this is a food show. This is
all I mean.

Speaker 3 (28:25):
I could seriously just talk about food only you know,
talout Yeah, I mean, I mean.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Your favorite first. Okay, let's do this favorite la places?

Speaker 3 (28:37):
Okay, Well, first of all, my house and my cooking,
I have to say, is really good. You know, there's
something very really special about making food for yourself and
making food for your friends, you know. And sometimes I
have friends that come over and they make insane food.
Like I have a friend named Michelle Lee. She's from
her family's from Taiwan. So she will come over and
she will make me dumplings from scratch, Like this is

(28:57):
like a gift she's given her. She's done like a
hot pot, or she done like you know, a barbecue.

Speaker 1 (29:02):
And can I come on that night?

Speaker 3 (29:03):
You could? Yeah? Do you want to? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (29:06):
No, she doesn't want something from scratch.

Speaker 3 (29:08):
But she lives in New York. She comes out here
a lot though, because some of her family lives out here.
But no eating at home. But okay, other restaurants, I mean,
Moza of course is amazing, right, you can't like just
the bread there and like the Barada bar is insane.
I mean I love sushi, so you know Katsuya, sugarfish, Nobu,
you know Matzahisu.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Have you been the sushi zo? No?

Speaker 3 (29:30):
Is that really good?

Speaker 1 (29:31):
We can go there.

Speaker 3 (29:33):
Dudley Market has a really good Hamburger. I like the
buy there. Oh it's in Venice. But I'm a little
bit of a creature of habit, like I need to
branch out and try more different restaurants.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
Well, there is a new restaurant in this immediate neighborhood
where if you like Mosa, can you feel can you
tell about a little.

Speaker 3 (29:50):
Wait one last time before I forget Matt tou kai.
Have you guys been there? It's like a steak place
in Brett.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
I know it well because it's started on Beverly.

Speaker 3 (29:59):
Okay, I just want their for the first time.

Speaker 1 (30:01):
The kai What does kai mean? Maybe it means number
two because it's uh not in the way you filthy
people are thinking. But the second one, not to the original,
is a grass fed wag you Beef steakhouse. And then

(30:22):
they actually do wag you beef Philly cheese steaks.

Speaker 2 (30:27):
Which we discussed with Jerry Greenberg in an episode, who
is one of the guys who he created grated It.

Speaker 1 (30:33):
So he's brilliant.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
That place is great.

Speaker 1 (30:35):
It is great.

Speaker 2 (30:36):
My favorite restaurant, Matt too is my favorite restaurant in
Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (30:39):
Really being it and I'm just like my mind is
being blown right now.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
Because you're having a steak dinner. It's sliced thin because
it's a lower fat content. So if you want it,
you know, beautifully rare and delicious. You can't overcook it. Yeah,
and it's great and when you leave you do not
feel bloated, full and sick.

Speaker 2 (31:04):
But we are learning so much because last night we
realized we hadn't ordered for lunch and Phil asked, can
someone check if Heather's a vegan or and you know,
and the thing is that's going to liking Mat too,
and they spin off of Matt too. I have to say,
too far from a vega.

Speaker 3 (31:21):
I have two friends that are extremely active the very
they're they're vegan activists, right, So I have dinner parties.
I make them a lot of vegan food. I definitely
eat vegan food like part of the week, but I
occasionally do splurge and have a hamburger and a steak.
I hope she doesn't get too mad at me.

Speaker 1 (31:38):
What was your favorite of these?

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Okay, well, I don't know. Maybe the Raphaelo because I
like the pepper and what is it a peppepper? Yeah?
That thing is really really good. But they were all amazing.
I have to say amazing. Yours was amazing because it's
like warm and you have like the different sauces, and
that cheese felt like so delicious. It's a I mean,
sheese is kind of one of the best things, right,
because you know how people are like, oh, I don't

(32:01):
eat dairy.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
Or whatever, you're missing out.

Speaker 3 (32:04):
Dairy's like the best, right.

Speaker 1 (32:05):
I mean, you don't want to overdo any one thing,
but how do you eat? A life of balance is good?

Speaker 5 (32:11):
No.

Speaker 3 (32:11):
I just watched your episode where you went to Italy
and you were eating all the cheeses and I was
really jealous. I was like, I want to eat that cheese.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
Phil, But we didn't talk about the new restaurant in
town that Heather will want to be checking out.

Speaker 1 (32:22):
So if you like Moza, yeah, I have a dream
that's come true on Laarne from Boulevard, which is a
diner where the food is elevated the way these sandwiches
are diner classics, just with the best ingredients and a
chef who knows how to cook. And that chef's name
is Nancy Silverton.

Speaker 3 (32:42):
Oh my god, and what is it called.

Speaker 1 (32:44):
It's called Max and Helen's it's named after my parents.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Oh no, that's what I love about your show, how
you show your parents. It's so cute. They're adorable.

Speaker 2 (32:53):
Yes, and the restaurant is adorable. I went for a
test Burger Phil and it was un believable, along with Mason.

Speaker 3 (33:01):
And we're having you're friends with Nancy Silverton.

Speaker 1 (33:03):
For thirty years. Oh my god. Yeah, we're gonna have
some friends and family meals and you're going to come
before we open. We're going to open around Thanksgiving, but
before that.

Speaker 3 (33:16):
Yes, I mean the bread that she makes is insane.

Speaker 1 (33:21):
Yes, she was Lebray Bakery, so she knows about that stuff. Yeah,
so yeah, go ahead.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
And to prepare for this, I was beyond watching Boogie Nights,
which was good because you know, I impressed Enterle that
I watched it that the day of the game. But
I also listened to a bunch of podcasts, and you've
been it seems like you've done a little too lately
of podcast and and I've learned so much.

Speaker 3 (33:47):
One of my best friends just watched two of her
own podcasts.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
Was that Liz Liz Plank, which is a very That
was when I listened to this morning when I was
walking my Kava poo and I blushed in front of
my dog because that one gets a little It's great,
it's just very it was a little rough in the morning.
It's it's six thirty. It was exciting.

Speaker 1 (34:06):
No, it's a raunchy podcast.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
No, it's an honest opening.

Speaker 3 (34:10):
She won't talk about you know, like she is funny,
she's one of my best friends. But she'll be like, well,
I'm having my period right now, or like we're both like,
well should we go gay? Like how do we go gay?
And one of her roommates just went gay, so we're like,
how do you have gay sex? And we were just
like calling her.

Speaker 2 (34:24):
That's what our podcast is. The theme of our pod.

Speaker 1 (34:26):
Maybe we should get a little more rescue.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Yeah, know, our wives would not even want that, especially
perhaps I.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Love how you guys both seem so sweet, and you
guys seem sweet, but you're not.

Speaker 2 (34:37):
Yeah, you'd ask our significant others. Well, I'll tell you
when I think about sweetenerries my wife.

Speaker 3 (34:42):
You though you seem so.

Speaker 2 (34:43):
Sweet, feel is sweeter than I on a semi sweet
it's all. But actually, another podcast you did made me
think about someone who I thought was so sweet, who
was a friend of yours. You did Kristin Davis's podcast
Oh Love. That was like from Sex and the City.

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Do you know what I how important that TV show was.

Speaker 2 (35:01):
To me because you played yourself on it.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
I was on it. Yeah, I had a cameo. But like,
as a woman growing up at the time period, like
that show was so important and iconic because there weren't
a lot of shows where it was like, here's a
single woman having a great time. It was always like
better get married and have kids right away, or else
something bad will happen to you, you know, And she
was just part of that show which made it look
so fun to just be single, and you know, not

(35:23):
that of course, it's great if you find love, but
it was like, oh, you know, both things could be
fun for a woman. It's not just like you better
find a husband or else you're like miserable, you know.

Speaker 1 (35:34):
Uh So that was really Davis and I get Children's
Theater in New York.

Speaker 3 (35:39):
What how old were you?

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Twenty six?

Speaker 3 (35:42):
That was cute. She's so nice, Like you know when
you meet people and you're like, I hope they don't
crush my opinion of like how much I But she's
a very incredibly sweet person.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Well, she's nice then adorable.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, she's adorable, she's funny.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Are you still close with her?

Speaker 3 (35:57):
I mean we're not close friends. I would like to
become friends with her. Yeah, she's very well.

Speaker 1 (36:01):
If you tell her, I said, I will know I
have her.

Speaker 2 (36:03):
But on that podcast you said something about you mentioned
somebody who I think about more than I should because
I didn't know him well. But Willie Garson, who he
was your friend.

Speaker 1 (36:13):
He was my friend too.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
This was my neighbor when I first lived in Beechwood,
before I bought my house.

Speaker 1 (36:18):
The greatest guy.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
I just think about him because during the pandemic, my
wife was bringing food. We're doing like food donations, and
she's my wife is a very good person, and he
was sort of in charge of it. So we were
dropping off at his house a lot, and he just
seemed like one of those and he was raising he
had adopted I think a kid, and he did the most.

Speaker 1 (36:37):
Beautiful guy lunchdown then, and I just you made me
say it just now, because it's kind of stunning that
he's not with us.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
It's so it's really bizarre people that die young, and
like why why am But before I bought my house
I lived on a street and Willy lived next to
me and Johnny Knoxfield of across the street, and it
was really cute, fun, you know, it was fun.

Speaker 2 (36:57):
That's a good neighborhood.

Speaker 1 (36:58):
It was.

Speaker 2 (37:00):
But I just think about him because I think I
saw him helping others, like accepting donations, and like a
week later already was gone.

Speaker 1 (37:07):
I'm like, what I mean, he's.

Speaker 3 (37:09):
Like a young person to die, you know, it's it's
really forties.

Speaker 1 (37:14):
That was terrible.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
That's sad, all right. I want to keep eating. You
can keep your favorite sandwich, the chicken parm that you want.

Speaker 1 (37:22):
Well, I'm now I'm partial to that because I actually
helped them create it, and so it was kind of
my dream sandwich, right the ones in front of you
or undernease great, Yes, yes, we got a selection of
the best. I think, by the way, they make a
killer tuna. Do you like tuna sandwich? That's kind of

(37:44):
my go to tuna or turkey. Because I'm trying to
be a little healthy when I have a sandwich.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
That's Montana sandwiches. I know you should try. I try.

Speaker 1 (37:54):
You're a person, you need to eat.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
You should try, like at least a little bit of
one right, like I cut some of the in half.

Speaker 1 (38:01):
They're very nice. Huh what do you mean? Oh we're
all the same? Yeah, how sweet? Yes, you're you're with
them too, same publicists two pm sharp. It's cool. We'll
give them a pluck. They need to business.

Speaker 3 (38:17):
They're great.

Speaker 1 (38:20):
Nice to see you, Montana.

Speaker 2 (38:21):
Can I ask about another movie that is one of
my favorite movies of all time? And I don't thinkin's list, No,
even funnier.

Speaker 1 (38:29):
No.

Speaker 2 (38:29):
The movie I was thinking of is a movie that
I think is a classic, and yet I don't know
that like my kids generation even have seen it. I might.
I think I've showed it to my sense, but most
young people don't know it. The Bofinger, to me is
one of the greatest movies ever made, and I don't know.
I'd love to create a reason for another generation because.

Speaker 1 (38:48):
It's like, yeah, people don't know that movie.

Speaker 2 (38:50):
Can you tell us a little bit of that movie?

Speaker 1 (38:51):
And the cast? That's probably a cast.

Speaker 3 (38:54):
That was really cool. It was right after I did
Boogie Nights, so I was I got offered this amazing
movie with Steve Martin as the lead and Eddie Murphy
as the lead. So that was just like Yeah, so
just that was incredible and Frank Oz you know who's
amazing and he did the Muppets and he did the
voice of Yoda and Ms Piggy and all these incredible characters,

(39:14):
and yeah, it's so fun to be in that movie.
But there are some younger like nat Wolf and Alex Wolf.
They both love that movie and they're like young. So
I mean, but yeah, I think it's not as famous
that movie, but I'm super proud to.

Speaker 1 (39:25):
Be and it's great. What was he like, Eddie?

Speaker 3 (39:29):
He was like, he was nice. I mean, yeah, you've
never met him.

Speaker 1 (39:36):
I might have met him for a second.

Speaker 3 (39:37):
Yeah. I spent a lot of time with him, Yes,
and so you know everyone basically No, Yes, I.

Speaker 2 (39:44):
Spent a lot of time with him where he plays
me the music he makes. Because there's what people don't
realize with him is he has a whole alternate life
where he's making records. He played me ten years ago
a record that was really great, like, wow, far and
away the best thing he's ever done.

Speaker 5 (40:00):
You know what.

Speaker 3 (40:00):
I do remember a conversation I had where he was
talking about how he really wanted to be like a
like a rock star or like what you know, a singer,
and I thought, well, that's so interesting. This guy who's
like one of the funnest, funniest people who's ever lived,
like a comedian that people would just kill to be
in his position, actually wants to be doing something different
than do you know what I mean? Because you was funny.

Speaker 1 (40:18):
I want to be Bruce Springsteen. But that's not going
to happen.

Speaker 2 (40:20):
It could still happen. I saw the movie You. You
could play him and deliver me too, deliver me from
nothing to see Springsteen.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
That is second most depressed.

Speaker 3 (40:30):
I want to see that movie. I heard it was good.
Have you guys seen it?

Speaker 1 (40:32):
I haven't seen it.

Speaker 2 (40:33):
We have not seen. Both of us are Bruce obsessed
because of the World series. I really was waiting another week.
But I have to say, if you love someone as
much as I think, I think we both are idolized.

Speaker 3 (40:46):
He's amazing.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
Generation I'm from New Jersey. I've got to.

Speaker 3 (40:49):
Meet him like once or twice. He was really, really,
really nice.

Speaker 2 (40:52):
How was that?

Speaker 3 (40:53):
It was exciting?

Speaker 1 (40:54):
No?

Speaker 3 (40:54):
You know when you're I mean, I'm sure you feel
this way, but you know, when you're an actor and
you're like, okay, some people think like they know who
I am. But you just feel like a normal person
who's a fan. And then you get to meet all
these people that's right, like you know, Bono and just
like Chris Martin and like all these people, you're just like,
oh my gosh, like it's fun.

Speaker 2 (41:10):
Well, you are the star of Lenny Kravitz, another real
rock In terms of the rock star, he sort of
defines the look of one. Now it's true American woman.
That's your video, right, I'm in it?

Speaker 3 (41:22):
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, I'm the American woman. I guess, yes, archetype.

Speaker 2 (41:27):
That's funny when you get stopped on the street from
people fans, what what do they bring up?

Speaker 1 (41:33):
What movie?

Speaker 2 (41:34):
What? Anything from TV?

Speaker 3 (41:36):
Well, it depends on the person, you know, Like there's
you know, if it's like a broe guy, could be
The Hangover, it's like a film lover. It could be
Boogie Knights. If it's just a lot of people watch Austin.
If it's a Heroin User, it could be Drugstar Cowboy
yeah yeah, or like certain people like I watch Scrubs,
you know, or I don't know. There's people love bow
Finger even though it's not as well. There are a
lot of people that really like that people love Twin

(41:57):
Peaks like I was in the you know, second season
of the first Twin Peaks. But no, it's different, it's
it's interesting.

Speaker 2 (42:05):
Oh no, my younger son is a Twin Peaks fanatic.
We actually went to Seattle in that up north and
then did the tour of every possible location. I know
that you said something about you he influenced your life,
David Lynch with TM A little bit. Yeah, I will
say I had the opposite experience of that with him,
just because I was asked to interview him by Ringo

(42:27):
starr with him about transcendental meditation, and when I asked
at one point, he asked me a question and said,
do you meditate like the first thing? And I'm like, well,
I meditate by listening to his band, the Beatles, you know,
And he went, that's not meditation.

Speaker 3 (42:45):
It's a very distinctive voice too write.

Speaker 2 (42:50):
It was a little and Ringo, to his credit, laughed
and said, well, clearly the meditations working for you, David,
because you're yelling at him. So I may never meditate.

Speaker 3 (43:02):
As a Ringo protected you.

Speaker 1 (43:04):
Ringo looked after me, Yeah, do you meditate every day?

Speaker 3 (43:07):
I do? I meditate every day for forty minutes a day.
Oh and I already.

Speaker 1 (43:11):
Did it the today, not twenty and twenty forty.

Speaker 3 (43:13):
I mean you're supposed to spread it out and do
twenty and twenty.

Speaker 2 (43:16):
But sometimes I just don't one saying which you'll have
one sangwich, then meditate, then have the next thing.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
No, I knock them both out because okay, I'm not
really a morning person, so I'm like, it helps me
wake up, you know, otherwise you have to remember later
in the day. Sometimes I'll split it, but a lot
of times I'll just do two it once in the morning.
It might not be what you're supposed to do. Yeah,
it's kind of a thing where you're supposed to If
you lay down, you're going to fall asleep, so they
tell you to sit in a chair like without leaning
your head back so that you don't like fall asleep.

(43:40):
Basically that's how you're supposed to do it.

Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm doing it wrong.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
Are you doing it?

Speaker 1 (43:45):
Quite often I fall asleep.

Speaker 3 (43:47):
I don't know whatever you are you doing? Tian?

Speaker 1 (43:49):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (43:49):
Okay, and what do you think.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
It went to class? And I thought it was it
was brilliant.

Speaker 3 (43:53):
Who taught you?

Speaker 1 (43:54):
H forgot his name? It was many years ago, Bob Roth, No, okay,
but I recommend it because at the very least, you're
shutting off your phone for twenty minutes.

Speaker 3 (44:05):
It's true.

Speaker 1 (44:06):
It's not doing things, it's true, and just having a rest,
and it.

Speaker 3 (44:11):
Gets you to feel like I have a peaceful place
inside myself and I can just find that in any
moment without having to do anything, like without having to
eat something or do drugs or be with other people.
You know what I mean. It's like you have that
in you.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
I love it. But many times, if I do it
in the afternoon, Grandpa falls asleep.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
That's funny. But maybe that's good. Maybe you needed a nap.

Speaker 1 (44:36):
Maybe I think that's good. I really do, Yeah, because
I feel better after And isn't that the point?

Speaker 3 (44:42):
Yeah, I mean it. Yeah, that's really great.

Speaker 1 (44:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (44:46):
Yeah. So how often do you actually do it?

Speaker 1 (44:48):
A couple of times a week? Yeah, I should do
it every day.

Speaker 3 (44:52):
I think it's great.

Speaker 1 (44:52):
The truth is, I don't have time. But I know
what you're going to say. You gotta make the time.
It's easy to make the time to find.

Speaker 3 (44:58):
Well, I think it's great that you're doing it at all.
Know so many people don't do it.

Speaker 2 (45:02):
I have I have not.

Speaker 1 (45:04):
Let's do it now, everybody, and then he didn't talk.

Speaker 2 (45:14):
Well, I want to ask you being like, I've listened
to enough of your podcast now that I heard over
a few years, you know. But the thing that's really
interesting is like you talking about what you went through
with your family. I can hear the evolution just in
the I don't know five years of podcasts that it
needs to be out there that you've been more and
more open about your healing journey with Beyond TM. I

(45:36):
don't know. It just sounds like you've really like healed
yourself and been through a lot of growth. And it's
even interesting like I heard one podcast where you were
talking about people you worked with, some of whom may
have may not have been canceled to varying degrees. I've
heard you talk about Harvey Weinstein, who I is the
only person you talk about film said I was a

(45:56):
nice guy. I am a nice guy. The only person
I've ever gotten to it? Are you meant shouting match
with with Harvey Weinstein because he's intimidating. I wish it
had been about his treatment of women. It was just
about him being a douchebag to me, But.

Speaker 1 (46:09):
I yelled at me. He yelled at.

Speaker 2 (46:10):
You, Now that's wrong. Where was that?

Speaker 1 (46:13):
That was? I went for a job interview in New
York when I was twenty five, and he had Merrimax okay,
and I was I worked at a movie company. It's
one of my odd jobs that I had while I
was a struggling actor. And I came in and I
was going for the job. I gave him my resume
and I was sitting He was at his desk and
his brother was sitting next to me, and I gave
my resume. He's looking over and he goes, so, why

(46:35):
do you want a job here? I said, oh, well,
I love your movies. And I always goes liar. I said,
excuse me.

Speaker 2 (46:42):
He goes, fire, You're a liar.

Speaker 1 (46:44):
You weren't at this other company and you're here spying
for them. Wow. And I looked. I didn't know what
to do, so I looked at his brother, ye if
he was joking, like to see, is this real? And
his brother said liar. I was like, yeah, what's happening?
And Harvey stood up cocaine and put his hands on

(47:04):
the desk and leaned over the desk as if he
was going to eat me and started screaming like a
maniac that the fuck out like this, and he goes,
you just want a job, and I'm thinking, oh, actually,
I don't want a job here.

Speaker 3 (47:20):
Yeah exactly. By now, imagine being his assistant. That must be.

Speaker 1 (47:24):
Imagine being in his orbit at all. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:27):
He was yelling at me at the White House and
poking me, like in front of Secret Service guys, like
demanding that I put in another infomercial in the President's speech.
And I said, like I said, with all due respect,
which there was no respect to.

Speaker 3 (47:42):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly, with all.

Speaker 2 (47:44):
Due respect, I'm not going to write an infomercial for
the leader of the free world. He went, yes, you will,
and I went, I won't.

Speaker 3 (47:50):
I mean, thank god the guy's in jail.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
Yeah for now, for now, at least.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
The day that that news came out, I'm like, I've
never read a piece of news that I liked more
because there's so many, you know, disturbing things going on
in the news. But the day that he was like fired,
I was like, this is a great day.

Speaker 1 (48:06):
A little bit of justice in the yes, a little
bit of just now, we just need a little more because.

Speaker 2 (48:09):
What kind of question is like, because this is something
film may have some sense of it. Now that he's
a rock star, I see bachelorette parties that go up
to him fawningly. But being Heather Graham, like, do you
have you had to develop a great instinct for when
when people come up to you if you say, like

(48:31):
the browing type, can you sense the level of creepiness?
Do you have some sort of meter in your head
that goes eighty percent chance?

Speaker 1 (48:38):
I would say of creepiness just being an attractive person,
there's a you're almost born with that detector.

Speaker 3 (48:45):
I mean, usually people are really nice. You know, most
people are very nice. I mean, I'll say one of
the things that would happen that would be weird is
like if you're in like a like let's say I
was in Mexico at a restaurant and someone will ask
for selfie and then everyone will go, why are they
taking nothing with that person? I'm sure you've had this,
And then everyone comes up, well I want a selfie,
And the next thing you know, you've just taken thirty

(49:05):
five selfies and you're like, okay, I want to be
a nice person. But that was like really a lot
of selfies to take.

Speaker 1 (49:11):
I heard this wonderful story about Paul McCartney who was
eating in the coffee shop, the Lexington coffee Shop at
eighty six, I want to say, in Lexington in New York.
Now you notice his picture was on the wall with
a group of firemen. And the owner was telling me
this story about that picture. And he said Paul was

(49:31):
dating Linda who lived across the street, and so they
would come in the coffee shop three four times a
week and people would come up and ask for a picture.
This is even before the phone, right, and he would say,
I really don't do pictures because if I do everyone
right and I would never have a moment's piece. So

(49:54):
I think that's fair to say. Now. The thing about
the fireman, yeah, was that was taken after n eleven.
Paul noticed the fireman eating and he said, my father
was a fireman and I'd love to have a photo
with you. And that's so sweet. The moment he sits down,
a guy from another part of the coffee shop says,
may I have a picture and be He says, I'm sorry.

(50:22):
He goes, but it's my wife's birthday. She's over there
and it would mean so much to her. He says
I'm sorry, I can't, and I thought, oh, okay, he's
really you know, boundaries, boundaries. But here's what he does
when he's done eating. He walks over to the table
and sings Happy Birthday turn.

Speaker 3 (50:39):
Oh wow, that's very cool. Did they film it?

Speaker 1 (50:43):
No about that? Have you ever heard that story? Is
that incredible? What's better than a picture?

Speaker 3 (50:50):
I mean yeah, I mean that level of the guy.

Speaker 1 (50:52):
The owner of the coffee shop goes, I'll never forget that.
I said, I'll never forget that, and I'm just the
guy you told it to.

Speaker 3 (50:58):
Yeah, that's really cool, really cool.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
So that is the point.

Speaker 3 (51:03):
Yeah, you can, you can? You can? So is it?
I mean that's so you go to all the how
do you decide? Where are you going to travel to?
And like, can I interview you as part of your
podcast on how do we decide? Like all the different
cool places? Do you read about the food there? And
then you're like, I want to.

Speaker 1 (51:18):
Part of it? Okay, it's where I want to go. Okay,
And there's place I haven't been yet, like Greece that
I'm dying to go.

Speaker 3 (51:23):
Oh you haven't been? Okay, So my friends in Greece
they are full full foodies, Like we are all like
we eat food and we're just like chewing it. We're
like like like waiting to just eat it very slowly,
you know, and then I'll send them food. Okay. So
in New York, I like a restaurant called Every time
I go to a foody place, I call them and
then I take them like, Sofra, have you been there?
It's like a Persian restaurant in Brooklyn. No, I'm obsessed

(51:46):
with that. And then there's another place I just try
called Kiko that's in like soho Ish but no, Sofra,
you have to go.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
Okay, do you know? Uh?

Speaker 3 (51:55):
It's it's this woman always gets nominated as like best
shut or she gets in the consideration or whatever. But
it's like family recipes passed down there from Iran. And
I would never even think I want to have food
for Iran because I don't really know what food from
Iran is.

Speaker 1 (52:07):
Even last night, because there's one on Western that I
love called Tehran Row. Oh cool, that's phenomenal.

Speaker 3 (52:13):
Cool.

Speaker 1 (52:13):
My best friend, you know the skewers, the ground chickens.

Speaker 3 (52:16):
Okay, yeah, no, I don't know that one, but well,
my friend is married to a Persian guy. So I've
had some, but this restaurant is insane. It's insane.

Speaker 2 (52:24):
Growing up with an FBI dad in Agora Hills, I
have to imagine food was not that. I imagine maybe
the Cheesecake Factory was the most exotic Restaurant's true?

Speaker 3 (52:35):
Did you true?

Speaker 1 (52:35):
Now?

Speaker 3 (52:35):
There was a lot of fast food. There was a
lot of wait, am I forgetting something?

Speaker 1 (52:39):
Use?

Speaker 3 (52:39):
I can't even remember.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
I was saying.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
There was a lot of like, you know, let's go
to Carls Junior, you know what I mean? Or like
let's get a HOGI you know, but.

Speaker 1 (52:46):
I used to beg for that because the food at
home wasn't great. So I used to beg to go
to McDonald's.

Speaker 3 (52:52):
So your parents weren't into a cooking room. Oh yeah,
Oh wait, back to Greece. That's when you go to Greece.
You should tell me and I will connect with my
friends and they will give you a good food tour.
Because we went and stayed for a week in Kea,
which is one hour outside of Athens, they don't know
a bunch of restaurants in Athens as well. If you
want to just go to Athens.

Speaker 1 (53:12):
But the places that we've heard of. These are not
apparently the places to go.

Speaker 3 (53:18):
Well, you can go to less touristy places that also
have like as high a level of food. But we
went to this small island outside of Athens and his
whole family lives there, so we went to so many
good restaurants. You're gonna your mind will be blown.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
Well if we have another season.

Speaker 3 (53:32):
Also, fried cheese, I mean, oh yeah, there's like honey
on top of the fry it and it's insane.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
Yeah, I need that.

Speaker 2 (53:41):
This is a lot of food talk for a guy
going to Dodger Stadium. You're going to have a Dodger dog.

Speaker 1 (53:46):
Yeah, that's going to make it.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Really should take a sandwich.

Speaker 2 (53:49):
I'm going to take this other this fill Collabo. Do
it with Lorenzo the other half.

Speaker 1 (53:53):
Do it.

Speaker 2 (54:07):
You are now directing second you directed your second movie.
It's called Chosen Family. I wonder if that's your life,
you know, rebuilding after whatever your childhood was, you know,
just or since have you? Is Tom one of the
like do you have a Chosen family? It sounded like
from this podcast uh with one of your friends, do

(54:29):
you have a series of chosen families in Greece and
everywhere around the world that you I did.

Speaker 3 (54:34):
I feel really lucky. I feel really lucky with friends
in my life. Yeah, I feel like my family. Look,
they have their good qualities, they have some bad qualities.
I think my father was abusive, and it's you know,
as a kid growing up, you don't know there's a difference.
You just think, oh, this is what all families are like.
And then as you get older you're like, no, not
everybody is like that to their kids. Like some people
are just really sweet, you know. And so then through

(54:55):
my friends I learned about you know, loving kind and
things like that.

Speaker 2 (55:02):
Well, I just wonder I grew up a mix of
good and terrible.

Speaker 3 (55:07):
Family wise, your story, what nationality are you? I'm just
your garden Jew and you're you from New York, New.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
York, born in New York. But no, but like you know, yeah,
not to no one wants to hear about me.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
But what I do.

Speaker 2 (55:22):
The thing that I wondered about with your calling making
the idea the concept of chosen family was one thing.

Speaker 3 (55:27):
I was kind of intrigued by how your family was
terrible and great. But anyway, if you don't want to answer, it.

Speaker 1 (55:32):
Was a mix.

Speaker 2 (55:33):
There was a turn that things went badly for a while,
But no, I don't. I I was not. I won't
complain here. I'll complain to a therapist that I'll hire
at some future data. But the one thing I did
remember when something you were said reminded me of being like,
I fell in love with girls very early, like I
think because my family was collapsing and I looked for

(55:55):
family I think everywhere. But I remember thinking breakups were
very bad when I was a teenager and even twenties,
because I fell in love with the families of the
girls I dated like they would just like you know
people who would when I'd see happier families. Yeah, in fact,
that was we were talking about Paul McCartney. That was
literally the moment that changed my life. Was I was

(56:16):
like thirty and or past thirty and but the McCartney's.
I was on the road with them and Lynda McCartney said,
do you have a girlfriend, And I said, yeah, I
just met this girl and I think she was going
to set me up with someone, which was so I
shouldn't have told her. But then she met my wife
and in ordered me to marry her. But the way
she did it was she goes, do you think I
know about marriage? And I'm like, do I think you

(56:38):
know about marriage? Like, yeah, you clearly are a happy one,
so happier than my parents were. So yes, And so
I literally got married because a beadle told me to.

Speaker 3 (56:46):
That's a really good story. Well it's not many people
could say it's why I'm still married.

Speaker 1 (56:51):
You can't. You can face paul idn't executive.

Speaker 2 (56:54):
What am I going to tell a beadle? No?

Speaker 1 (56:58):
But nice?

Speaker 2 (56:58):
Well, no, we've now with de toward back.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
Anyway, back to your thing. Yeah, So I think healing,
I think, okay, understanding, Like if you had like some
dysfunctional family stuff growing up, sometimes you can be attracted
to that which is kind of screwed up. You're like,
that feels normal to you, so you kind of can
gravitate toward that, even though you're like, I don't really
want that. So it's kind of learning because I think
when you have like somewhat abusiveness in your childhood, you
can sometimes be abusive to yourself, you know, and like,

(57:23):
how do you unprogram? That is a lifelong journey?

Speaker 1 (57:26):
Really very true. I read something today online a happiness hack,
which is they did an experiment they gave people an assignment.
Write down what you think your purpose in life is
or what you want it to be, right, and you'll

(57:46):
get four hundred dollars if you do that towards your purpose.

Speaker 3 (57:50):
Which is enjoy life. For Yeah, what is it?

Speaker 1 (57:53):
The secret turns out to be helping other people?

Speaker 2 (57:56):
Oh, giving me.

Speaker 1 (57:59):
So, rather than and focusing on what is going to
give you joy, which is can be crippling to think about.
But I think focus on giving joy to others. It
turns out that the people who do that are happier people.

Speaker 3 (58:15):
Oh, it is nice, It's very nice. It's very nice.

Speaker 2 (58:20):
The being a director, Now, what did you learn from
having been Like literally, I don't imagine you when you
were doing License to Drive with the two corries, you
were thinking, I want to direct, but coming having been
through because you've done a lot of movies, like I
don't know, you know the number, do you no? But
I was going through and I watched some things I

(58:41):
haven't seen before. I'm like, oh, she was in something
else called boogie. That's not Boogie Knights. It was a
it was a.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
Boogie boy. There was some it was.

Speaker 3 (58:52):
Called boogie Woogie.

Speaker 5 (58:54):
It's like even you know you have a long filmography
when movies boogie Yeah, are.

Speaker 1 (59:00):
You filming now right now?

Speaker 3 (59:03):
Well, I have a movie coming out in March twenty
seventh that I'm really excited about that. Okay, yeah, I
shot it in South Africa last year. It's called They
Will Kill You and Romantic.

Speaker 1 (59:15):
No.

Speaker 3 (59:15):
It's you know, the brother and sister team that make
the IT movies. They started kind of like a like
an elevated horror but it's kind of like if Kill
Bill was like a horror movie. So it's like got
action in comedy. Zazzi Beats is in it. Patricia arcat me,
Tom Felton. I get to do action scenes where Zazzi
Beats and I try to kill each other. That was
really fun.

Speaker 1 (59:37):
They Will Kill You for the.

Speaker 2 (59:40):
And you did a movie with a friend of Phil's
and mine to some extent, Larry Kasden. What was that experience?

Speaker 3 (59:47):
Like, I mean, he's an iconic, brilliant person. I mean
he's done so many body he you know, he wrote
Raters of the Lost arc Yep, he's a total genius.

Speaker 2 (59:57):
By the way, we have lunch with him. We've had
lunch with a number of times. He won't do the
podcast he's one of the only people. Yet he may
be too well adjusted. He goes, I don't want to No,
I might get him.

Speaker 3 (01:00:06):
Still, it's cute, though. I do kind of admire some
people who they don't care about Instagram, they don't care
about social media, they don't care about being on a
podcast like good for You.

Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
They're called normal people. Yeah, yeah, but we're glad you came.

Speaker 3 (01:00:18):
No, thank you, We're glad you're just to try these
sandwich Just.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
A little abnormal, Yes, I'm a little.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
I definitely am a little abnormal. But I want to
try the Nancy Silverton place, so definitely.

Speaker 1 (01:00:28):
It's called Max and Ellen's. You're always welcome. I'm going
to invite you to a friends and family coming up. Great, David,
I've been there and it was you can't come.

Speaker 2 (01:00:37):
You have no idea how jealous many people are when
they say where were you for lunch? And I literally
was sitting next to fill out the counter. Which this
place not only is it it has the vibe of
a diner.

Speaker 5 (01:00:48):
So it's tiny, it's forty five seats inside, but it
looks like a diner in your heart, not a diner
that is like prefab the way they might be now
and Nancy Silver and was literally like overseeing the burger.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
Yuh, there was.

Speaker 2 (01:01:05):
So if you can just talk a little bit, how
much care is someone like Nancy Burger.

Speaker 3 (01:01:10):
By the way, just speaking of burgers, Well, now it's
this one, is it?

Speaker 2 (01:01:13):
He literally is building a sweeper.

Speaker 3 (01:01:15):
I mean in and out is one of mine.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
It's great, there's nothing wrong with it. But I'm going
to show you a picture of the Nancy Silver okay,
because sometimes.

Speaker 3 (01:01:25):
I will go online and go best burger in LA
and then try to research every place and then try
to well.

Speaker 2 (01:01:29):
We should mention while he's looking. We just had just
Jeffrey Greenberger on and he it's a tenth anniversary.

Speaker 3 (01:01:35):
Of how do you even eat that? It's so big?
Oh my god? Wow, that looks really good.

Speaker 1 (01:01:41):
And even better than Yeah. Yeah, she makes a Patti melt.

Speaker 3 (01:01:46):
Oh my god.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Yeah, that's I like, which might be the best. Yeah ever,
you know it's you know that's griddled on a rye bread. Wow,
It's it's just she's a genius. But was amazing to
have her laser focused on stuff like that.

Speaker 3 (01:02:02):
God, so how did you go from like trying to
get the food show made to actually getting it made
like it took you ten years? Or how did you?
How did you a PBS?

Speaker 1 (01:02:11):
Okay, interesting, but it took many, many tries that we
were passed on by every network and cable service at
the time.

Speaker 3 (01:02:20):
Nobody wanted So then finally PBS made it.

Speaker 1 (01:02:22):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:02:23):
Interesting.

Speaker 1 (01:02:24):
I showed the show with one line, I'm exactly like
Anthony Bourdain if he was afraid of everything.

Speaker 3 (01:02:31):
Well, it helps to be a comedy writer.

Speaker 1 (01:02:33):
Then they said, oh, we've been looking for a food
and travel show with humor for years. Suddenly, after ten years,
I was in the right place at the right time.

Speaker 3 (01:02:41):
Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:02:42):
And then they could only afford to do six episodes
because their PBS. And then here came this startup called Netflix.

Speaker 3 (01:02:49):
Wow, that's really cool.

Speaker 1 (01:02:51):
Yeah, what else do you want to plug? Before we
have to go?

Speaker 3 (01:02:56):
What else do I want to plug?

Speaker 1 (01:02:58):
Where can we find you? You're on Instagram?

Speaker 3 (01:03:01):
Yeah, I'm on Instagram. I'm the letter I, the letter M.
And then my name, I'm Heather Graham. Nice and yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:03:08):
I tried to get that name and I couldn't do it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:11):
No, I'm a Heather gread.

Speaker 3 (01:03:14):
There's a famous romance novel writer named Heather Graham. Actually
she had Heather Graham, So did him get it? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (01:03:21):
But I like the assertion I'm Heather.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
There are there are other Phil rosal who are pissed
at there was a TV critic.

Speaker 1 (01:03:26):
There's a country music bluegrass player named Phil Rosenthal's.

Speaker 2 (01:03:30):
Sure country western.

Speaker 1 (01:03:32):
But he wrote a theme song for something and I
get the credit for that on my Wikipedia.

Speaker 3 (01:03:37):
Oh wow wow.

Speaker 1 (01:03:39):
But I don't haven't changed it because I want that credit.

Speaker 3 (01:03:41):
It sounds cool. It makes you sound I don't want
to be talented.

Speaker 2 (01:03:43):
I think you were brilliant and this is so ful.

Speaker 3 (01:03:47):
It was my best work, really right, I like that's
a that's a good credit.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
You could be a.

Speaker 3 (01:03:52):
Lot worse non credit for that movie that I was
never in, which Wikipedia won't let me change. Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
The movie comes out March.

Speaker 3 (01:03:59):
Yes, and I'm in some other things too. They're okay,
all right, well you think all right? I am in Well,
I just shot the Carrie TV series with Mike Flanagan. Cool,
they're making that into a TV series. I play the
main bully girl who pours the blood on her I
play her mom. Obviously, I'm a wonderful mother in that,
and I'm in this movie. I don't know if you

(01:04:20):
know this story about the Doris Bither haunting, but it
was one of the most famous cases of like a
haunted house where all these UCLA parapsychologists came and they
filmed it. Anyway, that that movie, it's kind of a
little bit based on that. I don't know if you saw
that Barbara Hershey the Entity movie, it's it's that story,
but it's based on that true life story basically. And

(01:04:41):
what else do.

Speaker 1 (01:04:44):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:04:44):
I have a lot of different things and a lot
of things that I'm working on in development too, So
send me good energy.

Speaker 1 (01:04:50):
I have over one hundred projects that are in various
stages of nothing's happening.

Speaker 2 (01:04:59):
And if you walk around La how many people every time?

Speaker 3 (01:05:07):
But you have some things that are actually happening.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
Some you got to stay busy people, Yeah, and meditate
and have a good lunch and give joy to other
people that's a joy for you. And visit Heather's house
and have dumplings made by her friend, and watch the
movies and Rollerskate, Yes, Heather Graham, everybody, thank you, thank
you more please.

Speaker 6 (01:05:31):
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 graphics by Ali Ahmed.

Speaker 2 (01:05:43):
Executive produced by.

Speaker 6 (01:05:44):
Phil Rosenthal, David Wilde, and our consulting journalist is Pamela Chellan.
If you enjoyed the show, share it with a friend,
But if you can't take my word for it, take Phil's.

Speaker 1 (01:05:53):
And don't forget to leave a good rating and review.
We like five stars.

Speaker 2 (01:05:56):
You know, thanks for listening to Naked Lunch.

Speaker 6 (01:05:58):
A lucky bastards, Phil.

Speaker 2 (01:06:09):
Rosenthal, Hi, Heather Graham. Why should people tune into Naked.

Speaker 1 (01:06:13):
Lunch this week? Because we have the multi talented, lovely,
fantastic Heather Graham with us, and she is an animal
and a sandwich.

Speaker 3 (01:06:22):
We're going to talk about food and I eat basically
five sandwiches while talking to you.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
Guys, wait till you see this