Brian Baumgartner

Actor Brian Baumgartner talks new Chili Cook book, new podcast and more!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're on with Mario Littpez. A Mario Lopez joining me
on zoom, actor, podcaster, author, my man, Brian Bomb Gardner.
Welcome back, Brian. How you doing? What's up, Mario? I
am amazing. How are you? I'm well. Thank you, my friend.
Last time we saw each other we were some we
were cooking some Chili on my show access Hollywood. I

(00:22):
saw you in action. Congratulations on the new book. Seriously
Good Chili Cookbook. A hundred and seventy seven of the
best recipes in the world. I did not know it
was possible to have that many different recipes with Chili.
How how did you put the research in for the book?
Uh Well, let me say that, first of all, I
didn't either initially. I mean I thought, what do you

(00:44):
mean recipes? It's how hot and spicy it right? Um,
but I yeah, they said they wanted a hundred. I
was like, this is gonna be tough, like a hundred
different recipes, and then we started doing research and found
you know, there's Green Chili, Chili, can Chili Verday, one
of the favorite. I judged at the World Championship Chili

(01:08):
Cook off last year. My favorite was the thing I
would not never even thought it was Chili, but it
was a smoked chicken, White White Bean Chili. Delicious, spicy,
still tasted like Chili, but totally uh, just a totally
different UH flavor profile. It was like its awesome. So

(01:32):
we went we got a ton of world champion recipes
for it. We had celebrity chefs and and real chefs
and fans submitted and uh yeah, instead of a hundred
we got to a hundred seventy seven. That's unbelievable. In
that particular recipe you mentioned does sound pretty tasty like
pal it wouldn't be expecting something like that. How many

(01:53):
of the hundred seventy seven recipes have you personally tasted?
Have I personally tasted? Uh, I'd say I personally tasted
a little over half. Pretty good. I have made significantly
less than that. Yeah, I mean we had we had
a great team that was working. I mean we kind
of if it was a world champion recipe, we kind

(02:16):
of just gave that. I was like, well, who am
I just say no to them? Like they won, they
won a world champions. That thing's been going on fifty years. So, uh,
we got a bunch of recipes from them and yeah,
and so like that. That that chicken one I just
made myself a couple of weeks ago. I've I've been
making different types and having a lot, a lot of

(02:38):
fun with it. Well, football season is perfect for Chili recipes.
Is there a particular city or region who does Chili
the best? Well, we talked about that in the book.
I don't know about best. I'm not gonna steak of
you know, I'm not gonna endorse one specific region, but uh,
Kansas City, Big Cincinnati, Cincinnati, homeless Skyline Chili. That's right.

(03:02):
Eye Chili. Yes, that's right. And famously they eat it
over noodles, like spaghetti noodles. Yes, and you know what?
I've had that. It's pretty good. It's pretty good. Yeah,
there's there's Cincinnati. Then there's kind of the whole Texas
versus everybody else thing, which is the beans versus no beans,
debate that the Texans don't don't eat beans in their

(03:24):
Chili and they're very, very passionate and stubborn about it.
But I think both are delicious. Yeah, yeah, I don't
think I discriminate when it comes to chili either. Were
you filming the famous Chili Scene in the office Um
with already a passion for Chili, and I know this answer,
but how many takes did you need to capture that scene?

(03:46):
One take, Mario. That's my guy's all I ever need,
regardless of Chili, Chili, uh and to uh. No, I
had no. I mean I'm from the South Right, so,
like uh, I grew up going to the University of Georgia.
I was kind of reminded of this, Actually University of

(04:07):
Georgia Football Games. There's another kind of classic. I don't
know if you've ever been in Atlanta. If one in
Atlanta and ath it's called Varsity and they're like big
thing is uh is Chili Chili dogs. You know. It's
like an old, old, you know, kind of classic Burger Dog.
The varsity is incredible. Yeah, the Varsity in Atlanta. So
I had that, but no, I mean I would, I

(04:28):
would eat it in football season or whatever, but no,
I made it after the after the the episode. It
was a few years even, and it was football season.
I thought, well, I'M gonna make I'm gonna make some
Chili and then I just really took a picture of
it because I because I thought it was funny and
I was like, well, maybe somebody will think it's funny.

(04:48):
And people just lost their minds. I mean they were
like like for them it was like an impossibility that
I would actually be making Chili again and that it's Kevin,
but it's not, and what it was like. It was
crazy things, so that I started playing around with it,
started making more. I do Cook Mario. I am witness

(05:10):
shift myself, and that's right, you have so um. Yeah,
I've been. I've been having a lot of fun with them.
Good for you, man, that it is a lot of fun. Um,
you also got a podcast off the beat. Who you've
been talking to on the recently? I'll tell you what
I it's crazy. I mean, and you know, I've had
rain Wilson and Correll and a bunch of bunch of

(05:31):
folks on it from the office and and otherwise, these
last three that we've recorded. One just came out yesterday. Um,
they might be, they might be some of my favorites.
I um busy Phillips. Her story was so interesting and
in a way her the show she was on freaks
and Geeks kind of it was Paul Fiek and Judd

(05:54):
apatow kind of kind of launched judd and and Paul Fieg,
who worked on the office with me. Um, Kevin Pollock,
who I didn't realize like he's the legend in stand up.
I mean we think of him as like the usual
suspects and uh, you know a few good men and
now all these movies now, but he was him and

(06:15):
Dana Carvey and Robin Williams who were like the gods
of stand up and I didn't know that about Kevin.
He's a good actor's great actor. Oh, that's cool. That
was it was so cool and interesting to talk to
him about our early days and you know I had
worked with with, you know, Robin a few times. He
obviously knew him really well from their their old days

(06:36):
sort of. You know, talk about that. And then I
wrapped it right before I got in New York. Right now,
for you know, the book launched, the Cookbook Launch yesterday.
I talked to on Saturday. Coming up in a couple
of weeks. Don't Miss It. Paul Walter Houser. Oh that's
my guy. I Love Paul Walter Houser. That dude makes

(06:56):
every project he's in better. He makes everything better and
he is than you know. He is so sweet, saoughtful,
Nice generous like I was. I was more blown. I
mean Blackbird, if you haven't seen it, spoiler alert. I'm
not going to give any spoilers away, but you, Mario,

(07:19):
or anybody else, blackbird is ab so loot Lee, fantastic
and he gives an amazing performance. Uh. I mean, I'm
not the publicist for that show, Mario, but it's like Hulu,
cause you were passionate about the suggestion. You got me
hooked up. Look it up. I'm forget now. It's HBO
or Hulu or something like God. Um, he is, he is,

(07:43):
he is so good at we talked about that and
we talked about Tanya and we talked about him. You know,
he came, he came to Los Angeles. Um, I's like
totally talking about Paul Walter Alser, but he came to
Los Angeles and he, you know, had some success early
on and then he he, he tells me the story

(08:04):
of he took this girl out on a date and
they went out for Sushi and then went to a
movies and at the end of it the girl said, Um,
you know, what are you doing next week or whatever,
and he says I'll be gone and she's like what
do you, what do you mean? He said, I'll I
have no money left, I have to move home. I'm

(08:27):
moving back to Michigan. And she tells, as he tells
the story. She says to him, why did you just
spend all this money like taking me out for Sushi
and to go to the movies or whatever, and he
was like I wanted to go out with the bank
and I was like wait, what? Until he left. He
left for fourteen months, went back to Michigan, then came
back and then things really started picking up for him.

(08:49):
And I won't give away any more of the story,
but the story he tells about that night where he
goes home on the podcast unbelievable. Worth a listen, um,
even if you have to endure me. He is. He
was great. So it was like this weird thing where
I've been so happy doing this podcast. I've been so
happy talking to these people about the moments that helps
sort of shape them and change that your directory of

(09:10):
your career. I need to have you on because I
really want to talk about your shift in a lot
of ways, um, but and then these last three of
just like completely blown me away a yet. So, anyway,
I'm having a lot of fun. That's awesome and I
would I'd be honored to be in that group of
company right there. Man, that that's very cool. Um, something
I didn't know about you, Brian. You're a golfer and

(09:32):
I hear a pretty good one. I like the game.
This is what I say, Mario, if you're a golfer
like you, go out on the weekends or whatever, I'm
I'm gonna kick your ass. I mean, there's just kind
of no question about in that way, I'm gonna, I'm gonna,
I'm gonna take you down. Now, unfortunately for me, I

(09:53):
do these like golf tournaments with, you know, people who
are professional athletes who have now retired and all they
do is play golf their six holes today, every day.
That has become their career for one their professional athletes
and to all they do is to play all the time.
So then I don't look so good when I'm playing
in those things because I'm competing with these guys who are, like,

(10:16):
you know, amazing. But Yeah, I love the game. It's
the time, um, and I think everybody needs this. Those
are not about golf, but it's about everybody needs a
thing that they do. I think it has to be
activity based, but a thing that they do that makes
everything else go away for them and just be with themselves,

(10:40):
not thinking about, you know, work or, you know, business
or personal finance or, like, you know, your relationships, or
like anything else. It's my it is my and it
takes four hours, supposed to an hour, but it's my therapy,
like it really is. I go there and you know,
the question will come up afterwards like, Oh, what do

(11:02):
you you know what you and John talked about? It's like,
I don't know golf, I was trying to pit the
ball in the hole and that's all I thought about
for four hours. So for me, that's why, that's truly,
at this point, why I love it. I agree with
you that you need something to disconnect and really, that
good for you. Man. We're throwing it out there. Uh, coincidentally,
I happen to have a golf tournament which is a

(11:22):
lot of fun here at lakeside and and and it's
a big party, a lot of Tequila flowing and stuff.
So I'm inviting you early for for next year. Ironically,
I don't play, but I'm a hello host, hello the host.
I did I don't play, but it's all for a
good cause. I benefits St Joe's Hospital and the new

(11:43):
children's center that they're build out there and all my
kids are born there and stuff. But Um, but I
like it, and the only reason I don't play, aside
from being very busy with a lot of different stuff,
is Um, like you said, it takes four hours. I
haven't had a free four hours in twenty years. I
don't know why. Had for or four hours. So puts
them a little too hyper. So I gotta I'm still

(12:04):
later on when my I've always said, my body starts
breaking down and it's decrepit, then I'll start playing golf
on the regular right there here. But it is a
good time getting out there, just whacking it, and I
like drinking on, smoking and hanging on or doing that.
So so tell you. So you should come this next year, Brian.
Will be a lot of fun. Absolutely you know how
to get ahold of me. Okay, sounds good, my man.

(12:25):
And Listen, pick up the seriously good chili cookbook wherever
you get books. Brian, thanks so much for hanging out.
congrats on everything. Thanks so much, Dude. As always, my pleasure.
All right, brother, let's see. Alright, on with Mario Lopez