Anthony Michael Hall on Nation’s Dumbest, Surviving 50 Years in Hollywood, and Halloween Store

0:00 [SPEAKER_00]: It's easy to hear your favorite artist on WFPK from wherever you are. [SPEAKER_00]: Listen on your smart speaker, live stream from our website at WFPK.org from Louisville Public Media. [SPEAKER_02]: Yes, now it's going. [SPEAKER_02]: There we are. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, and welcome to another edition of Kyle Meredith with it's the interview series presented by WFPK and WFPK.org, Consequence and the Consequence podcast network thanks for making your way here, check this out.

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0:58 [SPEAKER_01]: Please do leave that review, rating, wherever you're listening to watching from, that always helps out so much. [SPEAKER_01]: We've had some great guests here lately as well. [SPEAKER_01]: Just talked with David to Coveney about his, because he's, you know, he's the actor. [SPEAKER_01]: he's the author and he's the musician he's got a fourth album called Prince of pieces that we got into talk with David Rizdal and Lily Sullivan about the movie soulmate Jay Chandra Saker about Super Troopers three Phoenix Guster Jane Seymour the Dr. Quinn Minnesota woman actress she's back in season five of Harry Wild on acorn TV.

1:34 [SPEAKER_01]: Rupert Grintz of Harry Potter fame [SPEAKER_01]: along with Sidie Harla and Hannah Bergholm discussed the movie Nightborn on shutter. [SPEAKER_01]: Comment Tim Robbins to talk about silo, just an example of what you get when you subscribe to the Kyle Meredith with podcast. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's me Kyle Meredith.

1:52 [SPEAKER_01]: Today, catching up with Anthony Michael Hall, [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, he will see play Brian Johnson, a breakfast club, Gary Wallace in Weird Science, Rusty Griswald in National Lampoons Vacation, Johnny Smith in the Dead Zone. [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, he's going to talk about the secret to a 50 year acting career, learning how to outlast uncertainty, as he says, and that can also mean signing up for a game show called Nations Dumbest on on Hulu and Fox.

2:18 [SPEAKER_01]: Uh, Mike's going to talk about getting past that title to be on the celebrity competition. [SPEAKER_01]: being surprised by castmates like like Jojo Siwa, Steve O. L. King Andrew Yang and why the whole experience reminded him not to take himself too seriously. [SPEAKER_01]: He's also going to look back at the difficult years that followed his John Hughes run and explain why he treated every TV guest spot like a major movie.

2:43 [SPEAKER_01]: Also get into upcoming projects, including the indie [SPEAKER_01]: So, let's do this as we talk about nation's dumbest. [SPEAKER_01]: It's Kyle Meredith with Anthony Michael Hall. [SPEAKER_01]: Kyle, how you doing? [SPEAKER_02]: All right, Mike, how you doing? [SPEAKER_02]: You're in the corner of a record store.

3:01 [SPEAKER_02]: What's going on there? [SPEAKER_02]: I see all these great posters. [SPEAKER_02]: It's cool. [SPEAKER_01]: Try to make it more interesting than just looking at this dumb face right here. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, no, it's... [SPEAKER_01]: It's it's it's posters. [SPEAKER_01]: It's real posters.

3:10 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm seeing R&M Bowie Prince. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, great. [SPEAKER_02]: Keep keep the heroes over his shoulder. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, right interesting always works. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, nice man. [SPEAKER_02]: And then it does all the talking for me, too.

3:22 [SPEAKER_01]: It's like well, that's who I am. [SPEAKER_02]: Reminds me of all the bedroom scenes in the John Hughes movies, right? [SPEAKER_01]: They were really keying on that on the posters around everybody Yeah, what's funny when when zoom took off and I started doing these and and and I realized that you do you just need something You know looking good behind it Well, it was actually it wasn't the movie specifically, but I I'd kept all of my posters from back when I was in high school Those years ago they were just like banded in a basement somewhere and [SPEAKER_01]: So between here in my home office, that's what you get.

3:56 [SPEAKER_01]: You're always so busy and it's always so fun to watch what you got going on. [SPEAKER_01]: I want to hear about it a few of those with exiles and Halloween store. [SPEAKER_01]: But we also see you on Hulu in this fun little game show called Nations Dumbest. [SPEAKER_01]: That you've been on.

4:13 [SPEAKER_01]: I've seen four episodes, four episodes are out and great. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's getting fun. [SPEAKER_02]: I've really enjoyed that. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, this is so funny because I'm one of these. [SPEAKER_02]: I've been married for since 2020 now. [SPEAKER_02]: So six years of marriage and we have a three year old now, but I've been like my wife and I've been together a long time and I'm one of these husbands.

4:28 [SPEAKER_02]: Like I talked a lot of smack about reality shows. [SPEAKER_02]: I can't, I can't front and lie about it. [SPEAKER_02]: So here I am, boomerang karma, right? [SPEAKER_02]: I get this call from Fox. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm like, what, what is this title? [SPEAKER_02]: What the hell is this? [SPEAKER_02]: But you know what?

4:39 [SPEAKER_02]: It was the thing of it's a classic thing. [SPEAKER_02]: It's like not what expected, but it is what I needed. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, because I was having a year to be getting this year, I was kind of pulling my hair out. [SPEAKER_02]: Not knowing where the next job is, you know, I've had 50 years of that time.

4:50 [SPEAKER_02]: It's not fun. [SPEAKER_02]: But it's challenging, you know, and I never, I never know where the next thing is. [SPEAKER_02]: So you got to grind and you got to stay on it. [SPEAKER_02]: But as an actor as a creative, you know, this is like it. [SPEAKER_02]: You've got to use your wits, man.

5:01 [SPEAKER_02]: There's nothing to fall back. [SPEAKER_02]: There's no team to fall back on. [SPEAKER_02]: There's no corporate structure. [SPEAKER_02]: I have no, uh, you know, can't blame anybody. [SPEAKER_01]: Um, because once the job is over, you're unemployed. [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that's, that's the thing.

5:11 [SPEAKER_02]: And your back is square one. [SPEAKER_02]: That's your business for it. [SPEAKER_01]: But anyway, so this came about. [SPEAKER_01]: And I was like, what the hell? [SPEAKER_02]: I had to get past the title. [SPEAKER_02]: That took a few hours or a few days. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, went and run by this.

5:20 [SPEAKER_02]: But I just decided to reframe my thinking. [SPEAKER_02]: It helped talk to my wife about it. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was eating croaks here. [SPEAKER_02]: I am getting an offer for a Fox reality competition show. [SPEAKER_02]: And I just reframed my thinking man, I went up there and I took my family, it took my wife and my son, I had my mother come up from New York, we kind of made it like a workcation, you know, and it was really fun.

5:39 [SPEAKER_02]: And I have to say, Tom, like I was totally surprised by everybody. [SPEAKER_02]: You're like, I was pleasantly surprised. [SPEAKER_02]: We all got along beautifully. [SPEAKER_02]: I don't know if it was just because the camera's rolling and everybody was on their best behavior, but no, honestly, I thought everyone was really cool.

5:50 [SPEAKER_02]: And I kind of fell into this OG category. [SPEAKER_02]: Me, iced tea, Dr. Drew, Steve O. [SPEAKER_02]: We're like the old guy, suddenly on this trip. [SPEAKER_02]: And it's so funny, every time I see a commercial for it, I'm like, wait a minute. [SPEAKER_02]: Is that me or Dr. Drew? [SPEAKER_02]: Oh shit, Dr. Drew.

6:01 [SPEAKER_02]: We got the same white hair and the same haircut I'm like, oh my god. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, she had better shape than me. [SPEAKER_02]: And he's almost 70. [SPEAKER_02]: I got a guy. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, well, he's, yeah, we could all be so lucky on that one right there. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like, yeah, it's nice guy.

6:12 [SPEAKER_01]: 45, but it's a better shape than me. [SPEAKER_01]: That's it. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm kidding, right? [SPEAKER_01]: And he's 68 and I'm 58. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm like, wait a minute. [SPEAKER_02]: But great guy, everybody was really cool, bad. [SPEAKER_02]: And it was that great lesson in multiple lessons.

6:22 [SPEAKER_02]: Don't you have a book by its cover? [SPEAKER_02]: You know? [SPEAKER_02]: Don't take yourself too seriously, I mean, honestly, there were so many things that came to me privately, like in my head as I was experiencing the show in real time, but it was a blast, honestly. [SPEAKER_02]: So whether it was like being surprised by someone like Jojo C. Wright heard about this and literally didn't know she was, she like grew up doing these real issues, or chased the young TikTok rock and roll guy, you know, [SPEAKER_02]: everybody was cool.

6:50 [SPEAKER_02]: Andrew Yang, and it was a really great cross-section of multi-generational people. [SPEAKER_02]: So I thought Fox and the BBC did a great job producing it. [SPEAKER_02]: It was a lot of fun. [SPEAKER_01]: And I'll tell you, like the first episode, because I think it went into it like you.

7:02 [SPEAKER_01]: It's like, what is this, you know, like we're like, I don't know. [SPEAKER_01]: And now, like, I'm like, oh, I want all the screen. [SPEAKER_01]: I really genuinely do it. [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm having fun watching. [SPEAKER_01]: And it refers, you know, because the same thing you're trying to figure out, like, like, what are they trying to say?

7:21 [SPEAKER_01]: Because obviously, as a game, the way games go, you know, you don't want to be the last one or whatever. [SPEAKER_01]: You don't want to be the loser in the game. [SPEAKER_01]: But as I watching and watching, you know, I don't know, I don't know if you go through all of this or put this, you know, you know, what your take on it is, but it starts, I'm thinking like, it's interesting.

7:40 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, interesting about what it says about the expectations that we put on celebrities. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, because it's fun, by the way, it's fun. [SPEAKER_01]: And I haven't got a single logic question right in these first four episodes. [SPEAKER_01]: I've gotten half of the trivia wrong.

7:58 [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I'll put it back to that background for the whole experience. [SPEAKER_02]: The first of the logic test I screwed up. [SPEAKER_02]: I know what you're saying. [SPEAKER_02]: Right. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Ultimately, like this just in breaking news, celebrities don't exist.

8:07 [SPEAKER_02]: They're just people. [SPEAKER_02]: and it was really funny for that way in disarming. [SPEAKER_02]: And I also feel it has this quality of like to play a long aspect of it. [SPEAKER_02]: As you watch it, you're like, well, shit, people playing along with it. [SPEAKER_02]: So I was experiencing all this in real time as I was there making it, I'm going, this is fun, man.

8:21 [SPEAKER_02]: This is really fun. [SPEAKER_02]: Unexpected, I'm being surprised by these people. [SPEAKER_02]: But like, there were certain things like, I was not a great student, okay. [SPEAKER_02]: I got a GED to be very honest with you. [SPEAKER_02]: I was doing what's like English, I liked history, math and science.

8:33 [SPEAKER_02]: I was like [SPEAKER_02]: So we're playing some game. [SPEAKER_02]: You'll see in upcoming episodes where like I was surprised like people like Jojo or you can chase you know the youngest members of our team We're shocking me with their knowledge, you know, I'm Larry Baldwin. [SPEAKER_02]: She would surprise you.

8:46 [SPEAKER_02]: I mean a lot of people like with surprise you with their level of intelligence Because it's a wide swath of stuff and subjects, right? [SPEAKER_02]: So you've got math science geography all these different things and some physical stuff too I mean it wasn't like those shows where [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you're paired with the former military people.

9:01 [SPEAKER_02]: You know, those other shows on fuck. [SPEAKER_02]: But this was pretty challenging in a lot of different ways. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, and it's a good light. [SPEAKER_02]: And everybody was had a good, you know, vibe about it. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, they were a good spirits and having fun with it.

9:14 [SPEAKER_02]: But it's so funny to making the show. [SPEAKER_02]: They kept it very top secret. [SPEAKER_02]: Like they had standards and practices people there. [SPEAKER_02]: They had multiple law firms there. [SPEAKER_02]: But they were really protecting the game play. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, which was very funny to me, because it felt like, [SPEAKER_02]: It was like the Olympics or something, or they were treating it like, you know, you're you're enrolling at Quantico to join the CIA.

9:30 [SPEAKER_01]: What the hell? [SPEAKER_01]: Everybody's on the head says keep a separate for each other. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's like all that's kind of stuff. [SPEAKER_02]: So I was like, what the hell? [SPEAKER_02]: But ultimately, everybody just had a great laugh, you know, and there was a lot of C Carmen who, you know, decides to leave the show, but, uh, and even that, we couldn't even talk about, but we wished her well, she was so fun.

9:46 [SPEAKER_02]: I had a great experience with her, so I thought she was really a fun person, you know, but it was almost like Tourette's level, because when she would get frustrated, she started cursing, you know, it was really funny. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, but we were all having a laugh about it, and then I guess there were some issues behind the scenes that we were honestly not aware of, you know, because everything was like this, it was like secret service, everything, you know, [SPEAKER_02]: keeping it under wraps, but just a great experience.

10:06 [SPEAKER_02]: So again, it was the thing that I didn't expect. [SPEAKER_02]: But the thing that I honestly I didn't need, you know, because I'm used to having a script and knowing what to hell I'm doing and preparing myself. [SPEAKER_02]: And it was really nice just to be myself and hang out and enjoy some people.

10:18 [SPEAKER_02]: And it was a lot of fun, man. [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, just a quick break through a mind. [SPEAKER_01]: If you like what you're listening to right now or watching, please do hit that subscribe button. [SPEAKER_01]: That's how we're able to keep doing what you're doing. [SPEAKER_01]: And hopefully you get some entertainment out of it as well.

10:31 [SPEAKER_01]: We'll be right back right after this. [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back, it's Kyle Meredith with Anthony Michael Hall. [SPEAKER_01]: Well, that's the thing, I mean, as you're talking about in this career, and the only way to survive in this career is to roll with it. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, and there are going to be the peaks and valleys, and you have to figure out how to navigate in those valleys, like even on my side of the, you know, we see those.

10:53 [SPEAKER_01]: And to get something like this, and I'm sure it is, like, well, I've never done this before, and what does it mean? [SPEAKER_01]: But like, that's so important, like, to be able [SPEAKER_01]: to kind of as I'm saying roll with this and get in it and luckily it's a good experience. [SPEAKER_02]: Great point you're making and also the context of our times, the world will live in it, God there's like multiple wars going on, there's so much craziness and uncertainty and anger and rage and all the shit in the world that we're seeing and experiencing.

11:20 [SPEAKER_02]: So this is something I think that audiences I think fox wisely [SPEAKER_02]: chose to produce this because, first of all, it's a proven model, I guess it's a big hidden Norway and a bunch of other countries. [SPEAKER_02]: So there was a definitive proven model to it that they knew could work, but it's also nice to people who have some fun light TV to watch over the summer, you know?

11:38 [SPEAKER_02]: So it's nothing too serious, but I think there's that play along aspect of it that makes it a lot of fun. [SPEAKER_02]: And it's good to see people, you know, even if they have to be forced to have a sense of humor about themselves, if they get there, it's worth it, you know? [SPEAKER_01]: It looks like everybody got there.

11:53 [SPEAKER_01]: That was the thing, because it's show like this. [SPEAKER_01]: If you're signing up for it, and you know that title, right? [SPEAKER_01]: Like, hopefully you have the humor that it deserves. [SPEAKER_01]: Nobody's, I don't know, I love seeing it, and I'm not going to feel bad about whoever ends up last on this, because I'm pretty sure right now I'm last.

12:13 [SPEAKER_02]: see that's the thing and that's the gimmick that everybody latched on to which i think is really cool the gimmick is to get the hell off the show right it's like a survivor type of thing without having to go to the island and lose your clothes in your life and everything else but the gimmick is to get off that you know to get off the show, but I had a great time because honestly from the outset [SPEAKER_02]: Fox was very kind of me.

12:29 [SPEAKER_02]: They paid me a boatload of money to be there and just enjoy myself. [SPEAKER_02]: So it wasn't affecting my price and what the hell I was doing. [SPEAKER_02]: So I didn't have, you know, but there were some, looking, I'm not calling, like, I'm not running out of any of my former teammates here.

12:41 [SPEAKER_02]: But you'd be surprised some of the people were kind of got inside their head. [SPEAKER_02]: Like, even that linehardt, great guy, former athlete though. [SPEAKER_02]: And he was kind of like, like, he was taking a SAT. [SPEAKER_02]: He was like, beat himself up. [SPEAKER_01]: I can see that in the final edits of some of that.

12:53 [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_02]: as cool as the wild boy Steve O. [SPEAKER_02]: Great guy, but he's like checking his fit bit, he's doing skate tricks. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, this guy, he was literally leaving to go to clown school in Nashville after we sent it out. [SPEAKER_02]: Like right on Steve, of course you're going to clown school in Nashville and you move there.

13:10 [SPEAKER_02]: Great guy, you know, so the surprises that came with all of this. [SPEAKER_02]: We're just being surprised, but like L. King's came in, as you guys saw, like she kicked ass and was gone. [SPEAKER_02]: We didn't get to know her. [SPEAKER_02]: She was like out of there the first week. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, so a lot of fun surprises that came with this man, you know, throwing the people and all that, you know.

13:26 [SPEAKER_01]: So this gets back, you know, and to the big career arc thing because because you have, you've been able to figure out how to do it, you know, what would just at 50-year career, and [SPEAKER_01]: Like, we may have talked about this the last time that we were talking, but when you think about what you attribute to your longevity, you've made a great reputation, you know, in Hollywood, you've always come across like you're there to make friends too.

13:53 [SPEAKER_01]: Like, like, what do you see it is it is it is it the luck is it the manager is the agent is at the networking, like to get into the inside baseball here a bit. [SPEAKER_02]: I appreciate that very much. [SPEAKER_02]: I think you have to be tenacious, because again, even though I joked about it earlier, there's no fall back, there's nothing to fall back on, there's no corporate structure, there's no, you know what I mean, I don't work for this company, I don't have this, that or anything.

14:15 [SPEAKER_02]: So there's no reliance on that. [SPEAKER_02]: I think it's determination and I think being willing to outlast uncertainty, you know, and this career comes with that, [SPEAKER_02]: full of it, you know, and you never know where the next job is coming and people ask me in the context of interviews like, did I choose this?

14:35 [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, honestly, these opportunities choose you on a way, you know, so I wouldn't even be so old as to say that. [SPEAKER_02]: I really think, but for the grace of God, I've continued, you know, and I've kept that and I really think I have a creative life and a creative career this long and I'm just grateful for it.

14:50 [SPEAKER_02]: But that idea about lasting uncertainty, which an actor's life, any creator person life can be filled with, and it's I think that would just encourage anybody out there. [SPEAKER_02]: That's endeavoring for this. [SPEAKER_02]: You really have to know that. [SPEAKER_02]: You have to have a strong constitution, and you have to be willing to outlast, you know, the down times, you know, and the challenging times and all those things that come with it.

15:11 [SPEAKER_02]: But by the same token, if you look around in the world, there's so many people that are just simply fixated on money and accumulation of things, right? [SPEAKER_02]: So that's kind of a sad thing, too. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't want that, so it's challenging to live a creative life in the arts, but it's certainly [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's very, you know, in rewarding and enriching in terms of your inner life and soul, you know, so I'm grateful for it.

15:36 [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm amazed that I've lasted this long and I just, you know, just want to keep pushing ahead, man. [SPEAKER_01]: Was there a point where you think you kind of figured that out? [SPEAKER_01]: because you come off of a big 80s and you go into the 90s and I see, you know, again, like you're working in that decade.

15:51 [SPEAKER_01]: And then it really starts to, to, you know, my perception just looking back on a blindly right now, like when the dead zone comes around, like that's when it starts to really just like explode to what we know you as now. [SPEAKER_01]: Like appreciate. [SPEAKER_01]: It'll part right there.

16:05 [SPEAKER_01]: Like were you still like confident like if I just hang in there? [SPEAKER_02]: I was very challenging because I had a very big splash in the 80s with John Hughes and Universal and all that love and support of those films and to have him as a mentor and he was like an older brother. [SPEAKER_02]: He was just I loved him.

16:19 [SPEAKER_02]: I really loved him. [SPEAKER_02]: I've missed him to this date. [SPEAKER_02]: I've recently reconnected with one of his two sons. [SPEAKER_02]: His eldest John, the third, and it's just so important to me that I reconnected with his family. [SPEAKER_02]: but it was never a given man like, and then I tried to avoid comedy.

16:34 [SPEAKER_02]: I just had to get to work and keep going, but I struggled honestly a lot in my 20s, and so after this sort of incredible run as a teenager, it was just a baby, it was a boy, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I didn't go to college. [SPEAKER_02]: I just kept working and I thought, you know, no one's going to take us away from me.

16:49 [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to endeavor to keep on and no one's going to stop me from doing it. [SPEAKER_02]: And it was very challenging my 20s. [SPEAKER_02]: So what the way I like to, you know, kind of discuss that aspect of my career, that time frame, is like when I would get a job like diagnosis murder or touch by an angel.

17:05 [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, I treated it like it was a big studio film. [SPEAKER_02]: And that gave me a renewed sense of respect and appreciation for the work. [SPEAKER_02]: And then I'd be, you know, with some legend in the industry, like Angela Lassberry or Dick Van Dyke, and so you're always learning, you know, and I was growing, but I think it's, you know, it's not fair to say like a lot of their very few actors that can say, you know, I selected these things and I chose all that.

17:28 [SPEAKER_02]: I think in many ways the work chooses you in some regard. [SPEAKER_02]: So just grateful to God that I've had a creative life and been able to endure it and to at last those on certain times, you know, I think that's a big part of it, a big component that [SPEAKER_02]: That speaks to someone's inner life and their own spiritual beliefs and their own faith, you know, so everybody has their own way to get there, but for me that was a huge part of it, having that foundation of my own faith and at the same time.

17:55 [SPEAKER_02]: just having a six skin and a hard head to keep showing the show business. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that's part of it. [SPEAKER_01]: It's got to be part of it. [SPEAKER_01]: You know, that for sure. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you never know. [SPEAKER_02]: You could be on a winning team and you get dealt to somewhere.

18:07 [SPEAKER_02]: You don't even, and actors in most creatives, they don't even have that to rely on. [SPEAKER_02]: You don't have a team or, you know, as I said earlier, a corporation or whatever, all due respected people on those walks of life. [SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, it could be very challenging in the world of entertainment.

18:20 [SPEAKER_02]: The business of [SPEAKER_01]: Hey, just a quick break through a mind if you like what you're listening to right now or watching, please do hit that subscribe button. [SPEAKER_01]: That's how we're able to keep doing what you're doing, and hopefully you get some entertainment out of it as well.

18:31 [SPEAKER_01]: We'll be right back right after this. [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome back, it's Kyle Meredith with Anthony Michael Hall. [SPEAKER_01]: But again, we keep seeing you in these really interesting girls, you know, I brought a Halloween store earlier. [SPEAKER_01]: And I had Natalie Lendon recently, so we were talking about the Dutton Ranch thing, but of course we we talked about this because it's been for her such a passion project.

18:53 [SPEAKER_01]: And she starts name in the cast and it's like, man, you know, this is one of those great moments because, you know, here's an indie film, you know, in a moment where I think [SPEAKER_01]: You know, once a golden age, but a really another interesting age of independent film. [SPEAKER_01]: Yes.

19:09 [SPEAKER_01]: Where it used to be, I mean, it kind of goes away. [SPEAKER_01]: And sometimes it's big and sometimes it's a crutch, but we're coming back into this. [SPEAKER_01]: And you end up in this and Simon Rex is on here. [SPEAKER_01]: And just all of this stuff, and you find yourself, like, like, this could be a small project.

19:24 [SPEAKER_01]: But I got a feeling that everyone's still treating it as you said a minute ago, like the big deal of anything else. [SPEAKER_02]: It's a great point to make. [SPEAKER_02]: And certainly there's been the Hollywood certainly took note with these two young filmmakers, right back rooms and obsession, you know.

19:38 [SPEAKER_02]: It's almost like a Hollywood reset and a lot of people including Jason Blum of spoke very highly. [SPEAKER_02]: of course we need that new generation of young filmmakers to do this and I think it's fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: I think this film could fall in that category. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, this came about as a result of attending the SNL 50s because I got a nice connection with Keenan Thompson and we started to, you know, strike up a friendship and admit his producing partner got him Johnny Ryan and they offered me this film and it was a Halloween comedy and I was like, that's a great mashup.

20:06 [SPEAKER_02]: I love that idea. [SPEAKER_02]: So I went to Hawaii to shoot the film. [SPEAKER_02]: He was a quick, shoot, running gun, you know, totally independent production, and I was so highly impressed with Natalie. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, incredibly unactuous, really focused. [SPEAKER_02]: Turns out she has a rich pedigree in the industry.

20:20 [SPEAKER_02]: Her father works in production. [SPEAKER_02]: He was one of the first ADs on the film. [SPEAKER_02]: Her mother was an actor. [SPEAKER_02]: But couldn't have been more lovely and more professional. [SPEAKER_02]: She was fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: And I didn't even know about done ranch at the time.

20:30 [SPEAKER_02]: And that she's blown up in this great new show with, with Taylor Sheridan's world, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: But she was on the producers on the film. [SPEAKER_02]: And she, along with Thomas Decker and the whole past, they were fantastic. [SPEAKER_02]: I really like Simon and a lot.

20:42 [SPEAKER_02]: Everybody was super cool. [SPEAKER_02]: And so I'm playing the old sheriff in a movie. [SPEAKER_02]: You know what I mean? [SPEAKER_01]: Oh, I don't know anything about the plot, but I know about horror and sheriffs. [SPEAKER_01]: And that's not a good role. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm looking forward to talking about lunch ever.

20:56 [SPEAKER_02]: We know what it's like, right, right, right. [SPEAKER_02]: I know where you're going with that, right? [SPEAKER_02]: But just a great project. [SPEAKER_02]: So again, you know, [SPEAKER_02]: I think time is taught me well over the years, it's work and it's life, but you can also put it aside, you know, I know what it is, but it doesn't define who I am as a person, right?

21:12 [SPEAKER_02]: You know, that has been in a father now, that's the real work. [SPEAKER_02]: I've enjoyed that so much. [SPEAKER_02]: But this project was great. [SPEAKER_02]: I also did the show Swat Exile, which is kind of picked up by stars. [SPEAKER_02]: I play this kind of recurso-like character who had listed the support of this new security agency that Schmars joined.

21:29 [SPEAKER_02]: And that's the nature of that kind of spin off, but he was a great guy and Jerry O'Connell was there that day and James would grow some really cool actors. [SPEAKER_02]: Nice guys. [SPEAKER_02]: So you know, it's it's really fun. [SPEAKER_02]: And he kind of just have to adapt and keep going.

21:40 [SPEAKER_01]: Well, do you find like, you know, because we're talking about certain genres right here, you know, you know, exiles, of course, I'm, I mean, thinking like, the last year of the report with Reacher and sort of that type of world. [SPEAKER_01]: And then even with Halloween store and, you know, we brought up the dead zone, but also it was that Halloween kills was at the one.

21:57 [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like, you know, with his horror and this action. [SPEAKER_01]: you you just look so perfectly suited like you figured out what to do with yourself separately and in both of those I mean you get you get a good or a film and what you do with your eyes and this cold stare that you do and then you turn around with a villain or something like that and action like do you find when it comes to certain genres whether or not you get the luxury of choosing them or or they choose you like do you find that you are more comfortable in certain lanes and others [SPEAKER_02]: I think at this point, my career, I think what grows is your facility, like, for example, if you play an instrument for 10 years, you're going to be better at it when you're playing for 30 years or for, you know, so I think there's a facility that with the God given gift I've been given, I've...

22:42 [SPEAKER_02]: You know, it's like a muscle, you know, so I've learned how to use that and I applied in different ways if I'm doing something like warm machine with bread pit. [SPEAKER_02]: I've filmed my very product I made about 10 or 11 years ago, you know, I was playing in general and and sometimes it causes, you know, sometimes I go a little bit more method to be very honest with you because it's just a way to protect your concentration.

23:02 [SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, in the context of these other projects, not necessarily, like when I played this character, he was like a Rick Carruso type, well-to-do guy that had less, you know, the SWAT team. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, again, you're not going so full-bore and, you know, kind of, there's not a need to kind of disappear.

23:16 [SPEAKER_02]: Like when I played Bill Gates or when I played, you know, [SPEAKER_02]: general pulver and warm machine opposite bread pit, you know, it's just, so you learn to kind of adapt your instrument to what you're doing, you know, as an actor, it's, you know, and when I'm doing a comedy, it's even more fun.

23:31 [SPEAKER_02]: Like Halloween store was a real fun experience, and that was really groovy. [SPEAKER_02]: Like the first day I got to the set, I was just enjoying watching Natalie and the actor Thomas Decker, that they had a whole backstory that worked together as child actors as well. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was just really impressed with their performances.

23:45 [SPEAKER_02]: I just happened to walk in on the day where they were doing scenes where the slashes on the loose. [SPEAKER_02]: And they're just trying to, you know, and they were doing some really good work. [SPEAKER_02]: And I was like, wow, this is really cool. [SPEAKER_02]: So that idea of being surprised by new talent, younger generations of people, being working with different age groups and categories of people, different scales and levels of production, different genres.

24:04 [SPEAKER_02]: I enjoy that aspect of it. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: So Halloween store was a lot of fun. [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't have to think too hard, but it was just a really good kind of cool role. [SPEAKER_02]: He's a good character and he kind of shows up to piece the crimes together, you know, that I've gone on, but there's a lot of humor in it.

24:19 [SPEAKER_02]: So again, I was really enjoying working with those young actors on that. [SPEAKER_02]: That was really an happily surprised by their levels of talent and ability. [SPEAKER_02]: So that was enjoyable for me. [SPEAKER_02]: Something like SWAT I was only there for one day and, you know, guys like Shemar and Jerry O'Connell came up to me and you know, they were, [SPEAKER_02]: even me flowers as they say these did you know just really kind about you know the work I've done happy work with me and all that stuff and I feel the same way about them, you know, so You have to operate with a sense of humility if not this business will humble you and it has for me many many times over the decades, you know, so You get to work on the opportunity to do these projects there You know, and especially if you get older, I feel I'd be personally like you I can just

24:57 [SPEAKER_02]: to be more present, you know, not just wrong. [SPEAKER_01]: That's exactly what I was, I was curious about right there, too, because when you've been on enough sets over and over and over, it's like, how do you, you know, shake yourself up from just walking in and doing the job, like to still make that special, to still get inside yourself and tap into whatever needs to be tapped into?

25:18 [SPEAKER_02]: Right. [SPEAKER_02]: Right. [SPEAKER_02]: A lot of it's just being, you know, being a piece at work, you know? [SPEAKER_02]: and learning to adapt to working in groups. [SPEAKER_02]: It's always a great education for me. [SPEAKER_02]: And I've seen this in crews through the decades that people thrive under adversity, whether they're conscious of it, fully or not, they do.

25:35 [SPEAKER_02]: Just like teams and sports, military. [SPEAKER_02]: But there's so many examples of it in the life and people's walks of life. [SPEAKER_02]: So I'm a big proponent of that. [SPEAKER_02]: And I've seen that, especially as I get older, I see that. [SPEAKER_02]: When people are pulling their hair out, and this problem is set, and it's like in the back of your head, you're like, don't you?

25:51 [SPEAKER_01]: This is make believe. [SPEAKER_01]: This is a movie. [SPEAKER_01]: This is just a TV show. [SPEAKER_02]: There's people that really dealing with the world's problems today and really having to like shoulder humanity forward, you know, and we're just making something here. [SPEAKER_02]: So I've learned to kind of look past that kind of set stuff, you know, that can be, you know, frustrating for summer, whatever, because I've seen so much of it.

26:13 [SPEAKER_02]: I know that the end game is that it'll get made and it'll get done. [SPEAKER_02]: and people will thrive under adversity, and that's a fun thing to see, is that mature and gotten older, that affects your heart and your awareness and your view of a set when you get there. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you can just kind of be more relaxed, and you know, just someone who just comes to my right now, I've worked with them a few times over the Assam Jackson couldn't be cooler, you know, he would bring a novel to the setting, he'd be reading between takes, you know, looked at this guy's cool and just there's a sense that when it's an actor you want to kind of [SPEAKER_02]: You know, control your energy to a way, so when you need to summon it, it's there, you know, so it's just a lot of times too.

26:47 [SPEAKER_02]: There's a lot of waiting on sets. [SPEAKER_02]: I enjoy that time too, because often what I'm doing is kind of assessing out the energy that's set in the people. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, but it's an actor for hire, you can kind of sit back and not have to worry about all the, you know, the problems of the day, you know.

26:59 [SPEAKER_02]: So when you're, you know, when you're called upon to do your thing, it's actually just minutes of the day when the cameras are on. [SPEAKER_02]: Right. [SPEAKER_02]: So you got to be crazy. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Crazy. [SPEAKER_01]: But you know, I mean, it's served you well.

27:07 [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that philosophy is served you well. [SPEAKER_01]: I, I run a, I also run a radio station in Louisville where I based and, and there's a big sign of my door. [SPEAKER_01]: That's a toy department. [SPEAKER_01]: And it's, it's there as a reminder, you know, because because you do, you get wrapped up and it's like, we're entertainers, man, like we work in the toy store, like, like it can be rough, but it's still supposed to be fun, something like this.

27:30 [SPEAKER_02]: Relax, it's only a movie. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, if people, you just see those sometimes on the buttons or a t-shirt, I'm said, yeah, exactly, it is, you know, and the scheme of things are people really feeling with. [SPEAKER_02]: major issues and there's so much uncertainty and so much craziness going on in the world.

27:44 [SPEAKER_02]: And it's a new century. [SPEAKER_02]: Here we are, you know, twenty twenty six, man. [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm just, yeah, you got to have like a light heart about it all, you know? [SPEAKER_02]: Because again, a lot of times you wouldn't get too serious about it. [SPEAKER_02]: You know, when you're on sets and you do have to step back and go guys, you know.

27:57 [SPEAKER_02]: So it's just like, let's be real about this. [SPEAKER_01]: still make believe for that we're living you know it is make believe and in the mean time you try to solve some difficult logic quests you know for it gave so and right hopefully I hope hopefully I get one of those before this season is over that's what I'm thinking hoping anyway so you know what I tell you when I'm doing this I kept thinking like to play along aspect is really fun I think people really going to be engaging so by the time I finished this project I was like you know what [SPEAKER_02]: I loved it.

28:25 [SPEAKER_02]: I wound up emailing a bunch of the executives at Fox. [SPEAKER_02]: It took another meeting with them. [SPEAKER_02]: And then I heard my publishers to get out there and promote it and to do this. [SPEAKER_02]: So I can talk to the nice people like you. [SPEAKER_02]: And I went to New York.

28:34 [SPEAKER_02]: I did it tonight show. [SPEAKER_02]: I was like, you know what, I want to treat this like. [SPEAKER_02]: It is what it is. [SPEAKER_02]: It's a great opportunity, you know. [SPEAKER_02]: So I made a joke when I was on the tonight show. [SPEAKER_02]: They had OTCS and nation's dumbest. [SPEAKER_02]: You're welcome America.

28:44 [SPEAKER_02]: Because I was on with Matt Damon that night. [SPEAKER_02]: I was like, that's hilarious. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, he would do one nation's dumbest. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, let's see it. [SPEAKER_01]: Let's see it. [SPEAKER_02]: But I really enjoyed it. [SPEAKER_02]: My wife and I went to go see the Aussie the other day.

28:55 [SPEAKER_02]: So, you know, it was great. [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, worked for Mr. Noah. [SPEAKER_02]: I was in the dark that I had a small role in that. [SPEAKER_02]: But it was great to see his latest film. [SPEAKER_02]: You know? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man. [SPEAKER_01]: What did the biggest weekend in box office history this past weekend with because because of Odyssey and Spider-Man The two of them like like the whole thing about you know people were right a few years ago like or theater is going to survive in 2026 and even a bit last year too.

29:20 [SPEAKER_01]: It's just like it's been yeah my my son he's 18 and all of his friends all of them Go to the theater if not weekly then a couple times a month [SPEAKER_02]: It's like we did, you know, right, it's right and to see that. [SPEAKER_02]: No, that's excellent. [SPEAKER_02]: I'm happy to hear that.

29:36 [SPEAKER_02]: and it's going to be Tom Holland whose kid is doing great. [SPEAKER_01]: Who's in both of them? [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, it's like, maybe cruise this weekend. [SPEAKER_01]: What those two movies out? [SPEAKER_02]: That's great. [SPEAKER_02]: Now, good for him, man. [SPEAKER_02]: You got to just wish everyone success in life.

29:46 [SPEAKER_02]: Time has taught me that. [SPEAKER_02]: Absolutely. [SPEAKER_02]: That's great. [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: Theators are good. [SPEAKER_01]: Independent movies are good. [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah. [SPEAKER_01]: And everything that I see you in is great. [SPEAKER_01]: And it's always a pleasure to get the talk to you about it.

29:56 [SPEAKER_01]: Might get really, it's really appreciate it. [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for your time today, man. [SPEAKER_02]: Good talk to you. [SPEAKER_01]: My thanks to Anthony Michael Hall nation's dumbest out now on Fox and Hulu Looking forward to a Halloween store in SWAT Thanks to you for checking out the episodes do hit that subscribe button while you're hanging around to keep up with all the interviews that I put out every single week Spotify Apple podcast NPR WFPK dot org consequence YouTube for the video versions or anywhere you get your podcast from You can subscribe to Kyle Meredith with please to give this series a rating and [SPEAKER_01]: Leave a review where every listing you're watching from and then after that you can find me Wfbk.org.

30:36 [SPEAKER_01]: I do a show weeknights start six p.m. Eastern You get four hours of classic alternative in Indy rock Americana. [SPEAKER_01]: You get the best in new music bonus interviews lots of music news and film news as well One of my recent shows featured some classics and favorites [SPEAKER_01]: from Yoke and Yard Actory, Amos, Salt and Peppa, Bob Dillon, the who little feet, dinosaur junior, J. Roddy Wallston, Brandy Carlyle, Ray Lamontane, Bush, Charlie X, Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Killers, and my interviews with everyone from Josh Radner, Jessica Williams, U2, Roger Taylor from Queen Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Linklatter, Kevin Smith, Octavia Spencer, Hannah Wattingham, [SPEAKER_01]: Tammy Stronock, Olivia Allen, as we talked about to her sister, Natalie, and this interview.

31:25 [SPEAKER_01]: Just an example of what you can get when you tune in. [SPEAKER_01]: So tune in weeknights, 6 p.m. easterm at wfpk.org. [SPEAKER_01]: Consequence says your music and film news, so you can also find me on any of the social media sites. [SPEAKER_01]: The address is always at Kyle Meredith.

31:39 [SPEAKER_01]: Please do like, follow along. [SPEAKER_01]: That does it for another edition. [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Kyle Meredith, I'll see you next time. [SPEAKER_01]: Consequence Podcast Network.