Brad Pitt & Adam Sandler | Actors on Actors - Full Conversation

I feel like we should be talking about colonoscopies. That's kind of our wheelhouse these days. By the way, I always wondered, because when they put you out, you were on your back. I was on my backish side. It wasn't until your film, Uncut Gems, that's a plug, when I realized they just must push us over while we're out. Oh man, I'm terrified knowing that, because I was awake during that shot, but having to pretend to be asleep. And that was a real doctor in there, and he was talking, and he was touching. I wish I was out. And poking, and prodding, and doing the things we do for art. You gotta suffer. They say it's in the script, I do it. No, it was convincing, because you looked out, you had this kind of... I did, I did. This very feeble... I know, I know. No, that's hard to pull off. I was in a weird position, yeah, yeah, yeah. It was compromising. I know, man. It's funny, I got shoulder surgery. I played basketball with the guy who did my shoulder surgery, and he looks at me now like he knows something. I'm like, what did you do to me, man? What did you do to me? But the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Tarantino. He's good, that Tarantino. He's pretty good. He should keep going. He should make at least one more. I think so. I think he should make one more. Exactly, but then he's gotta pull the plug. To me, he's got one more in him, and then that's it. Yeah, he's done. He sure is. Now, you get that script. I know, I've seen Quentin, he goes hardcore at perfection in the script. So the script itself, you get that, you get your character, what's the first thing you do when you know you're gonna do it? Well, this one, because the previous one, the script got burned, so this one, there was just one copy, this first copy, and you had to go to his house and read it. Oh, yeah? And I think the Rick Dalton character had to get cast first before, he was trying to find the pair before the clip booth would happen. So the first time I went, it was a nice, clean, crisp script. I got called back, I don't know how many weeks later, and it was all dog-eared and snot-stained. So you got to read it pretty much first. I don't know, the script was pretty clean when I first got there. When I got the job, it was pretty well-used, it was pretty dirty. And the dialogue itself, it's... Tarantino's different. Tarantino, me, has never done Shakespeare. Yes. But there is a specific rhythm. Right, right. And I found that with the Coen brothers, and I find that with Tarantino, that there is a very particular music to it, and where some jobs we do, we get to riff, and that's great, we make it natural, we put our little interesting bits in it, and we make it our own. But here, I find it only lets the air out of the tire and that step of... Yeah, you feel it, yeah. It's one of the few scripts, he's one of the few writers that I've read where you get it, you can hear it immediately. Yes, for sure. It's so specific. For sure. Yes. He's also, like, you know when you're out somewhere and you're like, I describe his writing this way, when you're, and you have an embarrassing moment or you get ripped, you don't, you know, you're not sharp on the comeback, you're driving home, you think of the perfect comeback, and you're like, oh. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, he has that. He has it. Laid out for you. Yeah. Man, even that last, even that bagel thing at the end, when you said you could make a bagel, what was that? It was so funny. It's so scary. That was so funny. That was actually, was that your last line in the movie or something? Close to it. I don't know, I try, I try. It was close to it. Man, you were funny. But that's him, that's... Yeah, it was a good one. I think that might have been a little bit of the valley of knowing a lot about L.A. and also the fact that he married an Israeli girl. The bagel was on his mind when he was putting this together. Maybe that was a connection. Didn't question it. Oh. I just liked it, because it didn't... It just was so strong that he's like, let me be alone. You're just going to waste your time with me. It made sense without, you know, without making sense. Yeah, yeah. It's official, old buddy. Well, it has been. What are you talking about? What did that guy tell you? Told me the goddamn truth is what he told me. Whoa, whoa. Hey. I'm sorry about that. Man, scene after scene was making me laugh. It was, to me, you know, it's not a full-on comedy, but my goodness, I saw Conan O'Brien, and I was at a hotel, I just was talking to him, and he just got done seeing it. And we talked about the movie, and we were both going, man, that was so funny, this was so funny. It's got the rhythm of a comedy, kind of. What, Quentin's? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, I mean, well, thank you coming from you, because... You, well, thank you. You know that stuff. But it's a different kind of humor, isn't it? It's kind of, it's a subtle, it's a... It's subtle. It's a ride. It also makes you want to be... It's behavioral. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, the Bruce Lee scene, man, you just laughing on the side and just getting excited about a guy boasting and just being the, of all people, I've seen those guys hang out before, the stuntmen, sitting on the side, talking, and that you do always go, well, those guys are the coolest guys on the set. They are. We all know. We all know that, yeah. They're so much cooler than... And by the way, I'm so happy they're there. I'm relying on them for every scene. I am the opposite of, I don't know about you, but I have no pride in doing what I'm doing. I'm like, I'll be taking a rest over there. You do your thing. I'll be rooting for you, buddy. I'd run right over to them after. Way to go, baby. That was amazing. You really made me look good there. But I even look at those guys when my, if I'm trying to be funny. If the stunt guys are laughing, I'm like, all right, the stunt guys thought it was good. Everything's good. Exactly. But when you do comedies, when you do, you know, what I've noticed about, you know, you usually have a group and you guys are used to riffing. You guys will try another line and another line and then another take, you'll throw out another, you know, look for that capper or something. You're always looking for a big out. Do you bring that same thing when you get to a drama or a serious thing? Not really. I let those guys, the Safdie brothers, I let them have total, I throw thoughts out there and I talk to them during the pre-production and stuff and then on the day, they'll say, try this, try that, maybe don't be so upset there and see what happens there. You know, we did, not like with the Quentin, we did go off the script a little bit. Mostly script, but then on occasion, you know, before action, I would be back in a different room about to enter a set and the Safdie guys would say, hey, maybe say this when you go out there, see what happens, you know? And we went off like that a few times. That got in there. I just figured that would be amazing training because it takes a while to be able to get that loose where you can, and in truth, I find the scenes end up best if you're operating that same way, like you're, the lines don't have to be different, but your approach is different. Yeah, yeah. Your tone's different. Right, yeah. And I just thought that would be, I was really impressed with you guys, the way you do that, and I thought that's really, that's the way to approach a scene. I see you out there when the stadium's all booing you, you're 30 up, you're still going full tilt. Let's see what Vegas, what has Vegas got you guys at tonight? Take a look, let's see. Are you serious, you're going to pull this up right here? Look at this, the Sixers are supposed to win the game tonight! It's so funny because when you do a scene and you've got to cover a scene and do the master and blah, blah, blah and shoot and shoot and shoot, there's nothing better than somebody coming up with a new line, all of a sudden, it's like the freshest thing to you. You say that new line, you're like, can you give me five more new lines, because I think I'm getting stiff here with this other stuff, you know? And that was nice. Yeah, I worked with Adam McKay once, he would do that. He would just be throwing out scenes now. Right, yes, yes, exactly. That's how we, a lot of the comedians and the comedy directors do it. It's like you've got a list of a couple of comedy writers in the background going blah, blah, blah, blah, handing it to the director, director screams out, maybe try saying this, this, this, and then you either say that line or something close to it, and it does create a... But the point, what I took note is, I once saw Tony Hopkins, he, we were doing the scene, this was mid-90s or 97 or something, and the scene wasn't working for him. I mean, for me, I thought it was great, but for me, it wasn't working, and he turned around, he turns back to us all for about 30 seconds and turned back around, and he did it, he just came in, it was just a completely different tone. The words were the same, but the tone was different, and it was glorious, and I've always made a point since then to keep trying to mess up the intention of the scene or... Yes, yes, yes, right. And that's what I drew from whenever I see the comedy guys like riffing like that, it's always fresh, it's fresh, it's fresh. Yes, and if you know you're going to get a few shots at it in your head, it frees up so much where you go, I can't, I can't play with this stuff and come at it with different directions and stuff. When you're on the move and it's pressing, we've got to get this shot, get out of there, then you do sort of make a decision like, I better give my A take. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or we're going to end up with something that's not enough energy or whatever, but it is, it is cool. Well, maybe it's different, because when I get into a drama, it's, I don't necessarily know the answer again, and again, it's such a subtle, it's such a subtle, it's about feeling, what you feel, what you feel from the scene. Yes, and what the other person brings you. And so that I find a kind of search and destroy. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's funny, we did a few scenes in Gems where when I'm at home working on it and I'm alone working on it, it's one thing, and then all of a sudden you're with the other actor, you're meeting eyes, you're like, oh man, this is bringing like a whole other feeling up, and it's either working or not, but it is different. That's usually when I feel I did something right where I was there in the moment, when you're locking in with somebody. When you surprise yourself. Yes, and you let yourself say, okay, well, that was real at least. I don't know if it made 100% sense for the scene, but I was there and I felt what I was supposed to. It's always my argument that if it's real for you, it's going to read real, because the camera, man, the camera reads that. And I just wonder how you approach that with comedy. Is it the same? Right, right, I think so, I think so. I think you try to make it make sense to the story and your character and whatever you pick, and the realer the better. Then there are guys who come at it where they step back from it being real and they do something bananas, and it's funnier than anything you could do. But like, well, I would say, you know, I see that in some of your other stuff, like the really irreverent ones like Zohan and stuff. Right, right, right. But I equate that too to like Will Ferrell, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's incredible at that. But still there's truth in what he's making fun of. Yes, yes, he always looks in the scene as that guy, as whoever person he's playing, you believe Will Ferrell is in that situation and being put upon or taken over or whatever he does. He is incredible at that. Well, what I love, but you are too, you guys are making fun of truthful situations. It can get absurd, it can get bananas, but there's truth in the thing. Yes, yes, you're right. But all right, back to Uncut Gems. I'm a little obsessed with comedy right now, that's why I'm banging on your door that way. I love when you, yes, I love that you like that stuff. But this movie, first of all, hats off, man. Thank you, buddy, I'm so happy you liked it. I had such anxiety watching it. It looked like a ball to make. It was, it was. Except for the panic scenes. There were some heavy moments, yes, yes, sure, but there were so many people in every scene, it was so rat-tat-tat, everybody going nuts, and it was alive most of the time. It was alive. Yeah. It was noisy, it was chaotic. It was, right. It was a lot of energy going. Yes, yes. Very kinetic. Yeah, man. But oh my, watching it, oh my God, I was so anxious. Yeah, right, right, right. You know, watching someone, you know, the way they describe an airline disaster is like a series of bad mistakes. Right, right. Like one mistake. Sure. And we didn't watch. Yes, yeah. Just a man just keep making bad choices. That's right. It's so funny, too, because you know when you're shooting, it's scene to scene. It's, you know, in the morning you shoot one scene and you go, oh, that's where he makes that wrong decision. Okay, let's concentrate on that. But as a whole, when you watch the movie back, you're like, oh yeah, that does get on you, man. You feel terrible, like I can't get it together. But doing it, though, isn't there a certain perverse freedom in it? Yeah, oh my God, yes. Isn't there a sense of fun? This was probably the most free I could ever be in a movie. Just, he made so many mistakes that, and was so unlikable at times. He was never unlikable. In my head he was, but I'm glad. He was never unlikable. Yeah, that's good to know. In fact, you worried for him. That's why he was so anxiety-producing. Yeah, that was shockingly cool to get to be that guy. I think you are the most annoying person I have ever met. I hate being with you, I hate looking at you, and if I had my way, I would never see you again. That's because you're mad. You're mad, and it makes sense. You know, this is something that I, one of my favorite things you've ever done is punch drunk with PTA. Sure, he's the man. But there's something in everything you do, I mean, we go way back, but what I love about, it's what I love most in people, but what I'm trying to say is, there's always a kindness that you bring to all your characters. There's a kindness of heart in the back of it. It's why you care for your man in Uncut Gems so much, and you worry for him so much. That's amazing, because there are times I don't think it's, I think I'm being strong, I think I'm being in my head. You are. You are being strong, and you're being... There's something, no matter what I do, that's a little like something about me, slightly goopy at all times, so it kind of makes you go, I don't know, he's off a little bit. Something weird. You're definitely off, no question. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I try not to be, but it turns out that it goes that way. But there's this thing underneath, sorry, you were going to say? I want to talk about you, that's why. Okay, we're not getting off you just yet. Okay, yes, yes. But there is this, I don't know, it's something that's unexplainable, it's probably something you're not aware of. You know, I mean, you have a reputation for being very kind, very honorable, and honorable with friends. I don't think that's so known out in the old universe. Yeah. And I got great respect for that, but it reads in the characters, and that's why I like Punch Drunk Love so much, because it's so embodied in that character, he's so. Oh yeah, that guy is. He's such a warmth. He's wanting something too, yeah, I know. He's trying, he's trying so hard. And well, I have that. Okay, but let me just, of course, can I just say, watching you, we're going to talk about Hollywood now, once upon a time in Hollywood, but your character, to me, so, again, like you're saying about me, I thought your guy was so warm, so kind, loved Leo's character, was his brother, sat and like was so, made Leo feel proud of his performance as his character. You know, I love that you sat and, that was so funny when he said, do you want to watch me, the show? And you're like, well, I couldn't think of nothing else I'd rather do or something, whatever the line was. It just was so genuinely loving, like, that's my buddy. He loves when I watch and tell him he's doing a good job. And that was the best, that was a real friendship. It reminded me of a lot of friendships that me and you have mutual friends. It reminded me of my feelings for the guys we hang out with, it was just like, just, he needs something, he needs a friend, he needs something dependable in his life. You were so dependable for Leo, even when he had to say goodbye to you and when he got married and he was having a hard time saying goodbye, just the fact that you guys get back together so quick, you're with him, you're just with him all the time. He's like, I cannot be with this guy, he's my rock. I know, but don't you have those people who, I know you do, friends of 30 years who, it's in between, it's the downtime, isn't it? Oh man. That can be torturous or joyful. It's those people. Oh God, yeah. You rely on so much of those friendships out here. It's, even when, in one of the best scenes, when the guy punctures your tire, there's like pain, you're like, besides the fact that we're so excited to watch you possibly pummel this guy, because we saw what you're capable of with the fight earlier in the movie, just like the fact that he damaged your buddy's car and you're like, man, you can't do that, man. That's it, it hurt you. Besides it being a job for you, it means a lot to him, that car. Yeah, that was great. It was nice playing a guy who had kind of evolved past drama. So there was never, you know, like some of the scenes, you had panic scenes in Uncut Gems where you're in full panic, breakdown mode, like you're scared for your life, like the walls could come tumbling down. And you know those mornings when you go in and you've got to put yourself in that position. It's an exhausting kind of day. You know what you're up for, you're up for a 15-round fight, when there are only 12 rounds now. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And like it was almost a bit of a joy not to, you know, this was a guy who had found his peace. Yes, you were at peace, man. He was like, you know, listen, I'll look for the best in people. I expect the worst, you know, surprise me. And if not, we'll deal with it as it comes along. And that was like no hassle in the castle. Well, that's what made you love this guy so much. He's so confident and cool and just, and your days alone, when you would drop Leo off at the set and be like, I got some errands to make and just those drives when you would see one of the young hippie girls hitchhiking and having a little eye contact session and it was just so, you were so happy for like, all right, he's getting to enjoy his day a little bit. He's flirting, having fun. Well, look, Red, I'm coming in there. With my own two eyes, I'm gonna get a good look at George. And this ain't stopping me. So I was thinking, too, when I watched that Astra and I saw you had so many days where, first of all, the way it was shot was incredible. Hoyt van Hoytman, one of our best. Good Lord. Yeah, beautiful. Good Lord, wasn't he? And James Gray. Yeah, yeah. He's one of our best. My God, man. And just the timing of the shield of the helmet coming into where we actually see your face from it and your emotions were so powerful. And I was thinking the same thing with you. You had so many days where you had to be in the trailer before going out and being like, oh no, here we go again. This one's a rough moment, too. You didn't have any calm moments in that movie. That was a very, very, that was a tough shoot, huh? Yeah, that was not, you know, it's interesting because of what you're exploring, but it does, it takes a toll. I mean, I'm not complaining, but you just know what you're in for, you know? You know what you're in for when you sign up for it and what it's gonna be. Really grateful when you come out the other end. But yeah, those were, yeah, those were those kind of days where you got to be in, you got to put yourself in that. Whatever's personal for you, whatever the upset is in the scene, tonally you have to, you know, you gotta be there. Yeah, I know, I know. So me, I don't know how you get there. What do you do? I hope to get there. When that has happened, that has worked every time. But yeah, it's, but when I don't do it, in this, in Uncut Gems, I've had movies where I had to break down before, and I get really nervous about those days. If it's a couple days or so, I mean, I'm not kidding you. Leading up to it? Leading up to it, I'll say, when is that, when are they shooting that scene? Counting down on the call sheet? Exactly, it screws me up a little. Over the third week, I know I'm approaching that, I gotta be up for it. And then once you do it, and if you get there, you're like, whew, the rest is, then you're like, no, you still gotta get it. I don't know, I don't know how I get... I do the same negotiation, check, check. I actually, I didn't do as much as I usually do where I put this pressure on myself. I just said, I'm feeling like this guy. I really did my back story, I worked hard at this character, and knowing the way he thinks and where he goes in my head. I felt confident that I knew the guy. So I was a little more confident than usual on the days he had a really awful day where I had to break down or whatever. I was just like, let me just go, let me just do it. Instead of doing that whole thing of worrying and worrying, I just did my own way of getting there. And I actually talked, I called my wife, and I said, all right, today I'm there, I gotta do this. And she gave me some thoughts and blah, blah, blah. And so it was good, it was great. I got it done, but it's funny. No, it plays. It plays. Thanks, buddy. I mean, I saw you, I saw those close-ups, I saw, like, you always had this, so much baggage going on in your head and every facial expression, even when you weren't moving. Even when it was such a still shot, it was very effective. I could just tell you were deep in something the whole movie. Yeah, that was, you know, I talked to James before going in, and because it was such an insular and lonely kind of existence and the abyss of space and where we were going to end up, I told him, I asked him, you know, I see this as very, very, very still. I'm going to see how still we can be. And when it gets flat, you know, just pull me out. Yeah, that's, yeah, because that loneliness was there. You were lonely, and you were in pain, and you missed, you just, there was something constantly going on. It's like, I can't remember the particular scene, but when you, oh, when you look at that video of your dad the first time and see what he said and done. And then masturbate, yeah, it's weird. It was a weird move, but I thought it, I thought it said something about specific, that was universal. That's, I loved, masturbation was wonderful. What can you tell us about the Lima Project? First manned expedition to the outer solar system, sir. Some 29 years ago. And the commander was? It was my father, sir. It reminded me a lot when you found out something about your dad and it crushed you because you had a belief about one thing your whole life growing up, and then all of a sudden you hit with something else. It's when my father's funeral, when my father passed away, and after the funeral, and I love, yeah, you know, I love my dad a lot. You guys are very close. We were tight. And then you have people coming up to you and telling you their own stories about your dad and them, and you're just like, what happened? It is a shocking feeling to know, to get hit with stuff you didn't know about your father. Like? Just stuff that you didn't want to know. Stuff that he did that was totally out of character. It is a shocking, weird change. But anyways, yeah, old Tommy Lee was great in the movie too, huh? Goodness. Yeah, he's another one. Just like, I didn't think some of the dialogue actually even worked on paper. I was talking to James, James, we've got to work this for him. Right, right, right. He comes in, nope, and just like. Which just tells me I have more to learn. You're right. Tommy Lee, whenever we work with these guys who are older than us and better than us, you do walk away going, oh yeah, I guess you start panicking. Okay, this great actor's coming in. Let's make sure his stuff is as good as it can be. And then you're like, wait a minute. They get there like, I took the gig because I like it. I like what I'm going to get to do with this stuff. I know what I'm doing. Don't worry about me. Exactly. It's cool, man. Well, I mean, let's talk about like the cast in Uncut Gems is sublime. Everyone was so specific. Yes. And how much, you know, what's often, you know, like we'll get credit for a performance, but what's rarely talked about is what we do as a collaborative sport. Right, right. And we rely so much on. Yes. Not just the set and how it's shot and the music and the sound design and the score, but our, you know, our partners we're playing with. Oh, yeah. And it does. It really, when everyone's firing, the scene is so rich. Exactly. And it gives you so much more. And I felt like you had a lot bouncing off on because everyone was. Those guys, the Safdie brothers, they take it so serious. Every person in the movie meant so much to them. So they had legitimate people there, people who aren't actors, people who are really jewelers, people who are, you know, the FedEx guy in the movie who just drops off the rock to me. Right. That's the 47th Street FedEx guy. Like, they just like, we love his look. We want him. He'll play it more real than, you know, they just, they made that very easy for me to be more alive in every scene because it all felt legitimate. And then, yeah. And then the other parts, I mean. Well, you blended right in. Lakeith Stanfield is amazing. That kid is incredible. No, he's incredible. He is deep. And he goes all day long. He goes all day long. When we're not shooting, it's an hour set up. I swear to God, I never saw him not working hard. He was just on the side, either going over his stuff or just staying in character or being on his own, coming back. We would talk, we'd have real conversations. And then I would feel like, all right, I better step back and get him back to his world. He goes, he's a guy that I felt when we had toe-to-toe scenes a lot, I felt like, oh, yeah, this is a whole other thing than I expected. Yeah, he's giving it back. He gives it up. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, me and you know each other from many years ago when we first started. We kind of like started getting to do more and more of what we wanted to do at the same time. Yeah. We both kind of, I think you were ahead of me, but like in the same era of getting to do stuff that was important to us. And we're still getting to do that. I don't know how the hell that happened. Yeah, we snuck through. Sneaky. Sneaky bastard. This could be it, though. Maybe. Yeah, let's not get cocky. Exactly. But, yeah, I just, I feel like. Well, when we started it was, I mean, I got out here at the end of the 80s. When did you? Right, yes. When did you get, early 90s? I finished college, 88, got here like 89, 80, end of 88. And then it was still, you know, it was big blockbusters with Stallone and Schwarzenegger. And then we went through the 90s where independent cinema. Right. Which certainly Tarantino was a part of its birthing. And we went through that. And then we, I don't know what we call the aughts. I don't know how I would define that. But then streaming services came on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's been, you know, after, in early 2000s you could see films, you know, it was getting harder and harder to make interesting material. Like, you could see it heading towards the blockbuster. And this was mainly because, as you know, prints and advertising was so goddamn expensive. Yeah. You couldn't take those gambles on gutsy material. That's, yeah. So, I say that. I don't mean that there weren't gutsy films made, but they were usually. More opportunity. More gambles, yeah. You had to do it under $10 million or something. Right, right. And then streaming service came along and blown it wide open again in a very interesting way. Yeah. I mean, I see more and more interesting stuff getting made. You were one of the very first to go to Netflix Film Life. I lucked out doing that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I can't believe what they made. You crossed the picket line at that time. I sure did. I didn't even know I was doing that. I was just, they were interested in working together. And then it just turned out, they are so passionate. So many of these companies are. I mean, I'm just tight with Netflix. I know those guys very well. They just want to make great material. I mean, that's all they talk about. They just, they love providing opportunities for so many different types of comedies. Well, in all fairness, I mean, it became, they were certainly the first to bust open the door. And then it's become an arms race as far as material. But you were one of the first to go that route film wise. You too. And I wasn't far behind looking at you, but I think you were the very first film wise. I said, let me get this going for Brad. And then I did it. And look at you now. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Thank you. No, but it's interesting to see, you know, we, listen, I'm all for, I guess my point is I'm all for change. I mean, I'm not going to fight it, but go with it and see what it is. I see the positive more and more. I see really insane material getting made. So many great, so much amazing talent. So many people out there. That were there all along and not getting a shot. Right. Yeah, right. Exactly. On the other hand, people talk about lamenting the death of the cinematic experiences. Is that gone? Because the home experience has gotten so good. I don't see it being gone. I like saying I saw your movie in a theater. Yeah, I don't see it being gone. It's different now. It'll be fewer. Yes. But it's exciting when you're there. You're exciting. It's very exciting when you're at a movie theater. And when I saw, it's funny. I saw your movie a week ago or five days ago. Which? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. And I was in New England and I looked up, where's it playing? And I had to drive an hour and 20 minutes. Oh, dear. Because it's out of some theater. And it was so much fun going to the theater, watching it on a big screen. And of course, Tarantino wants you to see it on a big screen. Sure. It looked incredible. Shot on film still. Man, was it shot nice. Yeah. Man, oh, man. It just looked cool as hell. But that's exactly the question. Does it have to be an event film for them to play now? Mm-hmm. Which it seems to be heading that way. There needs to be some kind of event propulsion. Yeah. That's where it's at right now. And I bet it goes back and I bet it makes a comeback into the movies you see on streaming a lot being on big screen. I just think it's a moment. I think it's a moment. I don't think stuff goes away forever. I just think this is where it's at right now. Like I said, sitting back and watching how great that movie looked, Tarantino's movie, and just seeing you guys on a big screen was just a great experience. But I saw Ad Astra at home on my screen and it felt more private. I loved being alone with it. I loved because of the sound design. I was digging the sound design. I was digging the shots and the quiet, the stuff on the moon, that quiet feeling up there. It was just me alone and the screen, and it kind of rocked me hard. I thought it got me better than it would in the theater. It got you. Not hard. Rocked me. Not hard. Okay. That thing is, that's a long time ago. I just wanted to be clear. That doesn't happen anymore. I'm not going to take a stab at the comedy. I'm sorry. I apologize. You set me up. I had to do something. I don't know. I was at home. I was alone. It was dark. There was a pause button. You can't do that in a theater. It had nothing to do with you. It paused in my own thinking. You could in the 70s, but you can't do that. The times have changed. No, you can't do that. No, I guess the only fear, not the fear, the downside of, the upside of films through streaming is a lot of them get more eyes on it. More people have an opportunity. More people actually see them. Yeah. The downside is there's so much material that they can become disposable. Right. Where we just see it gone like a meal. Seems like stuff that is exciting to see, though, does get talked about a lot where you say, okay, I got to check that out. Yeah. But I hear what you're saying. I don't really care, do you? About other people saying, making a- No, where it, I mean, I just don't really, I mean, things are getting made. I like that. That's what I care about. I do like that. And quality. Oh, yeah, yeah. With quality. With a lot of care from the people helping get it made. Again, I just, Ted Sarandos, man, does that guy care about movies more than anyone I've ever heard. Yeah, he really gets excited about films and gets excited about filmmakers, and it's cool. What I love is we don't have to do much press. Oh, yeah, that does make life a lot easier. No, it's kind of nice, isn't it? Yeah. We don't have to get out there. We're not fighting for eyes. We're not trying to put butts in seats as they tell us we need to do. You're right. You did put a few butts in the Hollywood seats, though, I got to say. Well, that was, again, Tarantino, Cass. Yeah, you guys. My friend Leo. You guys did okay. It became an event thing. Hollywood, 69, Manson. Yeah. Man. What about, we didn't talk about 100% Fresh, because that came out this year, too. Come on, it's a movie. Doesn't it count? Don't we call this a film? I don't think it's a movie. No, I don't know. We don't call this a film? It's a special. A special. We call this a special? A variety show or something like that. I don't know. Really? I love that you, Brad, come see me do stand-up. That was a fun night. Yeah, yeah. But it's wholly original. Thanks, buddy. I hope you keep doing that as well. Yeah, yeah, me too. It is. It's funny. I was saying to you back before. It's good-hearted. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sorry, man. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Exactly. You're good-hearted. I have that. Most of the time, I am. Not every day, though. No. Listen, you're a reverend. Yes, yes. And you get down and dirty. Yes, yes. It's good-hearted. You're a good-hearted man, too. I know that. But I was going to just ask you. This is kind of an actor question. Now, sometimes you sit, you've done a movie, it's coming out, and then you have to think about, okay, life has to go on, I have to do another movie, or I have to sit for a while. What do you do? Do you have stuff that you've been working on a long time? Like, Ad Astra. How long were you working on that before you actually shot it and had it go? Well, I mean, James Gray, much longer. I think he developed it, working on it for like five years. We worked on it for a good, I think a good ten months, up to really honing the script. Right. Until we got to shooting, and then afterwards, the post-production was pretty long for us. It was almost a year and a half, almost two years. Oh, man. By the time we got it out. Yeah, the look of that movie. Almost. Look at that movie, the cut of that movie, it's incredible. And the sound and everything, that was, and the music, I love the music also. Yeah. That got me good, too. But I feel like we're, you know, it's easy, when you're on a film, you can put everything else aside and you say, hey, man, I'm on a film. That's a good feeling. You know, I can get myopic about it. Yeah. I feel like we're busier when we're not shooting something. Oh, man. Like, we're called upon. I don't talk about anything else except when I'm doing that movie. I don't know what else is going on out there. How long was the shoot? It wasn't bad. It was probably 37 days or something like that. That's amazing, man. That's fast. It was kind of from all over New York. Most of it live, most of it in the city and most of it in apartments and stuff. And then there was the jewelry store itself. That was a set. Great. That was a cool set. It was great. That was nice. Dude, I put on a dinosaur mask and I got recognized in New York City. Like, it's like, I don't know what it is. Especially when people grow up with you. But, I mean, you were deep in character. I had a character going, I still got recognized. Yes, yes, yes. No, it may be a little more of a delay. But like you were just saying, Pitt, I was skiing one time. Had the helmet on, the dickie up, the goggles. Yeah. And I was like, this is going to be a fun day. No one's going to literally just like 6.37 in the morning. Hey, Adam Sandler. I go, how did you know he was that big nosy? All right, man. No, I think it's something in growing up. We can discuss it later. I won't waste it here. But just our body types. People just know. Like when you see the Bigfoot in the forest. Yeah, the body types are Brad's body and then my scoliosis pops out. People go, there's Adam. Huh. Well, I mean, you know, you started out like originating your own comedies. Yeah, I kind of got to that. You're still the favorite. Yes, yes. You know, the films I'll go to when I'm done with the day. Yeah, yeah. That's what I want to do. You can watch those over and over. That's funny. I just watched Will Ferrell, Kevin Hart movie the other night. And I was so calm watching it. So happy. This makes me laugh. I don't have to. I don't know why I'm so happy watching comedies. But I was like that my entire life. No, we all are. I think there's something. Yeah. They're playable where a heavy drama, you need distance from. You can't invest. Yeah, you jump in. You got to adjust when you sit down to watch a heavy movie. You got to go, OK, do I want to get myself into that right now? But it is a good feeling. It is a good feeling to get lost in a movie. Like I said, the Lima project, baby, that really hurt me. It hurt me. I was heartbroken watching it. And that's a good, lengthy movie. And I was just moved by it. By the way, I did Uncut Gems, Darius Kanji. Yeah, shot seven. Shot seven. Kanji, Kanji? Kanji. Kanji is a good guy. He was shooting me. And he really couldn't help himself. He kept saying, your face, something about your face is better than Brad's. And did you shoot? He just said, I shoot better than you. Do I have better eyes or something? No, no, no. But yeah, he's a superstar, that guy. He's a sweetheart. He's a sweetheart, yeah. Really sweet guy. Those Safdie boys were really funny because they were pushing their stuff on him too. And Darius was very much like, no, no, no. That will never work. You can't use that lens. And they were like, they're two young guys. And they love so many movies. And they know so much. They go, please, Darius, just look at it. Look at it. I'm telling you. I'm telling you, it's going to be good. You're going to like it. And he'd be like, it's impossible. I'll never. And then he'd put on this 200 lens or whatever. And he'd be like, I do like it. I do. Let's go. Let's try this. Yeah, you feel them breaking rules. They were breaking rules. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I never knew what they were shooting, the whole shoot. Because they were using such long lenses that I didn't know what the hell was being done half the time. So the crew would be way off. They'd be way off. And they'd be in tight on you. And you didn't know it. I thought, oh, man. And then I started going, I can't walk through anything. I got to really give every take my all. Because I don't know what the hell they're doing. And there was no playback. You know what I mean? Tarantino has no playback, right? No. No, he's there. Yeah. What I love is when we started, cables everywhere and massive lights. You'd be sweating all the time. And big-ass cameras that were super loud. And now it's like it's getting down to it. We're almost, we'll just be sitting in our room. It's in the dark now. And it's a whole other thing. It's an amazing thing. It is cool. It allows you. Starting out in comedy. I mean, dude, you can do dramas all day long if you want. You've proven that with several films. And especially this last one. You know, what was the, were you ever coming from comedy? Were you ever reluctant to make that switch? Or what did it take you to find your confidence in that? I think ultimately it was just Paul Thomas Anderson writing me something. I didn't know how to write that stuff for myself. And I went to NYU. I studied acting at Strasburg and all that stuff. I was never doing comedy monologues in school. I always was doing Indian Wants the Bronx and stuff like that. Really? Oh, yeah. I mean, I didn't know any comedy stuff existed. I was doing stand-up on my own. But when I was in school, I was just doing serious stuff. So I always knew I was kind of like, I felt comfortable doing that stuff. How amazing was stand-up training for this thing? Because here's my take on it. One, it scares the ---- out of me. I mean, I'm too old to jump off that bridge. It scares the ---- out of me. But you guys, you don't figure out, what I understand, like before you put a show together, before it makes it, you've got to go in front of a live audience and you've got to try stuff out. I mean, you've got to fail, you've got to fail, you've got to fall flat until you find those gems that work and then start pulling those gems. Yeah, you put them together in an order that makes sense. You've got to have a pretty tough... You don't even think about it anymore. I got to the place where, I mean, sometimes all of a sudden you get punched in the face so hard. You're going, what just happened there? And you're rocked in front of an audience and you're like, oh, you feel naked or whatever the hell happens. But now, I even had this when I was 19. I would say something and it didn't work. I was just going, what's this? These guys didn't get it. They didn't understand what was good about that. But I'll forgive them. Never blame me. The audience. The times you blame yourself, though, you are shook up. When you finally just go, what am I doing, man? That was a very stupid thing to do in front of decent human beings. But anyways, but you, Brad, you know your comedy, man. You certainly be funny as hell on set. Like, how funny was it in the acid trip when you had the gun up to the guy? What a funny-ass side shot of you when you said, I know it's Rex and it's something stupider than that. So that was the funniest. Yeah. Quentin said right before we started shooting, by the way, the end's going to be you're on acid. That was crazy. Great. That was so funny that you bought that thing. It's such a throwaway earlier in the movie. And then you go, tonight's the night. And you hit it. Yeah, that's Tarantino. But when you get to those with him, he's all for playing. Like, he'll be throwing out stuff. Oh, really? Yeah, he'll be calling audibles. And audibles with lines, too? He'll be Peyton Manning looking at you and calling something else. That was really the funniest scene. I mean, that last 20 minutes or so was just full on. It's outrageous. Hilarious. The dog. It's outrageous. There was not one corny move Tarantino made with just the action of it all. It was just like, boom, boom, boom, boom. You're right. He should do one more. He's got to do one more. But then I'm telling you, that's it. It's probably done. I don't want him to do any more. He's just got to start hanging out more and enjoying his life. You were talking about NYU, your time at NYU. Yeah, yeah, yeah. This is my favorite Adam Sandler story that I heard from Bennett Miller. Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, yeah. And it was that you were at NYU. Yes. And it was an acting coach, I believe, or acting professor. Acting professor, yeah. OK, and he said to you, he said, oh, I want to take you out for a beer. Does this happen? He took you out for a beer. Yeah, something like that. This is what I'm told. He took you out for a beer. Right. You guys went to a bar. Right. And he kindly said to you, think about something else. Exactly. Listen, you got a heart, but you don't have it. You don't have it. Yeah, right, right. Choose another path. Oh, yeah, yeah. Truth? It was like that. And he actually, he sent a letter. This is just one. There's a second part to this story. Yeah. You OK? Yeah, yeah. That you. Oh, right. This is the event that reminded me of this. This is why it's my favorite Adam Sandler story. And I think it says a lot about you. That you ran into him at the Heights, you know, when you're getting the ultimate payday and you're with a bunch of friends and you run into him out at a bar. Yeah. And anyone would think that's the opportunity where you go, you know, you rub it in his face. And reportedly, what you did was you said hi and you introduced him to your friends and you said, this is the only teacher to ever buy me a beer. Something like that. That's right. Yeah, yeah. True? Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I love that. Of course. I love that. I think that's the guy I know. And I think that's why you're here after all these years. I love you. You too, Brad. There's nobody. I mean, even when I would talk to you about, I just got done seeing your movies and I was just trying to tell you how much I loved them, which they both crushed me. You didn't want to talk about that for one second. You're just a thing. Yeah, you know what? You don't want to sit in here. Doesn't it feel like you get on to the next, you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. We like to live our lives. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But I got to tell you, when you tell me I did good in Uncut Gems, that feels good. I can sit in that a little bit. I'm like, because what you've been doing over so many years and crushing for so long, when you tell me I'm doing something good, because it's not my, I'm so much more comfortable with the comedy. And if you're saying I'm doing well on this stuff, that does feel nice. Crushed it. Right on, baby.