Megan Mullally & Nick Offerman on Meeting Rosie O’Donnell, Emmy Nominations & Working Together

Our first guest, our multi-award winning power couple, who I'm proud to call my friends, he's currently a double Emmy nominee for Margot's Got Money Troubles and Death by Lightning. She has more Emmys than he does and will be performing with her band Nancy and Beth October 15th at Largo here in Los Angeles. Please welcome Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. Good to be here. Oh my god, it's so fun, Rosie. It's so great to see you. Tell everybody how long ago we met. Um, only 32 years ago. 32, three children for me. Yeah. We were doing the revival of Grease. Yes, on Broadway. On Broadway. Yes. And um, we got a little bit, I kind of was annoying to you a little bit. Rosie's a pincher. She's a vicious pincher. She gets like just a teeny amount of skin so that it really hurts. If you pinch me, I will cry. I will not pinch you today. I know, I will not. But what, I was so bored doing the show for almost a year that I was like, what can I do? I'm going to pinch Megan during this. We also would make dinner plans with her friends who are out in the audience. Like during the show, we'd be like, rama, lama, lama, ding-a-ding-a-dong or whatever it is. Yeah. We'd be on stage doing the choreography and she'd be like, Joe Allen's after the show. I wasn't very professional in that time, I can say. Now, you were actually my understudy, which is weird for a while because you were one hell of a singer. It's a nightmare. I'm not cut out to be an understudy for some reason and you said, oh don't worry, I never, ever, ever get sick. A week later, she's out for two weeks with laryngitis. That's right. I had to go on and back then they used to announce over the loudspeaker to the whole audience that if somebody was out, they'd say, tonight the role of Rizzo played by Rosie O'Donnell will be played by Megan Mullally. This was way before anybody knew who the hell I was. I could hear from the dressing room, I could hear people, they're like the swackety-thwack, like people standing up and their seats flapping and programs flying through the air. I mean, people were so mad. But they wouldn't be mad now, Megan Mullally, this Emmy Award winner from Will and Grace. That was quite a boom that you had and you won two Emmy Awards there. Where do you keep them? In the closet. All right, that's where they... Proudly displayed in the closet. And now, Nick, I want to say, this run that you're having is unbelievable. Margot Has Money Problems is so good, it's so good. And it's a wonderful show and you're nominated for an Emmy twice in the same Emmys but in different categories. For different shows. It was a very slow year. Not only for Margot but for Death by Lightning. That's right. Yeah, and are you excited about the possibility of winning or do you like those events? I mean, it's so nice to have a job as an actor and then to get all the way to where you're in the mix of being awarded for your great show. It's pretty swell. And in one of them, I'm up against Harrison Ford, which is as a supporting actor in a comedy, which I did not see that coming. But so it's just really nice to be there and to get the pat on the back. Yeah, and that goodie bag on the way out. That's right. Yeah, that's pretty big. Now, I remember when you guys met. When you guys were courting, Megan was staying with me in my guest room for, I didn't have a house, a guest room for a while in New York. And she would stay in there all day, run out, get a sandwich and a bottle of water and go, I'm in love! And then run back in the room. Do you remember this? I remember you making merciless fun of me because in my, to carry like my toiletries, you know, I would use baggies. And you're like, you're rich! You're on Will and Grace, get a toiletry bag! Come on, woman! Right? And then I had to approve of Nick because I felt like, you know, that was my job. And I did. And I think we bonded once, didn't we, Nick? We did. We came to your house for dinner in Nyack. And we came to your house and then we were going to ride to dinner. And you allowed me the great privilege of riding bitch on your Harley. Exactly. To downtown Nyack. Exactly. Exactly. Well, you know. I never felt prettier. Well, it was a thrill for me too, Nick. It was a thrill for me. Now you're, all the stuff from Margo is gone. No beard, no mustache. Yeah. I mean, if you see me clean shaven, it means I don't have an acting job. It means you're married. Because my bride prefers no thistle. You don't understand what I've been through. I mean, he has had every hair configuration known to man. Like, he's had a full, like, wrap around over the ears, under the, like a C Everett coupe. Oh, oh, yeah. Under chin. He's had big mutton chops. He's had, one time we were doing a play, or he was doing a play, and he had a big beard and long hair, but then he shaved the top of his head. So I have to have sex with it. He has to. He has to. The craft show you did, I loved. That craft show was so good. You're very good with your hands, I know. Thank you. That's what I'm saying. That's what got me on the door. That's why she puts up with the mustache. Yes. Well, we have a clip from what is one of the best shows I've seen in the last five years. That Margo's Got Money Problems, and that Elle Fanning. She's incredible. Lord help me, is she some actress. Yeah, we fell for her watching her on The Great years ago on Hulu, and we just said, who is this phenomenal actor? Yes. And I couldn't believe that I got cast as her dad. Yeah. And her mom is Michelle Pfeiffer. Not a bad gig. Oh, my God. And you play a wrestler. A former wrestler. Former wrestler who comes out of rehab and then comes back into her life. And we have a clip from Margo's Got Money Problems. Take a look right now. I thought you might be dead. I'm not dead. I just found out. I was in rehab. They take away your phone. Rehab. I came as soon as... I'm so sorry. And I'm here. I'm here. That's it. Got Money Trouble. That's right. Exactly. And you guys just came from Chicago where you were doing a play. Yeah, we were doing a musical in Chicago at the Goodman Theater for three and a half months. It's called Ice Boy. Exclamation point. Yes. And what's the premise of the musical? It's about a glamorous Broadway star of the 1930s named Vera Vim that played by me, who buys a prehistoric boy frozen in a block of ice at auction so that she can put it in her living room and impress her friends and then hijinks ensue. Just a normal premise for most musicals. Do you think you would want to do a musical again now? Would you like to go to Broadway again, duet a week? I mean, you and I are supposed to be at the Villages reading a copy of AARP. But I still think I want to do it. Yeah, I do. It's a great show. It's super funny and weird and unexpected. It was a huge hit. We broke the sales record for the Goodman Theater. Not a surprise with both of you. In Chicago. Not a surprise. Hopefully, it'll have a future, perhaps on the East Coast. I don't know. Yeah. Would you move, you think, if you had to? Of course. We've done it before. I'll support this lady in any theater city in the world. This is a true romance, ladies and gentlemen, a true romance. Now, Meg, tell me about Nancy and Beth. I've seen you perform Nancy and Beth. It's fantastic. Yeah, you saw it in New York. Tell everybody about this band you've got going on. I've had this band for a long time, and Nick sometimes makes an appearance. We're doing a show at Largo in Los Angeles on October 15th. You'll all be there, I'm sure. Nick is going to be opening, and he's going to be in the show, too. But it's kind of a weird band. I don't even know if band is the right word. Yeah, what would you call it? We used to call it Punk Vaudeville. Yes, I can see that makes sense. And there's no one in the band named Nancy or Beth. No. No, it's just the name of the band. And there's a lot of choreography. It is kind of showbiz, I guess. Yeah, totally. 100%. It's very sexy. It's like a sexy happening collective. Right. Now, do you do stand-up, Nick? I didn't know you're opening. Is that what you're going to do? Yeah, I mean, it's like a stand-up, but I talk more slowly, so I say that I'm a humorist. Humorist. Yeah. Your favorite humorist in life? I love Garrison Keillor. Of course. I love Spalding Gray's stuff. The books of Bill Bryson. It's a slow-talking sort of Midwestern pace. It's badump, bump. So you can see it takes a certain taste. He writes songs that are amusing, and he plays those. So he'll also be singing and playing his skit fiddle. That's right. I have a new song about making love to a bear. No kidding. And the title is? Alaska, Please Don't Kill Me. Okay. I can't wait to see that. Now, have you guys pitched the idea of doing a movie together, or doing something besides theater? Have you? Funny you should ask. We would love to do a movie together, if you know anybody. I do. I know people now, just since four days ago, I think. I've been in Ireland doing nothing, and now here I am. But it's been wonderful to see you. I hope that I'm going to get to see the band again perform, Megan, because you're so good at it. And I love you, and I miss you. I miss you too, Marcy. I know. We had so much fun doing that. I know. Even though I hurt you a lot, and you reported me to Actors' Equity. Yes, that's true. Aside from that, I think we had a great time. Now, good luck on the Emmys, mister. Thank you. Both categories. I hope you sweep. And then you'll have more than Megan, but you'll work it out. Thank you, Megan and Nick. You can see Nick in Margo's Got Money Troubles, not Problems, on Apple TV, and Death by Lightning on Netflix. And you can see them live, October 15th at Largo, here in Los Angeles. We'll be right back with Sean Hattisee from The Pit.