Dane Cook Reveals What Netflix LEFT OUT: Secret Hard Drive, Family Betrayal & $12M Theft

Well, to borrow from Rolling Stone, in one 18-month stretch, Dane Cook released an HBO special. He dropped the highest-charting comedy album in 28 years, which eventually went double-platinum. He hosted Saturday Night Live twice and sold out two shows at Madison Square Garden on the same night. He was making millions of dollars, but the checks, he thought, We're going into the bank. We're actually going into a colander because his own half brother and manager, bag man, Daryl McCauley, was siphoning that money into his own accounts and not to mention pressurized stacks of cash hidden all over his house. Daryl stole at least $12 million from his younger brother. We think that's a lot more, but. It is a gut-wrenching story of betrayal. It's the subject of Dane's new documentary, Funny Money, the Dane Cook story. It's streaming now on Netflix. It is number two with all movies in the United States as we speak. Please welcome a hilarious man, an old friend, and what the world needs more of, an eternal optimist, Dane. Cook, and not to mention a man with some cheekbones right now that are... You didn't have those in the doc, buddy. You were well-fed in the dock. What is going on? Okay, well, a couple of things. First of all, I love that both of us have a beautiful head of hair, Billy Bush. Okay, that's a nice thing. That's, you know, we don't take that for granted. And let me tell you something. Here's why in the doc, I maybe look like I've had a little bit more couch surfing and less, you know, streaming the world through Netflix. It's because when I knew I was going to make the documentary, I started to eat more. And it wasn't because I was nervous. It was because I was like, nobody will feel sad for a fit, sad guy. Okay? It's all about that aesthetic. I knew I had to be a little heftier for you to be like, oh, this is pretty bad. For the role. For the role. Some rolls for the role. I love it. I love it, brilliant. Anyway, Dane Cook, old friend right there, sitting in his office full of memories. You look like Robert Evans over there. Look at you, man. Thank you, my friend. The kid does stay in the picture. Look at you, you stud. These are my Jeffrey Dahmers, but they used to be Jeffrey Dahmers. Now they're Gwyneth Paltrow's. All right. Okay, this documentary, I sat down and watched it last night with my daughter. She was riveted. She's, you know, she wasn't, she was four or something when, you know, when you were selling out like MSG. You know, on, on two, two, two shows in one night, but she was riveted by the story. This is the story of your brother, Daryl. He screwed you over. I'm going to turn it over. I kept thinking, have you ever in, in, in the process of making the documentary ever felt guilt, shame, or embarrassment over outing him in some way, even though he wronged you so deeply? I can say unequivocally, absolutely not. And he also knew that I'm the son of George Cook. And you learn in the documentary, he's the son of James McCauley, okay? And my dad, he might have forgotten, my dad was one of the most competitive. He was like, my dad would gamify everything. You know, like, who can drink the bottle of water faster? My dad was the kind of guy that was like, let's turn this into, who can rake the yard from their stand? Like, everything was gamified. And I think he forgot that. So the moment he put on that ticking clock and was like, hey, I'm getting out of town with the last three million that you made. I was like, oh, wait a second. I've already called the Attorney General's Office of Massachusetts. They're fans of mine. I've hosted them at my shows. So I'm calling them while you're trying to drive on I-95 out of town. I've already got the FBI and the Attorney General at the time, Martha Coakley, shout out to Martha Coakley and team, on the phone in hot pursuit. So, no, I didn't wait, man. I put my foot on the gas, and I was like, I won't use the words here that I used then, but I was like, I'm going to get this beep, and we'll see if he gets to the border before I get to him. I got to ask, Dave, how does a guy not notice $12 million, and you've said it's up to, it's actually more like $17 to $22 million. How do you not notice that money missing? I'm looking at two things. I'm looking at the next 12 million that's going to be coming in, and I'm looking at all the thousands and thousands and thousands of fans that are facing me night after night in these arenas. And I've got the best brother seemingly in the world with his arm around me. But I don't know at the time what we now know, which was he was the devil. My brother was the devil. And he used the tool of betrayal, the easiest and probably the most accessible tool, the sharpest tool, To not only stab me, ready Billy Bush? Let me give it, let me, not only stab me in the heart because I loved him, stab me in the back as well. I mean, the one-two punch, the double dagger stab, unbelievable, unprecedented. Your brother, Daryl, spent like $5 million on real estate and investments, $500,000 on jewelry, vacations. He had a timeshare going at St. Kitts. He had his and her caddies for he and his wife, Erica, who's some character, by the way. There was cash stashed all over his home and his vacation home in Maine. He had 90 grand He had Tupperware containers with cash with. Spaghetti sauce on top, $800,000 in a wall safe. He was cutting himself checks, $780,000. We're at 990. $995,000 check to himself. $28. Did he control all the money, like everything? And did he totally wipe you out? So check this out. I was doing a film with Steve Carell called Dan in Real Life. We filmed it in... Oh, love that movie. Yeah, so I filmed that in Rhode Island. I remember the day I was exhausted preparing to film my Madison Square Garden rough around the edges live from Madison Square Garden. I'm filming the movie. I've got four weeks before I have to be on stage in New York City, but I've gotten this beautiful role with, and I'm not going to not do the movie, so man, I'll try to do it all at once. That was the year, that was the moment. He came down, we had literally a fireside chat at the hotel that I was staying at. Me, Juliette Binoche, the whole cast, Diane Weist, John Mahoney. It's an embarrassment of riches, and this Arlington schlub is in the mix, making movies after growing up on the fringe of A-Town. He comes down, he puts a... Bunch of paper in front of me goes, you got to sign all these things. And then I got to drive right back to Boston. I said, oh, Daryl, I'm so tired. I can't even, you don't need to read any of it. But one of them is going to give me permission to move quicker while you're working over the next four weeks. And that was the day I found Power of Attorney. I gave up Power of Attorney at my most probably exhausted, but still enthused. My dad was sick. My dad was on set. My dad was fighting cancer, but he came down to visit. So he really took advantage of me being depleted. And put that paperwork in front of his brother. And that's what gave him those last four or five years of, you know, he's going like this. He's not just taking skimming. He's pulling it all in and he's preparing to vanish or exit or whatever it was. But that was the day that he took the power of attorney from me. So you've wrestled with this for almost 20 years. Why? What was his motivation? Why did he, underneath it all, seemingly hate you? Well, I'm looking for people, not only people chronicling what happens, and I hope people watch the documentary and not only look at Erica, but my brother, and everybody's sort of pontificating and coming up with great theories, hypotheses. You know, I have a couple of feelings about it, having faced him. In the courtroom, when we talk about me reading the impact letter, but I think one why that I've learned over the years, not just the entitlement that he felt, not the potential that he's wired in a way that is different from the Cook side of the family, but I do believe more and more there was an envy, that he had an envy, and that I had... I had become a person that I think he recognized could sit like this in a quiet, maybe call it like a rut moment of a career. Career is full of ruts, by the way. Way more rut time than, you know. Then, you know, being, you know, sky high, rut, rut, rut, no, no, no, door closed. But I think he knew that I was a person that when I put my hands and said, I'm doing it, that I was absolutely going to get it done. And he was a person who, when he said, I'm doing it, couldn't get it done. And I think that frustrated him. I think that's a piece of it, but I'll look forward to your audience. You resent me. You resent me, even though you, listen, he was a failed, he wanted to be a state trooper. He failed. He became a corrections officer at Walpole State Prison, which is so interesting because that's where he ended up. After bilking you, the irony is just overwhelming. But he got beat up by an old guy, hit with a corn can on the head and split his head open. You got him out. You saved him. You rescued him. You gave him this life. He went from your errand boy to your business manager, like everything in the world. And he hated you for it. He resented you for it, you know what I mean? He didn't have the ability to do all that, and you did. And I mean, it's just, you know, what do you do about, you know, something like that? But anyway, you end up putting all the pieces together. Uh, yeah. Yeah, it really is. It's this beautiful thing that I love. Brent Harvey, the director, all the props go to him. I was not part of the edit. I sat in the chair. I gave him the story. 3, 2, 1. Put all the pieces together, and what he managed to make in a really authentic way that I will forever be grateful for is he took my words, he took my story, my perspective, and there was way more to it. Now, I'm going to give you some spoilers in a second, Billy Bush, because I don't come here without some spoilers, but he took all of that, and he managed to have a bio doc that... Tumbles into a true crime story that then becomes a heist thriller in the third act. With an aha eureka moment, and I don't want to give it away, but somebody's going to get caught in a white hot lie while the camera's rolling. That's what any of us want when we watch one of these true crime stories. So that's a lot of props to my director and my team, my producers. But yeah, when it's time, I'll give you some updates on some other things that I think you'll find very interesting. You're an adventurous filmmaker. You tried, actually, to get Daryl to come on camera. So listen, I'm going to forgive you a debt you're never going to be able to pay back anyway, but I'll forgive it. The restitution is over. You know, $12 million is what... How much has he paid back, by the way, of the 12.8 mil? I probably could have had maybe an Outback Steakhouse, you know, dinner with maybe a dessert. And I would... So I forgive you the debt. Come on, and you were willing to confront him on camera. What would you have said? Okay, great question. I don't know if anybody's asked me that directly, Billy, but I will tell you, if I, you know, part of the... You've thought about it. I thought about it, and part of the offer was, listen, I'm going to release you of not only the money. I still am entitled to fire up something called a writ of execution. I still hold this writ of execution. This allows me at any point to flip a switch and send sheriffs after him, and if he buys too many bottles of water, they're going to make him sell half of them and give me cash. It's a grueling... Constant probation, in a sense, that I could be on him for. I said, I'll relieve you of that. I'll relieve you of any money that you owe. You're free and clear. I just want you to sit across from me. It's not going to be the director. I want to talk to you about our life, our family, and ultimately, I'd like for you to share what you did or a version of it. And he said, initially through lawyers, for, quote, family healing, I remember looking at that email, I will do it. But once he learned he had to do it with me, he blanched and he bailed. So obviously, he, you know, he didn't do it. But Um, there's been a lot of updates over the last few months. There's been a lot of things that have happened. A lot of people coming out of the woodwork. And I think that, uh, now that we know this has legs, there's going to be another story to tell. And we'll talk about that hopefully next time. Uh, you know, what do you mean? There's going to be another, could there be another documentary where I'm going to, this is where I said, I bring you some, some spoilers. I bring you something that you contacted Daryl. Have you been in contact with Daryl since? I have not been in contact with Daryl. I've not heard from Daryl. There's been no contact. But I'm holding right here is a hard drive. This is a hard drive with an original USB. And I had to get a little dongle for this because what happened was after the case, all the evidence went into an evidence locker at Middlesex County Superior Court. This was given to me by somebody that I'm not allowed to name, but somebody affiliated with the case. They said, maybe this will help you out someday. I threw it in the box, and then I didn't look at that for years to come. Why? Too emotional, was over it, wanted to just get back in my life, fell in love, enjoying another chapter, but I finally pulled this out. The documentary's done, keep in mind, but I pulled this out of the box, and I plug it in a month ago, and on this, and back, actually, back in the day, I wrote on it, you can actually see that, it says, I scribbled D and E, emails, Daryl and Erica, so what he'd given me was a hard drive with emails between Daryl and Erica. Sort of showing what they were doing behind the scenes away from me, to where I could then corroborate, oh wait, I remember writing an email at 4.05 this day, and then at 4.08 there's emails on here, and texts. They took phones, old Nokia phones, and the FBI basically gave me. So, lots more to share, and the story gets even wilder, if you can believe it, right on here. So, that's to come. Your brother serves, he gets sentenced to six years. Did he serve all six or was he out early for good behavior or whatever? Um... I don't remember if he got out early. I think they kept that pretty. Uh, pretty to the date only because it was such a, um, especially in, you know, I'm from Massachusetts. So especially back there, it was such a huge story that I think even politically they were like, we're not letting Dane Cook's brother out early. We don't want that press. So I think he served most of his, the period. And then Erica. His wife, who is such a wackadoo. She is a wackadoo. She, this is kind of funny, I'm sorry, I have to laugh at this. She ended up serving an extra year because of a clerical error. She was released a year late, and she didn't know it. She served an extra year in prison on accident. Well. She didn't check her records either. So you have that in common with her. I haven't got it. We are talking to the fabulously fit Dane Cook right now. He's chiseled. He's ready to go. He's in fighting shape. One of the great stand-up comics of all time. Had the biggest comedy selling, biggest comedy album, sales-wise, in 28 years at the time that you released. This was 2000. Six, five, six, 2004 Retaliation comes out 30 days before it came out. Yeah. Every, every media outlet and you know, all the big print outlets, everything that you wanted to write you up past, past, past retaliation comes out. Hits number four on the Billboard charts, all 40 callback. And then Lorne Michaels calls me personally and says, you're hosting. I'll never forget it. Wow. It's not even an ask. It's a say so. Yes, absolutely. It's your hosting. Amazing. Let me ask you, you had a period that was hyper success. I mean, success on steroids where everything you'd want, including the double SNLs and the Madison Square Gardens and the, you know, doing your own hometown Boston in the round. I mean, just like anything you could think of that would be, this is success. You did every late night show all the time. People were. I was reading the Rolling Stone article, Nikki Glaser just was like, she would sit around with her girlfriends and she would just be like, Dane Cook's album was the only comedy album you could actually put on at a party. I mean, that's probably why you ended up on Billboard. And I think about, did you enjoy that? Were you in that moment? And do you look back and like? The person you were when you were, you know, in that kind of hysterical success period. Yeah, I mean, it definitely, there were times when it was overwhelming. There was times when you sort of feel like. When you're the belle of the ball and the ball is going and rolling, you kind of know and you have the experience in this career of like, okay, the spanking machine is going to fire up at some point. So you are kind of waiting for the other shoe to drop. But realistically, it was like, I'm flying high. I've got the greatest fans in the world. I'm making people laugh for a living, which is just unheard of, especially given the road dog years that you're out there like nobody cares when you're showing up and then they don't care when you leave. So for it to finally all add up and make sense, I can tell you that looking back, especially with the footage and the documentary, you know, there were times when I think I had my guard up because it's also such a cutthroat, comedy is cutthroat, man. Comics aren't always nice to each other. It's not all palling around backstage. No, some of them hated you, right? Some of them hated you. Yeah, some of the some of the made it pretty, pretty tricky. And so if I could do anything sort of just in in terms of like, no regrets, but yeah, I wish that I could have even softened my own heart back then. Because next thing you know, I'm fighting off all these haters and trolls that are in the in the game with me. And that made it tricky. That made it difficult. I will tell you somebody just called me the other day. And, you know, very Well respected comedian. I don't want to put him on blast, but somebody who hadn't talked to me in 20 years and really dragged my name through the dirt. And I got a phone number out of the blue. Hello. And it was this guy. And he said, I, I, he said, I've been carrying around a lot of guilt for the last 20 years because I. You know, I talk so much smack and blah, blah, blah. I say, hey, man, not only is all forgiven, but I love and respect you, and I appreciate this call, and I hope I can have more calls like that because I definitely think I need to sweep my side of the street on a few things, but it's nice to get that respect from your peers, even though some of them are a little, you know, can be a little kooky. I'm in the curiosity business. Can I take a guess as to who that might be? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. Go ahead. Louis C.K.? Not Louie, but I did have a very great heart-to-heart with Louie at the improv. Just him and I sitting on a couch two years ago, three years ago, and it was really eye-opening. I think it's his story to tell what he said to me, but I did say something to him that night, which was like, Louie, we've been through it all. You said a lot of things, and then we did your show, and again, I'm not one to go on podcasts or, like, talk up somebody else's side of the story, so maybe this is teeing up, you know, him up to sort of respond, but when I said, why'd you do it to me? Why do you think you really, really, you know? Did that. It was back-breaking at the time, and I was already, my back was already broken. And he was accusing of ripping off a joke, right? Yeah, and I said, why? That's the comedian's, every comedian, that's the comedian's thing, is that you stole that from me. What he said to me in his sort of falling on the sword, put out my hand to him immediately. I said, that I'll accept. And I shook his hand, I said, all's forgiven, Louis. So, you know, we're completely good, but unnecessary slings and arrows. By the way, if two guys who have both had their asses kicked, You know, Louie's had his ass kicked. I mean, if two guys who have had their ass, if they can't, you know, put out a hand and say, Jesus, life is short, let's move on, then there's no hope for you. Yeah, this is a charmed life, Billy Bush. And when you can, when you make people laugh and it pays the mortgage, like, who are we to complain? And if anything, I just want to be of service. And whether it's mentoring, I help a lot of young artists. I'm your go-to guy. I will not BS you. I come with great intel, great information. I'm empathetic, I'm mindful, passionate. And now I'm in a moment, I'm at a hot streak in my career where hopefully not only will it spotlight me for my brand and my future, and I got some big, big plans coming up, but I want to be able to share that spotlight with the people that I think deserve to be embraced by a comedian ahead of them and not stomped. I like that. That's it. It's a generous business. I always think of like the way Johnny Carson did the Tonight Show, you know, he's always just, he just loved to kick back and let someone else drive the ratings there for a minute. You know what I mean? That's the best. It's the best, right? And it just makes you bigger. Like the name on the show is Johnny Carson, starring Johnny Carson. When someone is funny on your show, you get the credit for it. Don't be so It's myopic, you know, because some comedians, you know, aren't like that. Some TV hosts aren't like that, but they, you know, but the comics today, wait a second. I think that was of a time. I think the comedians that I'm seeing today, they're way more, first of all, entrepreneurial. They cross pollinate. They look out for each other more. So I feel like the graduating class behind me and even the next one after them, they're great. They're good people. And I think they're getting it right. Getting knocked down is a part of life, not to be too cliche, but getting up, of course, is the other part. It makes life sweeter on the other side when you can, and in the immediate aftermath of Finding out that all your money is gone. I will say what a creative guy you noticed you did have $300,000 left, you know, in stocks, which you cashed out and you immediately went to me. Most people would wallow around, you know, woe is me forever with every right to do so. You rented out arenas all over the place. You put together 100 dates. You bought the arena out. You said, I'll take the door. You take the food. And you made money, money, money back. You made all this money back, which was ingenious. At the same time, were you taking care of your emotional self? And I imagine you had to have a period of total collapse before you were able to even do that. But what was the low? What were you doing to yourself at the lowest part? I think it was just not only, it was two things that were unhealthy. I was ignoring a lot of the things that the humiliation of what he did, I just completely like put to the side. A lot of the things that I had never dealt with in my own, you know, as a kid, my own insecurities, all that came back up. And then I kind of escaped, I've never done drugs, I don't drink or do drugs, but I did escape into like, you know, I was having one night stands, I was doing the equivalent probably, you know, sexually, that you would say today is like doom scrolling, you're just sort of like allowing yourself to wallow and like woe is me, and so I'd be hooking up, going out, doing gigs, and trying to... Fill my head with that kind of adulation and attention of some beautiful young so-and-so just to sort of dump my trauma dump a story, but I wasn't really working on it. I was just still trying to pretend I was on this generational run that was, it was over. And even I remember one. This amazing woman that I met who one night, you know, we were laying there and we're talking after, you know, had a little fun and I'm sharing the story. And she finally said, you know, I don't think you should be talking to me laying here in your bed after we fooled around. I think you need to really get yourself with a great therapist and untie some of these knots. And it was almost like, oh, if the one night stand tells you like you need to. So, I did escape a little bit into, you know, it's sex, no drugs, and comedy, rock and roll, and I did that, and then finally realized, you know, where this really knocked me into Billy Bush was, you know, that was a period of time, and then a couple years really working on myself, and then the understanding that, like, oh, wow. I need somebody who really loves me and somebody I can really love and build a future with. And like my mom used to say, you want to be a team with somebody, right? And it wasn't until I met Kelsey that I realized not only did I have the team, but I had somebody that was on the daily saying, you need to tell this story. And until you tell this story, people aren't going to really know you the way they knew you before because they knew that version of a kid who had love of the game. But now they need to know that you also. You know, we're broken hearted by what happened. And if it wasn't for Kelsey, you know, I wouldn't change a thing. That made me tumble into the most loving, great relationship that brings me to where I'm sitting today. Dane, Kelsey is a lot younger than you. She was 18, you were 42 when you met, listen, an old soul. Yeah, you know, it's... It's no Bill Belichick spread, but it's a pretty good spread. But listen, once you clear the 10 years together, which you have, then the joke reverses. I'm sure you've written a lot of of material about it, but can I share the story about when you and I, you and I ran into you. You and I ran into each other at Boulevard Steak in Sherman Oaks. It was, we were out for the night. And I was with my daughter, who's the same age as Kelsey. Exactly. And you were like, oh my God, amazing, you two. We should all go out. We should go out and do a thing. And I was like, Dane, this is my daughter. Whoa. Oh, but because you're so young at heart, I thought, you know what, when you know, when you know somebody like Billy and you know somebody like me and it's like you have that youthful enthusiasm and exuberance. And the funny thing is about my my wife is and she will tell you this. She's from the moment I met her. She's an old lady. She's the person who gets into bed at 8 o'clock at night, and she wants to read her book, and she doesn't care about the industry, and she's into things that are just so sort of like, you know, the minutia of life that she just has so much enthusiasm about. While I'm out there slaying dragons and doing gigs, it's the perfect—when you meet us, two things will happen. You meet us, and then 10 minutes later, you go, they're boring and good for them. That's about it. Well, she has a strong Pilates background, and I see she's gotten you in warrior shape here. Have you written some material? Are you going to hit the road? What happens from here, Dane? Things are very good. I didn't, you know, you never know when you make something if people are going to receive it, appreciate it, if it's going to zeitgeist. You know, a lot can happen in the world that can throw even a good piece of... Um, creativity off kilter, but now that we're here, now that we're, you know, on Netflix and having this incredible success behind the scenes, I've prepared two things. I've prepared, well, three things actually now, but one, I prepared a brand new comedy special. I am fired up. I am ready to go. We don't have a partner on it yet. So now it's like, let's see who comes in and wants He wants to make something that I think will rival or even potentially exceed. vicious circle in my life would be an obvious place if you're you know delivering some big streams for them that would be the they've been incredible partners on this so you know again they they came in and they gave us an option to put our you know little movie on on their big platform so that i'd love for that to be the first conversation but wherever it ends up you know there's a lot of outlets now you know you can do YouTubes you can there's a lot of places you can go that that embraces comedy secondly i've written a book The book is finished. The book is wilder. Thank God you don't drink or do drugs, you know, because you have every reason through all the ---- that, you know, happened with your brother and everything. If you were a booze guy. You'd probably be, you wouldn't be here right now. Thank God you avoided that. I'd be on Jaeger number nine, probably. And, you know, singing some pirates, you know, pirates song. Woe is me. But no, man, I wrote this book. The book really gets, you know, gets into more the philosophy of self-actualizing and how I broke through using the internet early and all the road dog stories with guys like me and Patrice O'Neill and Bill Burr and Chappelle and... My graduating class that I came up with. So the book is going to be similar in tone to the doc, where it'll be a lot of laughs, a lot of fun, a lot of insight. But there's some harrowing experiences I've had even away from this stuff with my brother. And then thirdly, somebody just approached me, big-time producer, about turning the documentary into a series, potentially, or a film. So we're getting into that next and trying to find out how to make that. What is the scariest thing, the most life-threatening thing that's ever happened to you outside of this? Have you ever come close to death and, you know, anything terrible? I mean, nothing that, fortunately for me, that I dealt with. I mean, I dealt with a lot of anxiety that caused me deep depression as a kid, but thank God I never was on the ledge. You know why? Was it clinical or was it situational? You had a rough childhood. Situational, alcoholic dad, a rough household. Cystic acne, self-loathing, really, really mean and cruel and unusual to myself in terms of how I looked at myself and how I spoke to myself even in the mirror. So shame, embarrassment about how I looked, never thought I'd be on a movie screen. My comedy was quick and moving around because I thought if I stand still, people will see the scars. And so that even sort of enticed my stand-up to be, if I'm too still... You're going to see something you may not like me. And so not to the edge there, but I did have a pretty wild experience once where I stayed in a hotel. I was doing David Letterman. They put me up at the, do you remember Hotel, the Riga Royal Hotel in New York? Absolutely, absolutely. Midtown Manhattan, baby. Riga Royal. I wake up 5 a.m. to hear two voices around my bed. I was being robbed. And they didn't know I was in the bed under the sheet. By the way, I sleep completely in the buff, Billy Bush. Okay? I'm a naked. I run hot. So I'm naked under, laying on my chest. And I hear these two guys. They're taking my computers, my watch. And then one of them goes, hey, hey. And then it gets real quiet because I know they're pointing at the bed. And so when you talk about life or death, I go. I'm about to fight for my life, two guys, and I'm naked. I jumped up. I jumped out of the bed, threw the sheet, just as they were both running for the door. Now I'm chasing these two guys like just fight or flight, naked. Anyway, they got out of the room. They got out of the hotel. We never found out who they were, but that was probably the closest I came to feeling like if they smack me over the head right now, this could be game over. When we make the movie, they get to the door, they go down the hallway, you exit, you're chasing them down, you come back, you forgot the room key, okay? You come back and then Mrs. Dolores comes out of her room and she sees. That's good. The Great Dane in its entirety. Wow. Speaking of the movies and the movies you made, did you ever get to romance any of your co-stars from Anna Faris to Demi Moore, Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson? Was there ever any romance with these? I always think that that comes with it. You know, it's tricky. I'm not a kiss and tell kind of guy, but the book will absolutely delve into some of my personal soirees. More than anything, I think it's women that I felt like, although intelligent and beautiful, sort of imparted something or impacted something in me that I think will be sort of cool once you see it on the page. But yeah, I had a couple of... What do they call them, location ships? Kissing scenes that went into the trailer, maybe? A couple of, yeah, location ships. I think that's what they call it. You know, you're in a place together, you're stuck in a spot, and, yeah, I had a couple of... You're doing intense emotional work, you know, it just, it really is the setting. I always think of those dancers on Dancing with the Stars, I'm like, they must be humping like rabbits, you know, they're just in this great physical, this is their work. Now, I'm going to say, you know, when we look at these movies, something about this person, there's some great personalities in here, Jenny McCarthy, Scary Movie 3, Jenny McCarthy, when I say Jenny, you say, I don't know if I've ever met her. When I say Anna Faris, you say? Hilarious. Very funny on that movie. So quick. Jessica Simpson, Employee of the Month. Entrepreneurial, brilliant. Businesswoman. Right. Exactly. But the whole thing is an act. Mr. Brooks with Demi Moore. Ooh, um... Intense, workhorse, incredibly diligent. Loved working with Demi. Imagine, have you seen her in Landman? I'm loving Landman. She's doing all kinds of interesting things. Good luck, Chuck. Jessica Alba. Oh, man. Jessica, you know, she and I, I felt like, I remember she was really. Sort of concern, you know, we're doing a sex romp R-rated comedy. And I remember she felt a little bit on the first week unsure, you know, going into this movie that we already knew on the page was pretty aye-aye-aye. And I remember her coming to me and saying, will you protect me on this? And it was just the best moment probably I ever had where I felt like I was really looking out for somebody that I truly, truly cared about. I think in another universe... If I was maybe a little more clear minded at that time, Jessica, I knew is, you know, what do they say? One of the good ones. Yeah. Yeah. Will you look out for me. That's interesting. Like, just, you know, what does that mean? Like, just be extra careful and thoughtful. Yeah, make sure in this, the way the perspective of this movie is, you know, she had a lot to lose, you know, doing a film with me. I'm still sort of like trying to make my way in Hollywood. She was a bona fide movie star, Fantastic Four, and all these other films she'd done. So it was almost like, yeah, don't, please don't let me go over a boundary here, even though we're pushing the boundaries. I just had such a, what's that word, like an immediate kinship and a care for her. And there was a couple of nights that I do remember like sitting at a dinner with her and her family when they would come up and visit. And I felt like, man, like if I wasn't dealing with so much and my dad was sick and there were things happening away, you know, Jessica is a person that I wish I could have gotten to know a little bit more at that time. But again, look at the business acumen, the career that she's in her own sort of next Swing, looks great, happy, you know, it's nice to have been able to share space with somebody at that time and realize, oh man, like it all adds up to something and it's a beautiful moment now to look back on. And how about the great Kate Hudson? She, my best friend's girl, she is a lot of fun, Kate Hudson. I mean, hang on. She can, she can, they say hang with the boys. Please, the boys can't hang with her. Yeah, no, Kate was the funniest opposite me, the person who, every single time she brought it, every single time on camera, you're like, wow, she is, you know, the lineage, right? The acting and comedic ability, the naturally comedic, you know, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. So you sort of go like, just by proxy, who she's grown up with. But Kate, I remember at the time, was dating Dax Shepard. And so Dax was on set a couple of times. I remember with Dax, it was always like a little bit of a competitive thing because when we did Employee of the Month, he wanted to be my role. He wanted to be the winner and the hero, and he ended up playing a very funny villain. So I felt like Dax and I always sort of had like a little bit of that comedic rivalry going on. Oh, my God. So he was like, excuse me, the hands, Dane? Keep the hands. No, no, he was cool. My producer, Lauren, here. Lauren, tell him. Now, you may not. Listen, Waiting, the movie you did with Anna Faris and Alana Ubach, that movie did not get nominated for the Oscar. It should have, but. It's one of Lauren's greatest movies. Tell Dane why. I told Billy that I was so excited. Like, here's the thing. It's 2005. You guys are, like, the restaurant staff of Shenanigans. I grew up right outside of Philly, so we had been Benigans. And, like, I literally worked in the restaurant with my friends around this age. And it was, like, so true. And I will not... Talk about what your character traumatically does to some of the food. But it's just, it was so funny. It was so good. The cast was also stacked. That was just like a fun. Like, it was just such a fun movie. Was Ryan Reynolds in that? Yes, he was. He had Ryan Reynolds, Anna Faris, Justin Long. Like, you guys, it was just like, Louis Gossett Jr., you guys were in the kitchen. You guys had to, it was just, honestly, it was a super fun movie. Was this before Ryan Reynolds was a huge star? Or he was like, right? He was still like Van Wilder, Ryan, with a little bit, you know, maybe he did like a blade or something, but he was about to really pop. Yes. And we knew we were making like, we knew we were making a little sort of independent movie that now years later, we kind of put next to office space. It's got a cult classic mentality. I can't go into a restaurant ever without somebody coming out of the kitchen saying, can we take pictures with you? We love Floyd. You know, I push the limits of good taste with that one, as I sometimes do, but I love it. It was so good. Oh, cool. Thank you. She had to share it. Dane, your brother, just to sort of bring it all home here, and this is, you know, the documentary is unbelievable. It's called Funny Money, The Dane Cook Story, and Dane, it's rising up Netflix. It's number two right now of all movies, number one documentary, and climbing and climbing. I mean, it's, it's. It's vulnerable. It's funny because it has to be. We have to keep laughing through moments of our life. Like Dane said earlier, turns into an unbelievable true crime story and then a heist and then he's on the run. But it's all real. It has all these elements and it's all completely real. But your brother who built you of all this money, served time, he lives in Los Angeles like he did but he I think he he was here for a period of time now I think he's either somebody said he might have been in South Carolina back in New England so I don't know where he is today. When he was here then I mean you know for many years did you drive around looking at every corner like you couldn't help yourself probably like is that him always wondering if you'd run into him and did you ever see him? I did not see him I didn't really I would literally contemplate if I would. But I imagine if I had randomly bumped into him at Rock and Roll Ralphs or something, I probably would have said, because I sort of have planned this in my mind if I ever saw him years ago, someday, at some point, Daryl, you and I are going to have a conversation. I just imagine that, and it's either going to happen right if I saw him in LA, or he's going to walk away and say nothing, or he's going to say, all right, well, let's find each other at some point, but I mean it. I do realize that this conversation that we've had in the documentary, Funny Money, has changed the atmosphere around me. People are coming into the chat, and we're putting something together now where I believe There could be the possibility of... This moment playing out, but we have to see. We have to see if this is going to have the legs, Billy. If it really continues to... Knock them dead through the holiday, then there'll be a really good follow-up. I promise you that. Well, the word of mouth is great. And it's what got me watching it right away. And it's got me, you know, texting you. And that's so, you know, if that's any indication. I got the text from you. The Bushman. It's the Bushman. The Bushman is saying, let's go, Cookie. We got to talk. Let's talk. Let's talk. I hope you do run into him. Let's talk. I hope you don't die without this conversation. Let's talk. You know, some old dude. You got to, at some point, if you have to go knock on the door, right? Right. I mean, I just. You got it. I think so. He's much better if he did, but he looks like a, sorry, maybe he's not wired enough to do it, wired well enough to do it. He doesn't have our hair, Billy. I think it all comes down to hair. I said it long ago. I said, if you ever look at my hair. Did you get some regrowth? Did you look unbelievable? You're very deep right now. Jesus Christ. Is that a minoxidil or anything? I take a little preventative minoxidil now. Nothing. My girlfriend said, if you, she says, you're not tall enough. You're not. Enough. Your hair is, is everything. You better not lose your hair. Uh, so take something to make sure you don't. So I'm a preventative guy right now. No, no, it's all, I think it's just all diet and probably, uh, not letting things stress me out to the point where I was quite literally pulling my hair out. Even though this took me a long time to make this Billy somewhere in my heart, I promise you this. When you hear that answering machine message that my brother left me In the documentary. And it's real gnarly and it's full of very interesting sort of everything from crocodile tears to blaming me. But from the moment I heard that, instead of getting more stressed and feeling like I was depleted and going to fall apart. There was a part of me, even though it took a long damn time, that was like, I'm going to be better from this, and I'm going to use this someday to my advantage. That's how I gamify. I'm the son of George Cook. I said, I will gamify this. I will utilize this to regain my narrative. And it took a little longer than what I anticipated, but Billy, we got to talk. We'll do a follow-up in a few months. There's going to be a lot that's happening, and I'm very, very excited for what's to come. I think everybody's pulling for you, my friend. You shared a lot. Vulnerability does that. When you're vulnerable with people, they appreciate it. They love it. And I think, I know for one, pulling for you in every single way. You are the greatest, my friend. I appreciate this. Funny Money is on Netflix right now. It's an unbelievable watch. It's three different things in one. Like we said, you're going to love this story and good for you of handling it the way you did and coming out the way you have. And now it's just boom, boom, boom. Away we go. Forward. Back to work. Forward. That's it. That's just what I want to do. I just want to create, you know, more things, entertain more people. And I'm so excited that people are, you know, finding me or discovering me or the handshake or the welcome back. Whatever it is, this feels like a great time. And I'm so happy that you reached out to me and had me on today, Billy. It means a lot to me. I love you very much. There he goes, the great Dane Cook. Folks, check it out, Funny Money on Netflix. Please hit like, subscribe here.