Alicia Vikander

[0] Welcome, welcome, welcome to armchair expert.

[1] I'm Dax Shepard.

[2] And although she is not currently present, she is present in the interview.

[3] Worry not, miniature mouse is here.

[4] Quick thank you to everybody who came to the Salt Lake City show.

[5] We had the most excellent time.

[6] It was so wonderful to be out in the world and seeing armcherry's face -to -face.

[7] My goodness, what a wonderful time it was.

[8] Today we have Alicia Vicander.

[9] Alicia Vicander is an Academy Award -winning actor.

[10] I fell in love with her in Ex Machina, but of course she's had an enormous career, Tomb Raider, the Danish girl, Jason Bourne, the Green Knight, and now she has a new movie out called Blue Bayou.

[11] I hope everyone checks out Blue Bayou.

[12] I also hope everyone enjoys Alicia Vikander.

[13] Wondry Plus subscribers can listen to Armchair expert early and ad free right now.

[14] Join Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

[15] Or you can listen for free wherever you get your podcasts.

[16] He's an object.

[17] Hello, hi.

[18] I'm so excited to meet you.

[19] I didn't think this would ever happen in any way.

[20] I was watching X. Makina and falling deeply in love with you as I think every single person did, which is its own interesting psychological thing we should explore.

[21] And I thought in my head, I actually had the thought, well, well, I'll never bump into her.

[22] She's not going to be in like a cheap TV comedy.

[23] We're never going to be like castmates or anything.

[24] And I'm pretty much done going to any parties so that I won't meet that person, but I would love to.

[25] And yet, here we are.

[26] I'm so happy.

[27] And, you know, you guys have done so great.

[28] And I just, I feel honored now to be one of the guests on your show.

[29] Oh, my God.

[30] That's hard to believe.

[31] That's what you've done in just a few years.

[32] So, you know.

[33] Straight away from the cheap TV comedies.

[34] That's like what I long to do now.

[35] Really?

[36] Really?

[37] I just want to make, like, light.

[38] fun stuff i'll tell you it is really really fun to do because in general everyone's in a good mood you're trying to make some funny stuff happen really fun really fun around set but i will see this you can leave work having done a comedy and going like hmm i don't know if we got that and there's no way to fix it like there's no way to push in slowly and add the perfect song that'll maybe cover up and give some emotion like it's either funny or it's not so there's no way to push in slowly and add the perfect song that'll maybe That is the only part that I think is...

[39] Some pressure.

[40] Some pressure that maybe is unexpected.

[41] I guess you are right.

[42] I can still have that feeling, I mean, with drama.

[43] I guess you're right that it's easier to kind of go in and make it something new in the edit.

[44] Well, have you had the experience I have when doing a drama where I left work?

[45] And I was like, hmm, I didn't really do the thing I was hoping to do.

[46] That's a bummer and embarrassing.

[47] And then I see it and I go, ooh, that's something.

[48] made the whole thing work.

[49] Thank God they put that song in there.

[50] Yeah.

[51] But one thing that I think is pretty, like, I mean, it's not completely wrong when you have that feeling too.

[52] But have you been on set when it happened today, actually, when we were shooting, and the co -actor, he was like, did you feel that?

[53] And I was like, yeah, I felt it.

[54] And the thing is, when you get that take, it's like a thing that just happens and it hangs in the air.

[55] And the amazing thing is that the boom guy knows it.

[56] And the guys behind the Monerton knows it.

[57] And it's like no one said anything, but everyone knew, okay, that was it.

[58] And it's amazing.

[59] And you don't know what it is, but in unison, everyone knows.

[60] It was a bit of magic there.

[61] This will be a fun thing of actors complaining.

[62] But I do think it's unique to this job, which is, let's say, that moment you're talking about can happen in a wide.

[63] So if you're not incredibly familiar with how the sausage is made, you shoot this big, big shot with probably all the actors.

[64] and you see the whole set.

[65] But that is not what you will see in the finished movie.

[66] You'll see a close -up of the person having their emotional scene.

[67] Also, the agony of got in that moment in the wide.

[68] And then, like, okay, let's move in for coverage.

[69] And then you just never get that feeling in coverage.

[70] That happens, too.

[71] But then it's cool.

[72] Like, the series I'm shooting right now, I've shot eight weeks now, seven.

[73] And I did, like, my first real close -up two days ago.

[74] What?

[75] Really?

[76] Yeah.

[77] Yeah, Olivier, as I say, as a French filmmaker.

[78] And I've done three days in a row with, like, eight pages a day of just two people talking.

[79] But he's very good at, it's called blocking.

[80] It's kind of when you set the choreography of how you move in a scene.

[81] And it's never dull.

[82] And that's so nice, because the other day it was, like, a bit closer, like, I don't know, half body.

[83] But, like, it was the first just my face close up in eight weeks.

[84] And in one way, I admire that because he is a very talented filmmaker, and he dares to trust both the performers as actors and his own words, and that it will transcend and work in a bigger frame and that you hopefully will be able to stay in those frames longer.

[85] And then when he punched in, for real, and it kind of reminds me of like, during lockdown, actually, I watched a lot of old classics.

[86] And it's amazing if you watch films from like the 30s, 40s.

[87] and it's incredible performances.

[88] And they run scenes in wide shots for a long time.

[89] And you're as engaged.

[90] And then suddenly, if you're aware of it, they go close.

[91] And it's like it happens only a few times in the film.

[92] And the impact is so big.

[93] It's interesting because it can be easier and it's so hard to make movies, especially what we do now here, shooting it like this.

[94] I am a bit more terrified.

[95] I'm like, I don't know if this is going to work.

[96] You know, I hope it's going to be it.

[97] Sure.

[98] Because you're a bit more naked in that sense.

[99] But normally you cover a lot, then you're also set up for the fact, like you said, you can go into an edit.

[100] And you do have a lot more choices and then also can push to bring out emotions easier if you go close, let's say.

[101] Yeah.

[102] It's a big cast in the series.

[103] I mean, he's one of those directors that a lot of actors want to work with.

[104] So the actors that he's brought on set are the top of their game.

[105] Yeah, no, I walk in every day and I'm like, who, okay.

[106] And with those long scenes, I just need to know your shit.

[107] Yeah, exactly.

[108] So I would say that I'm so impressed by everyone surrounding me on this show.

[109] I would imagine for you, you would enjoy, like, many different touch points on a set, like a big choreograph scene with lots of movies.

[110] in Marx because you did ballet.

[111] Like, to me, that feels like something that would appeal to you.

[112] I love that.

[113] How long did you do ballet?

[114] I went to the Royal Swedish Ballet School.

[115] So I started when I was nine and I did the whole nine years in school.

[116] Wow.

[117] This is most of my questions for Lishar about this experience, as you might guess.

[118] This is fascinating.

[119] One of them being, well, first of all...

[120] Have you been in ballet?

[121] No. Well, Monica's a two -time state champ cheerleader.

[122] So she had her own version of that, but it was more the American.

[123] I'm sure the training is not very far of my experience.

[124] It is intense.

[125] And violent.

[126] A little violent and a little emotional.

[127] Lots of injuries.

[128] Yeah.

[129] But I only did that for a few years, nine years.

[130] I mean, that's so much dedication.

[131] Okay, so I have a stereotype in my mind of people who do ballet.

[132] I've had several different friends that were into ballet.

[133] And where it differs, in my opinion, from other things is I've noticed they'll still do it.

[134] Like, it's their workout in a way.

[135] And it's clearly something cathartic is happening when they do this work.

[136] Not me. Not you.

[137] You would never do it as a workout.

[138] No. For me, it was so difficult to quit when I did because it had been my life.

[139] When I quit, it was emotionally very hard to make.

[140] make that I was very afraid that I was making the wrong decision.

[141] Yeah.

[142] I was also feeling like I was letting everyone down, especially all the teachers.

[143] When I did it, it was kind of from having done it like six, seven hours a day, six days a week, all these years, I never took a ballet class from the day I quit.

[144] Did you feel super liberated?

[145] Like, oh, my God, I have so much time.

[146] I have so much less pain.

[147] I can get friends.

[148] Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[149] Yeah, no, I suddenly became a very kind of 18 -year -old, 18 -year -old.

[150] You know, I was like, I wanted to do everything and travel.

[151] You were let out of a ballet cage.

[152] Yeah, I mean, it was amazing, and I wouldn't exchange that for anything.

[153] In one way, it was kind of my education for what I do now, but it's tough.

[154] I'm, like, impressed.

[155] Like, even if I did it myself, I kind of forget that sometimes, and I went to the opera here in Paris just a few weeks ago, And as soon as I see the dancers, I'm like, oh, my God, I just can't believe.

[156] Because, like, somewhere still remember what it's like and what it is.

[157] And then even more, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm such awe.

[158] And, like, people should know what these guys go through.

[159] And then I saw Romeo and Juliet pretty amazing.

[160] It was their first opening night with, like, a full audience.

[161] And then I was behind stage and I got to say hi to the premier dancers who did the leads.

[162] And it's a lot of Pada de d 'ur, it's called, and in full.

[163] French, but it's when the classical thing when you see the couple dancing and the girl gets lifted a lot and thrown around and Romeo and Juliet, it's like up in the air and down on the floor.

[164] It's very dramatic and romantic, obviously, and they die.

[165] So there's a lot of throwing her everywhere.

[166] And then she stands there.

[167] She was like, oh, yeah, no, I'm okay, you know, but I broke a rib three days ago.

[168] Oh.

[169] So she was like, yeah, we had to work out.

[170] He had to like have his hand on another rib tonight.

[171] Oh.

[172] So he could, like, throw me from here.

[173] And, I mean, yeah, I mean, that's just nuts.

[174] Yeah, yeah, it definitely follows the pattern way more of a professional sport than it does, like an artistic outlet.

[175] Yeah, it's exactly that.

[176] It seems to attract a certain personality type because great pain is ahead of you.

[177] There's a weird layer of masochism to it, a tiny bit.

[178] It's the ultimate expression of control and not just the...

[179] the physical control, but also, like, the body shape, the eating.

[180] That's why you get them young when they don't know.

[181] Yeah, right.

[182] You bring out the pink two -toos.

[183] False advertising.

[184] You lure them in with the two -to.

[185] What, there is everyone in, including me. I was sitting there.

[186] I think I was like three.

[187] I'm watching the knock cracker.

[188] And, you know, my mom was prepared to, like, take me to go home after the first act, you know, three years old.

[189] And I was like, oh, and I sat there for two hours.

[190] Wow.

[191] Because of the pink tutus.

[192] Pink tutus.

[193] Yeah, yeah.

[194] Yeah, I remember.

[195] And then she actually put me in class, and I was so bummed.

[196] I remember it was like the Christmas kind of show.

[197] And, like, my group got to be, like, pirates.

[198] And the other group got to be, like, pink butterflies.

[199] And I was so, so sad.

[200] A whole year of training to get to do that.

[201] Yeah.

[202] This pirate costume.

[203] I don't know.

[204] I kind of think of it as, like, the closest thing you can do to joining the convent.

[205] Like, you dedicate your entire life to it, and it's embroiled in so much disappointment and pain.

[206] I feel like if you can get through that experience, it's a pretty good foundation to move forward.

[207] I guess what I'm saying is probably everything feels a little bit easy after that.

[208] Yeah.

[209] I think when things have been hard in life, I often thought, well, it's not worse than badly in school.

[210] And that was physical pain, but psychological.

[211] Not really, it's tough.

[212] Like, when you find out what the symphony orchestra players go through to get to that point, I think you're largely unaware of it.

[213] Like you say, you go to the opera, you go to a player, you go to a symphony, and you just see the pink tutus or you hear the great song.

[214] But then when you find out, like, the amount of hours it takes one to get themselves in that situation, it's just kind of eye -opening.

[215] Is there an impetus for quitting?

[216] Was there like an inciting incident?

[217] or it just was slowly gnawing at you?

[218] It was a slowly realization that I didn't want to live my life as a dancer.

[219] Yeah.

[220] Because it is that hard.

[221] That's why for anyone who actually done it, and it's pretty actually cool.

[222] I told you I haven't done a class since.

[223] But on the show I'm doing now, the director and writer wrote in that I need to do at Cameret's scene, and he hired one of the worlds of France biggest choreographer.

[224] who I never would have ever be able to work with if I was a dancer.

[225] And I stepped into the room and I was like, oh, my God.

[226] As a dancer, I would never, ever, ever, ever have made it into the space.

[227] And I now had three days when he made me a choreography.

[228] And I was like, I haven't done this in years.

[229] And then he was so sweet.

[230] And he even said, he was like, you should go and join us for performers next summer.

[231] I was like, sure.

[232] But it was really incredible.

[233] Like, I love dancing.

[234] And if you know me, you know that even if I don't take class, I dance everywhere.

[235] Well, I don't know you, but I hope to after this...

[236] See you on the dance floor.

[237] Yeah.

[238] I can fuck up a dance floor.

[239] No training, but I won't get off of it.

[240] I leave it all on the floor just to warn you ahead of time.

[241] Amazing.

[242] Well, I don't think there is great dances that just dedicated dancers.

[243] So you grew up in Sweden.

[244] Yeah.

[245] We had this world -renowned economist on, and he was just obsessed with Sweden, so obsessed, in the middle way, and that approach.

[246] So we're very interested in Sweden, and we wanted kind of an insider's perspective.

[247] So I'm glad you're here.

[248] What I noticed that has to be a little different is you went away at 16.

[249] She left.

[250] It's Gutenberg, yeah?

[251] Were you from?

[252] Is that how you pronounce it?

[253] Gothenburg.

[254] Oh, wow.

[255] I fucked that up.

[256] I was like, oh, I bet that's a silent age, like Neanderthal.

[257] German.

[258] I was wrong.

[259] But you went to Stockholm to pursue ballet at 16 completely by yourself and you lived on your own.

[260] Yeah.

[261] That's a fine thing to do in Sweden.

[262] That's no issue.

[263] No one's scared.

[264] No, I mean, yeah, I was not even 16.

[265] I was 15, a few months before I turned 16.

[266] Yeah.

[267] And the thing is, the last year before I moved, I was more worried about my mom.

[268] I'm her only child.

[269] And I was like, my God, I kind of like felt bad.

[270] And now, because...

[271] Being an adult, I really understand.

[272] I have asked them, and I was like, oh, my God, how did you cope?

[273] And she was like, no, the year before you left was tough.

[274] Because she had a hunch with the training that I did that I might get in if I applied to the school in Stockholm.

[275] So she said she went through this year of like kind of getting to terms with me leaving.

[276] And then she said, when you finally did, it was okay.

[277] Manageable.

[278] Yeah.

[279] But so I think nowadays they do have a good.

[280] boarding school, but they didn't have that then.

[281] Who did you live with?

[282] Where did you live?

[283] No, the first six months, I rented a room.

[284] And then you get like a small allowance, I think like $100, maybe $200 from your city.

[285] If you get into a school that you can prove doesn't exist in your town.

[286] Oh, okay.

[287] This is part of the middle way right there.

[288] So you get that, and I got a bit of cash from my parents.

[289] But, yeah, it wasn't much.

[290] But then I rented a room, but then I actually managed to find an apartment that I rented.

[291] I mean, it's so crazy because Stockholm, like, the rest of the world in big cities now, it's like to rent, the prices are crazy.

[292] So I was extremely lucky that I found something actually central in Stockholm.

[293] So, yeah, I mean, it was pretty cool.

[294] I remember when I was like 16, and I was like, no, just come over to my place.

[295] You know?

[296] It was like so cool.

[297] And I was like, I have oats and meekles.

[298] I mean, it was tiny this flat.

[299] But it was kind of cheap only because there was regulated prices because it didn't really have a kitchen.

[300] Oh, okay.

[301] So it was like just a cabinet.

[302] And then it was a sink.

[303] And I had like this like, like, camp pot kind of hot.

[304] And then I bought this mini bar.

[305] And I remember it was like milk, yogurt.

[306] like the freeze compartment which only fitted like one packet.

[307] That's so Swedish.

[308] I remember I ate like pros and meatballs.

[309] Yeah, like how did you respond to that much freedom?

[310] Still responsible?

[311] I think I was quite a responsible child growing up.

[312] But it's interesting because I lived in a very small apartment with my mom growing up.

[313] And I think just turning 14, 15 and you're about to like, oh my God, I just need to break out and do things.

[314] and maybe not follow the rules and whatever.

[315] I could have probably held back another year because I knew that I might just be leaving and then I want to be nice to my mom, you know.

[316] But then I remember I arrived in Stockholm, like maybe two weeks leading up to the school starting.

[317] It's like summer.

[318] And I remember just for me, I mean, Stockholm now is not very big, but to me then it was like the capital was huge.

[319] And I went down the subway, And I had this memory of me, like, I was like, life begins now.

[320] Yeah.

[321] Oh, my God.

[322] I had to work out, had to wash your clothes.

[323] It's like one of those things.

[324] It was like, you need to do it more.

[325] You don't even know how to do it.

[326] And I was like, obviously, I know how to do it.

[327] And then I remember I stood there.

[328] I was trying to figure it out on the day.

[329] But then school started.

[330] Fun was over.

[331] Yeah.

[332] I mean, naturally, I wanted to go to bed as soon as possible because I had to be up at 5 .30.

[333] a .m. in the morning and be in school by seven.

[334] What age can you drink there?

[335] 18.

[336] And I really used that.

[337] So between the second to last and last year, I guess because like we said earlier, that it's so closed in and it takes up so much time being in school that I hadn't made a lot of friends just because I moved from my hometown to Stockholm and I spent most of my time in school.

[338] And I made this, like, promised to myself.

[339] I was like, I'm going to make friends.

[340] And I did.

[341] And actually, the people I met that summer before my last year are some of my best friends still today.

[342] But it's fun to say to them now.

[343] I was like, yeah, no, I was kind of like, hunting friends.

[344] I remember I was at this party and like, actually, she was one of my bridesmaid at my wedding.

[345] And I remember I walked into this party and, you know, and I was like, saw this gorgeous girl, like, down the hallway.

[346] And she seemed so cool and, like, everyone wanted to talk to her.

[347] And I was like, she's going to become my friend.

[348] And so yeah So then that last year I kind of rebelled ballet school a bit So I kind of became friends With the guy who had the key to the school Okay Because we did spend so much hours in school They actually had beds in our locker rooms Oh my God This sounds like a Soviet -era gymnast training program Yeah no so I sometimes went out dancing But I couldn't really drink Because I then knew I was going to go to school but I love being out, like, dancing.

[349] So I, well, wait until like five when I closed.

[350] And then I went straight to school.

[351] And I had a nap in school and put the ballet bun up.

[352] And then I walked into class two hours later.

[353] Oh, so then you go in, you do an exchange program in New York.

[354] So this question probably won't apply to you.

[355] But I am curious.

[356] I was just talking about this with Monica the other day.

[357] Swedes are my favorite people to run into traveling.

[358] You find them everywhere.

[359] You do find them everywhere.

[360] They're everywhere.

[361] They're scattered about the globe on holiday at all times.

[362] And I find that they are almost universally fantastic conversationalists.

[363] And my first experience with it was on a train ride from Barcelona to Rome, very long train ride.

[364] I was 19.

[365] And my girlfriend and I were seated across four Swedish kids traveling.

[366] And we got to talk and we had this incredible time.

[367] And I asked, you know, had you guys ever been to the States.

[368] One of them had done an exchange program in the South.

[369] And I said, how did you like it?

[370] And she said, oh, it was, I couldn't stand it.

[371] And I said, oh, what, what didn't you like about it?

[372] And she said, this forced hospitality, this kind of disingenuous politeness, it's just so not Swedish.

[373] And it drove me crazy.

[374] And I was like, oh, being from the North, there's even a big difference between Detroit in the South.

[375] And I'm like, yeah, I know what you're talking about.

[376] But then I think just in general, even where I'm from, there's a lot of pleasant trees that seem disingenuous.

[377] And I wondered if you were aware of that.

[378] I mean, totally, I love all these differences.

[379] I love talking about kind of what defines people in different cultures.

[380] And it's very hard to kind of notice what you do until you actually move away from your home.

[381] And then I realized, oh, that's what I'm doing.

[382] I now understand I do these things because I grow up like this.

[383] And, I mean, that is not even just the South.

[384] I think it's a very European versus American culture.

[385] Mm -hmm.

[386] I kind of came to my...

[387] I was like, oh, my...

[388] Like, everything is amazing.

[389] And they like me so much.

[390] And they like...

[391] And everyone's so happy.

[392] And they want to do all these things, apparently.

[393] But then you kind of realize, I was like, oh, that sometimes is just conversation, too.

[394] Yeah.

[395] And those are things.

[396] things we do not say.

[397] So we will just blindly trust everything that you guys like.

[398] You're right, right.

[399] And then you realize, I think Swedes abroad are generally, like you said, I think they're more conversational.

[400] If you go to Sweden, I think it might be a bit different.

[401] You know, if you go to a party there, you might think, oh, the Swedes aren't quite stuck up and quite boring and like very serious.

[402] And I think that's just because for us, you get to know each other, but this isn't, you can tell me if it's wrong, but then it's a bit of a short time before you actually become friends.

[403] It's like in America, I felt like I can have met people quite a few times.

[404] And I'm like, we're friends now, right?

[405] Yeah, yeah.

[406] And then it's like, yeah, but I would never get invited to somebody's house.

[407] It's pleasant and nice, but then I'm like, shouldn't we like hang out?

[408] Yeah, yeah.

[409] Yeah, let's go to the inner circle.

[410] Yeah, exactly.

[411] And I think that's something different.

[412] So in, in, you.

[413] Europe, I think you need to fight a bit more to get in there to get to know the person.

[414] But then if you manage to do it, people open up.

[415] So my wife and I are both from Michigan.

[416] Like, we have the same culture.

[417] And then, of course, we have different childhoods.

[418] So the way I interpret love and how I would show love is different from hers.

[419] But that's from a childhood dynamic that's different.

[420] But I do wonder, because you're married to someone from Ireland, and he, of course, has his own culture.

[421] Do you ever bump up against where you just go like, oh, I'm sorry, sweetie, that probably hurt your feelings, but that's just a very Swedish thing I did.

[422] Like, is there any cultural layers?

[423] We have quite similar upbrings from like kind of working class families, smaller houses.

[424] And so we mostly more felt we have quite a lot of similarities.

[425] Our families, it was a very easy kind of introduction there too.

[426] Really?

[427] So there's no like cultural differences in displaying affectionate or like are swedes affectionate well it's interesting just with americans saying i love you to anyone to everyone yeah yeah yeah yeah i'm the biggest offender of that can i just admit real quick he's going to say it to you at the end of this and i'll mean it but continue yeah so i love you and swedish is yore elskeda and that is like i was with my first like long relationship boyfriend for one and a half year before I said that.

[428] And I think I said it like four times.

[429] Okay, can I be clear though?

[430] So I have this bracket for humans in my life that are friends and I do love them.

[431] Like the feeling I have inside for them is butterflies.

[432] I would never say that prematurely to a romantic partner because that means so much and that's such a kind of level of commitment that I would never be haphazard about.

[433] Yeah, but it is the language, too.

[434] It's so interesting to get to know a culture through languages, too, and how they work.

[435] And, like, saying that in Swedish is, like, you're like, oh, oh.

[436] It's like, I remember when my dad says it on the phone sometimes, I'm like, really, I got, like, quite emotional.

[437] That's nice, that it reserves a power.

[438] Yeah, it's pretty cool that those words are very impactful.

[439] So it's not the same.

[440] Like when I say, I love you in English, it doesn't ring or it doesn't emotionally mean the same thing as if I say it in Swedish.

[441] Yeah, like in your lifetime, if you're Swedish, you're probably only going to say that word to a handful of people.

[442] It's become, because of you guys.

[443] Uh -oh.

[444] No, more used.

[445] It's actually changed over the past 10 years, I would say.

[446] It's almost gone to the point now when we might be like you guys soon.

[447] You're Lucy.

[448] Like you love the person at McDonald's who just rang you up?

[449] No, that would be strange.

[450] I said that probably, but yeah.

[451] But if you're craving a Big Mac and you have been for a year and they give it to you, you might feel a pang of love for them.

[452] I don't think I've had one in 20 years.

[453] Twenty years.

[454] Wow.

[455] Wow, wow, wow.

[456] But that's also familial, like, how you are raised because when I first joined this group of friends, it was the same thing.

[457] Like, I started babysitting for them.

[458] and I would leave and they'd be like, but I love you.

[459] And I was like, I don't know what to say.

[460] Like, do they love me?

[461] Like, I've only been babysitting for like a month.

[462] But so for me, it was also a transition of like, oh, they don't mean it in the way that I'm thinking about it.

[463] Yeah.

[464] Or like the French here.

[465] It's amazing.

[466] It's, again, language that forms an entire culture and people.

[467] Yeah.

[468] So French, they kind of like, it's always not an issue.

[469] but they like to argue and like to talk a lot, you know, for the sake of it.

[470] And then it's also, it's like, when something's good, they don't say it's good.

[471] They say, it's a pamaal.

[472] And I mean, it's not bad.

[473] It's not bad.

[474] That's the high compliment.

[475] It's not bad.

[476] It's like, oh, pamaul.

[477] That's like really good.

[478] It's like, you know, we had it on set.

[479] He was like, oh, pama.

[480] He was like, then we know, oh, director is very happy.

[481] Bamal Yeah, exactly Not bad And it just shows It's like I spoke to a friend He was French And he said too It's like yeah You're a kid growing up And when someone tells you You've done good They say it's not bad I just don't know If after lovemaking If my partner said Not bad I'd be like Okay I will work on that That's very American We hear We're saying like It's amazing Like you can't Stop saying the word amazing We love superlatives in America.

[482] Everything's the best.

[483] No, it's like if I say it in America, I was like, oh, that's really good.

[484] They were like, oh.

[485] Yeah, we failed you.

[486] She doesn't like it.

[487] She's put off.

[488] Well, I have friends that are more of use of me, and yeah, it annoys me. Because I'm like, oh, it means nothing.

[489] I figured, like, in my mind, I'm at the level where I'm super enthusiastic, but I'm not disingenuous.

[490] In my mind, which certainly you must read as disingenuous, as I do in other people who or more.

[491] But I feel like when I'm talking enthusiastically about things I love, which there's so many, it's not a act like I have those feelings inside.

[492] I have butterflies and excitement and enthusiasm for a Big Mac.

[493] Like I can eventize getting a Big Mac.

[494] Like it's a real thing.

[495] Yeah.

[496] And I think I become a bit more like that when I'm out in L .A. Now I suddenly reached a high level and I have a difficulty to express that.

[497] something higher yeah yeah boy you're right you don't leave yourself a lot of room but i want to say you could almost argue it is the difference in a worldview that is infinite and abundant or one that is finite and needs to be doled out carefully does that make any sense and it's an interesting thought like so let me first acknowledge so annoying that would i mean nuts if i were you like well nothing means nothing.

[498] Everyone fucking loves their shitting hamburger.

[499] No, that's not true.

[500] I love these things.

[501] Like, I end up talking about it a lot, traveling.

[502] I kind of like to figure out.

[503] Yeah, yeah.

[504] You appreciate it.

[505] The difference.

[506] Yeah, when I was in Japan, too, to learn that the language it's like, I had to speak a bit of Japanese, and I kind of read this line.

[507] I was like, and I read it in the translated version in English, and I asked my translator, I was like, I would love for it to have a tiny, a bit of sarcasm in there.

[508] Yeah, yeah.

[509] And he was like, well, then all you have to do is address this person a bit above than what you should.

[510] Ah.

[511] Yeah, it'd be like calling the guy at the valet, Your Highness.

[512] That would be sarcastic.

[513] Yeah, but they just can do it in a very slight...

[514] Subtle way.

[515] Soutile way.

[516] And I thought that was cool.

[517] How many languages do you speak?

[518] Because I noticed you did a movie in Danish early on it?

[519] My Danish, when I've had a few drinks, is pretty good.

[520] Okay.

[521] When you're playing pool?

[522] Yeah, when I'm in Copenhagen, and Playpool, probably.

[523] That's what they kind of do there.

[524] Yeah, I would give it a go.

[525] I do understand a bit of French, I've realized now.

[526] So they can't talk too much shit about you.

[527] So I would kind of show them, I was like, I do know what you're saying.

[528] Can I tell you that's Monica's dream?

[529] Because when we talk about superpowers, I want to be invisible.

[530] She wants to be able to hear what people think, which I think would be terrible.

[531] I would not want to know that at all.

[532] No. It's none of my business.

[533] None of my business.

[534] I'm just scared.

[535] But she can do that.

[536] Yeah, she's figured out, and you could do it too.

[537] So learn a language and tell everyone you don't speak it.

[538] And then you could do, you would hear them talking about you.

[539] Okay, that's a big plan, but sure.

[540] It's going to take a while, but not as hard as ballet.

[541] True, true.

[542] And Michael speaks German.

[543] Yes, his mother tongue is English.

[544] Right.

[545] Because he moved away from Germany when he was two.

[546] Somehow I read that he could speak German.

[547] Yeah, it's not his first language, but yeah, he can get by.

[548] If you would hate me if I said this time.

[549] No, it's really good.

[550] It's really amazing.

[551] It's very, it's very, very, very good.

[552] Well, I was just thinking that that's quite an advantage for your kid to grow up in a line.

[553] I bet if you put together 100 American families, you might get four languages that could be spoken.

[554] That's dreadful.

[555] Yeah, but I think one thing that is happening, though, is it's amazing to see films just over the past few years.

[556] I mean, with Parasite winning an Oscar.

[557] People now in America will have started to get used to actually reading subtitles and actually start to watch this wonderful treasure of films that have been made all over the world.

[558] Stay tuned for more Armchair Expert, if you dare.

[559] What's up, guys, this is your girl Kiki, and my podcast is back with a new season, and let me tell you, it's too good.

[560] And I'm diving into the brains of entertainment's best and brightest, okay?

[561] Every episode, I bring on a friend and have a real conversation.

[562] And I don't mean just friends.

[563] I mean the likes of Amy Poehler, Kell Mitchell, Vivica Fox, the list goes on.

[564] So follow, watch, and listen to Baby.

[565] This is Kiki Palmer on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcast.

[566] We've all been there.

[567] Turning to the internet to self -diagnose our inexplicable pains, debilitating body aches, sudden fevers, and strange rashes.

[568] Though our minds tend to spiral to worst -case scenarios, it's usually nothing.

[569] but for an unlucky few, these unsuspecting symptoms can start the clock ticking on a terrifying medical mystery, like the unexplainable death of a retired firefighter, whose body was found at home by his son, except it looked like he had been cremated, or the time when an entire town started jumping from buildings and seeing tigers on their ceilings.

[570] Hey listeners, it's Mr. Ballin here, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast.

[571] It's called Mr. Ballin's Medical Mysteries.

[572] Each terrifying true story will be sure to keep you up at night.

[573] Follow Mr. Ballin's medical mysteries wherever you get your podcasts.

[574] Prime members can listen early and ad -free on Amazon Music.

[575] I have the weirdest surprise for you, and I don't know if you're going to like it.

[576] I've never done this ever on the show, but I felt like this was the time to do it.

[577] And so here's the backstory before I introduce him.

[578] Our best friend, Jess, he grew up in Sweden.

[579] He's American, but his dad played professional basketball in Sweden, so he grew up.

[580] up there for six or seven years.

[581] He sings a song that I can't imagine is correct, but I knew you would know.

[582] And so I've invited him to sing this song for you, if that's okay with you.

[583] Amazing.

[584] Should I join if I know it?

[585] If you know it.

[586] But I'm going to give Jess your microphone.

[587] Oh my God, I'm so excited.

[588] He can have mine, Monica.

[589] Let me stand behind you guys.

[590] Jess, you kind of need to stand, right?

[591] Alicia, you're never ever in your life going to see a performance is heartfelt, ever, I promise you.

[592] Oh, my God.

[593] No, no, no, no, no. Do it like you do it.

[594] Do it like you do it.

[595] Okay.

[596] He more did it.

[597] He would do it.

[598] Oh my God.

[599] Oh, my God.

[600] Oh, that's the super power.

[601] I left when I was 11, so.

[602] It's so good.

[603] It's so impunia.

[604] Wow.

[605] I've never heard him do what he just did.

[606] Oh, my God.

[607] You look so Swedish.

[608] You look more Swedish than I do.

[609] Okay.

[610] So this is Jess.

[611] So my favorite.

[612] So we don't tell what it is?

[613] No, don't tell what it is.

[614] To start.

[615] Here come Pipi Longstrom, Kula hop, shale hop, sandsa.

[616] Here come Pippi, long strump, here come, actually, yeah.

[617] Have you seen my napa, my little sota -a -a -a -ha -you -saught -Nilson?

[618] Yeah, it's got him, actually so.

[619] Here come Pippi -Longstrom, chel -hop, shale -h, hey, chel -hop, sands -a.

[620] Here come, Pippi -Longstrump, there come, Mm -mm.

[621] Have you said, my villa, my villa, my villa, gulla, gulla.

[622] Have you said my villa?

[623] I look it actually so, hey, here come Pippi Longström, chile he, chelope, so here come Pippi Longstrum.

[624] Here comes Pippi Longstrum, here comes actually, yeah.

[625] She knows it.

[626] Nice to meet you.

[627] Pipi Longstrom.

[628] Yeah, hey, do, I have to go to work.

[629] Love you.

[630] Okay, amazing.

[631] Yeah, love you.

[632] Okay, were the words accurate?

[633] I think he nailed it.

[634] I think that was correct, yeah.

[635] Oh, my.

[636] My gosh.

[637] That was a first.

[638] I kind of remembered it too.

[639] Yeah, you were singing along.

[640] Yeah.

[641] I was impressed.

[642] Oh my God.

[643] Thank you for doing that.

[644] Receiving that, I guess.

[645] Thank you for receiving that.

[646] It's the jingle for a Pippi Longstocking.

[647] And yeah, I voiced her on Spotify.

[648] You do?

[649] What?

[650] Like last year, yeah.

[651] So that's a connection.

[652] On Spotify, we like that.

[653] Yeah, we do.

[654] Jess has gone to Halloween as Pippi Longstocking.

[655] nine of the last 16 years.

[656] He makes the best Pippi because he's six foot seven and looks insane.

[657] And he's probably as strong as Pippi, maybe not as.

[658] Oh, God, that was fun.

[659] Okay, so he did a good job.

[660] He can sing that song because when I'm listening to it, I'm like, I love it so much.

[661] We make him sing it all the time.

[662] But I'm like, I don't know if he's saying the real thing or is he just making it up?

[663] We don't know.

[664] No, that is the real thing.

[665] Oh, my God.

[666] That's exciting.

[667] Okay.

[668] Can we talk about, because now I got to put the pedal to the metal.

[669] so we can talk about your new movie.

[670] But I just, I have to ask a couple questions about ex -Makina because I just, I don't know, man, that movie for me was what an experience.

[671] That movie was on so many different levels.

[672] Like, visually it was so incredible.

[673] The acting was insane.

[674] The concept with the thinking, all of it was so impressive.

[675] And my first question was, where was that set?

[676] We shot it in a studio in London, like five weeks.

[677] And then we spent maybe a week, 10 days up by the fjords.

[678] in Norway.

[679] Oh, so that's Norway.

[680] Yeah.

[681] And it's pretty amazing.

[682] So it's partly this hotel, like very simple hotel where we shot it.

[683] And I think their business is thriving since.

[684] And for the past seven years, people, it's like fully booked.

[685] And it was like the nicest family who ran that place.

[686] We were like living in the rooms we were shooting in.

[687] And then we had to like move out in the morning and settle.

[688] Oh, really?

[689] Yeah.

[690] Yeah, it's kind of like probably now the Park Hyatt in Tokyo.

[691] People go on vacation to have their last and translation experience.

[692] Exactly.

[693] And one thing I thought was potentially interesting is Alexander Garland, who wrote and directed that, he's a son of a psychologist, your daughter of a psychiatrist, did that come up?

[694] Do children of psychiatrists and psychologists share a bond?

[695] I think one thing is I grew up with a dad who in his office downstairs.

[696] Like, it has one wall with just a lot of books.

[697] And one wall is medicine.

[698] And then the other one is just fantasy and sci -fi.

[699] That's because he thinks it's kind of the same.

[700] He was like, this is all the same world in my, the same interest.

[701] He read fantasy for me when I was a kid.

[702] So that interest in science, I think, and sci -fi, I have too, which obviously Alex has.

[703] Here's the bond I imagine hypothetically exist, as I would hope the children of psychologists or psychiatrists have a more well -rounded toolkit than most kids get.

[704] I think it's interesting.

[705] I mean, I give this credit to my dad.

[706] I've had a few people sometimes ask me and say, oh, how was it having a dad who's in that profession?

[707] Did he ever, like, analyze you or give you?

[708] And I was like, no, never.

[709] But, I have thought back on time, especially when I've been an adult and didn't live at home.

[710] And when I needed it, he was, like, magically always there.

[711] And he has this crazy talent.

[712] And I know now later in life that he is doing this because he's actually very good at it.

[713] And he makes people talk.

[714] He is, in a very classic sense, he's a very good listener.

[715] and this has happened a few times and at quite strange occasions I was actually in Tokyo filming he was there visiting and we went to this pretty like underground cool nightclub and it was like pretty intense dungeon and it was like this very kind of known famous DJ up in booth after a while I was like where's dad you know and then I suddenly see him up in the DJ booth like with his hands crossed and this like DJ has left some other dudes standing there And then they stand there for like, literally like 25 minutes.

[716] And I was like, isn't that his set right now?

[717] And then that guy comes down because he's friends with one of my friends.

[718] And he's like, oh my God, I said, I don't know what happened.

[719] It's like, I met your dad.

[720] I opened up my entire life to this guy.

[721] And he had no clue what my dad does.

[722] And he was like so like, I don't know.

[723] And that has happened several times.

[724] And it's often like it's not anything my dad says that he does.

[725] but people just like end up having very long discussions with him and like oh my god yeah it's like we just met but we had some really a very deep conversation god i hope i bump into him traveling someday because that would really bullseye my swedish stereotype like sit down and just have a fucking solid conversation right out of the gates i think actually my dad and my mom apparently they met at a party and ended up sitting at this after 5 a .m. in the morning talking about death.

[726] I was like, yeah.

[727] It's just shown.

[728] I was like, great.

[729] So romantic.

[730] Okay.

[731] Wait, do I have another question about Ex Machina?

[732] I'm just obsessed with it.

[733] It's so fucking good.

[734] What about Sweden?

[735] Did you have any more questions about Sweden?

[736] I don't know if you're being sarcastic or not.

[737] Like, you're like, oh my God, this whole interview is about Sweden.

[738] No, no, no, no. I was honest, yeah.

[739] I'm going to tell you one thing about Sweden, and it'll come with an admission of my vanity.

[740] You ready?

[741] I went to Stockholm when I went to Stockholm when I was about Sweden.

[742] I was like, 20.

[743] Mm -hmm.

[744] I don't love my looks.

[745] The only thing I like is I'm like, well, thank fucking God I'm 6 .3.

[746] Like, I feel grateful about this, right?

[747] This is the only thing I think I got going for me. I go to Stockholm.

[748] I'm walking around.

[749] I am so dead average.

[750] It's uncomfortable how in the mean I am.

[751] I'm just dead average height, dead average everything.

[752] And I was like, oh, my goodness, I've never felt so just among everyone.

[753] Yeah.

[754] Yeah, I remember, I think it was one of my first events that I ever, probably, like, right in the beginning, like maybe 10 years ago.

[755] I was the first time in L .A. and they wanted me to go to this GQ, Man of the Year award.

[756] Oh, boy.

[757] That sounds great.

[758] So I put my heels on and I went.

[759] And I remember I stood in the room at the chateau.

[760] And I was like looking out over the room.

[761] And I was like, something is a bit off.

[762] I'm acknowledging something and I don't know what it is.

[763] Yeah.

[764] And then I realized I can actually, like, see the bar.

[765] Like, with a pair of wheels.

[766] You can look across the restaurant and see the bar.

[767] Yeah.

[768] In America, I'm almost a bit above average, I realize.

[769] And in Sweden, I'm short.

[770] Yeah, yeah, miniature.

[771] Wait, how tall are you?

[772] 167 .5.

[773] Oh, boy.

[774] So, fuck.

[775] Oh, fuck.

[776] Well, that Rob's.

[777] Rob's.

[778] Oh, five.

[779] Four.

[780] Okay, that's...

[781] We like that height.

[782] That's a good height.

[783] That's for me...

[784] That's not tall, though.

[785] Well, yeah, but in Sweden, I'm short.

[786] Very short.

[787] And then men are very tall.

[788] I've never been used to, like, see in bars.

[789] It's always just like heads.

[790] Yeah.

[791] In shoulders.

[792] See, in a movie, this would have led to a great montage, and you would have went to the movies and sat behind people, and you could see the screen.

[793] No, the concert.

[794] That's the concert.

[795] Then you'd go to concerts.

[796] Like, you would have a whole montage of all the things.

[797] you're enjoying where you can finally see this could be a whole like a Swedish coming to America story and it's just all about she had not seen most of the world yeah it's called visibility's name of the movie oh my gosh but it's about deeper it's about being able to see the soul of people that's lovely yeah it's I was only used to see chest not so I have an ex machina question so after that movie that movie came out everyone was talking about it.

[798] It was like, everyone, you have to go see this.

[799] You have to see in the movie theater.

[800] You know, no one wanted to spoil what was going to happen.

[801] But then you emerged out of that as like everyone thinking of you as the most beautiful person on the planet.

[802] I'm glad you said it.

[803] I couldn't say it.

[804] I know.

[805] I know you wanted to say it.

[806] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[807] And that is a lot probably to feel all at once.

[808] Well, first of all, thank you.

[809] And I don't at all think I was really aware of that.

[810] You weren't?

[811] Wow.

[812] I can't.

[813] Is this probably the worst question you could ask a suite?

[814] Is like, she now has to comment on her own beauty.

[815] Exactly.

[816] I will now get very, very uncomfortable.

[817] I'm not asking you to comment on your beauty.

[818] I'm asking the reaction.

[819] One thing that a lot of people don't know is that it's Markina opened up in the UK, because it's a very small indie movie.

[820] It was shot for a very, very low budget in a few weeks.

[821] And it bombed.

[822] Oh.

[823] No, I went and saw it, and they took it out from the theaters, and that was it.

[824] And then a company that obviously now is one of the most known for the fantastic films they're making A -24 was this newly created company, and they said, we would love to just release this America.

[825] And they did, and that was their first film, and, like, suddenly it was like it came out again, but the world now saw it.

[826] So that's pretty cool because it was almost a film that kind of just got lost.

[827] I don't know what his genius is in casting, but I just can't imagine a more perfectly cast movie and pulling from unlikely places.

[828] There's just all these really neat elements that somehow beyond his literary genius and writing ability has some casting ability.

[829] That's really impressive.

[830] Yeah.

[831] I remember I even told him later on.

[832] Oh, my God, I was so intimidated.

[833] He's so smart.

[834] Yeah.

[835] He wrote The Beach, you know.

[836] I know.

[837] Do you know that, Monica?

[838] The Leo DiCaprio movie that they made from the novel?

[839] He wrote the novel.

[840] Oh, wow.

[841] I was sent that script, and I was shooting a film in Australia at the moment.

[842] And I just, it was one of those things.

[843] I was like, they asked me if I wanted to do a self -tape.

[844] I remember I asked some people in the crew, I was like, can you guys help me?

[845] And I was like, it's the scene, and it's a robot.

[846] and it doesn't see anything what she looks like.

[847] It was amazing because it was kind of like a clean sheet and how I interpreted Ava.

[848] Yeah.

[849] And I was like, oh my God, I love this part so bad.

[850] And it was like after a day of shoot and I had to do it because it had to get to LA and the time differences.

[851] So I think we arrived at my house or my apartment at like 10, 11 p .m. And these two super cool guys and the crew who helped me, we set up.

[852] And I remember I just like slicked my hair back and with like lots of lots of like hair.

[853] spray.

[854] And then I found like sun lotion.

[855] And I just like took a ton of sun lotion in my face so I cannot have this shine.

[856] Oh, wow.

[857] And then I put this big light on top of me. And I just remember when I did it, I was like, oh my God, I love this so much.

[858] So then when I got a call from Alex like a few days later, I was so excited.

[859] I've never read the script, but I do imagine it has to take a bit of vision from you because I think a lot of actors respond to dialogue.

[860] Like they read a script and they're like, fuck, I want to say those lines.

[861] But it was the lines too.

[862] It's one of the most economical scripts and brilliant, maybe one of the best ones I've ever read, to be honest.

[863] And it's like a page turner.

[864] It is so good.

[865] And everything that is said in the film is what the script was, which is not very common, actually.

[866] It's kind of exactly what it said it was going to be.

[867] Okay.

[868] Well, I could talk about that movie for five more hours, but alas, we are going to talk about Blue Bayou.

[869] I watched the trailer last night and then of course i learned a bunch about the director of it and i went down a rabbit hole with him with this project i saw gook a film that justin's first film uh that came out of sundance a few years ago and i was it really like immediately you know put him on my radar i was like who's this guy yeah he shot this film for like 200 grand and it's really beautiful and i realize that he's an actor and especially being Korean -American, he has issues or had to get parts.

[870] And then he just, you know, to know that he just decided, well, then I'm going to create my own opportunities and I'm going to write and I'm going to direct and I'm going to act.

[871] I'm going to do all of it.

[872] And then kind of showed everyone and just knocked it out of the park.

[873] Yeah.

[874] So when I found out he had this film we wanted to make, I said I would love to just read her.

[875] I would love to have chat with him.

[876] I would love to say hi and just say I'm a fan.

[877] I was really touched by the script that I read and especially the story that it's telling, which brought a subject to light that I wasn't aware of.

[878] And when we wrapped up our conversation, I think I just called my team and it kind of said, which is maybe not the way to do it.

[879] I was like, well, we just had a great chat.

[880] We decided we're going to do it or I'm going to do it.

[881] So now you guys figure it out or something.

[882] But it's a small film So in one way it's not that much to figure out It's like it's a very, very tiny budget Yeah, you're getting nothing and let's start Yeah, we shot just a few weeks after that I mean it went really fast then And we just kind of went to New Orleans And I was so excited to be there too I hadn't been there before I loved it as much as I thought Okay, so the premise really quick is Justin, he plays a Korean who was adopted at like maybe age two by American parents so it's an incredible accent he's like Cajun in the movie he's and he's Asian he's got all these tattoos all over his neck and you guys are an item and you have a daughter and they're together and they're living a life and then ice kind of gets into the picture and says like you're not a citizen and you've got to leave yeah there was this loophole in the 80s They were adopted into America.

[883] And then it was a lot of paperwork that had to be filed after the time that they had arrived.

[884] And a lot of parents didn't actually complete that.

[885] And in this one case, which I think was the inspiration for Justin writing this film, this article you read about this man who the parents just decided after like two years that we regret this choice.

[886] Oh, no. So where we don't want him anymore.

[887] Then he gets a foster in our home, and then he ended up being shuffled around, I don't know how many homes, until he was a certain age.

[888] And then he had an incident when he broke into a foster family that had been taken care of him.

[889] And also throughout the years, it was a lot of abuse.

[890] But he, like, stole something that was in his own possession.

[891] I think it was even, like, viable, and that almost sounds too dramatic.

[892] But they ended up, like, dropping the charges anyway.

[893] But that, in the end, was what ICE then used.

[894] Because nowadays, they changed that in the 90s.

[895] So if a child gets adopted into American, they arrive in America.

[896] They are then American citizens.

[897] Okay.

[898] But it was this chunk of time in years where all these thousands and thousands of kids came into America.

[899] And now the government could just decide to like, you know, you should go back to your home country now your accent is incredible and I wondered like you've obviously done the American accent a bunch but that one's so specific I hadn't really done American so you hadn't no I was really terrified that would be the scariest thing imaginable to me yeah how did you go about that I mean also one of the reasons why I wanted to do this part.

[900] I remember in the beginning of my career, arriving in America.

[901] Someone said, well, they clearly thought I was kind of from an upper class because they've seen me play like queens and stuff in films.

[902] Well, and we think anyone with a vaguely English accent is a genius from royalty.

[903] Exactly.

[904] And I was like, well, I'm kind of from a smaller town in Sweden and definitely working class.

[905] And it's just interesting, but I don't think anyone ever would see me or think of me even though I maybe wanted to cost me in that kind of role as in this film.

[906] And I really connected with that part on an emotional level and I was like, well, I think I understand this woman and where she comes from.

[907] Of course, it's another language and another accent, but I think I've seen this world.

[908] And it was actually amazing to say, I mean, the entire crew, obviously because of his heritage too, like the diversity in front of the camera and behind the camera, I think someone counted and it was like a crazy amount of countries.

[909] It was like a U .N. crew.

[910] Yeah.

[911] Have you been in Toronto by chance?

[912] Yeah.

[913] I actually consider myself being a bit Canadian because I have so much relatives there because my dad's family emigrated to Canada.

[914] Oh.

[915] So my dad from age 5 to like 1920 grew up in Canada, which kind of formed him.

[916] So he doesn't really remember growing up in Sweden at all.

[917] So his brothers and all my cousins live there.

[918] They don't speak Swedish though.

[919] Yeah, we were in Toronto and we looked around and I was like, I have never in my whole life stood somewhere that's more diverse than this.

[920] Like, it's almost as if it's exactly the percentage of people in the world are represented perfectly in that city.

[921] It's mind -blowing.

[922] That's what I love with London when I lived there too.

[923] Yeah.

[924] Did you like being in Louisiana?

[925] Oh my God, I loved it.

[926] You did?

[927] Yeah, I should find a new job taking me back to New Orleans.

[928] Yeah.

[929] Obviously, I already had an idea of the music scene or the food, but everything was better than I thought.

[930] It's amazing to see this very colorful and vibrant American culture that still feels rooted in America, but it feels like something you don't come across when you go to New York, you go to L .A. of San Francisco.

[931] And America is still a very young country, but New Orleans feel like it really has some history.

[932] Oh, totally.

[933] Yeah.

[934] It's also, I would describe it as French hillbillies, basically, which is my favorite stereotype to mix in.

[935] Because, like, Austin, Texas is liberal hillbillies, which is a nice mix.

[936] And then, yeah, the French influence with that Southern thing is creates this incredibly unique fingerprint.

[937] It's such a great place.

[938] It is.

[939] As the director, you have a global vision at all times.

[940] And these scenes are pieces in this global vision.

[941] But as an actor, these scenes are everything.

[942] You're supposed to focus on the moment as the actor and be truthful in the moment.

[943] But the director has to have a much more global understanding of the whole story so that it doesn't go awry.

[944] And I think there's a nice bond between actors in a scene, which is you and I want to make this the real thing.

[945] And then the director is this outsider that's sometimes like, yes, but you guys can't be sad here because in four scenes you're going to be really sad.

[946] And we need to be able to grow to that.

[947] So someone has to have their eye on that.

[948] And I think it can be a little bit weird when your scene partner who normally you guys would be fighting for the moment and the director would be fighting for the global vision, for that scene partner to also have the global vision and for at times them to be motivated out of the global vision.

[949] It's just an interesting dynamic.

[950] I think over the years, I've been much more what you said now is a global vision.

[951] Okay.

[952] More and more, I maybe it's also due to my dancing background.

[953] I like to know what lens you're on.

[954] I don't mind having the technical awareness of what it is you're shooting.

[955] And in one way, I see that as my work.

[956] As I were all the brilliant people that I'm working with right now, I know that I have to just be on my toes because the train is just going to leave as soon as they start and I need to keep up.

[957] That is fun.

[958] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[959] Although the slight bit of panic is good.

[960] Yeah.

[961] Yeah, I can't wait for you guys to see.

[962] It was a scene I shot yesterday.

[963] And it was the wildest thing I've ever seen.

[964] There was one actor.

[965] I had no clue.

[966] It's one of the craziest performances.

[967] Yeah, HBO came to a set visit for that one day, and I don't think they had ever seen anything.

[968] Oh, really?

[969] What is the show you're shooting?

[970] Yeah.

[971] It's a limited series with Olivier S .S. that we are producing it with A -24, and HBO picked it up.

[972] All the things that happened yesterday, I was like, at least it's HBO.

[973] All these crazy shit that happened yesterday is going to be allowed to action.

[974] and they people will cost.

[975] Oh, did you watch White Lotus?

[976] No. Oh, I need something new to watch.

[977] Oh, my gosh.

[978] It's on HBO, Max.

[979] Six episodes.

[980] Mike White wrote and directed a lot of them.

[981] It's phenomenal.

[982] And there's a scene, I won't say anything.

[983] I'm just going to say there's a scene in the sixth final episode where we all watched it Sunday.

[984] And I said immediately, well, I've never seen that in a movie, which is hard to, say at 46 years old, I've never seen that in a movie or TV show is a hard to see this.

[985] And I was so proud of everyone involved, even though it was so blue.

[986] I was like, God bless HBO.

[987] God bless Mike White.

[988] God bless the actors.

[989] It's incredible.

[990] God bless the prop department.

[991] Everyone came together.

[992] And I can't believe we just saw that.

[993] I'm reading about it right now.

[994] Yeah, cool.

[995] I'm going to watch it tonight.

[996] You're going to love it.

[997] It's so, so good.

[998] Last question.

[999] You haven't worked with a ton of American directors, have you?

[1000] Was Justin one of very few?

[1001] Yeah.

[1002] Yeah, so did that cultural layer we were talking about with the kind of effusive praise, did that at all come into play during the shooting of this?

[1003] I think it's the Korean blend there that maybe turns that down.

[1004] They're not very effusive.

[1005] No, it's much more Swedish then, I would say.

[1006] But then that's what I love with the Koreans.

[1007] They're like the naughty ones.

[1008] I mean, they're like fun.

[1009] They're like, you'd meet them, and you might, at the beginning, you're like, oh, it's very kind of strict.

[1010] I'm like, no, they're just quite outrageous.

[1011] It's crazy.

[1012] I love Korea, and I've had the best time every time I'm there.

[1013] This is, again, a big stereotype, and I acknowledge it's a stereotype.

[1014] But back when I was still a practicing alcoholic, among my favorite people to party with were Filipinos and Koreans.

[1015] They can fucking go hard, and I really respected that about them.

[1016] So maybe that's a bit of that naughtiness you're talking about.

[1017] Exactly.

[1018] Well, listen, I can't believe you did this after you shot all day.

[1019] And I have some more.

[1020] I'm going to do some more.

[1021] Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. I would be a brat.

[1022] I say, yeah.

[1023] I was like, yeah, it's been a long day, but I didn't think about that at all.

[1024] I've had such a good time.

[1025] I really, really enjoyed this.

[1026] Thank you so much.

[1027] Well, wonderful.

[1028] And then last thing, did you just have a baby?

[1029] Well, I was told there was this daily mail article that came out of my husband and I, in an airport with a baby.

[1030] I thought that was very fun.

[1031] It was just Alicia, Michael, and they're holding a baby.

[1032] So I guess I'd just leave it there.

[1033] It's like people then disputed.

[1034] Like, I don't know if it's a thing that my husband and I have about just grabbing a baby at any airport.

[1035] That's what we love about you guys.

[1036] We love that about you guys.

[1037] You'll grab anyone's baby.

[1038] Yeah.

[1039] Alicia, so nice to meet you.

[1040] and I hope we get to talk again when you're promoting your HBO show.

[1041] Let's do one of those silly comedies where everything is so amazing.

[1042] Oh, my God.

[1043] I'm a good hang on set.

[1044] I'm like a five on camera, but off camera, I'm like a nine.

[1045] Oh, great.

[1046] Those are the films I want to make perfect.

[1047] Let's go and do one of those.

[1048] Amazing.

[1049] Okay, perfect.

[1050] I didn't see it yet, but it looks really, truly great.

[1051] It looks so dreamy in there's such a specific tone, just visually.

[1052] Auntie, the cinematographer who's done his other two films.

[1053] He's going places.

[1054] No, he's so talented.

[1055] Cool.

[1056] Yeah.

[1057] I love when people do a ton with very little resources.

[1058] It's always so impressive.

[1059] I admire it.

[1060] So everyone see Blue Bayou.

[1061] So great to meet you.

[1062] And thanks for doing this again after a day of shooting.

[1063] I'm too big of a brat.

[1064] I would have never agreed to that.

[1065] And I'm impressed.

[1066] It's the ballet training.

[1067] You're used to suffering.

[1068] You're like, yes.

[1069] So after a long day, I'd like to suffer some more.

[1070] Let's do it.

[1071] Thank you guys.

[1072] That's so much fun.

[1073] Have an amazing day and say hi for me to you a Swedish friend.

[1074] I will.

[1075] And also, I just want to leave you with we love you.

[1076] We love you.

[1077] I love you guys.

[1078] It's been so amazing.

[1079] See you guys soon.

[1080] Bye.

[1081] Stay tuned for more armchair expert, if you dare.

[1082] And now my favorite part.

[1083] part of the show, the fact check with my soulmate Monica Padman.

[1084] Okay.

[1085] That was, should we be honest?

[1086] I just opened and closed the door at a stoplight so that you'd get the sense we were just stepping into the car.

[1087] Oh, man, you really.

[1088] I pulled the curtain back right as I was showing everyone the curtain.

[1089] Yeah.

[1090] I was going to say that it was Foley.

[1091] Uh -huh.

[1092] But actually, it's not fully.

[1093] It's the real thing.

[1094] That's true.

[1095] But Foley's often the real thing.

[1096] Just put in a microphone, sure, like if it's a door closing.

[1097] They might actually record the door closing.

[1098] And they still call that Foley?

[1099] Yeah, because it was recorded with great sound with a dedicated mic to it.

[1100] And then they lay that in over the movie so you can really hear that crisp door sound.

[1101] But they don't want to muddle up the dialogue.

[1102] So there was no crisp door sound on the day.

[1103] Oh.

[1104] I like thinking of Foley more as like rolling a bowling ball through eggshells with coins.

[1105] And it means something else.

[1106] Yes.

[1107] It means coitus.

[1108] Well, right.

[1109] Or Coitus interrupt us.

[1110] Yeah.

[1111] So first fact check in a car.

[1112] Yes.

[1113] We're 8 ,200 feet in Park City, Utah.

[1114] We're in Park City.

[1115] We're on our way to Salt Lake.

[1116] I was going to do a speaking engagement.

[1117] You were.

[1118] And it was canceled due to corona fears, which I guess you could argue should lead us to think we should cancel our show tonight.

[1119] But we're not going to do that, right?

[1120] No, but by the time this airs, it'll be too late.

[1121] But you do have to show your proof of vaccination or negative test.

[1122] But what if it turns out that this, we have our show tonight.

[1123] Yep.

[1124] Sunday, it's all over the paper.

[1125] Super spreader event.

[1126] Super spreader event.

[1127] Turns out it was a super spreader event.

[1128] And then people will be listening to this like, how naive they didn't even know.

[1129] I would feel really embarrassed.

[1130] We'll have to edit this out if it does turn out to be a super spreader event.

[1131] People are going to concerts.

[1132] Like, it's back.

[1133] There's such a specific culture in L .A., which is everyone has a mask.

[1134] No one here has a mask that we're seeing.

[1135] Yeah.

[1136] Yeah.

[1137] So the chances of it being a super spreader is a little higher.

[1138] Or I think lower because how the hell they're going to figure out it was our event?

[1139] Everyone's like, you know, I was just, I just left 7 -Eleven.

[1140] It was pretty, it was popping in there.

[1141] You mean the chances of us getting caught or lower, but the chances of it being a super spreader event are actually higher.

[1142] Huh.

[1143] That's my point.

[1144] If it's, you know what I'm saying?

[1145] Yeah.

[1146] Oh, you saw Dommies.

[1147] Yep.

[1148] Right next to Adele Taco.

[1149] Okay, we're going to get on the I -80 going west.

[1150] I don't know.

[1151] People might be mad at us for driving and doing this.

[1152] Why?

[1153] Is it reckless?

[1154] When you and I are in the car, this is exactly what we do.

[1155] There's nothing's different.

[1156] I have a driving mic stand that's been engineered specifically for podcasters who are always behind the wheel.

[1157] Okay, great.

[1158] There's a great company called Durafish who makes them out of Sweden.

[1159] They saw a niche market for podcast hosts who operate from their vehicle.

[1160] Oh, my God.

[1161] Yeah, they have 11 customers nationwide.

[1162] And you're one of them.

[1163] Well, we're two of them.

[1164] Oh, I'm also happy.

[1165] Yes, yes, yes.

[1166] Okay, so what's fun is we're in Park City, and it's not a snowy time.

[1167] No, it's a summertime, end of summer.

[1168] It's actually Yom Kippur.

[1169] It's Yom Kippur today.

[1170] That's correct.

[1171] Do you say happy Yom Kippur?

[1172] No, I'm not sure, and I don't.

[1173] I know, it's like saying Happy Memorial Day.

[1174] It's tricky.

[1175] I think they repent.

[1176] Oh, they do, yes.

[1177] Well, I just had a correspondence with Dr. Koppelowitz.

[1178] He told me he was repenting for his sins today.

[1179] Yeah.

[1180] And you said it right in the email.

[1181] I don't think you'd say happy.

[1182] That's true.

[1183] If you're a masochist maybe and you like relishing in all your failures.

[1184] Jeremy Ranch, one half mile.

[1185] Oh, my God.

[1186] You're going to be like your dad.

[1187] Jay Bird.

[1188] Oh, that's Joy Bird.

[1189] There's a Joybird.

[1190] Oh, cool.

[1191] Yeah, when my dad's in the car, he reads every single thing he sees.

[1192] It's a tick.

[1193] He doesn't know he's doing it.

[1194] And I relate to it a ton.

[1195] Yeah, you say you do that, but in your head.

[1196] I do it in my head, and I want to do it out loud, but I police myself.

[1197] Can I just make an observation?

[1198] So on our way up to Park City, we averaged about 89 miles an hour or something.

[1199] Uh -huh.

[1200] But now that we're in this casual conversation, I'm going to have it at 69.

[1201] So maybe this is like a weird way to solve my too aggressive driving.

[1202] Okay, I like that.

[1203] Thank God for dual fish.

[1204] Oh, my God, you remember the name.

[1205] I'm not sure if I got it right.

[1206] I think you did.

[1207] Yeah, so maybe that's what I need to do all the time.

[1208] Always be recording, ABR.

[1209] This is kind of a huge ding, ding, ding.

[1210] Okay.

[1211] Because this is for Alicia Vakander.

[1212] Right.

[1213] She's Swedish.

[1214] Oh, my goodness.

[1215] And I just accidentally said that.

[1216] What did you say?

[1217] Didn't I say that Duo Fish was a Swedish company?

[1218] Oh, I think you did.

[1219] I think I did.

[1220] Oh, my goodness.

[1221] Okay, that's a ding ding.

[1222] And it looked like Switzerland.

[1223] Is that what you're going to say?

[1224] Even though Sweden doesn't look like Switzerland.

[1225] I think Sweden is like Switzerland, which has the Swiss Alps, which has skiing, which Park City has.

[1226] Yes, but Sweden doesn't have Alps, unfortunately.

[1227] They have fjords.

[1228] How close are they to Switzerland?

[1229] Boy, I just.

[1230] Stones throw?

[1231] Like, this is a bold, just guess from the map.

[1232] Like, imagining the map, Switzerland, Sweden, I'm going to go 800 miles or 1 ,200 kilometers.

[1233] Or flying, how long would it take?

[1234] Oh, well, if it was 800 miles, then your flight would be about an hour and 40 minutes.

[1235] So it's not close by.

[1236] No, no, no, no. I can name the countries in between those countries, I think.

[1237] Really?

[1238] Yeah, I think starting at Sweden and going south, you'd hit Denmark.

[1239] Then you would hit Holland.

[1240] Then you would hit either Germany or France, depending on how east or west you were.

[1241] and then you would hit potentially Austria or Switzerland next.

[1242] Germany does border Switzerland and Austria.

[1243] Oh, my God.

[1244] Wow.

[1245] They're not even remotely close.

[1246] No, no, no, no. Okay, I've made a big blunder.

[1247] They're in Scandinavia right there next to Finland and Norway.

[1248] All right, let me revamp my ding, ding, ding.

[1249] Sweden starts with an S. Yes, yes.

[1250] And Switzerland starts with that.

[1251] But even crazy, I think even more to the point, Sweden and Swiss is very close.

[1252] Right.

[1253] That's why I got confused.

[1254] Yeah.

[1255] Yeah, it's very common.

[1256] I'm kind of glad I'm messing this up about countries of white people.

[1257] Yeah, because you feel less bad.

[1258] Well, I just feel like people do this with Asian countries.

[1259] Or Africa.

[1260] People think Africa is a country.

[1261] Right, exactly.

[1262] But a lot of people are like, oh, they're Chinese or they're.

[1263] And it's like, no, they're not.

[1264] Right.

[1265] It's common, you know.

[1266] This is a common problem.

[1267] Even you're saying that made me nervous.

[1268] Well, it happens.

[1269] I know.

[1270] Yes.

[1271] So I'm kind of glad that it happens also with these white countries.

[1272] White countries.

[1273] I think it's fair to say that people just have a pretty poor understanding of geography in general.

[1274] I do.

[1275] They don't know shit about Eastern Europe.

[1276] Yeah.

[1277] They don't know shit about the countries in the Middle East.

[1278] Lamb's Canyon, one half mile.

[1279] Ooh.

[1280] The meek shale inherit the earth.

[1281] The lambs got this whole canyon.

[1282] It's named after them.

[1283] It is really beautiful.

[1284] Hmm.

[1285] I wish you guys could see it.

[1286] I wish you were here.

[1287] Didn't something just happen in the elevator I wanted?

[1288] Oh, we just had a, we had it, we just had a very scary situation.

[1289] We accidentally went exiting the hotel, we got onto a service elevator, which in retrospect was pretty obvious.

[1290] You think?

[1291] Well, in that there was four carts, just parked in the elevator.

[1292] Right when we got in, I made the joke, oh, cool storage closet.

[1293] But we still, you know, this is our arrogance.

[1294] We thought, ugh.

[1295] Like, someone left all these here.

[1296] This is embarrassing for the hotel.

[1297] Yeah, I was embarrassed on behalf of the hotel.

[1298] But it was us, us, we made a mistake.

[1299] Although they really, even though that's a, that what turned out to be a utility elevator, they shouldn't be using it as storage.

[1300] That's not where the carts should be regardless.

[1301] Well.

[1302] Anyways, that's not even the point.

[1303] The point is we get in this, you know, rough and tumble elevator.

[1304] The front of it looked like the regular elevator.

[1305] That was confusing.

[1306] Yeah, and then the inside was stainless steel and scuff marks and broken.

[1307] light screens and then we're supposed to go down one floor we go down one floor open it up there's like 300 tomatoes in front of us soon as the door opens and it smells like moist kitchen when I used to work at big boys as a team yeah it smelled damp like a lot of deep frying that had been happening and then we hit the button again to return to the floor we started on and that opened in a different kitchen and then we really thought we were fucking in another time space continuum yeah yeah yes it got scary that would have been so crazy if we literally got what got transported like Harry Potter and I kept hitting the buttons like you were scared yeah yeah you were getting panicky and then you started clicking everything and then we had to wait once we actually figured out what was happening and what floor we needed to go to I had already hitting so many buttons that we had to stop at every kitchen in between.

[1308] So many kitchens there.

[1309] That's what the other Harry Potter thing is each floor was identical.

[1310] I swear the same box of tomatoes was on one and B. Oh my God.

[1311] I was touch and go.

[1312] For a second, I was like, should we just get off in one of these kitchens?

[1313] Because I was nervous.

[1314] I was nervous that the elevator was going to break because it was not, it didn't seem sturdy and steady.

[1315] No. And in fact, at one point it shut the doors.

[1316] And I was like, I don't think it moved.

[1317] and the doors open again.

[1318] A bird just...

[1319] You're warning me about...

[1320] What?

[1321] Bird just pooped here.

[1322] Oh, my goodness, right on the windshield.

[1323] Just now.

[1324] Just now.

[1325] Real time.

[1326] Dead insect.

[1327] That looks like a splatter of an insect.

[1328] Oh, man. I thought you were pointing out this wide load that's above, right in front of us in the number three lane.

[1329] No. We do have a wide load.

[1330] Are you trying to tell me this is a roadkill situation?

[1331] Yeah, I think that's a casualty on the windshield.

[1332] Oh, God.

[1333] Yeah.

[1334] Okay.

[1335] Do you want to give your Frommers guide review of downtown Park City?

[1336] Because you really liked it.

[1337] Oh.

[1338] I loved it.

[1339] It was so adorable.

[1340] We had a very cute lunch out in a little cute outdoor patio with lights.

[1341] It was adorable.

[1342] The food was mediocre.

[1343] It was fine.

[1344] It was just fine.

[1345] Yeah.

[1346] We decided it didn't matter because the ambiance was so nice.

[1347] That's right.

[1348] It was outside in the mountains.

[1349] It smelled good.

[1350] Yeah.

[1351] And then you did some shopping.

[1352] I did.

[1353] I got a very cute jacket and a lipstick.

[1354] And I went into some other stores.

[1355] They have lots of cute stores and restaurants.

[1356] but it's manageable.

[1357] It's one long street.

[1358] The only thing that'll get you is the street is at a pretty decent angle.

[1359] And again, you're at 8 ,200 feet.

[1360] Yeah, we were out of breath.

[1361] Yeah, we were struggling.

[1362] And it was hot out.

[1363] We think we're going to get a pop of energy when we get back down to 5 ,200 feet in Salt Lake.

[1364] We hope.

[1365] It was really nice.

[1366] Should I tell everyone, listen, that's as open as my nose gets at elevation.

[1367] I have a kind of a, I guess I would call it an allergic reaction elevation where my nose gets clogged immediately and it gets a little bloody.

[1368] I had blood this morning.

[1369] Oh, you did?

[1370] Yeah, I noticed it.

[1371] I feel less fragile.

[1372] Yeah.

[1373] But I have blood a lot in my nose.

[1374] You do?

[1375] Uh -huh.

[1376] Once a week?

[1377] I used to have it every day.

[1378] Oh, that's healthy.

[1379] I haven't checked.

[1380] I mean, now I don't even think about it because it's just like, yeah, it's part of my life.

[1381] I have diarrhea.

[1382] every day.

[1383] Be a man. Do it, do it with bloody nose.

[1384] Okay.

[1385] I have a bloody nose every day.

[1386] Be a man. Yeah.

[1387] Yeah.

[1388] That's good.

[1389] That's good.

[1390] Maybe one other update.

[1391] No. What?

[1392] Because I don't know if I can do it right now.

[1393] I've been workshopping my Bill Clinton this week.

[1394] Oh.

[1395] And it actually met your stringent guidelines.

[1396] It actually did.

[1397] It met your approval.

[1398] I was surprised at how good it was.

[1399] I was talking to Monica.

[1400] about coming off the campaign trail.

[1401] It's hard out there.

[1402] I see, are you from the South too?

[1403] You know, I'm from Arkansas.

[1404] How you doing?

[1405] What's your name?

[1406] Monica.

[1407] Are you a student?

[1408] No, I'm 34.

[1409] You are?

[1410] Yeah.

[1411] Well, you don't look a day over 14.

[1412] Oh, thank you?

[1413] I know a lot of 14 -year -olds.

[1414] Okay, no, well, because I do a lot of you found.

[1415] So today it was a 6, but it got to, To an eight yesterday.

[1416] It did.

[1417] It did.

[1418] Yeah.

[1419] This was still good, but you're right.

[1420] Last night was a little better.

[1421] Yeah.

[1422] Because we were watching the impeachment show.

[1423] Played by Clive Owen.

[1424] Oh, man. That's really kind of inspired casting.

[1425] It really is.

[1426] Ryan Murphy does such a good job with casting people who can really transform.

[1427] Oh, Paulson.

[1428] Sarah Paulson is unreal.

[1429] She is.

[1430] If her name's not in the credits, there's no fucking way anyone knows that's her.

[1431] Yeah.

[1432] No way.

[1433] You'd never get it.

[1434] It's not even when I'm, like, looking at her.

[1435] I'm not even thinking, like, who does she look like?

[1436] Right.

[1437] It's not even triggering anything.

[1438] She looks like Linda Tripp.

[1439] Yeah.

[1440] Oh, my God.

[1441] It's crazy.

[1442] The only giveaway a little bit, if I close my eyes, her voice to me is very specific.

[1443] Yeah, you've been doing a lot of, like.

[1444] All I closing?

[1445] Yeah, just shutting down different senses to see if you can pick her up.

[1446] Plugging your nose and watching.

[1447] Yeah, sure.

[1448] Putting mittens on and watching.

[1449] Maybe that's what's.

[1450] bloody nose is all about.

[1451] It's plugging your nose too often.

[1452] Yeah.

[1453] See if you can.

[1454] Here's Sarah Paul's.

[1455] See her better when you can't smell.

[1456] Anywho, this was a fun couple days and we're on our way to our live show Armchair and Dangerous.

[1457] Very excited.

[1458] Me too.

[1459] Oh, it's been like almost two years.

[1460] I know.

[1461] Really?

[1462] I mean.

[1463] Oh, so naive.

[1464] They had no idea of the Super Spreader event they were hosting.

[1465] Oh, my God.

[1466] Wait, I'm nervous now.

[1467] I'm seeing, like, huge concerts.

[1468] People are going to huge concerts.

[1469] Yeah.

[1470] And I'm not reading any outbreak of super spreader events.

[1471] Yeah, but most of those are outdoor.

[1472] No, I'm seeing a lot of...

[1473] Oh, indoor?

[1474] A couple hundred thousand people in, like, a living room.

[1475] Oh, that seems crazy.

[1476] Well, I feel good about the protocol, and we'll see.

[1477] Yeah, we'll find out.

[1478] Yeah.

[1479] They were so optimistic and naive.

[1480] Should I go through some facts?

[1481] Yeah, let's hear some of them.

[1482] Did you two?

[1483] No. Oh, there's not a little bit of a fart.

[1484] Really?

[1485] Yeah.

[1486] I don't mind at all.

[1487] It's not me. Okay, great.

[1488] And it's not me. Oh, my God.

[1489] There's a monster in the backseat that popped up.

[1490] Oh, my God.

[1491] That's actually a...

[1492] You never think about that for the person, for the assailant hiding in the backseat to kidnap you?

[1493] You never think about that?

[1494] No, no. I never thought about what if he farts.

[1495] Oh.

[1496] You follow me?

[1497] I think he has good control over his airways, or else he wouldn't be a villain.

[1498] You don't pick when you get gas.

[1499] You can't, like, train your way out of having gas.

[1500] I guess you don't eat that day, maybe.

[1501] They know that we would just blame it on the road, like, what I'm about to do, which is, like, yeah, I guess it just smells out there.

[1502] Right.

[1503] But if you were driving by yourself in the car, you smelled a really distinct fart, that would fuck you up.

[1504] You would know to look in your back seat.

[1505] After seeing that episode of Veronica Mars, where I had no special.

[1506] Spoilers, I guess, but like someone, big, big spoiler season finale, a very scary person is in the back seat of her car at night.

[1507] And I've never forgotten that.

[1508] And I'm always terrified.

[1509] And I always check.

[1510] Okay.

[1511] Can I just play out the scenario, though, a little bit?

[1512] Yeah.

[1513] About the fart?

[1514] Yeah.

[1515] Okay.

[1516] I'm driving in my car.

[1517] Oh, God.

[1518] Did I fart?

[1519] No, I didn't fart.

[1520] Who fucking farted?

[1521] And I turn around and look, I go, ah!

[1522] Oh, my God.

[1523] And there's a guy back there.

[1524] And then he goes.

[1525] was, oh, my God, I'm so sorry.

[1526] And then I would go, for farting or for being in my back seat.

[1527] Okay.

[1528] And he'd go, fuck, I guess both.

[1529] Oh, oh, this is nice.

[1530] This kind of made him nice.

[1531] Yeah, well, he felt vulnerable because there's no one else to blame it on in the car.

[1532] It's clearly him.

[1533] Then, why are you going to ask him what he ate?

[1534] What'd you eat?

[1535] Fuck, I don't know.

[1536] You ever do that?

[1537] You forget what you ate for lunch?

[1538] I guess it was unmemorable.

[1539] That's what I can tell you about my lunch.

[1540] It was completely unmemorable.

[1541] And I'd be like, oh, you should start using Yelp.

[1542] Or maybe it was anxiety about the kidnapping he was about to do.

[1543] Could be, yeah, a little IBS.

[1544] Yeah.

[1545] No, then when I was like, do I need to stop?

[1546] Do you need to find a bathroom?

[1547] Oh.

[1548] I extended it in olive room.

[1549] That's really nice.

[1550] And then he quit being an assassin.

[1551] This is all a worthwhile trip down hypothetical lane.

[1552] Do you find your facts?

[1553] No, because I got distracted because an update.

[1554] I'm in touch now with.

[1555] Monceau.

[1556] Oh my gosh, yes, armed cherries.

[1557] Thank you so much for your hard work and your sleuthing because we have found Anne Mansour.

[1558] Yes, last episode we talked about how the arm cherries came through, but they really, really came through because I am now, I'm in an email correspondence with her.

[1559] And I'm so excited to be connected with someone so awesome.

[1560] Yeah, that really worked out.

[1561] And the painting.

[1562] We need an explanation of how the painting's back.

[1563] I know how it's back.

[1564] So the painting is back at Nikki Kehoe.

[1565] And I have put it on hold.

[1566] I'm buying it.

[1567] I'm not in town, obviously, but I've told them that I'm buying it.

[1568] So this is what happened.

[1569] I'm pretty sure.

[1570] A designer, which I did know, a designer came and bought all these, an interior designer.

[1571] Right.

[1572] And then just probably decorated someone's house.

[1573] Yes, did an install.

[1574] Great.

[1575] And then I think people go through and they go, oh, I like that.

[1576] keep that ditch that or i only have so much money i'm only going to pick this how much is that painting now this has led me down a row because i am buying it i'm so excited although anne in her email said she's working on other rose abstracts once with specifically me and mine oh my gosh now you're basically commissioning one i know but that's fine i'm going to buy the original i'm going to take a partner painting that's made for me yes okay and during this process, I found another painting I like from a different artist, also at Nikki Kehoe.

[1577] This one is more expensive.

[1578] Yeah, and I'm buying that too.

[1579] So now I'm an art...

[1580] Can I tell you some?

[1581] Can I...

[1582] Connoisseur, Monsor.

[1583] You're a connoisseur of Monsour, for sure.

[1584] Can I offer one tiny, like, just check in with yourself?

[1585] Okay.

[1586] I don't want you to turn your previous compulsion towards buying Pangaya to art. Like, you're making good money, but you can't just start buying art every month.

[1587] It's too expensive.

[1588] So, like, have fun.

[1589] Dip your toe in the water.

[1590] Can I buy this round?

[1591] Three.

[1592] You just basically said, you're buying three.

[1593] You're buying the one you always wanted, the companion piece, and then a new one.

[1594] Here, I have a different fear.

[1595] Oh.

[1596] If you're spending that much money on art, we should talk to Ethan and see, like, what's a good investment?

[1597] Certainly, that you like ones that are also good investments.

[1598] I don't know if I do.

[1599] I don't know.

[1600] Well, you don't know, because you've not gone in love.

[1601] You'd want a Chagall or you'd want a Mondrian.

[1602] A Mondrian?

[1603] No. You don't even know what that is.

[1604] I do.

[1605] And I don't want a fine artist art piece.

[1606] No, what you want is the next Bosquia.

[1607] You want to find someone that you...

[1608] Well, that seems crazy that you walked into a one store and they had two different...

[1609] Are you out of your mind?

[1610] I'm in the simulation.

[1611] Okay.

[1612] Okay.

[1613] I like cars and there's some I certainly want, but I at least run it through the thing of like, oh, this is going to depreciate.

[1614] terribly.

[1615] But by this other one's either going to stay neutral or this one might go up.

[1616] There's so many cars out there.

[1617] I can find one that checks both boxes.

[1618] I'm only imploring you to check both boxes.

[1619] I don't have that.

[1620] I don't have that.

[1621] In you, the hunt?

[1622] I really don't have a future.

[1623] I'm not like what it's going to happen.

[1624] Like, even with the house.

[1625] Yeah.

[1626] You don't think about that.

[1627] It'll be worth more.

[1628] No. I mean, I hope it is because I'm putting a lot of money in, but I don't think about that.

[1629] What I think is like, I'm going to be in that house for the rest of my life.

[1630] I'm going to stare at that painting for the rest of my life.

[1631] You know, things like, I'm not trying to resell stuff.

[1632] That sounds like a healthy way to, you know.

[1633] I don't know if it is or not, but I like, do you smell it again?

[1634] A little bit.

[1635] Maybe it's in your nose.

[1636] Oh, God, I hope not.

[1637] Maybe a FARC got trapped.

[1638] Oh, Jesus.

[1639] Oh, my gosh, we're about to pass University of Utah.

[1640] Oh, you, not UT, though.

[1641] When I say UT, that's University of Texas.

[1642] Or, no, Tennessee.

[1643] No, I think Texas.

[1644] Austin Texas.

[1645] I think Tennessee.

[1646] Oh, wow.

[1647] Anyway, I just, I appreciate everyone, and I'm into art now.

[1648] Just to wrap this up.

[1649] Just to let everyone to know.

[1650] Just to summarize, I'm an art collector, and I don't care if they're worth more or less because I have convictions.

[1651] Okay, let's get into facts.

[1652] Alicia.

[1653] Okay.

[1654] I bet Alicia has some good art. I don't think so.

[1655] Well, I do, but I think it's like a friend painted it.

[1656] She got it at, like, a farmer's market in Stockholm.

[1657] Alicia?

[1658] No. Yeah, she seems very bohemian to me. Really?

[1659] Yeah.

[1660] I think of her very Swedish, very, like, minimalistic, very good taste.

[1661] Yeah, like Bauhaus.

[1662] No. Scandinavian design.

[1663] Oh.

[1664] Minimalist.

[1665] That's not, that's not Boho.

[1666] I'm talking Bauhaus in Berlin, B -A -U.

[1667] First you said bo -ho.

[1668] No, I said Bauhaus.

[1669] No, first, when you said she gets it at farmers markets and stuff.

[1670] Oh, I said she was very bohemian.

[1671] Yeah, that's what that means.

[1672] Boho?

[1673] I think.

[1674] Oh, I've never heard that.

[1675] Thanks for teaching that to me. I'm pretty sure.

[1676] That's cool.

[1677] Do you think Soho is Boho?

[1678] No, Soho is south of Houston.

[1679] I know, but do you think the area is Boho?

[1680] Bohemian.

[1681] Yes.

[1682] Okay, so Soho is Boho.

[1683] Okay, Alicia.

[1684] The screenwriter who wrote Ex Machina, he wrote the novel The Beach, and did he write other novels?

[1685] Yes.

[1686] Oh.

[1687] I don't know what happened here.

[1688] I don't see my answers, but I do remember looking it up, and he has lots of books.

[1689] Okay, final box office of X Machina.

[1690] Curious because it was pulled from theaters in Europe because it was underperforming.

[1691] Right.

[1692] So domestic was $25 million.

[1693] Great.

[1694] Chips numbers.

[1695] And that's 69 % of it's worldwide.

[1696] Oh.

[1697] International was $11 million.

[1698] Okay, so 36 mil.

[1699] Yeah, worldwide, $36 million.

[1700] Isn't that funny?

[1701] Because I think that's around what Chips made, and I just think of Chips as such a disaster.

[1702] I think of X Machina as this, like, triumph.

[1703] Yeah.

[1704] Well, you should start thinking of Chips as a triumph.

[1705] Okay.

[1706] Did you ever do ballet?

[1707] I did.

[1708] Yeah.

[1709] Tell us.

[1710] I've told it on here a few times, which is my mother was advised because it was very evident I was going to be too tall.

[1711] And someone told her, like, you know, he's, I think maybe a doctor said, you know, he's going to be huge.

[1712] Ballet is a great way for a guy to become really coordinated.

[1713] and managed this big lanky body of his.

[1714] My aunt said, okay, so she put me in ballet.

[1715] How old are you?

[1716] Seven, six.

[1717] This is so mixed messages because you said you could never, ever, ever have done theater in high school.

[1718] Absolutely not.

[1719] But then you did ballet?

[1720] But when you're six and seven, that's not a thing.

[1721] We haven't gotten into, like, clicks and jocks.

[1722] Okay.

[1723] So I did it.

[1724] I have no memory of whether I enjoyed it or not at all.

[1725] So I don't know that this is a heartbreaking story, but regardless, I had a recital.

[1726] My mom invited my father.

[1727] My father watched it, and he said, that's that's that's the end of that.

[1728] So, yeah.

[1729] Michigan rears its ugly head there.

[1730] Oh, my God.

[1731] I bet you were really good at it and he was worried that you were too good.

[1732] I can't imagine I was all that good at it.

[1733] I was a big clumsy.

[1734] Well, you're a good dancer?

[1735] I told you, it looked like people felt bad for me. Like when we would have, in kindergarten, we had this little play and I was a pig.

[1736] I was in the back.

[1737] I had a, you know.

[1738] That was your first role?

[1739] Yeah, construction paper had pig.

[1740] Yeah.

[1741] And I was in the back.

[1742] Like, I was not a lead of this thing.

[1743] I was supposed to sing in the chorus.

[1744] And I sang so loud.

[1745] My mom says, like, all the parents were whispering and they were embarrassed for me. And they thought, like, oh, my God, that guy's supposed to be in third grade.

[1746] Like, I looked like I was supposed to be.

[1747] in third grade.

[1748] I looked like a big, big, dumb, like just couldn't get out of kindergarten.

[1749] It was in the back yelling.

[1750] It was something about making the, like, you know, stirring the pot and making the stew and something about straw.

[1751] It was.

[1752] Oh, was it three little pigs?

[1753] It was not three little pigs.

[1754] It was just some kind of musical set at a farm.

[1755] My first role ever was in Taming of the Shrew in fifth grade.

[1756] Oh, really?

[1757] Yeah.

[1758] Yeah, they did it.

[1759] We did three Shakespearean plays.

[1760] Well, really Romeo and Juliet, then they added a couple scenes from Taming of the Shrew and a couple scenes from Hamlet.

[1761] Okay.

[1762] And I auditioned.

[1763] And I got a part.

[1764] Everyone got a part.

[1765] Great.

[1766] And my part was the Habedasher.

[1767] Oh, I love that word.

[1768] And I said, here is the hat your worship ordered.

[1769] Ah.

[1770] That was my line.

[1771] I don't think so.

[1772] Oh, my God.

[1773] They let a baby and this baby must be so smart.

[1774] Well, then why would they cast me as the old?

[1775] Hat lady.

[1776] Because it's so funny to see babies play old people.

[1777] That was a comedy.

[1778] It was like, oh, wow.

[1779] I didn't know.

[1780] Comedy casting.

[1781] I didn't know that at the time.

[1782] I would have really leaned in to see.

[1783] Yeah.

[1784] Wham!

[1785] Where's my bridle?

[1786] I mean, so cute if the baby forgot.

[1787] It was like, I need a nap.

[1788] While I'm sewing.

[1789] What if I just took it?

[1790] What if I just in the middle?

[1791] I just started improvising this whole baby act.

[1792] And then got drowsy and took a little baby nap for five minutes.

[1793] And then I showed back up in Romeo and Juliet as a callback.

[1794] He's a runner, the sleepy baby.

[1795] Anyway, I obviously auditioned for Juliet.

[1796] Okay.

[1797] Obviously didn't get it.

[1798] This guy got Juliet.

[1799] Oh, actually, yeah.

[1800] That's a ding, ding, ding.

[1801] He has a...

[1802] Literally two people just walk by.

[1803] One of them's wearing a Shakespearean tunic.

[1804] Yeah.

[1805] Okay, well, this was fun.

[1806] We're at our hotel now.

[1807] Okay.

[1808] I love you.

[1809] And we're going to do a live show.

[1810] Going to do a live show.

[1811] Thanks for listening to this road trip, guys.

[1812] Yes.

[1813] Bye.

[1814] Follow Armchair Expert on the Wondry app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[1815] You can listen to every episode of Armchair Expert early and ad free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts.

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