Transcript of Mom's Car: Jonathan Tucker

Welcome to "Mom's Car." I'm Dax Shepard.

I am Aaron Beekman.

And today we have on Jonathan Tucker. And the beautiful irony of this is, the last time we interviewed Jonathan Tucker, he was also in a car. He was in a, uh, '87 Cadillac Coupe de Ville. What a stud. Who gives an interview in a car like that? You know him from "Westworld," "City on a Hill," our favorite "Kingdom," "The Virgin Suicides," "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," and he is in the new runaway hit with Jon Hamm called "American Hostage"—it's tasty. Please enjoy, Jonathan Tucker.

Okay, I don't know which one. Sunset and what?

Sunset and fuck you.

Sunset and Gower.

Oh, and Gower. Oh, I know that. And the glitter gulch, that dump of, uh— I have a real animosity against that shopping center.

Me too.

Do you?

I do too.

I think a lot of people who live in Hollywood do. Tell me yours.

I just genuinely don't like that spot. The parking's weird. I just don't like the spot. It's like, it's got to be high. The traffic is high. People go fast. And the parking is shitty.

Yeah.

So it just feels like a bad place to be ambulatory.

Well, and also the facade of the place is like.

Yeah, it's so flaky and falling apart.

It's like particleboard.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm like, guys, this is a prime piece of real estate.

Right.

And we still have particleboard up from 1971 when you built this fucking jawapee.

Do you go to Family and Friends across from Jumbo's?

No.

You really try to avoid Family and Friends?

That's the bakery that we just passed.

Oh. Oh, no, but I've had, um, All Time Serves their bread.

Yeah.

Yeah.

They do great work there. You should go there sometimes.

It's really good work.

Are we recording this or?

Yeah.

We are recording.

Wow.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I'm on the record.

I'm on the record.

Yeah.

Maybe I should slow down and not let people see the hyper-caffeinated.

No, I think that's.

Early morning version of me.

I think that's definitely part of your chump. Really quick, because this is going to be the most ADHD conversation, and that's what it's going to be, right?

Okay.

We'll just embrace that.

Fair enough.

But don't you love that now this is, it'll be the second time I've interviewed you. Both times you were in a vehicle.

That's true.

Yeah? Do you recall that? Because you're on your chair.

Yeah, because I was in COVID.

And you were in your Coupe de Ville.

Yeah, and I didn't even appreciate the loss of not having the chance to go to your studio.

Okay. Well, we'll also do that.

Yeah, but I'm just saying, I was like, I was like, yeah, this is how people must do it. They go to somewhere private, and then they.

They get in their '86 Coupe de Ville. What year is that Coupe de Ville?

I don't know that car. It was an '87 or '80. '87 or '89.

Okay. Wait, she's not with us anymore?

No, I didn't tell you what I did with it?

No.

All right, so I bought the car because I was shooting in Vancouver. And it just was like one, I found this incredible car. It was so fucking beautiful.

Red interior, as I recall?

Red interior and a white, kind of off-white exterior. It's just so beautiful. And the transpo team took it for like two weeks and just made it like showroom.

Like for the shine, okay.

Showroom quality. The interior was perfect. And, uh, so I drove it.

Really quick, look back at Tucker. He looks like he's—when they interview someone who does not want their identity known.

I'm like, I'm like some bald nose in the biggest.

I'm like he bulged.

The biggest, yeah, biggest sunglasses available.

Uh.

I'm on the proud. I've always—I feel like I'm going to, like, pull a weapon out and, like, start firing off this side with my two getaway drivers. I got a wheelman on the left. And I got Michigan's finest on the right, ready to go.

Two of my Michigan's finest flash wars.

Um.

Okay, so transpo put a real shine on you.

Yes, they really did. So I drove the car for like six months during COVID, and it was just awesome.

Yeah.

And then at the end, I'm like, so what am I going to do? Am I going to go on Craigslist and, like, try to resell this thing?

Right.

And, like, have to show it a bunch and answer questions? And so I, at the end, I'm like, so what am I going to do? Am I going to try to sell this thing? No. I'm not going to bring it back to LA because I don't want to deal with all the customs and imports and fees and all the mess that that was. You know, I've got two two-year-old twins in the middle of COVID.

Right.

So I went to buy the biggest bow I could possibly find, like one of the bows that they show on Christmas.

And I watched this commercial or a Mercedes Christmas commercial.

And I went to the back to the Canadian DMV and I got all the title or whatever. And I, uh, put everybody's name in the hat on the crew. And I stood up at the end of the show with a bottle of champagne and I pulled a name out and I gave a car away.

That's great, because obviously the crew is local. They're Canadian.

Right.

So they don't got to export the car either.

I have never in my life ever felt so great.

Magnanimous.

I mean, giving a car away.

Yes.

And the car didn't cost a few thousand dollars.

Sure, sure.

Canadian.

Do you recall what department won?

Yeah, of course. It was her birthday. She turned 29. It was, and it was the hair and makeup girl.

Where's the service? Oh, it's right there.

All right, we go.

And look at what a fucking dump this is.

Go, go, go, go, go, go, go.

Aaron, look what a clunker this is.

Oh my God.

Isn't it a trapdoor?

I thought we were in an old Western town.

Yeah, look at the main sign, that shitty fucking wood.

But that, that's the power of Uber though. It can get us.

The Gentry strip mall.

Stop that. We're all over. Quick.

You missed the Uber.

We almost got T-boned.

Yeah, I heard the ruckus going on when I got out.

You stop and play the quick, uh, round of five cards.

Yeah, yeah, I got challenged to a duel.

So you know, I'm very familiar with this on-demand process that, in which we are currently engaging.

You've drove.

In service of other people.

How so?

I am currently a WAG and Rover walker.

What's that? What's a WAG and a Rover?

So here's, you don't know the WAG app or Rover app?

No.

All right, so if I was to ask somebody, they'd say, oh, it's like Uber for dog walking.

Oh, okay.

You open up your app, you click.

And you want your dog walked.

Correct.

Okay.

Somebody's going to show up in your house who's vetted, who's going to walk your dog for half an hour or an hour or whatever. And it's a minimal, you know, it's a small fee.

Nominal.

Correct.

Okay.

Well, it depends how much money you make, but yeah, nominal fee.

Sure. Relative.

Yeah, relative. Some people are scratching, you know, dimes together.

Yeah.

So, um, so I am doing this show in New York, and it's a real toxic environment. I'd never really been a part of a toxic environment before.

Okay, okay.

And I was, my wife was pregnant. She's in LA. I'm in New York. Real bad work situation. I'm being gaslit, made to feel badly about myself.

Okay.

And, uh, and I'm commuting back and forth, and my dogs are in LA, and I'm just lonely, bro. And I don't get lonely very often.

Okay.

So much for me holding it. What did you do? I can't see what's happening.

We got it. We got it. We got one.

We got one. We got a fish. We got a fish. We got an order.

Yeah, we got one on the hook.

We got one on the hook. We got the line. Real man. Nice and easy. Nice and easy. Don't freak him out.

It's too fast.

Don't text him right away and be like, oh, I'm really excited.

Don't freak him out.

Don't freak him out.

Oh.

What you should be fun is our texting be like, oh, I'm so happy you ordered. We're so excited to deliver the food.

We can't wait yet and be suspicious if we're too excited. It's like we're thinking about it. We'd like to deliver it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're still considering your request.

Okay, so you're having a bad time. You're lonely.

Yeah, I don't get lonely. And I'm not like a, I don't get lonely, you know?

Yes.

But I'm just in a bad place.

Did you feel alienated from the cast? Is that what it was?

I didn't feel alienated, but I felt very alone.

Right.

On set.

Yeah.

And frustrated. Anyways, I realized that the inverse of WAG and Rover is that you can open up an app and you can pick a dog for half an hour to play with.

Oh, no shit. This was your solution to feeling shitty.

Yeah. I'm like, I can just open up the app and, like, grab a dog.

I love this.

Yeah.

I'm going to go grab the food.

Go get the food.

But I'm fucking lonely.

You're going to miss out.

Sorry. That's something you would benefit from, Aaron, greatly.

So I'm like, I'm in New York. I'm having like a great dinner with a friend.

Yeah.

At the end of dinner, I open up my app. I order a cappuccino. I'm a little full. I ate too much pasta.

Okay.

And I'm going to work tomorrow at like 4:00 in the morning. But it's, you know, I open up and then I just start swiping. Which dog am I going to get right now?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, and you can actually see a picture of the dog.

You get a picture, descriptions.

Oh, this is fun.

You get the whole details and what their previous walks were like.

Oh, there's feedback on the dog.

Feedback. You leave feedback as the walker.

Okay.

So there I am, and I just go, I'm like, all right. I walk like a block or two and I pick up a dog.

Well, are you looking for a big dog or a little dog?

It depends on the mood that night.

Okay, okay.

I like variety.

Okay, sure.

You know, dogs.

Yeah, novelty. We love novelty.

Yeah, exactly. With my wife, I like exactly what I get with my wife, but with the dogs, I want to see it all. I want to see it all eaten. I want all of it, okay? I'd just walk like a block or two. I'd grab a dog.

Yeah.

And then I'd give the dog a walk and walk off the food.

Yeah.

I'd take a photo on the park bench, send it to my wife. And it was just great. I'm like, this is great.

How many dogs do you think you walked?

Oh, 30, 40, 50 dogs.

Really? Wow, that's really fun.

Yeah.

You meet at curbside and what's going on.

Yeah, that's what I'm happening.

Should you want me to take a look?

Should we?

You want to give it away?

Yeah, I'll give it away. And don't forget, you know, you want to say with the ties, you say, salut et camp.

All right, I'm a little bit—

We're delivering drugs.

There we go.

Are we delivering drugs?

I hope. It's a very tiny package. All right, we have not told one succinct story. I'm going to force us to right now. So, okay, we talked about the Cadillac. Love it. And your daily driver now is what? It's a—

It's a 2011 Ford Crown Victoria P71 police interceptor. Cop suspensions, cop brakes, cop lights, cop engine, cop everything.

Cop, cop, cop, cop, cop.

Yeah. Thing runs.

Okay, so Aaron and I got the most—

Smooth as glass.

Spectacular invitation. I don't know, are you familiar with this YouTuber, Cletus McFarlane?

No.

Have you ever seen his stuff?

No.

He does crazy car stuff. He'll, you know, he'll buy a Lamborghini and jump it over a house. You know, he just does wacky stuff.

Okay.

Well, he's been very successful and he bought this old racetrack in Bradenton, Florida. And so, um, we are participating in November in a Crown Vic only race.

What?

Yes.

Crown Vics.

It's a whole field is Crown Vics. And it's, uh, an oval with a little, uh, infield, uh, chicane. And it's a, I think, a two-hour long race.

What?

And you have to have two drivers. So we'll swap drivers at some point. Does that not sound like the most spectacular thing?

Dax.

Yes.

Does he know that I am an—does he know who I am? How do I get in front of this guy?

Do you know who I am?

Yeah, I do.

How do I get in front of him?

I'm the only actor in LA who drives Crown Vic. I'm a fleet owner-operator of this vehicle. It's the backbone of the municipal fleet in America. It's the, it's the strength of our country in, in, in the form of an automobile. And I support it in, in, in a real way.

Also, like, any vehicle that was designed with the intention, I remember we'd go to these police package conferences, these fleet shows, and they'd be explaining, like, you know, the car was designed to take a curb at 35 miles an hour without doing any damage.

Right, right.

With control arms.

Right.

You're like, yeah, that's the kind of vehicle I was.

That's what I want.

Designed to smash into a curb.

Yeah. She's a great car. I feel very American driving and I love it.

Okay, now we want the full story. We had the biggest laugh in months this morning when I discovered this KKL9 footage of you. You've got to walk me through June 2024.

This is, um, not home invasion?

Yes.

Yes.

What do you mean? Of course it is.

I'm glad you laughed. I'm thinking, like, what was that KKL9 for a few years ago? Yeah, that was an unexpected.

Hold that, hold that. This first, let's start with, this is a childhood dream come true. When you're a kid and you're watching, hold on. No, when you're, listen, Tucker, before you get defensive.

Sure.

When you're a kid and you're watching the news and you find out there was a hero in your town, you're like, fuck, I wish I could be this hero.

No, dude.

Tell me what, tell me what happened. I can already sense a little hesitation.

Yeah. Um, all right. Well.

Look how reluctant. If I had done what you did, that's all I would talk about.

I mean, I did notice you weren't available for comments, so I figured there was, I was wondering why that was too. I guess here's what happened.

Okay.

So there's, you know, we live in a really lovely neighborhood. It's super family-oriented.

Yeah.

Kids everywhere. Doors open. It's like idyllic. We also live in LA and there's, you know, there's, uh.

A lot of riff-raff.

There's some riff-raff.

Yeah.

And, um, I was inside and like I heard something. I could hear like a kid or something. I was like, that doesn't, I could hear outside. I was like, that doesn't sound like playing. It sounded like something concerning.

Yes.

So I was like, talk to my wife. I was like, hold on a sec. And I put my head out the front door and look out. I'm like, yeah, there's something's up. I could just sense something's up.

Yeah. Spidey senses are going off.

Yeah. And I see like a neighbor's looking, like, you know, halfway down the block is looking across the street. So I kind of peek my head out. And then I see that there's this like very big guy, big guy.

Yep. Yeah. We saw the footage. He's a large man.

Walking down the street and he turned into somebody's house. And I know the folks, it's an older woman or husband passed away. And he comes up to it and I turn to my neighbor and I'm like, what's going on? He's like, this guy's really angry. And he starts banging on this woman's door. Very, very aggressively. Very aggressively. And I'm like, I turn to the guy right away. I was like, listen, I'm going to do everything. I don't want to provoke this situation right.

Gotcha.

This guy. I'm hoping she doesn't open the door. But if she does open the door and I'm unable to like signal to her, will you go in with me?

Yeah, yeah. Because I really don't want obviously something bad to happen. I know this will.

Yes. And this guy was lost. He's like, yeah, absolutely.

Right. You go first, but I, yes, I'll be behind you.

Yeah.

So.

I'll watch.

So.

He's banging, banging, banging, banging. And she opens up the little window thing. So I'm behind her.

Okay.

And so she doesn't open the door. Awesome.

Great.

So then he continues going down. And I was just like, let me just track this guy.

Sure.

To make sure that this doesn't happen again. So me and this other neighbor, he walks with me down the street. And then he goes to some other houses. Nobody opens their door. Great. And then he goes off. By that point, we'd already called 911.

Okay.

And reported this.

And yeah, as a timeline, like what do you think the gap between when you call 911 and when they arrive, right?

Well.

It is always impressive.

The police were incredible. They were absolutely magnificent. It's everything you ever want from law enforcement. So this guy's banging. He goes, turns off. He goes onto Highland. And we're like, all right. He's off my block.

He's out of your jurisdiction.

I think we did everything we did, right? Like we called the police, we gave a description.

Yeah.

We made sure the people were safe. I don't, I feel like I did my part, you know? Let that be. I go back in the house. About 10, 15 minutes later, I go back out for something else. And I hear another thing. And I look down the other side. So he'd gone, gone, basically done a huge loop.

Uh-huh.

And he's coming down the block. So now I see other people are walking dogs. So I try to tell those people, like, hey, can you go to the other side of the street? Let's just let this guy clear through.

Sure.

This guy looks like he's. Something's up.

Yeah.

Now I'm watching, kind of watching. It just makes everything fine. And he's standing in front of this neighbor's house across the way. And I turn to the other neighbor's now across the street. He's come out. I said, hey, do you know who lives in that house? And he's like, yeah, I know them well. I said, just call and just make sure that they're like, their doors are locked. And do you know if anyone's home? He's like, yeah, I know the wife's home.

With children, right?

Yeah. Yeah, the wife's home. And I assume they have kids. I can't remember. But, and then I turned back and the guy's gone. They couldn't have gone anywhere but in the house.

Right, right.

And, you know, I just took off.

You're barefoot. I think this is an important part of the story.

Yeah, I'm barefoot.

Because that's a very similar experience.

I mean, I just.

You're never really, you know, your fantasies about how you'd respond, but you're never really in the right outfit.

Yeah, I'm not in tactical gear.

When the situation actually presents itself.

I wanted to be in swat gear, yeah.

You seem to have a tactical bag with you, though.

Yeah. I grabbed the bag.

Yeah.

Like, I grabbed the bag.

And that'll remain a mystery like pulp fiction, right? We'll never know what was in that bag.

I grabbed the bag. Thank God I did. I just sprinted across the street. Went through the door and.

And you're by yourself at this point.

Yeah, by myself.

Yeah.

And the mom is holding her like, you know, baby. And she's freaking out.

Sure.

And she doesn't know who I am, really.

All right.

Um, I'm just a guy busting into her house.

With a bag and you're barefoot.

But somebody else has just busted through her house.

Yeah, yeah.

And he's three times my size and. Significantly unhappy.

Noticeably unhappy.

And so I'm just, I was actually like a pretty clearheaded because I was like, you know, where is he? And are there other, do you have kids in the house? Like, who else is in the house? And she's hyperventilating. She's like, my kids, my kids are in the house.

Oh, man.

And I'm like, where are, where are their kids? How many are there? How many are there? How many are there?

Well, she goes, nine.

Yeah, yeah. In my neighborhood, it's possible. She goes, there's two. And I said, where are they? I see one of them out of my eye. I grab that guy and I throw it to the mom. And I get out of the house, get out this way. I'm like, get out, get out, get out, get out. And then I had to go find the kid. I had to go, she's going through these rooms. Thankfully, I didn't see the guy. And I found the girl. She's hiding. She's a mess.

Yeah.

And she doesn't know, you know, who I am. And I'm starting to talk to her. And I'm like, hey, it's okay. There's somebody, you know, who's here. I just, then I realized, I'm like, I'm a 40-year-old man talking to like a seven-year-old. I just need to, so I just grabbed her and like fired her out of the house.

Well, this is the shot we see on KKL9. You come out of the house barefoot, holding a child.

Yeah. It was really, dude, I got to tell you, it was not funny. It was horrifying.

But it's so heroic.

I don't know. You know, it's just, it is, like, it sounds like such a trope, but like, you're not even thinking. You're just like, I got, there's a kid, I got to save this kid. I got to get this kid out.

Right, right.

And you don't want to provoke any violence. So like, I don't want any interaction with anybody. I just want to get all these people out of the house safe, you know?

Yes, yes.

And the cops were there. Once, so I called again when I was running to the house. And I'm like, this is not a guy wandering in the neighborhood. We have a man in this house. Here's the address. He's just entered the home. There's kids. There's going to be a family in the home. Like, we need people here right away.

Yeah, yeah.

And they were there. By the time I got out of the house, I don't, I think they were already pulling up. So then it's like, let these professionals do their job.

Right.

And they were incredible.

Well, I see it's heavy, but I do wish you had a little bit of pride. It's pretty fucking radical.

Yeah, I don't know. I think like you do the exact, I think like, you know, there's.

Well, I think I would too.

Most husbands I know would do the exact same thing.

Yeah. But then I would, I would feel good about it. All right. Now I deliver this. That's what happens now. I go deliver.

Okay, great.

Did you get another order?

No, I just had to wait for her to come down because there wasn't an apartment number. Tucker, my experience is similar to this.

Beautiful.

Beautiful. Yeah. A little bit of sun stain on the paint job, but. Okay, so I lived in Santa Monica for 10 years in this very shitty apartment on a rough street. All right. In Santa Monica, if you can imagine that. It was called Euclid. And my girlfriend of nine years who lived with me there, she called me the sheriff of Euclid. Because like, you know, I'm like always sniffing around. Like, what's happening? I'm just, you know.

Yeah, you're paying attention to the neighborhood.

You're aware. This is back to your outfit.

Yeah.

So it's a very memorable day because I was a very heavy smoker and I decided, okay, I'm going to quit smoking. So this is the day I quit. I'm on day one.

Sniff blows of nicotine withdrawal.

Yes. I'm very irritable and agitated. And I literally just make it to nighttime. I'm like, okay, I got through day one. I lay down in bed with Brie. I'm wearing these heart pajama bottoms that my mom sent me for Valentine's Day. Obviously, I'm barefoot and obviously I'm shirtless. I'm going to bed.

Yeah.

And I'm laying there and all of a sudden we hear like blood curdling screaming coming from right on the other side of the window on the street. And I'm like, oh fuck. I jump up and you need to know the family that lived below me was this lovely Mexican family that at this point I've seen some of the kids grow up from like eight years old. I go to their parties.

Yeah, kits in year.

Six folks living in the same one bedroom apartment. I adored these people. I run down my stairwell. I come around the corner of our apartment building and I see there's a car parked and two of the kids that are from there, they're now teenagers. One kid's in the driver's seat holding his nose. He's just blood pouring down his face. And then in the passenger seat, the other kid is being pulled through the window by this dude. Tucker, I already had a mix-up with three years before. He's in a gang in Santa Monica Trace.

Did you see this sign, by the way?

Do I see what?

If you lease there, you get a $350 a month Uber credit.

Oh.

Oh my gosh. Pretty good branding opportunity for.

Also, you're so ADHD. I love it.

Well, we're doing Uber.

Sort of random sign to pick up.

We're doing Uber. Is this show not sponsored by Uber?

It's sponsored by Uber. That's what I'm saying.

If you say ADHD, I'm like, I'm looking to hit up our sponsors who are underwriting, underwriting this opportunity. I mean, what are we doing here?

Okay, so, so Tucker, he's in the middle of pulling this dude out the window, right? And then the young girl's in the backseat screaming. I see him. I'm in my pajama bottoms. I'm shoeless. And I scream at him. I go, hey, I'm going to fucking teach you a lesson. Because I already, I already did this. I already taught a lesson.

Clearly not a nurse.

And I quit smoking that day.

Right, right.

So I'm actually really in the mood to teach someone a lesson.

Yeah.

He sees me. He lets go of the guy. He takes off sprinting down Euclid towards Broadway. I take off after him. Obviously, the cops had been called when I heard the screaming. The people downstairs also heard. So cops have already been called, right? I don't know any of this. But he takes off flying. I'm trying to catch him. And as I'm coming up to turn left onto Broadway, the police car flies up on the sidewalk. And they've gotten a call that some maniacs beating up people. And they see me sprinting shirtless with my pajama bottoms on.

You're on the hood of the car.

I'm on the ground immediately. I'm on the ground. They're out. Guns on the ground. But as I'm complying, I'm going, dude, I'm not, you got the wrong dude. Dude, he's getting away. He's getting away.

And they've heard that a million times.

Yeah. So I have to just chill for, you know, 60 seconds before I convince those people. And then also the neighbors are now coming down the street and they're yelling, it's not him. And so the funniest part of the story is when they finally let me get up and they're like, okay, what do you look like? And I'm like, you know, he's like, he's probably 5'10", 5'9". You know, he's Latino, but, and I all of a sudden I go, oh, I have a picture of him. And they go, you have a picture of him? Because when I had that altercation with them, the police came, they took photographs of us and I got the photos from the police station.

These pictures are.

Tucker, you've never seen, he looks like he got hit by a fucking bread truck.

It's tragic.

Right? He had a broken nose, a broken jaw. He is a mess in these photos. And when I hand the police the photos of this guy, they start laughing so fucking hard. They're like, wait a minute. What are these, why, what happened? And I got to tell them the whole story. And they're just in the best mood when I hand them these pictures. They take the pictures. I don't know. They go drive around for a couple hours and then they finally come back and give me the pictures. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We didn't find them, but.

I thought you were going to be in cuffs and you were like, and you were going to be like, just give me a square. I just need one smoke here before I, you got to light me up.

I just need one square.

Just give me one.

But again, I just, not what I would want to be in a combat situation in my heart-shaped pajamas and barefoot.

That's good. That's funny. Yeah. You always want to be well. It's like when I proposed to my wife, I made sure she thought we were going to like the fanciest restaurant in New York. I took her to John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. But the premise was you're going to like Jean George or something. Because I was told that when you propose to your wife, you want her, well, she's going to want to be really well dressed.

Right.

You don't want to propose to her like on Christmas morning, when she's in the Christmas pan. Yeah, she looks, you know, like she just woke up. So, you know, you want to put people in a position to look their very best at high points and low points. Yeah. In their life. And like my passport.

I don't know what you're saying.

My passport photo is me in a tuxedo.

Oh, really?

Because I'm like, I'm going to have this thing for 10 years.

This is why you're such a good actor. You do details. You really are specific about the details.

I had a driver's license for 10 years where I had a wife beat her on and like a black eye and like a gold chase. And the thing just looked sick. It was incredible. You show it to anybody, they just start laughing their tail.

Oh, what? An Italian dinner jacket. Black eyes.

She is perfect.

So you take her to the pizzeria and you propose to her there?

I proposed in Central Park.

Oh, okay.

She thought we were going to this fancy restaurant. And we proposed there. And then, you know, I had all of her friends meet us at John's Pizzeria on Bleecker Street. And she looked like a million bucks. She was thrilled with how she looked.

Oh, that's lovely. And how long have you guys been together now?

We've been married for 14 years.

Okay. And how long were you dating before you took her to the pizzeria?

Like two years or two before.

Okay. So you've been together like 16 years.

You know, people said like, you know, you'll know when you know. But when I first met her, I knew she was special, like very special. Like she'd be a friend of mine for the rest of my life. I was like, she's very special. But I didn't know for quite some time that she'd be my wife. But I did have this moment when I knew. One moment. I was like, this is the woman I'm going to marry. You know how they have all these like kind of like mini award shows before the Academy Awards and the Emmys and the Golden Globes? They've got like these like starter awards. Kind of like lower tier award ceremonies. I'd been asked to give one for somebody, an award.

Okay.

People are loving the dialogue. And they're like, the award ceremony was terrible. You were so great. That was so funny. So I'm feeling great about myself. And that same like award, you know, the same PR team or whatever asked me to do another award ceremony that was like a next tier up.

Okay.

To present to somebody. It was like frustrating.

Yeah, yeah.

So I'm like, hey, I took the leather off the ball on that one. I'm going to write my own copy again. So I write my own copy for this award ceremony. And I come into the awards and I came with Tara, my wife now, but she's my girlfriend at the time.

Yeah.

It's like a mini Academy Awards. Like it's just like incredible. Every table is like an Academy Award table for that year. And I'm feeling very confident because I got this great dialogue.

Because you're one for one.

I'm one for one. Can't lose. It's exactly right.

Huge history of crushing it.

I'm unstoppable. I'm on a streak. I'm building a streak, okay? I'm building a streak.

Did you wear the same socks or anything?

So I show up and I didn't give the copy to the teleprompter, you know? And I should, because I.

Why didn't you do that?

I didn't occur to me. Because, you know, I was one for one. So, and I should have known, like every person who went up there is like super famous and they're like, wow, it's so bright, you know, under these lights. Should have been a good tip-off. I get up there and I can't see a thing.

Okay.

And the copy I've written to printed it out, it's like, you know, 11 size, like New York Times, Roman, can't see a font.

Oh, boy. Does your heart rate immediately, like, do you know you're fucked immediately?

I know I'm kind of fucked immediately, but then, but then.

There's no feeling like it, is there?

Well, then the jokes I have are awesome if I.

Set them up properly.

Set them up properly. You know, they're offensive if you don't.

We're about the context.

Oh, man. And I got to tell you, it was offensive and it was terrible.

Who's in the audience? Like, can you name some people?

Oh, like, you know, it's like the Hurt Locker table. It's like, it's like.

Oh, boy. Okay. Everyone you'd want to work with.

Everybody you want to work with in Hollywood. Every single one who's going to the Academy Awards that year. Every single one is there. And I'm like the least famous person there, but I'm the guy who like gave a, who had one good presentation. And I know these people too. Like there's a lot of people there I know. And it's like, I wasn't looking for it as an opportunity, but I certainly wasn't looking for it to be a liability.

Right, right.

I mean.

It's a clear setback.

Yeah. And I walked up so confidently. And when I came back down there, I was just like, I couldn't believe it, dude. It was so bad.

I mean, heat, you're feeling in your face.

All this sweatiness and mess.

Yeah. I wish there was video of this.

I'm sure there is and I never want it to go.

I want to watch it a bunch of times.

I remember too, the joke was something about like, so, you know, when you're shooting on television, a lot of people's names are their first name and then their job. So you'd be like, oh, yeah, like Johnny Props.

Oh, right, right.

Right? You know, Susan Ardek.

Yeah.

Yeah, right? So I made this joke about something around that. And like, I can't remember what it was, but it came across like they were somehow less than.

Sure. You were there to shit on the crew.

Yeah.

Which is the last thing. I know, you really pride yourself on all the transpho guys.

Of course, it's horrifying, right? So it's just a horrifying event. And I sit down and Tara puts her hand on my lap and she's like something like, I love you or you did great or whatever it was or so happy to be here with you. Yeah, I was like, I'm going to marry you. That's it.

Right. Because when.

That's it. Yeah, I'm going to marry this woman.

You found out that she was stand by you.

Oh my gosh. In that room at that time. Oh my God.

And then it got tough.

It was horrible.

Because I've had a couple of those. Because obviously I've had to come on and present a lot of awards and this and that. I had one where my urologist, no, no, not my urologist. My rheumatologist.

Rheumatologist, yeah.

Was being honored, you know, by some lifetime.

Some society thing. Yes. And he's an older man, right? And he's proud that you're the one doing it because you're his like celebrity clients.

You're one of his celebrity clients. And I think he's ascertained that I'm a little bright, right? So he's feeling confident to ask me. And I'm like, yes, I'd love to.

The family's there.

Big event.

His colleagues are there.

I so dramatically underestimated what the mean age would be in the audience.

Sure.

I'm like, yeah, I know he's 87, but I can't imagine this whole ball is going to be all 87 year olds. In Tucker, it was a hundred percent, everyone was over 80. And I had a couple of mildly racy steamy sex jokes.

Sure.

Completely tanked. I mean, just the whole thing tanked.

Get out.

Yeah. And I remember I had ridden my motorcycle to the thing to avoid parking in traffic. It was such a lead balloon. Everything I said, they thought I was just a dirty pervert. I shamed my rheumatologist.

You brought shame to him.

I did. I did.

On his night of celebration.

He was supposed to be honored. I come in and just whatever. Jokes that would have worked in other places did not work. Not one of them worked. And I haven't prepared much sincerity. Because how sincere can you be about your rheumatologist? You know, I appreciate them, but we haven't been through a lot of them.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You haven't been through the ups and downs.

Anyways, I just get on my motorcycle and I have this feeling and I go, yeah, man, that one you shit the bed and there'll be others. And some you'll shit the bed and some you'll do good. And I just decided we're just going to dump this right out of our head.

Yeah, that's great.

They can't all be winners and we just got to let it go.

You know, you should have said that. Because like I have these interactions. You should have said out loud, going back to the truth conversation. Like if I'm like at a wedding, you know, cocktail party or something, you know, you have these like small talk, you know? Yeah, a lot of times I'm like, well, Dax, it was really nice to meet you. I had a great conversation with you. I feel like this was a good interaction. Yeah? Let's leave it on a high note and drinks on me here, you know? Like I like to like have a nice, or you'd be like, you know, I think this is a good time for us to maybe end the conversation because I feel like we're hitting all the big highlights and points.

What the successful exchange was.

We would be remiss if we didn't collectively tell you how much we loved Kingdom. And particularly you on Kingdom.

Thanks, buddy.

Yes. Aaron, is that one of your top five characters of all time? I mean.

Yeah, it was the first show Dax told me to watch when I got sober. I went away for a couple of months, came back and.

Because Aaron hadn't watched TV for a decade.

Yeah, and I hadn't watched anything. And now I find myself at that time a little weary of even leaving the house.

Yeah, yeah, you were vulnerable.

And man, I watched that fucking show and was obsessed. And then of course, you don't know me, but I immediately thought, oh, well, maybe I can start drinking again and then be a badass and get up in the morning. And I was telling Dax how I was feeling about this show.

No, no, no, no, no. He's like.

You took the wrong message away. You can't drink like that and wake up in the morning.

You're never going to look like Frank Grill. I'm going to be insane.

You cannot. You don't look anything like that.

We can get you there though. I've got a great gym right there where Dax lives.

But my God, that was, yeah, you might have been one of my first followers on Instagram. Because I created an Instagram account soon after that. And I've been following you ever since. I was like, this dude's fucking radical.

I mean, look, it's really, it's like so gratifying to hear that because we worked so hard.

Yeah.

On that show.

You've any sorrow. It was so worthy of the kind of attention that many roles get when the show's like widely available and everyone sees it. Like it was so worthy. You were so worthy of an Emmy. You were so worthy of a lot of attention.

Yeah, it is a little heart. It's more heartbreaking now than it was kind of after. Just because you really want people to see the work.

Yes. And especially what you did. It was such a commitment and you were so fucking good.

Thank you. I really appreciate it.

I mean, you are such a better actor than me is astounding. It's like, it's almost funny that we'd get introduced and we'd say we had the same job.

No, I disagree with that entirely.

No.

I think you're a wonderful actor and you also.

I'm service.

I think you're a wonderful actor and I wish you didn't.

More of it.

As Aaron and I were saying, you've become so successful that you're able to get a neck tattoo. That's a sign. That's a sign of real success, you know? And ironically, I feel like for you from Michigan, there was two versions of the guy from Michigan with the neck tattoo. There's the guy who's like, I'll always be a GM delivering fleet vehicles, which by the way is an honorable awesome job.

Absolutely. We all did.

We were honorable. We were doing an honest job.

It's an honest job. And then there's the guy who's like, no, no, no, if I get the neck tattoo, it'll prohibit me from moving up to other things where I might be able to have more success in other professions.

Right.

And then there's Dax Shepard who gets so successful. He's like, ah, we're going to flip it back. I'm getting the neck. I dare you to not hire me.

Well, this sleeve was definitely that, Tucker. It was my kind of weird declaration. Because of course I would have wanted to continue to get tattoos, but then it was such a pain in the ass to make sure I stopped, right?

Yeah.

And then to get to a place.

Financially, I'm okay. I'll be okay.

I don't have to be presentable to this thing anymore. I don't need to be picked anymore. Oh my God. It felt so liberating. I kind of went a little wild. I'm like, I felt like I was reclaiming my real Dax other than just actor.

But that Dax is what every actor needs to have anyways. That's the thing that people miss, right? It's like if you are not wholly yourself, if you're thinking it's about getting picked versus being the fullness of who you are and what your experiences are in the world, then you don't get to be the actor you want to be.

Yeah.

It's the kind of actors who end up having like their back up against the wall that get to do extraordinary work.

Yeah. Like these Michael K. Williams, these people who you can tell have had real lives.

Yeah. I mean, Martin Luther, you know, standing there in front of the church draws a line in the sand. He says, here I stand, I can do no other. And like you have to get to that point. So like the irony is that you broke through a certain fear and said, I can get the tattoo now. But really that's what you need to do anyways before you even reach that point.

Yeah.

That's what you want when somebody comes into a room to audition for you for a role. You want somebody who's like, wow, that's wild. That's unique.

I just know that I feel that you are very worthy of having a Sam Rockwell persona.

Like what you need is to have be a show like Kingdom that goes onto a streaming platform that people can watch to your point.

Yes, yes.

So that's what I really am desperate to have. And I think, you know, I haven't really like expressed this, but I have noticed the past few years, like there's two kinds of people that I work with who are in like the business for me. Those who have gotten a chance to see Kingdom and those who haven't. Like those who have seen it are like, oh, they understand that I can do something beyond what is being presented. But I think, you know, you just have to keep, here's these signs from Rehearsal Alli. Like am I so impatient that I'm going to quit or that I'm not going to continue?

Or get resentful.

Or get resentful. Totally. No, I got to be like grateful for the health of my family, you know? Like I could be going to children's hospital, which is up here. This children's hospital.

We go a lot.

You do?

Yeah. We do like Christmas events.

Oh, yeah, yeah. Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

But you don't go for your daughters.

We've luckily never had to take our children there.

You don't want to be going there fighting for parking at 6:55 a.m. knowing that the entire parking garage there is filled by 7:00 a.m. for people who are coming from all over the world to get their kids their six-round of chemotherapy treatment. So like, if you wake up and your kid's not getting chemo, you know, it's all encompassing. I mean, you've made a lot of money, but it's like money doesn't mean anything when your kid is sick. It's like you'd give up every single dollar for your daughter to be healthy. So I think if you start at that base level. Yeah, you want people to see the work that you've done.

Yeah, they don't come along.

They don't come along a lot. So that's the frustration is like, I only get a few of those hits. You know, that writer Byron Blasco and I, I think he's maybe the best writer in the business.

Hero Kingdom.

Hero Kingdom and ran that show. And I know that we'll get to work together again. But I just, I love acting. I just love it so. I love the process so much, the freedom that it gives you.

We watched American Hostage this morning.

Oh, yeah, the first two episodes.

First episode.

I'm not in the first two.

Yeah, so I was sad about that.

I was sad too.

But I'll immediately say, it's a fucking great show. You're on another great show.

Yeah. Yeah, this past few years, like I was looking at the business and after we had the strike and everything and, you know, I just said, I can hold out for certain things.

Yeah.

Or I can just go join these sort of like really cool projects with great cast and great people.

Uh-huh, that would be insane.

And maybe it's not the same role. Like I don't get that same role. But by the way, an awesome role. I'm thrilled with what we did.

Yeah.

That show felt like being American Hostage felt like being a part of like a theater company.

Oh, it did.

Everybody was so, yeah, everybody was so committed to what they were doing. And also, and this is something you don't really know unless you're in the business, oftentimes there's this weird jockeying that can happen for like power and position in a large ensemble, of which I want nothing to do with that.

Right.

I want nothing to do with that. I just want to do awesome work with awesome people.

Yeah.

But you get into the press side of things and people can get weird.

Yeah.

You know, they want to literally stand in a certain position for photos and stuff. You're like, I don't want to fight for this. And on that show, everybody knew what they were doing, what they were up for. Everybody was super supportive.

Also, everyone's been validated.

Totally.

Right? That's what you really want. It's like everyone's already been validated.

And you know the role you're getting on too. What's Minka doing?

She's on that Ransom Canyon show, which is a huge show. They just canceled it weirdly, but it was huge.

Josh Tummell's the best.

He is the best.

Can we talk about him? Can I tell you about him flying with the Thunderbirds?

Oh my God, maybe you did. Tell me though.

So I went up with the Thunderbirds.

Okay.

And they were like, we came down, I said, how'd I do? And they go, oh, you were the best we've ever had. You took the most cheese. The most cheese. No, no, you're the most cheese, the best. I don't know, I feel great. And then they go, oh, no, no, no, actually that's not true.

Oh, okay.

That's not true.

Yeah.

You're the second best. I was like, what? But this is out of celebrities. This is out of celebrities. So the bar is low, right?

This is not like.

Sure, sure.

It's like we're in the celebrity golf track.

Correct. Correct, yeah. So I said, who was the first, who was the best celebrity? They said, Josh Tummell. I said, you kidding me?

Sure.

What did you do with Josh? You didn't do with me. And they go, we did everything. We did everything with Josh that we did with you. But when we got out of the plane, and by the way, you feel like real woozy.

Sure, dude. Well, after you did it, you're like, dude, you got to do this. I'm like, never. I don't want to fucking throw up in a basement.

Yeah, it was amazing. I didn't do that. It was amazing. So they go, Josh Tummell came out of the plane and we asked him how he was doing. He's like, doing great. And then he pulled like an entire thing of dip out of his lip.

Oh, a little plastic.

And they were like, what? They were like, we can't even. That would make us sick. And then when I asked Josh about it later, he's like, oh man, he's like, it was the worst thing ever. He's like, I didn't realize that I had it. I totally forgot. And he says, I got up there and you get strapped in. I mean, it takes like three people to get you into the cockpit. You've got all this gear and gac. You're sealed in because you're going to go to like 60,000 feet.

Already claustrophobic just thinking about it.

He's like, I couldn't take it out.

Right. Yeah. How could he? Where's he going to put it?

He's such a man.

He's like the $35 million plane.

He's such a man.

He is. He's effortlessly a man.

I'm so cool.

Well, if you remember, the first time you and I ever met was in front of Central Park. Kristen's trailer was there.

Right. Yeah, that's right.

And she was friends with you and that's where I met you. And we were doing a movie with Josh Tummell. We were doing When in Rome. He was the star.

Oh, I remember.

Yeah, he and Kristen were like lovers. But the funny thing that is dip related was at that time, that was 19 years ago.

Yeah.

At that time, Kristen and I both dipped and Tummell dipped. So the whole set was fucking empty pop bottles and shit, right? We're just disgusting. So then we all have to go to Italy to shoot for two weeks in Italy. And for whatever reason.

They don't sell dip in Italy.

They do not sell dip.

How do I know this?

Pack enough dip. So like day three, all of us are having a panic about what we're going to do. And then Tummell says, oh, well, Fergie's coming to visit.

On the PG.

I'll tell her to bring some dip. And we're like, oh my God, great.

Freeze delivery.

She shows up with a duffel bag of dip. Come to find out, sweet Fergie dips.

Oh.

So there was a moment where we're standing in a piazza between shots while they're lighting. We got a fountain behind us. All four of us are sitting there with fucking empty Perrier bottles, dipping and spitting. And I said, this is the first paparazzi photo I would love to be a part of. Okay, I want to know, soup to nuts, tell me about your cannabis business. I find this very fascinating.

You know, the show I did for Netflix, I Will Find You, is a limited series. American Hostage is a limited series.

Right. You're not going to get four years of work out of it.

So I needed to find something to help me.

Yeah.

And let me just hold on to a bunch of cash and just wait for a great opportunity to present itself. I mean, it probably is going to need immediate liquidity. And I thought it'd be some real estate thing, like somebody who was in a jam.

Yeah.

And I waited and was patient. And somebody came to me and they had a family-owned dairy farm in Massachusetts. It was going out from under and they needed capital to basically fund like a wildcatting expedition for a cannabis cultivation, manufacturing, and production facility.

Yeah.

And I was like, ah, you know, I don't really use cannabis.

Right.

I think it's, you know, I'm not averse to it. But I've never wanted to invest in it. It feels like it's federally. There's a lot of issues. I did all this diligence, as much kind of like work as I could from LA. And then it all started checking out. And I jumped on a plane and visited the farm and met people and kind of local government officials and said, all right, let's get rich quick.

Yeah, yeah.

And I got, you know, cash poor real fast.

Yeah, how many years ago?

Now eight years, you know, eight years later.

But you have three retail locations.

We have four.

Four. One in Jersey, you said?

I have one in New Jersey, three in Massachusetts.

Tucker that's radical.

Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it is.

And it's called the Boston Garden, right?

In Massachusetts, it's the Boston Garden.

And what is it in New Jersey?

It's the Public Garden.

The Public Garden. Okay. I know you just did a play in Boston.

Yeah, I did a staged reading with Jeffrey Donovan, who is a phenomenal actor. He was the star of Burn Notice and was the star of Long Order recently. And he's in Sicario. He's a great actor. And he's from Massachusetts. And we both did Sleepers together 30 years ago. He was a prison guard.

Kevin Bacon.

Oh, man. We were doing a bunch of like radio press and stuff for the reading.

Yeah.

And he brought up Sleepers. And I said, you know, you keep glossing this over, but I just want the audience to know that 30 years ago, you know, you sexually assaulted me as a 12-year-old boy. And he's like, oh, but in the movie. In the movie. It was in the movie.

You keep glossing over this.

Yeah, I said that to Kevin Bacon too when we did a show.

A couple of the shows you've been on though, shot, or at least were set there. Have you been there on a show?

I shot the pilot of City on a Hill for Showtime with Kevin Bacon.

Yes.

In Boston.

When you were there doing City on the Hill.

Yeah.

Did you have like a healing moment? Was it an incredible experience to be where you came from, knowing you could be staying at the Ritz if you wanted to? Was there any kind of like healing, fun aspect to that? Like having walked by areas as a kid and seeing what it was.

Yeah, I mean, dude, shooting at Boston was unbelievable to me. I mean, it just was like the greatest. Yeah, it was incredible. So I grew up in this neighborhood that was known for anybody when I was growing up for like violence and bankruptcy, okay?

Particularly Armored Car.

Yes, that's what they were people. So when I went to this lovely school out in the suburbs every day and there would be kids sometimes who their parents would let them come over and play in my neighborhood because they thought Charlestown was too dangerous. And so every time I meet somebody, I'm like, well, I'm from Charlestown. And I'm like, but it's not, you know, it's a lovely neighborhood. It's not about bankruptcy. There's not violence. It's totally changed. It's a totally different place. So then I get this offer for this show where I play a guy from Charlestown who's a bank robber from the '90s. And I was like, so now I'm going to be propagating the same image that I've been telling everybody, it's not.

Yeah.

And you want to be able to go home and let people recognize that you're going out into the world and representing the community well. And I felt that way when I was there doing.

But I had the experience. I didn't work in Michigan, but there was a very kind of amazing experience. I had just visiting Aaron one time because when I was a kid, my mother would take us on Saturdays or Sundays and she'd drive us through this certain area of like Bloomfield Hills. And she'd pull up to a house and she'd go, okay, that person went to college, right? This person went to college. Like her point was like, if you want to be here, like this is how you get here, right? So that was my childhood. I was like kind of coveting this whole.

Right.

And I was visiting Aaron. In fact, I was riding his motorcycle and we were passing this stretch on this lake everyone wants to live on. And I was seeing these houses I used to stare at. And I just, I think it's really hard to internalize success, whether it's because you're always looking at the next thing you want to accomplish or whatever it is. It's been hard for me to internalize it. And I just had this moment where I was looking at these houses and I was like, no way. I could live here now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I needed that. Like I needed from where I was from to recognize like, oh, if I chose, I could live. And I was like, oh my God. And this is 20 years of working and I never had that feeling, but I just had that. It was just an incredible feeling. I was like, oh, I could actually fucking live here.

I just wanted to be like, I just want to be a great actor. Like that's what for me, that's my version of success. You just be a great actor.

That's why you're better than me.

And no.

I just wanted a nice house.

I just want to be a great, I just want to be a great actor. And like in Boston, there is a thing like they do care about that.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, like they do really respect that. Yeah, being good.

Yeah.

And like, so there was something nice about being home. You're like, I'm going to do, I'm going to be, I'm so good that I can be on this set in Boston. And I promise you, I'm going to represent Boston and Charlestown with the sense of like veracity that you guys know and demand. That's what I felt really great.

Yeah, that's rad.

Which is what you want to do for everything, by the way, with every character. You know, you have to know that there's somebody out there that's demanding a certain level of authenticity and you have to be a little scared to.

Let them down.

To let them down.

Yeah. Jonathan Tucker, I love you.

Thanks, dude. This was so fun.

You're so fun.

It's great. You drive around all the time with you guys. This is a total blast.