Transcript of Greta Lee New

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Hol dir dein Geld zurück, tiefenentspannt mit WISO Steuer. Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Good Hang. Very excited to talk to my buddy today, Greta Lee. Greta is an incredible actress. You may have seen her film Past Lives. You may have seen her in The Morning Show. She's been in Girls and Broad City and Russian Doll, and she's so talented and beautiful and wonderful. And we're going to talk about a lot of fun things. We're going to talk about, um, being a waitress. We're gonna talk about how to drown on camera. We're gonna talk about all the fun we had making Russian Doll together. And she's also gonna explain her new part in Toy Story 5, in which she plays the villain, and that villain is an iPad. But before we get into talking to Greta, we're gonna speak to somebody who knows her, who wants to speak well behind her back and give me a question to ask her, and that is Sam. Celebrity chef Alison Roman. Alison Roman, an author, a podcaster, kind of a food expert, hostess with the mostest. And Alison is gonna join us. I believe she has a cat that's also gonna join as well.

So let's hear from Alison and get a question. Hi, Alison.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

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Hi.

Oh my God.

Amy.

Hi. Hi.

It's so nice to meet you.

I can't tell you how nice it is to meet you.

Is this your personal kitchen?

It is. Yeah, I live here. It's my—

this big guy is here.

This is Leonard. He's just such a big guy.

Leonard.

Yeah, he loves to be in the mix.

Well, first of all, we're going to talk about Greta today. The great Greta Lee.

Of course.

Um, but I do wanna talk to you about First Bloom, which is your brick and mortar store that you opened in the Catskills, and you're opening perhaps other places. Perhaps.

Um, yeah, I started a little grocery store in 2023. We opened, um, sort of like a, and I didn't, I didn't really have like a full plan. I was like, I'm gonna open a grocery store and that was it. And then I did and I was like, okay, well now what? But it went really well and I love doing it. And yeah, we're gonna open one in Brooklyn later this year.

I listen to podcasts while I grocery shop or listen to music because I like the, I don't really wanna, I don't wanna chat.

No, I don't wanna chat. Although I do, and part of the, I mean, I guess it makes sense 'cause I did open a grocery store, but you know, like the co-ops, I don't know, LA doesn't really have the neighborhood parts.

This is very Brooklyn. This is very Brooklyn.

Yeah.

I don't fuck with the co-ops. It's so stressful to me.

Who has the time?

Exactly. It's my worst nightmare to walk into a place and people are already disappointed about my participation.

Oh yeah.

Like, hey, nice to see you. It's been a while.

So that said, I did determine that, like, I thought if there was a job that I would, would do at a co-op, which doesn't exist, but like, I would stand in the aisles and effectively like tell people what to do. Like if people were like, what do I do with like red lentils? I'd be like, Oh, well, here are some great things. And then I just stand there. I don't have to do anything else.

That's really smart. You'd just be like— you'd be like the cruise director. Like, let's talk about ramps.

Yeah, what are you really going to do with those? Let's be honest with ourselves. Are they going to rot in the fridge? Are you going to throw them away? You are. You're going to compost them. But like, the number of times I'm in a butcher shop and I hear like a person, most often a man, who doesn't know what they're doing, and they ask the butcher, and the butcher like gives them kind of vague advice. I sometimes pipe up and I'm like, oh, you don't want to grill that. That's going to be a nightmare. Or, you know, like sometimes I actually like to sear it briefly, you know, like, and I'd say 8 times out of 10, they are so uninterested in what I have to say. Like, they're like, thanks.

Sure.

I'm just a lady in the butcher shop.

Thanks, lady.

Yeah.

And I'm like, some people would kill for this.

You're like, babe, I—

this is—

I'm a professional.

Also, it's like, it's— you're like a doctor on an airplane and they're like, is there a doctor on board? And it's like, ah. I guess I gotta go save a life.

Yeah, exactly. And imagine having a medical issue, and the doctor comes over, and the people are like, "We're good." You know, that's sort of what it feels like to me. I'm like being rebuffed at the butcher, but—

Okay, so speaking of Brooklyn, I feel like that is where maybe you met Greta?

It is where I met Greta, yeah.

Didn't you work together at a restaurant? So, we did.

And I think, like, I was working at Milk Bar at the time, which was like— that we shared a kitchen with Ssambar, which is where Greta worked. And— but we were, like, in the basement.

We were very separate.

It was like Milk Bar people and Ssambar people did not necessarily commingle. And so I knew of her. I think I saw her like the hot person that worked at Ssambar.

Yeah, like the most beautiful person. Exactly.

You're like, "Who's this hot, cool person that's so well dressed and seems fun?" Like, "I can't be friends with them." I was talking to somebody about this the other day, like how hard it is to be well dressed now because of the homogenous culture and everybody sees everything. And— but she said, she so manages to carry through. I mean, her style is the envy of every person with awareness of the internet that has seen all of her appearances over the last few years. But she's always had it. She's always had individuality that really comes through.

Let's talk well behind her back. What do you love about her?

I love that she is one of the hardest working and also kindest people that I've ever met. And I also— and this isn't really a virtue, but she is hilarious. She's so funny and— so funny, so funny, and has a great sense of humor and is just such a bright light in the world. And no matter where she goes and how she shows up, just existing, she is as fabulous as you might think she is if you've never met her. And I have seen it with her kids and her family and her friends. And with, like, a random server at a restaurant, and with basically any human on the planet. She's just, like, exceedingly kind and generous, but— and, like, hospitable. She has, like, a real, like, hospitality vibe around her. And I feel like she was always the person hosting. She was always the person inviting people over. It was, like, the more the merrier energy every time. And that is such a rare personality trait, I think.

Yeah, I mean, you are a great example of this, but it does feel like host— so much of hosting is— is the vibe you give off when you're hosting.

Yeah.

So I love hosting. However, I'll just say that I realized that at times I was a little bit of a stressy host.

Mm. But you feel like you've outgrown that, like you, you've moved on into a different era.

I've worked on it.

Yeah.

I've worked on it.

Well, you also, you realize that like no one has a good time when you're stressed out. Like everyone actually has a bad time.

I know. But like we all know these things, but you know when you're, you're, when something comes outta your mouth and you're like, oh fuck, I said that out loud. Like, yeah.

I still do it. I'll be like, oh, it's fine. No, it's really fine. Like, it's not fine. Not fine at all. Totally.

Or like, um, you can eat that, but we're not— not yet. You know, like whatever stupid shit you say.

And then there's like the apology part where it's like, well, this was supposed to do that, but I didn't have the— and it's like, I even have to check myself. And because I'm so good at giving people advice to not do that, and then I do that, and I'm like, well, I'm a bad student of myself. Like, I have to like practice what I preach here. But yeah, it's very hard. But I'm really happy to hear that you're on the other side of that, or at least on your journey.

I'm working on it with professionals day and night. Yeah, day and night. Okay, so we always start our episodes with a question for our guest. Do you have a question that you think Greta would like to answer, or I should ask her?

Yeah, absolutely. I was thinking about like what people don't know about her, like what people maybe don't ask her often, or like, I wonder how much they get into that restaurant part of her. Because I have a belief that once you're a restaurant person, you're always a restaurant person, and it teaches you a lot. So I kind of want to know how in this iteration of her life, in this career, does like— What from restaurant days has she held on to? Or how has working in restaurants made her a better actor? Or, you know, multi-hyphenate as it were.

Allison, I love that question. I also was a restaurant person and a waiter for many, many years in New York and wanted to ask just that because I do think it is incredible. Incredible training for life.

Yeah, it's like the work ethic is unparalleled. And I think that, like, she has so much of that. And maybe that was pre-restaurants, but I also think if you have it, you're more inclined to work at a restaurant. So it all kind of ties in together.

Before we go, I'm going to ask you for some free advice, like people do to doctors and to chefs.

Un love.

Which is, I feel like my artichokes— I have to take so much off.

I can't even tell you how niche this question already is specifically to suit my interest. I have a dried artichoke on my— in a vase right here. I did not— this is just on my counter. Like, I'm obsessed with artichokes.

Me too. I just got back from Italy, not to brag, and the artichokes there were next level.

Divine.

Incredible. I love, I love how it looks. I'm just starting to work with them and it is like, it must be like what a gardener feels like when they have to just like crazy prune a rose bush. Like, it's like, I have to cut all of that away?

You're like, I'm killing it.

I'm killing it. There's nothing left. Cut the top, cut the— no, cut the stem, get all the leaves, almost all of the leaves off. I guess my question, I'll make it, is how do you like to prepare your artichokes these days?

Well, forever and always. And let me also just say that I too have been to Italy, not to brag, not recently, but it has happened. And the way that they do artichokes there is so they're almost treating them like a trash vegetable. They're so prolific and the way that they grow and you see truckloads of them and they peel or pare back the whole thing.

It's just the heart.

The heart.

And they're like— The rest is garbage. They throw it all away. Yeah.

And I had never experienced that until I left the United States, obviously, because I grew up with basically a whole steamed artichoke where you trim the stem, but the stem is super edible. I love eating the stem. The stem is basically like an extension of the heart, so it's just as tender, it's just as edible, it's sweet, it's delicious. But I just trim the leaves just right beyond the thorn.

Okay. And you cut the top.

And I leave the whole leaf. Yeah, I cut the top to expose the little rose in the center. But that's honestly just for aesthetics. Like, that's not really serving a purpose, but I like to do it. And then I'll season it with salt, and then I'll steam them.

Yes.

Like, you know, an inch or two of boiling water, artichokes, prop them up.

Do you take the fuzzy stuff out after they steam or before?

After they steam.

I think I learned that. I think I learned that from you.

I do have a video online, um, on how to eat an artichoke.

Okay, thank you for confirming my positive artichoke bias. I can't believe you have a dried one right in front of you.

I know. Just trim. Oh, also, I was gonna say, just trim away like the tiniest leaves near the outside base of the stem.

Of course, I'm not an animal.

And then once you steam it, if any of the like leaves on the outer part are too tough, just discard them. But like, I don't trim it too far in advance.

Okay, I love to hear this. Okay, listeners, I hope it's getting you hungry for artichokes. Thank you so much, Alison. What a pleasure. And I'm sure Greta will be so happy that we talked. So thanks again.

I hope so. I love her so much. She's so wonderful. Bye.

Bye.

Bye, Leonard.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

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Woo-hoo-hoo!

Hi!

Hi, bub!

Oh, I just wanna stare at you.

Oh my God.

Greta is here and she has her arms full of gifts. Okay.

Yeah, okay. So, yeah, I have some— flowers. It's a collection of natives and non-native natives. People really care about that here.

From your garden?

From my garden.

Come on, look at that.

We have some white sage and some, you know, well, lemon verbena.

And you wrapped it in a paper. Paper, people, this is a professional wrapping job with a rubber band and everything. This is gorgeous.

Thank you. Okay, there's more. I have This.

Okay, what do you also have?

It's like I'm worried you don't, you don't have a grocery store, like you don't have access to—

this is from kale. Um, this is from your garden? Yeah.

And I have these eggplants. Honestly, you're helping me. I can't eat this all.

Okay, I'm gonna say something. I'm very sorry.

What?

I don't like eggplant.

I knew, I knew it.

I'm so sorry.

Get this out.

Get it. Get them out of here. I knew that was gonna happen. I love, I love how they look.

Fuck.

I, they're so funny. I love it as an emoji. Incredible.

I know. But as a, you don't like the taste?

It's too slimy.

It's too slimy. No, but you can learn. You can listen. This is, this is the thing. Now I know there are a lot of things you can do with eggplant. Okay.

What about kale? You like kale? Love kale. Love kale. Obsessed with kale. This looks like dinosaur kale.

Yeah. Dinosaur kale and curly kale.

Oh my God. Again, this is so, avocados. Incredible avocados. For people listening, they're huge.

Yeah, they're huge. You can't eat them for like a year.

You like—

you can't—

like, don't even give it back. Just leave it here. Just— it's like decoration. Don't even look at it. Don't touch it for like at least a year.

Okay, I'm pulling out a gigantic—

that's an Oro Blanco.

Excuse me.

See, see. It's a cross between a pomelo and a white grapefruit. They're delicious.

Wow.

It's really nice in like an alcoholic beverage.

Mm-hmm.

With, this is a Mexican lime. Wow.

It's yellow.

It's wonderful. And some of the lemon verbena, you can put like flowers in your drink.

Anna?

I live in LA now. What's happened? Hi, remember me?

I know you're very LA. This is very LA.

Look.

You have your own kale.

Greta brought her own kale.

This is bad.

She brought her own kale. I mean, in LA, you have to have it in your car. Yeah.

At all times.

This to me is success, that you have a garden and you bring in your fruit to people. That is—

Is it?

Yeah.

Oh, gosh.

That's success.

Thank you.

We have done so much stuff together.

We have.

I was looking at what we've worked on together, and I wanna talk about all of it. We worked on Broad City, we worked on a show called Old Soul, we worked on Sisters, Russian Doll. And I just wanna start by saying, here's what I love about you. Not only are you super talented and so good at so many things, but I feel like you— how I would describe you is you are a person who takes their work seriously, but not themselves seriously.

Oh.

Would you think— would you agree that that's kind of true?

Yeah, I do.

Yeah.

I agree.

Yeah.

Next question. Okay.

So how did we first meet?

How did we first meet?

'Cause I don't remember when we met. I mean, we met on some project that we worked on, but which one?

Did I audition for you first? I mean, I'm sure we met.

Was it Broad City?

Maybe.

Maybe?

That time in New York gets really confusing to me.

Agree. Same.

And I feel like I end up talking about it a lot because, you know, once you get in the habit of telling your story of how you started, and then you're telling the story, and then soon you're like, "I don't even—" Is this real?

Is this—

Did I— Am I lying? I— 'Cause it's easier just to say the story. Yeah. And who couldn't do Bad City? And then, you know, I was on Girls, and then— But it was this really special, really important time for women, and women in comedy. And there was this moment, it was very distinct too, 'cause I think I was observing it somewhat from the outside a little bit because I was coming off of doing theater, and I was, like, really just— I wanna do straight theater. But Abby and Ilana, and, you know, you and Tina, and Maya, and everyone on SNL, riding the wings of that into Lena and Schumer and everyone.

It was really— It was big. I wanna talk about going back because it's so interesting you bring up the theater part 'cause in researching you, I did not know that you— before I met you, had already been on the West End.

No one cares. No one cares about that. I care about that. You do? No, really? Are you kidding me?

First of all, I know you love theater. I don't know how people do it, so I want to ask you. Okay. Okay. But hold on. Okay. Going back even further. Mm-hmm. Your mom, classically, classically trained pianist. Yeah. Your dad, doctor. Yeah. What kind of doctor?

He is a physical therapist.

I need him.

Do you? Yeah. Let's go. What do you need? What's wrong? Well, what's wrong?

I said I wasn't going to bring it up. My fucking frozen shoulder is back, dude.

No, I know. He can help with that.

Okay, so I need his number. Yeah. Dr. Lee. And please, nobody call in. Nobody call in. This isn't even a call-in show. Wait, nobody? I don't know.

I got him to call in.

Nobody call in. Please don't give me your advice about frozen shoulder. I know all of it. I know all of it and I appreciate it, but I can't. Okay, this, we're cutting all this. I'm sorry. We're gonna cut out. Okay. Your dad is a physical therapist. Yeah. So you have a left brain, right brain household growing up.

Yeah, sure.

What was, what was that? Is that true?

Yeah. I mean, I guess that's what they say. They're like, ah, I don't know. My parents are weird. They're so amazing.

Tell me, tell me wild. What are they like?

They are okay. Well, I just took them to the Dior show. Okay. All that. I know. So here's the thing, you know, they invited themselves. Like, everyone is talking about what an incredible daughter I am. Okay. Okay. I got a text from my mom that was a screengrab of a picture of LACMA. This is a venue for the show. Yeah. And she was like, didn't say anything. Just a picture of that and an announcement that said Dior Cruise Show will be at the—

at LACMA.

With the new David Geffen Gallery. And I kind of, I just, I didn't really respond right away, which I think made it— You just gave it like a heart. Oh yeah.

You hearted it? Yeah. You sent an eggplant emoji. She was confused. I sent an eggplant. It was very confusing.

And she's like, I hate it when you do this. And no, she invited herself. She was like, so I'm coming. What time? Yeah. And your dad's coming too because it's not fair. He's coming too. If I'm coming, which is funny because I was like, I didn't say you're coming.

Okay, let's break this down though, because do you feel obligated to say—

you can say no. I could, but no, actually I can't. Okay.

Okay. No. Okay. Okay.

Because that's the dynamic a little bit when it comes to certain things. I also— okay, I mean, to be fair, I go to these things and it's, it's exciting. But to go with your parents, to go with my parents, yeah, it is something special. I mean, they're— they've never been to a fashion show before.

What did they think of it?

They were amazed. Yeah, they, they touched everything. They wanted everything. They took— there were these blankets that were meant to keep people warm. They, they grabbed all of them. They want— they, they have so many now. I mean, I, I— they— it was incredible. I, I don't know. I think they were 'Cause sometimes they get shy. I don't know if you have this with family or relatives. I wish, I wish my parents were shyer. Okay, so they're not.

They go right up to like anybody.

Yeah, they go to like Broadway.

We're big fans of yours. Yeah. We want a picture before the night's over.

Like that kind of thing.

They're the demanding type. Yes.

Yeah, like a little entitled. My parents were not shy, are not shy.

Well, my parents, the thing, I would rather that, but what makes it even more confusing is they're both.

It's like a light switch.

They're either like, cosplaying some sort of silent, shy, demure thing. And then it'll just switch to super aggressive, super demanding. You know, "Do you know who my daughter is?" That kind of stuff.

But your parents are first gen?

Are you first gen? They immigrated and had me here. So I'm the first person in my family to go to school in America. Got it.

And they immigrated from Korea, met there, and then they spoke Korean in the house?

At home, or mostly English? Korean was my first language. Yeah, I had a really fucked up accent actually, because we moved by kindergarten. I was in Brooklyn and I had— we were living in Canarsie, and I had like a Korean Brooklyn accent.

What does that sound like? They won't tell me.

I want to know.

Is there anyone that has that accent now that I keep pointing at people?

I'm like, like her, like that? And they're like, no, no, no. And that— but I went to ESL and I went to speech therapy and all of that.

I'm dying to know. Oh, how funny. What? Well, I sound like— I want to talk about language in general, 'cause a lot of your work is like, circles around that, especially the most beautiful film, my favorite film of the past 5, 10 years past us, which is Sisters. Sisters, yeah. That's right. Yeah. But you're a little kid, you do singing competitions? Mm-hmm. Classical singing? Yeah. What's the difference between classical singing and singing? Well, it was like, it was opera.

It was— Okay, there we go.

It was another way to say opera. Uh-huh.

Yeah. Well, yeah, but I did things like, oh, I won like the Bach Festival. I'm like, I was just so— what was I doing? I was just like being smart. Doing so many things. But I was so into it. Yeah. And my siblings, both my siblings can sing pretty much every Italian aria because of me. Like, they hate singing it at me now. But that's like, I was so into it.

You were singing Italian arias at what age?

I mean, middle school. I started in middle school. I was like a conductor of a children's choir at one point. Oh my God.

Did they ask you to do it or did you just—

No, they didn't ask me to do it. I just did it. They were like, why is she doing that?

They were like, ma'am, you need to leave.

Stop. Stop doing that. I mean, you're a big-time achiever.

I mean, you work really hard. I do.

I want to stop doing that. Well, I mean, what is like a through line in all of your stuff?

Is that— and what I meant in the, you know, the very beginning is like, you really show up and you work really hard, but there's an ease to when you work. There's not a striving vibe about you at all, Greta. But you are— when you look at what you've done, like, before you arrived in New York, before you were getting all those acting parts, you were winning competitions and you were like studying theater and in like Broadway shows.

Basically, I had my first job right Right out of the gate, in New York City, actually was Law Order: SVU. I did one episode of those.

Okay. Pause. Yes. Okay. So, we love Law Order at this show. Yes, you do. We've interviewed Mariska, the great Mariska Hargitay.

Yeah, I did a scene with her. Okay. Okay. Yep.

Now, I tend to sometimes stay a little bit away from SVU because— Too sexy. Well, that's one way to put it. Why? Mariska's too damn sexy. Because I get worried about like, is it gonna be, is a girl gonna be in the door? Is she hanging from the pole? Okay, so it's a lot.

I was in the incest episode. I knew it. I knew it. I knew it.

I was so afraid to ask.

It was such good residuals. Isn't that so upsetting? It did so well. Oh God. Wait, okay.

So you were in it. That is the thing.

I want it.

The young version of me wants to be an SVU or Law Order, but you— Okay, it's a really big deal.

But so imagine though, that's my first job, right? Sure. And I call my parents, immigrant parents, and I'm like, I did it. Oh my gosh. Okay, it's airing this time. They— and they didn't tell them what it was. No, I'm not going to tell them. But I'm like, okay, I don't know what— I don't know what—

What do you remember about shooting that with Mariska and team?

Were you just— I was like, terrible. Like, you know, the bells are like, "Meh." Like, I had no idea what I was doing. Oh, yeah.

People don't know that sometimes when you're in a big studio, before they start the scene, they ring this giant, scary bell.

Like a tornado's coming. Yeah. That's exactly— And instead of ducking and hiding or running, you're supposed to act. Yeah. And they're like, "Now go cry." Yeah, exactly. So crazy. Did you have to cry? What did I have to do? Oh no, I had to— I was the roommate of the victim. Okay, that's— So I wasn't participating. Thank God. In the incident. Thank God.

Great. So you just were around.

You were like, I don't even know.

I didn't do it. Kind of.

Kind of. Oh man.

You were like, I don't know, she was here last Tuesday night and then she wasn't. Yeah. All right, Putnam Spelling Bee is the next big job. Yeah. What is it like to do shows? How did you— I mean, you're a young person at the time, but what did you do to prep and get ready? I'm always very curious about people that are on Broadway.

Yeah, the, um, 7 shows or 8 shows a week. Um, I don't know, I think there are a lot of things happening because I also— I graduated from Northwestern, which was, um, a Big Ten school. Like, it was an incredible theater program and all of that, but it's also a big dance school. So I learned how to, like, do, like, a keg stand and made all kinds of friends from Sheboygan, Wisconsin. And it was very formative. Yeah. And I kind of, um, then was bringing that sort of, like, oh, I'm gonna, like, move to New York City and become an artist and live, like, a Sex and the City fantasy. But I had a very intense full-time job, and you kind of It takes so much discipline, and I think that, you know, it was hard. I bet. I was 21. I was 21, 22, trying to figure out how to be a responsible professional, show up on time. Yeah. You know, every time.

Right. But you're on the West End. I want to ask you about Mark Rylance. Yes. I love him. He's an incredible actor.

Yes, he is. Yes. That whole experience was also very unique, very special. We did a play called La Bête. Mm-hmm. It's, uh— It was set in 16th century France, and it was in iambic pentameter. Oh, my character only spoke in words that rhymed with "blue." Oh, dear. Well, you say, "Oh, dear." Yeah. "Oh, dear" is right.

That would definitely be one of those things that I would show up and I'd be like, "Oh, man, I wish I knew this." No, I think you would be like, "Yes!" Really?

I mean, do you?

I think you would. Okay, cool.

But this is like when I guess in talking about this, I'm like, I'm like, "God, life is long." I'm like, "I— Wow." There's, like, so much stuff people have no idea about.

But you have had an amazing, interesting bunch of jobs. You have toggled between very dramatic and very comedic, which few people can do well. And you have gone back and forth and back and forth. I don't know why.

It sounds tiring. Well, 'cause you're really good at both. Stop doing that. Stop being so good at both.

Stop being good at both. I don't know. I mean, I'm always worried that we're gonna lose you because you're so naturally funny that—

You are gonna lose me into my garden. I'm gonna go in there and never come back.

You're gonna make jokes to the end, Claire.

The plants are gonna get bigger and bigger. I'm gonna be carrying that.

Yeah. No, I'm afraid we're gonna lose you to, like, the drama world and—

Oh, you won't.

Okay. All right. Whatever. No. Okay. So then, here's something fun. Okay. You and I have something in common that I don't think we ever talked about, which is that we both worked in restaurants. Yeah. And I do think there is like a very specific type of person that works in restaurants, especially like New York-y restaurants. Yeah. And you're younger than me, but I imagine we at the same time in our lives worked in like kind of like fancy restaurants in New York. Mm-hmm. So we do something on the podcast where we ask a friend or someone to speak well behind your back and to give me a question. We talked to Alison Roman today. Oh my goodness! Yes! Oh my gosh. Your Brooklyn buddy. Yes. And she was with her cat, Leonard. And we were talking about— She was talking about so many things that she loves about you. Your ease as a person and as a host, your incredible style, and how you don't make anybody feel bad that you're the prettiest, coolest person. You never make us feel bad about it, which, thank you, Greta. And also just your work ethic, like how you have this way of kind of getting things done that feels like somebody who used to work in the restaurant.

Because you were working with her, right? Where were you guys working together?

We were working for David Chang at the Momofuku restaurants.

What was that like? That was a hot restaurant.

It was crazy. It was so stressful. So fucking crazy. Crazy. I just— so hard. I— so hard. So hard. So, so hard. Yeah. But at that time in New York though, it's like— what year was that? From like 2007, 2008 to— I don't know. I mean, I was there on and off for a good 5 years, maybe more. Yeah. Like I'd go do a job, I'd book something and think like, oh, goodbye. I'd have like a big goodbye party.

Like I'm never coming back. Yeah. Like, and then—

Yeah. Like, oh, and like pick up the tab, you know? So I was like, oh my God, my friends who worked in finance, I'd like book like one, one commercial and be like, I got this, I got this, buddies, don't even worry about it. And then just come crawling back. Yeah. But that time for food was really exciting. I bet. Because it was like David Chang, and we're friends now. We have kids the same age and you know, we live really, really close and we have mutual friends and it's funny. Reminiscing about that time collectively because there's just— it's like chefs were rock stars. And being a part of that was really exciting for all of us.

What's it like working at, like, a restaurant that is so hot, you know, that everybody wants to get to? What was the vibe? What was it like?

I was so powerful. Yeah. I was the hostess. I was, like, basically encouraged to be mean. So great. Incredible. Yeah. Okay.

As a past hostess of a very fancy restaurant, what would you say to people never works. Oh, you know what I mean? Like, when would people get, um, you know, what would they do that you'd be like, absolutely not?

The culture was different then, and you would easily tell someone, okay, it's gonna be 4 hours. That's not even within like a meal, a stretch of a meal time. Like, 4 hours, like dinner time is over. Like, if, if starting. 4 hours is crazy.

4 hours to get seated or 4 hours to eat?

4 hours to get seated. Wait times to like to tell someone like—

and they're like, thank you, mistress, may I have another? Yeah.

So do I just wait over here or do I like— do you want my phone number? Like, no, go away.

That's what that means. Yeah, 4 hours means it's not happening.

Yeah, it's not happening.

Did you ever have people try to slip you cash? Yeah. And did they ever like try to like throw like fancy names around?

Like, yes, but that I I think that that restaurant though, I don't know where you worked, that was really discouraged. So it was helpful. Like that just wouldn't work. Sure.

I mean, I feel like when I was waiting tables, there was definitely a vibe of like a finance vibe, I guess is the only way to say it. Where, and let's be honest, it was finance bros who were like, I'm willing to spend a lot of money here. Like that was the vibe. Like I know you might have a system and reservations, but I'm very rich. Yes, I know. Like, I'm going to have so many oysters. Yeah. Where did you work?

Where you went to see—

I worked at a place called Aqua Grill.

Oh my God. Do you remember it?

Yeah. Rest in peace. Oh my gosh. You're one of those bitches.

Oh, I see it now.

Yeah, it was SoHo. We were like a SoHo gang. Yes. Congratulations. Very like seafood forward. A lot of oysters.

Do you have to wear like a pressed shirt? A button-down?

Yeah, I had to wear a button-down and, um, a button-down and I think it was a maroon apron. Oh, wow. Remember maroon was really big? Yes, I do. So, Alison's question. Sorry, let me get back to Alison. So, Alison's question, uh, was a really good one, I thought, which was like, "What have you held on to, um, from your restaurant days?" Like, how does it help you as an actor? Does it? Do you think about any of that? Like, is there any connection to what you do now?

I think, like, you know, the expression being in the weeds, what that can feel like and, and, and like the crush of it and how exhausting it is. And I feel like that part that I don't know, that kind of like, like multitasking, extreme multitasking. Yeah. What we do. Yeah. I was, I was like thinking about like something I shot where I was drowning. Oh my God. Acting. No, acting is so weird.

So weird. Why do we do it? I don't know. I hate it.

I hate it. I did it too.

I do it. So why did you have to drown? And is this recent?

Yeah. Is it? Mm-hmm.

Okay, so you were drowning.

It's not Toy Story.

It's in that other movie.

Spoiler alert. But did you know, Amy, that acting like you're drowning for something is just drowning? I can't. Did you know that?

This is why you shouldn't do drama.

No, don't do it.

There's no reason. Don't do it. It's not— And even getting in water. Absolutely not. No swimming, nothing. So, yeah, right. They're like, "Okay, so do the fake drowning." It's like, "Okay, I guess it's the swallowing water?" You have to choke, and you have to—

And when it's really good, they don't know if you're acting or if you're dying. How are they gonna know that? And they tell you things like, "Well, you give them the signal, the hand signal." It's like— But if you're dying, how are you going to give the signal?

Yeah, you can't give them the signal because it really breaks the mood. It does.

It does break the mood. And also, you want to be good. So in real life, you're like, oh, turns out maybe you don't. But if you are successful enough at the drown, then you— it's impossible to distinguish between real and not, you know?

Well, this goes under a thing I like to say, don't be good at things you don't want to do. Right. So, if you're good at the drown, you're gonna get asked to do it again.

Oh my God.

So, be careful. 'Cause if that scene is— There was a lot of it. Yeah. And they're gonna be like, "Let's get Greta. She's good. She's good." Oh my God. "You have to get scuba certified." Oh my God. No scuba. No scuba. People should not scuba. Sorry, I have a lot of hot takes today. But scuba, absolutely not.

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Okay, you have two boys. Yeah. And I'm the mother of two boys. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And they're how old?

Okay, let's see. Apollo is 9 now and Raph just turned 7.

So having a 7- and 9-year-old, those are kind of delicious times. Yeah. For boys. Mm-hmm. What's it like? What's it like being the mom of boys?

I'm obsessed with them. Yeah. Oh, God. Yeah. I love them so much. Yeah. Oh, it's so annoying. Yeah. They're your little husbands.

They are. They're my little husbands. Yep. Oh, yeah. Okay. No, they're better than yours, right? Yeah, it's different. They're your best friends. They're your best friends, son, husbands. No, let's get it right. How have you changed from being like, because you're a mom now?

What's different? I mean, everything's changed. Everything's changed. Um, I, God, I'm also a boy mom. Mm-hmm. And I think that is specific. And I never, yeah. Like thought about that one way or the other. And I look at other moms who are not boy moms and I'm like, oh, okay, let's talk about it.

Cuz I also am a boy mom. Yeah. Wait, how old are yours now? My guys are getting old. They're like 15, almost 16 and 17. No. Yeah. They're, they're, oh. Oh no.

Yeah. 15 and 17.

No. They were like, yes, I know. They're like driving and out in the world and— Oh God. I know. And almost voting. And, um, but you're, I wanna talk about it because, you know, there's a joke about boy mom, but there is something very interesting about—

Wait, what's the joke about boy mom?

Well, the joke is kind of that boy moms are, are, I guess like a little more worn down because, uh-huh. You know, it, Not all boys, of course, but— and not all people, kids that identify as male, but in general, you have to play. Yes, there's a lot of play.

Why do you think I'm so tan?

You're just always outside playing.

Just outside. I'm like running on the bicycle. I'm, I'm like, I'm doing stuff.

I know.

With the boys.

I know. You're like, it's always like camp. It's like, let's go run them out. Yeah. Let's go.

Every day.

Just, you gotta run them like dogs.

You do. Yeah. And, um, uh, yeah. Cuz, and I'm also talking about how much I want them to be outside. Yeah. And how much I want them to be in their bodies. And so what does that mean? I have to be outside. Like I want them to play soccer. I'm playing soccer. I know. Like I want them to, I'm, I'm doing all of it.

Do you like doing it? Are you an athletic person? Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. I do like it.

Yeah. Did you play sports and like what was your sport?

I did. I was like, I, this. I'm such an actor. I was always like good enough. I'm really good at faking it.

Oh my God, me too. You know what I mean? I was good with chatter.

Yeah, like I didn't really quite have the athletic thing, but I was, I was really good at talk.

Yeah, same.

Yeah, same. But sometimes I get it wrong and the kids are like, what are you doing?

Like, what are you— fast? Do you run? Yeah, knew it. Incredible.

I know.

But what's that like?

Again, had to do that for a movie Oh God, that's right. I do it.

Don't run in a movie. Don't worry, nobody's gonna ask me to run for a movie. It is so hard. It's so, so hard. Running is so hard. You run—

It's bad for you. It's actually bad for you.

I absolutely agree. Yeah.

I had to run in something where—

What did you have to run in?

For Tron. I had to pretend that I was gonna be killed if I didn't run for my life. Okay? So, I mean, if you think about that, You think about that movie and you think about like the end, like, no, I'm gonna say like half of that movie my character is running for her life. And I'm not like, you just have to sprint. There's no way to train for that. Yeah. And my character isn't a marathon runner, so it doesn't justify me. Like, it's just like me in this state, then suddenly running like, I don't know, like 13 miles, like in one, You know, a night shoot where I'm just— What?! I broke. Yeah. Again, I was like, "Why are you doing this?" You ran 13 miles?

I measured, and yeah, with—

I forgot how many takes we did where this one— Well, yeah, it was a shot where I was running along the length of a pier, and they had to bring in the— We shut down production because the next day, I took one step and I couldn't walk.

Of course. Yeah. Of course. 'Cause you basically ran a half marathon without any training.

On your own. Yeah. I mean, I trained, I trained, I trained, but I didn't train in the right way. I mean, I didn't know how, like, I didn't know how.

I remember doing Blades of Glory, this ice skating movie. And the, we had an incredible, like, ice dancing coach who, like, was in the Olympics and she would just be teaching me. And I was like, I'm not going to be able to do this. Like, I am an actor. I will try my best, But there's, I can't learn how to be an ice dancer. I don't, if you gave me 50 years, if you gave me all the money in the world, like we're gonna have to, we're gonna work, we're gonna have to work around this.

So you would just tell her this and then what would she say? Well, really good coaches, you know, they just are like, they're like, yeah, but you got this. Right, and you're like, no.

And I'm like, I do not have this. And to your point about the chatter, I would— we would have our, like, workouts, which I dreaded, even though she was so wonderful. And I would, I learned, I was like, oh, you know what? If I get a little coffee in her and ask her a couple questions, I can burn some of this time. 'Cause we only had an hour. So I would buy her coffee and we'd sit. And I remember she would sit in front of the clock and it would be right behind her. And I'd be like, what is going on with your daughter? And she'd be like, okay, well we have to get to work. But anyway, and she would, 'cause I was like, please don't put me on the ice.

Anyway.

Did you train? But you now run on your own in life?

Okay, good. Thank God.

God, don't run again.

Don't ever run again. It's really bad for you.

Don't do it. Okay. When I met you, you had done a bunch of TV. Like you said, you were on Broad City, you were on Girls, you were doing a bunch of different things. And we worked together on a show called Old Soul with Natasha Lyonne. A pilot that did not get picked up and was— was— a basic idea was Natasha was kind of the youngest person in a group of very old people. And we gathered these incredible actors. Fred Willard, Richard Benjamin, Alan Burstyn, Marla Gibbs, Rita Moreno. And it was a crazy cast. Shot, not picked up.

Yeah. Insane. Insane. What do you remember about that?

Do you have any memories of that time?

I remember Rita Moreno told me I was on my phone too much. It's just so funny. It really wasn't. I still think about it. It's like one of those things that you just can't— I can't let go of that because I'm like, I was barely— And I'm not on social media now. Like, I'm very— I don't consider myself to be addicted. I'm not. I wasn't. But she told me I was. It's funny.

I'm having a memory that I did a movie with Charles Grodin, a movie called The Ex, and he— said, "You're always on your phone." And I put my phone down. Like, I remember just being like, "Thank you for that feedback." But Rita gave it to you?

Yeah, she did. But she also, I think she'd just written a book, or I don't know, she was giving a lot of sort of life advice and sort of her take on things. And it was so fun. Yeah, it was really fun to hang out with that crew. I remember it feeling like such a sure thing. I know.

I know, right? Okay. And then we worked together on Sisters, which is a movie, for people, Paula Pell wrote it, me and Tina were in it. It was a crazy talented cast, none of whom worked enough, in my opinion. It was like weeks and weeks.

Why? What? How? It makes no sense. What was happening? I don't know.

It was just like you and Kate McKinnon and Bobby Moynihan just like at craft service, just like, Just there for so long. Waiting for so long.

Because that sinkhole, remember, there was that soundstage. That's right. We had to be indoors. The house, like, all the plants were dying. That's right. They were decomposing. Do you remember?

Yeah, we had to build a sinkhole. That's right. It did start to smell. We were just there for some—

They built us, not you guys, but they built, like, like Bobby, Kate, um, um, who else? John Glaser. Yeah, these little plywood cabins, like little boxes to live in. They were like dog houses to sit in. To sit— I don't know what they wanted us to do in them, but that's what we had. And we were in the box, get in the box, and we would just wait. Why were we there for so long? That movie That movie took so long. It did.

And also, I can remember— 'Cause everybody on the— John Leguizamo. There were a lot of very talented people on that movie.

John Cena was there.

John Cena. And, um, Ike Barinholtz. So many people. But I can remember— And when you're smart enough to be working for a long time, there's definitely a feeling when you walk into something and you're like, "Okay, we're gonna be shooting at a sinkhole for 2 weeks," where you start to angle, like, you're like, "Do I need— Do you think my character is here?" "Or needs to be here?" Like, "I wonder if she's already left the party." Sisters.

You, you are a sister.

And you're like, could she have left the party? I feel like she's gone. And there was a couple moments where like camera was shooting this way and whoever was in the background was like, oh my God, Samantha Bee was in the— I was like, I was like, I'm gonna be in the background of this shot for the next 2 weeks. Oh, but so I apologize. No, thank you, thank you.

I came here to accept this apology. Now I have it. I'm like, but it's so nice though, thinking about I feel like that doesn't happen anymore. I know. No one would say yes to that anymore. Everyone would be like, "What?" Like, you actually can't. Everyone would be like, "No, that's—

We have fought. Our unions have fought for you to not do that anymore." Our unions have fought against the wooden boxes. Uh-huh. No, but I remember that time when we got to improvise together. And I feel like that scene that we got to do together is really funny. But I'm curious if you think it still holds up. It does. Yeah, it does. I think it does too. Why? Because it's tricky territory. So, there's a scene in the film where Greta's character is playing, like, who you— what you first think is this kind of submissive, quiet, but secretly angry— Nail technician. Nail technician, who you think cannot speak English very well and is just kind of dealing with these ridiculous women. And my character is doing that gross kind of liberal thing where she's trying to connect, like, "Tell me about you." And how do you pronounce your name and all that stuff? And let me save you.

Yes, exactly.

Very white savior bullshit. And we are doing it back and forth. And— but it does walk a little bit of a line. And it is the bigger question for me about, like, in your career, I'm sure you've had to decide over and over again, do I want to play a character that could seem stereotypical? Do I want to speak Korean in this part? Do I want to— like, So like, what has that been like for you to have to try to figure that out? Everybody has to kind of figure out how they're going to exploit what they naturally know how to do at the beginning of their career, but it's not always based on their ethnicity. So like, how do you, how do you juggle that or manage that? Or have you? It's annoying.

Yeah, it's annoying to navigate. But, you know, with that, that was an easy decision for me because, and And I understand the conversation around it and what was tricky to navigate, but it's just, it's people. I have so much love for Hyewon because I know that chick. I know her. I know her so deep. And some of my funniest experiences at nail salons, I was Maura. I, you know, it was— it switched. And, you know, I think that scene also works because, you know, status is inverted. Yes. And yes. And I think that it's easy to assume, and I think it's easy to assume if you are not in the marginalized position, to assume like, oh no, like, this is, this is hurtful, or this is But I think when you're looking at people, and for me in that moment, she is in total control. Yeah. It's so funny. Totally. And I've been in that situation at the nail salon.

Well, that's the thing about comedy. It's tricky, right? It's like, if it's funny, then there's something that's striking the right chord, but you can't always figure out what it is.

And it's not funny unless it's true. And there's something about that that was very true. And I felt like what we were doing, and what the opportunity was, was a chance to play something that rang very true for me. And I could see— I knew it was gonna be funny. I knew she was gonna be funny, and there were many opportunities for her to come alive and, like, yeah, be a person. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

And then, And then you play someone completely different in Russian Doll. You play this, like, beautiful, kind of, like, "Sweet birthday, baby." "Let's get ready to party." Like, the version of, like, who you wanna have greet you at the door. Like, the ultimate hostess. And also, just this kind of, like, lost but free spirit. Like, so aspirational, this woman. What was your experience like on Russian Doll? What is it like to say a line over and over again and to, like, for that line to become so iconic, and like, also to be on a show that was such a hit?

Yeah. How wild was that? I mean— Well, you know that first I said no. Yeah. I was like, "There's no way." I was— I just felt like, "I don't know how to do this.

I don't know how to say it." Do you remember why you said no?

Yeah, it was like, "I don't know how to say the same line again and again." Yeah. I asked you guys, I said, "Can we just shoot it once and you can reuse that?" Right. And you said no. Right.

So, for people who don't know, I produced Russian Doll along with Natasha and Leslie Hedlund. And we were talking about Greta's character specifically being like this reset. You are the reset. You're kind of home for that character. You really are a safe person. You play a— even though you play this twinkly, sparkly, like, um, crazy venture, crazy lady, you are safe. Yes. And they're with the chicken, and it's like— Yeah. So, you have to do the same line over and over again because in the show, they start over and over again. And it's kind of like Natasha's character has to reset. So, how did— What was it like to do it? Was it like—

Did you get into it? Well, I said the line, I think, that way once, and then I realized that was the way I had to say it every single time. And I can't say it felt like, I had landed the perfect way I wanted to say it. It was already done. Like, I was like, "That's the one! Okay! Great! Moving on!" Moving on!

Let's get her in. Let's get to her drowning. Yep. Okay, good. Let's get to the drowning scene. Start running!

Okay, moving on. Yeah. But, you know, that— I love acting with Natasha. Yeah. Yeah, my buddy Tosh. Yeah. And it's been some time, but there is this thing with her where I feel it— it feels different for me than, than other people that I've acted with. There's something, there's something that happens when I act with her. And, and that was true for Russian Doll too, because it's not— I can't say that there— I could lie and tell you that I came up with some like insane backstory and boarded, like, each time we went back. But it wasn't, it wasn't that. It was just about friendship. Yeah. And like, it's just like a connection that you have with someone. And Natasha, over the years, I just like, she's just one of those people that I had like a very instant connection with. Yeah. And you just look into those huge fucking eyes and you are just so locked in. And it's just— it's so nice. Yeah.

I think it's what anchored that show was the genuine chemistry between the two of you, 'cause you had worked together, you really had such great respect for each other, you worked so well together. And that show is about, like, "Who are my chosen family? Who are the people that are gonna be, like, at my birthday party saving me from myself? Like, who are they gonna be?" And you can't really fake that. And you definitely had that. Yeah. Okay. But now I'm moving on to drink.

Is it weird that I'm drinking Diet Coke? Honestly, like, I feel like—

No, I do. You are the first guest to have a soda and it isn't a clear glass. It is. We probably forced you to do. Yeah.

You know what? I'm so tired. I'm just tired. Now, is that a—

is that a straight up Coke or is it Diet Coke?

I mean, that's what was available. Yeah.

I was like, you're not drinking any, any judgment here. Sometimes you need a soda, like a little soda. Yeah. Are you a coffee drinker? Yeah. And why are you so tired? Too personal? No, I mean, what's going on with your sleep?

Let's get to it. God, I know, right? Look, I, I was like, I don't want to talk about perimenopause because this is like all I know. I just talked about my frozen shoulder. You're frozen. Which one is frozen? See, I brought it up again.

I said to I was like, "I'm not." I said, "I'm not gonna talk about it." 'Cause it makes me feel so old. And women out there suffering, you're not old, you're beautiful. But I am an old, old crone. I'm an old crony witch who can't lift her arm.

I'm trailing behind you. I'm right there.

And left, left shoulder. Millennials are just getting old. And I'm here to tell you as Gen X, first of all, welcome. Like, we welcome you. Thanks. Like coming on the other side of it is not bad. It's actually kind of nice to not be young, like considered young. It's kind of nice. But you have a frozen shoulder. But it's a nightmare for the body. It's a nightmare for the body. Every day. No. The body. I know.

It's happening. I don't know. I like, I don't actually drink soda. I am today.

You know what I mean?

Like, do you remember when you were a kid? You know the truth is that way you're like, uh-huh. Yeah. You're like, whatever it takes.

Yeah, let's try it. What is your sleep routine? What do you like to do? Like, how do you— talk to me about your nighttime routine.

My nighttime? Well, when I'm home, right? And I'm— too much travel. Yeah. Too much travel. What? Yeah. Yeah. Traveling for work. Oh yeah. The travel. Yes. Yeah. Too much. Like, oh my God, I was in Korea 2 weeks ago. 3 weeks ago.

This is why you're so tired.

But yeah, but what were you doing in Korea?

I was—

it was a film festival.

Well, speaking of Korea, and thank you for that transition. Past Lives. Yes. What? Greta. Yes. I believe I may have texted you. I think you did. I mean, that movie is spectacular. Your performance in it, everyone's performance in it. Céline is so beautifully directed. Yeah. It's just like, we were talking about it earlier today in anticipation of this, and we were just talking about the meditative quality of it, the rhythm of it, the music of it. It's like everyone is just, Everyone is watching and being watched at different times. It's this big, beautiful triangle. The actors are so great. You are so good in it. It is— It must feel so wonderful to be in such a good movie. Does it?

Yeah, it feels so good. It must. It feels so good. Of course. It's so good. It feels good to be in a good movie. It feels really good. You want it all the time.

That's what you want. I know. Your performance in it is so beautiful. All the awards. And like, I know the award season is long over. That's been many years. Did you win? I don't even know. Did you win? Shit.

No, I wasn't even nominated. What? Yeah, but you know, no one even knows that. No one. No one knows.

Yeah, no one knows. 100%.

No one ever members who won.

I couldn't have introduced you as Academy Award winner credibly. No one would.

And I wouldn't have said anything. I wouldn't have corrected you. No, no.

That's bullshit, of course. What is Celine like to work with?

It was her first movie. Crazy. I think it was her first time on set.

Celine Song, the director of Past Lives. So was it just collaboration city there?

Yeah, it was its own thing. Yeah, I'm never gonna have anything like that. Um, I felt like it's— I felt like, oh, we're, we're making something that is gonna be something. You did.

You felt it at the time.

You could, you could feel that. And it felt very, uh, yeah, extremely collaborative. She'd done a lot of theater, and it was so personal, and it was just— everyone was taking such a big risk too. Like, I had no idea if I was going to be able to act in Korean. Yeah. And, and also to— I'd never been the number one in a movie, the on the call sheet, ever before. I'd never done drama in that way. Like, I hadn't done realism. Like, okay, you, you'll understand this. I, I had— I realized this, this instinct that I needed to turn off where I would improvise my face off and I needed to turn. I needed to stop doing that where I would fill the silence with jokes. Can you imagine past lives with like, "Huh huh huh, what's that, bagel? Where'd you get that, Russ and Daughters?" Like, crap, crap, crap it!

You're speaking my language.

She'd be like, "Stop, stop that." I'd be like, "What?" Which is also such an immature response. Like, "What? What? I'm not doing anything." The whole idea that the camera was gonna stay on my face with nothing happening, I— it was like, I could not handle it. It's like, I would, I would be like, cut, cut, we got it. Like, what do you do? Just long shots, just looking out the window.

Yes. For so long. Yes. It's— that is— thank you for sharing that because Because I so relate. It is, like, my hardest thing to just be kind of, like, still in the moment. Like you said, sit in the kind of, like, in-betweenness of it all. And that film does that beautifully. Like, you— that dreamy quality of the in-betweenness of everything. Whatever you had to adjust, you adjusted perfectly. Because it is so— I recommend to anybody who has not watched Past Lives, Lives. I mean, it's my favorite kind of, like, melancholy, nostalgic, like, kind of happy-sad love dream. And yes, it was a side of you that, of course, I knew that you had, but I don't think a lot of people had got to see, which is, to your point, the kind of, like, space given to you and given to the project was really amazing. Yeah.

I feel like at one point, I counted how many seconds was the longest number of seconds that I've been in one room take, like, literally for the frame to— for it to stay on my face for longer than— I think it was like a couple of minutes. Yeah.

Which was really wild.

Well, you know what? It makes me— it leads me to the question that I like, and I want to form the right question because I— it's the idea of being looked at and watched in general, even though we're in this profession and you would think we would be comfortable with it. With it. And yet, what are we doing? What am I— you are fashion. Like, you are a fashion icon, Greta. I don't like people. You're basically a model. I don't— you were— you're so— you had the best clothes in the world. You're incredible at posing. Thanks. And there's something that comes over you.

Yeah. Where you like— it's acting. It's acting. It's like character acting.

Yeah. I like—

I think when— ever since I was really little, I just wanted to be a male character actor. Like, I wanted to be one of the guys. And I, and I think that posing on a red carpet is not anything close to, like, you know, De Niro, or like—

but okay, I'm gonna make a connection to De Niro. Uh-huh. Is when I see you being like— when, when we're all watching you on the— I'm just talking about, like, fashion carpet stuff, because it takes a certain like you have to kind of withstand the gaze, the male gaze usually, but just the general gaze, that you have this very solid foundation in that moment that is very De Niro-esque, which is, it's very baller. Like, you have a very, like, confident vibe. And you know, you have great style, and you know what you like to wear. I do. Where does that come from? Well, I have great people working with me. Also, you're fucking Calvin Klein ad. Jesus Christ.

Oh God. Oh God. Running, but you know, and not running.

But the abs, dude. The abs? Oh God. I mean, I don't wanna objectify you, but you—

What?

What is going on with your body? It's like you're so ripped. It was actually rude. It was actually rude for people. Um, okay, okay.

Um, Toy Story 5. Yes, Toy Story 5. From Calvin Klein to Toy Story 5.

Um, okay, Pixar! Yes! Is this your first time working with Pixar? Yeah. Can you talk about the character you are in Toy Story 5? Can we talk about it?

I play the villain, the main new villain.

Oh my God, exciting! I play an orc.

An iPad. No, that's right. I play— her name is Lily Pad. Oh, she's an iPad. Oh, wow. Yes, it was just fun. And, and the movie, the movie's so good. Oh, I bet. Really? Joan Cusack. Oh my God, Joan Cusack. I love her so much. What Joan does is just— I mean, oh my God. Gosh, I think I cried 6 times during a screening. It was really embarrassing, with her and Tim. And I was just crying.

Oh, God, I love a Pixar cry. There's nothing like it. This is such a good—

I think if you like past lives, you are going to love Toy Story 5.

I'm serious. That's an incredible tagline.

I'm serious. I'm serious. Oh! It's really good. It's really sad.

Oh, I think I might be trying to put together what you're saying, but that sounds amazing. Yeah. Oh, wow. Speaking of Joan and things, people that we love and people who make us laugh, I always ask my guests, who are you listening to? What are you watching? What video, TV show, movie? What are you reading? Anything that you're doing right now to like laugh and enjoy? High, low, does not have to be fancy. Yeah. Okay.

So are you ready? My, my, um, something that I literally just started watching is my friend, uh, Uh, sending me these YouTube stain removal videos. Okay, let's tell— let's look at them. Okay. Yeah, so there's, there's one guy in particular. I love stain removal. You love it too?

Yeah, love it. All right, here we go. Yeah, so what should we type in?

Um, ink stain removal. Ink stain. Ink stain. I mean, let's start with the, you know, the toughest ones.

Ink stain is the toughest one.

Okay, let's see. Gentleman's Gazette. Okay. The right ways to remove ink stains.

Okay, to remove ink stains. All right, so, uh, Gentleman's Gazette. Greta's been watching the right way to remove ink stains. Here we go again. I have got to get my commercials off YouTube. I think actually YouTube reached out and offered a thing, and I was like, I don't— this just seems too hard. What do you— what do you mean? Like, what do you mean I gotta get a new account? I mean, it just seems too much. Okay. Oh, cute. Yeah, right? Okay, so this is a nice gentleman named Preston. This is a stain removal emergency.

Go to this time to see our tips. Isn't that nice?

For everyone else, enjoy our standard "Intro." Yeah. Oh, so he tells you if it's an emergency, skip the intro.

And he's gonna tell you the first thing you need to do is make sure you get it off your hands. I love this guy already.

He's treating us like we're idiots.

But sometimes, if you found your way to this video, then it's nice. Really nice. And this is a condensed video.

Now, Preston is pulling out a fountain pen, which— Right.

Oh, you don't use a fountain pen.

You only sign your contracts in the fountain pen.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait, I know we're finishing up, but are you gardening now?

Are you getting into it? Thanks for asking. I am. I'm getting into it. I'm getting into it. Yeah. Like, what's going on? What are you making? What do you grow? Right now I've planted some lettuces, like easy, like lettuces.

Lettuce is hard.

Is it hard? Lettuce is hard? Lettuce is hard. Shit.

Lettuce is the hardest. It looks so easy.

It's already done.

Take it out. Take it out? It's the hardest. Just rip it out? Because it's too hot for lettuce here. Oh, damn. Because this will happen.

Oh, I'm not gardening here, honey. I'm gardening on the East Coast.

Okay, then you're fine. Here? No way.

Disgusting. Rip it out. Rip out the lettuce here. No, no, I'm doing it on the East Coast. But it's still going to be hot. Yeah. You're right. It does burn, doesn't it? And it bolts.

It flowers because it's too hot. And then—

Wow. It gets better. I like that we're ending with gardening because you love gardening.

I find it very gratifying. But now a lot of actors are doing it too.

And it's just like, "Oh, I love seeing it." You're an actor.

I am? Yeah. I am?

We just found out. Academy Award-winning actor. You heard it here first, Bethany. That's right. That's right.

Greta Lee.

Yep. Love you, Greta. I love you so much. Thank you so much for doing this.

Thanks for having me. Of course.

Thank you for my beautiful gifts of bounty.

I did. Yes! Enjoy it.

And my gorgeous, my gorgeous produce. Yeah, you can't eat that avocado anytime soon.

I can't. I really need to stay up with my shoulder.

Yeah. Thank you so much, Greta Lee. You are so funny and talented and beautiful, and it's just such a pleasure to get to talk to you. And, you know, Greta has done so many things and worked with so many great people, and we talked a little bit about Joan Cusack. Cusack today. So for this Polar Plunge, I just want to remind everybody yet again about the genius that is Joan Cusack. I mean, you know her from Sixteen Candles, from Working Girl, from School of Rock, High Fidelity, Broadcast News. Do yourself a favor, open up a bottle of wine and watch Broadcast News tonight. Albert Brooks, Holly Hunter, Joan Cusack. Zach, just film and comedy at its best. So, thank you, Joan. Thank you, Greta. Thank you all for listening, and see you soon. Bye! You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me, Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paperkite. For The Ringer, production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullin, and Alea Zaneh. Marris. For Paper Kite, production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.