Transcript of Robert De Niro

Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. This is a very, very special one. We have Robert De Niro with us today. Robert De Niro, the King of New York. If New York was a person, it would be Robert De Niro. And you know what Frank Sinatra sang? If you can make an interview with Robert De Niro work here, you can make an interview work with anybody anywhere. We are very, very excited that we have him. We're gonna talk about so many things. We're gonna talk about Goodfellas. We're gonna talk about him hosting SNL and what that felt like. We're gonna talk about how much he paid for his first New York apartment in rent. And we get into it. What a pleasure and a privilege to have Robert here. And because it is so special and he is so special, I'm doing something a little bit different. I'm gonna ask a few people to talk well behind his back and to talk to me about him because I just want— I want to get prepared. You know, like, he's such a good actor.

He prepares.

pairs so well, I wanna do the same. So, we're gonna talk to Rachel Dratch, my good buddy Rachel Dratch, who starred with him in the world-famous Debbie Downer at the SNL 50th. We're gonna talk to Seth Meyers, who is always an incredible friend and support, and who interviewed Robert Bob De Niro a couple of times. And we're gonna talk to Jane Rosenthal, his longtime producing partner, who started the Tribeca Film Festival with him, knows him so well and is gonna give us a question to ask Robert De Niro. So let's get started and see if we can get Dratchy on the Zoom.

Drooch!

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And I have a one who was a really good—

hey.

Rachel.

Hi.

Hi, bud.

Hold on, let me plug in my headphones.

Oh my God, headphones.

I can't ride the headphones any longer than they've already carried me.

Look at that.

Gross. Okay, well, that's there. But you know what, other than— oh, there's—

now there's another knot.

Overall good. Overall Counting this as progress. Wait, I'm just trying to think if I need better light.

Listeners, Rachel's just adjusting. I mean, at this point in our lives, why are we not surrounded by ring lights?

I know. You know?

Ah, yes.

That looks good. Also, nice lip.

Thank you. I put in an effort for you, Polar, with a lip. And that's about it. You get a lip.

You get a lip, babe. Trucci and I had dinner last night. So nice.

We did, yes.

Yay.

And, um, I told you that I was interviewing Robert De Niro and I needed some help.

I'm shy around big-name celebrities. And I don't know, I'm just gonna say this, you can use this or not, but Amy, I always thought you were very good when we were in Australia. You were very good at talking about— talking with celebrities when we were standing around like the hosts, you know. waiting for the scene or whatever, and I would be quiet as a mouse in the background. And so it's, it's good that you're doing this podcast because you're good at it.

Thanks, dude.

I'm glad it's not me interviewing De Niro. That's what I'm saying, because I'm— I just clam up.

But you're one of my close— one of my few close friends that has worked with him.

You guys have worked with De Niro. You shared the screen with Bobby. Bobby and I have shared the screen. Yes, that's true.

You have. You've shared the screen.

And tell Bobby I say hi, by the way. He's gonna be like, who? No. Um, Bobby. I'm now committed to calling Bobby for this.

Well, I'm gonna call him Bob because that's what—

okay.

And you know, there's nothing worse than anybody calling somebody by their first and last name. So Robert De Niro, what do you think?

Right?

I am nervous because he doesn't seem to really love to talk that much about himself. And also, he feels like our generation's actor. He really has been in everything we grew up watching. And that was— and his stuff was always a little too adult growing up. It was like his stuff was like The Scary Movie or the—

Violent.

Yes. His stuff was like, you felt like an adult when you got to kind of watch his stuff.

Yes.

You got to do some comedy with Bobby.

Yeah. Well, you know, I was thinking about this because not only did I get to do comedy, but he also hosted back when we were on the show way before. And I— what I was remembering about that is, I don't remember if I got to see with him, but I remember I submitted a scene where I was doing an impression of him, like in front of him at the table. And basically all my impression— well, you can't see this if you're listening, but my impression was just going like this. It was just like a face, and there's probably not much for listeners to describe. It's kind of like— Listeners, Rachel is doing an impeccable impression.

Well, it's a great one because you kind of back up, you close your eyes, and you kind of get your mouth open like, hey, you know.

That's all, that's all it was. Anyways, it didn't make it to air, surprisingly. But, um, uh, okay, so yeah, so I think we, you know, Paul and I were gonna write a Debbie Downer for the anniversary show And then like you get the list of like who's available out of all the stars. And then I think Paula was like, we got De Niro. Like De Niro with Debbie Downer was just like such an appealing prospect for us to imagine him.

To explain, what do you mean by list? Like just so people don't know, the SNL 50th, what do you mean there was a list?

Like there's a list of like who would be willing to be in a scene for an anniversary scene. So there's a list of the stars that were gonna be there that would be willing to, play in a scene. So, um, the combo of Robert De Niro having to deal with Debbie Downer was making us laugh a lot. So then when we found out we had him, we were really excited. And then we got to have him say— like, he was just trying to get a drink at the bar, and she's bumming him out. And I think our favorite line was about, like, her saying, you don't want to use a plastic straw because, um, microplastics are probably taking up residence in your testes. And then when he had his, like, flip out at me, he's like, I don't want to hear about the plastic in my balls. And then he went to throttle me. And, um, we wrote in that he, like, goes to strangle her. But then I was in the rehearsal, I was like, you know, if you want to actually strangle me, you can. So then he actually strangled me in the scene.

I was like, I'm getting strangled by Robert De Niro. This is like— no comedy person ever thinks that's gonna happen to them. So— That was a fun thing to experience.

I've told you and Paula this, but my favorite part is when he calls you Deborah.

Oh, yeah.

Deborah Downer.

Excuse me, Deborah. Yeah. But I kind of go out of body when I'm dealing with someone that's a huge icon. And I was definitely nervous about being in a scene with De Niro, even though he was perfectly nice. And he was giggling, and he was willing to be there. in this comedy land, of course. But I still get nervous knowing that it's De Niro! You know?

I would say one thing that you two have in common, Rachel—

What?

What could this be?

Is that you're both in an extroverted business, but you're quite shy.

Yes, that's true.

I think he's shy.

Luckily, Jimmy was there to smooth out all the social edges.

Yeah, Jimmy Fallon also in the scene.

He's very good at that.

He's really good at that. Well, I'm gonna bring up Debbie Downer, to him and talk to him about SNL. 'Cause I do think that, like, there is this comedic side that we, you know, we've gotten to see over the years. But my experience, similar to yours, is like a very kind of, like, fun and nice and quiet, giggly person.

Yeah.

Okay, Dratch, I'm gonna go talk to another person about Bob and try to get some more info and get ready for our interview. So, thanks, Druchii!

All right, thank you.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

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Hello?

Seth, are you wearing new glasses?

I'm wearing my cheaters.

Oh, that's right. You have cheaters now.

I think Paula Pell is the first person I ever heard say cheaters.

Seth, you look great.

Oh my God.

Thank you, Polar.

Did you get a facelift over the summer?

What are you doing? You always said you wanted me to announce on the pod because you used to say my face had a few parts that had a bad hang. You would point to different areas and say, that's a little bit of a bad hang.

Yeah, that's right.

Guess where I'm talking to you from?

Martha's Vineyard?

My childhood bedroom in Bedford, New Hampshire.

Whoa.

What other desk would there be a bobblehead of me at the update desk?

I bet your childhood bedroom is similar to mine, which is my parents have now put things about me in my childhood bedroom as if that would—

as if I would like that.

It's a living museum.

A living museum.

Yeah, like old press, like, like an old Time Out article from 1997 framed.

People don't know that at the White House, if you sleep in Lincoln's bedroom, it's a lot of clippings that Lincoln's mom saved. It's got the old shovel that he did his homework on. That's basically all it is.

Who made that bobblehead? When was that made?

Um, after you left, we got a lot of our own merch. I mean, you know, it's after you left. The fact that there's a literally It would be great if it had been a 2-person bobblehead and my mom had just sawed you out. That was the one time my mom learned how to solder.

What are you doing in your childhood home?

I'm doing a charity event in Manchester, New Hampshire. And I'm sure by the time this airs, it will be too late for anyone to buy tickets. But if you came, God bless.

Seth, and you asked me to ask you this, you do a lot of charity, yes?

I asked you to leave out the sort of the top of that. I am, I'm constantly doing charity. It's a little tiring.

Oh, I bet.

But, um, it's worth it. You know, I always say it's worth it. And, um, and my good deeds are the wind beneath my wings.

Yeah, it's what you get out of it. It's not the people you help.

Anytime I'm feeling low, I just think of all the good things I do.

Yeah, I know. And not the people, because you refuse to meet them.

Oh, I, you know, most of the charities are for pets. They're mostly animal-based. I feel like people can take care of themselves. People can take care of themselves. You get in the jam as a person, get yourself out of the jam.

Exactly. You're an animal. You don't know what you're doing.

Much of what's gone wrong for you as an animal is the fault of people, and I'm just doing my best to clean it up.

Well, you are doing an act of charity today, actually, because you are getting on and helping me because I'm going to speak to Robert De Niro. I'm quite nervous and you've already done it. And I—

Always nervous. I will say, I wish I could tell you not to be nervous. I've been nervous every time I've talked to him.

Okay. How many times have you spoken to him?

I think I'm at 20 times in my life because of his time on SNL.

Okay, sure.

I will tell you this, I've never been able to pull the trigger and call him Bob.

No?

No, I can't bring myself to do it.

It just feels—

it just feels too familiar for a legend.

So, should I just call him Robert De Niro?

Mr. De Niro?

Mr. De Niro. That seems too much.

I did do this once, and it was not— I did once call him Danny DeVito, and that— I cannot recommend enough, you don't do that.

Robert De Niro is like, um, everybody knows that name. He's so famous.

He's so famous. I, again, because, uh, I'm aware of how little you guys do, I did a little research before jumping on, and I looked back because he's our second— he's the— our second season is the first time he hosts. And so he's about 25 episodes into our run on SNL. I think he's the first True legend who hosted the show when we were there.

Yep.

And it's very surreal to work with legends. And the wonderful thing about when he showed up— and you— it never, it never reached the point where I was like, oh, he's just like us. But he, he laughed so hard at that table read.

Yes.

And he laughs just like Robert De Niro.

Yes, yes.

It's so much fun how much he laughs like Robert De Niro. And he laughs He's an incredibly generous laugher, to the point where if you early— if your sketch was early and he laughed at it, you might think you'd written a perfect sketch. And then like 25 sketches in, you're realizing like, oh, he's laughing at everything.

I want to try to get that energy today. I don't know.

So this is for anybody, for anybody about to listen to the interview. If Bob's not laughing—

Seth! Look, okay, it's—

maybe it's because he's so moved by the conversation.

Oh, well, I mean, trust me. Hey, a lot of people think I'm— might even say my best quality is my sense of humor. But when I did Good Hang, I was just choked up, crying most of the time. People still ask me if I'm okay.

Maybe I'll get De Niro to cry.

You think?

Maybe.

You never know.

We'll see.

Tell him you thought Grodin carried Midnight Run. Looking back, do you agree that Grodin's name should have been first on Midnight Run?

I just immediately burst into tears. Seth, get serious. I'm about to interview Robert De Niro, and I need—

Okay.

Okay? You've done it.

Here's something you should know before you interview Bob, and this is a genuine—

And you did just call him Bob.

I'm gonna call him Bob to you because—

Okay, okay.

Bob gives great answers. Uh, there's a lot of, uh, important information in his answers. I think he answers with authenticity. What he does not give are long answers.

Oh, no.

I'm just telling you, like— and I think it's one of the great things about Bob De Niro. When Bob has made his point, he has no need— like a lot of us do, you and I, I think— we'll overtalk.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

Oh, yeah.

An interviewer with us often is wondering when it's their turn to get a word in.

Often when we're being interviewed, we both see this, which is just someone going like, that's enough.

Or like this sometimes when they point at the watch.

Yeah.

I'm gonna guess, I'm gonna look into your future and think there's not gonna be a moment where you're gonna be like, oh my God, buddy, wrap it up.

Right. Like, maybe there'll be some moments where I go, and what else?

But again, what a thing. I mean, I feel like the fully realized Robert De Niro is not— he does not need to hear his— voice more than he feels is necessary.

No, I mean, I think it's something interesting to talk to him about is the idea of like, he seems quite introverted for such an extroverted job. I mean, he is like—

he—

it feels like his characters and his work is where he's able to like, you know, he's spoken about it. He's quite a shy person.

Yeah, it's very— and part of that, you know, shyness is I think what allows you and I to be intimidated. But the reality is he's not bored or put off by people. I think he is just genuinely shy. I know I've told this story, and I apologize if I've told it to you, but I remember the first table read we did with him. I ran to get in the elevator to go home on a Wednesday night, and I ran in not realizing he was the only other person in the elevator. And so then the door is closing. Again, it's only, you know, 17 floors, but it felt like the longest, uh, 'cause it was just me and Robert De Niro. And he was very, uh— he was complimentary too about how the day had gone, but like in very— in the fewest amount of words that you could be.

I mean, it's gonna be hard not to turn into Chris Farley and just be like, Dear Hunter, like, that was so good.

That's the problem with interviewing legends. I, in fact, the first time De Niro was on my show. He directed a movie called The Good Shepherd with Angelina Jolie and Matt Damon. I think he's only directed 1 or 2 things. I really liked it. It's right up Seth's alley. It's a CIA movie. I remember the first time he was on my show as a guest, I told him, hey, I really liked that movie. He was like, oh, thank you. Then the next time he was on my show, I think again, from that moment of not feeling awkward. Once again, I was like, hey, by the way, I really liked— and he's like, no, I remember. And it had been like 4 years. I'm like, oh right, like just because he's quiet doesn't mean he's not hearing you. But I like that he's like, yeah, what are you gonna tell me every time I'm here about a movie I did in 2006? And I'm like, I don't— I got nervous.

Well, he— yeah, I'm, I'm genuinely nervous. I don't get— you know, I think you're similar. I'm not Don't get that nervous. I'm sure with your— like, you've interviewed so many people, you probably— it's very rare that you probably get nervous, right?

Well, it's always that. It's always somebody who was, you know, iconic when you were young.

Yes.

That idea that not only are you talking to them, but you're talking to them because they, like, they got in a car and came to where you worked.

And yeah, and you look, you turn and look at them and you're like, you're talking to me?

Oh, very nice. And now you've blown it. Now you can't use it when he's there. I can't believe you blew— you have one, by the way. Every interview with De Niro, you get one, you're talking to me, and you just blew it.

I used 2 with you!

Oh my God, what a waste.

I already blew it.

Before we finish, Dratchy talked about, um, how fun it was to do Debbie Downer with, uh, with Robert De Niro. And, um, and I do want to talk to him about comedy because he's done a lot of it. And he's in a new one, Meet the Parents, another Meet the Parents, which is going to be a big hit. I'm sure. But what did you write when you were— when he was hosting? Do you remember stuff you wrote for him?

You know what I wrote? And I did it twice. And this is a wonderful callback. If we were doing a Herald right now, this would be the last beat. I did a sketch called Pranksters, where I played a kid on Nickelodeon who hosted a prank show. And the first time I did it with Walken, and the second time I did it with De Niro. And the game was that older gentleman had recorded their pranks, and their pranks were vicious in nature. And so, it would be like a kid would come on first, and his prank would be like, I put a rubber— you know, Catan would be like, I put a rubber spider in my teacher's drawer. And then De Niro would come out, and his neighbor borrowed his lawnmower, so he hid in his garage and then cut him up with a chainsaw. And the thing I'll remember about it, or the thing I do remember about it, is, uh, Jim Signorelli, Uh, commercial parody director, SNL legend. You know, again, we filmed the first take and Robert De Niro got covered in, you know, whatever pudding-type substance was supposed to be blood. I just like— they just sprayed him with it.

And I remember Jim was like, all right, let's clean him up and take it from the top. And I was like— and, uh, De Niro just looked at me and said, uh, did we get it? We get it? And I was like, yeah, yeah, we got it. He goes, okay. Goodbye.

Just like—

again, like, it was a perfect take, but I had this moment of like, I don't want to have written a thing that makes Robert De Niro take a full shower to shoot a second take. And again, we just did a Lonely Island podcast about the party at Mr. Bernard's, which was—

That's right. That's right.

Um, what is it? Weekend at Bernie's, where he basically, like, was just happy to play a corpse.

And then the last thing I'll say is we couldn't get Martin Scorsese to do this, but those glasses do look a little bit Scorsese-like. Will you just— and I know this might feel weird, but we're gonna do something to the Zoom where we're gonna pretend that you're Martin Scorsese for a second.

This whole time?

Good, good, good.

Yeah. Hey, Bob, he's the best. I love working with him. Oh, my God. Ask him about this. Ask him about that.

Bob.

He's the best!

Thank you. That's perfect. We're gonna put that on a loop.

Um, and then I— uh, is this weird? Could you just cut that up and send it to Lauren with, like, an email that says, why didn't you let him do more impressions?

Totally. Yes.

And you know what?

I'll also send it to Martin Scorsese and be like— No, no, no, no, no, no. Seth Lee, I miss you. Before— I know this is weird, but show us all the inside the drawers of your childhood bedroom.

I'll show you. I'm gonna show you.

Just show us one thing. Oh, what do we got?

And this is from '82 Champs.

Oh, that's you.

Yeah, flag football.

'82 Champs.

People forget in '82, uh, people wore jeans. It was a big time.

You're, you're playing football.

Career-ending injury at '82.

What happened?

I was 9 years old and, uh, I think they said it was, uh, lady wrists.

I can't remember what.

All right, Seth Lee, I miss you. I could talk to you forever. Thank you for Zooming from your childhood bedroom, and thank you for, for helping me out with this because it is a big deal. This is a big interview, and I appreciate your help.

I would love you to start by saying Seth says hi, and if you don't Be very offended.

Be very mad. And I'll tell him that you loved his movie. I'll tell him again and I'll say he thinks you forgot.

I say Seth would love to tell you he likes something else you've done, but it's really, that's just it.

Thanks so much for doing this and I'll let you know how it goes. Hi, Jane.

Amy. Hi.

Thank you for doing this. Great to see you. I mean, I feel like, um, you do so much great work for the city. So much great work for the industry, and so much great work with Bob. You and Bob have worked together for what, 30 years?

Longer?

37, almost 38, but who's counting? I mean, there was a period he was— we were doing so many things together. I remember him calling me one day and saying, what do you think about exposed brick? And I said, um, is that a script I'm supposed to read? Actress I'm supposed to meet? He said, no, in your office, I thought we should sandblast the walls.

Exposed Brick, a new thriller.

Yeah, exactly.

So we, we do this thing here where we're— we, we always try to speak to somebody who knows our guests to get a little bit of insight before we talk to them. And I imagine, more than most people, Bob has a lot projected on him. And what do people get wrong about him? What is one of the best things about him that people don't know?

He's funny. He's got lifelong friends. You can tell who somebody is by how long they keep their friends. And he's had the same— group of friends going, like, way back. And he's funny, and he loves a good conspiracy theory.

Oh, we should get into some of those.

You know, and he loves, um, he loves good food. And it was during Irishman, and, um, we premiered at the London Film Festival, and then We were supposed to stay over, and he was like, no, let's go to Paris. A group of us, you know, let's go to Paris. And we got on a plane. It was probably like 11 o'clock at night. And there was some restaurant that he insisted we go to. Of course, the place was closed, but they said they were closing or whatever. And it was like, oh, but, you know—

Bob's on his way.

Bob De Niro.

Yep.

We're gonna keep it open.

We're gonna keep it open. And okay, aside from we were jet-lagged, we had, like, the London Film Fest. So there we were sitting in this restaurant 'cause he had to try, you know, whatever. And it's like 1:00, 2:00 in the morning, and—

And you're knee-deep in snails at this point.

Yes, exactly. But, you know, he loves it. He loves trying new things.

I mean, that's the— you know, ever since the origin of his— Art, like artist parents. Like, I do feel like he enjoys, he's like an aesthete. Like, he enjoys beautiful things and things done well and people who are good at their jobs and like in a lot of different mediums. And I know you're the same way too. I mean, that's where Tribeca, the Tribeca Film Festival, now celebrating its 25th year, is exactly that. It's like a, a compendium of talented people who have all different kinds of points of view. And you're, you know, using your currency to support their visions, basically. It's, it's really, it's really something.

Thanks. We try.

Is there a question, um, you have for him today? Something you'd wanna know, big or small, something that you think he wants to talk about? Also, what does he not like to talk about?

Uh, he probably doesn't like to talk about like, how did you gain weight and lose weight?

I love it. I love this.

Fantastic.

You just saved me 25 minutes of—

Yeah.

I mean, I feel like Bob doesn't even really like to talk about acting.

You know, he's been famous for so long. And like, so, you know, how do his kids look at him? He shows his daughter, Helen, a lot of movies. They haven't— and he goes to movies with Helen.

How old is Helen?

Uh, 14.

So, that would be a nice question. What have you and Helen watched lately that you've liked together?

Yes. As opposed to he and Gia, who's 3, and he goes off about Miss Rachel.

Amazing.

Maybe we can get Bob to talk about his favorite Miss Rachel moment. Um, that's a great question. Like, 'cause I would like to know what he's watching and responding to and, you know, Because, you know, if you're a New Yorker, you know, it's about the present moment. Like, this city moves fast, and it keeps moving, and things change, and you have to stay present and current always.

The one thing about Bob that I find so, like, amazing, if you say— if you said to him, okay, well, on Taxi Driver, on A Bronx Tale, on Silver Linings, I mean, just almost on— Any movie, like where you shot the movie on 6th Avenue. No, no, we really shot it on 8th Avenue, and it was the northeast corner, and it was this little deli that's still there. It used to be a Smiler's, and now it's a this. We were on the second floor, and you couldn't go. I mean, he goes into such— I mean, he has a photographic memory. There's certain things he doesn't.

Remember.

But he is like, why he calls me sometimes, he'll like call me and then say, do you have anything you needed to tell me? And I'm like, no, you called me. Oh, when I remember, I'll call you back. I mean, it's— but he's, you know, he can pretty much tell you where things were shot up to the exact corner and what was on it and what's on it now.

Oh, that's fantastic to know. That's really helpful. These are great questions. And, and, and thank you for helping me prep for this interview.

I'm a huge fan of yours and huge respect. So thank you.

Thanks so much, Jane. Great talking to you. And I hope I see you soon.

Thanks. Bye.

Bye.

I have to say, I know you don't love interviews. Thank you for doing this. I'm already worried that nobody told you that you were doing this today.

Well, I looked on my schedule. I said, oh, God.

So, but I'm You were like, how can we get out of this? No, because we're gonna talk. But I know, like, you're, you know, you've described yourself as kind of a shy person at times. And I don't think you like to talk very much.

Sometimes I don't.

Yeah.

Well, I know, what's the point?

Okay, well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask you a favor.

To talk a little more?

Just a little bit more. I get paid by the word. If I don't get— if I don't meet my word count by the end of this interview, I'm screwed. I think it's really interesting that you've described yourself as a shy person and a shy kid because I think there's a lot of introverted people in this business, and I don't think people always assume that about people that are actors. Would you consider yourself an introverted person?

In some ways, I am. Yeah, some ways I am. Okay. We have to talk more about that. Depending on the situation.

Okay. We need at least 10.

Okay. Let me have to know. I have to come up with something.

We need at least 10 more words every sentence. Yeah. Okay.

Let's see. I have to fill the quota.

Okay. Were you a shy kid?

I was quiet sometimes, but when I would have to speak up, I would. And I think being an actor, it allows you— I always used to say this and still say it— allows you to be other characters that you— would normally not know at all. This way, it gives you a little taste of what they would be like and that experience would be like. And so, without having really to pay a price, though you're aware of the price, whatever that character's price is, you know.

You know, when I'm around people who are quiet, 'cause there is a difference between quiet and shy.

Yep.

When I'm around people that are quiet, I mean, I notice that a lot is projected on them. And then also, I feel like a responsibility to keep quiet.

Right.

Does that happen to you a lot?

You mean with me?

Yeah.

Yeah, I don't mind that.

I bet.

'Cause you talk and I can just sit and listen. I have friends who like to talk a lot and we get along real well.

Well, we're gonna get along great 'cause there's gonna be a point in this interview where people are gonna be listening to it and being like, Amy, please be quiet. But preparing for today and, you know, We're talking about— we're in New York City. You know, you're celebrating 25 years of Tribeca Film Festival. I feel like there's no other person that personifies the city more than you. It's like if the city was a person, it would be you. And I'm sure you've been told that, but it really is true. There is a directness and a sense of the present moment in you. There's a— you know, New Yorkers are not necessarily overtly friendly, but they're secretly kind, which—

Yeah. I'd say, yeah.

Yeah.

And there's an ambition and drive that you've had throughout your entire career. And your history of being in New York, I'm always fascinated by kids that grew up in New York. It just seems like a fairy tale.

What was it like?

What was your neighborhood like? What was it like when you were a young person? Could you describe it to me?

Well, I grew up in the Village. You know, it was— I hung out in Little Italy for years. And that's how I know Marty Scorsese. And Marty hung out with his other friends on another street, and I hung out with my friends.

What street were you on, and what street was he on?

He was on around Prince and Mott, as I remember, and Elizabeth, where he lived. And I was on Kenmare and Mulberry, or Broome sometimes and Mulberry.

Well, I mean, it's really amazing you grew up with 2 artist parents. Like, you know, you had both your parents were artists. Your mom was a poet and a painter. Your dad was a painter. Like you were around—

And a poet too.

And a poet too. You were around art all the time.

Yeah.

And I know art's still really important to you. When you were growing up in New York, do you remember that art scene? Like, did you ever meet Warhol?

No.

You never went to the Factory?

No.

You ever see like a fam— I mean, I mean, in New York you always see somebody walking past you. Did you ever meet a famous artist during that time?

No, I wasn't too much really into art. It was 'cause my father and mother, you know, he'd take me to a gallery that he had— that he was owed money by, um, uh, from. And, um, and that was it. I mean, it wasn't, uh— yeah.

I mean, I know when I moved to New York, I saw Lou Reed walk down the street, and I remember thinking, okay, I'm in the city. Was there somebody that you used to see in the city and be like, that's like a quintessential New Yorker?

No. When I was a kid, I saw Alan Arkin once. I think Alan was from— he was from New York, I'm sure. I'm not sure where, but maybe he was Long Island, but he's a New Yorker in spirit.

He has my favorite line in Glengarry Glen Ross in the film when he says, Shoes, boots. Yes. You know that line?

No, I mean, maybe.

Yeah, well, I guess I know Mamet better than you is what we're finding out.

I mean, I saw the original production with Bobby Duvall and John Savage, and I'm forgetting who else.

Oh, John Savage. Incredible. You and I do have one thing in common, which is I think our first semi-professional productions of something was was from a similar show. You were the Lion, the Cowardly Lion in Wizard of Oz in 4th grade.

When I was 10, yeah. Maybe. Yeah.

Okay. And I was Dorothy around that time. And I'd like to know what you brought to the role of the Lion.

I don't know. I liked it. I said my lines. And that was the part I was given.

Okay, okay. It's a funny part.

Yeah, it's good.

It's a good song.

Yeah.

Did you sing too?

I don't know. I didn't know that part. I didn't do— yeah, it was— it's been so long. I was 10.

So the last question in that, in that time frame that I wanted to ask you is, it felt like you knew from a very early age what you wanted to do.

Yeah, and all in all, I did. I was sort of drifting in that direction or gravitating in that direction.

And do you find as you get older— I know I do— that It's one of the things you wish for anybody, especially your children, is just do whatever you want to do. Just know what you want to do.

Know what you want to do and do it, and do it as well as you can.

Yeah, totally.

You know? And if you really like it, you'll try to do it as well as you can.

You started out doing, in the very early— in your early films, like a lot of comedy. Can you do a couple?

Like— Well, I did Greetings, Hi, Mom! with De Palma. And then another comedy we did was The Untouchables years later.

You know a little thing about The Untouchables? Do you know what I'm gonna say? Oh, maybe not. I don't think he worked with you, actually, but there was a gentleman in The Untouchables, this guy named Del Close, who says the titular line in the movie. He says, you think you're untouchable, don't you?

Del Close, yeah.

I think his scene is with Eliot Ness, with Costner. And he was a Chicago actor. And he formed an improv theater that I— studied at in Chicago. Are you from Chicago? Well, I grew up in Boston, and then I moved to Chicago after I graduated college and studied at Second City.

Yeah.

Oh, great. Yeah.

And he had this, like, kind of new theater called— at the time, it was called Improv-Olympic. It was an improvisational theater. And Del's kind of one of his, like, brush with greatness, claim to fame, is he's in The Untouchables.

Okay.

Great movie.

Yeah, I enjoyed doing it. I am— so there's Viola Spolin and Paul Silva.

Oh, yes.

But that's ahead.

That's ahead of you though.

Yeah, that is ahead.

That was a little ahead of me.

Um, you know, Del Close used to talk about Nichols and May.

Yeah.

And that, and that like Second City being formed. And back then there was a— I don't know if you ever were involved— like there was a big kind of controversy about whether or not improvisation was its own art form or a tool, a means to an end. Did you ever do improv when you were—

Well, improv in movies and with De Palma, you know, in Greetings and Hi, Mom. You kind of—

Yeah.

Um, and other movies here and there, or you have the script, but you can go off it as long as you make the points and don't get off on a tangent and stay in the right direction. It's okay.

Do you like to get it as scripted first and then improvise? I know directors like to—

Well, I mean, some directors will tell you to improvise, give you the situation and tell you to improvise. I worked with a director who would, um— we'd sit down in the camper and go over what was written.

Yeah.

And then he'd say, well, what do you think about this? And it was kind of loose. He opened it up, and it worked out.

Yeah. I feel that way about improv. Sometimes it's exciting to be allowed to do it, and other times it feels like, oh, this is a little too loose.

Yeah, yeah. You got— you don't— the one thing that I don't like seeing is a movie that goes off in a direction, and that maybe the director likes what they're doing, but they let it go too far, too long, it goes off on another tangent, and you forget why you're— what the situation is. And that's important.

Or like everybody's speaking the same way.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah. I— we used to make a joke when we were doing this TV show that I was in, Parks and Recreation. We used to make a joke like, do you want us to do a take that's longer and less funny?

Right.

We'll give you that.

Yeah.

Speaking of your work, Mean Streets, Deer Hunter, Goodfellas, The Godfather II, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear, Wag the Dog, King of Comedy, Analyze This, Silver Linings Playbook, Meet the Fockers. No questions, just great job.

Thanks.

I just want to ask you—

You're very nice.

Well, I have a hot take.

You're the best actor of our generation.

But I think there's just, like, so much to talk about in all those films. And I know they're like, you know, so many of them are different parts of your life. Do you watch your old films ever?

No, but I've always been wanting to watch all the movies I did from the latest one all the way down or the other way, the earliest ones, just go through them all. But it takes— it's more easy— it's easier said than done.

That would be like your own festival.

Yeah. I just, you know, I'd make comments, and somebody said, well, you know, I'll write. A friend said, you know, I'll write.

Oh, that's a great idea.

I wasn't sure, but there's no downside to doing that. To just knowing— I wanted to get a sense of what I've done, where I, you know, and where I could go. What's missing in that that I can do? make a choice of something different.

That's interesting to look at your body of work and also to visit old friends. I imagine what it must be like.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Can I ask you about— so, I won't get deep about it 'cause, again, we don't have the time, but— and we want to talk about the present stuff that you're doing. But can I ask you about one specific scene in one specific movie?

Yeah. Okay.

So, Goodfellas, a lot of people's top 5 favorite movies. It has stood the test of time. Incredible. Incredible cast, incredible performance by you and so many people in that film. There's that wonderful scene with you and Lorraine Bracco where Lorraine is playing the wife of Ray Liotta, and she's kind of worried that he's fallen out of favor with the rest of the organization.

Right.

And you, Jimmy, you kind of play his patriarchal— what would you say?

Uncle in a way?

Like his— mentor?

Yeah, kind of his mentor.

Yeah.

And there's a scene where she comes to try to get some help from you, and you ask her to walk down an alley to go get some Dior clothes that you got for her. And there's a— it's just, it's a perfect example of real tension.

Yeah.

Can you tell me what you remember about shooting the scene that day? I think it's a perfect scene.

Well, the thing that I was concerned about is just that, as Marty was, as I can remember, is just that You don't know what he really is doing. Is he setting her up or not? So, it's just making this— which happens in life too, in that way. You know, the same thing. God, man, it's okay. You know, just be very casual. And God knows what'll happen to you. Could be nothing. It could be something.

Did you make a decision as an actor to know what you thought was gonna happen?

I think I thought more that something would happen.

Yeah.

And that— but my main thing is to make sure to act as if everything's good, you know? Just go in, you know?

It's such an incredible lesson in how to create suspense and tension, and also to remind people that people don't often telegraph what they're gonna do.

No, not at all.

I mean, you never telegraph, Bob. Can I call you Bob?

Yes.

I should've started it out, you know? But you— I mean, never. There's never— we never— ever see you ever doing that. Even— you're never indicating. It's just— and it's one of the millions of examples of that, I think, in that scene.

Well, it's important to not— you know, indicating in acting is indicating. And so you say to an actor who's— you just watched a scene or something, not in a negative, critical way, but you can't— you don't indicate, or you are indicating. So it's better not to. You know, in life, people don't do that. They just do— they're very good actors. People And it's life, and it's real. And the way you behave, it could be life-dependent.

For me, it was a great example of a woman's intuition. She has an intuition there that's very strong that she listens to that saves her life. And then she comes home and says, I don't know. And she's starting to kind of gaslight herself a little bit. Like, I don't know, I just got scared. You know? And it's— I think, a beautiful journey for her character of, like, what's real. When you do a scene like that, what is Martin Scorsese's— like, how do you know you got it? What does he say?

I can't remember. It's been a while. But I think Marty basically said, you know, you're gonna go— she wants to go in there. You want her to go in there. You're gonna— and I forget what But the whole thing is to show the ambiguity. We don't know. We don't know. We see it very possibly something could happen, but at the same time, it couldn't. So, that's part of the whole reason the scene is done, or one piece of it.

Do you like when a director says, we got it?

I don't hear it too much. We got it.

What?

Really?

Well, it's okay. It's good. Or this or that.

You just like when they go, it's okay.

We got it. Well, you could say, we got it, I guess, but depends on the scene and what it is.

You like when they say, like, it's good.

We're good. We're good. It's good.

We're good.

We're good.

Yeah.

But low-key.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I mean, just— and you know that, say, Marty says he's happy with how we talk. We got this piece, we got that, da-da-da. He'll say, yep, yep. We're good. Yeah, yeah. I say, okay.

Yeah, yeah. And that happens in a second, and, like, you just mumble that to each other.

Yeah.

suspicious of people that are like— I guess I'm projecting, but I'm a little suspicious sometimes when people are too, like, I don't know, when they're flattering me.

Sure. Well, you know, it's funny. I don't mind the— when a director or somebody tries to tell you very good or certain types of— that's good. And Because it's like when I was— I did The Last Tycoon with Elia Kazan, and we came out of a looping stage, and he said, you know, that was great. 'Cause he was like, you know, that was really— just gotta— I said, well, thanks. I feel good, even though I'm not sure you really meant it, but I'm happy. He got a little offended. He thought I didn't believe him. I said, no, no. I said, the effort is the most important thing. You know, it's like telling your child when they do something, they show you something, isn't that nice?

That's right.

That's great. You know, oh, boy, I'm so proud of you. You know, it's real. You believe it. It is.

That's right.

It's true. I know what you mean. And it's a fine line, though. It's a fine line in that moment. But as a director, you must also feel the urge sometimes to take over if somebody's not a strong captain.

Well, I don't like to be in that situation.

Right.

You don't put yourself in the situation. I don't put myself— if I'm in, I'm in with the director. Maybe certain things, but I don't— ...trust them and they trust me, and I'm not gonna mess with them and play games, you know? We have an objective to achieve, and we're there working together. We don't want to waste time, you know, with any nonsense.

And the other thing, in the many years of incredible work that you've done, again, which we could talk about forever, what are some skills that you had to learn for parts that you still, like, that you still maintain or retain?

Well, I practiced a lot with the saxophone in New York, New York. But I never kept it up. And I regretted that. Because I did work very hard on it. I did everything phonetically. But it's the skill. That you can't take away. I mean, that's real. So I just wish I had made it something that I would practice. Even half an hour every day to keep—

I feel that way about like instruments. I can't— it's so embarrassing. I can't play an instrument. Can you play any other instruments?

No. I wanted to play the piano, but it's one thing to want to play it. It's another thing to do it.

I know.

The piano feels like an instrument when you sit down at it, you think, I'll be able to play this.

Yeah.

And then you can't.

No, I wish. My mother tried to make me take piano lessons when I was 5, and I had no interest in it. It was drudgery.

Yeah.

I wish I was— I wasn't smart about it.

Yeah, I do regret not being able to play an instrument. Well, there's still time, Bob.

Yeah, there is. There is.

Right?

Okay.

And then do you ever use TikTok? Because I want to show you something. Do you know what a thirst trap is?

No.

Okay, so it's basically like hot pictures of people. But TikTok loves you, and they make videos of you, of you in different movies. And can I show you one?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's gonna make you feel great.

Oh, good.

I mean, I feel like these are, these are to make people feel good, and this one is specifically for you.

But look at this.

It's usually sexy music.

Look.

These are young pictures of you and young kids making this.

Kids doing it, yeah.

Wow.

Look, look at you.

Yeah. Oh yeah.

Listeners, Bob is staring at this as if—

look.

Yeah.

I don't know, I guess just good job at being so handsome.

Oh, well, thanks.

Let's talk about some comedy stuff because we met, I think, for the first time, or at least in my mind for the first time, although I'm sure in various early times when I moved to New York, I probably, you know, followed you down the street without you knowing. But at SNL, 2002, you've hosted 3 times.

Yes.

You obviously have done it more than once 'cause you liked it. What do you like about doing it?

What I like about it is that it's so fast, you can't— it doesn't give you time to think. And you gotta change, get into different costumes, this and that, boom, boom, boom, boom. They've got the cards for you. It's so fast. If you, you know, you cannot worry about failing, if you will, whatever that means, and just have fun with it.

Yeah. I have a real... image stuck in my mind of Donna, the woman who pulls you around and changes you.

Do you remember that? Yeah, right. Is she still there?

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

She's incredible.

Yeah, yeah.

She's kind of the one that should write the book.

She knows. No, exactly.

She's seen everybody naked.

Exactly.

And she, I remember us doing a, it was my second year. I started in 2000. That show after 9/11 was my first SNL.

Oh, wow.

you hosted, I think, first in 2002. You were being pulled by Donna while you were dressed as Siegfried, I think, from Siegfried and Roy.

Oh, okay. God.

Do you remember that?

No, but I should look at those episodes.

Better not to look.

Yeah, probably not.

Maybe when you go back over your canon of work, just skip that. Let's keep that out. And one thing I'll say is, Like, you know, you are a person that people like to do impressions of. Is that weird?

No, I mean, it's kind of flattering. Alec Baldwin does really good impressions. Oh, he has a great impression of you. And I— and one that he did— he was on— I forget what talk show he was on, and he was saying— commenting on the Godfather reunion with me and Al and Bobby Duvall and Francis and Talia Shire and Jimmy Caan and everybody. Did you see that? And he said, you know, they're talking, De Niro and Al, they're talking. He's just making— the way he makes fun of you is just hysterical. You know how we're all mumbling, you don't know what the hell we— he can't understand what we're saying.

Well, you have— what I love about you, Bob, is when you're laughing and when you're upset, it looks like the same face.

Oh, okay.

It's kind of— you're a quiet laugher.

No.

Right?

Would you say?

Yeah.

Yeah. I mean, sometimes if it's— I would have a more, a more boisterous laugh. Depends.

Yeah.

Okay. Okay. We're almost done. We're at 45 minutes. I like you. I like to know how long things are gonna take. So we're almost done. Okay, so here we go. I feel like a lot of your career has been defined by lasting partnerships, people that you've met and continue to work with. And I think it is a sign often of somebody's character that they maintain friendships and partnerships throughout their life.

Yeah.

You talked a little bit about Martin Scorsese and the ways that you guys have— it's really something that you grew up around the corner from each other. Mean Streets was based on people that you knew.

Yeah.

What is it like to have a friend in this business for this long?

I think it's great. And I would always say it's kind of amazing that Marty and I were aware of each other. We had a mutual friend who passed away, but he was— may he rest in peace. He was— I did a movie called Alto Nights, and I— he— Marty and I did the same thing. Well, he— there's a documentary about him. It was at Lincoln Center. When they wrote the script, Nick Pileggi wrote this, I said, how do you know about this place called the Alto Knights? Uh, he said, well, I, I, you know, I was a crime reporter down there, and a reporter, and I knew this— that social club was there. I said, that's a place I used to hang out in.

Yeah.

When I was a kid. And so, my friend, one of my friends, Butch, he, he remembered things that I had forgotten what went on there and stuff like that. So, it was interesting. And they were terrific in the movie, so that was a nice thing.

Nick, I would love to meet Nick. And I would have loved to have met Nora.

Yeah.

Yeah. Meryl Streep.

Meryl, yes.

You know, she claims that you're not very good at charades.

Do you have a response? Yes, I know. I heard that. Yeah. I probably am not. I think we did it somewhere. I was not inspired. And that's my fault.

Well, you can try harder next time.

I will.

I will.

Where did you meet her for the first time? You saw her on stage?

Meryl, I went with Mike Cimino to— and it's funny 'cause I went to the Devil Wears Prada thing, and we had— at Lincoln Center, and they had the tent right across from where I saw her do The Cherry Orchard, I think it was, with Raul Julia. And Mike Cimino and I went because we were— for that part they gave her for The Deer Hunter.

Yeah.

So, that's the first time. I don't even know if we went backstage. I'm not sure. But she, you know, she had it.

You have worked together a lot in many different ways. What's so wonderful about working with her?

Meryl's a great actress and so skilled and smart and just terrific and very funny and a great sense of humor. And she's just a wonderful person.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Ben Stiller. You're back with Ben again. You've done quite a few features with him.

Yeah.

Does he still run all the time? Does he run every day still?

He's in good shape. He is.

He runs a lot.

I guess he does. I don't know. I see him run to and from the set. No, I'm kidding.

I wouldn't.

But he does something.

You guys are very, very funny together. What's been your experience of working with Ben?

Well, Ben, he has a way— ...of when you— when he reacts to what you say, which is kind of a funny line, say, my character, Jack, he'll go, uh-huh. Oh, yeah. He has a way of commenting on what you just said, saying that it's not too smart, a little stupid, but, uh-huh, I'm giving you the respect. But he has a way of commenting on it. And so there's 3 different things, 4 different things going on at once in his reaction, and he's very funny.

Yeah. The status between the two of you is just such funny— comedic fodder. And you join him again in your new film, Focker in Law, with Ariana Grande, who was in here, who was a delight. What did you think of working with her?

Ariana was terrific. Nice, nice young lady. Terrific.

Yeah.

A real pro.

Perfect for it.

And Jane Rosenthal.

Jane. Well, Jane and I worked together for 37, 38 years. And we had a thing last night at— the Chanel party, and we did like a tribute to her for all the things together.

Congratulations on that 25 years of the Tribeca Film Festival. Amazing, like, way to amplify new voices and to use your currency. I mean, it's, you know, it's really— I mean, I was speaking to Jane earlier, and we were saying it's wild how everything is now 25 years ago, 35. I mean, it's like, I know. It's been a really, it's been a really, really— I mean, it always is an intense period in New York, but the past 25 years have been something else.

Yeah, they have.

Um, so before we get into that, and, and Jane had a question for you, I, I got very quick, um, this is, this is speed round, hot takes.

Okay.

Okay, it can be slow round.

Okay.

But, um, NYC hot takes. Do you remember the cost of rent of your first apartment?

I think it was $75.

Where was it?

On Irving Place.

Was it a studio?

One bedroom?

A walk-up. Yeah, one bedroom.

One bedroom, $75.

It might have not even been a one bedroom. It might have been just one room that you put a bed in there.

Favorite New York museum?

The Metropolitan and the Museum of Modern Art.

Do you have any art that you— any paintings that you go back to? Like, that— like, are your— like, you know?

No, no, I don't. But my mother or father might have something in the Museum of Modern Art. I think. I'm not 100% sure.

Really? But you don't know?

I know Emma Jane would remind me. But I think, yeah.

MoMA, if you're listening, let us know.

Yeah.

Sushi order. What do you order? What's your favorite?

Well, I always say black cod, but black cod is good. Nobu.

Nobu. And pizza order. What do you get when you get a slice?

As long as it's a good pizza place, I'm happy.

What kind of pizza do you like?

Just plain? Pepperoni is fine.

Pepperoni.

Okay.

And New York restaurant, best New York restaurant that you don't own? 'Cause you own a few.

One that I'd say, I don't wanna say because I don't wanna give it away.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't wanna blow up the spot as the kids say.

Yeah.

Which you would know if you were on TikTok. When you get into taxis, do people quote Taxi Driver?

Here and there, very little.

Yeah.

But I don't get in cabs, but maybe once in a while or an Uber or something.

Yeah, yeah. But you don't get in cabs.

No.

Yeah, yeah.

In the street too anymore.

Yeah.

And when you walk down the street, you like to walk in the city, everybody does. You've spoken about how, like, there's, you know, the best thing about the city is you can just be blending in and part of it. Nobody bothers you. Nobody cares.

People have peripheral vision, and if they see somebody physically like me, I'm older and stuff, I look like an older guy, you know? So they're not gonna— Not on TikTok.

Huh? Not on TikTok.

But they're not gonna look at you. Their peripheral vision doesn't make them interested. interested in looking at you anyway. So I just walk and nobody— I get not recognized much.

Do you listen to any music when you walk? Are you a podcast person?

I like to listen to music in the car. I ride around a lot in the car because I have to go here and there, and then I read the paper and listen to music. I listen to oldies. Well, oldies, certain oldies from the '70s.

Yeah, best era for music.

Yeah, I mean, that's— there's a station I listen to on SiriusXM That's '70s and '80s, like— Yeah, it's got music that I used to always hear and listen all the time. It was almost unconscious, you know, it was just so much, brought back so many memories. And as it does now, it's Channel 16, The Blend, it's called.

I know exactly what that channel is. It's great.

Yeah.

Yeah. It's the music that we like had our lives to. Yeah. And then last question is, we spoke to— we always try to talk to somebody who knows our guest. We get like, you know, we kind of talk well behind their back. And Jane and I were talking earlier today, and we were talking about the festival and talking about you two and your long history together. And, you know, she just— I thanked her as I would like to thank you for, you know, the film festival, Well, it started at a time when the city was really hurting. And that coincided with, for myself personally, starting SNL. It was like, okay, being on a live sketch variety show during a time when New York was really— had just suffered through 9/11. And it was like the city really needed you and Jane and so many others New Yorkers stepped up for the city during that time, and I know a lot of people were grateful for it. And I asked Jane to ask you a question. And she had a sweet one, which was, what have you and Helen, your 14-year-old, seen recently that is—

She—

you know, I'm trying to tell her that we should look at movies. She looks at things like Stranger Things, which got me into it. I saw a movie called Housemaid.

Yeah?

It was good.

Yeah.

Yeah. I saw another movie that she— you know, I'm walking by her while she's watching, and I say, that's not bad, that movie. And there's something in just walking by, I get a sense of the film, then I say, yeah. But I don't like to look at those, though I wind up looking at them 'cause she wants to look at them. I'd rather find classics that she could look at, or movies, um...

Did you show her anything that she liked? 'Cause it's— I have teenagers. It's hard to get them to like what you like.

No, it's hard. It's hard. And she does very little on her iPhone at this point, keeping that very under wraps as much as I can. And so, but yeah, that's the—

But Helen introduced you to Stranger Things.

Yeah.

And you liked that.

Oh yeah, it was good.

That was good, right?

We went to see the play too, the musical.

It was good. Okay. And so is there anything for your last last— my last question with you. Um, and by the way, congratulations on Focker in Law coming out. Big new comedy movie that we need right now. And, and I, I just want to say as we wrap, um, you know, I, I, I, I just personally want to thank you for, like, doing what you do and speaking out in the way that you do about where we are in the world. There's a lot of people, um, that are asked to speak truth to power, and they're usually you know, members of the, like, the margins.

Mm-hmm.

They're people that are young, don't really have as much, um, currency or a footing as other people. It's often people of color, it's often women. And to see a person like yourself, the age that you are and the status that you are, it reminds me of— the best way I can describe it is when It's like if someone's giving a terrible speech at a wedding and they're ruining the wedding.

Yeah.

And the wedding is America. And, and there's another adult who says, like, we don't talk like that. That's not how you're supposed to treat people. This is insane.

Yeah.

It makes everybody feel very safe. And so I've seen you do it over and over again, and I really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Yeah, it means a lot to a lot of people because you're standing up for a lot of people who don't have the power to do that. So thank you, Bob. And thanks for doing it over and over again. And this is going to be a real switcheroo because I can't believe I just made you cry. I feel incredible right now. Hold on. We got to get you your tissues.

Thanks.

We got good hang tissues for you, Bob. But it's true. It's true. It is. You know, there's not a lot of men who in your position who do that. And white men of a certain age, like, who frankly, you know, have a ton of power and don't use that responsibility in a way that they could. So thank you.

Yeah, of course. It's so upsetting to see what's happening in this country. And it's so crazy.

Yeah.

It's not like it's— I mean, in a way, that's it's better that it's so blatant because this will happen again. And people— and this guy will influence people and they'll come up and they'll say, well, I can do it this way or that way. And we have to always be on guard with what's happening now.

What do you say to people who feel very hopeless? Because hopelessness sometimes paralyzes people.

I understand that, but you have to fight. You have to fight because if you don't fight, you're not gonna get anything.

Yeah.

You're not gonna. And you have to fight. You have to join people. I just, I use this example, Jason Crowe saying that courage is contagious. And, you know, the other thing can, the negative feelings can be contagious too, but why not have courage and be contagious and stand up? And you might find out it's not so difficult. And people will stop the nonsense that they're doing. It's just out of control. Well, it is.

When people like you do that, it makes it easier for other people to do it. So thank you.

I hope. And I don't like to use the word hope.

I know, but we keep using it. I mean, whatever, you know? And what are you watching these days to make you laugh? When you're feeling really—

Well, oh, another one is Modern Family. I watched— my daughter put me on to it. It's very funny.

Very funny.

And just a good one to watch. There's a million of them.

It's great.

And you can just crank through them. Yeah, yeah.

They're very funny, likable people. It's well cast.

Pretty good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think that comedy right now, and I know you've talked about it, but like when things get particularly stressful in the world, people want to watch that Sure. ...rupture and repair, and that way that people are getting along, and they just need some kind of self-soothing. And yeah, yeah. I texted the SNL ladies, Maya and Paula Pell and Rachel and Tina, 'cause I knew we were talking today. And I was like, do you have any questions for Bob? And they were all saying they have a really fond memory of when we were doing the read-through, you just laughing a lot.

Me? Oh, yeah. No, I—

Giggling a lot.

I love SNL. I think it's so funny. I always, when I see movies, I say that there's a great skit from this or some political situation. This is a great one that SNL will do. Yeah.

When you were growing up, what did you do? What was comedy like? What kind of comedy were you watching in your house? What did you like? Who'd you like?

Well, in that, in, uh, when I was a kid, it was Abbott and Costello, the, uh, the Three Stooges, um, Laurel and Hardy. Um, there was There was a theater called The Laugh Movie on 42nd Street. It had only comedies. And I would go, or maybe they'd have a Frankenstein movie or something like that, or Frankenstein Meets Abbott and Costello or something. But I'd go there every weekend, every Saturday, take the subway.

There's nothing like watching a comedy in a theater.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you remember when SNL premiered?

Yes.

What do you remember about that? I think it was a show with Rob Reiner. Wasn't it Rob?

George Carlin, I think, was the first. It was one of the few One of the early ones was Rob, yeah.

He did a thing where he was playing, like, a Wayne Newton-type character or something, and he kept singing and singing and singing and singing, and it was going on and on and on. I'm saying, this is good because he's not stopping when you'd expect him to. He's just going on and on. I thought that was great. But I liked SNL.

Did you feel like at the time you were sensing this was a show for you? I mean, it really was your generation's anti-establishment.

It was, yeah. Yeah.

I'm curious, you and Lorne are both examples of longtime New Yorkers who've been working for a very long time and been successful and famous for a very long time. What do you take from working with him and I think he's great, Lauren.

I think— and I use him as an example of someone who had the show going all these decades and is able to do it.

Yeah.

Compared to what goes on with the clown show with Trump and all that. You know, he doesn't know what he's doing. And it's just a good example of leadership. Yeah.

I agree. And it was kind of on display on the SNL 50.

Yeah.

Which was a very special evening that you got to be a part of.

Yeah.

And for people that didn't see, what did you get to do on the SNL 50th show?

What did I do?

Yeah.

I did the thing with Debbie Downer. Which was fun.

Was it fun? Yeah.

So, what—

can you explain to people what do you remember doing in the sketch? What was your motivation? What was your character?

Well, the most important thing to me was not to— you know, even though I can laugh in rehearsal and enjoy and get a kick out of it, when you do it, you gotta do it straight. You have to really commit to it. And so, don't do any indicating. Just straight on what you're supposed to do with that person as if it was a real situation. And that's how I looked at it.

I spoke to the writer, Paula Pell, and she said it was like, It was like her dream for you to get upset at that character. And to call her Deborah. Deborah Downer, you said. You said, look, Deborah.

Yeah.

And I think you strangled— I think you fake strangled her.

Yes.

Yes, I did. I did.

Rachel Dratch.

Yes, she was great. May she rest in peace.

Yeah, I mean, that was so— that was so— I mean, that character really makes me laugh because— To your point, people like that make me really angry. And to be like, hey, cut the shit.

Yeah. Yeah, it was a good skit.

Should we end by just quickly watching you in Debbie Downer?

Okay.

Okay, then we're done. Bob, thanks for doing this.

We got through it.

Did you hear it, folks? We got through it. And that's what I want my guests to feel. Okay.

No, it wasn't bad.

Wait a minute, that's a great review. It wasn't bad.

Yes. Good.

I'm surprised you want a straw.

What's that?

Microplastics. At this point, we're all walking landfills.

Deborah, I'm gonna talk now and you're gonna shut it. I do not appreciate this conversation. I don't want to talk about plastic in my balls. I want to laugh and feel joy.

I was a sliver of hope for 3 goddamn hours of my life.

That's all I was. I came here tonight to get a little friggin' break from our world right now, which is like living under a— in a full diaper.

Diapers are a leading culprit in the microplastic saga.

Here comes the strangle.

Stop!

It's not working!

It's not working! She thinks she's helping, okay?

I can't talk.

I think we're gonna have to take a break.

Speaking of—

He very much enjoyed that. Bob, thanks for your time today.

Thank you.

I really, really appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you, Bob, for coming on. What an interesting conversation. It's really something else. I just wanted to take this moment for our Polar Plunge to just basically I don't know, just speak to the past version of me. Because moving to New York City in 1996, being an actor, if you had told me 30 years later that I would have a podcast, I would say, what's a podcast? And then if you told me you're gonna interview Robert De Niro, and you're gonna be talking to him about acting, and you're going to be talking about SNL, a show that you will— you will have been on, it's just not—

It's crazy.

And, you know, New York City remains my favorite city in the world. I've lived here for 30 years. Sometimes in LA, but let's not talk about it. And I just have to say, the fact that I get to be here, that I feel like I know the city, and that I get to talk to people who represent how much the city means to me is really something else. So, my plunge today is plunging back into the time machine and telling my younger self to hang on because good things are ahead. So, hope you enjoy. I hope you can all do that too. Thank you so much for joining us, 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 McMullen, Aleah Zaneras, Bridget Gearlings, Paige Garbarini, Belle Roman, and Drew Van Steenburgen. For Paperkite, production by Sam Hsu. Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss-Berman. Original music by Amy Miles.

And I am the one who wants a really good hey.