Transcript of "Amanda Peet" New

Hey everybody!

Hey!

Um, oh my goodness, are we in a good mood today?

We are.

I mean, you were shot out of a cannon.

I was shot out of a cannon. Yeah, I'm all fired up. We get to do some potting today.

Yeah.

Um, and I'm so excited you two are here for this. You're gonna have such a hoot. What we do is, uh, that little foam thingy in front of your mouth, you just speak into At the end of that, we're gonna have somebody of interest coming on soon. You're gonna be able to ask any questions that you might have. And they should respond in a somewhat informative way.

Nobody's left. Nobody's gonna listen now.

You think they've turned the dial? Well then let's hurry up and get the guest out here.

Come on.

Welcome to Smartless.

Smartless.

Smartless.

Smartless.

What is that from?

Well, hi.

Hi. That's like a new Smartlist.

Oh my Jesus. Isn't that a, um, isn't that— don't they use that in sports things?

Uh, yeah.

Hey, Sean. Yeah? Are you doing an ad for All-American Guy? You just took a big gulp of milk and now you took a bite of an apple.

Yeah, I just got back.

What happened, you ran out of Pop-Tarts?

Dude, hit the horn again.

There you go. Yeah. Hey, did Archie give you that app or something? Is that next to the fart one?

No, man, I, I've had it for a long time, embarrassingly enough.

Did I tell you somebody gave me a box of Pop-Tarts outside the stage door?

Did they really?

Yeah, it was the greatest gift.

What a crowd.

There was a bow around it, and I was like, that was the nicest gift ever.

Did security tackle them?

No. Remember when we went on tour and somebody handed me a sandwich and I ate it and Jason was like, I remember that. We got in the car. You're like, why would you ever eat a sandwich from somebody off the street?

You're trying to get me to remember the time that you ate a sandwich?

No, no, no.

It just kind of heightens it if it's dragged across the finish line.

It needs a little punch.

I know. By the way, it should be noted, I texted JB. I'm going to embarrass him. The boys and I, Artie Abe and I, watched that first episode of Detroit St. Louis. He's so good.

Wait, listen, man, listen, listen.

You're so good at playing a simp. Go ahead, Sean.

I mean, I almost— Jay, it's like one of those incredible, powerful performances that I felt like when I saw Willy do his movie too, where I'm looking at you right now. I've known you for 75,000 years, and I don't know who you are. Like, it was so unbelievably a different person that I did not believe I was watching you.

Sean, finish You finished it last night.

I finished the whole series.

Yeah. How do you have them all?

I gave him mine.

We finished the first episode, and I turned to the boys, and I literally looked at them. I go, how many episodes away are we from Jason getting pegged?

I mean, that's pretty close.

I could go on and on. I was in tears at the end because I was so proud. Of my friend Jason.

Really, really good. Everybody's great. Linda Cardellini is amazing. David Harbor, really great.

David Harbour's great. Everybody's great.

I'm not comparing anybody, but Jason, you're so good in this part. I honestly appreciate it.

And it's so— I mean, what were you—

and it's not surprising. It should be noted too, because, you know, when people go, you were really good, it always hurts.

But, but I texted Jason yesterday, last night, about like what a huge swing it was to, to do this. I mean, Will, wait until you see—

I don't say another word. I don't know what came out last night and I couldn't watch last night. So, right, I mean, it's this guy Steve Conrad, this writer-director.

We'll leave the subject. Sorry, listener. Um, uh, but this guy Steve Conrad, this writer-director, he's just so creative. Yeah. And like daring. And yeah, but like without being obnoxiously like, oh, look how avant-garde. And, and, you know, it's like, it's so— serves the characters and it's so relatable that it makes it absolutely almost impossible to watch because it's so cringy and real and awkward.

And so much so, I woke up today, I started doing just regular whatever tasks thinking about DTF St. Louis and these characters, and I'm like, were you sitting on Scotty's face?

Those are his regular tasks.

Wait a minute, the viewers will understand.

Yeah, yeah, that's a little precursor what happens.

But anyways, you're very nice. Thank you, man. Uh, Willie, it's nice to have you back in the States.

You made it.

Was there any issues at the border or was it, was it pretty smooth?

Still good.

Still good.

Still good. Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. All right.

So I'm in good, I'm in good standing.

Your bronzer still— you haven't run out of that?

Uh, no, no, it's good. It's a little streaky.

Fresh news.

I can't get behind, I can't see. And my feet, obviously my feet are always a mess when I get sprayed this much.

I used to go to that thing all the time. Did you used to go to those things? Remember, you go in the boxes?

I've never done it. No, I've literally never done it.

Do you remember that episode of Arrested Development when David Cross had to, uh, blow himself? Or blew it? He says, I just blew myself. He had to put on his own Blue Man makeup.

Yes.

Um, I just read this morning David's got a brand new comedy special, uh, his 9th one, uh, self-releasing on his, on his website and on YouTube. I forget the date, but it's probably on.

I love David Cross. Go see it. Oh, that's it. Yeah.

Click it.

I love D. D cross.

Wait, one time, really quick, I went into this—

DC, remember he used to— sorry, just interrupt you. DC, especially first year, we'd do something and Dave would go like, that's so lame. Jason and I would describe something we did and he'd go, that's pretty lame. And we'd go, oh, sorry, street cred. We started calling him street cred, which he actually ended up liking. It made him laugh.

Hey, street cred coming up. Anyway.

God, I love him.

Shall we?

Yeah, I thought you were going to say something, Seanie.

No, that subject went too far away. It's about this tanning thing.

Bring it back.

Because I used to— I was so white when I would have to have an event to go to or something. My makeup lady from Will and Grace, she would come over and cake on tanning stuff on my face. Was it Patty? Yeah, Patty Bunch. Yeah, she's the best. And she forgot to do my hands. Oh boy. And I won a SAG Award. And so, you know, you do the line, the photos. I'm holding up the SAG Award and my hands are as white as snow and my face is as orange as the sun.

That's up there with, uh, with, um, sometimes in a particularly unemployed summer, I will play a bunch of golf and the tan difference—

Yeah.

I see it now, between the glove hand and the non-glove hand.

Oh yeah. That's funny.

It's very ugly. Um, all right, great. Super hashtag relatable.

Yeah, first world problems, uh, extreme. Uh, we just lost 50,000 listeners.

Today we have one of my favorite actors. She always has been. I've had the great fortune of working with her a couple of times, and it is as good in person as it is on film. She is not only an actor but also a producer and a writer, but not just any writer— this is a playwright. And recently a columnist, which we will talk about. It's very exciting. After more than 25 years of doing great work, it's even greater right now. She's got a new season of her hit show on Apple starting this spring. She's got a brand new film being released, has a very fancy publication of her essay dropping, and has successfully gotten through yet another year of marriage to a real ding-dong. She's a unicorn, folks. And here she is. Please welcome my longtime nearest and dearest friend, Ms. Amanda Peet. Get out here, boy.

Do we have stuff to talk about. Hi, Shawny. Hi, honey.

How are you?

I'm okay.

Oh my gosh, you got a mic set up and everything.

You guys, I did almost did like 25 spit takes and I wasn't sure if I was supposed to eat.

He is prone to a spit take.

Look at you with a microphone.

Look at you.

Oh, should I put that down?

No, it's fine.

John has his. No, you guys all have yours.

We're not doing video.

This isn't just—

that's the one we sent you.

I've just never seen you in this environment, so it's all new to me. It's so great to see you.

I know. She was like, she sent me a text, she said— she sent me a text, she said, can I look like a slob? I go, yeah, I'm in my PJs. I'm always in my PJs. The only thing being recorded is your voice.

How do you think he only travels in PJs?

Wow, you are really tan.

I know, I know. I get that a lot, um, as you know.

Smoking and sun, not good.

I know. Yeah.

Okay, wait, wait, is it still happening? Well, we're still chipping. Yeah, it's still, it's still really annoying that you're so good with, uh, with, with addictions now. I guess you've got, you've got, you've got it all handled. You can just chip away at the cigarettes and it doesn't take over.

Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty good.

I, I can't do a little of anything.

I know.

Me neither. I can't either.

I generally can't either.

How are you, Amanda? How are you with sugar? I'm really bad with sugar.

I mean, it's not great.

What's the one thing—

I need it out.

If you could go to an addict's, what, circle meeting, whatever it's called, what would it be for, Amanda? What's the thing you want to kick?

I can't say.

Really?

I'm just kidding. I'm kidding.

We talk about porn here all the time.

That is something I don't have a problem with.

Yeah.

No. What is it?

I'm addicted to exercise.

Really?

No, for real.

Kidding.

Are you kidding me? Right.

Right.

Do you know me at all?

Sean, it would be sugar for you.

Oh, my God. I can't. I can't not go a day without eating tons of sugar.

Have you tried to just get it out of the house? Like, have you tried the thing where it's like proximity?

Well, and then, like, I eat an apple. Like, okay, well, that has sugar, but the good kind. But then I'll have a Snickers right after this.

Just a full-grown Snickers.

You know, I haven't had a Snickers since Halloween when I was 14. But you know what? I texted these guys the other night. I came home after doing 2 shows and I had a plate of spaghetti and a donut on the same plate. On the same plate.

On the same plate.

Don't you think you're burning enough adrenaline?

That's what I'm saying.

2 shows. Like, it just probably just—

one-man show too.

That's what I'm saying.

But he's in it. He sent the photo. He sent the photo of the pasta. Of the spaghetti bolognese and then a chocolate donut with a bite out of it. So then I FaceTimed him just because I wanted kind of verification, because I thought that he'd set it for the photo for effect. And sure enough, donut is on the plate. He's eating them both simultaneously. Yeah. Spaghetti with donut chaser.

And a glass of milk.

I often think how when— you know, I have an 11-year-old. I often think of how one of the great, great pleasures of being an adult, a grown-up, is that you can eat your dessert before your meal.

Sure.

Yeah. There's no rules.

Well, actually, if you remember, Sean, I said to you, "Are you at an 11-year-old's birthday party?" Yeah.

And I said, "I stopped by on the way home from work." Yeah.

Amanda Peet.

Southie.

Yes.

Oh, my God. Amanda. You worked with Amanda. Amanda and I worked together first almost 30 years ago. We did a film called— I know, sorry. Sorry to say that number. Jesus. I don't feel good about it either.

Years ago. Do you guys, do you guys both still have your, uh, your, your Boston SAG cards? Boston accents?

They almost took our SAG cards away. They came, they came on set.

What did you work on together?

Southie.

It's called Southie. It was a film.

It was a film about South Boston.

Oh, I didn't know that.

How are you?

Good to see you. Good, good for you, Amanda, huh? Hey Pete, you're doing good, huh?

Wait, Amanda, did you do the accent too?

You still have it?

I think I might have.

Do it just a little bit.

Just do it a little bit. Uh, honestly, I can't even fucking remember because I was in— fuck, they're gonna kick me out of the condo.

They're gonna kick me out of the condo soon. That was terrible. Wow.

No, that was good.

Condo is good though.

Condo.

Still rolling. Wow.

Rude.

Rude. Wait, was Donnie Wahlberg the star?

So Donnie Wahlberg was a star. Donnie Wahlberg, Rose McGowan, uh, you, me, uh, and directed by John Shea.

And Mira.

And Mira, which we're going to get into.

By the way, Sean, I was saying recently, I was about to do a play after Southie, and I was telling her about how I have terrible stage fright. And I was trying to just chat with her about it. And she had, you know, she was The Chainsmoker, and she just said, "As soon as you want to be good, you're dead." Wow.

By the way, great voice.

Wow, that's a good quote.

Isn't that deep?

Yeah, she was cool. She was— She was no nonsense. She was cool.

That's kind of cool. As soon as you want to be good.

Yeah.

Wait, wait. Tell me about the stage fright. I guess I have that. I guess we all have that a bit.

Yeah, I have it all the time.

Figure out how to not flip out at an early stage.

Drink.

Just before you get on.

Is it— well, yeah. You know what I do? My little sort of trick I've always done for a long time, especially when you're going to do something kind of live or whatever, and you're like, I got to get out there, and I just go, I am where I am, and literally use it. This is energy. Okay. And I just—

so don't try to get over it.

No, that's incredibly annoying.

Just flip it. Just flip it and, uh, flip it and forget it.

Yeah, I don't have those kinds of nerves.

Honestly, that's a good impression of me.

Um, now, has it always been like that? Here we go. Let's go back to the beginning, Amanda. We don't have to, kid. Yeah. When you were a kid, was it always going to be this? Like, did you have a plan for this or did you just kind of wing it and like the entertainment world kind of came your way? Or was it like, no, let's set the oars in this direction and start rowing?

I think both parents—

That's good. That's enough. Thank you.

And we'll go to our first break. Oh, wow.

No, both parents are—

That's an off crowd.

Both parents were as far from the entertainment business as you could possibly be.

What kind of—

Corporate lawyer.

Yep.

Yale undergrad, Harvard Law School. My mom was a social worker, psychotherapist. Wow. And I feel like they saw acting in the beginning similarly to just, oh, so you want to you want to start modeling, you want to join the circus, you want to be a hooker, right?

Yeah.

And sex worker.

Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sex worker.

Did you work to, um, sort of convince them that, that, that wasn't the way you were seeing it and what your intentions were, or did you just kind of like hide your pursuit?

Yes, I think I was constantly trying to make it appear less frivolous and But interestingly, apropos of what we were just saying, I think because I had terrible stage fright, it was much easier for me to book things like a ChapStick commercial or Days of Our Lives. Like, as soon as I was lucky enough to get an audition for something like a Clifford Odets play or something like that, I was like this.

You're just shaking.

And I couldn't. I couldn't do what I was doing in class. You know, in real life.

So, so literally stage was, was like that, that was your kryptonite, but being in front of camera was, was less, um—

No, sorry, I didn't explain that right. So anything highbrow, I was like terrified.

Oh God.

So, and then anything that was like considered more lowbrow, right, I could kill it. And so then I was undoing what I wanted portray to my parents.

Yeah, right.

Because I'd be like, well, I'm on a Skittles commercial, and they'd be like, I rest my case, right?

Right, right, right, right.

Well, how about, how about that? That's actually, that, that, that's a good, um, strategy to overcome, you know, like don't overvalue something. Maybe like find something about whatever you're going to be doing that's giving you the nerves that, that sort of undercuts it.

Uh, well, yeah, I mean, not to get too like deep about it, but Both my kids were, you know, given offers to go play.

And then, you know, you have 3.

Oh, sorry, the 2 that are home and play soccer.

Yeah.

At different times in their soccer careers were offered to play in a higher soccer team and were like, no.

Oh, why?

Why?

Because they were too nervous.

Oh, really? So it's catching.

I gave them my fucking anxiety.

Does Ding Dong David come along with some really helpful fathering advice to these, to these young Nervous, you know, anxiety-riddled kids?

Yes, I feel like he doesn't help. No, no, it's a good—

We love David.

We do love David.

Just because he's not in front of the camera, for my sister Tracy, David created Game of Thrones. Your husband?

Yeah.

Oh, your sister's with— Sorry, I don't understand the conceit.

My sister.

Every once in a while we have to remind the audience. Good, thank you, Will. It's helpful.

But wait, Amanda, did you— when you were growing up, Oh, go ahead.

No, you go.

No, Willie, go. No, no, no, go ahead.

You guys are so polite to each other.

Wait, Amanda, when you grew up with a mom in that field, did she kind of try to psychoanalyze you all the time? Like, did you have somebody to talk to? Was therapy constantly in the house? You know what I mean?

Okay. To be honest, I was— yeah, I was very, very close with her. And very, very similar and was sent to the therapist right when I came out of her vagina.

Oh, wow.

Wow.

Wow.

As an infant, I was like, talk therapy, let's go.

Yeah. You came out with the car keys. You're like, ready to go.

Did you ever feel like you were getting a free analysis from her, or was it like, I can't really share with her my feelings because she's just going to psychoanalyze me?

I think—

like, was it a plus or a minus?

I— okay, my sister would disagree. For me, it was a plus. I didn't feel like she was looking at me as like a test dummy for her psychological theories. And she was even in psychoanalytic training in the '90s when I was in college. And I thought it was really intellectually interesting, right, what she was talking about, and really, really helpful. And I think because she felt like her mom was a clinical narcissist, she was hell-bent on being a good listener and seeing my sister and me for who we were. That's how I feel. I think my sister felt a little bit more like there was this, like, psychobabble orthodoxy.

That's older sibling. That's older sibling.

Oh, yeah.

My older sister.

Did you think about— did you think about Through that process, did you think, "Oh, maybe this is an area that I want to go into"? Did you consider doing that yourself?

I always think acting is a little bit of that area.

Sorry, that question was for Amanda.

Sorry.

No, Sean, go. I—

Yeah. No, no, no. Go ahead. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I think, um, when I look back, I was in— This is very unusual. I was in psychoanalysis at age 13. So I went to the shrink 4 days a week.

Wow.

Talk about, you know, first world problems. And I think the idea of psychoanalysis, that there are these inciting incidents that set you on a path, on a trajectory, right? And that's storytelling. You're basically creating a narrative.

Yes.

I mean, old school shrinks would say you're not creating it. It's But I think it's very similar to storytelling in every way.

And then we create that narrative, and those sort of neural pathways get deeper and deeper and deeper, those grooves. And if you're— The danger is that if you don't do that, I'm not advocating either way or whatever. I don't have really a position, but that if you— That those things get so deep that that becomes your story entrenched in your mind about who you are. "I am this. This is the way." And that can often lead to— I think as you get older, you know, you— I know I speak for myself. The story that I've been telling myself about who I am for the longest time has become this thing that I've— I'm like, now at this age, almost 56, and going like, wait, I gotta look at that because I've had this narrative and I'm not a reliable narrator on this. And, you know, truly.

Yeah.

Nor is any 13-year-old, by the way. And so it's blame. There's a lot of blame, right? When that idea that there is an inciting incident that something happened to you, it takes away— what it doesn't count is style of thinking. How you, you know, it's nature-nurture. How were you born? You— I was born with a much more anxious mindset than my sister. And I think the idea that in your childhood this A, B, and C happened, it's it can involve a lot of blame. And so I think it's maybe for some people harder to take accountability. I don't know if that's sort of what you're saying, Will. Like, you're sort of like—

Yeah, I think so. I just think that we all have— First of all, we— Everybody has their own sort of chemical makeup. And so you can have two people, like you were saying, you and your sister, you can have two people who grew up in the same environment with the same parents, the same thing, and they're completely different. We see it in our own kids. I certainly see it in mine, and they react differently to stuff. And then And it's true in my experience that I've grown up into— and I do things differently. And I'm only now at this age started to go like, wait a second, all the stuff that I thought, like, I didn't do that early on. I didn't go to psychoanalysis when I was young.

Thank God.

Well, maybe, but also now I got to sort of retroactively, like, I'm much more actively really searching to try to unlock a lot of the stuff that made me who I am today, good and bad, in trying to understand it a little bit and go like, "Why do I do that? Why do I make the same mistakes? Why do I do this stuff?" Good man.

Yeah, it's better to be self-aware enough to want to figure it out than just float along through life.

Right. And maybe you just wouldn't have had the emotional intelligence that you have now to really do a lot of deep and honest analysis and introspection, you know? So it's, you know, Yeah, good timing.

Ready when you're ready.

Yeah, we'll be right back.

And now back to the show.

Well, Amanda, speaking on keeping it, keeping it deep and heavy now.

Oh shit, sorry.

Yeah, no, what about—

she's a laugh riot.

What about what you're doing? What about when you're, when you're playing parts and stuff like that? Are you, are you, uh, enjoying and exploring and utilizing all the different parts of you and, and injecting them into these characters?

I'm so fucking into acting right now.

Or do you like playing completely different people?

Oh, I'll do anything. I like both.

Right, but I mean, what is— what's like your strategy? Like, are you— do you think about, okay, how do I create an entirely different person? Or, okay, I recognize a part of myself in this character, and so let's explore that part of myself, and we'll just call her— or whatever this character's called?

Well, I'm mostly given parts right now at this moment that are more— probably more like me. And yes, sometimes when— right before I do a take, if I catch myself thinking about how to— trying to be good.

Right, right.

If I think, like, I'm trying—

Is that similar to— is that similar to trying to be good, or— Thinking about how to play it?

Yes. Like orchestrating anything.

Orchestrating a result.

Yes. Right.

I try to pretend that David or Sarah Paulson are there at the video village.

They'll call bullshit.

And that they'll call bullshit.

Oh, interesting.

So I say, okay, now you have to do one where they have to— They're going to have to guess whether it's real or not real.

That's awesome.

Whether it's really you or not really you.

That's awesome.

And that's the strategy for this moment.

Yeah, because a lot of actors work so hard to let you know they're not acting that it looks like acting.

Oh, you're right. Yeah. You know, whereas, whereas if you focus on just like performing for one microscopic lens, that for some people it's themselves, right? Like, for me, it's, it's that case. Like, I know I'm gonna watch my performance here and I'm not going to be able to get away with anything.

Yeah.

You know, I'm not going to give myself any sort of you know, relief. Like, it's got to be super, you know, like, I'm watching. For you, that microscope is David and Sarah.

It's never Amanda?

Huh?

It's never my best friend Amanda?

No, I can trick Amanda. I can trick her. Stop it. No, you can't. No, I can't.

The other Amanda. Sorry, just to be clear, the other Amanda.

Oh, sorry.

I'm married to another Amanda.

I'm very close with JB's wife, Amanda.

Can we talk to the other Amanda?

Amanda Pan.

No.

Amanda and Jason were in what movie together?

There were two, right? Was it just two or was it more?

Um, oh God, oh my God, I forgot about the, um, I forgot about the first one.

She came out of the gate with Southie and she forgot about your shit.

Yeah, thanks. Which one did you forget about? Which one did you pour cement over?

Forgot about the, um, I forgot about the wheelchair one.

Do you don't remember the title?

Oh, oh, I know that one.

We'll wait.

Yeah.

In fact, I remember that one too.

Yeah, wait, what was it originally called?

Armisen's in that too, right? Is that the one? And Charles Grodin?

I couldn't act with him because he was too funny.

It was released as The Ex, but what was it called originally? I think it had a better name.

What's the director's name? Jesse Peretz?

Yeah, Jesse Peretz.

Look at me.

I can't believe you know that.

I know. Well, Amy was in it, right?

Amy was in it, yeah.

Sean, you didn't see it?

I have to have my cue.

Um, I played, uh, an asshole in a wheelchair, and, um, Amanda and I play a week away from that. We play, um, we, we play ex-boyfriend-girlfriend, or, or kind of I wanted you to be my girlfriend back in the day, but now we meet up later in life, and we were on cheer team together when I wanted you to be my girlfriend.

Oh my God, Sean laughed.

Yeah, and there's a moment in the film where I'm in my wheelchair and we see each other and I go, "Hey, dude, hey," and I say, "Hey, remember the move?" And I lift you up over my head with one arm as a seat. You're sitting on my hand up over my head as I'm sitting in the chair. We did that for real, didn't we? Or were you on cables? I feel like we may have done it for real.

Cables? Why? 'Cause your hand, your arm?

I mean, I've seen your nearly atrophied arms. I don't think—

It's pathetic. Yeah. I couldn't do that with my children. But I feel like we may have—

No, we rehearsed over and over again.

We did that for real, didn't we?

Yeah, we did.

You mean there weren't a couple of grips wearing green suits holding her?

Nowadays, they have to. Yeah. Um, um, but it was— that's great. That was— I, I— that was very fun, that movie. Yeah, Charles Grodin.

Um, he was— I love Charles Grodin.

Um, and then we did, uh, Identity Thief. Yes, remember that one?

I sure do.

Oh, Identity Thief.

The thing I remember about that the most is Amanda breastfeeding Mapes in the hotel.

Yes. Yeah, Jason's Amanda.

Again, again, says a lot about your acting. That's what she members.

Yeah, that's a great—

that was a great movie. I love that identity thing.

Yeah, that's a great movie.

Fun on that. Ms. McCarthy crushing it. All right, um, let's get— let's get back to the beginning. Let's— let's roll through this a little bit. We're gonna pick up the pace here. We're just— so much time bullshit.

You grew up in New York City. You were born in New York, grew up in New York, right? Went to school in New York.

Where did you grow up? In the city? In Manhattan?

In Manhattan, yeah. Lower 11th and 5th.

Oh, look at that.

What is there— is it— what, what is it? What is the most New York thing that is still a part of your everyday behavior? Yeah. What do you think? You, you— because you lived there. I'm working here, right?

Yeah.

What, what would be the thing that that city gifted you, um, in your persona?

Psychoanalysis, of course.

Yeah, yeah. Everybody's looking inside over there.

Bagels.

Yeah.

What do you— when you leave New York City, what do you miss the most?

Just the whole McGillicuddy. The subway, the rubbing shoulders with other people.

Yeah. Where are you right now?

That was by mistake.

I meant to—

Oh, God.

I'm in the bedroom.

I mean, are you in New York or Los Angeles?

Oh, sorry. Oh, sorry. Jesus. I'm in Los Angeles. Yeah, we live in Los Angeles now.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

All right, so you're starting out.

JB, are we on a snack break?

I'm sorry, that's the last bite. I thought I moved the microphone far enough away. I apologize.

What is happening? So you grew up in New York and you say to your parents, and your parents are a million miles from showbiz, and you go, hey.

Yeah.

I think I'm going to be an actor.

Now, were you doing any sort of, like, jobs before you got started that maybe you could say, "Well, but I'm— this has kind of taken off for me, and I won't have to be doing X anymore"?

No. I was doing school plays. I did all the school plays. And because I went to a tiny Quaker school, I was, you know, one of the best singers. There, which is saying nothing.

Right.

And it was a short order, not a tall order. And then as soon as I got to college, I started— I sort of walked in confidently to all these auditions, and I never got a single play. I auditioned for 20 plays. Yeah.

Oh, wow.

Really?

It was as if they had already decided. They already had their own clique.

Yeah. They were like, no, no, no. These parts are reserved for people who are good.

But were you not studying drama? Did you—

I took a teenage acting class that my mom found for me starting when I was 13 too, as well as being in psychoanalysis.

No, but what about that?

Where was that? Where was that acting school when you were 13?

That was at HB Studios. So eventually my teacher—

HB Studios?

Yes.

What's that? Yeah, a lot of actors get their start at HB Studios.

So eventually my teacher said, "You know, you really need to study with Uta Hagen." And so my junior year at college, I auditioned for Uta Hagen.

Now, what about in— so in college, were you studying drama?

No, I was studying American history.

Yeah. So never went into the drama program? Because I bet if you had joined the drama program, they might have felt obligated to put you in a play.

There wasn't a drama program. What's happening, Sean?

That's Scotty.

Oh, Scotty's there. He's just striking the set. He's just striking.

I said, "You're just striking the set." Um, uh, all right, so then you start auditioning. Well, okay, so college starts to beat you up a little bit and tax your confidence.

Meanwhile, you're like, "I auditioned for 20 plays. I'm not getting anything. This is for me." Like, what's the idea?

Did you go out and get an agent? How did you start auditioning?

I hadn't really admitted it quite yet. I still think— and I had— it's almost like, you know, what people say, like, you know, like a self-hating Jew or something like that. I was like a self-hating actor. I couldn't quite admit that I wanted to actually do this as more than a hobby. And was it the same for you, Sean?

Oh, no, I'm just— I'm rapt.

Oh, I thought you were like, yes, I relate to that. Yeah.

No, I'm just like, yeah.

Oh, no, Sean was a prodigy.

Yeah. No, no, I mean, a little bit. Yeah. Well, you know, when you're young, you never think you're good. You know, like, you're just, like, hanging on by a thread.

I mean, Jason, I've never been more confident than when I was young. And then I got old enough to realize, "Oh, no, Jason, you're full of shit." But also because you worked all the time.

Like, I had a similar— I moved to New York and I didn't get anything for years. Like, why the fuck did I keep doing it? Nobody wanted to hire me.

But Amanda, you went out— But Amanda, at some point, you went out and got an agent, right? And you started auditioning?

Yes, so then once I was in Uta's class, all the peo— I was in an adult class at age 18, and so people had headshots and agents, and they taught me What's Backstage magazine, but also the Ross Reports where you could look up— there was a little booklet and it had every agent in New York City. And I just would start crossing them out and I would take the subway and go to make a day where I live.

Make submissions daily.

Yeah. And I would go in person with like full makeup.

Yeah.

You had to.

You wanted it, right?

And slip my headshot under the thing. And they'd be like, thank you.

We got it. Stop pushing it under the door. Stop pushing it.

Yeah, we don't take unsolicited headshots.

You know what? I've never told anybody this story. This is absolutely true. When I was like 23 and I had like a headshot, it was just terrible and like nothing— a fake resume.

Did you look worse than you look now? Can you put your hands through your hair, please? Fix it. It's off your forehead. There you go.

Thank you. And I went up to 30 Rock. This is before the advent of, like, high security and stuff. And I went to 30 Rock, and I went— it might have been even '92. And I went in and I got on the elevator and I went up and I put my resume on the desk at 8H.

At SNL?

At SNL.

Honey, not everybody knows what fucking 8H is.

Wait, to be spoken by Studio 60.

I actually didn't know that.

And have they called you?

So you thought you were funny?

I don't know.

I mean, you're right, but I just—

I didn't talk about confidence and unwarranted confidence.

You wanted to be on SNL early?

I thought about it, but I had no— I didn't do a sketch or anything. Anyway, this interview is not about me, but I did go and do that same thing. I went and I put the thing on, embarrassingly enough, and I just had this image of me sliding my—

just like you said, Amanda— sliding my headshot and resume underneath the door, waiting 3 seconds, and it just comes right back with a bunch of piss on it.

No, just a big Sharpie on the outside of the envelope.

And you guys, you guys, not only that, but eventually— So I auditioned for agents, you know, like I did monologs in their offices. And eventually I got repped. And the teen rep walked me to the corner of 57th and 7th with one of her colleagues and said— And we were— She was saying, congratulations, we want to rep you, and was sort of giving me the lay of the land and then was like, um, And the other thing we just wanted to know. So for your— you have a little bit of— you got a— you got a mustache a little bit here. We're just wondering, what can we do about that?

Oh my God.

Oh my God. Was she right? She was right.

Really?

Oh my God.

Wait a second. So how old are you?

Name her. But what agency? What agency was that?

It was STE at the time.

It became Paradigm. How old?

Right, 18, 19, 18, 19.

And you had a little bit of a fuzz there.

And, um, I think it must have been more than a fuzz because I've seen a fuzz.

Okay, what was the strategy on removal? Was it bleaching or waxing?

She's like, she's like, no, what? She's like, no, watch this, I'm gonna grow it out.

Yeah, take that handlebar strategy.

JB wants to know.

I want an answer to that. Did we bleach it or did we wax it?

We did everything. We did Nair, we did bleach, we did laser. Fucking— you fucking name it, I did it.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah, isn't that something?

I would pay so much money to see my face, like, and see myself try to handle that.

Yeah.

I'd be like, oh yeah, yeah.

Was that so?

So I had an agent recommend a nutritionist to me once.

Oh yeah.

And I was like, "This was last week?" Got it.

Got it.

That was about 18 months ago. I know the guys have it.

It did a lot for me, and I was like, "Cool." Hey, I had a really big shot agent not too long ago pitch to another person that I work with, say, "Hey, if it's ever appropriate, and you feel like you can kind of squeeze it into the conversation, ask Jason if he'd ever consider hosting highlights. I mean, you know, like, if he had highlights, it would really open things up for sort of like real sexy kind of leading man. And I was like, motherfucker, are you kidding me?

Studio exec?

No, no, agent. King, king agent.

And, and did you do it or no?

No, I did not, Shawnee. I have not colored my hair since the— I know, it's incredible. Um, Frank Stallone vehicle Philly Boy on CBS. In 1990.

You have, you have so few grays too. You have so few grays.

It's so annoying. Um, I do, I do feel like they're coming. There, there are a few that are trying to fight their way. Okay, so wait, um, now, so you get this note about the stash, you're addressing it, are you feeling like, yes, this is great, this is a good thing, or wait a second, is that what this business is going to be? My feelings are hurt, I'm not getting a lot of stuff even though I just got a new— I I should quit. Did you ever feel like quitting at any moment in your career?

I think more later. I think it was more later.

I think because, because the opportunities weren't what they were, what you wanted, or it was just like, oh, I'm good, I have nothing left to prove to myself, I've had incredible success, and next?

It sure wasn't that, Jason. Well, it could be incredible success. Well, I'm gonna go rest on my laurels.

I completed everything.

Take another look.

Um, yeah, I think, um, well, you know, like, once I started writing a little bit, and when I was shooting the chair, which, you know, when I was behind the camera, and all the ladies, like Sandra Oh and everyone, had to get there earlier, and I could roll in in my snow pants with my mustache and my hair, and just be— but still be the boss. I was like, this is fun. I was like, "This is fucking great. What have I been doing this whole time?" Right.

And then, yeah, that's okay. So then the latter.

And it's really fun to have, you know, to have last cut, final cut.

Right. Well, let's talk about that. Let's talk about how did The Chair come into your orbit? So folks, she was the creator, the writer, the showrunner for the Netflix series called The Chair starring Sandra Oh. And so was this— how did it come to you? Tell us about that.

Because I went to Friends in Manhattan on 16th Street, and there was a teacher who was there when I was there who was really lovely. And in the New York Times— there, it was in the New York Times— there was a huge mishigas because he was in a math class and he was pointing to something and he made a Nazi salute joke. Who's It was the teacher, and it became at Friends Seminary, at my Quaker school, this huge controversy.

Friends is a school?

Friends is a school. Manhattan Friends is a Quaker school.

Okay.

And it was a joke.

You broke your love life's DOA, right?

Yeah. You know, I can't believe they still go there, all those 6 Friends. Go ahead.

Jen's gonna— Jen's gonna figure it out. Sorry, go ahead.

I like this idea of having a woman of color who was the boss of a white dude who transgresses. And it was sort of the beginning of cancel culture and all that stuff. And yeah, I knew this teacher to be a lovely, kind, Quaker-leaning human being.

Yeah.

And the fact that he's, you know, incited this whole controversy, I thought, this is such a good story.

What can I ask? What's a Quaker? Like, I mean, I know what a Quaker I know what Quaker oats are. Yeah, that's all I know. But what's a Quaker school? What does it mean?

You know, it's a Christian denomination, but I feel like they're the greatest. They really take the word literally. So, you know, there's no priesthood. You know, in a Quaker meetinghouse, anyone is allowed regardless of your religion. There's no priesthood because the idea is nobody is closer to God than anybody else. Oh, got it. I understand. It's called a popcorn meeting when someone's Stands up and speaks because anyone—

Also great fiber.

Yeah.

You want to talk about a denomination that's got colon health? You need to go no further.

Oh, was I getting boring? Was I getting like—

Yeah, that's our job. We got to pop it in every once in a while.

Yeah, yeah.

Hey, but— Poop, farts, mustaches. You got to do it. We're just dumb dudes. Hey, what about— what made you think that you could be the boss?

Nothing.

Yeah.

The writer.

Yeah.

The showrunner.

Yeah. What made you think?

But I mean, everyone would love to like— Who would like to have their own show on Netflix? I mean, like, how great is that?

Well, first of all, I watched David and Dan do it.

Yeah, and you were like, "Jesus, these two guys can—" Yeah. Yeah.

"Holy shit." Exactly.

No, I was like, "Oh my God, I better not fuck this up." I think it's just, like, love of actors. That was it. That was, like, my starting point.

Scary, though, right? Well, because it's clearly an immense writing talent, and we're gonna get into that, but, like, where did the writing talent come from? You didn't study acting. Did you study it in school? I did. You did? Okay. Yeah. American history and American—

Well, I just took a lot of creative writing classes. Okay. And then acting just sort of took over, but I was always kind of dabbling. And then I think when I married David, he was really encouraging. When Studio 60 got canceled, he was like, "Take a stab. Let's go." Yeah.

Especially you— and that was Aaron Sorkin, wasn't it? Yeah. So you had— you'd just been And under that, I mean, my God, those scripts.

Incredible.

So wait, all right, while we're on the writing thing, let's talk about this incredible essay that was just published by The New Yorker a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't read it or looked for it, do so. It is— I mean, you tell me, Amanda, is this not the equivalent of an Oscar for an actor? To be a writer and to get published in The New Yorker is— is the zenith of accomplishments. Yes?

Lost my mind. I can't wait to read this.

What's the name of the article?

It doesn't have a name. It's—

But what would you name it?

No, I mean, like, how do I find it? Just Amanda Peet, New Yorker? Yeah. Oh, there's a start.

Yeah. And it is— Have you ever used the internet?

Sorry.

I have read it, and it is— not only is it an incredible piece of writing, But the subject matter, it is nonfiction. It is about our guest and her family and mortality. And tell them the rest of it if you're comfortable, because it is just stunning. And it left me with real wet cheeks at the end.

Thank you, J.P.

And I mean facial cheeks. Sorry, I need to be clear.

Will, where is your finger?

No, it's so far away. Jason, just say facial cheeks.

And I had— I— and I ended with real wet cheeks afterwards. Facial cheeks. The boys will put that together. Sure.

I can't believe that actually worked.

And we will be right back.

And now back to the show.

Amanda, tell us about some of the things that are revealed in this. I mean, deeply, deeply personal.

Well, so, um, on, uh, on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, this last Labor Day weekend, I went to my breast surgeon. I I have what's known as dense and busy breasts.

Guys, I'm not gonna hit that softball. I'll leave that to you guys.

Keep your finger dinger nearby.

I feel like you were looking at my search history. Okay.

You really teed that up. Okay. No, you guys, for real, it's a real thing.

I'm sure you are. I get tested all the time because—

Do you mind telling me what, 'cause I'm super into medical stuff, like what is that condition?

I guess it just means that you're, it means that on screens, it's hard to detect cancer because it's, I guess it's a little bit like a forest or something. I don't know, but there's like too many, it's too dense and busy. Like vascular and cardiovascular kind of things, yeah.

But all jokes aside, that's scary.

That's a scary deal.

Yeah, so I was used to going, I go all the time. I go every 6 months. I get ultrasounds as well as mammograms. And so she found something on the Friday of Labor Day weekend. And right before I left, she said. I said to her, do you think if you were a bedding woman, what would you say? And she said, I think it's cancer. Oh, my God. So I went home.

You had to wait for the results for the test?

Yes. So then she said she was gonna walk it over to Cedars. Cause it was a holiday weekend. I was like, I Talk about Xanax. Yeah. So I came home and then the next day, David went down to San Diego while we were waiting to hear from the doctor, 'cause the kids had a soccer tournament and my sister called and told me that my dad was about to die. So I flew to New York and my poor sister had just dropped her last kid off at college and—

So she's in a great mood.

So she was dealing with a lot of, like, closure and loss. And so my dad passed away and— I'm so sorry. Thank you. The essay is really, really funny.

It actually is. This is what— this is her superpower. It has the most devastating things in it and the most hilarious stuff in the middle. It's really something to watch.

I can't wait to read it.

So anyway, when I got on the plane plane to come back to LA to get ready to get all the tests and go through the whole process of having breast cancer, I was like, surely I can write about this. Surely this is a weekend from hell that there's gotta, it's gotta be.

But you're not thinking New Yorker, you're thinking just sort of a cathartic kind of, let me just journal about it.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking that far ahead. I was just like, this can't be that common. I mean, not that like I, you know, only— Yeah, the weekend from hell was sort of what I was thinking. Yeah. And meanwhile, my mom was also in hospice. So both my parents were in hospice at the exact same time.

So, you know, I just— It's all this past year?

Just now. Yeah, just now. Yeah, 6 months. And I was very lucky. Everything's, you know, I'm clear. I did radiation. I was extremely lucky. The cancer they found—

It was cancer? It was cancer. Yeah. Yeah. I'm so sorry.

Yeah.

Thank you. Yeah. So I was, like I said, like very, very lucky. No one knew this, right?

I mean, it is in the article, is your first mention, first time you've gone public with this, yes?

Yeah, I think because, you know, we didn't tell the kids right away because, you know, Frankie, we had dropped Frankie off at college the week before. So we, and as some people know this, but cancer, most types of cancer, it takes a while to find out where you are, like what is your treatability, what kind of breast What type of breast cancer do you have? How big is your tumor?

And that tells you how to treat it. Yeah.

And, you know, I found out later, now I know so much more about breast cancer and other cancers too. I mean, there are types of pediatric leukemia where you don't find out for a year whether you have a treatable, you know, course, but the waiting is insane-making. From sand making. So yeah, we didn't wanna tell the kids for a while until we knew whether I was gonna do chemo and what the course of treatment was gonna be. So I wanted to keep it a secret 'cause I wasn't even telling my children. So yeah. Wow.

And then your dad passed while you were waiting for the—

While I was on the plane, yeah. While you were on the plane, yeah. He actually passed.

Yeah. But you got there in time to say goodbye. Yes. And yeah, it's all in the article. It's so— the essay, it's like, it's so well written. So wait, so then now you get home, you're starting your treatments, your mom, you're being a saint, she's living with you in hospice.

Yeah, Jason has come and seen my mom many times. So she, yeah, she was single. My parents got divorced and she was single. Living in New York. And so she has Parkinson's disease. So once she was wheelchair-bound, we— David being, all jokes aside, the mensch to end all mensches, moved my mom here, and we took her in. So she was living here for the last 7 years.

I mean, your stuff that you write about your connections with her right there at the end were just, just everything. That's so beautiful.

I had no idea all these years that your mom was living with you, you never never talked about it in any way.

And you're like managing this, you know, vibrant, uh, career that is, after all these years, even more vibrant. And, and writing, writing and doing stuff.

And you're shooting that show in New York, right? You're shooting your show with Ham in New York at the same time? Shooting with Ham.

Yeah, they've been— they were really lovely. Like last summer, when my— before I found out I had breast cancer, Peter Trapper and Jon Hamm were very beautiful about my mom being in hospice and letting me go back and forth all the time. Like, I have very special bosses, I have to say.

Well, this is really amazing because every time— I didn't know any of this was going on. So every time I see you, I always laugh. I always have such a great time with you. Same here. And you're always so positive and have so much light about you and around you.

It's the Xanax, you guys.

No, it's not downer drippy. No, it's like you're always laughing.

Well, there's Ritalin. She does a sidecar of Ritalin as well. Sidecar.

Sidecar of Ritalin. It's true, though. Sidecar of Ritalin.

She is the light.

She is sunshine. You're such a joy. It's just amazing to know what just goes to show you have no idea what anybody's going through at any time.

Right. Yeah. I think my mom— thank you, first of all. But yeah, my mom is— is that way, like a very Jewish sense of humor. Like very— you were asking about what I miss about New York. Like, she has that very New York-y, neurotic Jew, sharp, witty sense of humor. And throughout her Parkinson's, you know, I mean, it's a horrible disease. I know you guys probably know a little bit about it. And she never really lost her sense of humor.

Humor. That's amazing.

Never, never. So I have a good model for all— as Carrie Fisher said, always look for the humor. Yeah. Yeah, for sure.

All right. So we're going to take a look at that essay for sure. Are we going to a clip?

Yeah, it did sound like you were about to go to a clip.

For the folks who don't know how to read, and just enjoy their dose of Amanda Peet on the screen. I can't wait to read it. They've been enjoying Your Friends and Neighbors quite a lot. Yeah. As I would imagine— As I did. You are too, Amanda, notwithstanding the hours spent with Jon Hamm. 'Cause that can be tough, you know? This guy, that would be trying.

He's a nightmare, let's face it. That's it.

Um, yeah, well, you know, maybe this is, um, people catch on, people catch on, and, uh, and we'll finally be rid of them. But, um, until then, you guys are, uh, great on this show. The second season, uh, is, uh, is coming up here in the spring, as well as your new film. Let's talk about your new film. It's called Fantasy Life, um, released March 27th. You are a producer. You're so You are a producer on that and also the co-star. And you were awarded— What were you awarded for that? Hold on. I don't want you to have to say it yourself here. I believe it was some sort of special award at South by Southwest. The film won the Audience Award as well. I mean, this is— And I saw it the other night, and it's effing great. It's a real naturalistic— You know, let's put it this way. If you loved Will Arnett's film, and I know all of our listeners did, you will love this film too. It's got a lot of the same really great naturalistic sort of texture to it, if you will. No one's swinging for the fences with some like, what is it, performance crap?

It's really effortless quality.

When does it come out, Amanda?

I was swinging for the fences.

Busses. With a literal bat. You never ask the audience to watch your performance. You know, you're never screaming, like, "Hey, look at me act." It's so easy to watch you. I'm screaming deep inside, "Look at me act." Whatever it is, it's working. Deep inside. Was that a great sense of accomplishment? Because you've been doing great work on— This is what, your first film in 10 years? Was that important for you to get back to movies? Can I just say something about that? People keep saying that.

Can I just say something? It's not like I chose to not work in a movie for 10 years. I just couldn't get arrested.

Yeah, but you're no longer, you know, pushing your headshots under doors and stuff. I mean, as you said, you've got this healthy, sexy indifference, guys. Yeah. And you're busy doing things that are a little bit more important to you, I would imagine.

Yes? Honestly, it's really just what is the writing good enough? Good. And in this particular case, this indie writer came to me with this idea of— this was before Baby Girl. It's basically like a sort of, uh, upper crust mom who has—

this is Matthew Scheer, the upper crust mom?

Yeah. Uh, yes, but Matthew Scheer, it's like, um, you— she has an affair with the nanny, basically. She has— hires a nanny for her kids. Yes. And when I read the script, on about page 15, this neurotic— speaking of neurotic Jews from New York, he has a scene with his shrink where he's talking about his OCD with Judd Hirsch, where he— and he's having these self-hating Jew intrusive thoughts where he sees, like, a Jewish guy on the subway with a big nose like David. And he says, "Hook nose, hook nose, hook nose." And he thinks he's gonna say it out loud. And I was like, "Well, this is brilliant. I wanna do this." Oh, wow.

It's just so fucking funny. That's beautiful. Yeah.

It's really a lot funnier than how I'm pitching it right now.

No, it is. But again, it's not asking for laughs. It's really tasteful. Alessandro Nivola is in it with you as well.

How funny is he? Yeah, he's great. Yeah, he's great. Wait, when does it come out? March 27th.

March 27th, which I believe has already passed. We're doing this a little bit ahead of time, but yeah, we are. No, I know that.

Obviously, yeah, it's in theaters now.

Go out there and grab it, y'all. Now, what is my next question? Here I come. I don't know.

JB, just go off script a little bit. Just, you know, what do you do for fun? Well, you know what she does for fun. Yeah, dense and busy.

Dense and busy.

Dense and busy. Oh no, that's what Will does for fun. Wait, Amanda, what does the rest of the day look like today?

No, that's a great question. Yeah, let's do that one. This is the most hard-hitting journalism.

Boring.

No, you're not. Are you out of your mind?

I'm really bored.

No, I want to know. I want to know because I, I want— first of all, I didn't know anything that you've gone through in this past 6 months or year. And now I want to know, like, what, what did— what do you do all day? Because the kids are away, right?

What do you do all day? Like, because you're about to start—

are you about to start press for, um, for, uh, for both the film and the show? Yes. Yes. And is that something that you like? Do you like going out there and doing all the, uh, chat and giggles?

What do you guys think?

I feel like when you're proud of it, it all depends on sleep. If I slept, I'm great. I'm game to do anything. I'm tired. I don't want to I can do it.

Do you have trouble sleeping? Let's talk about sleep because— Yeah, yeah.

I think as you get older and smarter and the brain works better and there's more stuff to think about, sleeping gets harder.

Yes. I also— and I just read somewhere that it used to be—

By read, you mean TikTok?

Uh-huh. It's on TikTok. By the way, it's true. I think I did see it on TikTok where the where you sleep. It used to be hundreds of years ago, people only slept for 3 or 4 hours, got up, and then there was a second sleep. Yeah. Says who?

TikTok. That is true.

Yeah, he's right. And then so that's kind of what happens to me. I sleep for a little bit.

There was a time in New York, you can look it up, where people used to go and they'd walk around in the middle of the night. It would be— I remember reading this. There was a book about it, about these. And people would walk around sort of at like 1 a.m. and there'd be, there'd be like a kind of a nightlife that people— yeah, because sort of before the advent the advent of widespread— you gotta get your 8 hours— electric bulbs and all that kind of that. People would go to sleep earlier and then often wake up in the night and they would have like a reprieve from their sleeping.

And I am definitely looking that up.

Were you—

are you guys, um, are you ruminators when you wake up? How do you keep your brain from being like, death, we're all gonna die?

And then catastrophic thinking. Do you have catastrophic thinking?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I've been—

I've— yeah. But so how do you stop Do you stop yourself, Shawn, when you— so you have two sections of sleep with a thing in the middle. So what, are you able to put your phone away?

No, I play games or I'll read or do whatever on my computer. You know, like I'll look, read, I'll read stuff that I find interesting, but most of the time I'll play games.

But doesn't the blue light— didn't people tell you not to put the—

I have glasses that soften the blue light.

So that's a great look. You've got the glasses on, the CPAP, and then you got the— What's it called? Beetlejuice? What's it? Jewel Heist? What's the game you play? Candy Crush.

Candy Crush. That's hot. That is hot.

But it's more about what that's doing, sort of firing all those things in your brain instead of— in that moment, if you were to wake up and pick up a book, you might find it easier to go to sleep.

Will is constantly pushing reading on this podcast.

I'm sorry. Mostly about World War II. 2, though? Not, not recently.

I've, I've— no, World War I now, or are we into Vietnam? Which direction are you going? The last—

you know what, the last couple weeks I've been into a more sort of modern noir. Okay. Which I— and I, uh, I did one of these things, right? I said, what are the best modern noir books of the last 10 years?

What would you say? And what'd they say?

Yeah. And they sent me a list of books. Uh-huh. I know. Oh, sorry, Sean. Hang on. Sorry, Sean.

A little late, a little late on the Father. Wait, is that fiction or nonfiction?

Fiction. Yeah, it's been like crime and— yeah, yeah, it's been interesting.

It's so good that you read all that well. It's so good. Do you read a lot, Amanda?

I try. Yeah, I try to read a lot. I, um— David reads a lot. David reads a lot.

David and I have exchanged books. We, we've handed each other books before.

And now he's listening to The Rest Is History. Do you know that podcast? Yes, he's obsessed.

Yeah, it's very What is that?

It's really fun. I feel like—

What is it, like an audiobook or something?

It's a podcast, and they talk about history, but in a very accessible, hilarious way.

Oh, like for dumb-dumbs like me?

For dumb-dumbs like me. Yeah. Like, I'm doing the one on Iran right now. Oh, wow. And they're so— Will, don't you think they're so funny?

Yeah, very, very interesting.

They're not as funny as you guys, but they're funny.

But where do people have the time to listen to podcasts? On the thing we're doing. Like, when we're in the car.

I know you do the things you do.

I watch the news when I'm on the thing.

But, JB, if you look— Well, look at it this way. You dedicate, I'd say, 80% of your time that you watch TV, which is about 80% of your day, is you're watching news. The other 20, you're watching sports.

I keep waiting for him to get caught. No, no, no.

My point is, if you were to delegate some of that time to listening to—

Sitting in a chair in a room with headphones on, staring at the wall?

No, while you're on the exercise bike. Exercise machine.

Oh, right. Or I do it in the car.

Well, we're in the car. Yeah, right, in the car. And listen to these guys. I think that you'd find it pretty interesting.

But I can't finish it. My car rides are like 15-20 minutes. Is that okay? I just— that's good.

I feel like you'd pick it up.

I do that with them, especially if you're interested in one section.

Will it hold my place? I don't want to have to start over when I get back in the car.

I just take a screenshot of where I am, and that's how I know how many minutes have gone by. And then I return to it.

Of course you do.

You can probably do it in an easier way. I love that you do that.

Boy, that says everything. Really? Yeah, that taught me a lot in a great way. I'm scared. No, no, no, it's very— you're just— you're— you— it's very methodical, and I, I really appreciate that.

Well, she's a Capricorn. I'm a Capricorn.

You know, we think shit through.

Fuck that. I need to give a shout out to Amanda Anka and say that I'm a Capricorn.

Yeah, yeah. No, what are you guys? Sean, she knows you're rising and you're— and you're—

no, she still needs more information apparently to tell me exactly what I am Cancer.

How about that?

Oh wow. In every situation.

Yeah, that should have been— I'm like a modern-day Fred Norr—

I'm like a, like a low-rent Fred Norrstrom. Howard, yeah.

Um, hey Sean, what's your rising?

I don't know what that means.

Okay, me neither. Will, what about you?

Sean, you don't have a joke for what's rising? And Sean Taurus. Something in my pants.

Taurus. Will, do you know what your rising is?

I forget, but Amanda—

Amanda, she's got it all on us.

She's got a full forecast for all of us. Amanda needs to be here so she could— yeah, she could tell us what's what in the coming months.

You're right. I had to send Amanda Anka like a year ago or whatever, like what time— I had to ask my mom exactly what time of day I was born. I did all this stuff. She needed to have all this information.

She wanted to know if you were a good match for her or not.

She already knew.

She already knew, yet she's sticking with me.

I love her so much. And you don't want to know who else I love so much? Yeah, who? The other Amanda in my life, Amanda Peet, today's guest. And we want to thank you for your hour, uh, and 8 minutes. Um, uh, we love you.

We certainly do. I love you. I love all 3 of you so much.

I love you so much too.

Yeah, we love your husband, your 3 kids, the whole thing. I love you. Um, and your talent. So go out there, read that essay in The New Yorker, watch her movie Fantasy Life, watch her show Your Friends and Neighbors, and, um, and stay tuned for, uh, for the, the next half of this incredible woman's career and life.

Oh my God, I'm gonna start crying.

I'm gonna cry. I know. That was so nice.

We love you. We do love you. Thank you so much.

I love you gentlemen so much. I'm gonna I'm gonna hug you so hard when I see you. Is that—

is that— yeah, squeeze me. Okay, love you. All right, goodbye.

Love you guys. Bye. Love you too. Bye bye bye bye.

That was Amanda Peet, one of my dearest, longest friends. I know, she's one of my all-time faves.

Yeah, right? Same person.

This is super funny. Yeah, and like I said, she's always so bright. No one would ever know anything's going on ever. No, she's always— not that, that, like, you know, it's just somebody who knows how to— I know— always walk in a room and light it up.

Yeah, for sure. And on screen too. Like, I just— she's just always sort of ground stuff that I watch, um, and, uh, always kind of elevates it, kind of smarts it up.

You know what, JB, I have a recollection of before you guys were friends, before you'd worked together, that you always admired— you used to talk about her in this way that she was for you like kind of the gold standard, and she was like one of those people you wanted to work with her really bad. Yeah, you know what, you know, in the best way.

Yeah, Téa Leoni was like that for me too. Yeah. And still to this day, like, I just think there's a— Julia Roberts is like that too. There's a strength and a style of humor and also of drama that, I don't know, they all kind of remind me of each other. But yeah, she is a treasure. And Sean, right about now is when you start to say, "Hey guys, have you ever—" I'm looking.

Do you remember the time that I—

Do you remember?

Hey, guys, you wanna know what my favorite film of hers was? And then he kind of pulls it out of the way.

I'm coming, I'm coming.

God, wait. We're gonna cut out this pause and the waiting.

Oh, are we?

Yeah. You know, that David Benioff husband of hers, you know, that's— They've got kind of like a dual— It's a double-barrel shotgun over there of talent. And accomplishments, and they're sort of—

You know.

Yeah. Sorry. You know what?

You know. Yeah.

I thought that'd be a great tee-up there for one of you guys.

I know. Wait, he has something. Oh, God.

We've got a caller. A caller is— Oh, you know, one of my favorite jobs that I've ever done, and Amanda Peet happened to be in it. We talked about it earlier. A real treat. Yeah, my friend, my favorite Amanda Peet played my wife in— By Identity Thief.

That's pretty good. Smart.

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