Transcript of "Oscar Isaac"

Can I just be Shameless and say what I'm actually really excited for? Can I just say it? Yeah. I'm really excited for our live show. I'm nervous. I'm nervous.

I always get nervous. Are you guys nervous about it?

You're talking about the one that's coming up November 15th out there at the Hollywood Bowl? I'm very nervous about it.

That's the one where people can go to smartlist. Com/live to get tickets. That's the one I'm talking about.

Wait, what?

It's smartlist. Com/live.

Is where I would go if I wanted to buy a ticket.

That's where you'd go if you wanted. But anyway, I'm nervous about it because it's going to be the Hollywood Bowl, and we got a couple of great guests.

I had a bowl of Honey Nut Chirios.

Okay, great. All right, let's get to an all-new Smartlist.

Smart. Smart.

What do you guys call it when you say, when you're scheduling something, you're like, I can't.

I'm doing a pod. I'm doing a record. How do you refer to what we're doing right now when you talk to other people?

I just record. I say record. I say record.

I say record. Or I'll say I have to record a smart list. I got a smart list.

It's a long version.

What do you say?

I've said pod a couple of times, and it just feels terrible.

Yeah, of course it does. It sounds terrible.

Hey, what about the three of us get to put our chest and faces on each other on Sunday for the first time in forever?

What do you mean? We're all going to have dinner on Sunday? Sunday night.

Yeah.

All right, good. I don't think Amanda is going.

Amanda is not. I actually have an out. But I was thinking since you guys are going to be there. You better be there.

I'm going to be solo, too, this Sunday. It's going to be- Really? We're going to have Jason, will you be?

Yeah. Do you want me to wear something special?

I want you to pick me up. I want you to pick and open my door.

I'm going to wear that thing that you- That I always asked for. No, I I got it.

Hey, we missed you last night. I was over there, Willy, last night with Jay.

Are you where?

Yeah, just for a quick bite.

Quick bite?

How was that? Yeah, it was good. Good. Okay. Okay.

Okay. Okay, good. So you guys had dinner? Well, we're having dinner tonight.

That's right. Me and William are having dinner.

You guys are going to go to JAR?

It doesn't matter. Yes.

How did you know that?

Truly? Yeah.

You want to go or no? Well. We're going to see each other Sunday. You can come.

Come.

Thank you. It's going to be fun.

Yeah, because I haven't hung out with Carolyn yet, really. Oh, sorry. Can I say that?

Oh, boy. Well, the internet's saying it, so I think we can. I don't know.

Wait, what did we talk about last night, Jay? Oh, yeah. We talked about, hey, well, have you seen this alter ego thing I was talking about at the table where it's a new device, it's like an AI device, and you put it in the back of your ear. Yeah, listen to this.

This sounds like a nightmare.

And all Whatever you think of, it translates into audio. Yeah, audio text.

Can you imagine that? Basically having a microphone on in your brain?

That's a nightmare.

Yeah. But I mean, only if you turn it on.

It's not like- You know what? I would venture to say people would pay thousands and thousands of dollars to have that eliminated if that was something that was stuck on their brains.

Most people. Imagine if most things, thoughts were vocalized, the jails would be And they'd empty their accounts to get rid of it.

Yeah, but I mean, it's voluntary. It's not stuck to your head.

I understand that. I'm just saying they're going to have a tough time. Kill J. B. Kill J. B. Kill J. B. Kill J. B. Kill J. B. Pay us money for this new device. That just sounds like a problem.

I hope Jason misses this pod. I hope Jason misses this pod.

Hey, did I leave too abruptly last night?

No, you actually triggered a mass exodus, which was fantastic. We all left right after that. It was Wait, what do you mean we all?

What are we talking about?

15, 20, 25 people?

No, it was like six people, eight people. What?

Hang on a second. Wait a second. Pump the brakes. What was I left out of?

This was a specific little bite.

It was a bite and smile.

It was a bite and smile. A bite and smile.

I don't know these people.

Exactly. Not very well at all. Okay. Yeah, that's right. But we also did- But we also did.

You have a guest today. I do. I know. We I'm going to get right to it. I was going to share one more thing, but no. I would love to hear it.

I'd love to. You worked on material. Go ahead.

No, it's not. Okay, here we go.

No, no, no. Wait. I want to hear it.

No, no. It was that topic, that whole thing about men and women and sexual opportunities. I asked all the women at the table, if a guy came to the door and there was the best-looking guy in the world, and he propositioned you, whether politely or impolitely, whatever it was, just based on looks, would you go for it? Of course, unanimously, every girl around the table was like, No, I would never do that.

I think you can be much more specific than that. You can say what the actual thing was.

It was like if a guy, if a drop dead a gorgeous, unbelievable guy was at your door and he just exposed himself, but not really like, or answered in a robe or something. Of course, every girl was like, No, that's disgusting. That's weird and bizarre. But conversely, all the gay guys and straight guys were like, Yeah, I would totally go for that.

You know what I mean? Meaning if it was the opposite. If the door opened and a woman had her robe open, the guy would say, Oh, yeah. Cool if I come in? Yeah. As opposed to the... I guess Sean was making a statement about the difference in sex.

It reminds me of this old joke that my grandfather had, and this is almost a dad joke, but it's worse as a grandfather joke which is a guy's on a desert island, and he's there by himself for years and years and years. All of a sudden, this beautiful woman comes out of the surfer, and she's wearing a wetsuit, and she says, When was the last time you had a nice cold beer? And he's like, Oh, my God, it's been forever. She reaches in her wetsuit, pulls out a beer, and he chugs it down and she goes, When was the last time that you had a smoke? He was like, Over the years. She pulls out a cigarette light and he's like, Oh, my God, it's incredible. Then she looks at him and she goes, When was the last time you played around? He goes, You got golf clubs in there?

That's a good one.

It's a grandfather joke.

Perfect segue. But Shani told me a great grandfather joke, granddad joke. It was really dad joke.

Was it the cat?

Yeah. How to Maybe Sean should tell it. I punched up the reading a little bit better. Okay, go ahead. Yeah, so what...

No, it's what is it? How does a cat like its steak? I can't even. It's so not even funny. All right.

You got to have the little tidy claws up when you do it, too.

That'll help it.

Guys, we're so silly.

We're over. We're over time already. All right, look, we got a guy. We got a guy here waiting.

We just thank our guests now.

We'll apologize first.

He's a big deal, guys. I might geek out a little bit. I'm a huge fan. He was born in Guatemala, and then he ping-ponged around the United States as a kid. While his dad finished his medical residencies, he almost joined the Marines before making a sharp pivot to Juilliard. He spent most of his teens in Florida playing bass and singing in a ska-punk band, including one that opened for Green Day. But now he's one of Hollywood's most versatile actors, playing everything from a folk singer, mad genius tech guy, a rebel pilot, a superhero, a Shakespearean royalty. He's ridiculously talented. Absolute joy to watch. One of my favorite actors of all time, Oscar Isaac.

Oscar Isaac. Absolutely. Oscar.

See the closet?

I'm so telling my six-year-old this joke whenever I told him school day.

You know what? Okay, rolling speed and action. Let's see your reading on rare.

Okay, He's like, I can't. It's going to be hard to beat, man.

It's going to be hard to beat. I think the claws are definitely necessary.

You need the little kitten claws. Yeah, Sean's got great dad jokes. You got any dad jokes, Oscar?

No, my heart's pounding. You guys are so fast and so funny and so intimidating with your speed of wit.

No, you shouldn't read what people say about me on this thing. They're so sick of me at some point.

No, I'm It's a pleasure.

It's a pleasure. Yeah, it's a pleasure. Oscar, it's a pleasure.

I'm really happy. Because there was a moment there, I remember during the pandemic where I think there was a moment where it's like, Oh, can I come and do the show? Way back then. Oh, really? I was stuck down there. Yeah.

You've been on my list to be on the show since day one. Yeah, you've been on my list too.

You have not stopped working on the greatest things that this business has to offer since then and before. Well done. I'm so happy every time I see you in something, I get more of you.

Thanks, Jason. I just watched Frankenstein last night.

You did? You did? Yeah. Wait a second. You got home from the dinner and watched Frankenstein?

No, I'm sorry. During the day yesterday, not last night.

Oh, thanks for the phone call.

But wait. We're going to get to that. But Oscar, holy moly, man. That your performance was incredible.

I'm so excited to see that.

I know. I'm so psych.

I mean, just incredible. I don't know how you do it, but anyway. Thanks, man. Listen, thanks for being here. I'm guessing when we met a couple of years ago, you could probably feel what a big fan I was. Oh, no, Oscar, you describe it from your side, what happened.

No, it was at the awards dinner.

No, it was, I think before that, it was the Lin-Manuel Miranda things that he does in the street. Then we all had to go out. If you're in a show- He's erased that.

It turns out he's erased that from his memory.

I have a notoriously terrible memory with all things. I just feel like an over stimulated moment like that, which was insane.

It was so crazy. I know, me too. I'm like, so inspired.

But you were so sweet at the... What was the award? I don't even remember what the...

Tony Awards?

No, it was before that where everybody has a dinner on a stage.

Oh, yeah. How awkward was that?

Yeah, there's a crowd, and then we're all on stage eating.

Like we're on display? Yeah.

Then you came over and said, I was- Wait, sorry.

I just want to put it. You're all on stage eating, and there's a crowd in the theater watching you?

It's watching Well, they're eating, too, right? Okay. Yeah.

I think so. I don't remember.

Meals on the last.

I couldn't see them. I couldn't see them.

You can't really see them because there's lots of lights on.

I mean, this is a new dinner theater where everybody's eating, including the cast.

Then let's get to Sean coming over and doing the offensive, whatever it was.

Sure it was. Was it about Dune? What was it about? Star Wars?

Maybe it was a Star Wars thing. But we were across the street from each other. You were doing Oscar. You're the triumphant, the much celebrated play. I was doing the marginally tolerated play across the way, Sydney Bruce Dean. No. It was cool to be up there. That was my first time doing Broadway. It was by happenstance. Really? Yeah, because we were doing this together.

What about Hamlet?

That was at the Public.

Oh, I didn't know that. Which is what? Technically off Broadway?

Yeah, that's off of Broadway.

Yeah, but anyway, I just... I'm a huge fan. But I want to talk about, I had no idea you played instruments and inside... Oh, my God. Luhind. Luhind. Yeah, Luhind. Incredible. Is that you really playing in the movie, too? Yeah. Was that a requirement that Coen Brothers wanted?

They did. They actually were mostly... At first, they were just auditioning musicians.

I have no idea you were a musician. That's so crazy.

Yeah. I didn't play folk music necessarily or that style. When I heard that they were going to be auditioning for it, I just really went in hardcore on learning Travis picking and doing all that.

It was-What's Travis picking?

Travis picking is almost like rag time on piano where the left hand is doing the bass line and the right-hand is doing the melody. Shani, can you do it?

Yeah, it's called Stride Piano.

Stride Piano, yeah. You're doing that with a where the thumb is doing the bass line. Oh, really? These guys are just playing the melody.

Oh, my God. Difficult?

Yeah, it's almost like the drumming where you have to get some separation between the things.

Jason, I saw you drumming in a music video yesterday. Do you want to comment on that?

What?

What is that?

Wait, was it the...

It must have been a Black Rabbit adjacent music video.

Oh, right. Oh, that. Yes.

It just popped up yesterday, and I just saw you hammering away on the skin.

On your Instagram? On my Instagram, yeah. I didn't see that. It's a crazy- I saw the first episode of that.

You're so great.

Oh, thank you, man.

You're so effortless.

Can I tell you last night, I haven't started yet because I want to have I want to binge it all in a row. I think I'm going to watch it this weekend. Bradley texted me last night. He watched it. The final text was at 3: 30 this morning. He sent me a nice text. Saying, I just finished Black Rabbit. It's incredible. It's an unbelievable Then he called me this morning. He's like, Bateman, literally, this is not exactly, Bateman is an incredible actor. I know.

He did. That scene in the car with the coins and the reaction to the gun. Get it out of my face. It was so It was so funny and real. It was so great.

I love that.

He's so good. Oscar, back to you. I want to talk about your memory because I'm wondering if I have Alzheimer's or is it just us actors that, well, although Will is an anomaly, he can remember everything. He's Mary Lou Henner's brother. But do you think that our brains have morphed into a one-trick pony where we can just remember lines and everything else, it decides, I can't have this. It self-edits things that are not going to our bottom line. I still know all these Shakespeare monologs, but I can't.

I think it's like... Maybe it's like this anxiety. The moment there's even a slight When you have a doubt about a memory, it just erases or a person's name or anything. The second there's a hesitation, it goes.

Do you have face blindness at all? I have a little bit of that.

Where you're just like... Do you really?

I do. Where I'm just like, Scottie, my husband, Scottie is like, You've met that person 20 times. I'm like, Really? It's horrible. It's a horrible thing.

I think it is that thing. It's like a hiccup that happens, and then you're like, It's like a paralysis.

I have a good memory, but I do have that, too, Sean. It's not face blindness, but I can't remember People say, We met, or we know each other, or we did the thing. That part of my brain is completely cut off, but I can't remember.

February of 2003, you can remember.

February of 2003, February In 2003, I auditioned for Arrested Development, and that was in February.

How would you- Jesus. But November 2018, you probably know what was going on.

Yeah, I do. November 2018, I went to England for six That's fucking nuts.

That's fucking crazy. That is crazy.

I don't get that. The brain is amazing.

But then there are certain parts of it that I can't remember. I can also remember dialog as well, Oscar, and I can remember also through, I guess, from voiceover stuff over the years, I can remember copy from voiceover campaigns that I did 30 years ago.

Here comes the GMC tie in, guys.

Gmc, I did it this morning. I did it this morning.

Was anything professional grade this morning?

No, but you can get zero % in all. 2025 GMC terrain, 18 years. Good Lord.

That river doesn't damn itself.

Okay, Oscar, I want to talk about your... Not only did I not know that you played in a band and sang in a band called The Worms, right?

Worms That was one of the names of the band.

The Worms. What music was it? Ska.

Yeah, it was like Ska Punk, right?

Oh, boy. I can smell the weed from here. There we go.

I wasn't drinking or... I didn't drink alcohol until like 24 years old. I was straight edge. Really? Oh, wow. I was always the odd one out.

But how did you go? How did you do that thing where you, because Sean said it in the intro, in eloquently, that you were in a band and you were in ska bands, and then you all of a sudden go to Juilliard. Was that one day you were like, Hey, guys, I'm out of the band. I'm going to Juilliard? Yeah. Really? For real?

Well, a little bit, but you got it straight from Marines to Juilliard, which was I was... Yeah, I mean, a little bit.

Wait, were you driving a moped with a racoon tail on it when you were playing in the band?

Suspenders? Yeah. Yeah.

Really? I'll bet you were. I remember those.

How many times have you seen quadrophia? No, sorry. Keep going.

Yeah, no. I had graduated high school. I was in this different band called the Blinking Underdogs. And we-Surprised that cleared.

No one had that, huh?

Nobody had They had the blinkers.

They had the underdogs, but they didn't have the blinking. Just so you know, Oscar, I was in a band called Sounds from the Stairs. So it's all... All the names are… Keep going. Blinking Underdogs. That's pretty good.

So many different band names. But yeah, and so I came up to New York to do this off, off, off, off, Broadway play.

While you were in the band?

Yeah. We were touring, but Florida. We didn't really get out of Florida. This was as the third wave was cresting and coming down with Scott.

When did you start Closet Heterosexuals? That was the third band.

That was before Scott. That was hardcore. That was a hardcore band.

That was hardcore. Okay, got it. C-h. That's good. C-h. Is that what you called it? Yeah. Now, do you still collect guitars? Because I know you collect guitars.

Well, wait, Sean, he's telling a story about how he went to New York to do the play. What are we doing over here?

He did the play. Well, no, I went to do the play, and then I was up there and I passed by Julia, and I was like, Juilliard, let me go in there and see what's up. Come on. Yeah. I asked for an application, and they said that the deadline was due already. This was a Tuesday, and it had been due Friday. I like, schmooze a lady, and I was like, Can I just take it back? She's like, Well, take it. Maybe you can turn it next year. I went home that night, and I filled it all out, and I came back the next day, and she took it and post-dated it.

What else did you to do to get it? Was there an audition process?

Yeah, then there was a whole audition process. Well, I had to come back and-Do a monolog? Do a couple of monologs and do a movement class in a dance belt. Wow.

Wear a dance belt while you have anybody in a dance belt.

Luckily, you had that rare dance belt collection.

I don't have guitars, but I have a great dance belt collection.

Sure.

Were you able to confirm that the other applicants had to wear the dance belt?

The funny thing, no, the dance belt thing actually was not about the audition, but the first day of when you got in, they were like, This is what you have to do. I remember I went in with my dance belt and nobody else had put on a dance belt.

We got another one. Got him.

Why would you put a dance belt on just for a monolog?

Because that's my craft.

Okay, I got it. Okay.

I got it. No question.

We'll be right back.

Now, back the show.

All right, so Will's point. Okay, but how did you... Where did you... You were in this band, but you always had this inkling to act in like... Yeah, I was doing plays.

I was doing plays in Miami as well. I was doing both at the same time. All the time.

Where did the Marines come in?

That was the sax player of the Worms. Sure. He and I just got really good. His dad was a Navy SEAL, and so we started talking about going in, Getting buff and just going in on the buddy system because you could do the buddy system at that time.

Which is what? What's the buddy system?

The buddy system is that you go in with a buddy and then you get to do all of basic training with your pal, with your buddy. You get to do the whole thing. It's like, that sounds great.

It just sounds rad. It sounds so fun, right?

You're going to do pull-ups and push-ups and all this stuff. It's going to be great.

The thought that you even thought that you could... I would never occur to me. I wouldn't even look it up because I'm like, I'm not getting anywhere close to that.

You're going to get kicked out when you enter the barracks.

But then they're like... And then I said, Oh, and I'll go in for combat photography. I had watched Full Metal Jacket, and I'm like, Yeah, be a combat photographer. And so we started doing the training. You would meet up every weekend and start doing the training with some of the Marines, like an early training.

So you did that?

Yeah. I even went and I did the... You go to a hotel and they do all your examinations and health stuff, and you take your first oath, and there's a second oath that you have to do. When I first signed up, I remember they gave me a pamphlet that had all the famous Marines, the Artee Marines, like Brian Dennehy, and I forget who else. I was like, great. Then I went to sign up, when I actually really had to sign up, I was going to go in as a reservist, and I was like, I'm here for combat photography. They're like, Oh, no, that's just full-time. I said, Well, What can I do instead? They said, Anti-tank? I was like, So against the tank?

How do I get in the tank?

I'm going to think about that. Let me just think about it. Then the sax player quit the band and said he and I weren't really close anymore, so I lost my buddy. Then we got enough money to record an album that summer to record our own CD. I was like, I think I'm not going to do it.

Oh, wow. She did not go through the basic training No, I didn't go through any of that.

Wait, but then you... I want to go back to the thing because I didn't know you collected guitar. How many guitars do you have?

I don't really collect guitars. I have some guitars.

But you told the Coen brothers you did, I'll bet. Seven.

Seven is pretty good.

Seven? Seven guitars. That's a lot of guitars.

That's a collection. Was that the last audition? The last audition I ever did was for HudSuckerProxy. Wow. Yeah. It was for the Coen Brothers. I'd read today for the Coen Brothers. Yeah, for sure. Was that the last audition you've ever done?

No. My last audition was for Mike Nichols. Really? Wow. For Betrayal on Broadway. Wow.

Oh, wow. Yeah. Wow. When was that?

Terably. It was 2014. I remember I came in and I had listened to a lot of Harold Pinter to do his accent. I was going through a divorce at the time, so I was like, Man, I'm feeling this thing. I'm not sure if you're aware of the play, but very much about that infidelity and all that. I got there and Juliet Reiland was the reader. She's a great, great actress, Margot Reiland's daughter. I did the first scene and Michael Nichols was quiet and he goes, Where'd you get that accent?

I was like, Where'd I get it?

He was like, Where'd you get it? I was like, Oh, I was listening to Pinter. I was listening to and trying to do that. He's like, Oh, yeah, well, I guess different English people sound differently. I was like, Huh? Then I was like, Why don't we do the next scene? So I did the next scene. Then he goes, Would it make you sad to do this play every night?

What does that mean?

I was like, Trick question. How do you answer that? I was like, I'm just going to be honest. I was like, You know what? I was reading it on the subway ride over here, and yeah, I'm going through something right now, and I feel really connected to the grief of that and the pain of that. I feel like, yeah, it would definitely be delving into that night by night. Then Juliet Reiland, God bless her. She's like, but also fun, too, right? I was like, oh, yeah, no, but also so fun. I mean, doing this, I'm probably with you.

It'd be so fun.

Then they're like, Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Then I walked out.

Who got it? Do you remember who got it?

Rafe Spall.

Okay.

Yeah, Rafe Spall. They did the play as a comedy as well.

Oh, that's sad. The right answer would have been the opposite of-Yeah, the right answer was the opposite.

But the trick question is, just tell me, I want to do this at a comedy. So, yeah, okay, then it'd be fun. I know. Okay, so born in Guatemala, which I did not know either. Then Baltimore, New Orleans, Miami.

Sean, is this question going to make you sad?

Yes, but also fun. I'm going to have a blast.

I'm going to have a blast asking it. Keep going.

Wait, all that moving around before you were six years old. Why? Because your dad... That's what I read, that he was doing his medical something. Is all because of your dad?

Yeah. I mean, also just like the immigrant story of coming to America for a better life. And so he grew up in DC. He's Cuban. He was born in Cuba, but grew up in DC, and then went to medical school in Guatemala, him and his two brothers. And that's where he met my mom. And then they had my sister. And then I was born as a six months old. And then we moved to DC first, like Virginia, Baltimore area. Did kindergarten there, then Louisiana, because he went to LSU for his residency. Then Florida, where we had family, and his mom was there, and we lived with my grandma for a bit.

Then eventually, he became a doctor. Yeah.

Was there any pressure on you to in his footsteps, or do you fully embrace the actor thing?

No, he was also a bit of a frustrated artist as well. He would make movies with his brothers on an eight-millimetre camera.

That's what the initial spark was for you, too, maybe?

Yeah, he would bring home every Friday. It was like a movie night, and he would bring home these mystery movies that we'd watch. Then he bought a camcorder, and we'd make home movies.

He must have been thrilled when you got into this a little bit.

Yeah, he was into it. He was into it until it became competition.

Is he still with us? He's still with us.

I brought him to the Frankenstein premiere in Venice. Oh, no way.

Oh, that's so cool.

Which was good. Do you remember who the first actor was that he showed you that you latched onto? I was like, Oh, I'd like to have those chops when I'm older.

Tim Curry.

Yeah. Oh, really? That's cool.

Because I remember he showed... We watched Clue.

I love that movie.

Then we watched Legend. When I realized it was the same fucking guy.

What about Rocky Horror?

Yeah, well, then Rocky Horror after that. Although dad didn't bring that one home for a movie. But man, I couldn't believe that that was the same guy. I noticed it because the way that his lip curled at one point as the devil.

You went like, Oh, my God. Yeah.

Oh, you can... Wow.

Yeah.

I'd have to jump around. Sorry. But how about Cuba? I've always been fascinated with Cuba. Have you been able to go there since your dad is born, sir?

I haven't been. I haven't been. I grew up in Miami, Cuban world, which is everyone's so traumatized and afraid and so complicated. But I've wanted to go. We almost went when Louis and Davis came out, actually, we were going to go to the film festival, and at the last minute, it didn't happen. But it's definitely a place I want to go.

What is the current? I feel so dumb as usual. You can't go there freely?

He opened up for a moment under Obama and then closed up. Closed again. Closed up and not closed up.

As an American, Canadians go. I know a lot of Canadians go there on holiday all the time. There are lots of flights. I know. Is that Friday? Yeah, that's right.

To Cuba? Yeah. Why would you Where do you want to go? Because it's beautiful?

There's our quote for the day. There's Sean.

I mean, fuck you.

Enjoy your vacation.

I mean, it's an incredible play.

How many demographics are you trying to get rid of at one, man?

I just didn't know what the draw was. I know what the draw is. It's beautiful.

It's beautiful. It's just put the shovel down.

It's got an incredible culture. It's got a lot of-Okay.

I just didn't know what the draw is. Hey, I can't wait to go to Cuba.

They feel the same way about you in the mall. What's the... Why does he go to the mall all the time? Yeah.

Okay. Anyway, Oscar. I grew up super, super Catholic. You grew up very, is it safe to say, evangelical or Christian? Evangelical, yeah. Evangelical.

Now, let's get into religion.

No, I think it's fascinating because you were devout.

We're talking spiritual abuse. Yeah, totally.

I love talking about it. We don't have to talk about it, but I love talking about it.

Do, because I know zero about religion. Please, educate me.

I mean, there's some wonderful Catholics, there's some wonderful Christians, and then there's the ones that are beyond hypocritical.

But do you guys know, what is the difference between Catholic, Christian, evangelical, Episcopalian, Protestant, Methodist, Lutheran.

They're all Christian. They're all under this big umbrella of Christianity.

But is there a singular difference that separates each one of them, as far as interpretation of the Bible goes? Yes. Yes.

Okay. Yeah, I guess that's what it is. Short answer.

It's complicated.

But is it an identifiable? Could it be a Jeopardy question? What is the single difference between Lutheran and Episcopalian. Is there one deep question?

Well, put it this way. The Episcopal Church came from his Church of England, right? It was established as a an offshoot of Catholicism because Henry VIII wanted to be able to divorce his wife. Jesus Christ. He established the Church of England. And Martin Luther comes along. Then, of course, it's a little bit different. It's like a lot of people describe Church of England as Catholic light without all the pageentry. That's a a simplistic view. Then there are all these different... Yeah.

Yeah. In Catholicism, there's a lot more intercessors, I guess, as a word, like the saints and people that you pray to. Like you said, the pageantry, which to go to Frankenstein, is a very Catholic Mexican- Look at this pro.

Look at this pro.

Version of it, but he talks about it very much in that way. The Christ figure, like the forensic nature of the crucifixion.

How about in the movie when the monster was up on the thing? It was just shy of being a cross.

Definitely. No, we called it the There's even the thorn, the metal thorns on the head.

No, totally. I thought it was cool. But was that a conscious choice of Guillermo or whoever to not make it a specific cross, but just at an angle? Have it a little bit angle. Yeah, you know what I mean? Yeah. I thought that.

It wasn't an accident.

Now, is working with Guillermo del Toro everything that you would hope and think that it is? He just strikes me as just such an infectiously enthusiastic and kind leader, not not to mention his creative abilities are just unmatched.

Yeah. I was like a kid. There was just so much joy. It was so much fun. It was this particular approach to it, too. While he was writing it, he's like, I'm making you a banquet. He really did. It was just a feast of stuff to do every day. We only We spoke in Spanish to each other.

Oh, that's cool.

He would direct in jokes, mostly, like dirty Mexican jokes. But also he was just ebullient, really funny. There was no whispering behind monitors. It was like, if there was a problem, everybody knew it. If something was great, everybody knew it. I love that. It was just really, really fun. It's zero pretension whatsoever. He'd be like, cabrón, I need a lot of jamón on this one. I'm not going to be like, Come on, with mustard and mayonnaise to make it go down easy. I just need you to look up and look right past the camera and hold it. Or he'd be like, I need you to do the Maria Cristina, which is like a telenovela thing. He's like, I need you to be in profile and then walk across a counter to him and then stop and turn around and look.

Right. Super dramatic.

He's like, Just give it to me. Make this one Mexican happy.

Wow. I love The scope of the movie is so massive. How long was the shoot?

It spanned nearly eight months. Where was it? There was a two-month break where he shot miniatures in in London. We shot it in Toronto and in the UK, Scotland.

When you do something like that with a director like that who has such a vision, and he has such a... But from what I understand from you, also very collaborative spirit. Do you, not to get too... But when you are in that, your ability, what are the the parameters or are there any of Winging stuff in your thoughts and feeling like you can just go out on a limb with a guy like him. Is it just pretty wide open in that way?

It is. That was the one thought when I was going into it. I know he's an animator. I know the visual language is so precise. I went in expecting like, all right, the constraints are going to be tight, but that's the job. But he actually was in a very different... He talks about making the movie with Bradley really shifted him. It really opened him up in an amazing way. And you credits Bradley. Nightmare Alley. Yeah, Nightmare Alley. He credits him a lot with just him learning how to listen to the movie. He would talk a lot about that while we were shooting it. Just like, the movie tells you what it needs. In fact, at one point I was saying, Hey, I find myself like, am I not shaking it up enough? Am I not being dangerous enough and going out on a limb enough? And he's like, No, that's an idea. It's like the movie tells you what it needs, and however you're responding is what it's needing. If it's needing you to be this way, then don't second guess that so much. He gave a lot of feeling to all of us of like, you can't fail.

I wrote this stuff for you. There's nothing to reach for, which was great. But also it's a very specific performance. He said, it's not naturalistic, it's heightened. I want the speed of language, speed of thought. There's not a lot of pausing for you guys. It's high camp and high melodrama and just all heart. That's what he wants it to be.

Yeah, all heart for sure.

He was really specific about the before you guys got started. Yeah, that's helpful.

God, that's really helpful, I bet. For sure.

Did he attempt to give you a taste for that collectively by doing any table reads ahead of time or rehearsals in a group, around a table?

No, he didn't want to do that so much. We did have one big table read with the execs and all that, and that was it. Because he was quite protective of the script as he was writing I think partly out of just a little insecurity as well. I'm not sure it's quite there yet. And so he kept adjusting. Every day he was working. Even behind the monitor, he was drawing his storyboards. He would be quilting the movie as we went along. Sometimes you would do a take and he would put it right into the flow of the edit so he would just show you. We did the last scene of the movie, and the next day, he came in with Johann Johansson music on it and showed the edited scene to me.

How did you like that or how did it affect what you were doing?

Well, I mean, that example in particular was interesting because it was the last scene of the movie. I want to try to talk about it without giving too much away of it. It's like a highly emotional crescendo of the whole thing. I spent the day in the zone, listening to all my sadsack music and looking at pictures of of sad times, doing the full anti-Mike Nichols moment.

This is in the Arctic.

This is in the Arctic, right? Yeah, in the ship. I went in and didn't talk to anybody. I laid down, we did this scene, and there was tears, and everybody was really happy, and Guillermo was high five, and we got it. Then the next day, he showed it to me, and I was like, I don't really buy it. Like me. I was like, I I was like, Was that take five? I thought take five was the good take. He's like, That's take five coming on. I was like, I don't think that's take five. Then we looked and it wasn't take five, but then take five wasn't that much better either.

Was it because you think that you came in with too much of that, too much of this, and not listening to this?

Check it out. Check it out what happened. Then I was sitting there and then Guillermo comes over and he's like, What's wrong? I was supposed to just do a little insert of my hand, grabbing his hand. He's like, What's wrong? I was like, I don't know, man. I'm feeling a little insecure. He's like, Well, you are an actor. I was like, I know, but I just feel like, should I have looked up maybe when I said sorry? Should I have done? And he's like, no, no, no, no. Those are all ideas. You were honest and you thought about your mom and you thought about all these things and that was there. I was like, All right, okay. Then I went away for 30 minutes. I was like, Oh, I just have to be a dead body for the rest of the day. I came back and he had set up a whole different thing. I was like, What are we doing? He's like, We're going to do it again. We're going to do your closeup again. He's like, You know what? From yesterday. He was like, You know what? It's okay. We're going to see if...

We definitely have something. If you don't have anything, that's okay. I'll just make fun of you for the rest of your life. Win-win. Really quickly, I'm throwing on my earpods to try to find a song to get me sad. You thought you were done with it. I'm trying to do all the shit. I didn't have any time. I laid down and we did it and we did four takes, and it was way better. I didn't have time to try to evoke anything or it was more sober. It was more severe. It just was It just was it.

You didn't have to bring a preconceived idea of what it should be as opposed to just letting it be.

Yeah, and that's what's in the film. I love that.

We'll be right back.

Now, back to the show.

But that adjustment in your performance came as a result of you watching what you were doing. Are you good about that? Because I'm sure you've worked as many actors as we have. But some actors, they don't watch themselves. They can't watch themselves. I learn so much from seeing how bad I am sometimes. It's like, Oh, don't do that anymore. Or you think it's coming across this way, but it actually comes across a different way.

I asked Christoff Walsh who's on it, right? It's like, I'm a fucking legend. I asked him specifically about that, and he's like, he doesn't watch. He's like, because it's okay if you watch and you think it's not good. But the bad thing is when you watch and you think it's good. That can be way worse. Why is that?

Because then it's cut together and you're like, oh, maybe it wasn't that great.

Or there's just a self-consciousness. It's just for him. But there's many times when I've watched something and I'm like, I can do it better and I can't. I don't know, man. I don't know. But there was a moment there after that happened where I was like, Well, we're not going to have to watch every fucking take or every scene. I just said, No. For me, it's not a definitive Sure. Thought of one or the other.

I've also asked a bunch of people this question as well, but with all the- Are you single? Yeah. What is your sign? And you're rising. With the incredible directors that you've worked with, do you ever fantasize about cherry picking from each one of them and becoming a smoking director yourself?

Yeah, sometimes. I thought originally, that's what I was more into. I came into acting from making movies with friends and doing that. Yeah. Yeah, I think about that sometimes. Oh, that would be awesome.

Oh, that would be incredible. I'm pleased, too.

You'd be great. When you say think about it, sometimes I wanted to… Do you have an idea in your mind of something that's back there?

I don't. That's why I'm like, Until that thing happens, where it's like, I think until that happens. What scares me a little bit is just I'm incredibly indecisive as just a human being. Even with a menu or with anything. I get just crippled. I don't know. So someone being like, Red shirt or blue shirt? I'd be like, I don't know. But I guess it's also a conversation. It's like, I don't know what's the difference. So looking at it, maybe it's more of a conversation than a decision. Right. How do you do that, Jason?

When somebody told me once, It's okay to say you don't know, it freed me up a lot. That's actually a great answer. When they come to you with all those thousands of questions, you just say, I'm going to come back to you on that. Give me a second to think about that.

Yeah, it's okay to do that. It took me a long time.

It's a lot of the-You mean in life, Sean, you're saying? Yeah. I know I mean it. I'm being serious. I think it's a really important life. I do it, too, also when people go, they want an answer, I'm like, Well, somebody told me, I don't have to answer them on their timeline.

That's right. I only learned it in the last 10 years where I've said, I don't know what that- I learned it a year ago. I don't know what that word means. I don't know what you're talking about. Can you repeat what you just said? I don't care anymore. But I want to get back to why I don't care about being perceived as like this. Yeah, no, I understand what you're saying.

That's actually helped me with the not remembering people. I just go out on a limb and I'll think, I think your name is this. If I'm wrong, it's okay. They say, No, it's not Cathy, it's Melissa. I'm like, Sorry.

I go a step further, Oscar. I go, I think your name should be this. Yeah. Sign a name.

Wait, so a little more of your personal stuff, Oscar, if you don't mind. Your wife is this Elvira Lynn. She's beautiful, talented, incredible documentary filmmaker. Really? Yeah, she's incredible. I love documentaries. She is. I just saw the trailer, and I did not know this until I was researching you for King Hamlet, which I can't wait to watch. It's you playing. What is it? Is it the making of the play Hamlet, and it's following you around about the process from rehearsal to- No way. Is that what it is?

Yeah. In 2017, it was this crazy confluence of things that happened where my mother passed away in February. We got married in March. In April, our first child was born. And in April, I started rehearsals for Hamlet, this four-hour version of Hamlet, this thing that I was working on for 12 years. And so her being a documentary filmmaker and having a new baby and just not knowing how to process this. She's from Denmark, too, and she's thrust into this whole other world of stuff. She just started picking up a camera and started filming. Around that time, before that, we were also filming. I would play music and she would film little music videos, and we would put them on Vimeo and stuff. It was a natural extension of that. She just started filming because the idea was she was going to film some of the making of this project. When all this stuff started been happening, she just kept filming. When I went down to my mom for hospice, she was there and I told her, The only way we can do this is if it's okay if this never sees the light of day as well.

And she said, Yeah, of course. I don't even know what I'm doing. I'm just filming because I don't know what the fuck else to do. That's what we did. She filmed this whole process and then put it away. Then about a year ago, took out the hard drives and started looking through it and started piecing it together with her great editor that she's worked with. That's really cool. Then she came up with this beautiful movie about what we do, which is how you deal with your life and how those things intertwine. That's so cool.

Did she say to you, Hey, remember that thing we said we'd never show the light of day? I'm working on it. Did she tell you that she was thinking about- Yeah, she showed me- Or did she show you something first?

She showed me something first. She was like, Hey, I've been putting this thing together. What do you think of this? I watched it and I was like, I don't know what I think of that, but keep going. Keep going.

Oh, that's really cool. And with a newborn on her hip the entire time. Yeah. She sounds incredible.

Yeah, she's incredible. Yeah, and she shot it as well. It's very funny, too, because it's the absurdity of everything that's happening.

It must have been very vulnerable to watch that.

Yeah, to watch it again. I hadn't seen any of that footage, especially with my mom and our family. It was really intense, but really proud of her for doing it.

How did you guys meet? Was it at Julia Art?

No, she happened to be in New York working on something. It was like a movie she had finished, and it was like some after-party for it. My manager at the time was like, You got to come to this party. I was like, I'm not. I am preparing for my Coen Brothers movie. I am not going to go to this thing. He's like, You got-But, dude, there's this chick. You got it. You just got to come. I was like, All right, but I'm going to go dressed as and dance.

With my cat and my guitar.

Yeah, well, this is before I had started, right? But I dressed in the outfit and I was like, and I'm going to go and I'm going to try to do this thing where I can project warmth without smiling. I want to see if I can do it. Sure. Or tell a joke, but not laugh to let anybody know it's a joke and let's see what happens. Wow. I went in and I was sitting there with my fingerless gloves and eating and nobody else was eating. Oh, my God. Her being a documentarian was like, A documentarian was like, who's this little brown weirdo in the corner? And comes over and starts talking to me. And then I told her I was a musician.

No way. No way.

Perhaps you've heard of the closet heterosexuals.

At one point, she's like, I can't tell, are you flirting with me? And I was like, yeah, I am.

That's cute. I love that.

That's how it started. Are you a cat guy? I'm sure you are. I bet that was the question at the Junket, wasn't it? That was the question. Do you play guitar and are you a cat guy?

It's so funny. A lot of these things that I'm saying, too, I do realize there are anecdotes that I have said before. But they're new to us. It's funny. After you say, I don't know if you guys get this, When you're saying anecdotes after a while, you feel like, I think I'm lying. I've said this so much. I don't think this is true.

Yeah, for sure.

John, hang on with Star Wars. We'll get to it. I know.

But ex-Machman Dune, I know. I can't wait.

I used to think that I could speak to cats, so I would go to the backyard and like, meow a lot, and cats would come.

Hang on a second. Let's just pause in here for a second, Oscar. Go ahead. Elaborate.

That was it. It was just like, and they would come.

That's why you liked the joke. That's why you liked the joke so much.

All right, I don't have a lot of time.

Hit it with the sci-fi.

I don't have a lot of time. I got to get through this stuff because I want to know about Ex Machina.

Ex Machina, incredible.

Listen to me. I've seen it like 10 times. It's so good. I know every line Scotty and I quote it all the time. We still go, Kyoko gogo, right? That made me laugh. Sorry. Wait, so it came out in 2014. Yeah, how crazy. Can you believe the relevance it has today?

Yeah. Alex Garland, he's just-Wild, isn't it? Yeah, he keyed into this thing. Even the way that we gather information, he talked... Nathan, the character I play, talks about like, Well, yeah, I gather all the signals from all the cell phones, and I get it all, and that's how I get it.

I mean, everything you talked about in the movie is happening right now. It's crazy. Yeah.

I wonder, does that occur to you when you see stuff or you're reading stuff that's going on in the world and you go, Yeah, I was there?

Yeah. But it felt like that when I read the script and then Alex Garland and I kept talking about it and working on it. We would look at it from every angle and look at the current literature and everything that was going on at the time. It felt completely locked in.

It's amazing how it holds up.

Alex Garland is, I mean, this guy. I mean, right?

Let's hope not all your films are Harbangers. Dune is a pretty bleak look into our future. But a incredible film.

My God. Amazing. You're amazing in it. You get all the great ones that you get to work with. I read this. I want you to tell the guys, if you want to, I can tell it, which is one of the best pranks I've ever heard of on any film shoot on Dune after the nude scene.

Speaking of dance belts.

Speaking of dance belts. Go ahead. You tell it, Sean. What is it really called? You call it a cock-sock, right?

Or a modesty-sock.

Modesty-sock. That's what it is. Modestysock.

Not everybody calls it that, but yeah.

I'm going to get it wrong. But you did the scene and you had a, quote, modesty's stock on, and you put it in Denny's jacket pocket. It's bright.

It's his chest pocket.

And he later pulled it out.

Yeah, well, I left, and then I got a picture of him holding it like, what the fuck?

At the dinner table.

After the take. That's hilarious.

Then he said, he says this is true that Moma asked for it.

Oh, my God. Oh, really? Really? Well, they'd be smart to get it. They'd be smart. Hopefully, they got a wall big enough. Yeah, right?

Go for you. Go for you.

Go for you. Sean, anything on Star Wars?

You don't have any questions on Star Wars? I mean, yeah, just the dumb question, the obvious question. Is it real? Were you a fan?

Right, he's tattooing in a real place.

Wait, look at this. What's Dora Fader like in the morning? No, the basic question is, were you a fan? Were you flicked out that you got the part? Were you Were you a huge fan as a kid?

No, but my family were huge fans, like collectors. My uncle, in particular, was a massive, massive fan.

He loved making that phone call.

Oh, man, that phone call was great. He came, he was an extra a couple of times. He got to- When you were- Remember I brought him? He died a couple of years ago, which was so rest in peace. But it was the most amazing thing. I brought him and I couldn't find him. He was in Carrie Fisher's trailer just hanging out.

Yeah, that's crazy to me. That's crazy. Scotty and I just visited the set of the new Star Wars movie with Sean Levy directing when I was in London, and we got to go to the creature shop. That's everything we're for. I don't know if you're into that. But I was just like, it's so cool that you were part of the reboot of this franchise. You were the first part of the reboot. I mean, it's wild. And look at where it's at now. It's like last night at the dinner table, Jason and we're sitting around and out of nowhere, I go, has anybody seen the trailer for Mondalorian and Grogu? Just silence.

Nobody said. Except I said, I've seen it and it's fantastic.

Yes, I can't wait to see that movie.

And didn't you say that you have not seen the trailer or you refuse to see the trailer?

Me? No, God, I saw it 10 times.

What if he didn't see with the sound on or something like that?

No, I saw it.

I love it. The guy I was with yesterday said that he will not see it yet because it'll get his... He won't see it until it's closer to release because he's just going to get too excited.

You can't sustain the excitement level.

Yeah. All right. Rapid fire before we let you go. Ready? Yeah. If we were roommates for a week, what would be the one Oscar Isaac Cork that would drive me insane? And what's the one that I would love?

You cook. Sean.

Sean, look at you.

I don't really cook. I mean, I can cook, but I don't cook a lot.

So Sean's not happy with that. What would he love?

God.

What would drive me crazy?

He would love that I don't cook very much. What would you love? Theater stories. Theater stories, hugs. I'm very affectionate.

Oh, he loves a hug.

There you go. I'm going to appropriate unnecessary impromptu hug.

Yeah, unnecessary. Cognition. Cognition..

Who's most likely to win in a board game? You, Jessica Ches, Dan, or Ethan Hawke?

Oh, I guess it depends on the board game, but… Scrabble.

How about Scrabble? Sure.

I'm going to go with Ethan because he's like a poet and a writer, and he's just… That's good.

I can't wait to see his show. I know.

I can't wait to see his show.

I know me, too. He's so incredible that day.

Yeah, love him.

I read that you improvised lullibis for your two sons. No way. You sit there with a guitar and you just make up songs for them?

I did. Well, now it's funny because I did that for a while and then they were like, Please stop.

They got old enough to say stop.

Yeah, they just didn't like whenever I would play guitar or sing, and that went away a bit. But recently in the last year, I just bought this looper pedal. We've got this. I'll just show you a little bit. We got drums here. Look at this.

There's the looper pedal down there.

There's a lot of piano over there. We've just been making a lot of music together.

How old are they?

He's going to turn six. Mads is going to turn six on Sunday, and Eugene is eight.

Oh, my God. Wow. Yeah. Prime time.

I know. That's so good to get them into that young Sean, how old are you when you start playing piano.

Five.

Really?

There you go. Yeah. Have they seen dad's movies or anything?

Yeah, they've seen some of them. They've seen Star Wars. Eugene has actually asked me about Star Wars yesterday.

How are they with the notes? Are they kind with the notes?

They're a little tough with the notes, I got to say. Kids are tough.

I can't say enough about you and Frankenstein. I just think it's an incredible It's an incredible performance. It just blew me away.

I can't say enough about you and everything, Austin. I know. It's true, Austin. In this interview, you were fantastic and you were very nice to join us. Yeah, you were a closet. Really, really cool.

Thanks, guys. Will, I can't wait to see what you did in that movie. You're so good. Yeah.

He's so good on that. Where do you see that? He and Bradley just rocked it.

Thanks, man.

No, you're one of the great. You're one of our greats, man, for real. Yeah, you are. Oscar, and you're a great dude. We hung out a couple of times. You're such a great dude. I appreciate It's so good to see you, man.

Yeah, great to see you, too. Thank you for being here, man. Enjoy the rest of your day. Good luck with Frankenstein. We're all going to go see it.

Thank you, Oscar.

Thanks, buddy. Thanks, guys.

Thanks, Oscar.

Bye, pal.

Bye.

Well, that was tough saying good night to Oscar there. I could talk to him forever.

Oh, my God. He's in so many of my favorite movies. I know. That Ex Machina is just incredible.

But wait, do you see Frankenstein?

I can't wait.

Everything that guy does is so incredible.

How is somebody so good? I know.

He's so good. It's all I have to say. I'm blown No way. I'm literally, we're all thinking here about all these different performances. You're like, Oh, yeah, he's so good in that. Oh, he's so good in that.

Do you think it's something in the water at Juilliard? Or do you think they come in already talented?

I think they do a pretty good job of vetting in No, there aren't. But what we should do is we should do an episode where we have the people from Juilliard who never did shit.

We are bright.

Right? To have them on.

We were right. We were the people that didn't make it in.

Or the people that didn't make it was us.

There That's how we... There's the first three.

It doesn't get shittier than us.

Do you think they teach people musicals in Juilliard?

What? Can you think of any other top of your head?

Maybe like, Bye, bye, Birdy.

Why don't you commit to it?

Oh, bye, bye, Birdy.

Bye, bye. That was a really short outro. Smart.

Smart. Smart.

Smart..

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