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Welcome to the Behind the Shield podcast.

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This is episode 82 and as always, I'm James Gearing.

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This week I bring to you a man who I've been talking to kind of online for a while now.

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I was introduced to him around the time of the Only the Brave movie.

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As you know, we have Brendan McDonough on the show who was the survivor of the horrible

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Prescott 19 tragedy.

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We had Amanda Marsh who was the widow of Eric Marsh, the supervisor of that crew.

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This week I bring to you Josh Brolin who played Eric in that movie who I didn't even realize

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until I started researching more was in one of my other favorite movies, The Goonies,

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very early in his career as well as No Country for Old Men that we talk about which is one

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of my favorite thrillers to date.

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So we had an incredible conversation.

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We delved into Josh's early life, how he became a firefighter, how he got into The Goonies

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originally and then focused a lot more on the experience with Only the Brave and all

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the things that came out of that.

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So as I always say before, please rate the show on iTunes, give us feedback and then

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share.

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Share the hell out of this thing.

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Let's try and get all these incredible episodes to the men and women out there, first responder

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community and everyone else that can benefit from this.

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Anyone with a set of ear holes can pretty much learn from many, many of these men and

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women that we've had on the show.

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So without further ado, I introduce to you Josh Brolin.

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Enjoy.

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All right.

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Well, firstly, Josh, thank you so much for taking the time to come on this podcast.

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I know we've gone back and forth on social media a little bit and we're going to delve

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into this, but I really kind of crossed your path when it came to Only the Brave movie.

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But I really want to thank you ahead of time before we delve in for taking the time to

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reach out to the men and women in the first community, excuse me, the first responder

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community around the world.

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Thanks, man.

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And thanks for having me.

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It's so funny.

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You know, almost especially in the last year, you say social media, I say Instagram because

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I don't know of any other social media other than Instagram.

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I've met so many incredible people.

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I would like to think that Instagram is really bad for me and horrible, but it's not because

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I've met you.

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I've met incredible artists.

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I've met incredible writers.

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I've met firemen.

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I've met first responders, people reaching out after Only the Brave.

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So it's been only a positive thing in my life.

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Brilliant.

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Yeah.

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I love Instagram too.

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I think you can streamline it to make it a very positive platform.

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All right.

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Well, I want to just do some icebreakers and delve into your early life and then obviously

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we'll get to that project specifically.

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So where exactly were you born and what was your family unit like?

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What did your parents do and how many siblings did you have growing up?

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I was born in Santa Monica, California.

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So I'm an original Dogtown boy and I was born at St. John's Hospital.

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My father is James Brolin.

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Brolin is actually a made up name.

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He was born with a different last name.

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And my mom is James Cameron Agee or was and she was assistant casting at Batman, the series

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Batman with Adam West.

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And my dad did an episode of Batman and that's how my parents met.

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And my parents got married, were married 12 days after they met.

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I think it was day seven that they sat in front of a huge, I think the drink is called

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a scorpion.

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It's like a quadruple drink and with two straws in it, one going to each end, one going to

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my dad, not to each end.

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That's why it's called a scorpion.

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My dad and my mom and my mom looked at my dad at some point and said, well, and my mom

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had a deep voice.

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She was from Corpus Christi, Texas, had a bit of a twang and a very deep, froggy voice.

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And she said, well, and my dad was like, well, what?

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And she said, so are we going to do it or what?

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And he was like, do what?

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She said, are we going to get married or not?

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And he said, I sure, I guess.

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So five days later, they were married in Carmel, Carmel by the sea.

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And I was born a year later and then my brother was born.

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My brother Jess was born four years after that.

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There you go.

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Thank you.

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That's a pretty cool story.

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That's the deal.

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And that really presupposes my whole life, like that kind of bizarreness, surreal, chaotic

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beginnings, auspicious beginnings there, I think, kind of laid out my path very clearly.

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Right, now you grew up on a farm, didn't you?

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I did, I moved to Paso Robles, California when I was five and a half or six.

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All right, and what kind of farm was that?

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It was a horse ranch, basically.

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You know, Paso Robles, which is now considered wine country, especially after the horrible

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fires in Napa, it's basically considered the go-to place in central coast California.

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When I was growing up there, there were two wineries and most of the properties were based

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on horse ranches and alfalfa, so farming.

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And that's the Paso Robles that I remember.

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Paso Robles is very different now, but I still have a place up there.

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And it's about three miles from where I grew up and it's still, I'm surrounded by old school

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Paso Robles, like generational Paso Robles, Templetonians.

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And I like it that way.

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I'm not really involved with any of the wine people up there.

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Right, do you still ride now?

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Do I still ride horses?

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Yes.

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When I can, you know, I mean, there was, there's a situation, it's jumping forward a bit, but

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I had that ranch, you know, and I raised my kids on that ranch and around 2004, I sold

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it just because I was so financially, it was very tough to keep up and I wasn't working

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a lot.

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So I sold the ranch and then five years later, I bought the same ranch back.

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And when I had the ranch before, part of why I couldn't keep it is because I had horses

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and horses are like a monetary vacuum.

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You know, they just suck up money like crazy.

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And when I grew up, personally, we had 65 horses.

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So I'm sure my dad could tell you the same thing monetarily.

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But so I know what it's like to be around horses to have to get up at 530 in the morning

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and feed horses every day and, you know, to put two phone books under you from the truck

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so you can see over the steering wheel and still have to go around and, you know, get

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10 bales of hay and feed the horses before you go to school.

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But no, when you know, we I travel so much now that I just don't have, I put my funds

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elsewhere.

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So ultimately, what we would like as we get older is to be able to really just ensconce

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ourselves in one place.

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And then if we do that, we'll probably start to reestablish horses and all that.

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But to answer your question, yeah, I ride.

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I've always ridden.

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I always will ride.

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Right.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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I grew up on a horse farm as well, so I can totally relate.

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I'd go into school.

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Where did you grow up?

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I grew up in a place called Bath in England.

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My dad was actually a...

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I've been there.

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Oh, you have?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Beautiful place.

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We had a little horse vet out there and we had a small hospital, excuse me, a small animal

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hospital as well.

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So I grew up, you know, with a bunch of my dad stick his arm up the horse's ass on a

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regular basis.

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It's so funny you said that because we, you know, we just, I'm writing a series right

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now and it's sort of taking place where I grew up or something like it.

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And I just told the writer, I said, you need to put preg checks in there.

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You need to...

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Preg checks is a normal thing where I grew up before cows went to auction.

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You know, you'd put on the big plastic glove and then you'd go up the ass with the plastic

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glove and you'd feel around and then you'd put the number of how pregnant that cow was

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on its neck.

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And then everybody would know when they went to auction and would go, hey, but I got a

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little bit of five, you know, five, you don't want to want it.

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You don't want to go five, you know, five.

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The best part of growing up, man.

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Whereas now you tell people down here and they start gagging when you tell them the

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story, you know?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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I know there was a lot of that.

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My little brother used to have friends come on the horse farm and, you know, they'd show

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like pickled samples that my dad had in his surgery and I thought he was some crazy psychotic

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professor.

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It's so funny.

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Your dad was a vet.

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Yes, sir.

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Still?

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You know what?

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Yeah.

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I mean, he's retired for a while, but he's got one of those brains where it never stops.

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So it's funny because he'll talk to me about something and then six months later I'll do

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an interview on here with some amazing person in the wellness world and they'll say, oh,

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there's this breaking thing now and it was what my dad had told me in the equine world

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six months ago.

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So my mom ran a wildlife station, a way station for animals that have been illegally taken

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out of the wild and she would get them from those people, have those people jailed, people

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who tried to domesticate them.

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If you'd been defanged or declawed, she would nurse them back to health and find like a

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truly habitable zoo, like pens that are an acre large or if they hadn't, she would re-release

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them.

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So I grew up with wolves, coyotes, mountain lions.

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I birthed many mountain lion pups or babies and so I grew up around all that.

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A lot of veterinarians that obviously were at our house constantly.

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My brother was bitten by a wolf.

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He had 60 stitches.

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I was bitten twice.

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We had to very irresponsibly clean those cages and why she would allow us to do that at that

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age, I have no idea but that was just kind of like country living at that point.

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You just did it.

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You didn't ask questions.

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You just did it.

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Go clean the wolf's cage.

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Go clean the fancy's cage.

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Don't let it pull your face off, whatever you do.

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Seriously, man.

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I mean seriously, you had to worry about that.

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You became very intuitive with animals because of it.

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Do you ever see that documentary called Buck?

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No, I did not.

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Oh, you should see it.

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Basically it's the horse whisperer but there's no whispering involved but this guy who grew

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up very traumatically.

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His dad was very abusive and he just became a very sensitive being because of it.

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It's basically the story of how he turned that incredible sensitivity and whatever you

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want to call it, PTSD or trauma into one of the most incredible skills between human and

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animal that you'll ever see.

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Wow.

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Life is so funny.

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I just had what was like a family student of my dad, a veterinary student that moved

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to the US actually even though he's English and he was always like a big brother to me,

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just shared something on social media yesterday how he's been part of this study, how equine

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therapy is showing huge positive results in PTSD in veterans.

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Yeah, it's amazing.

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It's amazing that and surfing of her too has a massive impact which I understand totally.

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But equine therapy, I remember equine therapy, I was at a place, I was at like a rehab, I

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was quitting drinking and I was in this rehab and the lady had all these people around,

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it's a quick story, but she had all these people around and nobody was really used to

237
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:38,720
horses and I had grown up with horses and she said basically try to get the halter on

238
00:13:38,720 --> 00:13:43,920
the horse and nobody could really do it and then finally she gave me some food and she

239
00:13:43,920 --> 00:13:44,920
said, do you want to try?

240
00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:51,880
And I kind of arrogantly said yes and totally overconfident and full of myself and I went

241
00:13:51,880 --> 00:13:54,800
over there and I got close to the horse.

242
00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,160
I don't even think I took the bucket.

243
00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,520
I put some food in my, no, I took nothing.

244
00:13:59,520 --> 00:14:00,520
I went in there with nothing.

245
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:01,520
I was that arrogant.

246
00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:08,040
I went in there and I looked at the horse and then I kind of got, I squatted down and

247
00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:13,640
kind of slowly moved toward the horse but all the while having my hand extended out,

248
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:18,840
acting as if I had, my hand was fisted up so acting like I had something in my hand,

249
00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:24,640
in my fist that the horse couldn't see and then I got closer and closer very slowly and

250
00:14:24,640 --> 00:14:30,400
the horse was curious enough as to what was in my hand and I was slow enough not to scare

251
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,200
the horse away and then finally I got up there and then I grabbed this as you know how to

252
00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:35,200
do.

253
00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:38,400
You bend the front leg and they can't go anywhere.

254
00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:43,520
They're incapacitated and I put the halter on the horse and everybody's like, wow, my

255
00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:44,520
God, that was amazing.

256
00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:45,520
It's amazing.

257
00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:51,760
And the therapy came up, a therapist came up to me and she said, so basically you gain

258
00:14:51,760 --> 00:14:57,240
people's trust and then you incapacitate them and I was like, that's so shitty.

259
00:14:57,240 --> 00:15:01,160
I just did something so crazy.

260
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:04,160
She missed the beauty of the whole thing.

261
00:15:04,160 --> 00:15:08,000
It's your job to get this but anyway, I left that place.

262
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:10,760
I guess it's all perception at the end of the day.

263
00:15:10,760 --> 00:15:11,760
Absolutely.

264
00:15:11,760 --> 00:15:12,760
I couldn't agree more.

265
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,840
Well, you touched on surfing and I apologize for Wikipedia being this source but I was

266
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:23,520
trying to kind of get my information from as many places as possible but it mentioned

267
00:15:23,520 --> 00:15:25,160
the sea-toe rats.

268
00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:26,160
Is that true?

269
00:15:26,160 --> 00:15:29,000
Did you have part of a group that you surf with?

270
00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:32,480
Yeah, you're the first guy to say group and that's exactly what it was.

271
00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:33,480
It was a group.

272
00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:34,480
It wasn't a gang.

273
00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,440
It was a surf.

274
00:15:36,440 --> 00:15:46,920
It's like if you look at the guys in Maruba, my brother's keeper and I'm not going to remember,

275
00:15:46,920 --> 00:15:50,720
I'll remember in a second but the Bra Boys in Australia.

276
00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:52,800
It was a very similar thing.

277
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:59,240
I don't think we were as violent but it was just a group of guys that got together that

278
00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:04,520
kind of relied on each other because it was the parents.

279
00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:07,880
It was the 80s and the parents at that point were just kind of doing their own thing.

280
00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:08,880
I don't know.

281
00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:14,240
It was a very strange time and I've never seen anything before or after quite like it.

282
00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:17,840
It's funny because I just went to a friend's 50th birthday party and there was a guy there

283
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:23,680
that I went to school with a long time ago and he was a couple years younger than me

284
00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:28,280
and he was like, God, I remember watching you guys on the beach and I just wanted to

285
00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:33,040
stay as far away from you as possible but I couldn't help but watch because it was like

286
00:16:33,040 --> 00:16:37,200
a living train wreck.

287
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:38,200
It's just what it was.

288
00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:39,840
There was a lot of partying going on.

289
00:16:39,840 --> 00:16:41,920
A lot of those guys aren't around anymore.

290
00:16:41,920 --> 00:16:43,280
There was a lot of surfing.

291
00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,720
We spent most of our time at the beach.

292
00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:53,120
This is after I left Paso Robles and then went down to Santa Barbara at around 11.

293
00:16:53,120 --> 00:16:57,840
First guy I met there was Jason Sirius who became the lead singer for Rich Kids on LSD,

294
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,960
RKO, which is a fairly big punk band at the time.

295
00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:07,640
And then Mike Herbert, who was another guy who became kind of a staple of that time.

296
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,280
I don't know what to say about it.

297
00:17:10,280 --> 00:17:13,440
It was the best of times.

298
00:17:13,440 --> 00:17:14,440
It was the worst of times.

299
00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:15,840
It was kind of that.

300
00:17:15,840 --> 00:17:18,600
All right, so what did those next few years look like?

301
00:17:18,600 --> 00:17:21,400
Well, let me rephrase the question.

302
00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:29,680
Tell me about your journey from there to when you either found a desire to or found yourself

303
00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,000
in the acting industry like your dad.

304
00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:33,600
It was an accident.

305
00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,720
I had no interest in the acting industry.

306
00:17:35,720 --> 00:17:41,440
My dad was in and out and I saw the frustration of not having a job and I just never understood

307
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:43,720
the insecurity of it.

308
00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,360
And I don't mean emotionally, but I mean the financial insecurity.

309
00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:51,880
I was just a much more, even though I was who I was in that culture and the surf culture

310
00:17:51,880 --> 00:17:58,340
and all that, I always had one toe out of everything destructive that I did, which is

311
00:17:58,340 --> 00:18:00,040
maybe one of the reasons why I survived.

312
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,240
I don't know.

313
00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:08,800
And I had always kind of a peripheral, a periphery into what else there was.

314
00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,320
What other possibilities are there?

315
00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:13,520
What other things can I, what other pools can I dive in?

316
00:18:13,520 --> 00:18:19,480
And so acting was just never, that's why all my friends were really surprised that I became

317
00:18:19,480 --> 00:18:20,480
an actor.

318
00:18:20,480 --> 00:18:27,280
But I did take sort of accidentally, I took a course in school in Santa Barbara High School

319
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:32,240
and I can't, I wish I could remember the teacher's name, but I can't.

320
00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:37,760
But I remember the first class and the class was called improvisation.

321
00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:42,240
And they told us you basically create a character and you get up here and then we're going to

322
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:46,880
ask you questions and you answer back in the character that you've created.

323
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,040
So I was the first one asked to go up.

324
00:18:49,040 --> 00:18:55,200
I don't know why, but, and I created some middle-aged balding New Yorker who was overweight

325
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,520
and da da da da, you know, whatever came into my mind.

326
00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:01,640
And then they started asking questions and I answered and then we get, there were a lot

327
00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,280
of laughs and I remember the laughs were like a drug.

328
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:09,360
It was like a great new discovery or a new discovery of a great new drug.

329
00:19:09,360 --> 00:19:12,720
And I liked it, but I had no interest in pursuing it.

330
00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:15,600
I didn't think it was going to go anywhere.

331
00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:24,280
And then I was kicked out of my house in Santa Barbara and my dad was living down in LA at

332
00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:25,280
the time.

333
00:19:25,280 --> 00:19:29,600
My mom was in Santa Barbara and I went to go live on his couch.

334
00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:34,440
And that's when I kind of started to get my act together a little bit or at least attempt

335
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:38,160
to and started going to a school down there.

336
00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:40,960
And then I, you know, I think it was my dad's urging.

337
00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:42,480
He's like, why don't you try this thing?

338
00:19:42,480 --> 00:19:44,120
You know, you liked it so much in school.

339
00:19:44,120 --> 00:19:46,640
Why don't you just, so I made up a resume.

340
00:19:46,640 --> 00:19:48,680
It was a total fake resume.

341
00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:52,960
I like looked at plays and like plays that, and I just picked a part, you know, and I'm

342
00:19:52,960 --> 00:19:55,880
sure like sometimes maybe even accidentally picked a female part.

343
00:19:55,880 --> 00:19:56,880
I don't know.

344
00:19:56,880 --> 00:19:59,080
Nobody really looks at those things anyway, so it didn't matter.

345
00:19:59,080 --> 00:20:01,880
And I went from agent to agent saying I want it.

346
00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,360
I would love to become an actor and these are all the things that I've done.

347
00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:09,520
And I made up theaters like Santa Barbara International Repertory Theater, which doesn't

348
00:20:09,520 --> 00:20:13,800
exist and a lot of bullshit.

349
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:20,520
And finally convinced somebody, Hillary Shore, leading artist to take me on.

350
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,800
And she had I had to ask her for the money to get because it was in Beverly Hills and

351
00:20:23,800 --> 00:20:29,080
I couldn't afford to get out of the parking lot where I parked my shitty little car.

352
00:20:29,080 --> 00:20:32,640
And my dad, you know, I was very, you know, my dad was, you know, he's successful and

353
00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,560
not so successful and successful, kind of like all actors for the most part.

354
00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:39,840
But he was very good about not handing us money.

355
00:20:39,840 --> 00:20:45,240
He made it very apparent that his money was his money and what we make will be ours.

356
00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,040
But we have to make it first.

357
00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:54,880
So I'm glad that I have some of those stories of having to beg for money to get out of a

358
00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:57,160
Beverly Hills parking lot.

359
00:20:57,160 --> 00:20:58,880
Well you mentioned the agent as well.

360
00:20:58,880 --> 00:21:03,120
I'm going to give a very brief, brief glimpse of some crappy time in my life.

361
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:05,280
But I went to drama school for a year.

362
00:21:05,280 --> 00:21:07,280
I was an awful, awful actor.

363
00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:11,800
But at the end of it, they had a showcase and I got stuck in that vicious circle of

364
00:21:11,800 --> 00:21:15,240
we like what you do, so call us when you get a gig, we'll come watch it.

365
00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:18,560
And then the gigs wanted you to have an agent before they would employ you.

366
00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:21,240
So how did did you have that issue?

367
00:21:21,240 --> 00:21:22,240
The cash 22.

368
00:21:22,240 --> 00:21:23,240
Yeah.

369
00:21:23,240 --> 00:21:26,800
I mean, look, I started auditioning and I had no idea what I was doing.

370
00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,400
And I'm convinced that I was, you know, I mean, people try to say it with some kind

371
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:33,880
of humility and they were like, you know, I wasn't I wasn't so good.

372
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:38,640
And then you cut to, you know, an acting teacher, you cut to the first director and they were

373
00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:41,040
like, they were amazing.

374
00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:42,600
You should have seen right when they walked in.

375
00:21:42,600 --> 00:21:44,080
Nobody said that about me.

376
00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:45,080
And I'm positive.

377
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:47,960
Like I sucked right from the start.

378
00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,960
And I can still suck as well as I did back then.

379
00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:58,480
I just didn't have an innate confidence that's needed or maybe I think I had the imagination.

380
00:21:58,480 --> 00:22:02,880
I just didn't have the understanding of what it is.

381
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:12,680
But I knew how to I liked the idea of, you know, lending myself to something entirely.

382
00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:15,360
And so I tried it and I was willing to go for it.

383
00:22:15,360 --> 00:22:17,800
I was willing to feel and look like an asshole.

384
00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:19,160
And that's what I did.

385
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,000
And I did it hundreds of times before I got my first job.

386
00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:23,000
I don't know why.

387
00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:26,420
But, you know, back then, like people send in tapes and all that now.

388
00:22:26,420 --> 00:22:29,560
But back then you had to go and do it in person.

389
00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:32,040
And I remember there being a lot of readings in a week.

390
00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:36,360
Like I'd go to school and then afterwards I'd have two readings after school.

391
00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:41,880
You know, so I could probably do six to ten readings in a week.

392
00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:44,040
But I didn't get any of them until the Goonies.

393
00:22:44,040 --> 00:22:47,080
I didn't there wasn't even I, you know, I'd been turned away a lot.

394
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:49,080
I've been told I was green a lot.

395
00:22:49,080 --> 00:22:53,760
I've been told I should maybe think about some other profession.

396
00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:55,960
I was told a lot of things then.

397
00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:00,240
But that only, you know, coming from where I came from, I'm sure that was part of it.

398
00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:04,400
You know, it's like the more resistance I got, the better it was for me.

399
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:05,400
Yeah, yeah, exactly.

400
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:07,960
I mean, it kind of touches into what you posted today.

401
00:23:07,960 --> 00:23:12,040
We went back and forth a tiny bit on Instagram about the teachers that told you never amount

402
00:23:12,040 --> 00:23:15,680
to anything are the ones that drive you to show them that they were wrong.

403
00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,240
I'll never forget the guy who said it.

404
00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:18,240
I heard it.

405
00:23:18,240 --> 00:23:19,240
They were right.

406
00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:23,680
I mean, but they weren't, you know, you thought that they were right even when they were saying

407
00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:24,680
it at the time.

408
00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:27,680
But the truth of the matter is, is you never know, man.

409
00:23:27,680 --> 00:23:30,880
I mean, some of those guys that didn't make it, by the way, were the smartest guys I've

410
00:23:30,880 --> 00:23:31,880
ever known.

411
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:33,720
And I've met some really, really smart.

412
00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,640
I've been very fortunate to have some incredibly brilliant friends from Howard Zinn to Lawrence

413
00:23:38,640 --> 00:23:40,760
O'Donnell, Lawrence O'Donnell Jr.

414
00:23:40,760 --> 00:23:43,840
And, you know, just incredible people I've met.

415
00:23:43,840 --> 00:23:47,840
And those those are some of the smartest guys I've ever met.

416
00:23:47,840 --> 00:23:49,720
But it was a very destructive time.

417
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:59,200
So it was, you know, it swallowed its victims, whatever that time was or whatever it was.

418
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:03,580
And I was very lucky to to not succumb.

419
00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:06,720
So what was different about the Goonies?

420
00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:07,720
Everything.

421
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:12,240
Still, you know, what's your favorite experience?

422
00:24:12,240 --> 00:24:19,240
I probably have to like I have a favorite movie, which is probably no country.

423
00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:24,600
But my favorite experience, I would say there's two of them.

424
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:29,600
One would be the Goonies and the other would be only the brave because they're two of the

425
00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:33,840
most intense communal experiences I've ever had in my life.

426
00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:39,560
And I didn't really know other than that group that I grew up with that that existed.

427
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:44,160
I didn't understand the familial aspects of filmmaking.

428
00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:49,240
So it was, you know, I studied and I'm reading Stanislavski and I'm reading Uta Hogan and

429
00:24:49,240 --> 00:24:52,360
all these people that I can get my hands on, these books that I can get my hands on, because

430
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:56,520
I was very interested in the quote unquote craft of the whole thing.

431
00:24:56,520 --> 00:25:06,200
But what was way more emotionally affecting to me was was the communal aspect of it.

432
00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:16,280
The Goonies was that times 300,000, you know, it was just a really special, special time.

433
00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:21,480
It made me want to stay in the movie industry, even though I did really shitty after that.

434
00:25:21,480 --> 00:25:27,080
But what do you think is that they saw in you for that particular role that no one saw

435
00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:28,080
in the roles prior?

436
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:29,080
I don't know.

437
00:25:29,080 --> 00:25:33,360
I think the very thing that I fought after that, I'm guessing, but I think it was more

438
00:25:33,360 --> 00:25:35,360
of a tone.

439
00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:36,800
It was a look.

440
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:39,360
It was like the older brother who was blonde.

441
00:25:39,360 --> 00:25:41,120
And I think it was a look.

442
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:45,200
I looked kind of jockey, even though I wasn't that at all.

443
00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,000
I was the opposite, actually.

444
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,260
But I had the genetic makeup of a jock.

445
00:25:50,260 --> 00:25:54,720
And that's kind of what they wanted, you know, me pulling apart that stretch thing or whatever

446
00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:58,040
you call it, the muscle thing and all that stuff.

447
00:25:58,040 --> 00:26:00,320
It was so not me.

448
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:06,680
But it's a look that worked for the part and then I had to figure out how to play the part.

449
00:26:06,680 --> 00:26:10,080
And you know, honestly, like if you look at it, I didn't have to do much, you know, there

450
00:26:10,080 --> 00:26:11,800
wasn't a lot of acting in that.

451
00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:16,240
It was just really just being there and being present and not looking at the camera and

452
00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:17,560
not bumping into things.

453
00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:20,880
Yeah, it was still one of those movies that's timeless.

454
00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:22,740
And people say use that word, they throw it around.

455
00:26:22,740 --> 00:26:26,760
But there are many, many movies of that era that have aged, you know, but this one hasn't.

456
00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:28,560
No, I agree.

457
00:26:28,560 --> 00:26:31,000
And it's amazing to watch.

458
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,920
You know, I don't really talk badly about my movie, not that Goonies was bad, you know,

459
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:36,320
in any way, shape or form.

460
00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:42,080
But you know, everybody has their own experience and that experience with Goonies, I get to

461
00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:44,160
watch literally generationally.

462
00:26:44,160 --> 00:26:47,520
So I've seen the kids of people who saw it initially.

463
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:49,640
And then I've seen kids of those kids now.

464
00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:56,200
I'm old enough to see grandkids be able to experience that movie as a discovery.

465
00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:58,360
And it's really fun to watch.

466
00:26:58,360 --> 00:27:07,720
I'm glad that it represents something that's so kind of phantasmagoric and childish, childlike

467
00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:08,720
and childish.

468
00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:09,720
Yeah, yeah.

469
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,920
It's something you could enjoy when you first saw it when you were 10 and you can enjoy

470
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:17,280
it again, like you said, with your kids, with your grandkids, you know, while they enjoy

471
00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:18,280
it for the first time.

472
00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:20,180
So I agree 100%.

473
00:27:20,180 --> 00:27:21,800
Now you touched on only the brave.

474
00:27:21,800 --> 00:27:27,800
So one, I guess, fact about you that seems like a lot of people didn't know is that at

475
00:27:27,800 --> 00:27:31,320
one point you were actually a firefighter yourself.

476
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:32,520
So you're working in the Goonies.

477
00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:36,640
You're obviously successful now as an actor, at least in that role.

478
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:40,680
So what was that journey into volunteering to be a fireman like?

479
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:42,360
Well, I mean, I wasn't successful.

480
00:27:42,360 --> 00:27:45,200
I had done a movie that ended up doing fairly well.

481
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:49,560
And then after that, I did Thrashing, which was kind of a great cultural film.

482
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,160
I didn't feel like I was very good in it.

483
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:57,160
But I love how the film affected people, but it wasn't particularly successful at the time.

484
00:27:57,160 --> 00:28:00,280
And then I ended up doing like Highway to Heaven with Michael Landon.

485
00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:06,280
And it was kind of sort of a downward trajectory, you know, and then and at least from a value

486
00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:09,200
point of view, you know, aspect.

487
00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:14,560
But you know, then I then I got this we got this private eye series and that didn't last

488
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:15,920
and that was a huge thing.

489
00:28:15,920 --> 00:28:18,920
But you know, things weren't really working out.

490
00:28:18,920 --> 00:28:23,440
So I ended up getting this thing Young Riders, which was a big thing for me because it was

491
00:28:23,440 --> 00:28:30,240
who I was and it was me being able to kind of live out this this idea of, you know, the

492
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:34,200
Wild West back in the day, even though, you know, but I had grown up on a ranch.

493
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:35,200
I knew horses.

494
00:28:35,200 --> 00:28:37,720
I was like the only guy on that set who knew horses.

495
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:41,080
People were like from Stephen Baldwin was who I massive people on the island.

496
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:42,680
And I remember them asking him, do you ride?

497
00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:44,640
And he was like, yeah, yeah, of course I do.

498
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:47,320
But you know, anybody would say anything to get a role.

499
00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:52,280
So being on that, you know, I was out in the middle of the desert.

500
00:28:52,280 --> 00:28:58,400
I had a 45 minute drive every day to Mescal, Arizona, which was by Benson, Arizona.

501
00:28:58,400 --> 00:29:03,280
And there were some trailers out there, I remember.

502
00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:07,200
And I don't know, maybe there was we were doing a special effect or something.

503
00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:09,120
And the fire department had to come out.

504
00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:13,240
There's this handsome dude with a handlebar mustache that looked like the Marlboro man.

505
00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:18,320
And he was kind of in charge of the group that came out to watch over and make sure

506
00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,680
everything was safe and everybody was safe.

507
00:29:21,680 --> 00:29:24,640
And his name was Danny Martin.

508
00:29:24,640 --> 00:29:27,720
And he lived in he lived in one of those trailers in Mescal, Arizona.

509
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:32,880
And we just started talking and and we became very close friends.

510
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:37,800
And you know, when I would he had his wife and a small child at the time.

511
00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:42,440
And when I didn't want to drive back into town, I would just drive to his trailer and,

512
00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,840
you know, sleep on his couch and then wake up in five thirty the next morning and go

513
00:29:46,840 --> 00:29:47,840
to work.

514
00:29:47,840 --> 00:29:50,240
And it was only five minutes away as opposed to an hour away.

515
00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,240
You know, 45 minutes away.

516
00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:53,800
And he and I just got really close.

517
00:29:53,800 --> 00:29:58,600
And he kind of, you know, he worked airport fire in Tucson.

518
00:29:58,600 --> 00:30:04,360
And I spent a lot of time with that group and really enjoyed them.

519
00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:10,200
I got it was kind of like being with my group back in the day was just like a really great,

520
00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:19,600
crazy, ribbing, communal, destructive, wild, you know, crazy, you know, gang that I just

521
00:30:19,600 --> 00:30:22,560
I just wanted I didn't want to be with a bunch of actors.

522
00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,160
I didn't really have other than the guys.

523
00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:27,040
I didn't really prefer it.

524
00:30:27,040 --> 00:30:30,640
I wanted to be around a bunch of crazy firemen who I really enjoyed.

525
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,800
And they really, you know, they brought me in as one of their own.

526
00:30:33,800 --> 00:30:39,000
And I spent way more time than I should have.

527
00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:46,520
And then Danny started the Mescal Wildland volunteer wildland fire, you know, fire department.

528
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:49,600
And he asked me if I wanted to be a part of it.

529
00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:50,600
So I did.

530
00:30:50,600 --> 00:30:56,080
And that was the beginning of my firefighting relationship.

531
00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:57,720
You know, absolutely.

532
00:30:57,720 --> 00:31:00,440
How many seasons did you work there for?

533
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:01,440
Three.

534
00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,960
See, that's admirable in itself.

535
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:09,280
You know, I mean, it's almost kind of like a lot of people that are humble downplay it.

536
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:14,840
But that's what the reason was to reach out to you is, you know, you've got firefighters

537
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:18,640
that have gone on to be MMA fighters and all these other things.

538
00:31:18,640 --> 00:31:22,320
And you happen to be a fireman that was also on the acting trail.

539
00:31:22,320 --> 00:31:26,720
But that brotherhood, I mean, came, you know, you saw the value in it because when you got

540
00:31:26,720 --> 00:31:30,920
involved with Only the Brave, which we'll talk about in a little bit, I could tell before

541
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,080
I even knew that you were a fireman, that there was some connection that I was missing

542
00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:35,080
up to that point.

543
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:38,040
And then that obviously was revealed when I found out you had worked there for three

544
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:39,040
years.

545
00:31:39,040 --> 00:31:44,320
But it was also, you know, Danny, I mean, it sounds it's a strange thing to say, but

546
00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:52,840
firemen, you know, they kind of represent like, you know, the the not the typical but

547
00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:59,640
kind of the prototype of machismo and manliness and, you know, and all that kind of stuff.

548
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:05,560
And what I got, which was kind of what I loved about movies that I'd enjoyed doing with people

549
00:32:05,560 --> 00:32:10,000
I enjoyed doing them with are actors who, you know, especially now, like Benicio del

550
00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,880
Toro or Sean Penn or people like that.

551
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:17,960
You know, you think they're tough and then you get behind it and you realize there's

552
00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:23,760
these amazing creative talents, you know, and lovers of literature and lovers of painting

553
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,440
and lovers of music and all that.

554
00:32:25,440 --> 00:32:28,000
And I found that in the firefighting community.

555
00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:36,640
I found these people to be so resourceful and so not just about this one thing, you

556
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:38,120
know.

557
00:32:38,120 --> 00:32:39,880
And Danny was like that very much.

558
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:44,280
So again, it became very, you know, we kind of fed off each other in that way.

559
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:49,760
So you know, being involved in that for three years and then also doing a couple of structure

560
00:32:49,760 --> 00:32:56,240
fires and, you know, and all that, you know, going up 110 feet on a ladder, all that stuff

561
00:32:56,240 --> 00:33:01,080
is really fun, you know, and that was kind of my life back then.

562
00:33:01,080 --> 00:33:02,480
I started skydiving a lot.

563
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:04,840
I just was it was a lot of challenging stuff.

564
00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:12,920
But that was probably one of the most it was the experience that kind of brought me back

565
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:14,000
to myself.

566
00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:16,880
It humbled me, but it also gave me a lot of confidence.

567
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:23,280
You know, I don't know what more to say about it because I just I have a love of firefighting,

568
00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:28,120
but more of firefighters and what they what they represent, because in my life they've

569
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:30,920
represented nothing but positive.

570
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:32,680
I've never had a negative experience.

571
00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:35,360
I'm sure there's some dicks out there and I'll meet them eventually.

572
00:33:35,360 --> 00:33:38,640
But I haven't found you just did.

573
00:33:38,640 --> 00:33:39,640
I just did.

574
00:33:39,640 --> 00:33:40,640
Me.

575
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:41,640
No, no, no, no.

576
00:33:41,640 --> 00:33:42,640
Not you.

577
00:33:42,640 --> 00:33:43,640
All right.

578
00:33:43,640 --> 00:33:45,960
So you did have a three season.

579
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:48,760
So what what was it that ended up taking you away from that?

580
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:52,200
And I'm assuming pulling you back more into into the acting side again.

581
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:53,680
Well, the job ended.

582
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:58,920
I mean, my mother, the series ended and it was, you know, I had a family and I had to

583
00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:01,920
keep on doing, you know, I had to make money.

584
00:34:01,920 --> 00:34:03,680
You know, we all make money.

585
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:06,400
So I think where did I go at that point?

586
00:34:06,400 --> 00:34:14,240
My my wife at the time had moved to New York because she wanted to be around, you know,

587
00:34:14,240 --> 00:34:18,400
more electricity, I guess, you know, that just kind of urban feel.

588
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,080
So I went to New York after that.

589
00:34:20,080 --> 00:34:21,840
That was a big change.

590
00:34:21,840 --> 00:34:23,960
And I started doing theater.

591
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:25,100
That's what it was.

592
00:34:25,100 --> 00:34:26,760
I was with Anthony Zerbe.

593
00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:31,400
And then during some of the time off, I would go up and I would do theater in Rochester,

594
00:34:31,400 --> 00:34:35,280
New York, and then I would come back to Tucson and I would go back and forth doing that.

595
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:36,280
But like, yeah.

596
00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:38,280
So New York was the place for me to go afterwards.

597
00:34:38,280 --> 00:34:43,040
And I was doing plays and I just continued my career in the wacky way that turned out.

598
00:34:43,040 --> 00:34:44,040
Right.

599
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:45,720
Well, I want to get to Tony the Brave.

600
00:34:45,720 --> 00:34:48,040
So we get to that before, obviously, we run out of time.

601
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:52,400
But you mentioned No Country for Old Men being your other favorite movie.

602
00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:57,480
So why was that the other one that kind of is the highlight of your career?

603
00:34:57,480 --> 00:35:01,240
Because there was no, you know, I've been involved in movies where people are yelling

604
00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:02,560
and screaming at each other.

605
00:35:02,560 --> 00:35:03,640
And do you know who I am?

606
00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:09,640
And kind of like the typical kind of Hollywood perception that there is of like people who

607
00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:15,760
are so full of themselves and, you know, just ego run riot and all that kind of stuff.

608
00:35:15,760 --> 00:35:16,960
And I've experienced that.

609
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:22,120
And it's usually people who don't make very good films, you know, in my experience.

610
00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:30,240
And then I got together with these two weirdos, the Coens, and they were so sweet and so professional

611
00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:31,720
and so kind.

612
00:35:31,720 --> 00:35:35,920
And there wasn't even a stitch of pretense in them.

613
00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,920
And I didn't get it.

614
00:35:37,920 --> 00:35:41,240
I just thought, like, what is this?

615
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:43,320
You know, like, I want to do a Coen Brothers movie.

616
00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:44,320
And I like the Coens.

617
00:35:44,320 --> 00:35:46,560
And, you know, I was expecting all this other stuff.

618
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:55,040
And that was the kind of beginning of a new era for me, or at least a 10, 12 year moment

619
00:35:55,040 --> 00:36:00,920
of realizing that the people who are really good at what they do are also pretty damn

620
00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:02,640
good people.

621
00:36:02,640 --> 00:36:06,120
So it was it was a really great set to be on.

622
00:36:06,120 --> 00:36:10,680
There were amazing people who are incredibly good at what they do.

623
00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:14,720
And we just had a good time, you know, kind of like Tucson, when you're out in the middle

624
00:36:14,720 --> 00:36:23,320
of nowhere just filming each other like carrying a gun or carrying water or riding a horse

625
00:36:23,320 --> 00:36:24,680
or I don't know.

626
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:27,840
It sits well with me.

627
00:36:27,840 --> 00:36:32,120
It's not even that I do it particularly well, but I do like being in that environment a

628
00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:33,120
lot.

629
00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:34,120
Right.

630
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:35,120
Yeah.

631
00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:36,920
I got to say, and this isn't because we're talking now, and I'm going to say the same

632
00:36:36,920 --> 00:36:39,560
about Deadpool later, too, which is not also because we're talking.

633
00:36:39,560 --> 00:36:43,560
But as far as thrillers, serious dramas, I got to say that No Country for Old Men and

634
00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,160
Fargo are probably two of my favorite of all time.

635
00:36:46,160 --> 00:36:48,080
And obviously they're both Coen Brothers productions.

636
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:51,080
So I as a viewer love their work as well.

637
00:36:51,080 --> 00:36:52,080
Yeah, me too.

638
00:36:52,080 --> 00:36:53,080
Me too.

639
00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:54,080
I feel the same.

640
00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:55,080
I feel the same.

641
00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:56,080
All right.

642
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:57,220
So let's move on then to Only the Braid.

643
00:36:57,220 --> 00:36:59,000
How did that first come on your radar?

644
00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:00,000
I don't.

645
00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:03,000
God, man, what was it?

646
00:37:03,000 --> 00:37:04,960
Oh, I know it was.

647
00:37:04,960 --> 00:37:14,400
It was Molly Smith, who runs Black Label Media, who had done I had done Sicario with and Sicario

648
00:37:14,400 --> 00:37:17,520
was offered to me when Sicario was offered to me.

649
00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:19,880
The role of Matt was a very small role.

650
00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:22,640
And I just it wasn't necessarily the size of the role.

651
00:37:22,640 --> 00:37:26,880
It just wasn't fleshed out like like what we did with it.

652
00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,800
So I said no, I said no a few times.

653
00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:31,920
And Deakins was doing that.

654
00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:36,400
And I'd worked with Deakins on the Coen Brothers movie and other movies.

655
00:37:36,400 --> 00:37:40,560
And Emily Blunt, who I didn't know, but sent me a few emails.

656
00:37:40,560 --> 00:37:43,560
I'd met her a few times and sent me a few very nice emails.

657
00:37:43,560 --> 00:37:46,040
And Benicio sent me a couple of nice emails.

658
00:37:46,040 --> 00:37:47,520
But still, I was unsure.

659
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,800
I didn't know Denise work.

660
00:37:49,800 --> 00:37:54,040
And then finally, Deakins just basically said, stop being a dick and get on a plane.

661
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,680
You know, and I just I don't know why.

662
00:37:56,680 --> 00:37:59,400
I just felt a lot of shame when I got on the plane.

663
00:37:59,400 --> 00:38:04,640
So I ended up doing I ended up doing that, which was really, really great.

664
00:38:04,640 --> 00:38:08,120
I had a great experience with Black Label Media.

665
00:38:08,120 --> 00:38:12,120
And then they came to me with this thing with Only the Brave.

666
00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:18,360
And I knew the story a bit because Danny Martin had known a few of those guys.

667
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:20,360
But I was like it was a big deal to me.

668
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,880
You know, and I had big shoes to fill.

669
00:38:22,880 --> 00:38:24,640
And I was a little older than Eric.

670
00:38:24,640 --> 00:38:26,480
And I was like, can I do this?

671
00:38:26,480 --> 00:38:28,240
And can I get in this kind of shape on time?

672
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:30,840
I had gotten really fat for a role right before that.

673
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:36,600
I gained like I think I was 240, you know, and I'm normally like 190.

674
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:41,360
Oh, wow. And so I wasn't feeling so hot.

675
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:44,680
And and also, I just thought that they were big shoes to follow.

676
00:38:44,680 --> 00:38:46,480
And do we want to exploit this?

677
00:38:46,480 --> 00:38:48,240
Would it be exploiting it?

678
00:38:48,240 --> 00:38:50,120
Did we want to exploit it?

679
00:38:50,120 --> 00:38:52,880
You know, you always want to honor a true story like this.

680
00:38:52,880 --> 00:38:56,480
But then more times than not, you end up seeing the movie and you're like,

681
00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,320
what the fuck happened, man?

682
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,080
Like, how are they this disrespectful?

683
00:39:01,080 --> 00:39:05,760
And because of fear, they're going to kind of insert this thing and this thing

684
00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,000
and this thing to try to make it more actiony and cool.

685
00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,200
And and then you end up, you know,

686
00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,720
kind of lacerating the integrity of the movie and all that.

687
00:39:15,720 --> 00:39:18,920
And I've seen that a lot. So I was worried, you know, and I really like Molly

688
00:39:18,920 --> 00:39:23,760
and I trusted Molly. But so I went down and I saw my buddy, Danny.

689
00:39:23,760 --> 00:39:27,040
And I hadn't seen him for a while and we just my wife and I

690
00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:31,640
just spent the night a couple of days with him.

691
00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:33,840
And he and I just talked.

692
00:39:33,840 --> 00:39:38,680
And he took me aside and he just said that, you know, this this is

693
00:39:39,120 --> 00:39:41,760
this is like a destiny for you.

694
00:39:41,760 --> 00:39:45,280
Like, this is something that you can't not do, you know,

695
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:47,560
and the way he put it, it was dramatic and all that.

696
00:39:47,560 --> 00:39:50,320
But he said, there's nobody else who can do that, who can do this,

697
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:51,440
which I don't agree with.

698
00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:55,240
But he was like, where you're at in your life right now,

699
00:39:55,240 --> 00:39:57,960
how sensitive you are to these types of issues,

700
00:39:58,280 --> 00:40:01,680
how sensitive you are with other issues.

701
00:40:01,680 --> 00:40:04,320
It's just like it couldn't be more perfect.

702
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,920
So if if the movie is going to happen,

703
00:40:08,480 --> 00:40:12,520
you have to be there to make sure that it happens in a way that has integrity.

704
00:40:13,520 --> 00:40:15,360
And it was a it was a

705
00:40:16,360 --> 00:40:21,080
it was a a massive responsibility that I felt when he said that.

706
00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,480
It scared the shit out of me, honestly.

707
00:40:23,480 --> 00:40:25,760
And that works for me when I'm scared.

708
00:40:25,760 --> 00:40:28,880
I work particularly well.

709
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:30,120
I know.

710
00:40:30,120 --> 00:40:33,000
So it enabled me to get in shape as I was.

711
00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:36,360
No, I was going to be leading these 25 to 35 year olds.

712
00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:38,400
And I was 48 or whatever I was.

713
00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:41,520
And, you know, 50 pounds overweight or whatever it was.

714
00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:43,960
And, you know, it was a lot of incentive.

715
00:40:44,160 --> 00:40:45,920
I'll put it that way.

716
00:40:45,920 --> 00:40:48,240
And yeah, anyway.

717
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:49,760
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt that.

718
00:40:49,760 --> 00:40:52,160
I was going to say, what did you do to drop that 50 pounds

719
00:40:52,160 --> 00:40:53,960
and get ready for the role?

720
00:40:54,400 --> 00:40:57,400
There's a guy that I know for a long time, a guy named Kenny Kane,

721
00:40:58,080 --> 00:41:00,320
who now owns L.A. CrossFit.

722
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:03,040
And he and I got together and just kind of put together

723
00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,600
you know, a plan where I could do it.

724
00:41:07,600 --> 00:41:09,440
I did a lot of sprints up hills.

725
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,040
I did a lot. I did a lot of things, man.

726
00:41:11,040 --> 00:41:16,400
I did a what is it called for 40 and four was it's 40.

727
00:41:17,080 --> 00:41:18,520
Do you know what an assault bike is?

728
00:41:18,520 --> 00:41:20,280
Oh, God, yes, I do.

729
00:41:20,280 --> 00:41:22,640
There's I mean, they're literally it's like hell.

730
00:41:22,680 --> 00:41:24,440
It's literally hell on wheels.

731
00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,680
And so the goal was to get to a 40 and 40.

732
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:31,960
And I was 40, 40 and four, which was 40 burpees

733
00:41:32,160 --> 00:41:38,440
and 40 calories on the assault bike for four rounds for time.

734
00:41:39,920 --> 00:41:45,840
So you're doing what, 160 burpees and 160 calories on on on the assault bike.

735
00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:47,760
And it's it's death.

736
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:49,880
I mean, it's as close to death as you'll ever get.

737
00:41:50,040 --> 00:41:54,280
And, you know, and it's it's and yet you'll feel if you can pull it off,

738
00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:56,800
there's like there's no better feeling of that accomplishment.

739
00:41:56,800 --> 00:41:58,960
So that's kind of what we were going for.

740
00:41:58,960 --> 00:42:00,440
And then we went past that.

741
00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:03,280
And, you know, and I was in a different kind of shape at that point.

742
00:42:03,280 --> 00:42:05,040
I just kept going and going and going.

743
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:07,000
So by the time I got to set.

744
00:42:09,920 --> 00:42:13,600
I think I can safely say I was probably in better shape than most,

745
00:42:13,600 --> 00:42:15,240
if not all those people.

746
00:42:15,240 --> 00:42:17,560
Yeah, well, that'll do it. That sounds awful.

747
00:42:17,560 --> 00:42:19,960
I'm going to have to use that in my gym soon.

748
00:42:22,760 --> 00:42:25,880
All right. So I had Captain Dale Die on,

749
00:42:25,880 --> 00:42:30,960
who was the man that put the guys through boot camp for Band of Brothers,

750
00:42:30,960 --> 00:42:33,320
saving Private Ryan Platoon.

751
00:42:33,320 --> 00:42:36,480
Now, you guys did a similar thing, but in firefighting, is that right?

752
00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:38,160
Like an actor's boot camp?

753
00:42:38,160 --> 00:42:43,680
Yeah, it was like an old movie set or something or an old town out in New Mexico.

754
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:45,760
And we went out there for a couple of weeks and

755
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:50,680
Pat McCarty, Patrick McCarty, who was, you know, who served under Eric

756
00:42:50,680 --> 00:42:56,240
and and was on the Granite Mountain Hotshots and and three other

757
00:42:56,240 --> 00:43:00,480
former Granite Mountain Hotshot guys and Duane Steinbrink.

758
00:43:01,480 --> 00:43:05,560
Which was really tough because these are all guys that knew all

759
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,600
every single one of these guys and not only knew them, but knew them like family.

760
00:43:10,600 --> 00:43:13,360
And then I'm going out there and pretending like I'm Eric.

761
00:43:13,360 --> 00:43:18,280
I mean, there's just nothing more disconcerting and discombobulating than that.

762
00:43:18,760 --> 00:43:23,480
And I was lucky I got along with Duane and Pat right away.

763
00:43:23,480 --> 00:43:26,280
I mean, I just it just was instantaneous.

764
00:43:26,680 --> 00:43:30,280
And I know that there was a lot there was there was a lot of reticence

765
00:43:30,280 --> 00:43:32,680
with supporting this movie from their end.

766
00:43:33,280 --> 00:43:37,400
And I think that we had something to do with turning that around.

767
00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,280
I'd like to think that we do that we did.

768
00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:44,280
And we were and I made sure of it that all of us who were pretending to be them

769
00:43:44,760 --> 00:43:48,680
were willing to put a thousand percent in and not just a hundred percent.

770
00:43:48,680 --> 00:43:51,480
So we did a lot of training, a lot of hiking.

771
00:43:53,080 --> 00:43:58,480
You know, they had us doing a simulating a lot of different types of firefighting

772
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:01,160
and we slept out there.

773
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:05,920
And you also spent a lot of time with Amanda, Eric Marsh's wife.

774
00:44:05,920 --> 00:44:09,880
So were there any memorable stories out of that relationship?

775
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,720
And we still talk now, but I mean, as far as during filming.

776
00:44:14,920 --> 00:44:17,960
Yeah, well, I mean, none in particular.

777
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,520
Every every moment with Amanda is memorable.

778
00:44:20,880 --> 00:44:26,760
I mean, Amanda is like the sister that I never had, even though I have a half sister.

779
00:44:27,360 --> 00:44:32,560
I mean, it's Amanda is just the little punk who's like grabbing your ear

780
00:44:32,560 --> 00:44:33,840
and like throwing a punch.

781
00:44:33,840 --> 00:44:37,440
I mean, she's like grabbing your ear and like throwing pebbles at you.

782
00:44:37,440 --> 00:44:38,360
You know what I mean?

783
00:44:39,680 --> 00:44:41,440
And I do.

784
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:46,960
I mean, I was just texting with her yesterday and then she's a she's a beautiful handful

785
00:44:46,960 --> 00:44:48,760
in every way that I love.

786
00:44:48,760 --> 00:44:55,040
And she's a very complex, wonderful human being.

787
00:44:55,040 --> 00:44:58,760
And so when I met her, she brought me right in.

788
00:44:58,760 --> 00:45:02,360
She's just like, no makeup, not just jeans and like, come here.

789
00:45:02,360 --> 00:45:04,280
She introduced me to Eric's parents.

790
00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:10,720
And the first thing Eric's mom, who's been very, very nice to me, by the way, Eric's mom

791
00:45:10,720 --> 00:45:13,440
said was he he was way taller than you are.

792
00:45:13,440 --> 00:45:16,320
I thought, shit, I can't.

793
00:45:16,320 --> 00:45:19,600
And I think I said, well, I can't do anything about that, ma'am.

794
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:22,040
I'd like to, but I can't.

795
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:24,760
And and she ended that didn't really go anywhere.

796
00:45:24,760 --> 00:45:26,600
And they were very sweet to me.

797
00:45:26,600 --> 00:45:28,240
It was a nice conversation.

798
00:45:28,240 --> 00:45:33,280
Very strange conversation because we're talking about something that happened fairly recently.

799
00:45:33,280 --> 00:45:38,160
You know, it was only what, two and a half years before that.

800
00:45:38,160 --> 00:45:42,360
So it was all very fresh.

801
00:45:42,360 --> 00:45:47,080
And you know, Amanda and I ended up spending a ton of time together, you know, go out and

802
00:45:47,080 --> 00:45:49,760
hang and she's sober and I'm sober.

803
00:45:49,760 --> 00:45:51,840
And, you know, there was a lot, a lot to talk about.

804
00:45:51,840 --> 00:45:54,200
So I heard a lot of stories, a lot of stories.

805
00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:59,400
And I reached out to her and I said, hey, we're going to be talking in a couple of days.

806
00:45:59,400 --> 00:46:02,680
Have you got anything that, you know, this memorable for her?

807
00:46:02,680 --> 00:46:06,200
So I basically put the question on her and she she said a couple of things were kind

808
00:46:06,200 --> 00:46:07,200
of the highlights.

809
00:46:07,200 --> 00:46:11,240
Firstly, when you showed up, she's expecting an entourage, you know, from this famous movie

810
00:46:11,240 --> 00:46:15,320
star and she said you just showed up, drove your own car and showed up there.

811
00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:16,320
That was one of them.

812
00:46:16,320 --> 00:46:17,800
But the other one, which I thought was awesome as well.

813
00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:22,360
And this is just shows that you're a human and not this, you know, glittery object on

814
00:46:22,360 --> 00:46:25,940
a pedestal is the Phoenix premiere.

815
00:46:25,940 --> 00:46:30,080
She said that she was obviously going through this wave of emotion because here's this movie

816
00:46:30,080 --> 00:46:32,000
and it's going to basically unfold.

817
00:46:32,000 --> 00:46:37,480
Eric's, you know, in front of her again and peel the scab off all these memories and you

818
00:46:37,480 --> 00:46:40,320
the simple act that you just held her hand through the whole premiere.

819
00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:43,400
She said that was something that stuck with her forever.

820
00:46:43,400 --> 00:46:46,400
Well, she's my body, man.

821
00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:48,360
It's what you do for your buddies.

822
00:46:48,360 --> 00:46:55,080
You know, she put herself out there for me and I will forever feel indebted for that.

823
00:46:55,080 --> 00:46:57,120
And I just like who she what who she is.

824
00:46:57,120 --> 00:47:02,200
I mean, if I met her on the street, if I met her in a coffee shop, she'd she'd be my buddy.

825
00:47:02,200 --> 00:47:04,800
All we had to do was cross paths.

826
00:47:04,800 --> 00:47:10,860
And and and, you know, she has intensified my life in many, many ways.

827
00:47:10,860 --> 00:47:18,920
So I'm thankful to Eric for bringing her into my life and I'm thankful for her just because

828
00:47:18,920 --> 00:47:21,120
of the impact that she's had on it.

829
00:47:21,120 --> 00:47:22,120
Yeah.

830
00:47:22,120 --> 00:47:26,240
And from what I've learned about Eric through, you know, our conversations on the phone and

831
00:47:26,240 --> 00:47:31,120
obviously the interview that I did with with Amanda, I feel like Jennifer Connelly and

832
00:47:31,120 --> 00:47:37,520
yourself seem to to recreate what the impression that I had in my head from speaking to Amanda

833
00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:38,740
about their relationship.

834
00:47:38,740 --> 00:47:41,920
So I think that definitely held true on the screen.

835
00:47:41,920 --> 00:47:44,280
I think so from people's reaction.

836
00:47:44,280 --> 00:47:48,920
You know, I mean, it was what was nice about Jennifer that, you know, I knew her a little

837
00:47:48,920 --> 00:47:53,720
bit before, but what was really nice is she was again willing to go all the way with it.

838
00:47:53,720 --> 00:48:00,940
You know, so we did a lot of we did a lot of different takes and tried a lot of different

839
00:48:00,940 --> 00:48:02,680
things and some things didn't work.

840
00:48:02,680 --> 00:48:07,520
And, you know, like the take that you saw when we're in the car and she's screaming

841
00:48:07,520 --> 00:48:08,520
at me.

842
00:48:08,520 --> 00:48:09,520
I don't know.

843
00:48:09,520 --> 00:48:11,600
I don't know how much acting was in that.

844
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:15,880
It was real acting and reacting.

845
00:48:15,880 --> 00:48:18,360
I mean, she was definitely yelling at me.

846
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:22,160
And I think part of it was frustration that we weren't quite getting the scene.

847
00:48:22,160 --> 00:48:28,160
And then part of it is just that, again, there's something about reliving something that you

848
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:31,760
know happened and had a massive impact.

849
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:36,120
And those moments that you look back on that Amanda I know looks back on and she said,

850
00:48:36,120 --> 00:48:38,760
how could I have treated that moment differently?

851
00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:42,200
How could I have treated that moment, you know, all in hindsight?

852
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:47,880
And you're going, God, I'm reliving something in front of them and that other people will

853
00:48:47,880 --> 00:48:54,100
see who knew them that they have all looked back on in their minds, but they've never

854
00:48:54,100 --> 00:48:58,680
seen it acted out in front of, you know, literally in front of them, practically in front of

855
00:48:58,680 --> 00:48:59,680
them.

856
00:48:59,680 --> 00:49:01,520
So it's a very strange position to be in.

857
00:49:01,520 --> 00:49:04,780
But I tell you, there's something about Jennifer's performance.

858
00:49:04,780 --> 00:49:07,200
And I hate saying this because I think it's all bullshit.

859
00:49:07,200 --> 00:49:11,800
But you know, the whole nomination thing, I have no idea how she didn't get nominated

860
00:49:11,800 --> 00:49:12,800
for that role.

861
00:49:12,800 --> 00:49:16,720
I thought it was so deserved and it was so raw.

862
00:49:16,720 --> 00:49:18,640
I thought it was such a raw performance.

863
00:49:18,640 --> 00:49:21,520
And isn't that kind of the point?

864
00:49:21,520 --> 00:49:27,760
But anyway, what is what it is, you know, aside from awards and aside from the movie,

865
00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:31,280
you know, that's what I think is interesting is like, you know, who goes to the movies

866
00:49:31,280 --> 00:49:32,280
and for what now?

867
00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:34,960
And that movie came out and it didn't do particularly well.

868
00:49:34,960 --> 00:49:40,840
But then it came out on, you know, streaming and Apple and, you know, DVD.

869
00:49:40,840 --> 00:49:42,120
And it's killing it.

870
00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:44,240
You know, it's doing very, very, very well.

871
00:49:44,240 --> 00:49:47,560
And people have gone out in droves and bought it and are watching it.

872
00:49:47,560 --> 00:49:51,200
And I've gotten more DMS and emails and texts.

873
00:49:51,200 --> 00:49:55,360
And I had a firefighter come up to me here in Venice Beach at Whole Foods.

874
00:49:55,360 --> 00:50:00,080
And he came up to me and he gave me this huge hug, you know, this jacked guy with tattoos

875
00:50:00,080 --> 00:50:01,280
all over him.

876
00:50:01,280 --> 00:50:05,200
And he gave me a hug and he goes, I just want to thank you so much for making that movie.

877
00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:09,880
It's the most technically accurate movie I've ever seen about firefighting.

878
00:50:09,880 --> 00:50:15,080
And the fact that you guys did it and it emotionally totally pulled me in.

879
00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:17,960
I invested in everything that was happening.

880
00:50:17,960 --> 00:50:19,920
And I was in absolute tears by the end.

881
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:20,920
And just thank you.

882
00:50:20,920 --> 00:50:21,920
And then he walked away.

883
00:50:21,920 --> 00:50:26,440
And, you know, obviously I'm crying because I'm like, that's the point.

884
00:50:26,440 --> 00:50:27,440
That's it.

885
00:50:27,440 --> 00:50:28,960
That's you know, we do this.

886
00:50:28,960 --> 00:50:30,200
It's a movie business.

887
00:50:30,200 --> 00:50:31,920
We do it for profit.

888
00:50:31,920 --> 00:50:34,600
You want the people who finance your movies to make money.

889
00:50:34,600 --> 00:50:37,080
You want people to see your movies.

890
00:50:37,080 --> 00:50:41,720
But ultimately, sometimes you start to forget the emotional impact that a movie has, that

891
00:50:41,720 --> 00:50:49,280
a story has, whether it's a cowboy sitting around a campfire or, you know, only the brave

892
00:50:49,280 --> 00:50:54,000
or even Avengers coming out, some tent pole movie that everybody immediately goes, well,

893
00:50:54,000 --> 00:50:55,160
you know, it's a tent pole movie.

894
00:50:55,160 --> 00:50:59,040
It doesn't, you know, it's just a bunch of bells and whistles and has no soul.

895
00:50:59,040 --> 00:51:01,920
And you go, but why?

896
00:51:01,920 --> 00:51:03,880
Why can't it have a soul?

897
00:51:03,880 --> 00:51:05,600
Why can't we make it have a soul?

898
00:51:05,600 --> 00:51:07,200
And I think that's what the Russo brothers do.

899
00:51:07,200 --> 00:51:11,160
And I think that's why their movies differentiate from some of the others, you know.

900
00:51:11,160 --> 00:51:12,160
Yeah.

901
00:51:12,160 --> 00:51:13,160
Yeah.

902
00:51:13,160 --> 00:51:16,080
And also with the storytelling, I mean, like you said, you had an opportunity to sell,

903
00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:23,560
to tell the story or obviously get pulled by the same direction a lot of movies do where

904
00:51:23,560 --> 00:51:28,480
you end up sensationalizing the industry of firefighting and basically butcher the story

905
00:51:28,480 --> 00:51:29,480
as it was.

906
00:51:29,480 --> 00:51:30,480
Totally.

907
00:51:30,480 --> 00:51:37,040
And we had a lot of, you know, we had Molly, we had, you know, Trenton Thad, we had Alan

908
00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:40,880
Sinclair who was, who was Eric's good buddy.

909
00:51:40,880 --> 00:51:44,640
And he showed up and he became a close friend.

910
00:51:44,640 --> 00:51:46,600
We had people, you know, firefighters show up.

911
00:51:46,600 --> 00:51:48,020
So it was a constant reminder.

912
00:51:48,020 --> 00:51:52,960
And it's all, I mean, I give a lot of the credit to Joe, Joe, Joe Kaczynski, who was

913
00:51:52,960 --> 00:51:56,900
the director and, you know, he would done these kind of tent pole movies and these really

914
00:51:56,900 --> 00:51:59,520
kind of highly technical movies.

915
00:51:59,520 --> 00:52:03,480
And I'm like, ah, you know, on the surface, you go, oh, this is a guy who's done these

916
00:52:03,480 --> 00:52:06,080
technical movies and he wants to go do a passion project.

917
00:52:06,080 --> 00:52:09,880
He wants to go do something that means something in quotes.

918
00:52:09,880 --> 00:52:13,400
And you know, sometimes you just write those people off because they just don't have that

919
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:14,400
ability.

920
00:52:14,400 --> 00:52:19,320
Whereas not only did he have the ability, but I think he did the best version of that

921
00:52:19,320 --> 00:52:25,000
movie that I can imagine could be done, at least at that moment.

922
00:52:25,000 --> 00:52:27,160
I think, you know, it has some bells and whistles.

923
00:52:27,160 --> 00:52:28,980
It has some cheese in it.

924
00:52:28,980 --> 00:52:38,800
But I think for the most part, it is a truthful depiction of what those families go through

925
00:52:38,800 --> 00:52:43,640
and slightly what those firefighters go through, not even close to what they actually go through,

926
00:52:43,640 --> 00:52:48,080
but what, you know, slightly enough that you invest into them emotionally.

927
00:52:48,080 --> 00:52:49,080
Yeah.

928
00:52:49,080 --> 00:52:53,300
Well, I mean, I got to watch the premiere in the most unique way as well.

929
00:52:53,300 --> 00:52:57,760
So not only was the movie powerful on its own, and I think you're aware of this story,

930
00:52:57,760 --> 00:53:05,240
but I had a friend of mine who was a fireman in Orange County Fire here in Orlando area

931
00:53:05,240 --> 00:53:10,640
and he contracted autoimmune disease and he was battling it for a few years.

932
00:53:10,640 --> 00:53:15,840
And through a weird twist of fate, I reached out to Brendan just purely by accident.

933
00:53:15,840 --> 00:53:18,560
I didn't even realize that you were about to, you know, release the movie.

934
00:53:18,560 --> 00:53:24,080
So I got involved with the organized media side instead of just reaching out to the individual.

935
00:53:24,080 --> 00:53:27,120
I had to go through the media companies.

936
00:53:27,120 --> 00:53:31,120
Long story short, JP had seen the interaction.

937
00:53:31,120 --> 00:53:37,760
He'd seen me interview Brendan and Amanda and his wife said JP's dying wish is to watch

938
00:53:37,760 --> 00:53:38,760
only the brave.

939
00:53:38,760 --> 00:53:40,680
Now, it was due to go out.

940
00:53:40,680 --> 00:53:44,600
I think it just come out in the movie theaters, but he was so weak by this point, he wasn't

941
00:53:44,600 --> 00:53:47,680
physically able to make it to a movie theater.

942
00:53:47,680 --> 00:53:51,400
So I reached out to the media company.

943
00:53:51,400 --> 00:53:58,640
They flew a DVD of only the brave from California over to the Fort Lauderdale and then one of

944
00:53:58,640 --> 00:54:04,940
their other representatives drove it from Fort Lauderdale up to Orlando to give my brother

945
00:54:04,940 --> 00:54:10,040
firefighter his own private screening of only the brave with his closest friends around.

946
00:54:10,040 --> 00:54:13,120
And we watched it and he passed away about a week later.

947
00:54:13,120 --> 00:54:14,120
No way.

948
00:54:14,120 --> 00:54:17,880
I wasn't sure if you'd heard that story, but yeah, that's how I saw it.

949
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:19,120
I've never heard that story.

950
00:54:19,120 --> 00:54:20,720
That's an incredible story.

951
00:54:20,720 --> 00:54:21,720
Yeah.

952
00:54:21,720 --> 00:54:25,400
That's one I think that I'm thinking of a way of how I can put that onto a little kind

953
00:54:25,400 --> 00:54:28,440
of social media short video about that.

954
00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:31,840
But that's the story it needs to be told because you have, like you said, the money making

955
00:54:31,840 --> 00:54:38,560
Hollywood side, but the human beings behind the promotion of only the brave were as good

956
00:54:38,560 --> 00:54:41,920
a people as the men that they were portraying in the movie.

957
00:54:41,920 --> 00:54:45,920
Yeah, and I think that that's really important to remember.

958
00:54:45,920 --> 00:54:51,480
We tend to forget when you get caught up in all the hoopla, and then that's when you start

959
00:54:51,480 --> 00:54:56,720
showing up with Eric's parents with big entourages.

960
00:54:56,720 --> 00:55:01,320
I hope to do that one day just to do it, just so we have something to talk about.

961
00:55:01,320 --> 00:55:08,120
You'll get Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor and some other people will show up.

962
00:55:08,120 --> 00:55:10,200
That's a level of theater in itself.

963
00:55:10,200 --> 00:55:12,960
And if I was a boxer, I would probably do that too.

964
00:55:12,960 --> 00:55:18,560
But I have an image of myself that makes me comfortable.

965
00:55:18,560 --> 00:55:22,000
And I just try and stick with that.

966
00:55:22,000 --> 00:55:26,040
There's a lie that I can't live and that's okay.

967
00:55:26,040 --> 00:55:27,640
I love it when other people do it.

968
00:55:27,640 --> 00:55:30,120
It makes me smile and happy and giggle.

969
00:55:30,120 --> 00:55:37,280
But there's just something about this representing especially people that actually existed.

970
00:55:37,280 --> 00:55:43,600
But no matter what it is, I'll complain about it and I'll question it and I'll do all that

971
00:55:43,600 --> 00:55:44,600
stuff beforehand.

972
00:55:44,600 --> 00:55:50,480
But once we've decided to actually go ahead with a movie and manifest a story, I like

973
00:55:50,480 --> 00:55:53,560
taking it very seriously.

974
00:55:53,560 --> 00:56:00,040
I feel like there's an earning in it and I don't feel good if I don't feel like I've

975
00:56:00,040 --> 00:56:01,040
earned the part.

976
00:56:01,040 --> 00:56:02,480
Do you know what I mean?

977
00:56:02,480 --> 00:56:03,760
Yeah, no, I do.

978
00:56:03,760 --> 00:56:07,640
And I have to say again kudos to everyone that was in that production in front of the

979
00:56:07,640 --> 00:56:14,460
camera and behind because I've heard absolutely zero negative comments at all but nothing

980
00:56:14,460 --> 00:56:17,600
but huge praise and love and respect.

981
00:56:17,600 --> 00:56:19,680
And it's probably put on the pedestal now.

982
00:56:19,680 --> 00:56:22,040
Ladder 49 has done very well as well.

983
00:56:22,040 --> 00:56:27,320
But it's probably the best if not one of the top two best firefighter movies ever made.

984
00:56:27,320 --> 00:56:32,480
And obviously, to include a true story into that means that I think that you guys did

985
00:56:32,480 --> 00:56:37,080
an incredible job to paying tribute to the fallen men that day.

986
00:56:37,080 --> 00:56:38,080
Thank you, man.

987
00:56:38,080 --> 00:56:43,240
That means the world to me and to the world that everybody involved, I'm sure and anybody

988
00:56:43,240 --> 00:56:45,240
that I see would be very happy to hear that.

989
00:56:45,240 --> 00:56:46,880
I still have the text.

990
00:56:46,880 --> 00:56:50,720
There's very few people and very few movies that you do where you stay in contact with

991
00:56:50,720 --> 00:56:51,720
everybody.

992
00:56:51,720 --> 00:56:56,920
They're usually just a really insulated, very electric, powerful family that you experience

993
00:56:56,920 --> 00:56:59,760
and then you go on to the next electric, powerful family.

994
00:56:59,760 --> 00:57:04,120
And it's just the kind of way it is when you do what I do.

995
00:57:04,120 --> 00:57:10,320
But you know, Only the Brave was one of the few movies where we still communicate every

996
00:57:10,320 --> 00:57:12,600
single day.

997
00:57:12,600 --> 00:57:20,520
And there's a text thread that is so inappropriate and wrong, but I will never let go of, especially

998
00:57:20,520 --> 00:57:22,800
Taylor Kitsch.

999
00:57:22,800 --> 00:57:30,280
It's really like it's it's we it's very tough for us not that we're trying but to let go

1000
00:57:30,280 --> 00:57:35,480
of that relationship because we got very, very close, annoyingly close.

1001
00:57:35,480 --> 00:57:38,240
We never we spent all our time together.

1002
00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:42,600
And even when we were off, I would have parties like UFC parties up at my house and everybody

1003
00:57:42,600 --> 00:57:46,440
would come over with their significant other and we'd play, you know, horseshoes in the

1004
00:57:46,440 --> 00:57:47,680
back and we just hang.

1005
00:57:47,680 --> 00:57:50,520
It was just we couldn't not hang with each other.

1006
00:57:50,520 --> 00:57:51,520
And that's the deal.

1007
00:57:51,520 --> 00:57:59,360
So there's still an incredible relationship and you know, that continues what a year and

1008
00:57:59,360 --> 00:58:02,720
a half after, you know, after we did the film, maybe longer.

1009
00:58:02,720 --> 00:58:03,720
Right.

1010
00:58:03,720 --> 00:58:04,720
Maybe you can let them know that story.

1011
00:58:04,720 --> 00:58:05,720
I told them as well.

1012
00:58:05,720 --> 00:58:06,720
I will for sure.

1013
00:58:06,720 --> 00:58:07,720
All right.

1014
00:58:07,720 --> 00:58:13,320
Well, I want to transition a little bit to, you know, other other areas outside of the

1015
00:58:13,320 --> 00:58:14,320
movie.

1016
00:58:14,320 --> 00:58:23,880
So as as I know from, you know, being your insta friend, you you have a very unique gift

1017
00:58:23,880 --> 00:58:25,680
of the written word.

1018
00:58:25,680 --> 00:58:29,240
So is this something that you've always done or something you started doing as you got

1019
00:58:29,240 --> 00:58:30,240
older?

1020
00:58:30,240 --> 00:58:33,560
Oh, that's so weird talking about it.

1021
00:58:33,560 --> 00:58:40,840
It's just, you know, Instagram is like it's a momentary experiment based on something

1022
00:58:40,840 --> 00:58:42,440
that I'm thinking.

1023
00:58:42,440 --> 00:58:44,520
How's that?

1024
00:58:44,520 --> 00:58:45,800
No, it's not.

1025
00:58:45,800 --> 00:58:51,200
There's only one actual poem of something that I had already written probably 10 years

1026
00:58:51,200 --> 00:58:54,240
back that I've put on Instagram to kind of say, well, you know what?

1027
00:58:54,240 --> 00:58:59,320
This seems appropriate for this or it seems to contrast this picture that I saw of somebody

1028
00:58:59,320 --> 00:59:05,600
that I also met on Instagram, like Suzanne Stein, who I think is an incredible photographer.

1029
00:59:05,600 --> 00:59:08,600
And you know, it's play.

1030
00:59:08,600 --> 00:59:09,600
That's what it is.

1031
00:59:09,600 --> 00:59:10,600
It's experimental play with me.

1032
00:59:10,600 --> 00:59:13,920
And, you know, as you can tell, like I'll put something serious on, I'll put something

1033
00:59:13,920 --> 00:59:19,200
sarcastic on, I'll put something fun on, I'll put something whatever, you know.

1034
00:59:19,200 --> 00:59:20,840
So the writing has always been there.

1035
00:59:20,840 --> 00:59:24,060
The writing is the first and foremost love.

1036
00:59:24,060 --> 00:59:26,880
And it always has been from the word go.

1037
00:59:26,880 --> 00:59:35,440
I have probably I don't know, 50, 60 journals filled in, maybe more.

1038
00:59:35,440 --> 00:59:40,320
And a couple of books written, a novella written books of poetry, lots of prose.

1039
00:59:40,320 --> 00:59:41,840
And it's just always been the love.

1040
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:42,960
It's always been my go to.

1041
00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:48,560
And I think it's the reason why I became an actor when it actually became of interest

1042
00:59:48,560 --> 00:59:54,500
to me professionally is because it always fascinated me at least, you know, in some

1043
00:59:54,500 --> 00:59:58,960
self involved way of like, why did I feel the way I felt or why do I feel the way I

1044
00:59:58,960 --> 01:00:03,920
feel and what makes other people feel and do what they do?

1045
01:00:03,920 --> 01:00:04,920
It's just fascinating.

1046
01:00:04,920 --> 01:00:07,480
You know, it's more of a sociological fascination.

1047
01:00:07,480 --> 01:00:12,560
It's like reading Malcolm Gladwell and going, you know, blink or, you know, outliers and

1048
01:00:12,560 --> 01:00:19,800
what what, you know, can we distill into a pattern what makes people do what they do?

1049
01:00:19,800 --> 01:00:21,160
And is there such thing as change?

1050
01:00:21,160 --> 01:00:24,320
And is there such thing or is this just arresting behavior?

1051
01:00:24,320 --> 01:00:29,960
Are there it's all the things that I was interested in just as it was a natural interest.

1052
01:00:29,960 --> 01:00:34,200
And then I was able to manifest it in things like acting or, you know, writing.

1053
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:38,400
So Instagram was kind of a I stayed away from Instagram, you know, and I've always been

1054
01:00:38,400 --> 01:00:39,400
a photographer.

1055
01:00:39,400 --> 01:00:41,720
I've always carried a camera around in my hand.

1056
01:00:41,720 --> 01:00:44,000
I have a Leica that I've had for 25 years.

1057
01:00:44,000 --> 01:00:47,720
And it's just, you know, was basically part of my hand.

1058
01:00:47,720 --> 01:00:50,600
I've taken thousands and tens of thousands of pictures.

1059
01:00:50,600 --> 01:00:57,160
But you know, the fact when Instagram came out, it's like there there's a venue, you

1060
01:00:57,160 --> 01:01:02,520
know, platform for your for photographs, whether they're yours or somebody else's.

1061
01:01:02,520 --> 01:01:07,440
And then this idea of riffing on an idea, whether it's based on the photograph or whether

1062
01:01:07,440 --> 01:01:12,320
you riff on an idea and put it down in it and the photograph can actually colorize it

1063
01:01:12,320 --> 01:01:15,800
or can emotionalize it or, you know, all that stuff.

1064
01:01:15,800 --> 01:01:16,960
All that shit's interesting to me.

1065
01:01:16,960 --> 01:01:21,200
It sounds all geeky when I'm saying it to a blank computer like I am.

1066
01:01:21,200 --> 01:01:25,400
You know, it's bouncing back in my face.

1067
01:01:25,400 --> 01:01:32,480
But I, you know, I geek out with stuff like that, because that's that's the real interest.

1068
01:01:32,480 --> 01:01:38,080
You know, and like honoring even the guys in Only the Brave or Granite Mountain, you

1069
01:01:38,080 --> 01:01:40,600
know, that's obviously means something to me.

1070
01:01:40,600 --> 01:01:50,000
But you know, to be able to go out there and feel a modicum of who they were as people

1071
01:01:50,000 --> 01:01:56,760
is extremely fascinating to me and enables me to want to get in shape and push it a little

1072
01:01:56,760 --> 01:02:01,360
harder and enables me to want to go home and look at the script and see how we can get

1073
01:02:01,360 --> 01:02:02,920
it better.

1074
01:02:02,920 --> 01:02:09,160
Enables me to go head to head with a studio and not allow them to, you know, sensationalize

1075
01:02:09,160 --> 01:02:10,160
it.

1076
01:02:10,160 --> 01:02:12,440
You know, and the same thing goes with the writing.

1077
01:02:12,440 --> 01:02:16,740
I mean, as you'll know, like when I write on Instagram, you'll see me constantly edit

1078
01:02:16,740 --> 01:02:22,200
because it comes out so fast that I look at it and there's not only a ton of typos, but

1079
01:02:22,200 --> 01:02:24,240
I'll be like, I don't even know what that means.

1080
01:02:24,240 --> 01:02:25,240
Like, why did I say that?

1081
01:02:25,240 --> 01:02:27,860
And I'll go back and then I'll clarify it.

1082
01:02:27,860 --> 01:02:35,840
So there's like a clarifying, 15 minutes of clarifying what I just threw up onto Instagram.

1083
01:02:35,840 --> 01:02:41,560
Yeah, I do the same, but normally because of my fat thumbs.

1084
01:02:41,560 --> 01:02:46,040
Well, you talked about writing a script.

1085
01:02:46,040 --> 01:02:49,960
So what is the premise of your script, your project?

1086
01:02:49,960 --> 01:02:52,760
Now, the script is a, it's 10 scripts.

1087
01:02:52,760 --> 01:02:55,040
It's a series.

1088
01:02:55,040 --> 01:03:00,240
And I like the idea because I don't, you know, I'm very appreciative that, you know, having

1089
01:03:00,240 --> 01:03:04,280
done, I don't know, I think I've done six series or something.

1090
01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:06,720
And I didn't love doing TV back in the day.

1091
01:03:06,720 --> 01:03:11,120
You know, young writers was pretty fun and private eye was really interesting.

1092
01:03:11,120 --> 01:03:15,940
But my experience in TV was not necessarily a good experience because it was so quick.

1093
01:03:15,940 --> 01:03:17,700
It was so reactive.

1094
01:03:17,700 --> 01:03:20,680
It was so kind of factory driven and run of the mill.

1095
01:03:20,680 --> 01:03:23,440
And you know, I didn't like that aspect of it.

1096
01:03:23,440 --> 01:03:26,480
That's why I like making movies or doing theater.

1097
01:03:26,480 --> 01:03:32,520
And so there's really, you know, I'm very grateful to be in a place financially or in

1098
01:03:32,520 --> 01:03:37,680
my career where I don't need to do a series or the idea of needing to do a series or wanting

1099
01:03:37,680 --> 01:03:40,960
to be more famous or wanting to be more, you know, all that stuff.

1100
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:44,640
So what better time to do it?

1101
01:03:44,640 --> 01:03:46,920
You know, it's like the time where you don't need it.

1102
01:03:46,920 --> 01:03:56,480
I love the idea of like, what series can we do based on a massive question mark that I'm

1103
01:03:56,480 --> 01:04:03,040
living right now, which is has to do with fame and all that kind of stuff.

1104
01:04:03,040 --> 01:04:05,800
And how do we comicalize it?

1105
01:04:05,800 --> 01:04:09,520
You know, how do we humorize it?

1106
01:04:09,520 --> 01:04:14,000
And how do we make it into a really interesting, smart satire?

1107
01:04:14,000 --> 01:04:17,320
And that's what I'm in the process of doing.

1108
01:04:17,320 --> 01:04:21,320
And we have a lot of people that are very interested in doing it because I think it's

1109
01:04:21,320 --> 01:04:25,440
beautifully outrageous and appropriately absurd.

1110
01:04:25,440 --> 01:04:29,000
And hopefully we'll bring a chuckle or two.

1111
01:04:29,000 --> 01:04:30,000
Brilliant.

1112
01:04:30,000 --> 01:04:31,360
Well, I was going to ask about fame.

1113
01:04:31,360 --> 01:04:34,720
I'm going to scratch that off my little list here and I'm just going to be patient and

1114
01:04:34,720 --> 01:04:35,720
wait for the show.

1115
01:04:35,720 --> 01:04:36,720
Yeah, there you go.

1116
01:04:36,720 --> 01:04:39,400
We have one audience member so far.

1117
01:04:39,400 --> 01:04:41,600
Now we've got Seth, one audience member.

1118
01:04:41,600 --> 01:04:42,600
There we go.

1119
01:04:42,600 --> 01:04:43,600
Locked in.

1120
01:04:43,600 --> 01:04:44,600
All right.

1121
01:04:44,600 --> 01:04:50,560
So one thing I want to just bring up as well so we can let everyone out there hear about

1122
01:04:50,560 --> 01:04:51,560
it.

1123
01:04:51,560 --> 01:04:55,600
But your wife, Catherine, just released her new denim line.

1124
01:04:55,600 --> 01:04:58,880
And I joke that my wife is four foot nine, which she is.

1125
01:04:58,880 --> 01:04:59,880
Is she really?

1126
01:04:59,880 --> 01:05:00,880
Yeah, she is.

1127
01:05:00,880 --> 01:05:03,120
So that's going to be completely useless for her.

1128
01:05:03,120 --> 01:05:07,760
But you want to tell the people out there what kind of ladies it's for, because I'm

1129
01:05:07,760 --> 01:05:08,760
sure especially.

1130
01:05:08,760 --> 01:05:11,040
I just wrote a, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

1131
01:05:11,040 --> 01:05:18,960
I just wrote a letter to Reese Witherspoon because I'm a massive fan of this denim line

1132
01:05:18,960 --> 01:05:23,080
and I said that Reese could use it as a bodysuit.

1133
01:05:23,080 --> 01:05:26,520
So maybe your wife could use it as a bodysuit.

1134
01:05:26,520 --> 01:05:29,520
There we go.

1135
01:05:29,520 --> 01:05:35,360
Yeah, she released, you know, which is appropriate when you're sitting there and you're like,

1136
01:05:35,360 --> 01:05:39,080
she's a photographer and she studied art and photography in Italy and, you know, she grew

1137
01:05:39,080 --> 01:05:42,720
up in Atlanta and she's dabbled in a lot of things.

1138
01:05:42,720 --> 01:05:46,560
And, you know, the one thing that she's always done since I've known her is design.

1139
01:05:46,560 --> 01:05:49,400
She was always designing something.

1140
01:05:49,400 --> 01:05:55,040
And you know, people are searching for their niche and searching for a way to manifest

1141
01:05:55,040 --> 01:05:59,840
their creative whatever ideas and all that kind of stuff.

1142
01:05:59,840 --> 01:06:03,360
And then just one day she started drawing this denim line.

1143
01:06:03,360 --> 01:06:05,040
And I said, what are you doing?

1144
01:06:05,040 --> 01:06:06,040
And she said, I don't know.

1145
01:06:06,040 --> 01:06:07,200
I have no idea what I'm doing.

1146
01:06:07,200 --> 01:06:08,300
I'm just doing.

1147
01:06:08,300 --> 01:06:13,080
And she continued and kept going and kept going and kept going and started researching

1148
01:06:13,080 --> 01:06:14,080
how to get it done.

1149
01:06:14,080 --> 01:06:15,080
And she knew nothing.

1150
01:06:15,080 --> 01:06:16,080
Zero.

1151
01:06:16,080 --> 01:06:20,640
And, you know, if there's a cutthroat business, you think Hollywood's a cutthroat business.

1152
01:06:20,640 --> 01:06:23,340
The garment industry is unbelievable.

1153
01:06:23,340 --> 01:06:29,240
So I've seen this person flourish into this amazing, extremely productive woman who's

1154
01:06:29,240 --> 01:06:35,480
actually manifesting what this idea that she had on a grand scale.

1155
01:06:35,480 --> 01:06:40,400
And she's started making basically the initial idea and where the name comes from, because

1156
01:06:40,400 --> 01:06:46,120
mid heaven means it's the point at which the sun reached it reaches its highest point in

1157
01:06:46,120 --> 01:06:47,120
the day.

1158
01:06:47,120 --> 01:06:48,120
That's the mid heaven point.

1159
01:06:48,120 --> 01:06:49,120
Right.

1160
01:06:49,120 --> 01:06:53,360
So therefore, lending to the fact that because she's five, 11, she has very long legs that

1161
01:06:53,360 --> 01:06:58,000
she always felt, which nobody can, you know, everybody will go, yeah, boohoo, that she

1162
01:06:58,000 --> 01:07:01,720
was so tall that she never had jeans that fit her that were long enough.

1163
01:07:01,720 --> 01:07:05,560
So she always was going around with this, like waiting for this flood mentality and

1164
01:07:05,560 --> 01:07:07,800
feeling freakish and black sheep.

1165
01:07:07,800 --> 01:07:12,440
And so she said, you know what, I'm going to start a denim line that revolves around

1166
01:07:12,440 --> 01:07:18,600
this niche, my own, and then and then expand from there.

1167
01:07:18,600 --> 01:07:24,160
Having no idea and not having a lot of money to do it and where it would go.

1168
01:07:24,160 --> 01:07:30,680
And and piece by piece, it's it's generated a lot of interest, a ton of interest.

1169
01:07:30,680 --> 01:07:35,480
And now, like hopefully with some profit, which we don't have yet.

1170
01:07:35,480 --> 01:07:38,200
But I say she doesn't have we're married.

1171
01:07:38,200 --> 01:07:39,200
So it's we.

1172
01:07:39,200 --> 01:07:40,200
There you go.

1173
01:07:40,200 --> 01:07:41,200
I just put myself in.

1174
01:07:41,200 --> 01:07:43,680
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, it is a we thing.

1175
01:07:43,680 --> 01:07:44,760
I mean, it's her.

1176
01:07:44,760 --> 01:07:46,520
It's entirely her.

1177
01:07:46,520 --> 01:07:50,080
But you know, we're in it together and I get very excited about, you know, Brian Bowen

1178
01:07:50,080 --> 01:07:56,880
Smith just did a photography shoot with her, you know, out in Palmdale somewhere.

1179
01:07:56,880 --> 01:07:59,960
It's just all kind of growing very quickly.

1180
01:07:59,960 --> 01:08:01,680
And then she'll expand it into more pants.

1181
01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:04,320
The thing is, is, you know, people have come in and they said, well, what, you know, the

1182
01:08:04,320 --> 01:08:06,200
average woman or this or that.

1183
01:08:06,200 --> 01:08:08,360
Then you go, no, I completely understand.

1184
01:08:08,360 --> 01:08:12,760
The thing is, we have a we have a limited amount of funds.

1185
01:08:12,760 --> 01:08:18,540
So when we start to profit, obviously, she's going to expand into and hopefully keep the

1186
01:08:18,540 --> 01:08:22,320
integrity of the gene, which is very important to her.

1187
01:08:22,320 --> 01:08:23,960
Expand into different sizes and all that.

1188
01:08:23,960 --> 01:08:27,840
But once you get different sizes, different lengths, you start thinking of your wife who's

1189
01:08:27,840 --> 01:08:31,640
under five feet tall, that's a totally different gene.

1190
01:08:31,640 --> 01:08:33,320
That's more that's more work.

1191
01:08:33,320 --> 01:08:35,480
It's it's a different product.

1192
01:08:35,480 --> 01:08:39,200
It's the same fabric, but a different product, which takes a lot more money.

1193
01:08:39,200 --> 01:08:45,320
So I'm very, very proud of her, you know, in this in this day and age of, you know,

1194
01:08:45,320 --> 01:08:49,180
this new kind of feminist movement.

1195
01:08:49,180 --> 01:08:58,560
It's so nice to see somebody really just react to their own whim and creative needs and watch

1196
01:08:58,560 --> 01:08:59,920
it come to fruition.

1197
01:08:59,920 --> 01:09:00,920
It's been really special.

1198
01:09:00,920 --> 01:09:06,280
Yeah, I'm sure there's a lot of women that have chosen fire and police as their profession

1199
01:09:06,280 --> 01:09:08,480
or military that are probably on the taller side.

1200
01:09:08,480 --> 01:09:12,840
So I'm pretty sure a lot of women are probably pleased to hear this.

1201
01:09:12,840 --> 01:09:13,840
I love that.

1202
01:09:13,840 --> 01:09:15,320
I love that you just brought that into it.

1203
01:09:15,320 --> 01:09:16,320
That's great.

1204
01:09:16,320 --> 01:09:17,320
All right.

1205
01:09:17,320 --> 01:09:20,560
So I want to ask some wrap up questions because you've been extremely generous with your time

1206
01:09:20,560 --> 01:09:21,560
already.

1207
01:09:21,560 --> 01:09:23,240
I'm trying not to take too much of it.

1208
01:09:23,240 --> 01:09:29,680
So the first question I always ask people, is there a book or books that you absolutely

1209
01:09:29,680 --> 01:09:32,720
love that you recommend to other people?

1210
01:09:32,720 --> 01:09:33,720
Just generally?

1211
01:09:33,720 --> 01:09:36,680
Yeah, about anything at all.

1212
01:09:36,680 --> 01:09:40,620
I mean, there's a great book, a buddy of mine, Gregory David Roberts, wrote a book called

1213
01:09:40,620 --> 01:09:46,640
Shantaram and he and I became very close friends, not necessarily based on the book, but I had

1214
01:09:46,640 --> 01:09:50,480
met him based on the book and then it just kind of springboarded from there.

1215
01:09:50,480 --> 01:09:57,960
And I spent 10 days with him over in India, riding motorcycles around India with him,

1216
01:09:57,960 --> 01:10:03,240
you know, and he's a guy used to rob banks and then he escaped from a prison in Australia

1217
01:10:03,240 --> 01:10:09,160
and then he ended up, he was going to Germany and then he ended up in India and then he

1218
01:10:09,160 --> 01:10:13,000
completely turned his life around in India and he became this kind of golden child in

1219
01:10:13,000 --> 01:10:16,800
India and extremely helpful to a lot of people.

1220
01:10:16,800 --> 01:10:21,760
And then he actually had to go back to Australia and live out the rest of his term and he was

1221
01:10:21,760 --> 01:10:22,760
tortured and all.

1222
01:10:22,760 --> 01:10:30,400
Anyway, it's a traumatic, dramatic book, but very, for lack of a better word, because I

1223
01:10:30,400 --> 01:10:33,680
don't love the word, but a spiritual book.

1224
01:10:33,680 --> 01:10:38,660
And I would say that's, I recommend that first and foremost to anybody.

1225
01:10:38,660 --> 01:10:41,960
But there's a ton of books that I would recommend because I love reading and I'm a big reader

1226
01:10:41,960 --> 01:10:43,480
and there's a lot out there.

1227
01:10:43,480 --> 01:10:44,480
Okay.

1228
01:10:44,480 --> 01:10:47,160
I've never heard that one mentioned before, so I'm going to look that up when I get done

1229
01:10:47,160 --> 01:10:48,160
with this.

1230
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:49,160
So obviously-

1231
01:10:49,160 --> 01:10:52,280
It'll be one of the greatest books she'll ever read, I guarantee it.

1232
01:10:52,280 --> 01:10:53,280
Brilliant.

1233
01:10:53,280 --> 01:10:54,280
All right.

1234
01:10:54,280 --> 01:10:55,280
Well, that's what I want to hear.

1235
01:10:55,280 --> 01:10:57,880
So I will put it on my Amazon list as soon as we're done.

1236
01:10:57,880 --> 01:11:01,240
So as an actor, obviously you've been in a bunch of movies.

1237
01:11:01,240 --> 01:11:03,000
You mentioned the documentary already.

1238
01:11:03,000 --> 01:11:09,000
So are there any movies that you love that you tell people they have to see?

1239
01:11:09,000 --> 01:11:13,680
One would be a film that for some reason I've had a massive infatuation with for a very

1240
01:11:13,680 --> 01:11:18,720
long time and that's from a French Canadian director called Jean-Claude Le Zon who died

1241
01:11:18,720 --> 01:11:22,260
in a helicopter accident, unfortunately, after that first movie.

1242
01:11:22,260 --> 01:11:27,240
And the movie is called L'Ollo and it's an absolutely fascinating, incredibly poetic

1243
01:11:27,240 --> 01:11:30,280
film that's also very funny.

1244
01:11:30,280 --> 01:11:34,620
And then I would say Paris, Texas is probably Vin Vendor's Paris, Texas that was written

1245
01:11:34,620 --> 01:11:39,720
by Sam Shepard is probably another favorite.

1246
01:11:39,720 --> 01:11:41,120
Dog Day Afternoon is a must.

1247
01:11:41,120 --> 01:11:44,520
The Warriors that I wrote about this morning, I've seen 66 times.

1248
01:11:44,520 --> 01:11:46,320
That's obviously a must.

1249
01:11:46,320 --> 01:11:52,040
But I would say the two first and foremost would be L'Ollo by Jean-Claude Le Zon.

1250
01:11:52,040 --> 01:11:54,560
And what else did I say?

1251
01:11:54,560 --> 01:11:55,560
Paris, Texas.

1252
01:11:55,560 --> 01:11:58,360
Paris, Texas by Vin Vendor.

1253
01:11:58,360 --> 01:11:59,360
Brilliant.

1254
01:11:59,360 --> 01:12:00,360
All right.

1255
01:12:00,360 --> 01:12:03,240
Well, the next one I'm going to ask, which I think is kind of interesting, I've reached

1256
01:12:03,240 --> 01:12:07,000
out to Brendan McDonald as well about this interview.

1257
01:12:07,000 --> 01:12:12,720
And he came back with, I want to get real people and real insight.

1258
01:12:12,720 --> 01:12:14,800
And he came back with a very interesting question.

1259
01:12:14,800 --> 01:12:21,240
He said, I'm going to give you a question that I always hoped when I was being interviewed,

1260
01:12:21,240 --> 01:12:22,240
him speaking.

1261
01:12:22,240 --> 01:12:30,200
He said, what is the question that you wanted to be asked but were never asked in an interview?

1262
01:12:30,200 --> 01:12:33,840
In your lifetime, how many condoms have you used?

1263
01:12:33,840 --> 01:12:34,840
All right.

1264
01:12:34,840 --> 01:12:36,360
That's a great one.

1265
01:12:36,360 --> 01:12:37,360
And the answer is?

1266
01:12:37,360 --> 01:12:40,360
No, I'm asking you.

1267
01:12:40,360 --> 01:12:41,360
Two and a half.

1268
01:12:41,360 --> 01:12:42,360
And I have one child.

1269
01:12:42,360 --> 01:12:50,440
See, that's the best answer of the entire interview, man.

1270
01:12:50,440 --> 01:12:55,600
I've been talking all my bullshit and you're sitting here and you just off just in a whim,

1271
01:12:55,600 --> 01:13:01,560
just off the top, give the best answer of the whole interview, two and a half condoms.

1272
01:13:01,560 --> 01:13:02,560
That was it.

1273
01:13:02,560 --> 01:13:05,960
It's a horrible question, but a genius answer.

1274
01:13:05,960 --> 01:13:07,400
Kudos, man.

1275
01:13:07,400 --> 01:13:08,400
Kudos.

1276
01:13:08,400 --> 01:13:14,360
And I'm not answering your question now because you ruined it.

1277
01:13:14,360 --> 01:13:15,640
I'll take that as an answer.

1278
01:13:15,640 --> 01:13:16,640
That works.

1279
01:13:16,640 --> 01:13:17,640
All right.

1280
01:13:17,640 --> 01:13:24,440
So the next one, which is actually my favorite kind of closing question, is there a person

1281
01:13:24,440 --> 01:13:28,880
who you would recommend to come on this show to talk to the first responders of the world

1282
01:13:28,880 --> 01:13:31,720
as a guest?

1283
01:13:31,720 --> 01:13:35,040
I had a great thing happen with Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning at the gym.

1284
01:13:35,040 --> 01:13:42,360
I was at the gym at Gold's at six o'clock this morning and I was on an ab machine and

1285
01:13:42,360 --> 01:13:47,740
Arnold came over and kind of blindly said, hey, do you mind if I work in?

1286
01:13:47,740 --> 01:13:52,720
And I said, you know, I'm doing 200 and I'm trying to do them in succession.

1287
01:13:52,720 --> 01:13:59,440
So we just wait a second and the look on his face.

1288
01:13:59,440 --> 01:14:01,960
And then we ended up, he ended up and then he looked at me and he goes, Josh?

1289
01:14:01,960 --> 01:14:02,960
And I go, yeah.

1290
01:14:02,960 --> 01:14:04,600
And he goes, hey, man, what are you doing?

1291
01:14:04,600 --> 01:14:09,240
And then we started talking and I told my wife the story and she said, you said no to

1292
01:14:09,240 --> 01:14:13,320
Arnold Schwarzenegger wanting to work in an ab machine with you.

1293
01:14:13,320 --> 01:14:14,320
I go, yep.

1294
01:14:14,320 --> 01:14:16,360
I just kind of like the idea of it.

1295
01:14:16,360 --> 01:14:20,280
I didn't want to say no, but I just like the idea of it.

1296
01:14:20,280 --> 01:14:22,880
So ask me the question again and I'll give you an answer.

1297
01:14:22,880 --> 01:14:24,360
That was a good story though.

1298
01:14:24,360 --> 01:14:26,420
I think most people would love to do that.

1299
01:14:26,420 --> 01:14:31,120
Look up and there's Arnold asking if you can work in the set.

1300
01:14:31,120 --> 01:14:36,240
So no, the question was, is there anyone that you can think of, you know, that you're aware

1301
01:14:36,240 --> 01:14:37,240
of a friend?

1302
01:14:37,240 --> 01:14:38,920
That's why because I thought of him.

1303
01:14:38,920 --> 01:14:39,920
I thought of him right away.

1304
01:14:39,920 --> 01:14:41,920
Who else would be great?

1305
01:14:41,920 --> 01:14:49,040
God, man, Gregory David Roberts would be really good.

1306
01:14:49,040 --> 01:14:53,640
There's a guy in Venice Beach who's very famous who I've known since I was 17, who's a roller

1307
01:14:53,640 --> 01:14:54,640
blader.

1308
01:14:54,640 --> 01:14:58,000
But now, oh yeah, now it's roller blading.

1309
01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:01,480
Before it was roller skates and he has a turban on his head and he carries around a guitar

1310
01:15:01,480 --> 01:15:07,640
and he sings kind of wild Indianesque songs from person to person.

1311
01:15:07,640 --> 01:15:08,680
And it's bad.

1312
01:15:08,680 --> 01:15:14,080
I heard recently that he was very rich and I bet you he has a really interesting story.

1313
01:15:14,080 --> 01:15:17,380
He's but I don't think he is.

1314
01:15:17,380 --> 01:15:24,240
So to answer your question, we have my first answer is anybody in my area on Venice Beach,

1315
01:15:24,240 --> 01:15:29,920
literally anybody would be an interesting interview.

1316
01:15:29,920 --> 01:15:35,560
Schwarzenegger I think is I think if you have the ability to be able to break through the

1317
01:15:35,560 --> 01:15:39,520
the movie Star Wall, I think he would be a great interview.

1318
01:15:39,520 --> 01:15:44,000
Who else would be good?

1319
01:15:44,000 --> 01:15:45,000
Prompt a name.

1320
01:15:45,000 --> 01:15:46,000
Who would you?

1321
01:15:46,000 --> 01:15:47,000
How about this?

1322
01:15:47,000 --> 01:15:53,160
I don't know, instead of me being on like such a target, who would you like to interview?

1323
01:15:53,160 --> 01:15:54,920
Who's somebody who you thought about?

1324
01:15:54,920 --> 01:16:00,280
God, I would love to interview that guy like Joe Rogan being a podcast, you know, Guru

1325
01:16:00,280 --> 01:16:01,280
himself.

1326
01:16:01,280 --> 01:16:02,760
Would you like to interview Joe Rogan?

1327
01:16:02,760 --> 01:16:04,520
Would you like to interview Conor McGregor?

1328
01:16:04,520 --> 01:16:08,680
Would you like to interview, you know, who else?

1329
01:16:08,680 --> 01:16:09,880
Oprah?

1330
01:16:09,880 --> 01:16:15,100
I think that as you know, the people that I love are the ones that use whatever success

1331
01:16:15,100 --> 01:16:19,640
they've got and then turn around and then still want to, you know, give back to the

1332
01:16:19,640 --> 01:16:20,640
world.

1333
01:16:20,640 --> 01:16:25,080
So if we're talking about challenges because of fame and exposure, I would say someone

1334
01:16:25,080 --> 01:16:29,840
like The Rock, like Dwayne Johnson, he seems from from where I'm sitting in this little

1335
01:16:29,840 --> 01:16:36,120
town in Florida, that he truly has a big heart and truly cares about even on the set.

1336
01:16:36,120 --> 01:16:39,320
Like I've seen him do videos thanking the extras that showed up that day.

1337
01:16:39,320 --> 01:16:41,480
So I think he would be a great one.

1338
01:16:41,480 --> 01:16:43,600
Yeah, yeah, I agree.

1339
01:16:43,600 --> 01:16:45,720
I agree.

1340
01:16:45,720 --> 01:16:46,720
I don't know.

1341
01:16:46,720 --> 01:16:50,120
You know, it's funny because I always question I always question that thing.

1342
01:16:50,120 --> 01:16:55,020
Like I know celebrities who are and I'm not saying this about The Rock, but who are perceived

1343
01:16:55,020 --> 01:16:56,020
as being wonderful.

1344
01:16:56,020 --> 01:16:57,020
And then I hear nightmares.

1345
01:16:57,020 --> 01:17:00,720
So it's always a distrust that I have.

1346
01:17:00,720 --> 01:17:04,720
It's like you can tell, you know, you get a feeling from The Rock, which I think is

1347
01:17:04,720 --> 01:17:05,720
great once in a while.

1348
01:17:05,720 --> 01:17:07,800
I'll get a feeling from somebody.

1349
01:17:07,800 --> 01:17:08,800
That's what I think again.

1350
01:17:08,800 --> 01:17:10,720
And we we've brought it back a few times.

1351
01:17:10,720 --> 01:17:12,640
It's so amazing about Instagram.

1352
01:17:12,640 --> 01:17:17,320
You know, you have such horrific trolls on Instagram.

1353
01:17:17,320 --> 01:17:23,200
And it's been a great lesson for me because, you know, people it's almost like bullies

1354
01:17:23,200 --> 01:17:29,320
in school throwing pebbles at you or something or putting wood chips in your hair.

1355
01:17:29,320 --> 01:17:36,180
And after a while, like you either let it implode you or you realize that it has nothing

1356
01:17:36,180 --> 01:17:40,440
to do with you and you fight back or you remove yourself or something like that.

1357
01:17:40,440 --> 01:17:47,600
And I found I don't know how and I feel very charmed in this way that I found so many interesting

1358
01:17:47,600 --> 01:17:53,120
people on Instagram and most of the people aren't famous.

1359
01:17:53,120 --> 01:17:59,640
Most of the people have none of that to react against or with.

1360
01:17:59,640 --> 01:18:04,360
They're just people like in a small town like where you're from or initially like where

1361
01:18:04,360 --> 01:18:08,960
I'm from, like Templeton, California, where it's just a podunk town where nobody really

1362
01:18:08,960 --> 01:18:13,600
cares what's happening in the town unless there's a massive event like James Dean dies

1363
01:18:13,600 --> 01:18:15,640
down the street in 1955.

1364
01:18:15,640 --> 01:18:17,000
You know what I mean?

1365
01:18:17,000 --> 01:18:23,640
But I found that the greatest people, the greatest conversations, the greatest contact

1366
01:18:23,640 --> 01:18:28,520
that I've had, not that celebrities don't have the ability to do this.

1367
01:18:28,520 --> 01:18:32,380
And I find that there are a lot of celebrities with a lot of attention that do a lot with

1368
01:18:32,380 --> 01:18:37,100
their money and their time and, you know, kind of like Bob Hope back in the day.

1369
01:18:37,100 --> 01:18:46,800
But I've found that this access to anybody out there, whether it be Wim Hof holding his

1370
01:18:46,800 --> 01:18:56,960
breath under ice water or Gregory David Roberts, who's in India writing his next book or painting

1371
01:18:56,960 --> 01:19:01,600
his next painting, suddenly I have access to these great people who don't necessarily

1372
01:19:01,600 --> 01:19:05,960
have the platform of fame for others to react to.

1373
01:19:05,960 --> 01:19:11,760
But now they do because kind of the disintegration of the movie star has happened and it almost

1374
01:19:11,760 --> 01:19:13,320
doesn't exist anymore.

1375
01:19:13,320 --> 01:19:14,320
It's starting to happen.

1376
01:19:14,320 --> 01:19:20,240
I think The Rock is like pretty much the last one to be actually considered a movie star.

1377
01:19:20,240 --> 01:19:30,360
And the celebrity of everybody, that possibility literally being at the take, you know, it's

1378
01:19:30,360 --> 01:19:33,160
there to take if you want it and why it will happen.

1379
01:19:33,160 --> 01:19:40,920
It could be something as monotonous as, you know, miniature, you know, carvings of dogs.

1380
01:19:40,920 --> 01:19:44,480
And you go, who is this?

1381
01:19:44,480 --> 01:19:46,040
Why do they have two million followers?

1382
01:19:46,040 --> 01:19:47,920
I don't understand.

1383
01:19:47,920 --> 01:19:53,040
Or somebody incredible, like most of the art that I've gotten in my house is mostly from

1384
01:19:53,040 --> 01:19:54,040
Instagram.

1385
01:19:54,040 --> 01:19:56,360
So I've met these incredible artists from all over the place.

1386
01:19:56,360 --> 01:20:00,920
One's a waitress and one's in one's in Ireland and you know what I mean?

1387
01:20:00,920 --> 01:20:03,080
So it's a really interesting time.

1388
01:20:03,080 --> 01:20:07,840
So who would I like to interview or who do I suggest you interview?

1389
01:20:07,840 --> 01:20:09,480
I'm interviewing people all the time.

1390
01:20:09,480 --> 01:20:10,480
I'm doing what you do.

1391
01:20:10,480 --> 01:20:13,440
I'm just doing it through Instagram and other forms.

1392
01:20:13,440 --> 01:20:17,960
And I'm finding the most fascinating people I've ever come in contact with in my 50 years.

1393
01:20:17,960 --> 01:20:19,920
Yeah, I agree 100%.

1394
01:20:19,920 --> 01:20:23,000
I found several of my guests purely for the same way.

1395
01:20:23,000 --> 01:20:27,720
And even Suzanne Stein that you kind of got me onto when you wrote that piece under her

1396
01:20:27,720 --> 01:20:28,720
photo.

1397
01:20:28,720 --> 01:20:34,840
It's going to be a great interview to be around the very desperate community in Los Angeles

1398
01:20:34,840 --> 01:20:38,760
and what she sees through her lens than what we see as first responders.

1399
01:20:38,760 --> 01:20:42,360
We're the ones that take care of these people when they have their worst day too.

1400
01:20:42,360 --> 01:20:45,640
I think she's probably got a great story to tell.

1401
01:20:45,640 --> 01:20:46,640
Danny Martin.

1402
01:20:46,640 --> 01:20:50,160
I mean, look at the trajectory of Danny Martin, a guy who I used to sleep on his couch when

1403
01:20:50,160 --> 01:20:55,040
it was raining and his roof was kept together with duct tape as it was sagging down.

1404
01:20:55,040 --> 01:21:01,320
And, you know, there were pots on the floor catching the, you know, this the getaway raindrops

1405
01:21:01,320 --> 01:21:03,360
and all that stuff.

1406
01:21:03,360 --> 01:21:06,080
And that's turned into me doing this movie.

1407
01:21:06,080 --> 01:21:09,760
That's the impact that he's had, not only the firefighting impact, not only the communal

1408
01:21:09,760 --> 01:21:13,600
impact, but the impact of me actually deciding to do this movie, because I don't know if

1409
01:21:13,600 --> 01:21:18,040
I would have done it otherwise without that conversation.

1410
01:21:18,040 --> 01:21:21,680
That's a dude in a trailer in the middle of, you know, Arizona.

1411
01:21:21,680 --> 01:21:22,680
That's crazy.

1412
01:21:22,680 --> 01:21:25,160
You know, you're in a dark place and you're like, you know, one door closes and another

1413
01:21:25,160 --> 01:21:26,160
door opens, as they say.

1414
01:21:26,160 --> 01:21:28,440
And at the time you find yourself in these very dark places.

1415
01:21:28,440 --> 01:21:31,880
And then years later, you look back and go, ah, I was supposed to have my ass kicked

1416
01:21:31,880 --> 01:21:33,960
then for this reason.

1417
01:21:33,960 --> 01:21:39,280
I was just I was literally I had a call with both my kids this morning who are older, 29

1418
01:21:39,280 --> 01:21:40,280
and 24.

1419
01:21:40,280 --> 01:21:42,720
And that was the theme of the conversation.

1420
01:21:42,720 --> 01:21:46,600
What you think is a shitty moment in your life can turn out to be the best moment.

1421
01:21:46,600 --> 01:21:47,960
Amen to that.

1422
01:21:47,960 --> 01:21:48,960
Amen.

1423
01:21:48,960 --> 01:21:49,960
All right.

1424
01:21:49,960 --> 01:21:52,920
So the last question, then we'll just talk about all the the projects that are about

1425
01:21:52,920 --> 01:21:54,860
to come out so we can give them some exposure.

1426
01:21:54,860 --> 01:21:58,840
But what do you do to decompress when you're not doing some of the things that we've already

1427
01:21:58,840 --> 01:22:00,720
talked about?

1428
01:22:00,720 --> 01:22:04,040
Talk to James Gearing, you know, most soothing.

1429
01:22:04,040 --> 01:22:06,800
What do I do?

1430
01:22:06,800 --> 01:22:08,600
You know, right now I'm getting back in shape.

1431
01:22:08,600 --> 01:22:14,060
So when I do these two world tours, I have some health about me.

1432
01:22:14,060 --> 01:22:16,240
You know, we go up to our ranch a lot.

1433
01:22:16,240 --> 01:22:19,160
We just went up to our ranch and we got rained in.

1434
01:22:19,160 --> 01:22:21,160
You know, I have a creek that doesn't have a bridge.

1435
01:22:21,160 --> 01:22:24,700
So when the rains come, we're actually socked into the ranch.

1436
01:22:24,700 --> 01:22:25,860
We can't leave.

1437
01:22:25,860 --> 01:22:31,520
So if we run out of food, I got a buddy who works at the he's a guard at the nearby prison.

1438
01:22:31,520 --> 01:22:34,720
And I've known him for a long time and he'll come over with a waterproof backpack and a

1439
01:22:34,720 --> 01:22:36,800
rope and throw it up the creek.

1440
01:22:36,800 --> 01:22:37,840
Oh, wow.

1441
01:22:37,840 --> 01:22:41,960
So we can eat, you know, if it comes down to it, which it didn't this time.

1442
01:22:41,960 --> 01:22:44,360
But we were in there for four days.

1443
01:22:44,360 --> 01:22:46,240
And you know, we travel a lot, man.

1444
01:22:46,240 --> 01:22:47,240
We like our adventures.

1445
01:22:47,240 --> 01:22:53,800
We'll go to Switzerland and, you know, a great friend of ours, unfortunately, isn't around.

1446
01:22:53,800 --> 01:22:59,280
But Dean Potter and we went, you know, climbed with Dean Potter and had a great time over

1447
01:22:59,280 --> 01:23:00,280
in Switzerland.

1448
01:23:00,280 --> 01:23:04,120
And we had our honeymoon up and down Italy.

1449
01:23:04,120 --> 01:23:05,480
And we do a lot of traveling.

1450
01:23:05,480 --> 01:23:07,080
We like our adventures.

1451
01:23:07,080 --> 01:23:08,200
We love our adventures.

1452
01:23:08,200 --> 01:23:13,360
So even if that means going to a motel in Palmdale, we don't give a shit as long as

1453
01:23:13,360 --> 01:23:17,480
it's it has something interesting to offer.

1454
01:23:17,480 --> 01:23:18,480
Yeah.

1455
01:23:18,480 --> 01:23:21,080
Well, like you said before, I mean, everywhere has something interesting to offer if you

1456
01:23:21,080 --> 01:23:22,080
look hard enough.

1457
01:23:22,080 --> 01:23:23,080
Totally.

1458
01:23:23,080 --> 01:23:24,080
I agree.

1459
01:23:24,080 --> 01:23:26,840
That's why we live in Venice Beach.

1460
01:23:26,840 --> 01:23:27,840
All right.

1461
01:23:27,840 --> 01:23:30,440
Well, then to wrap it up, because you again have been so, so generous.

1462
01:23:30,440 --> 01:23:35,560
And just to preface this, you're about to do this huge media tour and yet you reached

1463
01:23:35,560 --> 01:23:40,400
out to to me and said you come on and do this for for the firefighters and police and everyone

1464
01:23:40,400 --> 01:23:41,480
else is listening to this.

1465
01:23:41,480 --> 01:23:44,280
So thank you ahead of time again.

1466
01:23:44,280 --> 01:23:52,400
So tell me about the projects that you've got coming out.

1467
01:23:52,400 --> 01:24:02,000
I have I did I did five movies back to back and I just had a it wasn't necessarily intended,

1468
01:24:02,000 --> 01:24:03,000
but it happened.

1469
01:24:03,000 --> 01:24:07,760
And when I when I do movies a lot of times just because I remember what it was not to

1470
01:24:07,760 --> 01:24:12,960
work and I remember what it was to be completely out of my mind, not knowing what my next job

1471
01:24:12,960 --> 01:24:13,960
was going to be.

1472
01:24:13,960 --> 01:24:16,520
I mean, for 20 years, I never knew what my next job was going to be while I was doing

1473
01:24:16,520 --> 01:24:17,520
a job.

1474
01:24:17,520 --> 01:24:19,520
And and that's changed a little bit.

1475
01:24:19,520 --> 01:24:25,160
So you know, I did Only the Brave.

1476
01:24:25,160 --> 01:24:30,560
And then I did I know I did Legacy of a White-Tailed Deer Hunter, which will come out on Netflix,

1477
01:24:30,560 --> 01:24:34,960
which they were fortunate enough to sell it to Netflix, which is a wacky movie by you

1478
01:24:34,960 --> 01:24:40,720
know, it was a wacky experiment, I should say with Danny McBride and Jodie Hill.

1479
01:24:40,720 --> 01:24:50,480
And then after that, this April 27th, I think Avengers comes out and then May 18th, Deadpool

1480
01:24:50,480 --> 01:24:57,480
2 comes out and then June 29th, Sicario 2 comes out.

1481
01:24:57,480 --> 01:24:58,480
And then I think that's it.

1482
01:24:58,480 --> 01:24:59,480
Brilliant.

1483
01:24:59,480 --> 01:25:04,280
I got a little 10 year old who's very excited about your Marvel movies coming up.

1484
01:25:04,280 --> 01:25:05,280
I'm glad.

1485
01:25:05,280 --> 01:25:06,280
I'm glad.

1486
01:25:06,280 --> 01:25:07,280
Yeah.

1487
01:25:07,280 --> 01:25:08,280
Yeah.

1488
01:25:08,280 --> 01:25:14,400
I got to tell you, man, and I and I tell you in all seriousness, you know, having this

1489
01:25:14,400 --> 01:25:19,040
this access and I just told my daughter who I was talking to before I talked to you, I

1490
01:25:19,040 --> 01:25:20,040
said, I have to get off the phone.

1491
01:25:20,040 --> 01:25:21,040
She said, why?

1492
01:25:21,040 --> 01:25:22,040
I said, I'm going to do a podcast.

1493
01:25:22,040 --> 01:25:23,040
This is James Gearing.

1494
01:25:23,040 --> 01:25:28,720
And then I told her your Instagram thing and she looked it up and she goes, wow, man, this

1495
01:25:28,720 --> 01:25:29,720
is really cool.

1496
01:25:29,720 --> 01:25:31,200
I love that you're doing this.

1497
01:25:31,200 --> 01:25:35,280
And, you know, and it's not one of those to say, like, oh, I'm going to do five of those.

1498
01:25:35,280 --> 01:25:40,000
And then one of these, if I can just do these and actually pull off the marketing of a movie

1499
01:25:40,000 --> 01:25:46,760
appropriately for the studios, like, you know, I would do this because this is just even meeting

1500
01:25:46,760 --> 01:25:52,880
you on Instagram and just how you came across and what you represent and what you're trying

1501
01:25:52,880 --> 01:25:58,040
to do with the Instagram that you have in the social media that you're involved with

1502
01:25:58,040 --> 01:26:00,540
is really is really something.

1503
01:26:00,540 --> 01:26:02,360
It's really moving and it got me.

1504
01:26:02,360 --> 01:26:05,200
So I wouldn't, you know, I like having a break right now.

1505
01:26:05,200 --> 01:26:08,320
I actually don't want to do interviews and podcasts.

1506
01:26:08,320 --> 01:26:12,560
I want to kind of get away from the whole idea of Hollywood just for a little while

1507
01:26:12,560 --> 01:26:15,240
before I have to step back into it.

1508
01:26:15,240 --> 01:26:17,480
But this has been an absolute pleasure.

1509
01:26:17,480 --> 01:26:20,680
You know, you're you're you're a stand up dude for sure.

1510
01:26:20,680 --> 01:26:21,680
Well, thank you.

1511
01:26:21,680 --> 01:26:26,680
Like I said, the whole point of the podcast is to to to tell stories and your story is

1512
01:26:26,680 --> 01:26:31,640
incredible and you just happen to be an actor, but for what I've seen on Instagram, you know,

1513
01:26:31,640 --> 01:26:37,000
and in your roles as well, but the stories behind Only the Brave and you know, it's it's

1514
01:26:37,000 --> 01:26:40,320
to show the world that there are these incredible people out there.

1515
01:26:40,320 --> 01:26:44,400
And even though we get bombarded with all this negativity and a lot of the devices that

1516
01:26:44,400 --> 01:26:49,560
we tend to tune into, these are the spaces between the lines that I love to to kind of

1517
01:26:49,560 --> 01:26:52,520
reveal to the men and women that are listening.

1518
01:26:52,520 --> 01:26:54,320
I like that spaces between the lines.

1519
01:26:54,320 --> 01:26:57,880
It's cool.