WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.740 If you're anything like us, you've probably spent 00:00:01.740 --> 00:00:04.660 years, maybe decades, watching movies, watching 00:00:04.660 --> 00:00:06.980 TV, and you keep seeing that guy. Uh -huh. You 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:09.580 know the one, the actor whose face you immediately 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.439 recognize. The voice sounds super familiar, and 00:00:12.439 --> 00:00:14.699 they just seem to pop up in, well, everything, 00:00:14.800 --> 00:00:19.960 from really intense war movies to, like... quirky 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:22.640 sitcom guest spots where they totally steal the 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:24.839 show. Exactly. That's the feeling. Well, today, 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:27.199 our deep dive is focusing on maybe the perfect 00:00:27.199 --> 00:00:29.920 example of this whole phenomenon, Adam Goldberg. 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:32.000 That's absolutely right. Adam Goldberg, born 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:36.359 October 25th, 1970. He's the name, the face, 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:39.340 the presence behind so many of those intense. 00:00:40.750 --> 00:00:43.609 really specific, often kind of anxious, but always 00:00:43.609 --> 00:00:46.490 incredibly sharp, witty characters. Yeah, witty 00:00:46.490 --> 00:00:48.509 is a good word for it. Right. And these characters, 00:00:48.590 --> 00:00:50.310 they just consistently make whatever project 00:00:50.310 --> 00:00:53.350 they're in better for, I mean, millions of people. 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:55.270 He really defined what a brilliant supporting 00:00:55.270 --> 00:00:57.270 player can be. But see, our mission here today 00:00:57.270 --> 00:00:59.990 is to go way beyond just that face you recognize 00:00:59.990 --> 00:01:02.509 or, you know, the standard IMDb page summary. 00:01:02.750 --> 00:01:05.090 We really want to peel back the layers. We want 00:01:05.090 --> 00:01:09.379 to show the full. Honestly, the prolific scope 00:01:09.379 --> 00:01:13.140 of his creative work, because we're looking at 00:01:13.140 --> 00:01:15.079 someone who isn't just an actor. Not even close. 00:01:15.260 --> 00:01:17.379 He's also a director, an accomplished screenwriter, 00:01:17.500 --> 00:01:20.459 a professional musician, a composer and a visual 00:01:20.459 --> 00:01:23.340 artist, too. He's like the ultimate multi hyphenate. 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:26.099 He really is. Yeah. Kind of hiding this huge, 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.200 controlled artistic life behind, you know, the 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:31.620 very visible acting career. And understanding 00:01:31.620 --> 00:01:34.260 that duality, that sort of split existence, the 00:01:34.260 --> 00:01:37.260 let's say commercial actor versus the independent. 00:01:38.169 --> 00:01:42.010 That's really the key, I think, to grasping the 00:01:42.010 --> 00:01:44.730 sheer volume, the diversity of everything he's 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:47.150 done since he really got started back in 1990. 00:01:47.450 --> 00:01:49.909 Wow. Since 1990, that's a long time. It is. And 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.129 just for context, he married the artist and designer 00:01:52.129 --> 00:01:55.030 Roxanne Daner back in 2014. They have three children 00:01:55.030 --> 00:01:57.170 together. Right. And the core point here is that 00:01:57.170 --> 00:01:59.450 he's managed to sustain this incredibly creative, 00:01:59.650 --> 00:02:02.170 multi -platform career while building a family, 00:02:02.310 --> 00:02:05.140 which tells you immediately. Something about 00:02:05.140 --> 00:02:07.019 the kind of focused energy and, frankly, ambition 00:02:07.019 --> 00:02:09.020 that must be driving him. That's a really good 00:02:09.020 --> 00:02:11.719 point. Okay, so let's start unpacking this career. 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.460 Let's begin where most people probably know him 00:02:14.460 --> 00:02:18.680 best. The face. Adam Goldberg, he established 00:02:18.680 --> 00:02:21.060 himself pretty early on, right? With character 00:02:21.060 --> 00:02:23.419 work, that really defined a lot of that indie 00:02:23.419 --> 00:02:26.020 film scene in the 90s. Absolutely. His first 00:02:26.020 --> 00:02:28.800 major screen role was actually back in 1992. 00:02:29.060 --> 00:02:31.659 It was Mr. Saturday Night. Okay. But the real 00:02:31.659 --> 00:02:34.379 groundwork, I say, for that persona we recognize, 00:02:34.620 --> 00:02:38.419 that was laid just a year later, 1993. Richard 00:02:38.419 --> 00:02:41.560 Linklater's, well, cultural touchstone, Dazed 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.379 and Confused. Yes. Mike Newhouse. Mike Newhouse. 00:02:44.460 --> 00:02:48.500 He just... perfectly embodied that smart kind 00:02:48.500 --> 00:02:51.120 of sensitive maybe slightly paranoid stoner energy 00:02:51.120 --> 00:02:53.659 yeah you know he wasn't the jock he wasn't the 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:55.840 smooth operator he was the guy who seemed to 00:02:55.840 --> 00:02:58.199 have this slightly manic uh internal monologue 00:02:58.199 --> 00:03:00.319 going constantly yeah that really rings true 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:02.759 and that template the intelligent a bit defensive 00:03:02.759 --> 00:03:05.120 fast -talking outsider it turned out to be incredibly 00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:07.879 versatile for him yeah but okay dazed and confused 00:03:07.879 --> 00:03:10.539 gave him that indie street cred which it absolutely 00:03:10.539 --> 00:03:14.069 did The role that really cemented his dramatic 00:03:14.069 --> 00:03:16.750 chops and maybe even his action credibility, 00:03:17.069 --> 00:03:21.930 that came in 1998. Steven Spielberg's huge blockbuster 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:25.490 war epic, Saving Private Ryan. Oh yeah, now we're 00:03:25.490 --> 00:03:28.889 talking. Private Stanley Mellish, the tough, 00:03:28.930 --> 00:03:32.150 wisecracking infantryman. Such a memorable character. 00:03:32.469 --> 00:03:34.949 This role was huge. It was transformative, really, 00:03:35.030 --> 00:03:37.550 because it took that recognizable energy, that 00:03:37.550 --> 00:03:39.969 Goldberg energy, and put it right into the middle 00:03:39.969 --> 00:03:42.689 of this profound, heavy historical drama. Right. 00:03:42.789 --> 00:03:45.629 And what's really crucial about Mellish, I think, 00:03:45.729 --> 00:03:49.689 is that the character is explicitly Jewish, which 00:03:49.689 --> 00:03:52.389 was, and still is, often an identity kind of 00:03:52.389 --> 00:03:54.969 underrepresented in World War II films of that 00:03:54.969 --> 00:03:57.969 scale. That's true. And Mellish isn't just comic 00:03:57.969 --> 00:04:01.069 relief. He's witty, yes, but... He's tough. He's 00:04:01.069 --> 00:04:03.650 fiercely loyal. The performance really subverted 00:04:03.650 --> 00:04:05.430 expectations, didn't it? Because he wasn't just 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:08.490 cast as like a stereotype. He was a fully realized, 00:04:08.650 --> 00:04:10.610 competent soldier who just happened to bring 00:04:10.610 --> 00:04:12.610 that distinctive, sarcastic edge with him to 00:04:12.610 --> 00:04:15.229 the battlefield. It's a total scene -stealing 00:04:15.229 --> 00:04:18.829 performance. And it required huge commitment, 00:04:18.970 --> 00:04:21.959 especially leading up to that. That really visceral, 00:04:22.040 --> 00:04:25.220 unforgettable hand -to -hand combat scene. Oh, 00:04:25.300 --> 00:04:28.160 that scene is brutal. And yeah, that role immediately 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:31.379 put him on the map for other major... prestige 00:04:31.379 --> 00:04:34.199 pictures. He carried that complex intelligence 00:04:34.199 --> 00:04:39.339 into films like A Beautiful Mind in 2001. Right, 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:41.399 with Russell Crowe. Yeah, he played Saul, one 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:43.480 of the math grad students alongside Russell Crowe's 00:04:43.480 --> 00:04:46.720 John Nash. Then fast forward to 2006, he was 00:04:46.720 --> 00:04:49.519 Dr. Alexander Denny, the technical expert guy 00:04:49.519 --> 00:04:52.040 in that Denzel Washington time travel thriller 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:55.220 Deja Vu. Okay, yeah. And in both cases, his job 00:04:55.220 --> 00:04:57.800 really was to be the sort of necessary hyper 00:04:57.800 --> 00:05:00.639 -intelligent anchor point within a really complex 00:05:00.639 --> 00:05:02.920 story structure. He gets cast as that intellectual 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:05.720 counterbalance quite a lot, it seems. Consistently. 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:07.620 And we should probably give a quick mention to 00:05:07.620 --> 00:05:09.420 his voice acting work, too, right? Because that's 00:05:09.420 --> 00:05:11.180 another whole category of character performance. 00:05:11.420 --> 00:05:13.740 Good point. Yeah, he was Fleelic and Babe. And 00:05:13.740 --> 00:05:19.160 he had roles in Homeward Bound, too. And he voiced 00:05:19.160 --> 00:05:22.569 Raoul. in that French animated film, A Monster 00:05:22.569 --> 00:05:25.269 in Paris. So even when you don't see his face, 00:05:25.430 --> 00:05:28.949 that voice, it still carries that familiar, smart, 00:05:29.149 --> 00:05:31.870 maybe slightly anxious quality? Totally. It's 00:05:31.870 --> 00:05:34.550 unmistakable. And what really stands out here, 00:05:34.589 --> 00:05:37.769 I think, is the level of trust that major directors, 00:05:37.829 --> 00:05:40.370 major studios place in him. They know he's reliable. 00:05:40.589 --> 00:05:43.930 They know he'll deliver this specific high quality 00:05:43.930 --> 00:05:46.829 characterization that can ground even a massive 00:05:46.829 --> 00:05:49.170 movie. He's like the secret weapon in those big 00:05:49.170 --> 00:05:51.430 prestige projects. Exactly. Making sure even 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:53.930 the supporting characters feel authentic and, 00:05:53.949 --> 00:05:56.589 you know, deeply textured. OK, let's shift over 00:05:56.589 --> 00:05:58.730 to television then, because the list of memorable 00:05:58.730 --> 00:06:01.009 guest spots and recurring roles there is just. 00:06:01.449 --> 00:06:03.610 It's another testament to his versatility. It 00:06:03.610 --> 00:06:06.050 really is. Before the really big hits, he was 00:06:06.050 --> 00:06:08.769 the sarcastic delivery boy, Leo, in that 1995 00:06:08.769 --> 00:06:11.569 comedy Double Rush. Maybe not everyone remembers 00:06:11.569 --> 00:06:13.850 that one. I vaguely recall that. But for millions, 00:06:14.029 --> 00:06:17.009 millions of viewers, his definitive 90s sitcom 00:06:17.009 --> 00:06:19.870 moment has got to be in season two of Friends. 00:06:20.009 --> 00:06:22.269 Oh, absolutely. Eddie Menuek, Chandler's replacement 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:26.709 roommate. Ah, Eddie. The iconic three -episode 00:06:26.709 --> 00:06:30.709 arc in 1996. That performance was just pure comedic 00:06:30.709 --> 00:06:34.370 gold. Because he committed like 100 % to the 00:06:34.370 --> 00:06:36.990 paranoia, the surrealness of the character. The 00:06:36.990 --> 00:06:39.730 guy who thought Chandler stole his goldfish cracker? 00:06:40.050 --> 00:06:42.910 No. No, his actual fish. Yeah. He dehydrated 00:06:42.910 --> 00:06:44.930 his fruit. Yes, and accused him of sleeping with 00:06:44.930 --> 00:06:47.329 his ex -girlfriend. Yeah. Whom Chandler had never 00:06:47.329 --> 00:06:50.769 met. And the head. He thought Chandler stole 00:06:50.769 --> 00:06:52.579 the head from his mannequin. It was brilliant. 00:06:52.699 --> 00:06:54.399 It's the kind of performance, like you said, 00:06:54.439 --> 00:06:57.079 three episodes, but it feels like it has the 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.819 cultural impact of three whole seasons. It totally 00:06:59.819 --> 00:07:02.060 does. It really cemented that reputation for 00:07:02.060 --> 00:07:04.899 characters who are somehow both hilarious and 00:07:04.899 --> 00:07:08.699 maybe slightly terrifyingly unhinged. Perfectly 00:07:08.699 --> 00:07:11.319 put. And here's where the continuity of his career 00:07:11.319 --> 00:07:13.819 gets kind of interesting. Years later, he actually 00:07:13.819 --> 00:07:15.870 appeared in the Friends spinoff, Joey. Oh, I 00:07:15.870 --> 00:07:17.470 forgot about that. Yeah, he sort of came full 00:07:17.470 --> 00:07:20.149 circle. He took on a nine -episode arc in Joey 00:07:20.149 --> 00:07:22.930 as Jimmy Costa, who was supposed to be Joey Tribbiani's 00:07:22.930 --> 00:07:25.470 best friend from high school. Huh. So he bookended 00:07:25.470 --> 00:07:28.949 that massive comedy universe. Pretty much. It 00:07:28.949 --> 00:07:30.970 just proves he was the kind of reliable, known 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:33.230 quantity that the creators wanted to bring in, 00:07:33.310 --> 00:07:35.689 maybe to help ground the narrative of the spinoff. 00:07:35.769 --> 00:07:38.110 He's also anchored some really interesting, even 00:07:38.110 --> 00:07:40.350 if they were short -lived, dramas. I remember 00:07:40.350 --> 00:07:42.649 he played Detective Ray Lazarus Harper in that 00:07:42.649 --> 00:07:47.250 2012 ensemble cop show, NYC 22. He did. But what's 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:49.209 particularly telling, I think, about his preference 00:07:49.209 --> 00:07:51.970 for these complex, maybe psychologically dense 00:07:51.970 --> 00:07:55.139 roles, is his earlier work. He was Detective 00:07:55.139 --> 00:07:58.480 Eric Delahoy in the 2009 cop show The Unusuals. 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.720 OK, tell me about that one. Well, what's fascinating 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.139 about Delahoy is the incredible specificity of 00:08:03.139 --> 00:08:05.180 the character. He's the sarcastic detective, 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:08.199 classic Goldberg energy, but he's battling brain 00:08:08.199 --> 00:08:10.980 cancer and he refuses treatment because he has 00:08:10.980 --> 00:08:13.800 this deep seated like phobia or just intense 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:16.500 dislike of doctors. Wow, that's specific. Right. 00:08:16.540 --> 00:08:19.660 That detail isn't just a plot point. It's a fully 00:08:19.660 --> 00:08:21.899 fleshed out internal conflict baked into the 00:08:21.899 --> 00:08:24.019 character from the start. It just highlights 00:08:24.019 --> 00:08:26.240 how Goldberg consistently seems drawn to roles 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.980 that require him to embody these really intense, 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:31.980 highly specific emotional and intellectual profiles. 00:08:32.240 --> 00:08:34.620 Which really sets the stage for, well, everything 00:08:34.620 --> 00:08:37.700 else he started doing. Exactly. OK, this brings 00:08:37.700 --> 00:08:40.019 us to what feels like a pretty radical pivot. 00:08:40.360 --> 00:08:43.320 We've really established his genius as a character 00:08:43.320 --> 00:08:46.259 actor, the guy you recognize. But now we have 00:08:46.259 --> 00:08:48.360 to confront this other side, the fact that while 00:08:48.360 --> 00:08:50.600 he was busy supporting these massive Hollywood 00:08:50.600 --> 00:08:53.200 productions, Adam Goldberg was simultaneously 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:56.980 operating as like the ultimate auteur. Let's 00:08:56.980 --> 00:08:59.240 talk about him stepping completely behind the 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.539 camera. Yeah, this is maybe the clearest sign 00:09:01.539 --> 00:09:05.120 that the supporting actor gig, you know. as steady 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.860 and maybe financially rewarding as it was, it 00:09:07.860 --> 00:09:10.639 just wasn't creatively enough for him. Goldberg 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:12.440 clearly needed to control the whole thing, the 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.320 narrative, the aesthetic, everything. And he 00:09:14.320 --> 00:09:17.960 didn't just dabble in directing. He wrote, produced, 00:09:18.120 --> 00:09:20.679 directed, and edited. Multiple feature films. 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:22.419 So what were these movies like? We're not just 00:09:22.419 --> 00:09:24.600 talking standard genre pictures, are we? Oh, 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:26.860 definitely not. These were often quite philosophical, 00:09:27.139 --> 00:09:30.159 sometimes challenging independent films. Look 00:09:30.159 --> 00:09:32.620 at Scotch and Milk, which was his debut. And 00:09:32.620 --> 00:09:34.820 later films like I Love Your Work. What was that 00:09:34.820 --> 00:09:38.120 one about? I Love Your Work is this really sharp, 00:09:38.220 --> 00:09:41.899 satirical look at the dark side of fame and celebrity 00:09:41.899 --> 00:09:44.379 culture. Kind of meta, in a way. Interesting. 00:09:45.019 --> 00:09:47.399 Then there was his 2014 feature No Way Jose. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:51.100 And you see him bringing that same kind of sharp 00:09:51.100 --> 00:09:53.740 intellectual, maybe cynical edge from his acting 00:09:53.740 --> 00:09:57.100 into the writer director's chair. OK. And he 00:09:57.100 --> 00:09:59.360 even extended this multi hyphenate thing to TV. 00:09:59.519 --> 00:10:02.059 He did this philosophical travelogue called Running 00:10:02.059 --> 00:10:05.259 with the Bulls for IFC. And get this. He not 00:10:05.259 --> 00:10:07.580 only directed and filmed it, he composed the 00:10:07.580 --> 00:10:11.370 entire score himself, too. Wow. OK, so directing, 00:10:11.529 --> 00:10:13.830 writing, editing a feature film that takes more 00:10:13.830 --> 00:10:15.830 than just skill. It takes this incredible internal 00:10:15.830 --> 00:10:18.090 drive, right? Absolutely. It confirms he wasn't 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:20.289 just sitting by the phone passively waiting for 00:10:20.289 --> 00:10:22.289 the next supporting role offer in some big studio 00:10:22.289 --> 00:10:24.899 movie. He was. Actively, constantly out there 00:10:24.899 --> 00:10:27.059 creating his own worlds. And in those projects, 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.019 the ones he generated himself, he actually broke 00:10:29.019 --> 00:10:30.980 away from that sidekick or supporting character 00:10:30.980 --> 00:10:34.059 type. He took the lead roles. Exactly. Which 00:10:34.059 --> 00:10:36.159 allowed him to explore a totally different kind 00:10:36.159 --> 00:10:38.419 of performance. One that demanded, you know, 00:10:38.440 --> 00:10:40.899 full vulnerability and the ability to carry the 00:10:40.899 --> 00:10:42.860 whole film, sustain the audience's attention. 00:10:43.139 --> 00:10:45.759 Think about his performance as Mordecai Jefferson 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.220 Carver in that 2003 comedic satire, The Hebrew 00:10:49.220 --> 00:10:52.230 Hammer. The Hebrew Hammer, that's such a perfect 00:10:52.230 --> 00:10:54.590 counterpoint to Mellish in Saving Private Ryan, 00:10:54.690 --> 00:10:57.289 isn't it? It really is. Both roles play on his 00:10:57.289 --> 00:10:59.549 Jewish heritage and that sort of anxious intellectual 00:10:59.549 --> 00:11:02.549 thing we talked about. But Hebrew Hammer is pure, 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:06.850 broad comedy, satire. It demands this huge commitment, 00:11:06.970 --> 00:11:09.669 but in a totally different way than the war movie 00:11:09.669 --> 00:11:12.389 did. Precisely. Or think about his role as Jack 00:11:12.389 --> 00:11:14.850 in that really well -regarded 2007 indie Two 00:11:14.850 --> 00:11:16.690 Days in Paris. Loved that movie. Yeah, great 00:11:16.690 --> 00:11:20.139 film. Or Adrian Jacobs in the 2009 film Untitled. 00:11:20.220 --> 00:11:22.440 These roles, they require sustained emotional 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:24.360 delivery, real connection with the audience, 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:28.080 which is a sharp contrast to the kind of efficient 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.320 plot -driving delivery that's often required 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:32.700 from the perfect supporting actor. So here's 00:11:32.700 --> 00:11:34.679 where the two worlds, the actor for hire and 00:11:34.679 --> 00:11:37.539 the auteur, really collide. And where we find 00:11:37.539 --> 00:11:39.580 maybe the most compelling story about his professional 00:11:39.580 --> 00:11:43.379 ambition and, frankly, work ethic. His run in 00:11:43.379 --> 00:11:47.299 season one of FX's Fargo back in 2014. Ah, yes. 00:11:47.639 --> 00:11:51.340 The Fargo deep dive. This is absolutely essential 00:11:51.340 --> 00:11:53.480 if you want to understand his capacity for commitment. 00:11:53.779 --> 00:11:56.779 He played Grady Numbers, remember, one half of 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:59.379 that chilling hitman. With Russell Harvard? Right. 00:11:59.460 --> 00:12:02.960 Across five episodes. And the creator, Noah Hawley, 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:04.940 specifically cast him. They'd worked together 00:12:04.940 --> 00:12:07.320 before on The Unusuals. Ah, okay. The connection. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:10.299 Exactly. Hawley knew Goldberg could handle that. 00:12:10.639 --> 00:12:14.320 darkly comic, very precise, almost musical dialogue 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:16.919 that's so key to the whole Fargo universe. But 00:12:16.919 --> 00:12:18.799 the detail that really just blows my mind, the 00:12:18.799 --> 00:12:20.679 one that shows the intensity he brings even to 00:12:20.679 --> 00:12:22.940 a supporting role, is the prep he did for Grady 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.460 Numbers. Yeah. For that specific limited role, 00:12:25.620 --> 00:12:27.720 he had to learn American Sign Language. That's 00:12:27.720 --> 00:12:30.379 right. Because his partner, Mr. Wrench, played 00:12:30.379 --> 00:12:32.779 by Russell Harvard, was deaf. So that wasn't 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.330 just like... a physical challenge, that's a deep 00:12:35.330 --> 00:12:37.990 intellectual commitment to the character's world, 00:12:38.049 --> 00:12:41.009 his relationship, that goes way beyond what you'd 00:12:41.009 --> 00:12:43.350 normally expect for a five -episode arc. If we 00:12:43.350 --> 00:12:45.850 just pause right there for a second, that commitment 00:12:45.850 --> 00:12:48.690 to mastery, even for what's essentially a temporary 00:12:48.690 --> 00:12:51.590 gig, it tells you so much about his personality, 00:12:51.610 --> 00:12:54.720 his approach. Totally. But now... Layer on the 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:57.679 logistical context. He started filming Fargo 00:12:57.679 --> 00:13:00.820 up in Calgary just a few days after he finished 00:13:00.820 --> 00:13:03.460 principal photography on his own feature film, 00:13:03.580 --> 00:13:06.500 No Way Jose, which he directed. Wait, days? Days. 00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.820 So picture it. He's already creatively, probably, 00:13:10.019 --> 00:13:13.240 physically exhausted from commanding his own 00:13:13.240 --> 00:13:15.200 set, making his own movie. And he didn't take 00:13:15.200 --> 00:13:17.460 a break. This is the time management, the multitasking 00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:19.220 nugget that you just have to stop and appreciate. 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.320 While he was shooting the intense, demanding 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:26.220 drama of Fargo, he was editing No Way Jose in 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:28.519 his hotel room in Calgary. Just try to picture 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:30.419 that scene for a minute. You, the listener, imagine 00:13:30.419 --> 00:13:32.879 this. You're on the set of this high stakes, 00:13:33.080 --> 00:13:35.299 critically acclaimed cable drama all day long. 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.600 You're focused on hitting those precise co -esque, 00:13:38.700 --> 00:13:41.899 Holly -esque rhythms for Fargo. You finish your, 00:13:41.940 --> 00:13:44.360 say, 12 hour day. You go back to your hotel. 00:13:44.840 --> 00:13:46.940 And instead of collapsing or just, you know, 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:49.870 resting. You pull out your laptop, you fire up 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.889 the editing software, and you spend the next 00:13:52.889 --> 00:13:56.929 maybe four hours wrestling with the complex narrative 00:13:56.929 --> 00:13:59.570 problems, the pacing issues of your own feature 00:13:59.570 --> 00:14:02.870 film. That level of dedication, managing two 00:14:02.870 --> 00:14:05.669 incredibly high -level creative jobs in two different 00:14:05.669 --> 00:14:08.429 cities, basically simultaneously, it's almost 00:14:08.429 --> 00:14:11.250 superhuman. It really is. And it proves that 00:14:11.250 --> 00:14:13.450 his directing passion wasn't just some vanity 00:14:13.450 --> 00:14:16.490 project. It was fundamental. It was a necessity 00:14:16.490 --> 00:14:19.100 for him. That is intense. Almost brutal, that 00:14:19.100 --> 00:14:21.740 kind of creative multitasking. And yet somehow, 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:24.000 amidst all that darkness, the hitman character, 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:26.379 the editing grind, he still found time for comedy. 00:14:26.580 --> 00:14:28.759 Right. He shot the pilot for the Jim Gaffigan 00:14:28.759 --> 00:14:31.580 show during a week off from Fargo. No way. Yeah. 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:33.620 Playing Dave Marks, the sort of struggling comedian 00:14:33.620 --> 00:14:35.480 character who's Jim Gaffigan's best friend on 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:38.139 the show. The ability to just pivot like that. 00:14:38.490 --> 00:14:43.870 From the brutal, stylized drama of Fargo to the 00:14:43.870 --> 00:14:47.990 easier rhythm of a family sitcom pilot in seven 00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:50.590 days, it just speaks volumes about his range, 00:14:50.769 --> 00:14:53.429 his adaptability. It really does. And if you 00:14:53.429 --> 00:14:55.389 look at his work over the last decade or so, 00:14:55.450 --> 00:14:58.009 this versatility, this intelligence, it's led 00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:02.179 him to really perfect. a specific modern TV character 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:05.120 type. The highly intelligent, maybe slightly 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:07.460 cynical, but ultimately indispensable technical 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:10.159 expert. The Packer archetype, you could call 00:15:10.159 --> 00:15:12.679 it. Oh, okay. Yeah, I can see that. It feels 00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:15.139 like a natural evolution of that wise -cracking 00:15:15.139 --> 00:15:17.480 intellectual energy we saw way back in the 90s. 00:15:17.519 --> 00:15:19.279 Exactly. That sort of defensive intelligence 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.779 that worked so well and dazed and confused, or 00:15:21.779 --> 00:15:23.940 even saving Private Ryan. Now it fits perfectly 00:15:23.940 --> 00:15:26.120 into the role of the, you know, anti -establishment 00:15:26.120 --> 00:15:29.500 tech genius. Precisely. He played Kilroy. who 00:15:29.500 --> 00:15:31.840 was this accomplished computer hacker in season 00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:34.779 two of NBC's Taken series. He was the technical 00:15:34.779 --> 00:15:37.259 entrepreneur Simon Hayes in CBS's Godfriend Me. 00:15:37.399 --> 00:15:40.840 And now, since 2021, he's starring opposite Queen 00:15:40.840 --> 00:15:43.840 Latifah in The Equalizer as Harry Kashigian, 00:15:43.960 --> 00:15:46.460 another hacker, another tech expert, providing 00:15:46.460 --> 00:15:48.620 that crucial support from behind the keyboard, 00:15:48.779 --> 00:15:50.720 you know, from the shadows. And the genius of 00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:52.379 casting him in those roles, I think, is that 00:15:52.379 --> 00:15:55.139 the character is rarely just the tech guy spitting 00:15:55.139 --> 00:15:57.610 out exposition. Never. They always carry that 00:15:57.610 --> 00:16:00.409 same layered cynicism, that spark of something 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:02.870 else that makes them feel like real people, not 00:16:02.870 --> 00:16:05.549 just plot devices. He's basically taking his 00:16:05.549 --> 00:16:07.909 established persona, that intellectual edge, 00:16:08.029 --> 00:16:09.990 and applying it perfectly to one of the most 00:16:09.990 --> 00:16:12.049 relevant character types in modern procedural 00:16:12.049 --> 00:16:14.830 TV. Well said. He owns that space now. Okay, 00:16:14.870 --> 00:16:16.710 now we are heading into what might be the most 00:16:16.710 --> 00:16:18.929 unexpected territory for a lot of listeners. 00:16:19.169 --> 00:16:21.590 We've covered the actor, the face everyone knows. 00:16:21.649 --> 00:16:23.970 We've covered the director, the auteur. But for 00:16:23.970 --> 00:16:26.320 many people, I suspect his deep... established 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:29.240 career as a professional musician, a composer 00:16:29.240 --> 00:16:32.059 and a visual artist is completely off the radar. 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:33.559 Yeah, this is where it gets really interesting. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:37.159 This is the definitive proof, I think, of that 00:16:37.159 --> 00:16:40.000 multi -hyphenate thesis we started with. Goldberg 00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:43.039 isn't just dabbling in music. He's a deeply serious 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:46.019 multi -instrumentalist and songwriter. He treats 00:16:46.019 --> 00:16:49.480 music not as some hobby or sideline, but as a 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:51.519 really integral part of his creative identity. 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:54.399 Especially in his filmmaking, right? You mentioned 00:16:54.399 --> 00:16:56.679 earlier he composed the music for his own film, 00:16:56.759 --> 00:16:59.320 I Love Your Work. He did. And that collaboration 00:16:59.320 --> 00:17:01.840 you asked about earlier. For I Love Your Work, 00:17:01.899 --> 00:17:04.079 he worked extensively with Stephen Drost. From 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.150 The Flaming Lips. The one and only. That connection 00:17:07.150 --> 00:17:11.430 alone immediately gives you a sense of the indie 00:17:11.430 --> 00:17:13.410 rock credibility, the complexity we're talking 00:17:13.410 --> 00:17:15.190 about in his musical style. That's a serious 00:17:15.190 --> 00:17:17.950 collaborator. It is. And furthermore, like we 00:17:17.950 --> 00:17:20.309 said, he also scored his other directorial projects, 00:17:20.549 --> 00:17:23.690 No Way Jose and that IFC travelogue, Running 00:17:23.690 --> 00:17:26.430 with the Bulls. He even contributed a song to 00:17:26.430 --> 00:17:28.869 the Hebrew Hammer soundtrack. So he's controlling 00:17:28.869 --> 00:17:31.049 the whole aesthetic from the rhythm of the screenplay 00:17:31.049 --> 00:17:33.069 right down to the actual soundscape the audience 00:17:33.069 --> 00:17:35.920 hears. Complete control. Yeah. But, okay, the 00:17:35.920 --> 00:17:38.299 music isn't just a tool for his filmmaking. He 00:17:38.299 --> 00:17:41.079 also has a standalone music career. How did that 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:42.740 actually get started? Yeah, tell us about that. 00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:45.460 Well, it began publicly with his first album, 00:17:45.599 --> 00:17:48.619 Arrows and Omissions. That came out in June 2009. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:52.119 And it was released under the name Landy. L -A 00:17:52.119 --> 00:17:54.519 -N -D -Y. Landy. And again, look at the connections. 00:17:54.839 --> 00:17:57.359 Stephen Droz performed on that record, too. So 00:17:57.359 --> 00:17:59.859 did members of the band The Black Pine. And Aaron 00:17:59.859 --> 00:18:02.119 Espinoza from the band Erlamart, he handled the 00:18:02.119 --> 00:18:04.599 final mix and actually engineered some later 00:18:04.599 --> 00:18:07.160 songs for Goldberg, too. So that early phase 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.240 sounds pretty collaborative, like a standard 00:18:09.240 --> 00:18:12.660 band or solo project set up. It does. But then 00:18:12.660 --> 00:18:16.579 his career, his musical path, it seemed to evolve 00:18:16.579 --> 00:18:19.140 away from that kind of collaboration and more 00:18:19.140 --> 00:18:21.859 towards, well. greater control. That seems to 00:18:21.859 --> 00:18:23.740 be the pattern, right? It absolutely is. That's 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:25.819 the pattern we see across his whole creative 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:28.700 life. He later changed his musical name, his 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:32.339 moniker, to The Goldberg Sisters. The Goldberg 00:18:32.339 --> 00:18:35.259 Sisters. Interesting name. Isn't it? Under that 00:18:35.259 --> 00:18:37.619 name, he's released three albums. Now here is 00:18:37.619 --> 00:18:41.059 the real aha detail. The thing that just speaks 00:18:41.059 --> 00:18:44.039 volumes about his relentless, almost solitary 00:18:44.039 --> 00:18:47.819 commitment to creative output. Okay. On the last 00:18:47.819 --> 00:18:49.619 two albums released under the Goldberg sisters' 00:18:49.700 --> 00:18:53.319 name, he played every single instrument himself. 00:18:53.519 --> 00:18:55.839 Wait, sorry. Every instrument. Like drums, bass, 00:18:56.140 --> 00:18:59.039 guitars, keys, everything. Everything. Drums, 00:18:59.059 --> 00:19:01.980 bass, multiple guitar tracks, keyboards, synthesizers, 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:05.140 vocals. All layered, all engineered primarily 00:19:05.140 --> 00:19:07.420 by himself. He was the entire band in the studio. 00:19:07.559 --> 00:19:09.700 That's staggering. That's not just writing songs. 00:19:09.779 --> 00:19:12.259 That's an immense technical lift, an engineering 00:19:12.259 --> 00:19:14.980 challenge on top of the creativity. It's a monumental 00:19:14.980 --> 00:19:18.079 feat, pure dedication. The only exceptions, the 00:19:18.079 --> 00:19:20.380 only outside help were for highly specialized 00:19:20.380 --> 00:19:23.460 parts. Strings were provided by his wife, Roxanne 00:19:23.460 --> 00:19:25.940 Daner, who's an artist herself, and another musician 00:19:25.940 --> 00:19:28.599 named Merritt Lear. And horns were provided by 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:30.700 his engineer and co -producer, a guy named Andrew 00:19:30.700 --> 00:19:32.900 Lynch. Okay. So when he actually assembled a 00:19:32.900 --> 00:19:35.500 live band to go perform the single Shish on the 00:19:35.500 --> 00:19:37.279 Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson back in 2011, 00:19:37.579 --> 00:19:39.799 he was essentially taking this incredibly controlled, 00:19:40.019 --> 00:19:42.559 self -contained, internally generated project 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:45.720 and figuring out how to present it live to a 00:19:45.720 --> 00:19:49.039 national TV audience. Wow. That contrasts so 00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:50.960 beautifully with acting, doesn't it? Where you're 00:19:50.960 --> 00:19:53.920 always one piece of a much larger puzzle, a huge 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:56.519 ensemble. Totally different. Music seems to allow 00:19:56.519 --> 00:19:59.819 him to be the singular, complete voice. Okay, 00:19:59.880 --> 00:20:02.259 let's pivot again. The final creative domain. 00:20:03.140 --> 00:20:08.460 Visual arts. Photography. Which also sounds like 00:20:08.460 --> 00:20:10.980 it's driven by a very specific, controlled aesthetic. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:13.519 Definitely. His photography really embraces an 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.109 analog feel. He shoots... primarily on actual 00:20:16.109 --> 00:20:19.150 film, and quite notably on expired Polaroid film. 00:20:19.490 --> 00:20:22.049 Expired Polaroid? Why expired? Well, think about 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:24.470 it. Shooting on old, expired Polaroid is inherently 00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:26.509 unpredictable. You don't know exactly what you're 00:20:26.509 --> 00:20:28.869 going to get. You get weird color shifts, uneven 00:20:28.869 --> 00:20:31.250 development across the image, unique textures 00:20:31.250 --> 00:20:33.450 and artifacts, things you just cannot replicate 00:20:33.450 --> 00:20:36.559 digitally. Ah, so... The lack of perfect control, 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:38.779 the unpredictability of the medium itself is 00:20:38.779 --> 00:20:41.460 kind of the point. Exactly. It gives the images 00:20:41.460 --> 00:20:45.839 this ephemeral, maybe dreamlike quality, which, 00:20:45.900 --> 00:20:48.019 if you think about it, aligns really well with 00:20:48.019 --> 00:20:50.819 the kind of philosophical, sometimes ambiguous 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.339 nature of his independent films. Yeah, that makes 00:20:53.339 --> 00:20:55.740 sense. It mirrors that auteur streak again. It 00:20:55.740 --> 00:20:57.619 feels like a deliberate pushback against the 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:00.900 super polished, instant. maybe sterile look of 00:21:00.900 --> 00:21:03.299 modern digital photography. Absolutely. It's 00:21:03.299 --> 00:21:05.619 a choice. And this work eventually culminated 00:21:05.619 --> 00:21:08.000 in his first photography book, which was co -published 00:21:08.000 --> 00:21:10.180 by Hat and Beard Press. And here's where it all 00:21:10.180 --> 00:21:12.859 ties together again. That book actually included 00:21:12.859 --> 00:21:15.640 a limited edition vinyl version of the Goldberg 00:21:15.640 --> 00:21:18.359 sisters album Home, a nice place to visit. So 00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.480 the book itself is like an integrated multimedia 00:21:20.480 --> 00:21:23.839 art object. Yeah. Music and visuals combined. 00:21:24.059 --> 00:21:26.339 Precisely. And even his gallery exhibitions weren't 00:21:26.339 --> 00:21:28.460 just, you know, pictures on a wall. The sources 00:21:28.460 --> 00:21:30.519 say his photography shows often included live 00:21:30.519 --> 00:21:33.000 musical performances. He and Andrew Lynch would 00:21:33.000 --> 00:21:35.400 use loop pedals and effects pedals to build up 00:21:35.400 --> 00:21:37.980 those complex layered soundscapes from the albums 00:21:37.980 --> 00:21:40.599 live in the gallery space. So he turns the gallery 00:21:40.599 --> 00:21:43.400 opening into this holistic sensory experience, 00:21:43.700 --> 00:21:46.579 visuals and sound. Yeah. And this commitment 00:21:46.579 --> 00:21:49.420 to merging those older analog textures with newer 00:21:49.420 --> 00:21:52.400 formats, that's key too. He was also, interestingly, 00:21:52.619 --> 00:21:55.400 an early and apparently quite dedicated adopter 00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:58.089 of the Vine app. Remember Vine? Oh, yeah. The 00:21:58.089 --> 00:22:00.210 six second to do. Exactly. But he wasn't just 00:22:00.210 --> 00:22:03.150 doing like quick comedy bits. He was known for 00:22:03.150 --> 00:22:06.170 actually incorporating analog film elements into 00:22:06.170 --> 00:22:09.710 his six second Vine films. He was merging the 00:22:09.710 --> 00:22:12.950 old tactile medium with the newest super short 00:22:12.950 --> 00:22:15.650 digital loop format. That's fascinating. And 00:22:15.650 --> 00:22:18.309 he took that unique skill to a pretty major global 00:22:18.309 --> 00:22:21.029 stage in 2013, right? He did. The Cannes Film 00:22:21.029 --> 00:22:22.609 Festival. He was actually hired by the French 00:22:22.609 --> 00:22:26.079 cell phone company Orange. His job was to create 00:22:26.079 --> 00:22:29.119 46 -second vines during the festival, one vine 00:22:29.119 --> 00:22:31.220 based on each of the feature films that were 00:22:31.220 --> 00:22:32.900 entered in the main competition that year. 40 00:22:32.900 --> 00:22:36.599 films, one vine each. Think about that creative 00:22:36.599 --> 00:22:38.579 constraint. You have to somehow synthesize the 00:22:38.579 --> 00:22:41.579 tone, the story, the whole aesthetic of a major 00:22:41.579 --> 00:22:45.180 two -hour film into a single six -second looping 00:22:45.180 --> 00:22:47.609 digital clip. Probably with some analog feel 00:22:47.609 --> 00:22:49.650 thrown in. The structural and visual economy 00:22:49.650 --> 00:22:52.029 required for that is just intense. No kidding. 00:22:52.130 --> 00:22:55.369 And today, he still uses Instagram pretty actively, 00:22:55.490 --> 00:22:57.829 right? Combining his photography with this sort 00:22:57.829 --> 00:23:01.309 of cinematic narrative style, often documenting 00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:03.650 his family life. Yeah, it's like his personal 00:23:03.650 --> 00:23:05.869 and artistic lives merging in that space. Okay, 00:23:05.869 --> 00:23:07.769 so we've established this incredible breadth 00:23:07.769 --> 00:23:10.369 and depth of his professional work from private 00:23:10.369 --> 00:23:13.349 mellish all the way to being a multi -instrumentalist 00:23:13.349 --> 00:23:16.420 musician. But maybe we need to bring in a little 00:23:16.420 --> 00:23:18.559 more of the personal context to really try and 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:22.160 understand the source of this prolific, almost 00:23:22.160 --> 00:23:25.180 relentless creative drive. Yeah, I think understanding 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:28.140 the background definitely helps explain that 00:23:28.140 --> 00:23:30.500 ability to inhabit such a wide range of roles 00:23:30.500 --> 00:23:33.059 and maybe the drive to Adam Goldberg's parents. 00:23:33.099 --> 00:23:35.400 His mother, Donna Gable, was a psychologist. 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.960 His father, Earl Goldberg, owned a wholesale 00:23:37.960 --> 00:23:41.440 food business. OK. And his heritage is quite 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:44.339 complex. His father is Jewish. His mother's background 00:23:44.339 --> 00:23:48.140 includes German, French, Irish, and as he's described 00:23:48.140 --> 00:23:51.799 it, a bit of Mexican descent. That mixed, kind 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:53.740 of complicated background, you could argue that's 00:23:53.740 --> 00:23:56.259 actually key to his chameleon -like casting possibilities, 00:23:56.440 --> 00:23:58.559 right? Oh, so? Well, he doesn't easily conform 00:23:58.559 --> 00:24:01.819 to just one single ethnic stereotype or profile, 00:24:02.039 --> 00:24:04.980 which gives him, professionally, the license 00:24:04.980 --> 00:24:07.119 to play everything from a character explicitly 00:24:07.119 --> 00:24:10.059 identified as Jewish, like Mellish, to maybe 00:24:10.059 --> 00:24:12.380 a New York detective of more ambiguous background, 00:24:12.599 --> 00:24:14.859 or even a French -American musician like he played 00:24:14.859 --> 00:24:17.920 in Two Days in Paris. He has this kind of versatile 00:24:17.920 --> 00:24:20.720 visual ambiguity that Hollywood Wood has clearly 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:23.380 leveraged again and again. That's a really interesting 00:24:23.380 --> 00:24:25.700 point. And that complex cultural background, 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:28.000 maybe combined with that intellectual energy 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:30.380 we keep talking about, perhaps it gives him access 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:33.059 to multiple perspectives, which could fuel both 00:24:33.059 --> 00:24:35.519 his acting, his empathy for different characters, 00:24:35.640 --> 00:24:38.440 and his own philosophical filmmaking. Yeah, possibly. 00:24:38.640 --> 00:24:40.400 Furthermore, we should probably acknowledge the 00:24:40.400 --> 00:24:42.839 personal context of his family life, too, because 00:24:42.839 --> 00:24:44.920 it underscores the profound human resilience 00:24:44.920 --> 00:24:47.299 that must be necessary to sustain this kind of 00:24:47.299 --> 00:24:49.599 relentless creative work, especially through 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.740 difficult times. Absolutely. He married Roxanne 00:24:52.740 --> 00:24:54.940 Daner, the artist and designer, on Halloween 00:24:54.940 --> 00:24:57.440 in 2014. They have three children together now. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:00.819 But the source material does remind us, and it's 00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:03.119 important to mention with sensitivity, that their 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:06.150 first child. A son was stillborn. Which is just 00:25:06.150 --> 00:25:09.210 a profound, life -altering tragedy for any parent. 00:25:09.329 --> 00:25:11.549 It's a devastating loss. Something that fundamentally 00:25:11.549 --> 00:25:15.109 changes how you view control, mortality, meaning, 00:25:15.349 --> 00:25:18.170 everything. He has spoken about how that experience 00:25:18.170 --> 00:25:20.730 just profoundly broke his heart and his wife's 00:25:20.730 --> 00:25:22.809 heart. Of course. But, you know, in the face 00:25:22.809 --> 00:25:25.130 of that kind of chaos, that deep sorrow. They 00:25:25.130 --> 00:25:27.390 showed incredible resilience. Their second son 00:25:27.390 --> 00:25:29.710 was born relatively soon after in November 2014. 00:25:30.470 --> 00:25:33.130 And their third son followed in September 2018. 00:25:33.549 --> 00:25:35.769 So how do we, just as observers looking at his 00:25:35.769 --> 00:25:38.009 work, how do we connect that profound personal 00:25:38.009 --> 00:25:41.190 trial, that loss, to this incredibly prolific, 00:25:41.250 --> 00:25:44.029 multi -medium artistic output? How does the man 00:25:44.029 --> 00:25:46.049 who suffers that kind of loss become the guy 00:25:46.049 --> 00:25:48.769 who then goes and directs, edits, and plays every 00:25:48.769 --> 00:25:50.849 single note on his next album? It's impossible 00:25:50.849 --> 00:25:52.750 to know for sure, obviously, from the outside. 00:25:53.440 --> 00:25:55.680 But one could speculate it suggests a kind of 00:25:55.680 --> 00:25:58.799 necessary psychological process, maybe. When 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:02.539 life feels utterly chaotic, uncontrollable. When 00:26:02.539 --> 00:26:05.119 tragedy strikes right at the core of your existence. 00:26:06.619 --> 00:26:08.839 Perhaps the artist seeks control where they can 00:26:08.839 --> 00:26:11.400 find it. Right. The acting career, as successful 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:14.259 as it is, it's inherently chaotic in some way. 00:26:14.359 --> 00:26:15.680 Totally. You're always waiting for the phone 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:17.680 call. You're always subject to someone else's 00:26:17.680 --> 00:26:19.740 vision, someone else's schedule. You're always 00:26:19.740 --> 00:26:21.460 a component, like you said, in a much larger 00:26:21.460 --> 00:26:24.819 machine. But the music. The directing. The self 00:26:24.819 --> 00:26:27.339 -published book of very specific analog photography. 00:26:27.740 --> 00:26:29.940 That's the creative space where he can exert, 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:33.279 or at least strive for, absolute control. Precisely. 00:26:33.279 --> 00:26:35.880 It could be a mechanism for processing life. 00:26:36.099 --> 00:26:39.079 And perhaps even a deep -seated need to create 00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:42.799 structure, order, maybe even beauty in the face 00:26:42.799 --> 00:26:45.359 of overwhelming loss and disorder. The sheer 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:47.950 amount of effort required. Think about it. To 00:26:47.950 --> 00:26:50.269 play every instrument on a record or to edit 00:26:50.269 --> 00:26:52.549 your own feature film while you're simultaneously 00:26:52.549 --> 00:26:55.529 shooting a demanding cable series that requires 00:26:55.529 --> 00:26:58.829 such intense focus that focus itself might serve 00:26:58.829 --> 00:27:01.509 as a crucial distraction or maybe a channel for 00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.410 profound self -expression when words fail. So 00:27:04.410 --> 00:27:07.089 he leverages the visibility, maybe the income 00:27:07.089 --> 00:27:10.569 from the acting work to fund and support the 00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:13.190 deep, often solitary and perhaps fundamentally 00:27:13.190 --> 00:27:16.200 therapeutic work of the artist within. That feels 00:27:16.200 --> 00:27:18.519 plausible. He's constantly pivoting, isn't he? 00:27:18.599 --> 00:27:21.200 Never seemingly content to just be the memorable 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:23.299 supporting face. He always seems to be seeking 00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:25.920 to be the master of the entire creative product, 00:27:26.059 --> 00:27:28.019 whether that means playing every instrument on 00:27:28.019 --> 00:27:30.539 his album or taking on the vulnerability, the 00:27:30.539 --> 00:27:32.519 risk of being the leading man in his own independent 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.599 film. Yeah. That sharp, intense energy that makes 00:27:35.599 --> 00:27:38.660 his on -screen character so memorable. It feels 00:27:38.660 --> 00:27:41.059 like it's the exact same energy he then redirects 00:27:41.059 --> 00:27:43.599 into the painstaking, often solitary demands 00:27:43.599 --> 00:27:46.640 of composing music, editing films, shooting analog 00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:49.960 photos. It's this remarkable and apparently successful 00:27:49.960 --> 00:27:52.599 balancing act between the professional need for 00:27:52.599 --> 00:27:55.319 recognition and visibility and the deep artistic 00:27:55.319 --> 00:27:58.180 necessity for complete self -expression. A fascinating 00:27:58.180 --> 00:28:01.579 balance. So where does this all leave us? What 00:28:01.579 --> 00:28:04.380 does it all mean? Our deep dive into Adam Goldberg 00:28:04.380 --> 00:28:07.700 today, it's really moved us far beyond just recognizing... 00:28:08.250 --> 00:28:11.269 That guy from Dazed and Confused or Chandler's 00:28:11.269 --> 00:28:14.210 crazy roommate. It's revealed this deeply committed, 00:28:14.329 --> 00:28:17.890 incredibly multifaceted artist. Yeah, we've charted 00:28:17.890 --> 00:28:21.309 his ability to absolutely anchor major projects, 00:28:21.509 --> 00:28:23.349 right, from that career -making role as Private 00:28:23.349 --> 00:28:25.910 Stanley Mellish in Saving Private Ryan, all the 00:28:25.910 --> 00:28:27.930 way up to his current gig as the indispensable 00:28:27.930 --> 00:28:30.390 hacker Harry Kashagian in The Equalizer. Right, 00:28:30.430 --> 00:28:31.950 and we've seen him step behind the camera to 00:28:31.950 --> 00:28:34.049 write, direct, and edit his own features, like 00:28:34.049 --> 00:28:37.230 No Way Jose. And we've dug into that incredible... 00:28:37.549 --> 00:28:39.589 technical and creative feat of releasing three 00:28:39.589 --> 00:28:42.109 albums as the Goldberg sisters, often basically 00:28:42.109 --> 00:28:45.210 acting as a one man band in the studio. He really 00:28:45.210 --> 00:28:48.269 is the ultimate character actor who is simultaneously 00:28:48.269 --> 00:28:52.450 this hidden, potent artistic force. His visibility 00:28:52.450 --> 00:28:54.869 in Hollywood provides the platform, maybe the 00:28:54.869 --> 00:28:58.849 means, but his deeply personal multimedia artistic 00:28:58.849 --> 00:29:02.799 endeavors. the music, the photography, the filmmaking 00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:06.339 that feels like his true, necessary creative 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:09.180 voice cutting through. His career path, that 00:29:09.180 --> 00:29:12.519 blueprint of using commercial success to fund 00:29:12.519 --> 00:29:15.059 and maintain creative control over this parallel 00:29:15.059 --> 00:29:18.119 artistic life, it's actually incredibly instructive, 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:20.289 isn't it? for anyone out there seeking sustained, 00:29:20.509 --> 00:29:22.809 varied, creative fulfillment in today's world. 00:29:22.970 --> 00:29:25.829 It really is. A model, perhaps. So here's maybe 00:29:25.829 --> 00:29:28.049 a provocative closing thought for you, the listener, 00:29:28.190 --> 00:29:30.710 to chew on. If Adam Goldberg's career is defined 00:29:30.710 --> 00:29:33.390 by this amazing ability to seamlessly jump between 00:29:33.390 --> 00:29:35.829 acting, directing, composing, visual art, sometimes 00:29:35.829 --> 00:29:39.190 all within the same few months, what other recognizable 00:29:39.190 --> 00:29:41.509 character actors out there, those faces you see 00:29:41.509 --> 00:29:43.269 everywhere but maybe don't always know their 00:29:43.269 --> 00:29:45.630 name, what other actors might have a completely 00:29:45.630 --> 00:29:47.849 hidden life, maybe as a multi -instrumentalist? 00:29:47.950 --> 00:29:50.529 or a filmmaker, or a writer? That's a great question. 00:29:50.789 --> 00:29:53.190 Who else is out there doing this? And maybe even 00:29:53.190 --> 00:29:57.269 more personally, what overlooked, quiet, creative 00:29:57.269 --> 00:29:59.950 passion might you, the listener, have that you 00:29:59.950 --> 00:30:01.829 could integrate more fully into your own professional 00:30:01.829 --> 00:30:04.470 life? What could you do to achieve maybe that 00:30:04.470 --> 00:30:07.029 same sense of complete creative fulfillment that 00:30:07.029 --> 00:30:08.869 Goldberg seems to strive for? Something to think 00:30:08.869 --> 00:30:09.109 about.