Busy Philipps: The Right Time
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That's right. Discover automatically doubles the cash back earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with Cash Back Match. Now that's a real crowd pleaser. Everyone knows how it ends. Double the cash back. See terms at discover.com slash credit card. How are you busy? I'm good, Rob. How are you? I'm good. I was so excited to talk to you because I haven't seen you in so long and I always have so much fun when we're hanging out. It's been years since

Hey, everybody. It is literally and I am Rob Lowe. I don't care what any of you say. I know who I am. Guess what? Busy Phillips is with us today. She's just so charismatic. She's done everything. Freaks and Geeks, Dawson's Creek, her own talk show, and currently starring in Girls 5 Ever.

about a one-hit wonder girls band, which is super fun. And she's just a good all-around person and fun. So let's get to it. Busy Phillips, let's get busy. I've gotten to know your bestie a little bit. Really? Yes. Oh, wait, I think I did know that. You guys were together on vacation, kind of. Yes, Michelle Williams is notoriously... And I say notoriously your bestie because literally you two... First of all, the shot of...

You guys take each other to award shows all the time, as far as I can tell. I mean, Rob, let's be kind. She takes me to award shows. Do you know what I mean? When she's nominated for the big ones. She does quite often get nominated, Michelle Williams, for everything. And the picture of you guys, you in particular, when the Oscar, when they fuck up what picture is being presented at the Oscars. Yeah. And you and Michelle are in La La Land. Yeah.

The picture of your face...

Wow. It's amazing. I've never had... I lack what they call a poker face, Rob. I think any actor who has a poker face is not a good actor. Well, that's a good way of looking at it. I'm going to think about it like that from now on. But yeah, that was truly wild. I actually have that photo in my house. You should. Yeah. And Michelle does too. It's a legendary, legendary...

Walk me. You got to walk me through it. I'm super obsessed. Like, when did you know what was? Give me a second by second replay of that moment in your life because it's my favorite thing ever. It was crazy. And also what was a little bit nuts was this year with everything that happened at the Oscars, people were putting that photo up again as like a meme. But then people were missing.

misunderstood and thought that I was there again. And I was like, I didn't, I was like getting all these texts from people. I'm like, no guys, I'm at, I'm watching it at home like everyone else. Um, well, Michelle was nominated that year for, uh, Manchester by the sea. That's why I was sitting next to Ben Affleck. Um, because his brother was in that movie and was nominated. So, uh,

Anyway, it was the last award of the night. You know, it's best picture. It's the last award of the night. I remember Michelle and I really had to pee. We almost left.

Because I was just like, you know, I loved Moonlight. I was a huge fan of that film. And it did seem like La La Land was going to win. Like it felt like it was trending that way. And so I was like, well, they're going to win. It'll be fine. Let's just beat the lines and go to the bathroom. And Michelle's publicist was like, guys, it's one award. Just stay seated. You can just...

You can make it five more minutes. We're like, oh, okay, fine. So we're sitting there like not, you know, expecting it to go as it went, which was La La Land. And then a few things started happening that were just, I'm like, I'm trying to remember it because it was several years ago now. And of course, pre-pandemic, so another lifetime. But I remember that there was like a guy who,

worked for the production, worked for the show, the Academy Awards, who like scurried down and was... Because we were in the front row and was like sitting right next to Casey Affleck and saying like, it's a mistake. It's a mistake. They read the wrong thing. It's not... It's moonlight. It's moonlight. And I remember Michelle and I trying to... I'm like, what is he saying? What's going on? And then...

As it all started to unfold, it was just so shocking, like how everyone was handling it on stage. Was there like, was it like a, like when a bar fight starts out, like you hear it rumbling and you're like, what's going on in the corner? Something going on in the corner? Yeah. I remember feeling like nervous at first, like that something really bad was about to happen. Yeah.

Right. Yes, I'm always aware of my surroundings and what's happening. And as soon as I heard the production guy, it became clear that it wasn't anything terrible. Well, I mean, it was... Depends, I guess, if you're La La Land. Well, let's face it, it was a national tragedy. I think it's fair that we can call it what it was. But then it was just like this was the greatest thing that I'd ever seen. Like, I mean, to be able to...

have literally a front row seat, Rob. A front row? You literally had a front row seat to a Hollywood conflagration. I mean... And at what point

And now Warren is up there. It's Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway. And then though, who there's, it's not Warren. Cause it's moonlight. It's moonlight. You guys want it's moonlight. Like totally thrown away. Casual. Is that the producer of La La Land? Who's already made it to the stage. Yeah. It was really weird. Cause he thanked everyone. The producer thanked everyone. And that, but like he said, I think I can't remember the order of things. Like he either said first,

We didn't win, but I just, I'm going to thank like, and thanked everyone as if he had one. It was weird. What, what a train wreck. And by the way, can I just say people like longtime listeners of this show? No, that, that I, I, I'm totally irked that every year when the Oscars comes out, there's a list of Oscars, most embarrassing moments. And I'm still on it from 30 years ago from doing a song and dance with, uh,

Snow White, which I remember total debacle. I mean, stipulated is the lawyers would say debacle, debacle, debacle. But guys, let's be clear. We had someone didn't even know what best picture was. And I'm still on the list somehow. I do think I do think that the statute of limitations on that has run out.

I think you're off the list is what I'm saying. I think so too. I think David Niven and the streaker need to go off the list. I agree. Because I always call bullshit on that. Do you know why? Because when...

David Niven looks around like, oh, there's a streaker on the stage. It's so perfectly framed. It is. To me, I feel like that was a bit to begin with. And that they've never owned up to. Yes. I believe you. I don't believe anything's real anymore, Rob. So for sure, it's a metaverse where it's a matrix. Nothing's real. I'm not here. You're not here. No, this is this is this is a rabbit hole. I don't often go down because I don't want anybody come and put me in a straitjacket. Yeah. Yeah.

But do you get into it? Oh, way into it. Do you think that there are like string theory, you know, that there are multiple timelines happening simultaneously? 100%. 100%. Mm-hmm.

I do too. And sometimes like I think of those things, those fever dreams or when you have deja vu or whatever as like it's a, you know, it's a glitch. I mean, I guess glitch in the matrix became a saying after the matrix. But like it's just it's a glitch where your timelines for some reason are. That's I don't know. I get into all that. Also, I did watch the Abercrombie and Fitch documentary at some point.

I'm worried that if I watch it, I'm going to smell that cologne. Well, it was like always a thing. I guess I was the age that...

was supposed to be into Abercrombie when Abercrombie was a thing. But I have really, I've always had really bad sinus issues. And I couldn't go near it because of that cologne. It would drive, it would give me like an instant migraine. So even as like a 15 year old, I would get a migraine from

I was always like an old lady. I wonder what's so funny because I my mother, my wife, you're telling me have sense sense can will give them migraines like crazy, crazy, incapacitating,

particularly certain colognes and perfumes. Yes. But I have never met a guy that has... I'd be curious to know. Somebody call into the lowdown line if you're a dude and tell me if you get incapacitated by colognes. I think that migraines are... My I'm-not-a-doctor theory about this is that migraines are hormonally tied and that there's something... And, you know, we just don't honestly...

They want to regulate it, but no one does enough research about women's bodies and systems and hormones. And we know so honestly, really not that much about menopause or perimenopause and what happens hormonally with women throughout the year.

cycles. So to me, I feel like there's something tied with migraines and hormones. And maybe that has to do with your olfactory senses as well, because, you know, it's all about, right, like ultimately procreation. Yeah, that's true. At the end of the day, that's what we were designed for. Let me ask you this. If you were

trapped in a mall, where would you seek shelter? We've ruled out Abercrombie. I don't want to be at Forever 21. No, no, no. Is there any place that you'd feel comfortable? I don't think I... What is it? The sharper image? For sure they'd have massage chairs. Yeah. I mean, I would probably... And now this is like, we have to go back to like heydays of malls, Rob, because they don't exist anymore really in the same way, right? Right.

Yes. You can't buy anything in stores anymore. That's like the most disappointing as a child of the 90s to me going to a mall now and going into a shop and having them tell me that I can go online to purchase the things I'm like, I don't this is not what I want in my life. I would probably go to like a pottery barn. By the way, the sirens in the background are dystopian.

They're coming to take you to the mall right now. I know. They really are. You better pack. It's such a bummer. I mean, I'm in New York City because we live here now. Wait. The notion that there would be sirens in New York? I can't imagine why that would be. But I do my podcast. This is where I do my podcast, too. And without fail, there are no sirens until—I'm not even kidding you—until 2 p.m. every day. Wow.

No sirens in the morning. It was quiet. You could hear a pin drop in here. And then 2 p.m., the sirens in New York start and I don't and then they don't stop. Now, you're in. Are you you do you are you a New York or L.A. person in terms of preference? I mean, look at me, Rob. What do you think? I know that was coming out of my mouth. I knew that was a stupid question. I'm so L.A. that I walk down the street here and people are like, are you lost?

JFK is that way, honey. Yeah, right. You're going back. I know. Listen, I didn't have any of this on my bingo card. I didn't know that I was going to be living here. I didn't know that there would be a pandemic. I didn't know anything. But...

It's been an interesting change. And I love the TV show that I'm on and it films here. And as you know, from doing television shows, when we're filming, it's all encompassing. And my kids are little enough that I can't

Also, because of the pandemic, we couldn't all stay in L.A. and have me just fly to New York to work. No, no, no, for sure. It just wouldn't work. Are you guys going to do an album for the show? Or have you done an album and I don't know it? Well, they released all the songs from the first season last year on, I guess, an album. I mean, I guess it's kind of an album. Can I just say something for a minute, though? I'm severely... I'm not severely. I don't want to say that. I'm not...

have some sort of visual processing disorder where number that's why it's so bad in math that like like they the kind of my eye doesn't recognize things so when so when people do the thing that you guys do with your title it's girl i literally read it as this girls five eva

Oh, OK. Yeah, that's that's what my mind. I remember when my friend David Krumholtz did that CBS series, Numb Threeers. Numb Threeers was the worst, though.

Numb three-ers. Yeah, numb three-ers. I also called it numb three-ers. Did you? Okay, so I'm not totally. It's not crazy. But it is. It's girls five eva. So you're not, I mean, it is. Okay, so five. You're pretty right. Okay, good. See, I thought that was maybe the five was also doubling as a backwards S somehow. Oh, no. Girls five eva. Five eva. Yeah.

So what I love about it is, is it wrong to think it would be a modern day companion piece to the Partridge family? No.

Well, I don't know. I actually... Is that a stretch? I don't know. I mean, you're going to hate this, but I kind of miss the Partridge family. Well, you're a lot younger. I'm an old man. And when I was young, that was a big show. And I modeled my whole early career on David Cassidy, particularly my hairstyle. And so I can see why you wouldn't know it because you're a young person. I mean, that is...

the kindest but also most untrue thing and I'm feeling old I don't know I think maybe it's just the passage of time the kids are getting so much older and they're not like babies anymore who've like made me something in kindergarten you know like and it's just and I just feel so old I just feel so old and all I've ever wanted was to stay young forever but

The great irony is, Busy, you still look and act like a teenager, but you don't see it. It really is. You're very you have very teenage energy. Very true. And I mean that in the best way. Really true. Thank you. But Rob, you've always been very youthful, I would say as well. I look, I think I think people, certain people's spirits and you've seen the opposite. I've met.

friends of my kids when they were much littler than they are. And I'm like, oh, that's an old soul. Or they seem like an old man already. I mean, it's weird when you see it. And I just think people's, you know, spirits, souls, whatever, have an age. Yours is a teenager. Mine is not a teenager, I don't think. ♪

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Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. You know, there's a theory that you get that if you're famous, you know, you get trapped at the age when you first became famous. And I believe that I believe it to be one billion trillion percent true. Yeah. You are like frozen in amber forever.

At the age you become famous, if you become famous, and the only way to break out of the amber and grow appropriately is to do major work on yourself. Well, yeah. I mean, therapy is everything to me.

Same, same. I mean, I guess I think that's I think that's very accurate. And think of it. Why wouldn't you stay at the age like that first blush of fame is pretty, you know, it's it can be pretty awesome or you know what? It's either awesome or it's it's totally debilitating and terrifying.

Yeah, but either way, it does sort of imprint on you. I mean, that's really thematically one of the things that we kind of deal with in Girls 5 Eva and specifically what I wanted to do with my character. So in the first season, you know, they were in their late teens when they were in this one hit wonder pop group in the late 90s. And I really wanted Summer to have that

affected, very affected, like little girl baby voice that she had used when she was a teenager that had gotten her, you know, just truly good because it is something that you see and you hear and it's, it's always sort of jarring, but, uh, and then how do you break out of that when you become aware of it? So this season that just started, um,

We're trying to find the places where her voice modulates more into an adult voice. I'm obsessed with one hit wonders.

But of my era, so it's not 90s. But like, was it? I had the Spice Girls on Saturday Night Live when I hosted. They were my musical guest. And that was 90s. And it was that moment where they were the biggest act in the world. And they had wannabe was the song. Yeah. Oh, I remember. Yeah. Right. I went to the concert. Okay. No way. Yeah, I did. I was too old to go to the concert, by the way. I just loved them. Those songs are irresistible. Yeah. Yeah.

Irresistible. There's something incredible about an earworm. Yeah. And it's interesting because we actually, I feel like maybe this is true from the Partridge family as well. But, you know, we kind of have a big ask of the show, which is that we're talking about

songs that were big hits and then we have to perform those songs you know and this season specifically too we're writing an album that we want to be really great and we had to

write and perform those those songs well i didn't write the songs but uh jeff richmond who's tina fey's husband who did the music on snl probably when you were there yeah he's super talented super super super super talented so talented and sarah borealis i mean we're so lucky to have sarah because she's written more hits than anyone and the songs are really good they're really good so maybe we will do an album why don't you do a tour

Well, I would love it. That would be my dream. I can't imagine that you can't. I mean, people go and watch two idiots do a podcast. Have you done that? Have you done that? I haven't yet, but I want to. I do a one man show, though. You do? Yeah, I do that.

When? I want to go. It's super fun. I think the next place I'm playing is Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. Amazing. Did you write it? How'd you put it together? I did it just like the books where I just did it on my own and and like

figuring nobody knows my material or what I want to say better than me and I'll do it. And if it's bad, I'll bring other people in. But it kind of everybody kind of liked it and it worked. So it's ignorance is bliss. I know nothing about it. And I just went out and did it. And it's super, super fun. My gosh, I love that. I want to do a show like that someday. You would be great.

No, you would. You would be great. You should do that because you're you're a hybrid in a way, I think, like me, where you're a little bit of everything. And you know, I mean, you're not really a stand up. You're super funny. Yeah. You know how to tell a story. You've got great experiences. It's why you are great in your talk show. It's like you should do it. You one billion percent should think about that.

Hmm. Maybe I will. Maybe that will be my thing that I will think about this week. One of you, because you don't have enough to do already. Well, right. So the I'm obsessed with the show because I love. OK, so it brings to mind like all kinds of Josie and the Pussycats comes up.

for me the girls and tails and hats and that cartoon again way before your time well i auditioned for the movie version in the early 2000s or the late 90s okay well there you go i didn't get it tara reed got it so you know god damn it i lost so many parts to tara reed in the 90s see okay yeah i love so she was your person every actor has that actor where they're like

Curses foiled again by Tara Reid. Well, it was like Tara Reid and Natasha Lyonne were the two people that I lost all my parts to. And now I still lose everything to Natasha. She's hot as a pistol, kid. She's great. I'm obsessed with her. She's fantastic. She's pretty great. Do you see Tina on the show? Is Tina around on? Yes. I love Tina Fey. She's definitely around. I love me some Tina Fey. She might be the greatest.

She's the greatest. Well, and also, Rob, you know, I've been doing this, like we sort of mentioned since I was a teenager acting in Hollywood. Um, I was 19 when Freaks and Geeks started. So wait, Dawson, which was first Freaks and Geeks or Dawson's? Freaks and Geeks. Freaks and Geeks. Dawson's Creek was like a huge hit. And I was, I was in college at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. And, uh,

That the hit of Dawson's Creek was why I even got an agent because every agency in town all of a sudden wanted a teen on their roster to, you know, and every network was trying to do a hit teen show. So I just was like,

19 at the right time in the right place. And in that year, that like pilot season, back when there was a real thing called pilot season, I had over 90, 90 auditions and callbacks and callbacks and tests like for TV shows. Wow. Yeah, it was insane. And so I got that season. I

Got Freaks and Geeks. And then I also got a... I also did a guest star on another WB TV show that didn't get picked up. But it was...

Like my boyfriend at the time was Colin Hanks and he got cast on Roswell and I got cast on Freaks and Geeks and we both left college to be on our TV shows. Like it was like pretty awesome. That's a thing. That's a real thing. It was. It was. It was a real thing. Yeah, it was fun. Freaks and Geeks is, as you know, I'm not telling you anything you don't already know. It's up there with, it might be the probably number one show where people are like,

It was one season and out and kind of perfect. And if you were going to look at shows that were canceled before their time, it's probably, I hear Freaks and Geeks. I hear Firefly is another one. And then in all modesty, my show, The Grinder. Those are, you hear those like one season where you cannot believe that they were on the air because they were so distinctive and ahead of their time.

And and it's it's it's sad, but it's also kind of cool. Like it existed. It was this one thing and that was it. And a lot of people, I mean, particularly freaks, the careers that came out of that nuts. I mean, I mean, well, yeah.

Paul Feig created it, but Judd executive produced it. They had done Heavyweights together, the movie. They had been working together for a couple of years and Jake Kasdan directed the pilot. Jake Kasdan directed The Grinder. Yeah. By the way, can we talk about The Grinder for two seconds? First of all, Jared Paul, who...

created The Grinder, is a good friend of ours. He's the best. And for many, many years, the best. But also, Rob, I'm going to tell you something now that's going to blow your mind and you can text Jared later and he will confirm. Please. Mark Silverstein. Yes. He came up with the idea for The Grinder. No way. And Abby, his writing partner, were like thinking about it and had lunch with Jared and...

and Andy, I think, or maybe just Jared and kind of told him the idea. And then Jared and Andy were in pitching to Fox or whoever they had their deal with. And Jared called Mark after and he's like, I think I just pitched your idea. And they love it. And can we do it? And Mark was like, yeah, it's fine. Go for it.

That's a true story. Well, tell him thank you. Yeah, but I was such a huge fan of the show. I loved that show so much and you were so fantastic on it. It was such a great show. Thank you. I think you can get it on Hulu now, finally. You can? You guys, watch it. Watch The Grinder. But they're so weird about how they put shows out on streaming or pull them. I don't know what that is. Probably because they don't want to pay us. I don't know.

That's what I just always assume. I should have. I can't believe we didn't get you on the grind. Well, you would we would have figured out a way to get you on the grinder. I think I was on Cougar Town at the time. You're on Cougar Town by another great name. You names name good names follow you. I just have good luck. You had the single best name ever for a talk show ever ever ever ever never to be repeated ever best name ever busy tonight best ever.

Thank you. That was also ahead of its time. 100% it was. Like, people are like, to me, you should have a talk show, which I kind of, this is what this kind of is. But the thing, and I quote the great Lorne Michaels, where he was talking to Jimmy Fallon about taking over The Tonight Show. And Lorne said, you know, if you do it, Jimmy, it'll be the last job you ever have. Right. It's hard to, like,

do in terms of like acting and having other... I mean, look, Jimmy's a very, very prolific producer now. He's got so many different shows that he's producing. And I think it depends what you want to do, you know? But you loved... I mean, did you love it? I loved it. You did love it. I loved it. Right? Yeah, it was the best. I also...

We did four nights a week, which I felt really strongly about because the guys always get four or five nights a week. And everybody was like, you're going to want to die. It's going to be too much work. And we had a largely, I mean, almost 100% female behind the executive writers. And we didn't have that many writers. We were doing it for no money, like a real shoestring budget. Wow.

And we had the most fun. And I never felt like overwhelmed or that it was too much work. I mean, there were days when I was very exhausted, when we would have to do two shows in one day. That was when I would need to lie down. Yes. Yeah, for sure. But we had the best time. And the environment was really supportive and great. And I'm really proud of what we were able to do. We gave a lot of people...

shots on our show behind the scenes that they maybe wouldn't have gotten otherwise. We got two writers into the union, you know, and Tina Fey was our executive producer on that too. And she would send me notes on text in between my like run through and... What kind of notes does Tina give? Joke pitches, you know, or...

how to tighten up a joke or maybe lose a joke. So it's not, it's not Lauren, Lauren pitches where, where Lauren, your desk is too big. No, but the, but the executives had a lot of those kinds of notes. Like I needed to not touch my hair so much that they wondered if when I changed my nail polish,

if that would be upsetting to the audience. Not even a joke. That was the note. I'm bumped by Busy's nail polish. I noticed she's changed it. It's really triggering for me. ♪

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All set for your flight? Yep. I've got everything I need. Eye mask, neck pillow, T-Mobile, headphones. Wait, T-Mobile? You bet. Free in-flight Wi-Fi. 15% off all Hilton brands. I never go anywhere without T-Mobile. Same goes for my water bottle, chewing gum, nail clippers. Okay, I'm going to leave you to it. Find out how you can experience travel better at T-Mobile.com slash travel.

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton Honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply.

Meet the next generation of podcast stars with Sirius XM's Listen Next program, presented by State Farm. As part of their mission to help voices be heard, State Farm teamed up with Sirius XM to uplift diverse and emerging creators. Tune in to Stars and Stars with Issa as host Issa Nakazawa dives into birth charts of her celeb guests. This is just the start of a new wave of podcasting. Visit statefarm.com to find out how we can help prepare for your future.

Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. It is weird how many people...

have a say when you do television. Oh, yeah. Did they ever give you grief on your guests? Because that's always a big thing, as it should be, because the guests are everything about a show, really. Yeah, but it was also really strange. Like, they had a weird list of people that we weren't allowed to have on the show. Amazing. And we could not, for the life of us, figure out why. And, you know, it was also so...

infuriating at times because they kept saying to us like, well, you really should have the Kardashians. We were on E, the E network and the keeping up with the Kardashians was on E at the time. You really need to have the Kardashians on. And we're like,

you really need to help us book the Kardashians. We can't just book them. Well, isn't busy friends with Kim? I'm like, yeah, I mean, I've known Kim for a long time. I can like DM her, but that's not the same thing, guys. Like what they're really saying, it happens a lot, by the way. And I find it happens a lot only in the world of marketing, frankly, and publicity. And like, I was happy to do a lot of the, of that extra work.

work that I wasn't getting paid for just because I really believed in making a late night show for a different audience. You know, it was Gina. No, it was great. So cool. Yeah. But it, you know, it's also just, it was a bummer that we had, you know, it was a bummer that the business part of it is so businessy and that there are things that they never filled us in on and,

If they had come to us and said, you know, listen, we're dealing with this hole in the budget and there's some shakeups and whatever, it would be helpful if you went down to two nights a week. Like we would have done, you know, I would have kind of done anything to keep it going a little bit longer because I felt like toward the end it was really hitting its stride. But I am grateful to do my podcast now, as I'm sure you are, because it's just... Yes.

there's no intervention. Like I just, we just do it. Yeah. You just do it. And you also have, you can talk about whatever you want. There's no timeframe. Yeah. Um, speaking of which, so in my notes package on you,

There is a great story I have to ask you about. This Sharon Stone thing? Mm-hmm. Is this a real thing when you were little? Oh, yeah. You have to tell me the Sharon Stone story because this sounds mental to me, but also great. It was like the greatest thing. I am one of those people, and Rob, I feel like you are too, where just...

This is based on just nothing, just based on my being a fan of yours and like knowing you a little bit and through people like just the wildest stuff has happened to me in my life and always happens to me. Yep. 100%.

My agent has been my agent. My agent, Lori, has been my agent since I was 21 years old. And she says, I have a huge file busy of it only could happen to you. But so when I was a teenager in Arizona, I had auditioned.

I mean, this is... There was a toy fair that was coming to town. And they had... It's like a corporate... It was like a corporate fair for where they show the toys for the next season. It was a toy convention. It was a toy convention. But they call it the toy fair. And I don't know if it was like in...

the local backstage magazine or whatever. There was an open casting call. You could go as an actor and audition to be one of the representatives of the either Barbie, the Barbie brand, or there was Cabbage Patch Kids. I mean, there were like all different places you could get put, but they really wanted actors to do it.

And their idea was always, I did it a couple of years, actually. And their idea was that they would dress the actors up like a life-size version of whatever toy they were selling. And that would somehow make the presentation not very boring when you're giving them the statistical facts and figures of how their sales are going to improve with the

Cool teen skipper with the color change hair. Yes. So anyway, I got the part. I got the part. I nailed it. And it was actually not Barbie. It was the Clueless doll from not the movie, the Clueless TV show. Mattel was doing a doll line from the Clueless TV show that came after the Clueless movie. Amazing. And I was...

dressed up like Cher, the character, and did my whole presentation like, teen girls are going to go, or like preteen girls are going to go crazy. But I was like the hit of the circuit because I did a really good impression, obviously, of Cher from Clueless. And

I guess Sharon Stone was close friends with the then CEO of Mattel. And she came one day, there was just like all a buzz in the Barbie world and

Like what's going on? What's going on? And my marketing rep for Mattel is like, well, the rumor is that Sharon Stone's coming through today. She's in town and she's visiting like with Jill, the CEO, and she's going to come see all the dolls, just like walk through and see it. I have to say, wow.

It was like kind of an amazing thing to see just because they build these huge sets for each toy. And then they dress women up like a life-size version wearing the exact same thing as the doll. It was all very surreal. Like one year, a friend of mine did it in Arizona. And they built a mini ice skating rink for her inside. And she was ice skating.

Because there was like a new ice skating Barbie. So anyway, Sharon Stone comes through and she comes in with the CEO, which is a big deal. And my marketing girl's like, okay, go ahead, do your thing. So I start doing my thing. And then at a certain point, the CEO just like puts her hand up like that's enough. You know, you've done it. And Sharon Stone is like...

That was wonderful. You're very talented. I think you're going to be a big star someday. And legitimately threw her scarf like over her neck and walked out of the room. And I was like, did that happen, Sharon Stone? And this was like 1997? This is the height of Sharon Stone. This is like I had seen this woman's vagina. Yes.

was floored. Also, by the way, she was so flawlessly most beautiful person I had ever seen up close. She was a movie star. Like the most movie star of a movie star I had ever seen in my life. And maybe to this day, I'm not going to lie. And yeah, and she just, she sort of like just decreed, you know, she's like, you're going to, you're very talented. You're going to be a huge star someday. And like,

threw her scarf and walked out of the room. And I felt like, well, now she anointed you. That's what it felt like. Couldn't let her down. Had to go. But I love I love so many things about this story. But the thing I love, I think even more than the Sharon Stone of it all is the notion of auditioning for a toy fair.

In Arizona. Because look, I'm from Ohio. I'm from Dayton, Ohio. That's exactly the kind of stuff I did as a kid. Exactly. And people always go, how do you become an actor? How do you... My kid wants to be in acting. How do you... That's how you do it. That's how you do it. That's how you do it. Truly. I also think, you know, my parents made me work, get jobs. I always worked. And...

I worked at California Pizza Kitchen for a long time as a hostess in high school and then before I got Freaks and Geeks. And I think that the work ethic part of this job is not to be underestimated because I'm sure you've heard this before, but you know,

I remember my friend who was a manager used to say, like, in order to have longevity in Hollywood, you have to be talented, you have to generate goodwill, and you have to be hardworking. And a person can get by for a period of time with only one of them or only two of them. But if you don't have all three of those qualities, your career will not last you long.

your lifetime. Like it will be short lived. Yeah. I 100% agree. Cause I've, I can just look back on my life and go of those three things. Okay. I need to do, I need to be using the first, second or the third. You, you always have to use, you may not have to use all of them at the same time, but there comes a time where you have to, you're going to have to be able to have all three gears. 100%. 100%. And also like,

I mean, how many times have you heard about actors or directors even or writers where you're like, oh, that guy is super talented, but you know what? He's not pleasant to be around. I would not want him on my set. And then those people just slowly fade away because ultimately no one's got time for that. Or, you know, or somebody who doesn't want to work hard, doesn't want to show up. And here's my favorite is they always couch it under everything.

A euphemism. He or she, he's super picky, which means he doesn't, they don't like to work. They don't like to work. Yeah. They don't like to work. They don't like to work. God bless. But you know, you know who I had a great talk with about this is Michael Caine. And, you know, you're young enough that you may not even remember. There was an era where Michael Caine was sort of considered a hack.

Like there were jokes there. Yes, there were jokes about he'll show up in anything. Just write him a check. He doesn't give a shit. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Like in the, I would say there was, there was a period of time for sure. And we talked about this, Mike, he and I, and in, you know, now he, listen, he always, he, like, I think he won the Oscar for Alfie. So he's always had a great career. I'm not saying that, but he worked all the time is what I'm saying. He worked all the time. He wasn't super fussy about what he did.

He literally, I think, would do like Jaws 3 and then, you know, go and work with Woody Allen when that was a thing to do. And it's not a thing to do now, but it was a thing to do then. And he said of his peers that he came up with, he said, he says, I wasn't the most talented. I wasn't the best looking. And but what I.

All my peers either forgot how to act because they were too picky. They literally forgot how to act. Yeah. Because they're always looking for everything had to be perfect. Everybody had to be a fancy director. Everything had to be, you know, the greatest thing ever. And those things come around so infrequently that when they did come around, they had forgotten how to act. The other is in the other people drank themselves to death or whatever. But it's like if you just kind of keep your head down and work.

you know, you end up being who Michael is today. This, you know, as you should be a revered, you know, genius. Yeah. And I also think that people, I think actors get really caught up in being cool. Yes. And it's like, well, I don't even know what that means, quite frankly, but that changes decade to decade. It does. Yeah. It changes. I mean, quicker now than that. Yeah. Year to year. And,

And I think that if you can just try to focus on things that, like, I mean, like, I have criteria, you know, like, I have things that I feel really strongly about, like, that when I'm thinking about my work as an actor, like,

But I've also cultivated all these other, you know, the writing and podcasting now and these other things so that I don't have to be reliant on being just an actor for hire, which I was for so many years reliant on that. And, you know, bless Tina Fey for keeping calling me because she's really been my like fairy godmother. Yeah, everybody needs that. And and

But you're right. The my son is a young actor, writer. And I told him that, you know, he could, you know, I give my blessing to do whatever makes him happy, obviously. But the days of being an actor for hire in our business are over. No, but when I was young, we we all did that. We would say we worked out. We we went to the beach and we waited for our phone to ring in our auditions. That's literally what we did.

No, I mean, when I started out, I remember like having an idea for something and pitching it to my agent or somebody at the time. And them saying like, look, I mean, I guess we could try to find a writer to work with you. Yes. But I don't even know what that would be. It wasn't a thing. It wasn't a thing. To be at all.

And I remember when Judd, when Seth Rogen, you know, who's like a year and a half, I think, younger than me. At that age, you feel like it's so much younger. Now we're like, we're essentially the same age. But I remember when Seth was telling me like, oh yeah, Judd's going to read this script my friend Evan and I wrote together. And I was like, what? What are you talking about? Like it never had occurred to me. You wrote a script? Huh? Yeah, it was really...

And I think – but it was fantastic. Like those – the opportunity of having Judd and Paul and Jake being sort of at the top of the chain in my first job was just so fortuitous because they really listened to our ideas and they really took all of us seriously. Yeah.

And I mean, I didn't bring them anything because, again, I was like still in this other headspace of like, I'm just going to have to audition and get these parts. But it it did help, I think, for me to start thinking about the possibilities in the future. You couldn't have had better people. And they started it. They those guys, you know.

Evan and Seth Rogen and they and people in from that school really made this sort of actor, the hyphenate actor hyphenate thing. Yeah. A real thing. And I like, you know, I think I spent too long in my 20s sort of feeling like it's such a boys club and.

Why can't I be in it? You know? Right. But ultimately, like, I think that the way that I've found my own voice, it was exactly the path that I needed to take, you know? For sure. Because I'm just so much clearer about the things that I want to say as opposed to trying to say a thing to get a laugh out of someone else. Yeah. Oh, for sure. For sure. Yeah.

And you and that's what I always like about you and all the stuff you do is it's clearly coming from a very unique, fun point of view. And that's the key to anything. I mean, that is the key. Literally. I love getting a chance to catch up with people who I don't normally see all the time who I like like busy. It's one of the great things about doing this show. How great is she? She's funny, smart, hyphenate. She's a person you want in your foxhole.

For sure. Anyway, you got questions? I got answers. Let's hit the lowdown line. Hello. You've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-4551. So have at it. Here's the beep.

Hi, Rob. This is Gail from Missouri, Kansas, Georgia, and Nebraska. Those are all places that I've lived, raised a family, and made lifelong friends. So when I go on a road trip to one of those destinations, I literally listen to your podcast like I've been doing all day today. And it got me wondering, when was the last time you went on a road trip and where did you go?

Thank you so much for your fun and interesting conversations. They really help make the miles go by quickly. Bye-bye. Gail, thank you for that. Okay. Sometimes the universe talks to you in unexpected ways. You...

have convinced me I need to go on a road trip. It's something I've been thinking about for a long time because I haven't done one in a long time like I did when I was a kid. And they're such a big part of my memories. I don't know if they have Stucky's anymore out on the road, but that used to be the best. 25 miles to Stucky's, 15 miles to Stucky's, five miles to Stucky's. And then you go in there and they sold all that crap that was just amazing. Trinkets and what were the pecan rolls I think they had? Yeah.

Um, right. Stucky's pecan rolls. Let's go. I'm dating myself anyway. Um, yeah, I would, I, my favorite one I probably did when I was a kid and we drove from Dayton, Ohio and our VW van. Um, and we went all through, uh, the black Hills of South Dakota, saw Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone, uh,

And then all the way back to Ohio, it's a lot of time in the car. My memories of it were, you know, this is no smartphones, no tablets, I had a book and my imagination. And I look back on that and I feel so sorry for kids today. I really do. It's like, okay, yeah, they can watch, you know, Frozen for the billionth time, but

They're not using their imagination. They're not dealing with how to deal with boredom and not to go totally far astray. But I think the biggest thing in raising kids today and having kids is their lack of ability to sit alone and deal with boredom. We had to. And boy, do you have to do that on a road trip. I did also once rent a Winnebago the first year I was on the West Wing and I damaged it right away getting out of the driveway.

And then ripped the bicycles off the back going over that famous bridge that you see in all the car commercials up at Big Sur. But it was so fun. There's something about it. I'm just saying you're so on it. There's something about a road trip way better than some fancy trip on a plane. So thank you for inspiring me. I'm going to hit the road trip and I think it's going to be through the deep south. That's where I that's where I want to go next. Thanks for calling. I hope you enjoyed the show. We'll see you next week on literally. Don't forget to subscribe.

Come on, subscribe. You want all this. You don't want to just cherry pick stuff. You want the whole McGill. I know you do. Do it. Don't forget Parks and Rec election. If you're a Parks and Rec fan, wherever you get your podcasts. And I will see you next week on Literally.

You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Rob Schulte, with help from associate producer Sarah Begar. Our coordinating producer is Lisa Berm. Our research is done by Alyssa Graw. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Joanna Salatara for Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. All of the music you hear is by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week on Literally with Rob Lowe.

This has been a Team Coco production in association with Stitcher.

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