Zoey Deutch: El Pollo Loco Passion
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Hi, everybody. Welcome to Literally. We have such a great, fun, talented woman. Zoe Deutsch is with us today. I knew her mother in the 80s, Lea Thompson. Ms. Deutsch is in so many great things that you have seen, The Politician. But her current movie is called Something from Tiffany's, and it's on Amazon. You can watch it anytime. Here comes Zoe.

How many dogs do you have? I have four. I have a brother and a half-sister, Jack Russell Terriers. They're so cute. And then I have a big dog, we call him. He's a German short-haired pointer. Wow. And then I have a rescue named Bella. And I have a movie on Netflix called Dog Gone. I love dogs. I love movies about dogs, books about dogs, dogs, whatever. Pets are the best. Did you grow up with animals?

I did. And they all mysteriously ran away, I say in air quotes. No. So you have, like I discovered reading about you, you have lots of tattoos, not just your dog, right? They're very small. They're very discreet. Okay. They're all ankle down. Okay. I make the bad joke, like socks, not instead of sleeves, you know. Yes.

And they're all very like they're single needle. I get one a year for my birthday. Sometimes two. What? Well, I developed. I tried to put boundaries on it so that it didn't get out of hand because I don't know if you have any tattoos. Do you? I have one. Just one though. I don't know if you're what you're. I didn't understand people like once you get one, you want. I got one. I was like, OK, I want to get a bunch. And so I was like, OK, I'll do it. It'll be my birthday present. And I have the same tattoo artist who does it every year.

But then one year when I was, I was like, whatever, I'll just get a couple. And the next year I was like, I'll get a couple. So I haven't had one. I haven't had, I didn't get one this year or last year, but anyway, yes, I do. I have a couple. My grandma's not mad at me and that's all that matters. So I'm in the clear. What's your, what's your tattoo of? My tattoo is when I, so when I first, not when I first, I only got, luckily only got sober once. When I got sober,

Some of the guys in the program who I really admired and my whole thing of like, if when I stopped drinking and all that was like, I wasn't going to be cool. I wasn't going to be. And, and they were all tatted out. And I was like,

So it was my like, I'm still bad. Yeah. I'm edgy, man. Still, you know, skydiving, too. That's the other thing. It's true. They all went and did that, too. But I'll do almost anything. But I have a little bit of a not a little bit. I have a fear of skydiving, hang gliding, parasailing, bungee jumping, whatever.

But I'll jump off really high things. So who knows what that's about? But I drew the line at that. But it looks like a faded...

Well, because it's 32 years old now. It looks... It literally looks... I have tattoos older than you. It literally looks like... I look like a longshoreman. I look like somebody who's in the Merchant Marines. But that's pretty cool. Right? And somebody told me... Here's a new thing somebody told me about tattoos. An old faded tattoo. Like, it's kind... Like, I go, I should get it touched up. I should get it... Because it looks kind of like a blob. And now...

And they're like, no, no, no, man. There's a whole new thing in the tap world that like it's that's the character and all that stuff. So I don't know. I think I'm just going to keep it the way it is. I think I bet it's cool.

It's cool. If you're in Hawaii again, I'll show it to you. I think I last saw you and Jimmy were in Hawaii. Yeah. Are you guys going for the holidays? How is Jimmy? I love him. How's he doing? Well, I got to tell you, I told him that I was doing a podcast and he goes, what's it called? And I was like, it's called, and he goes, it should be called The Lowdown. And I was like, oh, shit.

Damn. I thought about it. Okay. I did. I just wanted to make sure that that was on your radar. It was on. It was definitely on my radar. I liked literally because it was. No, it's great. Right? Jimmy had some notes, unfortunately, but I love it. I want notes. No, I'm kidding. I'm kidding.

I love notes. Jimmy Tatro is great, great actor and funny and just amazing. Have you guys ever worked together, though? I don't think you have you. No, we haven't. The extent of us working together has been like doing audition self tapes, like I'll ask him to do a self tape audition with me. And it's funny because similar to when I asked my mother to do a self tape with me, they have distinct voices. I don't know if you have this experience with your children, but it's very he has a very unique

His voice is very obviously his. It's obviously his. There's nobody else whose voice it could be. No. And same with my mom, you know, so it's very sweet. So how's your self-tape? So like when I started acting, if they, I remember, I remember when tape came into the acting world and it was a,

I'll never forget the first day I walked into an audition and they had a video camera rolling and it was like people were so upset and agents were upset and actors hated it and there were negotiations about they're not going to film it, they are going to film it.

Everybody films everything. Wait, I don't understand. They wouldn't film audition. What do you know? No, no. When you ask your mom, when when when we were coming up, an audition was you went in and you read and there are people in the room and that was it. And there was like this thing of if if you didn't see the audition, you didn't see the audition. And the thought was, as an actor was like, if you crushed it, all they have is that memory of you crushing it.

And conversely, if you maybe didn't do as well as you thought you wanted to do, they didn't have any evidence of it.

Do you know what I mean? So it was a big, big, big deal to put yourself on tape. Now it's no longer – you don't even go into a room. I know. You just self-tape all the time. There's no even going into a room, which I think is a real shame. Of course I think that's a shame, but I don't know how you feel or what your experience with auditioning is, but I love it. Like I love auditioning. Me too. Yeah.

it's hard and it's scary, but as actors, I mean, you have been working so hard for so many years and done so many amazing things. And so I guess you have been consistently working for a long time. But for me, I'm like, I feel like I rarely get to act. You know what I mean? I just feel like I did it because I love it and I want to do it. And it's weird how little I get to. So I love being in class and I love auditioning. I think it's important to exercise that muscle and,

And I don't feel like I get to because I'm sitting in my room, which is comfy cozy. Of course I'm going to feel good and I can do a million. I mean, I understand the benefits of it, but I really love being in a room and auditioning for people and learning from them and feeling scared. I saw on my notes that you were auditioning for season two of White Lotus. Gosh, yeah, I did. Well, I did, but yeah, I didn't get it. When you see, because I remember auditioning for stuff

that you knew was going to be important, you knew it was going to, like, be a thing. You just know it. You're like, oh, okay, this movie, Ordinary People, I think this movie is... I think it's going to go places. And you audition it, and you don't get it, and then you see Timothy Hutton, and he's great in the movie, and then he wins the Academy Award. And you're like, yeah, he... Mm-hmm, yeah. Like, do you ever...

Something like White Lotus. Reflect on that? Yeah, just like when you audition for White Lotus, you're like, oh yeah, I want to be in this. This is going to be dope. And then, you know, it doesn't go your way and you watch White Lotus season two and you see the other actor do it. What thoughts, if any, do you have? Do you go, I could have done it better or God bless them, they were the right person? Or like, what's your process when that happens? Because it's a natural part of being an actor.

I feel like one of the things that is well suited or I don't know if I developed it or if it was just something that was in me. But I and I just care so much about something. I'm obsessed with it. I have to do it. I'll do anything. It's all I can think about. And then I do it and it's gone. Like, I really so I don't have any feelings about it. I'm like, oh, great. My friend got the job. I love her. She's amazing. I'm like, I have no bad. I don't know. It's it.

I really compartmentalize, like I let it go, truly.

The only things that I really harp on and reflect on are there are like two experiences that weren't jobs I didn't get, but they were jobs that I, you know, they like one I got cut out of and one I got replaced like the week before, which was deeply traumatic in the way that they went about it was bad. But otherwise, with auditioning and not getting parts and then seeing people who did it and had huge success or not, yeah.

I don't know. I sort of feel like it's, you gotta be a little spiritual about it, right? Like you have to, you gotta be like, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be. I think there were definitely, there were moments when I first started out where I had these huge opportunities and I was auditioning for these opportunities for these huge projects that I am certain I didn't get because I was not ready for it. Like again, spiritually, like I just wasn't ready for that. And I,

I'm so grateful. Like I feel so much anxiety for just start out and blow up. I don't know if you have that. I don't know if you have secondhand anxiety for people who, um, no, it makes all makes perfect sense. I think that people who don't actors who don't have the ability to let it sort of like fall off, like water off a duck's back, as my mom used to say, you know, you gotta let it go. And I look at auditioning as, um,

Like you, it's funny. You get to, you played the part. I, you only, I played that part. I played it for this audition, but I played it and that was my iteration of it. And it was fun and it was great. And next. And also what's so cool is sometimes when you develop a character and you didn't get it, you can use it for something else someday. You know, that's, sometimes I find, I'm like, oh, I remember when I did that in that last, maybe it would be worth it. I don't know. It's, it's, um, I try to look at it like it's a learning experience and, and,

And I am always so excited when I get to work with like go audition for a great director or something. And I'm like, oh, it's like an acting class. I have so much. I'm so insecure about my lack of education. I I really wanted to work really young and I'm grateful, grateful, grateful beyond that. My parents understood they had no control. I was going to do this. So they just had to let me. But I am still very insecure about.

about my, you know, lack of college education, my kind of half-assed high school education and, you know, lack of any theater, whatever. I feel inadequate. But when I get to go work with great directors, I'm like, oh, it's like a crash course, a masterclass. You know, I try to reframe it in my brain as an experience. Yeah, it's a real education. Yeah, it's education. Well, also, it's like you, you know, um,

I'm going to go see the new Avatar this weekend. And, you know, Jim Cameron is one of my favorite directors. And I auditioned for Titanic with Jim. And, you know, he's running the camera. It's just me and him. And he's filming me and all these angles and back and forth. It was like, you know, four and five hours. And I go, oh, this is what it's like to work with Jim Cameron. And

I didn't get it. And by the way, glad I didn't get it. It was the Billy Zane bad guy part. And it's funny. There are certain parts, I think, that they're just traps. Like you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. It's like, do you want to go down in history as the scumbag from Titanic? Do you know what I'm saying? No, of course. There's a certain type of bad guy there.

that is amazing and that you can't, that I would love to do a billion times over. And there's another type of bad guy that is so irredeemable. And the movie is set up to make the hero look so great. Like your only job is to make some other actor look great. And I hate that. Mm-hmm.

Do you know what I mean? Yeah, of course. No, but that, I want to go back to the four or five hour audition thing with James Cameron. That's crazy. So crazy. And then I returned the favor. I wrote a, I wrote a screenplay. It was the first screenplay I ever wrote on spec just to do it. And I, and I loved it and God bless him. My dearly departed best friend, the actor, Bill Paxton, who was in all of Jim's movies and started out in the prop department at Corman, Roger Corman studios with Jim building props and,

And Cameron was like, yeah, I've written this script called The Terminator and I'm going to go make it. And the rest is history. So Bill was, and Bill was obviously in Titanic as well. Bill loved my script and I'll never forget one day getting a phone call and it was Bill and he's like, oh God, buddy, are you going to be by your phone for the next half hour? I was like, yeah, I guess. God, James Cameron read your script. Boy, he loves it. He thinks it's great. I'm like, I'm sorry, what? And sure enough,

Half an hour later, it was James Cameron on the phone, loved the script. And I was like, he had just won the Oscar for Titanic. So it's like he's the king of the world, as he said when he won. And I'm like, James Cameron's never going to direct this movie. He's just never gonna. But yet he loves it. What can I do with this? And I thought, I know I will cast him in it as the bad guy.

Like John Huston, the great director, was the bad guy in Chinatown. So I tell Jim, I go, would you ever consider acting? He goes, actually, I would like to do that because I'm so technically proficient. The one area on a movie set that I don't know almost better than anybody else on the set is acting. And it's true. What's great about Jim is he knows everybody's

better than they do. He's a genius. But acting is a mystery to him. So the theory was, I was like, well, I would love you to do it. And he, I'll never forget, he goes, well, I wouldn't, I think I would need to audition. Perfect. And I go, okay. So I sent him the sides.

And we did a screen test. This is such a great story. Isn't this crazy? So I went to Lightstorm, his company, and we're doing the scenes. I'm like, you know what? Do you mind going into your men's room or whatever? Just throw a bunch of water on your face and your hair and just fuck yourself with those. I want to see you really wet and see what you look like. He said, great. And he did it. And it was great.

And he was fantastic. And when I cut it all together, he's like, well, I think I'd like to see it. I go, great. I go, I'll come into Lightstorm. I'll show it to you. He goes, no, no, no. That's my favorite thing ever. He says, no, no, no. I believe all actors should subjugate themselves to their directors. I will come to you. Jesus Christ. Oh.

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Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. One of the things that I love about that story is you took, you stopped and you paused in the moment and you were like,

how can I turn this into, like, how can I make this opportunity? I'm really bad at that. Sometimes when things like happen that are cool or whatever, I just sort of freeze and I'm like, okay, great, move on. Like, I don't use it. I don't go like, how can I make, how can I expand on this? And, you know, in the way that you did, which is really cool. Listen, people talk about like longevity in our business. And for me, anyway, that's a crucial element to it, which is

You're like, you're knocking on the door and the door isn't opening. And you can like a lot of people just walk away from the door. But I'm like, could I go under the door?

Could I, maybe I would, you have like, you kind of, another analogy I use is like you're in a river and you're, and you have to, you're swimming up. Sometimes you're swimming with the current and it's amazing. And other times you're against the current. No matter what you do, you're not moving anywhere. And you have to find a part of that river with some forward movement. And it may not even take you in a direction that you think you want to go, but it's moving at least. Yeah.

And you let yourself flow into it. My parents have, you know, like you've been in the business for a long time and have worked their asses off and always, always just were so creative and found different ways. And I think that definitely served me in witnessing that I, you know, started producing when I was 21.

three or something and and i just because i wasn't getting the parts that i wanted to do and speaking of auditioning i've auditioned for every part that i've ever done except for the movies that i've produced um and gave myself those jobs but uh um it's a good thing about being produced you cast yourself and the people that you like um no but i but yeah i i yeah i

I did do that, which is cool. And I'm proud of myself for that. I wouldn't have worked for the last two... Everything I've done in the last couple of years are things that I produce. And you're...

And your new movie is a holiday movie, right? Yeah. I produced it with Hello Sunshine, which is Reese Witherspoon's company. It's on Amazon. And we started working on this a couple years ago when Reese saw a movie that I did for Netflix called Set It Up. And I was like, oh, where are the good, feel-good, romantic movies that are classy and gorgeous and timeless? And so...

we started trying to find something to do together and we found this book and you know how you know how the story goes very well um but uh it was a really it was a really fun experience and the and the making of it it we started shooting it right after i made a movie that was quite dark and uh so it always sounds so i feel like it sounds self-indulgent as an actor to talk

Talk about like, oh, so hard, whatever. But it was I felt I felt weird after finishing the movie and to go on to shoot this movie, something from Tiffany's, which is so beautiful and feel good and lovely was awesome. It was the best. And then for the movie to come like the experience of shooting it matched the outcome. It was like a lovely, warm, easy, beautiful shooting experience. And the movie is like warm and beautiful and love.

Which is nice to have good feelings attached to a good movie that makes you feel good. It's like, great. I'm so excited. Listen, there's that's I mean, I think in in our day at this moment in time, having people want to feel good. They want some escapism. There's

I mean, I love the dark stuff as much as the next person. It's probably where I watch more stuff. But also, I know the value of something like your movie, something from Tiffany's. You know you're going to feel good and lose yourself in a movie in that genre. And that's super, super important.

It is important. It's really valuable. I am. I'm very proud of it. And I'm very proud of how well it's doing. And yeah, so. You know what you were great in? You were great in The Politician. Oh, thank you. You're super great in it. That you're the reveal of your character is super great. It was. I have to say, I did not see it coming.

I was such a fucking out there character. Gosh, I got to work with Jessica Lange, which I, that was the- Give me some Jessica Lange stories. She's the hottest person I've ever met. I know that's probably not the most respectful first intro of what I should say, but she is the sexiest person, not woman, man, sexiest person I have ever met. Ever. I have one, one meeting with her once. It was-

An Amphar charity of red carpet in New York City. I'm going to say it was 1997.

about probably the year you were born, 94, something like that. And you know how like you're like, sometimes you end up on a red carpet with people that you've never met before. You know what I mean? You've never met them and they're like, and they yell your name. They're like, Zoe, Rob, Rob, Zoe, Zoe, Rob, Rob, Zoe. And we've never met. And all of a sudden now we're together with like flashbulbs going off and it's super awkward. And we're right. You know what I'm talking about? Of course. And so it's like, Rob, Jessica, Jessica, Rob, Jessica, Rob, Rob, Jessica. And she leans over and I've never said a word to her. She's never said a word to me. We've never met.

She leans over and she goes, let's go get a fucking drink. And I was like, I mean, she's hot and she's extraordinarily funny. That was the thing. She was very confused by, by me. Cause I would laugh my ass off at her and she would be like, why do you think I'm so funny? But I just found her to be. And we, we,

That the more I'm in this job, the more I'm like, if I can come out of a job with like a just a great friendship, I'm like, that's all you can't control anything else. I'm like, I made an amazing relationship. I mean, I met one of my best friends on the show and I became I just fell in love with Jessica and

I was such a great experience because of that. I'm so grateful I got to do that job because she was a dream. And we, I felt like we danced when we were acting together. I just felt like we were dancing. I don't know. I know that's not silly. I just felt like we were supposed to act together. We had so much fun acting together. We got each other and, um,

I actually did get to go out for a drink with Jessica. For a drink with Jessica. We went and saw a show on Broadway and then we had a drink. She had a dirty martini and I was just sitting there like, oh my gosh, is this... And we're running through, you know, it's like crazy rain and we have an umbrella and she's like glamorous as ever. It's a movie. You lived a movie with her. Yeah, she's everything and more. I'm very lucky that I got to work with her. I got another good one for you. Another...

story. So my oldest son, Matthew. I adore. Oh, he loves you. My boys love you. They just love it. They're so excited that I'm just talking to you today. You did the best job. You and your wife did an amazing job. They are such good kids. Really. I know you hear that a lot, but really. Well, I was, you know, I'm a young father, about to be a young father. I'm at Cedars-Sinai. Cheryl's in labor. She's in labor for

She was in labor for 24 hour labor, not like, but like push labor, 24 hours. It was a thing. And I'm dying. I have to go out, walk in the hall, sweat. There's another dad. His baby is being born in the next room. We're talking, we're talking, we're thising, we're thating.

How's your wife doing? How's your wife? Matthew's born. I go out to the other dad. Is your kid? Yeah, he was just born. That kid was Ben Platt. No. Yep. Who's one of my best friends. That's what I was talking about. Literally born next door to my son two seconds after. Isn't that weird how the world works? And so when I saw him in Dear Evan Hansen, which was transcendent. It was. That's the only word to describe it. No, it's the only word to describe it.

It's the there are certain performances that you feel blessed, particularly when it's live in a movie. The performance exists forever. So you can always see it. But, you know, to be able to see Ben in that show.

is like, I feel like, you know, I was there. It's like, I saw Kirk Gibson's walk-off home run for the Dodgers. I feel the same way about Ben. It's like, I was there. You know what I mean? I went to go see that show. I didn't know Ben at the time. I mean, we had mutual friends, but we didn't, we weren't, we didn't know each other really yet. I went to see that before with Glenn Powell, who I think you know. Yeah, you know Glenn. Glenn and I finished, wrapped, set it up, and before we were going to go see this show, Dear Evan Hansen, that everyone's loving, before we go to our wrap party. We didn't know anything about it.

I didn't know anything about it either, which is great. And I literally, my, one of the first, one of the thoughts that I had was how could a person watch this performance and not believe in God? Because God is moving through this person in a crazy way. It was the most transcendent. It was the most extraordinary. I was in the bathroom, uh,

hugging and crying strangers, you know, that vibe. But anyway, then Glenn and I went to the, um, to the wrap party and everyone thought that we were deeply emotional for the movie ending and they were like, don't cry, like,

Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. We're like, no, no, no. We just saw an amazing resort. I went backstage to meet him and I just like fell into his arms and was like weeping. Yeah. It sounds so silly, but if you're Evan Hansen, man, it was, and the movie's fine, but it's not what the experience was seeing it alive on Broadway. But he's also great. He was great in The Politician. It was a guy I loved watching.

Did you, so Ryan Murphy made The Politician. Yeah. Did, was, I mean, Brad Falchuk directed a bunch of them, who is my boss on 9-1-1 Lone Star. He created my show. Yeah. Yeah. And so was, was, was Ryan Murphy around or was he doing his Wizard of Oz thing that he does where he's kind of behind the curtain a lot? I didn't get to see him that much. No. Yeah. But I, it was very cool for me. I'd never, I mean, I'd done one TV show when I first started when I was like 14 or something. And,

So it was a cool experience, but I didn't get to spend that much time with him. But he's he's he's he knows what he's doing. He really knows what he's doing. Now, did you have I'm trying to remember, did you have a ton of scenes or any scenes with Gwyneth? I had one scene with her. I'm convinced when she talked to Ben in the show, Ben plays her son. She is my son, John Owen's godmother. And the way she talked to Ben is exactly how she talks to John Owen.

She's such a great actress. It's bonkers. It's bonkers. It's bonkers. And I really respect and love that she is somebody who knows what she wants to do. And she's, I also, I don't know her really at all, but I am always saying to everyone, she is 10 years ahead of all you motherfuckers. Like,

She knows. And I don't care what you say or what you say about what she says. Like she is such a trendsetter, knows everything 10 years before everyone else. So smart. But all that to be said, I personally, as a fan, just love her acting and wish she would act again because she's so great. And it was so fun to see her on The Politician because she's just magnetic. I know. And she doesn't.

I went to a fancy Christmas party and Reese was there and Jen Aniston and Sandra Bullock and John Hamm and this one and that one. And there was one person in that room who was glowing with an aura of

And everybody couldn't take their eyes off. And it was Gwyneth. I mean, she really is. And the fact that she's a trendsetter is why people knock the shit out of her. And she knows it. And people, it's just part of the deal. Like when you see things that other people don't, there are going to be people like, what is her deal? I mean, and it just is what it is with her, you know. But she's something. And she was so, her outfits on the politicians were beyond. Yeah.

But it was anyway. So guys, guys and gals out there, Politician, it's still on Netflix. You can still find it.

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. ♪

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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. We need to talk about your mom. I love your mom. She loves you. She's the best. Now, it's so interesting. So for those of you who may not know, your mom is Leah Thompson, who's been in so many great things, but obviously Back to the Future is the biggie. But she met your dad on a movie, right? Didn't they meet on a movie? Which movie was it? Some kind of Wonderful.

Of course. But the way that you were just telling that story, you know, you have all these amazing stories, the James Cameron one, it makes me go, what are my parents keeping from me? Because I think people think that like,

Maybe you do. But my family, certainly growing up, no one was sitting around the table like, sit down, children. Let me tell you about Hollywood. Like, we never heard anything from our parents. Anything? You've got to ask them. Just you've got to. You should take your shit. Why don't you do this? Then why do this? Go and you just have to ask your mom point blank. Be like, give me the lowdown on Emilio Estevez. No, I don't.

I do ask her inappropriate questions, which I love the answers to that I won't say here. But obviously, I'm more interested in the hot goss that I wouldn't really beat. But, you know, who was shipping who? And like, let me tell you, Rob. Yes. I'm sure you know all of it too. Oh my God, your mom was in Red Dawn. Oh yeah, those stories. Holy shit. Those stories are... So the Red Dawn, Red Dawn, holy moly.

That movie, first of all, it's so underappreciated and it'd be great to watch now because Russia is now once again the bad guy. And so if you haven't seen Red Dawn, go watch Red Dawn. It's an 80s classic. Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Lea Thompson, Jennifer Grey. And it's it's Russia invading America is and it's John Milius wrote and directed it.

You have a crazy memory. I memorize stupid things. No, but is this a thing in your life? Like are you – or is this just – it just happens to be really on it right now because your memory is incredible. You're like a Wikipedia right now. You know, I remember – and I remember Red Dawn because I was pissed I wasn't in it.

I was like, I'm sorry, Charlie Sheen's in Red Dawn too. I'm like, I'm sorry, did they lose my phone number? I could have been in Red Dawn. I could have been a badger or a beaver, whatever the fuck they were, what their nicknames were. But your mom was so cute in it and so great and just, and then in Back to the Future, I visited the set.

I remember visiting and your mom was working with Eric Stoltz. I was there when Eric Stoltz was playing Marty McFly. No way. You came and visited the set? Wow. Yeah. Because we were shooting St. Elmo's Fire on the same lot. It was the universal backlot.

And so, I mean, I feel like it was a really good movie, the time in movies. It was. It sounds so fun and romantic and cool. It was so innocent. It was like so innocent. And I mean, look, we were obviously a lot of us were up to no good as well. I'm like, what do you mean so innocent? Yeah, we weren't that innocent. But I think the business part of it, the business part of it was it wasn't as corporate and

There was it just it wasn't so splintered and there was enough work that everybody worked, but there wasn't so much work that that there was so much today. There's so much content that it's hard to even see all of it or know all of it. You're like, I'll run into an actor and they're like, oh, yeah, I'm in my fifth season of this show called whatever. And you're like, I've never even heard of it. Like that did not happen then. Like if you were in something.

Everybody knew it. Very different time. So your mom never. OK, so let's think of who you can go to your mom when we're done with us. Dude, my mom doesn't remember anything. We're similar. Oh, come now. She has a shitty memory. I mean, so do I need to get her on the show. I will pry it out of her like a pearl out of a clam.

I mean, she has the worst memory. She can barely remember my name. She calls me Howie and then Mabel and then whatever the dog who's dead for nine years name. Amazing. It's just amazing. You know what I want to say too, which I just realized is that you and my mom might be the longest lasting Hollywood couples. Like you and your wife have been married for how long?

31 years. Yeah, I think they're 34, 33, 34, 33 years or something. It's amazing. And I'm sure everybody says to you like, damn, great work. But like, I'm going to say it too to you. Like, that's impressive. Thank you. And I do. And I love that about your mom. And I don't think I've ever met your dad. I don't think I have. He's the best person ever. He's the funniest person ever. I know he was known as Hollywood's

hilarious in the day. Everybody loved him and working with him. I remember when he was directing Some Kind of Wonderful because I think they were also on the lot. God, those were great movies. Right? I know. I know. Well, Some Kind of Wonderful is sort of what Reese and you, it's in the genre of what you did of the Tiffany movie. Howie's the best. He has a better memory and I'm sure I could pry some stuff out of him more than I do.

Yeah, right? I'm surprised to hear you'd never met him. I know. This is my favorite. Okay, so here's the doc. I get a document, right, for my guests. And they have weird random things. I ask for random things. I'm like, I want to know random stuff that I might not know about my guests. But here's my favorite about you right here. Bullet point. Loves El Pollo Loco. That makes me laugh. How? How?

I love it. Your team is researching deep, but I do fucking love El Poel. How? But just I laughed out loud when I saw that. What is it? And I call them. I go, you guys are doing a great job. That is exactly the kind of stuff that I want to talk about on this.

Zoe Deutsch, El Pollo Loco. Okay. Big fan. Rob, you're pretty fancy. Like, you're fancy, okay? You deserve to be fancy. You work very hard. Harder than anyone. But I got to ask, is there any sort of, like, unfancy vibe food you like? What do you mean? I have El Pollo Loco.

At least, at least once a week. No. At least. Oh, yeah, I do. At least once a week. It's my go-to on the set. 100%. Shut up. Okay, so what's your order? For me, I mean, I have my order down, but what's your order?

My order is the three pieces of chicken, right? Just regular, the grilled chicken, the beans, the coleslaw. Just simple, easy, all protein and veggies. So for me, I fell in love with the dollar menu when I was going to Loxa, which is the Bermuda Arts High School downtown. And we were sharing the Cal State LA campus. There was an El Pollo Loco there. And I would get the BRC. And

Wait, wait. This is all good information for me. What is the BRC? BRC is just like a bean rice cheese burrito. Got it. They're smaller because they're on the dollar menu. So it's nice. You don't feel like you're going to –

Yeah, exactly. It's smaller, but I asked them to grill it on both sides. So it's a little hotter and kind of crunchier. Then I get the on the dollar menu, the side salad with the cilantro dressing, which I normally hate cilantro. But this dressing, it's creamy cilantro. It is an absolute 11 out of 10. And then I get an extra dressing because I dip my burrito in there.

Then sometimes I'll get the little usually I get extra food in general always because food scarcity is just my there could be a look there. There could be a famine at any moment. Yeah, let's face it. I could have really low blood sugar and want to pass out. And so I must be prepared at all times. So I always get extra food. Usually I get like the it's also in the dollar menu. It's like the smaller it's just rice and beans and chicken. Now, what is this? What is this fascination I'm hearing with the dollar menu?

You've got more than a dollar. Which, by the way, I don't think it's a dollar menu anymore. I think it's like $4.99 now. But when I was in high school, it was. So I still call it that. But my fascination with it was more that I liked the portions.

because I could get more. And I just and also I was I mean, who doesn't love a little bit of a, you know, save? I was saving a lot of money. It's great. I I love I mean, look, I'm super disciplined about, you know, eating, you know, a high protein, low carb sort of Atkins diet. And but I'm a big believer in cheat days.

And on my cheat days, I like to eat like I'm 16 again. I like to eat like a 16-year-old. Do you do like a set one day a week where it's your cheat day or you're just – you'll be like, all right. Like are you – It's whenever it hits me. Do you know what I mean? Like if my car starts turning itself off the freeway to the McDonald's, I just go with it. Oh, great. But check this out. Guess what I have?

I have. I'm one of only two people in the world to have a McDonald's gold card. No. And the McDonald's gold card enables me to buy as much McDonald's as I want for free. Now, there is a stipulation. It's only in the sort of like the area in which it's sort of Santa Barbara, L.A.,

I have a friend who owns a lot of franchises and his dad invented the Egg McMuffin. Invented it. And invented Ronald McDonald.

So he's a made man in the McDonald's world, and they knew that I liked it, so they gave me a McDonald's gold card. It's hilarious. Well, my only thing that I can – it doesn't even compare, but for Valentine's Day, I got a $500 gift card to Alapoyo Loco, which is kind of unlimited given that I usually get stuff from the dollar menu. But that was – No kidding. That was my – and it was – I cried. I thought it was the most beautiful gift I've ever received. With a bouquet. It was called a zouke. It was okay because –

with a bunch of fresh produce because my two favorite things which don't really align are like fresh produce and fresh vegetables and then El Pollo Loco so great balance if you and I don't get an El Pollo Loco ad out of this then what the fuck it's not worth it none of this is worth it

Okay, before you do that, I need to ask you about one of... You worked with one of my favorite actors, Mark Rylance. He's one of the greatest actors who ever lived. What was that like? He is so much fun. Really? So much fun. You know, it's funny because I rarely have ever heard of...

people being method actors when they're playing kind, gentle people. You know, you only hear people like talk about doing method acting when they're playing full blown sociopath. Exactly. Because it's a great way of being able to excuse your behavior. Yes, exactly. He is. By the way, you just can I just say, you just hit the nail on the head. So for all you, all you young actors out there, everybody who's obsessed with the method, she just hit it on the head. It's a great excuse to excuse your behavior. Yeah.

Except for when you're Mark. Because he was playing. So he's method.

I didn't know that. That's interesting. But in a very, in his own way, he, you know, when he, he would come usually an hour before we would, before his call time and he'd do his rituals. He would do his rituals. He has a lot of different. Oh, rituals. Okay, I'm all fucking yours now. He has theater rituals and different sort of vocal and physical warmups and things to get him into the character. Yeah, he's very serious and then he'd put his costume on and then

It's not like the kind of method you hear where you're like, if you say his name, he's going to be like... It's not that. He's just not like as...

You wouldn't expect him to be when, when I met him out of set and he was so playful and had this childlike wonder and he's hilarious and cheeky and sort of like adorable. It was hilarious because I realized he was method because the method acting he was doing was like a very kind person. So I didn't think he was just kind and more quiet and gentle. And then in person, he's like, I don't know if I'm explaining myself well, but he is,

Totally the real deal. He is beyond transformative and also like such a great teacher. And he has so much fun teaching. And yet he's so interested in learning. Like he really thinks everybody that crosses. He's one of those just great people who. That's so good to hear. No ego. And we. So the movie was kind of an amazing experience.

What movie was it again? It's called The Outfit. And we got to rehearse it chronologically on the actual set. It was one set. And we shot it chronologically. So the entire thing took place in one set. And we shot the whole thing chronologically, which was obviously once in a... I mean, I don't know. I imagine it'll be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity because when I was going to get to the end... I've only done it once. And it was... I don't know how it was for you, but I... Oh, my God. I was obsessed. Obsessed with it.

And getting to rehearse with him was really a dream. And I got to, we did a bunch, he taught us a bunch of games and exercises and techniques. Did he teach you any of the vocal warmups? That's what I want to know. Oh, you mean his rituals? Yes, the rituals. I love rituals. I want every inside secret I can get from great actors.

Gosh, I don't know. I didn't inquire too much about the sort of virtual stuff that he was doing in the morning. I didn't want to like pride too much. Yeah, yeah. But I definitely got some fun exercises and techniques that were super practical. You know, like things that weren't esoteric and hard to understand. Like one was we were working on a scene together and the flow was kind of off.

And he was like, "Okay, we're gonna do it three times, three different ways. We're gonna do the first one, tops and tails. You're just gonna be on each other, on each other, on each other. I don't want any, any, any air. And then the second time we're gonna do slow, like molasses. And then the third time, we're just gonna forget about both and see which parts stuck with us in our bodies."

And it was amazing because it really worked for me. I mean, it's very practical and easy to do, but I've used it a lot since. And I've loved it because sometimes it just, you know, how there's you get tools in your tool belt and you're like, oh, this isn't working. Let's try it really fast and really slow. And, you know, I know maybe that doesn't seem like that crazy of a concept, but it really worked.

I like it. Tops and tails and then molasses. That's a really good, that's a really, I'm going to, next time I direct James Cameron in a screen test, I'm going to hit him with that. That woman is like a shot of espresso. You're like feeling good, happy. Do you know what I mean? That was great. That was exactly the kind of interview I needed today. All right. What's that? Oh, it's 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.

Hey, what's up, Rob? This is David. I live down in Los Angeles. I think it's everyone's dream, at least people that love movies, to have a movie theater in their home. And I'm just curious about what kind of home movie theater that you have at your house right

or that you have had at previous houses. Thank you so much for your podcast. Have a great day. Peace. Oh, thank you. That's a cool question. So, I mean, technology is changing so much. It's really interesting. I'm actually building a new house. So I'm dealing with exactly that question. How do I want to watch movies in my home today? In the past,

I've had the big Runco was always the top of the line projector with a big movie screen and the big sound system. But I will tell you now what people are doing is I think Samsung are making televisions as big as you want them. Literally, if you're willing to pay for it, they're not cheap. They will make you a television as big as a movie screen. And that's what sort of the cutting edge folks are.

are putting. So no more projectors. It's literally just a ginormous TV as big as a movie screen. And obviously the clarity is nuts. And you watch it in a football game on that is amazing. The one thing I did have that was a real luxury was a thing in LA, only in LA, called the Bel Air system.

And the Bel Air system was the studios had to approve you to get their movies sent to you for the weekend. So growing up, it was like, hey, we're watching, you know, whatever at the house. It was always a big deal to get the movies, even some of them before they were out. They would bring the cans of film. You'd have to hire a projectionist. And then when everything went digitally, you

you would get, you know, the chip, but you still had to have a projectionist come and sit there because it was like a union thing. So that was fun, but I'm not doing that anymore. Anyway, thanks for listening as always. I really appreciate how much you all have supported this podcast and continue to spread the word, give us a good review on Apple. Like, that's a thing. Like, it's a whole thing. Like, if you do that, it really helps. So you...

can be in show business. You can be a power broker. You can. Step off the treadmill, pull over from the carpool, and go on Apple and give us five stars, and you will literally have been a kingmaker. If you're not down with King Charles, make me the king. Do that. That's how you do it. Anyway, I'll see you all next week on Letterly.

You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Rob Schulte, with help from associate producer Sarah Bagar. Our research is done by Alyssa Grahl. The podcast is executive produced by Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and Joanna Solitaroff at Team Coco, and Colin Anderson at Stitcher. All of the music on this podcast was composed by Devin Bryant. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally with Rob Lowe.

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

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