Nicholas Sparks: Capture the Voice
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That's 15% off at SaatchiArt.com. S-A-A-T-C-H-I-Art.com. Ever wish your favorite TV show had twice as many episodes? Everyone knows that feeling. And so does Discover. Everyone wants more of their favorites. That's why Discover doubles another favorite thing, cash back. 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. Hey, Nicholas, how are you? I'm doing fantastic. How are you doing? I'm good, man. Where are you right now? I am in New Bern, North Carolina, where I live. I love North Carolina. I love North Carolina.

Hello, Literally listeners. It is your host. It is me. Really, really fun one today, you guys. Nicholas Sparks.

the legendary author. He's so legendary and so specific in his success that you could say the phrase, I feel like I'm living in a Nicholas Sparks book today. That's how you know, right? You know, it's like, I feel like I'm living in a Stephen King book. Like there are just certain people out there that have had so much success. They do what they do so well that it's become a thing. And he's certainly one of them. And it certainly started with

For me, the notebook. Holy moly. But, you know, he's done Dear John, Nights of Verdanthe, The Choice, A Walk to Remember, Message in a Bottle. I mean, on and on and on. Pick your favorite thing. And in an amazing fact, it's come to my attention that this is the first time Nicholas Sparks has ever been on a podcast anywhere. So it is a tremendous honor. Let's see how he does.

I think you're living the dream. Yeah, I was a young guy living in California, largely grew up in California. And I was married back then and I had a child. And I remember my wife at the time, she said, I don't want to work, you know, when the babies are little. I said, OK, you know, I was in sync with that. And so we just said, well, we got to move someplace cheaper than California, because back in even 1992, it was expensive.

If you're just a sales rep, a pharmaceutical rep, earning 30,000, 40,000 a year was expensive. Interest rates were much higher then than they are now. So anyway, we picked five states based on weather because I hated the snow, didn't want the desert, didn't want to live in Texas, didn't want the endless rain of the Northwest. So we picked South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. And my company had an opening in a territory in Eastern North Carolina where

And so we moved here sight unseen, knowing nobody. And that's how I ended up here. I just fell in love with the town and here I am a long time later. And now that you're an icon, I'm going to call you a literary icon, what is it like? Are you the master of all you survey? When you walk down the street to the local thing, do they throw rose petals? And are you like the guy? Yeah.

I, well, let's be honest. I think a lot more people recognize me than I recognize. But it's a town of about 30,000 and I've been here for 30 years. Right. So they don't make a big deal about it. Right. I go into the teller and it's more about, you know, how are your kids doing? Right. Because we might have kids. I have five children. So it's.

Just regular small town conversation, right? I mean, I work with the insurance guy here and the doctor there. So it's pretty... I never feel famous in my town. I never have people camping out in my driveway or anything like that. Are people slipping you manuscripts ever? You know, they do, right? But I return them unread. There is a...

You can run into an issue if you're an author where they say they sent you a book, someone says, and then two years later or three years later, they say, hey, wait, you stole my idea. That's right. And it is very common. So all I don't solicit and everything is returned unread. And it's been that way for probably 20 plus years now. Yeah, that happens even with just scripts. People say, hey, I have a script. Would you read it?

And you never know. I also write in doctor scripts and you just it's because you feel bad because you want to be helpful and you want to, you know, it would be I can just see if I were a young writer getting somebody like you or it would be unbelievably helpful. But you just in this day and age can't do it.

No, you can't. And now if it comes from a publisher and a request from an editor or it comes from my agent and she's like, it's getting published and they're looking for a blurb. Sure. Yeah. I'm willing to do that. You know, occasionally I don't overload myself with that responsibility. I, you know, I'm kind of lazy in the long run. So you're living the dream. You're, you're,

Off the beaten path, what is your day like? What is do you write every day? I could not be more fascinated with writers processes because everybody's different. And it just is it just is an amazing thing to me, whether you're a songwriter, a novelist or whatever. What's yours like?

Yeah, thanks for asking. So writing, and I didn't come up with this, some smart guy came up with this, but he says basically writing is a concentrated form of thinking. And so I don't write every day because some days I'm not sure what I'm going to write. When you write books that deal with

emotion and the genuine, you're trying to genuinely evoke it and not tell it, you know, these are subtle shifts and just the challenges in the specific sentences and words, but it's also, you got to have the right idea for a subtle shift that feels exactly right. So, um, it's probably better to look at it in the course of a year, right? Um,

In the course of a year, I'll probably write not every day, three, four days a week for six months. The book is done. Then you have probably a two-month editing process, and you have a month on the road, and then you have three months thinking about it, thinking about the next book that you're going to try to write.

So that's kind of how you, on a yearly schedule, on a daily basis, it goes like this. If I'm sitting down to write, and today is a writing day, I say, I'm going to write 2000 words.

2,000 words. And that can take anywhere from three to six hours. You know, it depends. Some things are tougher. And that includes editing. And it's funny because if you do the math, right, like let's say I write, I type 50 words a minute, which is probably accurate, right? I've been typing my whole life. You know, you're like, okay, 2,000 divided by 50, that's 40 minutes.

What on earth am I doing the other four hours and 20 minutes or five hours and 20 minutes? I don't know. I'm on the phone. I'm taking a mental break, procrastinating, goofing on the internet, throw the ball for my dog, go to the bathroom, get some water, edit what I've just written, edit the previous paragraph, edit the previous page, move a little forward. It's

It's like that. So it's a very strange process. So, okay, so you get your 2,000 words and let's say you have to take 130,000 words to get the 100,000 you need for the novel. All right. So it's basically 65 writing days of

In a 365 day years. And a lot of the rest of the time is spent thinking, editing, promoting. And why 2000 words? I guess that's a number that works for me. It's fast enough. It's enough words that I'm keeping up with the pacing of the novel. Like, am I bogging down going to so I can keep up with the pace of the novel, but slow enough that the quality is just not

It's terrible, right? If I, you know, if I write 4,000 words in a day, the quality is just not there. I mean, you know, your last thousand words, you end up deleting. So it's a number that works for me. When you're thinking of a book, are you taking, are you taking notes? Are you, um, are you just pondering, thinking, mulling, and then is there an outline?

Never an outline. You know, some people do. And some people do a very long outline and then work from the outline. The only time I've ever outlined was the last half of Message in a Bottle. I was very clear on where the story was going. And that had to do with Hollywood. I...

We were going to submit it early, even before the novel was finished. So I sent out to Hollywood half of the novel written and then a chapter by chapter. Here's how it goes, the rest of the book. But it was the only time. No, it's funny. How do you get your ideas and what do you think? And no notes. It's more, you'll love this. I watch a lot of TV and I watch a lot of movies. Good, everybody should. Exactly. And then I read a lot.

And it's funny, when I talk to college students, they say, you want to be a good writer? I do. I tell them, look, you got to watch a lot of television and you got to watch a lot of movies and you have to read a lot because a good story is a good story, regardless of the medium. And good writing is good writing, regardless of the medium. And you have to kind of develop that.

like you have over the years. You know, you read a script and you know if it's good or not. How do you know? Well, you just know. And you have to develop that knowledge of just being able to know, hey, this works. And you watch enough TV or watch enough movies, and I read a lot, you know, a couple hundred books a year, you might pick up

two ideas from two different books and an idea from an episode on something you saw and then something, a theme that you might want in the movies and you come up with a book like

You know, I'd always wanted to do a story on adoption, originally inspired by Daniel Steele's novel, The Gift. Couldn't come up with a story that felt original. Years passed, so I wrote other books in between. And then I was, I don't know, it was Christmas and I'm watching a lot of Christmas movies. And I said, you know, I should write a Christmas book. So I started to sort of combine, well, what happens if you combine Christmas and

and adoption, and the ideas came together, and I came up with the wish in a very original way. But yeah, that period when I'm thinking, trying to come up with a new book, terrifying for me, because I don't know if a new idea will come. I don't know where the old ideas came from. They just came from weird bits and pieces. Well, that's another part of it. I'm sorry to do such a deep dive on it, but like I said, I'm fascinated. But how do you get the sense of

If you're not outlining, then you have – I'm assuming you have a lot of freedom within the chapters to meander, take this fork in the road –

because, and then see, whoa, this led to this. I'm going to have a cliffhanger I never thought I'd have mid-book. So you're free for all of that, right? I am. Now, normally when I start a book, I will know some things about it. You know, I'll know the beginning. I'll know how it ends. I'll know the basics about the characters, you know, because...

I try to vary the age. My readership ranges in age from 12-year-olds to 90-year-olds. And my experience has shown that people most relate to books with characters around their age going through the dilemmas they're going through. Like, you know...

women who just recently divorced and it wasn't a great divorce. He left you for a young man. They really love nights in Rodanthe, right? But how did they like, you know, a walk to remember about a teenager, but Hey, you talk to teenagers. They, they, they go crazy for a walk to remember and the notebook and the last song because the characters were young. So I vary the age. So I'll know the ages of the characters, maybe some of their dilemmas. I know how the book begins and maybe a couple of twists and turns along the way.

in the context of moving to the end of the book or whatever. And then everything else comes while I'm writing those 2000 words a day. And the most important thing you have to capture as an author, and certainly you as an actor get this, you have to capture the voice.

Right. When you see a character and you see it and you're reading just lines of dialogue and they're not telling you he throws a book before he says this or whatever, you're like, I'm getting the sense he's pissed. Right. How am I going to play this that works all the way through the movie and makes the character, you know, consistent? Right.

And that's what, it's the same thing as a writer, chasing that voice. Well, what do you do when you come up against the old saw, write what you know, and you're a 58-year-old white dude living in North Carolina, but your book is about a 17-year-old woman

girl living in Beverly Hills? How do you solve that? Well, A, for the most part, I ignore it. And then I just don't buy into it. I think that

The goal should be to create that character with honesty. Right. And with the honesty of that character, whether they're a good character or a bad character or they're snarky or naive or sugar sweet. Whatever it is, that's a character. You do that honestly. And I follow it with the kind of books that I write because, remember, emotion plays a big part in these novels. Mm-hmm.

I don't care whether you're a 17-year-old girl or you're a 60-year-old Native American. When you're falling in love with someone, it feels the same. You know, you get a little nervous right before you kiss them because what if they don't like you as much as you like them? And that doesn't matter whether you're you and relatively famous or, you know, or someone on the street. It's still...

The emotion's the same, right? When you get angry, it's the same as when your mom gets angry, you know, or when you get frustrated. It's kind of the same feeling. So I just don't buy into it. And I write and if and people are welcome not to read it. So in your is it is it's fair to say genre? Can we say genre about your work?

Kind of. You know, it's a very strange... It's not a romance novel. I call them love stories, right? So they're more in the line with like a Romeo and Juliet because there's often an element of tragedy or sadness or from...

Farewell to Arms by Hemingway or Love Story by Eric Siegel or The Bridges of Madison County or The Horse Whisperer, whatever genre that is, that's what I work in. Yes. Because what I was saying is the two books for me that would be in your canon that are some of my favorites, one would be Ordinary People and Brian's Song.

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. You know, it was funny when I was in the film business or I had a, you know, had a development deal with Warner Brothers, whatever. Yeah. That's in my past. Brian's song was the one we wanted to do. That's very interesting. We worked with Gail Sayers. We got the rights again. You know, we moved forward on it. You know, things don't always work out. There was a minute where I...

was in one of those career moments where you're kind of going, hey, what's next? And I had written and directed a short film that people liked a lot. And so, and I loved writing and directing. Still my favorite thing ever that I ever get to do. I don't get to do it much. It's the most fulfilling thing in show business.

In entertainment, in my opinion. So I was thinking, okay, it's really hard, but it's the best. And so I was meeting with development people and studios wanted to hire me and give me a deal and whatever. And what I wanted to do was Brian's song. Wow, we could have worked together. Where were you when I needed you? I don't know. I think this was somewhere around, I don't know, 2014, 2015. This was right before...

I did a little show called The West Wing and the rest, I haven't been off of television since, luckily, but I...

that movie. I was trying to figure out how to not literally redo Gail Sayers and Brian Piccolo, but to do a sports-themed movie with that kind of heart and tragedy and friendship and love. And it's just an amazing, amazing movie. It's one of the greats. It's one of the greats. I mean, there's no question about it. It's a great book. It's a great movie. I think it was James Caan, right? Yeah. James Caan. I'm always curious, and I guess I get IMDb it, but where...

Because that's him at his height. Like, he's the man. So did he do it after Sonny Corleone and The Godfather or before? And also, you have to remember, in those days, TV was considered so downmarket. Sure, sure. And sure, it's great. I mean, it's a great script. It's still doing TV in a time when you did not do that, particularly if you wanted to be a movie star. Right.

Right, right. And here's a movie star. I mean, James Caan coming off The Godfather goes and does a weepy TV movie of the week. I don't... How did it happen? You know, it had to have been the script. I think it holds up very well. It holds up incredibly well after 40 years. You know, it is as timeless as a story. It's a story of friendship and overcoming obstacles and both of them. And then...

- Tragedy. - A relationship just defined, tragedy just defined by deep love and respect. And that stuff works.

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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. Just because it's a good book doesn't does not mean it's going to be a good movie. In fact, it usually doesn't. Sure. But your books are just I don't it's your writing. It's it's your you just know how to do it. It's like you're like my boy Stephen King in that way.

Love Stephen King. I was lucky enough to do two Stephen King projects. And a lot of people have tried Stephen King. And I tell them this too. In the canon of movies and TV, there's good Stephen King and there's bad Stephen King. But in his writing, there's only good Stephen King.

I would agree. I mean, I've said that for years. You know, I got a funny story. People have asked me whether I've met Stephen King, you know, and I haven't. But here's the closest I got, right? I had written the notebook and they're sending me on this massive book tour. So I go up to Bangor, Maine, right? Oh, boy, you're right there. I'm right there in his hometown. And so...

I asked some lady at the airport, where does he live? And she just gave me, oh, drive here, there. It's the house with the black gates with the gargoyles on the wrought iron fence. And so I go to his house and there it is. It's just a house. And then there's this little step over chain on the driveway, just a little hanging chain. And I said, well,

That obviously means they don't want anyone just walking up to their door. But I get my courage. I say, but I'm not just anybody. I just hit the bestseller list. He was my inspiration. So I step over that, go up to the door, and I'm about ready to knock. And there's a sign right by the door that says, Mr. and Mrs. King do not receive unannounced visitors.

And again, I just stand there kind of, what do I do now? I have a signed copy of the notebook, right? And so then I'm standing there trying to debate whether or not to knock. And I look up in the corner and there's this camera zeroed in on me.

And I say, OK, that's it. I leave a signed copy of the notebook. Don't knock. Head back to my car and go back to the hotel. That's the closest I ever got. So he so he somebody opens the door and there's a signed copy of the notebook. And there it is. And he's like, where did this come from? Right. That's the closest I ever got.

I think I was so with you. See, that's why you're a great storyteller. I was right with you on that story. And I was like, I hope he walked away. I hope he left a signed copy. I hope he just put the book down and walked away. I was like, yes! That is it, right? So, right. And years later, he wrote a wonderful book called Lisey's Story. And to me, he paid me just...

I don't know what he thought about it, but to me, it was a great honor because they don't do advanced reader copies for his books because people just sell them basically. And there's no reason. Everyone knows who he is. So when he wrote this book, it was a very meaningful book to him because he kind of modeled it from what I know, his sister and her, or I'm sorry, his wife, Tabitha, and her relationships with her sisters. So

So it was a very personal book to him. But when he was getting ready to launch this book, he came out, they decided to come out with an advanced reader copy. First one in years and years and years. And he asked two people to do a blurb for the book, to read in advance, have it on the hardcover, but also the advanced reader copy. And one of those was Michael Chabon, the Pulitzer Prize winner. Yeah. And then one of them's me. Yeah.

And I read this and I remember getting the advanced copy and the hardcover copy. And I'm like thinking, man, one of these things just doesn't belong. And obviously I knew it was me, but you know, I felt very flattered. How hard do you, do you sweat your, okay.

It's Stephen King. He's my hero. And you're wildly successful. You got nothing to prove to anybody. But still, you're like, all right. And I got Michael Chabon. His blurb is going to be here. I got to throw the fuck down for Stephen King, right? Oh, man. I will tell you, I worked long and hard on that.

blurb. I mean, of course, it was full of praise. And true, the book was absolutely phenomenal. And then I knew that he was asking me to do it to kind of reach into my readership, people who like personal stories and stories about relationships and

and a little, and a love story. So I also tried to do, look, I worked really hard on it. I was really proud on it. I have a library downstairs. I have like a, a little pub down in my basement area basically. And I put cool stuff down there. Yeah. Let me tell you, I got that book.

book there. He actually sent me a signed copy and it's, here's my blurb on it. So sick. It's one of the cool things in my pub room. So I, you'll appreciate this then I get, here's, I have many Stephen King stories because I did the stand for him and he wrote the script. He adapted his own book. So you wrote the script and was on set the entire time. It was amazing. Um,

So I spent a lot of time with him, went to bat. His Tabitha, his wife is a, an aficionado of basketball history. Interesting. Yeah. Super interesting. Um, two quick Stephen Kings. One is we're, we're shooting in Utah. We're going to see a jazz game. We park in a parking structure. We're walking for a long time. And he just says, parking garages are scary. I need to write a book about garage. And it just made me laugh. I was like, yeah, parking garages are scary.

And he's right. And then the other was just what kind of a guy he is.

You know the publicity tours they send you on, right? You do them for books. We do them for movies and TV. And you go – in the old days, you went city to city to city to city. Now you don't do it as much. But in the old – this was the mid to late 90s. I still do this, by the way. Yeah, city to city. So I was in New York, February, freezing. Right. You do the morning shows, which means you're up at 5 a.m. I roll up.

It's 5 a.m. It's snow. It's gray. There's a man standing on the sidewalk. I get out of the car to be ushered into ABC Studios. It's Steven. And he's just like, I just wanted to come by and say thanks. Oh, that's great. And it's just the most wonderful man. He's incredibly talented. I've said, you know, he can do things in writing that no other author can.

that I know of has ever done. This goes back to Shakespeare. I mean, he's written short stories, award-winning. He's written some of the best novellas ever written. He's written epic novels. He's written serial novels. He's written serialized novels like with The Green Mile. He's written teleplays, screenplays, books of poetry. He wrote the whole Gunslinger series. Yeah, look, you compare that to what I've done. I'm like, yeah, I've done all that except for all of it, right? I

I've just written my little novels, right? Or Grisham. Grisham too, right? We write the one thing. He's just got talent and I know he works at it and he's certainly honed his skill and works very hard. But there's nobody that's been able to do what he's done, in my opinion. Tell me about Dreamland.

Dreamland, my new novel came out, I think in October, hit number one. It's still on the bestseller list. Is that still a thrill for you? Or when you get the call, you go, it's number one, New York Times bestseller list. Okay.

Yeah. You know, yeah, it's exciting. You've got a lot of them. You've got a lot, you've got a good streak. I think I've had 18 or 19 of them or something like that. It's great when you can't remember. It is exciting. And then I'll, and then I'll tell like my house manager, Hey, the book hit number one and that'll be it. Right. It's very, it's very, but it is very exciting. You know, it comes down. I'm so very grateful to the readers and,

fans who buy the book, you know, and I never forget that they're, you know, they're paying their hard earned money to buy a story. So, uh, I'm incredibly grateful. It's still one of the reasons why I tour, because I actually get to go out, sign books and say thank you to people. And that, and that does mean a lot to me. Uh, yeah, I,

I think I'm at the phase, though, that if I didn't hit number one, I'd be more disappointed than I am excited if I do hit number one. I think, you know, first time, super, super exciting. But, you know, right now, I think I would be just well, I know I'd be disappointed. I'd be I'd be heartbroken if I didn't. Right. What is that? It's that kind of there are a couple of things in our business. Oscar winning actor.

New York Times bestselling author. Like once you get it, it's permanently, permanently in your description. And it's super cool. I mean –

And I say it as my meager two books that I wrote. New York Times bestselling author Rob Lowe to me sounds way better than Joan Rivers' E! Channel Golden Hanger winner, which I also – by the way, that's for Best Dressed on the Red Carpet just so you know. Oh, I love that. Hey, I love that. Yeah. Looking pretty stylish today, right? Yeah. I run the gamut. I've got a lot of awards and – but –

But yeah, it's New York Times bestselling. It's super, super cool. It is...

Is there a movie in it, do we think? Yeah, I have three movies in various stages. We're in the process of doing the film for the return, and so the script is done, pretty much looking for the director kind of thing. The Wish, I think we're getting close to finalizing on a writer, and so it's a three-film deal with Universal. So they have The Wish, Dreamland, and...

and the novel that I'm working on right now. So those are the three. So there are various stages. I think Dreamland will be a film. I think it'll be a very good film. It'll be something that people will want to watch. It's a story, and since you asked me about it, why it will also be a good film. It's got a very strong music element. So it's a story about Morgan and Colby. He's a farmer, small family farmer from North Carolina who lives

had dreams of making it in music. So he's down playing a couple of local beach bars, you know, for two or three weeks. It's really his first vacation from the farm in years. So he's using it as a vacation. Well, he happens to meet a young lady named Morgan who just graduated from college, majored in music at Indiana University, specialized in opera, just to increase the range of her voice. But she has dreams, of course, being the next

young female pop star, Taylor Swift or Olivia Rodrigo, whoever it is, right? Right. Well, these two meet down in Florida and well, it's a Nicholas Sparks book, right? And so they fall in love as they learn to, as they realize they share this passion and

They have so much in common and they work together writing music and this and that so that's part of the story And of course, I think that would work really well in film, right? You get Shawn Mendes or you get Harry Styles or you get Olivia Rodrigo and they're playing the roles Well, you're looking at bringing a number of fans in who just want to hear him sing right? Maybe some original songs that's part of the story in another part of the story We'll call it the B story

And you don't know how it's related to this story. It's a woman, she's on the run from an abusive situation with her young son, six years old, trying to establish a new life.

And it's all our fears and, uh-oh, it feels as though the bad guys are beginning to close in the evil ex or the evil husband that she's on the run from. So the stories go back and forth until you finally realize how they come together. Really? So I think it's got a lot of elements that people are— Those are so disparate, those stories. Until the end. But here's my question. Okay, listen, obviously you're who you are, so it probably doesn't even occur to you. But just for me, I go—

That's such a big gamble. Like you've, you've committed, that's a lot of literary real estate before, before they marry up. And it's, it's, it's, it's kind of a Hail Mary. Did, would you always know it was going to work?

I did. I did. Cause I knew, I knew the relationship and I knew the ending, right? Went early on in our conversations. I always know the ending. I always know how it's going to come. It was a, it was, it's a very tough book. Can't re I don't really talk about it too much because to, to kind of understand how they come together in this or that, it's a legitimate spoiler, but they do come together. And I was aware of it all along. And, um,

you know, it works really well. So it feels like one part of it is a Nicholas Sparks love story. There's the beach, you know, they're, they're great. They're singing to each other. It's just, you know, wonderful. Then the other part is a little feels like sleeping with the enemy, right? Like, how are they going to, and I will tell you, they sync up, um, in a way that's very moving and meaningful. Yeah.

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Now, let me ask you another thing. We didn't call it genre. We never did figure out a euphemism, but we know what we're talking about. In your area.

I find it's very hard to find directors who can handle that material, in my opinion. It is. It is. One tick to the right or left, it is a bad Hallmark movie. There is no question about that. A lot of that, and we work hard on finding the right directors, and we've done a good job, right? Yes. I think Adam Shankman did a great job with A Walk to Remember. Nick Cassavetes with The Notebook. And there is a lot of...

There is a lot of work that's put into the script. And then more importantly, when we're often, I'm a producer, I'm not always a producer. Sometimes I'm a producer. So I, you know, we're interviewing the directors always. I have input whether or not I'm credited with it. Right. And yeah, you, you, you run, you have to be really clear on the, the director's vision, because a lot of these films are in some ways made in

believe it or not, in the editing room. So if I was, so hey, you're in one of my films, and I'm like, okay, you're playing one of the characters. You say, you wrote the book, what do I do with this character? I'll say, okay, for this scene, give it a small range within the character that you've created in your mind. A little undersell, and maybe a little oversell. Because

When we start putting the movie together, we may realize, boy, the pacing of this, we need a little undersell here. Or no, no, no, we need to do a little oversell. However, and you know what I'm talking about. I absolutely know what you mean. And so that's exactly, that's the only note that's

I ever give to an actor who asks me, here's what's okay. That is a terrifying note. By the way, as a filmmaker, it's absolutely the right note. It's not even a question as an actor. It's a terrifying note because what you must have then is absolute trust.

in the people making the movie because you have, you're the guy playing it. So at the end of the day, you're the ultimate authority of what you're feeling, making that scene. And if you're not feeling the undersell that you just asked for, maybe you're feeling the oversell. You're being asked to deliver something that's your job to do, that you should do, that meanwhile, on that given day, you're not feeling.

And it is a really, really gnarly thing to do as an actor because in the wrong hands, you go and see it and you're like, I knew it. I fucking knew it. It's like that moment doesn't work. And do you know what I'm saying? So that is, I do, but it's super, it's, it's super smart. You need to have your options in the editing room. You've got to have the one where he's like, yippee, when he sees her and the other one where he's like, Oh, I'm not sure he even likes her. You got to have it. You have to. And, and,

Sorry, I didn't even think about that. I was like, you know, I'll keep that in mind the next time I give that note. Thank you for letting me know, but it's very true. The other thing that we've been real blessed on, and I think this would make that particular thing easier, is that our sets have been very collegial. These are the kind of films that just kind of build toward, you know, I don't have...

Yes, I've had some bad guys, but mostly they're not necessarily bad. They're just flawed. And so everyone's – you're not –

It leads to a good vibe on set, right? Even on late days or an early morning, you're like, okay, this is it. And when we're working with directors, you know, we think about that too. And certainly more the more films I did. You know, early on, I didn't know. I didn't know anything. Now I know. Back then I didn't. What are your favorite...

Well, we kind of did Ordinary People and we did Brian's Song. But outside of that, what do you think you're – what's the book into a movie you wish you had done?

Is there one? Sure. Jurassic Park. How about Harry Potter, right? Then you'd be talking to me and I'd be having a Mai Tai at noon or one o'clock in the afternoon kicking back, right? Sure. I love music as much as I love books. And I had on the show, I had Jan Winner.

Okay.

Margaritaville. Sure. Right? It's like, oh, Margaritaville housing developments, Margaritaville margarita mix, Margaritaville books, Margaritaville restaurants. Sure. A really good one, let's say Jaws, right? If you read Jaws, it ended up being a phenomenal film and it was a phenomenal book. But if you read the book, it's a lot about the shark's point of view. And you're like- I remember.

the opening paragraph of Jaws. Sure. Because it's so intense. It's like he

he turned slightly to the left off of, and it's literally, it's the shark swimming in the current. Exactly. It's amazing. Absolutely. And, you know, I thought, of course, we're talking Steven Spielberg here, true genius, you know, the, the Stephen King of the film world or whatever. Right. Okay. And of course he pulled it off and, you know, but you know, you think of some of those iconic films, uh,

you know, hey, look, The Notebook, right? I mean, come on, you know, that, I mean, it's parodied, you know, it ends up quotes in television shows, movies, you know. Iconic. It's just there. And of course, I'm also the first to say, you know, thank goodness for the director, Nick Cassavetes, and the cast, and, you know, Lynn Harrison, Mark Johnson, the producers, right? Man, you know, you know,

They did a fabulous, fabulous job. And it is different than the novel, of course, but it's its own thing. When you get the chemistry, chemistry is so hard, as you know, but when you get the right couple chemistry, it literally is explosive. It literally is. And that was one of them. Those two, at that moment, and they've gone on to have great careers, obviously, but...

there's just something about,

You just sit back and let it, it's like fusion. You just sit back and let it happen and count your lucky stars because it does not happen. That is what I do, right? You know, people ask, you know, it's funny. You know, when you hear, if you're an author, right? You hear, hey, what's your favorite? I say, what's your favorite book? Oh, I love The Notebook. What's your favorite movie? The Notebook. And really what that means is, I guess for the last 25 years, I've been going downhill. But-

But at the same time, golly, you know, I'm proud of it, right? I did it, right? Not everybody gets an iconic film out of their, you know, Mario Puzo, right? He wins the Pulitzer and...

you know, the Academy Award best actor, you know, Silence of the Lambs, right? You want to talk about a phenomenal book by Thomas Harris, and then you have this Academy Award winning film. I mean, you know, there have been some amazing, amazing,

novel to film adaptations. And, you know, I think the single thread that has it in common is that the team behind the film is a really good team for that particular project, right? Good director, good cast, good chemistry, everything just kind of

You know, for whatever it worked. No, it's funny when you look at those and the any other example you could come up, come up with. You're right. It's insane. Every box is double, triple checked. Director. Check, check, check. Actress. Check, check, check. Smart producer. Check. And Mark Johnson. I've known. I mean, I know reputationally for years and years. He's I mean, he's Barry Levinson's producer forever. Right. I mean, he's brilliant, brilliant man.

I mean, he's, you know, I've had the good fortune to work with wonderful producers, Denise Novy, Marty Bowen, Marty Bowen, right? He's over there at Temple Hill and all they do is toss out great stuff. I think Marty Bowen might've been my agent at one point in my life. He was, he was, he was an agent at UTA, right? He was, then he was. And brilliant.

I wish you more and more and more success. It would be hard to be more successful. But I've had such a great talk talking to you because, again, I'm so envious. First of all, I'm envious you're sitting in North Carolina. I'm envious that your job is to sit and ponder and you're highly compensated for it. And I'm envious that you provide good scripts for actors who want to go work on good scripts like me. Absolutely. Hey, you're welcome. Thank you. And thank you.

Wow. So fun. I'm so inspired. I'm going to go write 2000 words today. Here's the thing, though. I forgot to ask. God darn it. He wrote he I never learned how to type. I can't type.

Well, I can't type, but it's so slow that then the idea has gone out of my head. So I write longhand. Maybe you can give me the latest version of Mavis Beacon teaches typing. I had taping class in the seventh grade, and all I remember from it is J-K-L-S-E-M. That's all I remember. I was not a good student. Anyway, you know what time it is. It's time to check 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, Rob, this is Christy from Alaska. I noticed on your Instagram that you have a really cute little Jack Russell Terrier, and we have two Jack Russell Terriers who keep life very interesting. You may have just heard one bark. I was just curious, knowing that you're a dog person, if you have done any acting with dogs or any other type of animal, and if so, do you have any stories to share about that? Love the podcast. Thanks.

Well, thank you. And it just so happens that I have a movie on Netflix called Dog Gone. And it's the true story of a family's beloved dog who goes missing on the Appalachian Trail. And in the process of trying to find their dog, the family comes to terms with their own dynamics. And it's

And it's super like gives you the feels. I mean, it's if you're a dog person, forget it. You're done. You're done. So, right. It's everything. It's kind of everything you want. It's super like you're going to be all warm and cuddly. And it turns out, as we released the movie on Netflix, people were so interested in it, but they were super afraid that the dog was going to die. And.

And I was like, well, that's part of the story. The tension of that, isn't it? Like, no, people are too freaked out that a dog is going to die. So the dog doesn't die. OK, I'd prefer it if you didn't know. But clearly I know as a woman with two amazing Jack Russell's, you don't want to watch a movie when a dog dies. So it doesn't. And we had two dogs trained with different behaviors. They look exactly alike.

One was the sort of playful dog who would do the tricks. And the other dog was the dog that you knew was going to sit, stay, lie down, be super calm whenever you needed it. And they were lovely. God, they were so beautiful and great. And acting with pets is they say don't act with children.

Or dogs. That's a famous Hollywood thing. Because it's hard. You know, they don't always want to come to the set. They don't always listen. They're dogs and kids. This dog was like Daniel Day-Lewis.

A total, both dogs, total pros. So Dog Gone, you're going to love it on Netflix now. And thanks for the call. Thanks for listening. Next week, some super good stuff coming again. And don't forget to send this to other folks. You know, give us a good review on Apple. All the things I usually say to you guys. And you guys are very good. You usually listen and you do what I say. And I got to tell you, it makes me super happy. Anyway, thank you for taking time out of your day and being with us. And we'll 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 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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