"Jordan Peele"
58:17 Share

Hey guys, you guys have heard of ASMR, right? So, Ed, do we know what ASMR stands for? What's the deal with it? ASMR is when you talk really slow. Does it feel like I'm everywhere in your head? Can we guess what the acronym is? Yeah, sure. A cute sound. I need to ask you again. Does it feel like I'm just everywhere? Because I am in your head. I am you. I am all of you. So a cute sound. Jason, close your eyes. Close your eyes. Look, it's me.

I'm in here with you. I'm going to go upstairs and I'm going to turn off your brain.

Oh my God. How did you get in here? Okay. I think we got it. We got it. Rob wants out. Welcome to Smurlus. Smurlus. Smurlus. Smurlus. Smurlus. Smurlus.

So guys, I'm sorry I'm late. Start with a reason why you're not wearing a hat. Why we got to look at what we're... Is Scavo on holiday? What's going on with Scavo? By the way, did I tell you I met Scavo? I didn't get a schedule on Scavo. Did we talk last time about that I met Scavo? No. No.

No, but I know that you did. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. So I was in there getting this done to my head. Oh, it looks good, by the way, Jay. I paid for it. Believe it. It looks really good. Stop it. It does. The light is better. And then there was Skevo. And Skevo, like, is not nearly as... God, I've got to say this kindly. Yeah.

The name will point you in a certain direction of anticipation. And here's this Greek god. And he's beautifully short of that. Yeah. Yeah, he's a pretty cool dude. Okay, so Sean, sorry you're late today because... I was one minute late. I'm not making this up. I literally just went to the mail and something was dropped over the fence and it's for Scotty and it's from this company.

Bare bottom. B-E-A-R-B-O-T-T-O-L-M. It literally describes him in two words. A bare bottom clothing. He's a bear and he's a bottom. Listen, this is great to know. I swear to God, I just picked it up in the mail. Does it say noisy on the other side? Does it say power? It says sloppy. So what does bare bottom make for clothing? I don't know. Should I open it? Oh, they're nice. Oh, they're like shorts. Oh, they're just shorts. They're shorts. Um...

I would like to say the one thing I did think about, and we rarely do think of anything to say on this show, non-shocker, is how much this is not working for me, Will, you spending your summer out of town. I know. I don't get it. I mean, I get you've got a lot of money and people with a lot of money need to figure out ways to spend it, and you found one there. But this isn't working for...

For me. Well, like, Jay and I are going to the Dodgers game tonight. Yeah, and like, you should be there. I was invited to go with you guys. Obviously, you know that. And I would love to go with you. But who is this good for? I bet you it weirds the kids out. The dogs probably all freaked out. What's this house?

Well, the kids were missing you. The kids love it. And, you know, the kids love being out here. And, you know, obviously I used to live in New York. And so I sold my apartment and I bought a house out at the beach and

which is why I'm here, and I like it out here. Thank God you're not saying Long Island anymore. I mean, let's stop hiding. You live in the Hamptons. Yeah, listen. How many Range Rovers are in the driveway? Zero. Huh. You got those in L.A.? All GMCs. They're all GMCs. Huh.

Why? Because they're professional grade? Well, we are professional grade, sure. Sure. I got a new AT4X on its way. It's a beautiful pickup truck from TMC. I saw pictures of that. It's good looking. It's real handsome. I'm coming out there in two weeks. It's got a multi-pro tailgate. Now, you're coming out in two weeks, Sean. Yes, that's what I just said. How long are you guys coming for? One night. One night. What night is it?

I don't remember. Just one night? I don't understand. Yeah, well... Oh, because then you're flying to come see me. That's right. And where are you going to spend seven nights with me? Well, maybe like four. Really? Are you going to cut it short? Yeah, because we're going to get a tour of NASA in Florida first before I see you. And then you're going to go to the Bahamas and do a tour of NASA.

Wonderful, Will. Will! So tight. That's fantastic. Really tight. I know. I know. Thank you, guys. Are we rolling, guys? Did you get any of that? I love getting instant feedback. Anyway. You want to get to it? Let's get to it. Let's get to it. You want to get to it? Let's get to it. Because I think you're going to be happy. Okay? Today, we have a man who is half of a famous comedy duo. He's been educated by the smart folks at Sarah Lawrence. He's performed at Second City in Chicago, Sean.

He starred in two big TV shows, probably more, just not good at research, produced a few of them, probably more, not good at research. He's voiced characters in multiple animated hit films, but you know him and love him for his recent work behind the camera as a writer, producer, and badass director of three incredible films, two of which we've seen. These have yielded four Academy Award nominations and one win. He

His new film will undoubtedly add to all of that because it looks triple good. Or as the kids like to say, dope. Which rhymes with nope, which is the name of the film. Here's Jordan Peele. No way. God, look at that. No one's ever taken a bow, you guys. Wow.

Wow. That's next level. Yes. You took a bow like the opposite way. Your head went way up. I took a bow on an audio podcast. Jordan, I was just talking about you today. Guys, don't choke the puppy, all right? Just ease off. Back off, back off. I was just talking about him today. I had to just say that. Here I am in the flesh. We're very, I'm very excited that you're here. This is so exciting. It's so exciting to meet you.

I, you know, we're going to get to it, but it's like the number one movie I'm most excited to see out of anything. I watched the trailer a half a dozen times. Yeah, I've seen the trailer a million times. Well, that's fantastic. I've seen the clicks that you've put on the YouTube trailer. He's got a lock on our IP address. I'm so excited for it. Thank you. While we're talking about the trailer here, do you cut your own trailers?

Um, or do you have meaningful consultation? I love that phrase. Um, or do you let the fine folks at universal get it all done and vendor that, that stuff out? Cause the trailers for your films are, are equally incredible. Uh,

You can't use vendor as a verb. Don't say vendor that stuff out. That's one of the grossest things. You can, can't you? No, but you just tried to slide it in there and it's one of the most disgusting things in a fucking long list of just... Sorry, guys. Can I talk to you for a second? Yes, of course. Guys, whenever you're ready, I can... Hey, man, we're back. We're back. So we're talking trailers? Did you get your hands on that at all?

Well, yeah, man. Look, I think a lot of directors are envious of the trailers that I get to put out, and I have to give Universal Marketing just a lot of credit. They bring just great work, and they're collaborative. We've had success from Get Out. Right. So they'll let you poke around.

Oh, yeah. They'll let me poke around. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They'll let me poke around. In the very beginning, you know, we had to make some strong decisions, like, you know, in Get Out, you know, the whole question of do you let out that rose, that the evil white girl, that the white girl is evil. Do you let that out? Is that the thing that's going to bring people? Okay, well, now I have to see the evil white girl movie. And so we together chose not to do that, and we made the right choice, I think.

But it meant that you couldn't really put a certain section of the film in the materials, right? Yeah, that's right. Yeah, so it kind of, but it was worth it because, I mean, that was the right move. That's a huge, huge thing. It was the right move. You know, Get Out is also one of my favorite movies of all time. Well, thank you. And I love it, so I've seen it a million times.

No, you haven't. There's no way. That's impossible. I'm starting to. No, it's fine. But if that number just pops up. Yeah, that number is a fucking... Yeah, no, we have it on record. We have it on record. So, but wait, did you... That was your first movie you ever directed? First movie ever? First movie ever. And how did that happen? Because...

It's flawless. Oh, stop. And he wins an Academy Award for writing it. I know. You guys. It's too much. Did you have a sit down with yourself and say, you sit down with Chelsea probably and say, now, baby, what you're probably going to witness for the next 20, 30 years is just a rapid descent from the peak of the, like, how could it ever get better? Were you prepared for just like,

it's too much too soon. And then you went ahead and doubled it with us, probably tripled it with, I mean, just look at it though. Well, thank you. No, I mean, yeah, dude, it was, it was so much pressure. And yet at the same time, you know, so many opportunities opened up because of that thing. And literally the opportunity to say, okay, what story, you know, to be able to write

Something knowing it's going to get made is a whole different thing. And that it's got to be at least as good because they're going to be waiting for you to be a one hit wonder. And then like all of that pressure to still let your creativity come through without having it be muted or strangled by that pressure. How did you how did you push through that?

You know, you embrace the risk that only you can take, you know, because that's really the position you're at. You have more leeway. So you have to take a big gobble of risk and do something you're kind of not supposed to do each time. Yeah.

And that was us. And that was us to me at the time. Big swing and you nailed it. Thank you, man. Thank you. I'm so proud of these movies. I'm so proud of this movie I'm about to unleash on the world. When does it come out? When does it come out? It comes out the 22nd. 22nd of July. So this might be right around that time. Jordan, I want to say, let me ask you this question. You...

You know, obviously, Key & Peele was, I think, one of the most trailblazing TV shows of the last 25 years. For sure. You guys wrote some unbelievable sketches on that show that are still memorable, that I still go and look at today. And...

I'm not one of those people who constantly goes like, "Hey," you know, brings up bits that other people do for whatever reason, but your sketches from that show, for me, have been a touchstone of really funny, really original. I love-- I mean, I'm not unique in that way, but I love really original comedy, and you guys did incredible original comedy. And how much writing of that

do you think prepared you for this next chapter that you're in now? Writing a sketch, 'cause it's such a discipline, right? - Yes. - 'Cause I think all of us were like, we love you from, just to piggyback on what Will says, we all obviously love you from Key & Peele and everything you've done before Get Out. So when Get Out came out, we're like, wait, what? - But it's not surprising 'cause you wrote so many great sketches. - No, not the talent. - Was that like a training ground, do you think? Did that sort of give you a kind of discipline? - To be good fast?

Yeah, I mean, fuck, yeah, yeah. You know, the sketch to me is about a couple of things that I think the movies are also about. And with sketch, you get this... One of the things you get is a great training ground for just that, getting to sort of push the boundaries and understand audience. And you get to commit to something just, you know, for three minutes at a time. And sometimes you take too big a swing, sometimes you don't take big enough a swing, but you get...

calibrated in that whole, in what to swing for, right? And so I think a lot of what I think makes one of my movies, one of my movies is that, you know, from the early stages and every stage through, I am trying to think of how can that, how can I take a risk? What is the right risk to take here? Because, you know,

That's what people need. That's what people really deserve is something that's fucking sketchy to do and to pull off and to convince a studio to let you do. Has to be that. Well, like a lot of your sketches, you guys would take a kernel of an idea and you would keep doubling down on it and keep heightening it

in a way that was like, and you were like, oh, fuck these guys. Oh, and now they're heightening it again, which is just the nature of really good comedy. Yeah, I mean. Right? Well, this is you guys. You know, these are the rules that you guys fucking do every day. You know these things. And yeah, it felt a bit, there was a vacuum there for a minute where it felt like,

you know, we've had these great sketch shows that come along and just in living color and Mr. Show Chappelle, you know, you have these moments where these things happen. That's different. Um,

And it hadn't happened for a while. So then you get into writing Get Out, which is just comes, you know, just absolute like a freight train. Just, man, it just hits everybody. And it just really becomes just part of the... For a while there, it was the it thing culturally. And that movie really grabbed people. And again, though, I was going to say, you kind of use the same principles, right? Like you just kept...

doubling down on the idea and you kept pushing it out further. You talked about that before, like, "How far can I push this idea? What more can I do?" And surprise people. I think that's it. It's the element of surprise. Yeah, how did you think-- I mean, you've been asked this a million times, and forgive me, I don't know the answer, but every time I watch Get Out, and like I said, one million times, how did you think-- I mean, it's such a bizarre, brilliant concept. Where'd you get the idea?

The idea, you know, honestly, it's just, it's life, right? I mean, there's this... That there's this group of wealthy people that buy body parts. I mean, it's so nuts. Yeah, well...

The whole thing started with just that feeling, okay? If I can capture a feeling, a horror, a fear that I haven't seen bottled in a film before, if I can identify that fear, I can make a horror movie out of it because it's there, right? Just the way in sketch comedy, if one thing you say can get a laugh, I know all you guys...

If you get a laugh once, you can get it a million times and you can keep getting it. You know how to do that. Just say sashimi, yeah. A million times, yeah. And then, same kind of thing with Howard. I know this nugget of, and this fear of being in the most, the black guy in a white space where you're feeling the attention and it's not good. Right, exactly.

Even if it feels – even if it's supposed to feel good and not good. And it's this thing that I know that everyone recognizes in their own way. But – so anyway, so it started with like that party sequence in a way was like, okay, that's the movie. But there's a – there's an element to what you do that you would assume could only really –

happen after a lot of practice and a lot of exposure to the filmmaking process and that is this ability to create an unsettling environment and there's

there's a camera component to that. There's a, there's a sonic component to that, an editorial pace to that. There's a lighting component to that. Where did you, where did you find all of that and learn all of that? I mean, right out of the gate and get out the scene on the street at night, like there was so much patience that you, uh, showed in. It was like, I'm already nervous out of my mind because things aren't, I think, was it a one-er? I think the, I mean,

I mean, yeah. One shot for Tracy. Where do you get off doing that? Tracy, if you're paying attention, it's one shot. Right out of the gate, were you encouraged by a DP that you hired? Or is it just, you're just a baller? Tracy, I know this question is long. Are you there? Are you still with us, Tracy? Yeah.

DP is drinking. Is that what, you talk about Tracy when some kind of business jargon is dropped? There's that, but then there's also he's apologizing for my long-winded questions, which I am prone to do. Sean's sister lives in Wisconsin, and her name is Tracy, and so we always explain to Tracy. DP means cinematographer, and one-er is without cutting. DP can mean cinematographer. Yeah.

Tracy, look up that shit yourself. Tracy, look it up. So where do you get all of this filmmaking talent is probably the better economical way to ask it. Thank you. What a lovely question. It's watching movies. It's watching movies. And by the way, like, I started as a puppeteer, as what I went to college thinking I was going to do something like that. That's crazy. Come on, come on. What? Yeah, this totally, you know, on this sort of thankless level

art form that I thought was kind of beautiful and special. Can't really fail at it. But the whole notion is, you know, this illusion, right? Right. And then since then, I've just, I've acted, I've, you know, and written. In Key & Peele, I've done a lot. I just had a great...

experience in the other pieces. Wait, where did you start puppeteering? Puppeteering seems so hard because you have to keep your arms up. Or down. It doesn't matter. Just elevate yourself and you can hang them down a little bit, Sean. Sorry, Jordan. Where did you start? Where was that going on, Jordan? I don't even know where you grew up. When I went to Sarah Lawrence, my kind of like

my cheeky liberal arts college answer to what my major was, was I'm a puppeteer. Right, amazing. That's so cool. Sculpture, theater classes. You know, I was like, I really...

Real bohemian motherfuckin' puppeteer at Sarah Lawrence. Puppeteer at Sarah Lawrence, my dude. That's all the girls needed to hear, right? Yeah. He's a fuckin' what? He's a what? Yeah. He does what with his hands? But where does the confidence come to trust that you're gonna be able to transition an audience from something that seems fairly normal into something that is abnormal?

You obviously know how to do that in comedy, right? Because you got to sort of present as just, well, we're just you. And then we do something that's a little bit on, that's surprising. And then there's the surprise that comes with the laugh. Is it the same kind of thing with doing horror? Is it the same kind of calculation? What? Oh, horror. Yes, yes, yeah. Yeah, with horror. It is connected. And, you know, I know you...

I know you play around with this in your own work. There's a rhythm. I always find that horror and comedy are sort of baked into one another because it's about grounding and absurdity as best as possible. Both is taking a swing to something that is either going to make you fucking terrified or make you absurd in some way and making it real.

And the difference can be the difference between two pieces of music. I was just going to let you know, I don't know if you know this, because I don't know if you know that I'm Canadian and they changed your movie, the title, Get Out, in Canada. They called it Get Out. Oh, good. That's great. Guys, again, Rob Bennett, are you guys rolling on all this stuff? They're not going to cut that out, you dick. What do you think?

No, no, I just want to make sure we got that. I want to make sure we got that. Do they spell it two O's and a T, Will, just to finish the joke? Oh, sorry. Jason, why don't you ask Jordan about the lighting packages, you fucking dick. Now, listen. Here we come. I don't know what I was saying. I don't know what I was... That's okay. We don't either. And we will be right back. And now, back to the show.

Now, when you come up with these original ideas, because none of them are like, it's incredible premises and concepts. Is it because...

Donna Langley and Peter Kramer are so darn smart and courageous at Universal that they're saying, yeah, great, go. Or are you having to do a bunch of tricks to talk them into, don't worry, this is going to be commercial. The real questions. Yeah. I mean, how do you, they're original ideas and you're getting this major studio to fund, you know, something that's not kind of boilerplate concept. I had the same question.

You know, we've had a couple of situations where they've taken on the risk and it's paid off.

You know, for this one, I felt very, very trusted. And, you know, the way I talk to those guys is, I sound, what is my, you hear this? You sound great. You sound fucking cool. You're not going to sell pickup trucks like Will Arnett, but. No, you sound raspy. I sound like Wheezy. That's good. Wheezy. Yeah.

But, I mean, they gave me a lot of leeway to do some crazy shit in the movie. But you're also – there's these highbrow themes underneath all of this sticky, you know, fun popcorn stuff too. Like, I mean, you're doing it all. I just –

God damn. Thanks, man. How does it happen? I mean, you're a kid. Jason. How old's your kid? Jason, real quick. Drill? Is there too much drill? No, your jealousy's showing. Right there, your jealousy's showing. No, it's admiration. Jealousy comes out the other side. I was going to ask you about Chelsea. So I know Chelsea as well. How? How?

How did you guys, how did you and Chelsea meet? Peretti listener. We met on the internet. I just, I DM'd her after I heard her on a podcast. I saw her do some stand-up, and I basically DM'd her. No way. Yeah. Oh, that's cool. Sometimes it works.

Sometimes the blood's not the same. It works a lot, actually. Blow it up, pareti on the straight DMs. Now, can you tell yet how old, you have a young boy or girl? I got a boy named Bo, he's five. Bo. Now, can we tell yet whether he's a smart one or a dumb one? He's, no, he's very smart. Is he? He's a reader. Is he? Yeah, he's a brilliant, brilliant young man. Wow, he's smarter than Jason already. Yeah.

Um, but, um, you know, he, we, I'm sure we share some faults. Yeah. Let's put it that way. His faults, I realized. Tell me what you're bad at. What am I shit at? I mean, I'm really bad at, I mean, keeping things clean, you know, I just see somebody and just being, uh, and spacing out, you know, to the, to the bane of my, um, my wife's existence. Um. You'll just check out?

Yeah, and I'll try and, you know, so it's one of these things, you're talking to your son, just bow, bow, bow, bow, bow, bow, and just nothing, nothing. And I realize I'll do the same thing. You know, I realize he'll be saying dad 10 times and I'm like in my own shit. Maybe that's just concentration and that's focus and that's discipline. Well, that's what I think is happening. I understand that. I had Alessandro just told me very recently that like –

I forget what it was. Now I can't even remember again what it was. But I'd asked her something and she goes, I've told you the answer to this like four times in the last 24 hours. Was it her last name? I'm the same way. Why are we all that? Why are we all that way? This is actors, motherfucker. We're all dumbass. Yeah, we're all inside our head. My memory works just for learning lines. That's it.

Okay, wait, hold on a second. Because I don't want to get, I don't know how much time we have. I mean, I just want to respond to Jason. Yes, sir. On your very nice things that you said. But I want to say, I don't know how much it's stressed, but you are the first. Guys, let him finish. This sounds like it might be a compliment.

You are the first fucking dry delivery comedy guy I've ever seen in my life. I've ever seen in my life. First dry. I've never seen it before. I'm talking about fucking Hogan. Wow. Hogan family. That's going back a bit.

Talking about seeing, yeah, I'm not, bro, we're talking about Hogan, okay? This is coming out of like, right, this is coming out of an Alex P. Keaton sort of universe where you got this, you know, little man, Michael Jag, jump around. Yeah. But you came in with this cadence that-

I swear. It's the best. Has it ever happened before? Unmatched. Jordan, it's so fucking good. JB's, let's go on JB, a little compliment thing. The motherfuckers copied. And motherfuckers came and copied, Jason. They all copied him. Motherfuckers came and copied that shit. First of all, he and Jason invented, really? When that became a big thing, I'm telling you. And remember how mad I got about that? Because I was like, that's fucking crazy.

And I'd see these motherfuckers doing it on other shows and doing it as punchlines in commercials. And they're like, really? And I'm like, that's... Bateman fucking invented it. And we did it on Arrested because I was copying him. I was copying him. Meanwhile, here's the other thing. When I first met Jason, we were doing the pilot for Arrested Development. This is one of my favorite...

It's such a dumb joke. But we're in this rehearsal hall, and this guy comes in. He's a crew guy, and he's covered in tats, the neck, hands, everything just covered. And he walked in, like, right in front of us and kind of, like, started talking to somebody. And Jason, full volume, because he wasn't new, that the guy wouldn't know what he was saying. And Jason just turns to me and goes, who's your top dog? Who's your tippy? Yeah.

And I fucking, I fell to the ground. I was crying. Yeah. I've just, I've been trying to do Bill Murray my whole life, right? Or John Cleese or Ben Stiller. It didn't hit like that. It didn't hit like that.

You're very, very nice. Didn't hit like no money. I never thought it was quite enough, so I took it and just really notched it up. You did. You did. You put tap shoes on it. Yeah, it can't. Yeah, I put tap shoes on. And I didn't think, no, it's not going to read. It's not going to read. So I just really hit the back of the room with that. Oh.

But it is. It's worthy of nothing. Yes. You're very nice. Thank you. You had mentioned that a lot of the inspiration for not only Get Out, but Nope and all of your stuff is from movies you've seen. What are your inspirations? What movies do you draw upon and are stuck in your head as inspirations?

Yeah, who's done it really, really well that you're dying to do it as good as? I would say you have no equal, but like who's been pulling you? Hopefully this is a compliment, but just from the trailer of Nope, I'm like, oh, it's very M. Night. But now I go, oh, it's very Jordan Peele.

Oh, yeah. Well, thank you. I'm a big M. Night fan. Yeah. I think he's one of the greats. I love... I'm kind of a... It's kind of a boring answer because I like Kubrick and Spielberg. Steven Spielberg. Hitchcock. That's the one. Yeah. That's the one. And Tito. No, I know. I'm joking. I'm being glib, but I like when people go, I don't know. For me, I like the Beatles. Oh, do you? Oh, you like the Beatles? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, that's me. While we're here, my favorite Sean Hayes story, did not know Beatles was spelled B-E-A-T. No, by the way. Just a favorite. By the way, penis, lots of people comment also agreed with me. Those are pity tweets. Wait, I didn't know we were calling Bateman penis. I didn't even know that that was a thing. They're pity tweets. Wait, wait. So, sorry. So, you like Spielberg and you like...

Kubrick and... Cinematic stuff. Now that you put it like that, fucking well, I like fucking Jean. Yeah. No, no, no. I'm with you. By the way, I'm fucking with you. So I'm just... Yeah. While we're there at the cinematic titans like those guys, can you just indulge me for one second before we lose the audience about your pursuit and landing of Hoyta?

Oh, my gosh. Where that came from. This is a cinematographer. Like, this guy's just nailed. How do you get... Well, I'll tell you how you get him. You make two great movies. But, like, was it as incredible as you thought it might be? Like, I would imagine it would be? Oh, different level, right? So, I mean, I've worked with great cinematographers. I've got...

I've gotten very lucky in all of my films. I mean, with Hoyt, I really got a guy who's done it all. Is that how you say it? Hoyt? It'd be said Hoyt, Hoyta, Hoyta van Hoytema. You can say it either way. I say it either way. I hope he's not angry. Just never known. He's a, he's, he's an absolute beast. I mean, he's just, and, and what, what we were able to do with this movie is, is push ground in ways that,

I don't even really want to talk about because I don't want to take some of the experience from the audience. But, you know, we push technology with infrared cameras. Wow. And he's just, yeah. So we got on this, it was just like, it's just exactly what you want as a director. Like this adventure where you're in over your head, but you've got this salt of the earth experience.

Fucking DP who knows it all, who's like, this guy's this Dutch guy, this jolly Dutch guy with his beard. And he's like, hey, it's going to be all right. We're going to figure this out. By the way, that's a good Dutch accent. That's fucking great. Thank you. Yeah, I just like, I don't know, how do you gather when you have such a specific and unique...

flavor to your films. How are you able to crew that and cast that appropriately to where everybody is as crafty and clever as you are? Or do you just vendor it? Do you vendor it? Because I have Apple Pay, but I'll take Venmo.

Um, it's, I mean, you know, the thing, it's like the, the team building is the thing. If you get that part, right. It's, it re it really flows. But, um, yeah, you, uh, you just talk to people who, uh, for me, I'm talking to people who are inspired by the idea of,

in a way that it's not, you know, in every department, it's not going to be me telling, saying, this is what goes. It's going to be me about the collaboration between me and this person. So if I'm excited about what they're excited about, and maybe they're excited about something that I didn't even know to be excited about. Letting them do their thing. We're going in that direction together. Yeah. Did you, did you, so you, you touched on something really briefly in there when you were talking. You said that, that you don't want to take away from people's experience. And I,

I don't know if I've had this experience myself. I remember doing, answering something, questions about when we were doing BoJack Horseman a few years ago. And I kind of didn't want to be too much of a dick about it. And I said, you know, I feel like sometimes there's too much emphasis on, you know, how the sausage is made and not enough enjoying of the sausage.

And I kind of got that feeling when you said that, that it's like, look, I could talk ad nauseum about how I made this film and what kind of cameras and what kind of shots we did, but you didn't do make the film so that you could explain that to the audience. You did all that shit and hopefully it's seamless and they don't know what that is and they just...

They experience it. Is that right? That's right. And, you know, the only reason I bring it up is to give Hoyt his props. No, you didn't bring it up. I did, yeah. I'm dorking out on this stuff. Yeah. Fair enough. But, yeah, I mean, the only reason I even tell you that there was some really interesting ground pushed at all is just so you know, like, yeah, to answer that question, he's a real master at it.

Yeah, and again, you didn't bring it up, and obviously this is what we do, and so we're asking the questions because we are, and Jason's interested, and our audience is too, and Sean and I are really interested. But I just mean more generally, do you feel sometimes like you wish that you didn't have to answer questions about it and just let the work speak for itself? Does that ever...

Is that ever something that kind of annoys you or gets in the way? You know, I think it can get in the way. And it was an interesting experience because I think with Get Out, you know, it... You know, Get Out, you know, it had a lot of success, but it was also...

There was a lot, I was talking about it a lot. Yeah. And sort of trying to help that audience put together the dots on it. And I don't know if it needed that, maybe not, you know, in the long run. But to get people to see it and, you know, my entry point into film was sort of telling people what I did. Right. You know, when it got to us, you know, all of a sudden we have something that is a bit of a vaguer notion of how to discuss something.

And so I felt like the responsibility to that film was to not –

sort of take the audience through it, but to let them experience it more. You know, I think with this film, I'm going to approach it letting the film lead a bit, but, you know, I do want the audience to know it was about spectacle and that it was about the theatrical experience in its core. And this idea of, I felt like, all right, I've got this position, I've got this responsibility

to try and do that thing where I make some original shit that's just a fucking spectacle. The title cannot be beaten. There's no better title for any film ever. Can you tell us a little bit, like, just from a fan's point of view, like I am, like, can you tell us a little bit about Nope? Like, can you tell us what the word Nope means in the movie or what we're looking at in that trailer that they're looking at? Any kind of exciting anything? Nope.

Yeah, I mean, look, it's the, it's a, I'll say this, it's a word that's said a lot in the movie. And it generally is something that, you know, part of the notion of this movie is like, we got a big budget flying saucer movie with black people in the lead. That to me in itself is,

You know, there's no need to really dig further in terms of how to push the conversation than to just fucking do it, right? That should just be on the one sheet, by the way. That's right. I mean, it kind of is. It's like the nope part of it is...

I think an acknowledgement that it is a different movie. You can't just make the same movie. And there is an experience that people want to see deal with this shit as well.

And, you know, I and I would also say it's a film that feels like it's a it's a concept in a way. But, you know, there's there there is also an acronym to it that I think a lot of people online have sort of pieced together. Well, I think I know what it is. You want to guess? You go for it. I guess. And you don't have to say yes or no. Not of Planet Earth.

Yeah. Whoa. Yeah. Did you just know that, Will? Yeah, I just guessed it. You're not that smart. Yeah, I am. I thought you were going to say something funny and wrong. Not a planet Earth is pretty good. But that was not funny and right. Wait, how in the world did you, I would have never. That's got to be it. You fucking idiot. All right. Well, that's the end of the interview. Thanks, Will. I don't need to see the end of it. No, I just guessed it.

I'm good at wordle and quirtle and octurtle. That's pretty wild. Yeah, you sure are for this guy. That's really good. All right, now, because of getting back to sort of your taste, your radar for uniqueness and originality, what are you watching? What are you reading? I was going to ask the same. Who are you talking to that keeps that sharp, that keeps you kind of not postmodern, but knowing where the next idea is going to come from that's going to make the last idea seem not so original?

It's a great question. I mean, there's so much immersion into my own, up my own ass. Yeah. That it's hard to... You say you smoke a lot of weed. Is that what you're going to say? It's as simple as just getting the right strain of indica. Well, oh, and I see what you're saying. Even when I'm fucking, well, yes. First of all, yes. When I'm coming up with shit, that is kind of an important piece of the puzzle. You know, I like anime. Yeah.

Because anime is just high concept...

World building that is pulled off so well. There's these big swings and there's there's That it's a it's a great way to free yourself and say look you can tell a fucking crazy Story and people do pull that shit off right? You know there are storytellers in the world that are pulling off really crazy things that are super popular Right, so that's that's one one place right right gotcha. Okay

All right. So you'd animate, are you watching any comedy? I find it hard to watch comedy. I don't know why. It's weird. Right? I know. It's broken. It's broken. I mean, I think it's probably broken for us, but maybe. Tell me why. Yeah. Where is it? Is it on television or is it in film right now? Or is it on stage? Is it standup? Is it, um, where is, where's funny shit happening?

Some funny shit. I mean, you know what's funny is Pen15 is funny. Yes. I just worked with Gabe Liedman who created that show and another show. Yeah. Gabe's great. I don't know that show. You know, yeah. I haven't seen shit. I haven't seen shit. But it is. I do feel like we've been in this weird comedy drought where –

People want to laugh, but somehow it's hard. Well, isn't it a lot like it's just become fragmented with TikTok and Instagram and stuff where you can get your comedy fill through five-second, ten-second things so people are maybe not so inclined to go tune into an entire series? I don't know. Just throwing that out there, I have no idea. Well, I do know, Sean, I think that you're right. I know that from...

My own experience in dealing with streamers that they tell us that, you know, they have a hard time getting people to stay through and watch multiple episodes in comedy. It's really, really, really, really difficult. It's crazy. I know. We'll be right back. And now, back to the show.

Now, is Chelsea a good sounding board for you? Like, is she reading pages or drafts or watching cuts of things and giving you good feedback? I know it's always tricky with a partner. That little balance there, I'm sure she's incredibly helpful, but that's a dance, right?

She is incredible. I mean, you know, one of the reasons, one of the many reasons I love her is she's just always going to be honest and tell me the truth. And, you know, it's like...

you know, there's a certain point, especially in this industry where, you know, I'm sure you guys know that's like, there's nothing more attractive than that, you know, and nothing. Yeah. I think we're all lucky on this call here. Now, what about now you shot, it looked like you shot this thing in town, um, here in Los Angeles, uh, in Santa Clarita, perhaps as it's, uh, as the website says, right. That by the way, guys, what you need to know, I don't correct me if I'm wrong here, Jordan,

This is the first time that a film has an amusement park there at Universal Studios Tour being released, germane to the movie, on the same day the movie is being released. Usually a movie has to earn that by becoming super, super successful. And then four, five, six years later, they have like a ride.

He's got a... You explain it, Jordan, but it's incredible what he's done here. Explain a little bit about it. I mean, yeah, a big deal for me. I'm in Universal Studios. I remember going when I was 12. It's cool. You know, you see, like, fake... It's like the experience, like, the fake version of what it means to make a movie, you know? It's like, this is where, you know, Jaws was shot. It's like, no, it's not, but it's like...

Yeah. It's meant to look psycho house. So, yeah, the whole, like, artifice of it. By the way, that was Jason's backyard. Like, Jason played there when he was a kid. No joke. No joke. Is that true? Yes. Yeah. Just doing silver spoons, and it's your move. Me and Ricky would fart around back there on our brakes on our bikes. Anyway, go ahead. How about that? So, you know, you know how, I mean, and I...

When I went for the first time, I was just blown away. And so now, I mean, look, we're on the lot now and just feel that magic again. And yeah, we've got, you know, Stephen Yeun's character, Juke Park in the film has an amusement park called Jupiter's Claim. And it's one of the centerpieces of the film. And so that's going to be on the studio tour. Oh, wow. Like fucking in between...

The psycho house and Jaws. That's so cool. That's so cool. And is it sort of without giving away anything with the movie is sort of is the ride of this place, is it kind of like a haunted house or a fun house kind of like the website is that you can kind of click around on?

You know, like all of the things on that tour, there is going to be a certain amount of interactivity. Got it. Okay. But, you know, it's, but the thing that, you know, real movie nerds are going to geek about upon the hopeful embrace of this film is just that it's,

It's there. That's so cool. That's so cool that they did that. That is really, really awesome. Yeah. Now, do you have to fly around and do a bunch of promotion for this? Or are you able to do it all with Zoom nowadays with the COVID? Or they got you on a world tour or something? I'm going to do a tour. Yeah. I'm going to do... They're going to cart me away to some places. I'm just going to shut my eyes and...

and open them and try to figure out where I am. And then do you like to take some downtime before you start writing the next thing or are you already underway with that? You know, writing is kind of, I mean, it is the downtime. There's nothing more fun than being in those early stages of,

Of what is really the next one? I mean, it's a very relaxing, if I'm doing it right, it's a very freeing month. Do you want to like stay in the horror genre for a while? Or is there some kind of dream of like wanting to do something completely different?

you know, left turn a musical. You know, one of the things that has been fun in my journey in these first three films has been a little bit of the deconstruction of what I feel like genre is and what the role of genre is in storytelling. I like this. Yeah, you like this? Check this one out. So in that first one,

And that first one, I was really using a very specific type of suspense thriller genre trope. Yeah, yeah. And, you know, Get Out, it fits in that world. And so that helps the pieces of it, I think, that are...

outside of the box, sing, because there is a checkpoint. There's a genre checkpoint. That's genre I think used very well, at least for, you know, it worked. So then, you know, Us, I really kind of focused on the horror idea, you know, and the specificness of, no, something a little bit more threatening to the core of existence and scary in that way. And in a lot of ways,

worked within that genre as well. You know, with this one, I feel like this idea that's been bubbling in these other two films, with Nope, I think has come into fruition where I can't really pin it down to a genre anymore. It kind of... It is all things. And I think I probably could do in that. But you've always... You've kind of delved into a lot of bigger issues. And I would suggest...

I didn't even think of Get Out as a horror movie at all. And I'm saying horror. I didn't think of it as a horror movie at all. I thought of... I mean, it is, I guess. It's like a thriller. Yeah, it's a thriller. But you... I mean, it'd be... You know, you're dealing with a lot of, like, big issues. You're asking a lot of questions and you're making some...

You're bringing up a lot of things that I think make some people uncomfortable, and I think you're doing it in a way, you're serving it in a way that is like, maybe seems familiar to them, but then you're like, but guess what, motherfucker, you better think about this shit. Yeah, right, exactly. And think about what the experiences other people who aren't you may be having. And you kind of do it, and maybe us is about like our own, you sort of mentioned it, like it's very sort of an existential question about, you know, as human beings and blah, blah, blah.

I like the idea that you're kind of like, I guess they're in horror, but you're dealing with a lot of pretty fucking big universal issues. It doesn't seem like you set out to make a horror movie or a genre movie. It seems like you're leading with theme and then kind of backing into, well, maybe this medicine will go down well if we wrap it up with something that's a little bit kind of scary here or sci-fi here. I withdraw my question.

No, but I mean, in the same way that you lampooned it, when you did Key & Peele, man, you did a lot of... You took on...

so many sketches that you did where you took on the idea of race and challenged it and did it from a different perspective in ways that were really funny, but also like really fucking right on the fucking money, man. And you've kind of, you're kind of doing that same thing, but now in it, you're doing it in film and you're using, I mean, I sound like now I sound like Babin, but you're using light and you're using, no, and you're, you're doing it in a cinematic way. Like you're, I like, I,

I think that you defy genre. So anybody who says that Jordan Peele is this, I say, fuck that. He's everything. Oh, well, thank you. And at the same time, you know, just to stress, you know, I think a lot of people, you know, if I make any sort of distinctions from like,

the horror genre at all. I want to... You know, a lot of people think of horror as a bad word. Sure. I think it's actually the greatest genre. And I think it is one that I'm honored to take part in. The true... I have to say the true spirit of great horror is really to fuck somebody up on some terror level that I still have not...

sort of approach the darkness that is needed. So I just have so much respect for horror, and I'm honored to be a part of it. Yeah, and I didn't mean to suggest that it wasn't worthy at all as genres go. It's fucking great. I agree with you. I'm just saying that I think that what you do kind of transcends horror.

transcends the idea of genre yeah and it seems like you're using it or attracted to it because of it it's its power and it's accelerant for whatever sort of human condition story you're talking about like you know when you mentioned kubrick like you think about you know the only thing that he ever did that was close to horror was the shining and there wasn't a lot of that wasn't you know there wasn't some slasher film you know that you know a bunch of jump scares it was just

deeply unsettling, but it was earned through its

through its acting, through its writing, through its cinematic elements. I mean, like, that's what you do. You're not like... Anybody can, like, make a big sound and do a big, you know, fucking snap zoom or whip pan and, like, scare somebody. You know, like, you're not doing that. You're creating these environments that are unsettling, and that's not easy to do. And I just... I think you're just, like, the most exciting filmmaker we've got right now. Thank you, man. Look, I...

You guys are fucking awesome. I mean, I think, you know, just the last... Do you have any shit stories? Yeah. Shit as in... Sorry. As in what? You ever been on a set in the middle of nowhere and you really got out of the bathroom, but there's nothing around? There we go. Sean's going to walk you right through it. No, no. I'm kidding. You're just bullshitting. No, but no, I mean, let's just talk about...

the set portals for a second. Sure. Yeah. You know? Yeah. Cause you keep it real, right? You say, no, no, I don't want the, I don't want the double pop out thing. Just get me a honey wagon. Something. Yeah. But you can't make it back to the honey. Oh, yeah.

Yeah, I mean, you're talking about one of those fucking four pies? Yeah, he means the four pies. One of those four slots? Jason doesn't even know what he's talking about because he goes to the bathroom once in the morning before a shower, and then he's never running the risk of going to the bathroom on set, ever, ever. Well, there's not a lot of animals on the planet that need to empty more than once a day, Will. Yeah.

Yeah. So you guys have a difference in regularity. Yes. There's a difference in regularity. Well, listen, I'm sorry to end on such a low point. It wasn't that bad. You've been very generous talking to us, even just agreeing to do the show, period. Yeah.

Yeah, dude, Jordan, we're such fans, man. I've been a fan of yours from everything you do. I love what you do. You're such a cool guy, and you haven't changed an iota, so that's a great testament. You're a good dude. Yeah, keep charging, please. Thank you, man. You guys, yeah. On and on. I love you. Love you. This is great. I really hope I can...

come see you guys again. Yeah, me too. Fuck around some more. I'll come up with that scat story. Yeah. Good, good scat story. Best of luck with Nope on movie first in line. Yeah, I can't wait. And hurry up and make more, please. And just to, you know, just to take the James Cameron approach for a second, you know, I'm finishing this movie right now. It will make your eyes melt out of the back of your eye sockets, fall down in through your nasals.

and down your esophageals this is you selling the film you you you scat it out and and then you fucking eat you eat your eyes shit this is the we've got our quote and then you can see your own fucking heart pulse racing save it for the junket jordan you're wasting all the good stuff that's it you got got the exclusive hot take um no no i just want to stress it's it's it's it's gonna be a fucking spectacle

Yeah. I cannot wait. It looks so, so good. Can't wait for you guys to see it. All right, man. Best of luck. Thank you for coming on. And we'll talk to you on the next one. Thank you guys. Honestly. Thank you, Jordan. I am. I really, I could get, I could give you guys each. I know, Will, I know you. I could give you guys each fucking solid half hour on the,

on neat notes and how much I love your, how much I love your work. And so I didn't want to write back. You guys are all just fantastic. I hope to hang. Yeah, man. That would be great. Best of luck, dude. Take care, Jordan. Bye buddy. Cool.

Wow, that Jordan Peele. That Jordan Peele. He has turned the movie industry on its goddamn head by... He barged his way into films, didn't he? Yeah. Yeah, it just kicked the door open and it stayed open and...

Now he's bringing us, I mean, the horror genre is like one of the few genres that's working in theaters still, thank God. Yeah, yeah. But he's also doing it in such a cinematic way and these like social themes

themes that are in it. He's so fucking smart. You can't write a show like Key and Peele and do that so consistently and have it be so good and so funny for all those years and not be a fucking brilliant guy. Yeah, for sure. I hope he wasn't offended when I said that we knew him from all this stuff and then Get Out came out and I was like,

Wow, Jordan. Like, weren't you thinking that too? No way. I mean, he's... I was offended. He wasn't. I was. Yeah, no, I could see it in Will's face, but not Jordan. I was. He's got to know that he's got to... I'm sure, I would hope, that that was part of his excitement too, that, like...

you know, whenever you excel at something you're not known for, it's got to be a thrill. Yeah, it's a thrill. And so... Also, like, yeah, you can't be mad if you're, like, some person who came... Not him. I don't mean him specifically, but you can see how people are like...

Well, yeah, I've always thought I was great. Yeah, well, we didn't know. Yeah, great. Yeah, exactly. And now we're finding out that, yeah, you're great. Yeah, exactly. But I don't mean that for him. I do think that what he did before, I always thought, you know, writing really consistently good, funny sketch like that and doing it in that way is so hard. Yeah. So fucking, you guys know, it's almost impossible. Sketch is so...

and rarely people always go like, oh, I remember SNL back in the day. It used to be way better than it is now. It was funnier all the time. No, if you had one good sketch, an episode, success. Yeah, for sure. And Key and Peele, now they didn't do it live, but they would have just...

Brilliant. It's just brilliant. Anyway. Wait, I have a question about the Dodger game. Yeah. So how long... Wait a second. Wait a second. You want to talk about tonight's plans in front of our audience right now? Go ahead, Sean. They'll love to hear it. What route are you taking and what are you going to wear? What lot are you in? Do they have egg salad there, do you think? Or should I eat before I leave? By the way, all questions I have. Yeah, let's hear it.

How long is the game? Oh, boy. Oh, my God. He wants to leave already. No, no. You haven't even left your house yet. You're getting ready to leave. I want to watch Get Out tonight. I'm glad you didn't say how long is each half. It's roughly three hours. But, you know, you only need to dip in and dip out for about an hour. No, I'm excited to go. That's probably all we're going to do because I'm bringing, you know, Maple. Oh, fun. And probably the shorter attention span is Amanda. In fact, she may actually even flake.

I can't believe that you got Amanda to go. No, Amanda will go. Well, because, you know, it's a luxury suite, you know? So she can be up there and, you know, watching the TV and having snacks and sitting on a couch. It's a luxury suite, sir.

I'm just imagining that Paul McCartney explaining to somebody who he loves who he calls sweet. Why all of a sudden are we talking about sweet? It's a luxury. Sorry, because we're back to the, it's a luxury sweet. Did you find a gummy store there in the Hamptons, Will? No, it does seem like a very high thing to say. Are you going to bring your own food, Jace, or are you going to get there and buy it? Buy it! Buy it!

I love Sean's. He always goes high with it, and he repeats it. Sean, we're having a conversation over here, and you're trying to do a bye on your own. You do have a hard out? What if I just slam my left? I guess bye. I guess that's, well, better answered here. You know, you will be out by 10 o'clock tonight. Okay.

Bye. Smartless. Smartless. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Rob Armjarf, Bennett Barbico, and Michael Granteri. Smartless. I'm very excited that you're here.

Oh, my gosh. My friend. Not more than I am. Not more than I am. I cannot wait. Impossible.

Yeah. Honored. So you've met Bennett and Rob. I am sorry. I met these guys. On Jason's behalf, we apologize for us. The weird part is that Rob nor Bennett play any musical instrument at all. That is, I don't believe it. That's the shocking part. No, no, no. These are just CG backgrounds. I don't believe it. Yeah. I don't believe it. This is a jam band that produced a new part time. A vlogger.

Rob, that's a real strong T-shirt you're bringing today. Oh, yeah. Show them the bottom. Show them the other stuff. The in the studio. Straight Zimmer. The in the studio behind the Pro Tools rig is the best. Is he playing a keytar on the back?

I love it. It really is like, you know, it really is a very bootleg Hans Zimmer shirt. We went to Disneyland for Rob and Drea's birthday recently. They were both wearing this shirt at Disneyland matching. God. Can I tell you something? I also have a shirt that has Hans Zimmer's face and the name Hans Zimmer on it. No way. It's just a completely different shirt. I'm not joking.

I mean, I'm not lying. I do. The idea that there's actually two shirts in existence on the planet that have Hans Zimmer's name and face on it and the two dudes that have them. Yeah. That's a shock. There's very little I can do to actually make it clear that I do have that, but I do have it. Kismet. Should we let Will Arnett in the room? Yeah, let him in. I'm going dark. Go dark. All right. Awesome. Here we go.

If you like SmartList, you can listen early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey.