Robert Downey Jr: History Class 51:58

Art in your home can instantly transform your space and bring you joy. Saatchi Art makes it easy for you to discover and buy one-of-a-kind art that you'll love. Whether you're looking to complement your home decor, fill a blank space on your walls, or start an art collection, you can find the perfect piece for your specific style and budget at Saatchi Art. Go to SaatchiArt.com today to bring the beauty of art into your home. Plus, listeners get 15% off their first order of original art with code ROB.

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. My God, what a gift this has been to the audience. Oh God, so funny. Hey everybody, welcome to Literally. This is one of the great

Podcast that I have had the pleasure to do. I'm sitting here, Robert Downey Jr.'s palatial estate. I mean, it's so Downey. The whole thing is Downey. He's got, I don't even know how to describe it because he, at the end of the day, is kind of indescribable. There's only one of him. He is a unique, unique character as you're about to find out. Happily, I've known him since probably I was 18.

and my ongoing relationship with him is one of the great loves of my life. And it's been a while. We've been trying to get this to happen, to get him on the show, and we did it. It's happening. It's happening right now. Let's go. RDJ. I feel like...

You should take control of this podcast. You're probably right. Because you've taken control of everything. We've had lunch. Yep. At your beautiful compound. Had a little property tour. We had a property tour. We captured a lot of content of us getting ready. I thought two guys who have a lot of history forever. Mm-hmm.

But a lot of our initial forays go back to the 80s. And I thought, why not do two guys from the 80s get ready for a podcast? I think it's good. I haven't had this much rouge on since Studio 54 and its decline. I saw you at Studio 54 and I stopped in my tracks. No, you did not. Absolutely, I did. There was a lot of folks there that night. Cruz was there. You were there. Madonna was there. Cher was there. It was a special night. But I don't know why I came around a corner and you were there.

That's Cruz right now. Or it might have been Madonna. You got to take it? No, we don't need to talk to this person. It would be great if Rob took a 10-minute call right now. Hey, I just got to take a call right now. Sorry. Hey, Downey, just chill for a minute. I'm sorry. Is that one of our—is someone calling in? No, no, don't even trip. Yeah, so listen, if I want to get three cars across country within a week, what trailer place do I have to call? That's what I need to know.

Okay, so we first met in history class? That is correct. At Sammo. Santa Monica High School, to be exact. Did you ditch a lot? Because I don't recall you being there a lot. I know. I mean, you had a surprisingly good attendance record considering you were working half the time you were in school. It's true, and I was scared to ditch.

I was scared. I was such like a good boy. I made up for it later, but I was such a good boy. Like good boy. I couldn't even imagine. You had a champagne colored Mazda 626 that only fresh money could grab you the lease on. That's some real ABC holding deal money. I just sound like I have emphysema. Brother, I remember you driving by in that car to go into the parking lot. And I was like, well,

That's how the other half lives. Like one day. And yes, in history class, I'm surprised that we weren't drawn toward one another immediately. But to answer your initial question, I was in school as infrequently as possible.

And I actually managed to figure out how to climb the only super tall fence. Yes. Which led out onto Lincoln because that was the only place that hall monitors weren't looking for people trying to ditch school. Had to have been a 28, 30 foot tall fence. I remember it. Yep. So you were happy to ditch. I never understood the pacing of it.

Of school. And I missed a few algebra classes. And when I came back in, I realized I was never going to catch up. Plus, Janay Gravino had a typing class and she was a smoke show. And so I used to drop by there after I was teacher's assistant to Mr. Jellison. Mr. Jellison. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Theater, right? Correcto. Theater 101.

See, I was being such a little snob bitch then. You were actually working. That's right. So I couldn't possibly be bothered with high school theater. I want to say I was jealous, but that's not deep enough. I want to say that I didn't understand how anyone could get where you were.

let alone still have attendance in school. It just seemed like there was something so high-functioning going on that there was no point for me to even attempt to understand it. Well, listen, we're wired similarly and also super differently. Like, you would be impossible to pin down, I would think, for that kind of structure at that point in your life. Yeah, it was a hot mess. I mean, I was...

God, I remember those days. You'd walk by the bulletin board and then be like, I'd call Rob, call your agent. And I'd go to the phone booth and call these. Can you imagine what it was like for the rest of us at Samwell High to see that notification for you? Take that. I was like, Robert, no note necessarily on the board for you. You're fucking suspended. Did you go to the prom or anything?

I have vague memories of the prom. I remember that Senior decided, there's no fun. I'll rent you a fucking tux. Yeah. So, I wore a mohair black sateen suit. Yes. That I typically only wore when I was singing madrigals at the Santa Monica Place Mall. I was so embarrassed, but I found a black dress shirt and a black tie on.

So I went to prom like a gangster, I believe with a gal named Kelly McReynolds, who understandably didn't like me very much after prom night. I remember you in Madrigals. You used to throw down in Madrigals. Thanks, baby. For those of you who don't know, Madrigals is Latin music, basically. Yeah, it can mean anything acapella. Oh, really? Okay. So it's like the whiff and puffs.

Harbors. Whiff and poofs. Those guys too. Yes. By the way, I don't know why we were talking about whiff and poofs just a few days ago. I love the whiff and poofs. Yeah. I suddenly heard my own breathing. Well, because you're thinking about speaking from your diaphragm because it's a magical training. Yeah. And if the diaphragm slips out... That was always bad. Yeah. We never liked that. Then I remember...

Do you remember how many political rallies do you think we ruined together? As many as we could. As we could. Offered. Do you remember when we were on the bus? 100%. Were we stumping for Dukakis? No, we were stumping for... California needed to clean up its drinking water. So it was the caravan, Proposition 68...

California Clean Water Act. Isn't that astonishing, the recall? It was one of the first ballot measures ever in California. Well, all's I know is the long-suffering, fine example of a woman, Sarah Jessica Parker. Mm-hmm.

used to attempt to redeem me in some ways. And that would be, come on, we're going to actually do something. You were always aware and active and educated and useful. I know there was a few incidents that seemed to pop to the front of the news where shenanigans happened, but I think it sucks because it takes away from the fact that our generation was

albeit probably all a little bit too far to the left exclusively. But nonetheless, there was an ample amount of public service going on. I mean, listen, I remember getting the phone call. Sarah Jessica probably got it because you guys were together and she would have been the receivee of the phone call. But I getting the phone call from Jane Fonda saying,

Going, hi. And we'd never met. And she'd be like, I'm putting together a little salon at my house to discuss the Sandinistas. Yeah. And you'd end up over there with like,

You know, two Nobel laureates and Daryl Hannah. Tom Hayden. It was nuts. It was nuts. By the way, what a winning combo. Anything plus Daryl Hannah. Oh, come on. I'm in. Daryl Hannah, 1983? Yeah. Let's go. I wound up doing arguably Bob Altman's worst film called The Gingerbread Man. Oh, my God.

in Savannah, Georgia and really got to know Daryl a little bit. And she is just a delight. Delight. Delight. I met her when I was doing the movie Class. Oh, yeah. She was living in Chicago with her family still. Wanted to be an actor. Maybe had done like Summer Lovers or something. Wow. But was completely unknown. I didn't know who she was. It was Thanksgiving. The Wexlers were nice enough to invite me. And I'll never forget Daryl

was wearing a fairy princess outfit complete with wings. Tell me about this psychological space you go to that reminds you of my binny shell. You know, if there's a natural place to start the podcast, it's going to be there. We can always jump back to this other garbage. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Ask me that again?

I was walking you through this rather odd and fabulous structure we have. A Benny shell. And you said you were having a kind of lucid dreaming moment. Yeah. So the Benny shell. Well, first of all, you should describe your house, the Benny shell that you have here. The Benny family and Nick Benny most recently does this sort of architecture called pneumoform where you inflate these construction bladders. You put shot. With air. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

No, with gelatin. You never know. You're right. You know what? I think for the audience, we need to clarify what the bladders are being injected with. You inflate your bladder, and then you put a stint in it. Bang, you have a house. If anybody just Googles Bini shells, B-I-N-I shells, you'll see what we're talking about. But you came in, I was giving you a quick tour, and you kind of bugged out. I did bug out because I've been having a reoccurring dream

that I'm in a hallway that looks like what I now know to be a Benny Shell house. And here you are in one of them. It looks exactly like my reoccurring dream, complete with the hallways are not level. Like they're sloped. That's right. Inside the house. You can certainly do that if you plan for it. Which is, you clearly did. But that's one of the things that's weird about my dream is the doors are misshapen doors.

And the hallways are curved. Yes. And the floors of the hallways are sloped. And so I don't know what that means. I don't know what the significance is. Maybe somebody listening who understands dreams can call the low line and tell me what I've been dreaming about. Dude, there's the high line in Manhattan and there's the low line out west. That's right. Mine's more fun. Now...

Best delivery so far. All right, we have one in competition. I want to say this too for the audience at home. We are wearing our headphones upside down because we got a bit of a blowout from Rachel. Yeah, Downey was insistent that we have full glam makeup and hair. I said, Downey, it's a podcast. He doesn't care. No, content is content. We won't give the people what they want. Well, you know, like R.J. Wagner used to say, you got to wear street makeup, kid. Yeah.

He is so, the old Hollywood, old Hollywood wore street makeup. You know, Fred Astaire doesn't go out without it. And I was like, oh, thank God, all my peers, I should really pay attention. You know, Ruffalo, he's always had a full face of makeup. Ruffalo, surprisingly, is only ever done up when he doesn't have a choice. And our natural. Of course. He looks fantastic. But we have a full face of makeup and hair and we're wearing our

Our earphones, our headphones with the thing below our chin. It's like a chin strap. My throat is a tiny bit sweaty right now. I hope that's not translating to the listener. I call this Kim Carnes style from We Are The World. I think if I'm not mistaken, that's how she wore her headphone. But by the way, it's to preserve the hair. That's right. Yes. Once you got the hair right, you don't want to... I'm sorry. I should take this off.

Oh, you got somebody? You got somebody going on? Oh, it's actually for you. Is that some Marvel shit? You got some, you gonna break some stories here? Uh, not just yet. You know, you know what I say? Huh? That phone's gonna ring, baby, and I wanna be on, I wanna be, Yep. I wanna be on that call. I wanna be negotiating for you. I, I know what your deal is. You do? Yeah, here's, here's what you do. You go. I'll come back and I'll play Tony Stark again for you guys since you fucked everything up.

But I want a gazillion dollars, and I actually know what that number should be, and I want first dollar gross of every ensuing movie. This sounds quite hostile.

That's what I would do. By the way, historically, you are an excellent negotiator and you're almost always out in front of your negotiations. You are a beautiful advocate for self. Thank you. Across the board. As a matter of fact, as far as I know, you were really the first of us to put down the bottle and pick up the mantle of living a sober structured life. I think I'm... I mean, I was...

Yeah, I mean, if not the first one of them, for sure. I remember Demi got sober after St. Elmo's. To get St. Elmo's fire, she had to get sober. When did that ever figure into anyone's decision pattern in the 80s? I know. I mean, that's when you could buy Coke on the set. Yeah. Robert, we're doing this less than zero film. We're going to really need you sober for it. Oh, okay. Well, thanks for offering. Yeah. No, they didn't do that.

They didn't do that. But back to negotiation. Oh, yes, yes. You truly do know how to, maybe it's just because you know the business. So, well, that was the other thing too. I was like, I figured, and it's crazy, man. You went to junior high across the street from where we're sitting doing this. This is unbelievable. And lo, these many years later, we are here with a few fabulous furry friends. And I just want to acknowledge the closing of this circle of

And the fact that we've kind of reconnected really over like the last five, 10 years. Not that we weren't always happy to see each other and running into each other. I'd come up to Santa Barbara, I'd see you. But there's been something about this post 50 gig. Yeah. That I feel it's almost like we're veterans. And it's just been really valuable. Well, same. You know, I've...

watched you from the first time I remember watching your work was was it weird science probably yeah because we were shooting St. Elmo's on the lot next to you and and I'm gonna give you your prop your props are coming don't worry I'm getting but getting your props but when that theme song came out I was like this motherfucker's got a theme song dude how sick was that it's a good theme song

I'm just saying I'm a fire burning in me. But then that little squirt Michael J. Fox beat me out with Power of Love. We had, of course, Oingo Boingo. World science. It's alive. Weird. Right? That's what they said. This might just be a soundbite cornucopia. Weird. Weird.

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

With the best mattress brands under one roof.

Ashley has you and your sleep covered. Subject to credit approval. Minimum monthly payments required. No minimum purchase required. See store for details. All I remember is you guys shot some party scene for like 10 weeks. That is correct. That's all I remember. And every beautiful actor was in it. Yeah, including the guy from The Hills Have Eyes.

I mean, that was a film that was already meta and that it had someone from the road warrior coming through the party scene. It was very wild. Very. I remember that. And then, of course, then you work with my guy, Andrew McCarthy. Yes. Who we were speaking about glowingly. Glowingly. He's such a sweetheart. And I just watched that the other day. That was a studio big thing.

summer or spring release, it's so depressing.

It's so good. It's very, it's unflinching. It was not well-received. It didn't make any money. Brett Easton Nellis' book was phenomenal. It was the catcher in the... Less than zero. Yeah, Less Than Zero was the catcher in the rye of my generation. Yes. And McInerney's Bright Lights, Big City, that our boy Michael J. also did, was, it might have actually been a better film, but people were just not really into...

youngsters doing films about books that people already had a vision in their mind for. Yeah. But I do remember that was the first film I ever did where the director took me seriously and required others to. What was yours? Oh, boy. I mean, well, I... Coppola did right out of the bat on Outsiders. I mean, because that's just what he, you know, you...

He's the real deal. You know now that there's a whole movement toward the casting prep and the whole story behind how everybody wound up in The Outsiders is on the horizon. People are talking about it, wanting to know more about it because it was such a novel casting procedure. Which I...

I go down the YouTube rabbit hole with behind the scenes of things. I've been watching Apocalypse Now, and apparently Francis was doing that even on Godfather and Apocalypse, where you just have every actor you've ever thought of in a room at the same time. Everybody reads. Okay, you sit down and you play this. Everybody watches everybody perform. It was mental. And for young actors now, where I would say this may be the oddest, most fabulous, opportune time to be starting Apocalypse,

Just to say that there is, was, and always has been a precedent of something that you wonder like, I wonder if we could be this egalitarian and have these kind of experiences. Whether I get the part or not, I just want, I want to start creating a history where I feel like there are filmmakers, creators. I love that.

showrunners, whatever, who actually aren't just about watching self-tapes and looking at, you know, whatever. I mean, everybody who went through the outsider's process, even if they didn't get the part, remembers it. It affected them. They learned something from it. It was like you're alluding to, it was an experience. Why don't we do that on everything? I think one needs a...

whether he, she, or them is in the offing right now? I would imagine so. I mean, look at just, yeah, even just this year in film. Yep. There's so much reemergence of real storytelling. But think about this though. You're amazing at Oppenheimer.

Christopher Nolan is the Coppola of our time, right? But he doesn't do that because he doesn't need to. He just has somebody in his mind and calls them up and everybody says yes. Think about that, though. Like, Francis could have done that. Yep. And he doesn't ever. I think, you know, not to come at the drop of a name, but I was fortunate enough to have dinner with Spielberg last week. He's the nicest man. And he was...

just as an offhanded kind of, oh, you know, are you aware of? And he told us the story of how the crawl at the beginning of Star Wars happened. And it was because De Palma was in a screening up in Sanford in the Bay Area where all these filmmakers, you know, Coppola, Spielberg, all these folks were together and just stood up and was like, ah, it doesn't make sense. And where am I? Where in space? Is it the future? And this and that. And so this open forum of discussion with our peers was,

for Coppola, for Spielberg, for, you know, et cetera, was a matter of course, because they didn't think not to do that. And I believe that it was also if we're, let's imagine this is happening now. There's an opportunity for a new generation of maverick storytellers to decide what kind of culture they want to live in and offer others the chance to experience.

And maybe it's a sign of the times. And also maybe we just don't know about the people who work more that way. But I'm glad that we have that memory and we can bring it into the future as at least an idea or say, hey, our version of this was ABC. Tell us what your DEF is. What was the process on Tropic Thunder? It was my favorite movie ever. Let me say, okay, your performance in Tropic Thunder is, you were nominated for it. Correct. Correct.

And just, it's unbelievable. I mean, everybody knows. It goes without saying. It's become a cliche to say how good you are in it. It's such a cliche that when you watch it again, it's even better than you remember it. I, I, I, I, only I statements. I was even more fortunate to have been invited to Norman Lear's for a little shiva last weekend.

And then I was looking back at All in the Family, and they had a little disclaimer that they were running at the beginning of the show. People should look it up exactly what it is because it is an antidote to this clickbait addiction to grievance that it seems like we have with everything nowadays. But I draw a line between All in the Family and Tropic Thunder in that he said, due to the...

content of this show please understand that we're looking at bigotry and racism and all this stuff through a lens that we might laugh at it to understand how pointless it whatever it is so you should look up i don't want to try to the language is good though you like the language yeah and the language was saying hey this is the reason that we are doing these things that in a vacuum you could pick apart and say are wrong or bad and there used to be an understanding with an

an audience and i'm not saying that the audience is no longer understanding i'm saying that things have gotten very muddied so the spirit in which stiller directed and cast and and and shot tropic thunder and was essentially as a railing against all of these tropes that are not right and had been perpetuated for too long i remember you coming to visit me in santa barbara and telling me you had done it

and give me a little preview of the character. My kids still talk about it. Oh, my gosh. Matthew still talks about you sitting out by the pool and you giving me a little bit of some trouble. Bloody yo. And it blew their minds.

And I draw a line between that and Putney Swope. Yes, of course. Yes. Where my dad had to re-voice the lead actor who was black because of a bunch of technical reasons. And so to me, that had something to do with my father and I and the fact that he directed Putney Swope. Wow, I never put that together. Of course it does. And then I draw a line for some reason between that and Oppenheimer.

where I felt like I was, I never met my grandfather, Robert Elias. He was a Jew. He did the glass at the Chrysler building. He was a multi-tour soldier in World War II. And I'm sure that he knew what he was fighting for. And he was a very, very principled guy. And I feel like

I never met him, but I feel like part of me played him or played an aspect of him as well as depicting Louis Strauss in that film. And I'm sure you have a million stories like this too where it's like everyone thinks this on the surface, but my little kernel of like what was my either inspiration or what was the thing that makes it meaningful to me, et cetera. I remember speaking to you two or three weeks in

on Oppenheimer and you were talking about working in a, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it was interesting. It was like, you're working in a gear that you haven't worked in in a while. And like all of, we all have our monkey tricks. Everybody does. You don't make it without having your special thing that you do. And in this, what you told me is my recollection is I'm not doing any of that stuff. Yeah.

That's what you told me. Yeah. I tried everything else. And then when I watched the performance, it's unlike anything you've done. It's like unlike anything you've done, there's a world in which you don't even know that it's you. It's, I don't know. I mean, it's so nuanced, but still has all of your unique energy that only you have. Like everybody, like there's a downy energy that America, we all love it. And we know it when we see it, it's got that.

but it's modulated in a way that I've never seen before. And some of it's the age that you're playing, of course, and it's the character work, but it's spectacular. It's so good. So, so good. Somebody described it. One of your mutual friends recently said,

You seen Bobby in Oppenheimer yet? I said, yeah, I have. He goes, it's pretty great. It's like, I love it for him. I love him so much. It's just like he walks in and goes, hey, yeah, yeah. You motherfuckers. You forgotten? You forgotten? And just takes his big dick out and puts it on the table. And there is a little bit of that. It's, and that's taking nothing away from the Marvel world. Nothing, zero. But this is like, yeah, yeah, bros. Chaplin. Yeah, bro. It's funny that there's part

of all of us that is driven by this need to be demonstrative of what we're capable of. Yes. But I think maybe that's a human condition. I'll say this, part of what informs whatever we do, and in this case Oppenheimer was, I've never been in a movie ever where the stakes of what were going on in the film were so real before. And there was something about that where there was, forget gravitas, there was just a...

there was an onus on it to go like, remember what this scene is about? This isn't about how's your voice, how's your movement, how are you feeling within the context? Like, this is about, besides the information age and now the impending coming of age of AI, it's these two things. It's the existential threat of the nuclear age and now the information age. What was Nolan like as a director?

like a good dad. However, I didn't know

I know my dad. And he was good for me because I'm here with you and everything's okay. Right. So, and after the fact, good dad. Yeah. Yep. By the way, if you haven't seen... Senior? Downey's documentary, Senior. It's spectacular. Oh, thank you. I love that documentary. Your documentary on your father, it just blew my mind. It's so good. It's on Netflix now. If you really want to understand Downey. It's so good. Anyway. Just...

Everyone remember everything they did during the pandemic because I kind of do. And I also give myself permission for anything that was a little rough around the edges. I'm in this senior dock and I'm like wearing a beanie and like chewing Nicorette gum. I look completely insane. That's what's great about it. Okay.

That's great because there's no vanity. Yeah, I just forgot to be vain. I was sitting at this desk right here. That's why we have makeup in here on today. Well, by the way, if nothing else, I feel like you and I have really, you know, stuck it to the new kids on the block. If they have the gumption to get into practically full drag makeup to do a podcast. That's right. Then I got time for them. I'm with you.

There was a question in there somewhere. What was it? Nolan. We're talking about Nolan. Oh, yeah.

Chris Nolan, I tried to describe him the other day. And so I'm going to, I just want to talk about what it means metaphorically. Some people have a gargoyle on each shoulder. One gargoyle is if you approach me with your ego first, you're going to be turned to dust. I like it. And the other shoulder is a gargoyle that's sweet. And it says, please come here. If you're not ready,

and you're not prepared, I'm going to turn you to dust. So both are gargoyles that are meant to keep the uninitiated out of the holy space. Yep. And I'm not saying he is the holy space, but I'm saying that he has such a reverence for what he does and very much...

in the vein of a Coppola and a Spielberg and a name, the great filmmakers, everyone's got their own entree into what it is. His is dedication, discipline, and a commitment to excellence. And those are rarely all in the same place. So going into that space with him was very life-changing. Well, it's all on screen. Are you...

Excited about what is Tom Hanks call it? The trophy run. Well, you never forget your third time. Chaplin was great. I was a fucking kid and the worst thing that could have happened would have been for me to win.

Also, you know, Pacino, Scent of a Woman, I tipped my hat and it was his turn. Yep. With Tropic Thunder, I was a little older. I was just so busy working. I did Iron Man, Tropic Thunder, and the first Sherlock pretty much back to back.

And Heath Ledger, whom I share a birthday with, won that year and more than deservedly so. God bless his heart. What a once in a generation talent. And now between my wife, who's the Chris Nolan of my spiritual development and Chris Nolan, who's the Chris Nolan of my artistic development, it just feels like this kind of

quintessential moment where it has very little to do with what happens next and a lot to do with just appreciating that us human beings do tend to evolve and grow and sometimes there's a

There's a feedback loop for that that feels good. Yeah. I like it. I mean, it's going to be fun to watch. I'm obviously voting for you. Thank you. Can I get confirmation for that? Yeah. I'll take a picture. I'll screenshot it and take a picture of you. Can you imagine if I was on some sort of weird campaign now? Dude, I...

I won't name who, but there's a very famous TV creator, one of the most famous, successful, who regularly sends out email blasts reminding people to vote for... Them? Yeah, for, you know, the shows. Okay. The shows. Well, you got to be an, like, again, advocate for self. There's a lot of different versions of that. I think yours and mine is more about ultimately it's any instinct that...

uh, insinuates survival and continuance. Yes. Is, is worth pursuing. Did you ever think when we were trying, you know, in, in, in, at one of those clubs in New York area or save the robots or dance interior dance interior, how about say, what a great name for a club, the robots, save, save the robots that like we're alive. Yeah. And we're sober and we get to mentor people.

And we get to do work we love. We have great wives. Yeah. And kids. Yeah. I mean, dude, it's. I just want to do a quick shout out to Cheryl Lowe, who we were on vacation somewhere. And Susan was like, I've never been with a gal friend who basically took me in the other room and said, get some lingerie. That's my girl. That's my girl.

She's a Spangali, my wife. Oh, she's such a badass. She's a Spangali. She did the podcast and she was unbelievable. Wait a second.

She did the podcast. Why are we not just listening to that? We're wasting time. You have to listen to it. Can't wait. Oh, it's everything you think and more. You know, there's a thing occurring recently too. And now you're amongst them where Dax Shepard interviewed one of my favorite humans on earth, Tom Hanson, the entertainment lawyer. Oh, sure. Right. And now I think as a matter of, we need to help sometimes as a, as a consumer,

I need people to transcend what they believe public interest is and just expose me to things and people and lives that I didn't know I needed to know about. Yes, for sure. Yeah. We've had a couple of guests like that recently. Nicole Avant came on and told her, her story about, um, you know, dealing with grief and, and, and what happened with her family this year. Oh boy. And it was super, um, emotional and great. And, um,

I don't get to do it as much as I would like, but I'm definitely pivoting the show in that direction because people know what they're getting, which is great. And it's good to use that to introduce people to stuff that they might not otherwise. You're good at this. This is natural to you and for you.

Right? I feel, because I'm curious and I like to, you know, I like to listen and I like to learn. I don't think people know that, I hate to use the I word, but you are an intellectual. You're a very educated and self-educated person. And then just the experiences you've had and the, um,

And by the way, sometimes it's those turning points too where we have been out in the cold and said, what am I supposed to learn now? Yes. And I think those things can forge a bit of an...

a new version of the same identity that is not so brittle, a little more malleable, but also more capable. Well, thank you. And, you know, we both have had periods in our careers where, you know, things were, we haven't exactly been on fire. Yep. And that is where you learn. That's where you learn what you're made of. Well, and the funny thing was, you know, I finished the Marvel run and then,

arguably the most important project I have ever done and will ever do was the experience of all the promise with Steve Gagan, who I genuinely believe is a gifted ass fella. And me and Susan and all these folks doing Doolittle and it just didn't work. And I...

I felt so exposed after being in the cocoon of Marvel where I think I did some of the best work I will ever do, but it went a little bit unnoticed because of the genre. And I felt myself like, in a way, I did myself a favor because the rug was pulled so definitively out from underneath me and all the things that I was leaning on as opposed to what my understanding of confidence and security was, boy, did they evaporate.

And it rendered me teachable. And the crazy thing is they say, when the student is ready, the Nolan will come. I mean, the teacher will come. And that's what happened. ♪

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

Qualifying plan required. Wi-Fi were available on select U.S. airlines. Deposit and Hilton honors membership required for 15% discount terms and conditions apply. When people ask me about longevity and doing in this business, it's that kind of story you just heard is the crux of the whole thing. And that everybody goes their time in the wilderness.

Hopefully multiple times because that means you've had a long career. I mean, that's what you want. That's where you grow. It's hard to learn anything when everything is falling into place and you're on top of the world. Very, very, very tough, professionally or personally. I was thinking about this this morning too because sometimes folks like to talk about their career

Down and out moments as being that they're definitive. I think it's equal parts. We need the wins, bro. We need those moments that give us hope and confirmation that we're heading in a direction that is viable. And then the ultimate course corrector is a swift kick in the crotch. Yeah. It's the double whammy. The good double whammy. Yeah.

Okay. We got to do 80s greatest hits. We got to do. Love it. We got to get the people. Yeah. What's a good format for this? I mean, I'll just start with one of the most important people in my life as far as just a first friend and someone who vouched for me and went out of their way to help me feel. He taught me more about how one should comport themselves than anybody, Anthony Michael Hall. Oh, yeah.

So he's the lead of Weird Science. He's one of the biggest stars in the world. He is a genius level talent.

And everyone is telling him that and he's trying not to listen to it too much. And he's still very work focused. And he sees me audition for Weird Science. He never takes his eye off me. He practically demands that I get to audition for Saturday Night Live. I get that job. We do a season together. And then shortly after that, I'd run out of dough again as one tends to when you're hand to mouth.

And he cast me in Johnny B. Goode with him. And it was Uma Thurman's first film. My dad is in that film. Paul Gleeson is in that film. Seymour Cassell is in that film. Marshall Bell is in that film. A lot of old school, new school folks. And to this day, I'm actually developing something for him right now that I would probably direct a little bit and show up for in him. And

And he just had a kid and got married. That's great. So, yeah, the point of departure is Anthony Michael Hall, full stop. I remember meeting him on the set of 16 Candles when he had braces. I think I was scouting for class or something and...

That was a wonderful time, all the Chicago stuff. You didn't do any of the Chicago movies though, right? No, except Weird Science. I think we shot at the Skokie Mall. We did do a little mall work and the rest was all on stage. And it was great. We did a little mall work. Now, how close were you with Beatty during the James Toback movie? Pickup Artist was...

And Molly, obviously. Yeah, of course. Well, that's kind of a really odd story because you won't find Warren Beatty's name anywhere associated with the movie The Pickup Artist. That's so insane because I remember as it was all being put together, Warren was my guy. Like, I wanted to be Warren. He was my favorite, whatever. Who didn't? Making this movie and there's a part that I would be perfect for in theater, my phone never rang. But it was a Warren. You would have thought it was a Warren movie. Sure. And yet, his name is nowhere...

Well, the long and short of that is in typical super genius fashion, he was trying to get James Toback to finish the fucking script for Bugsy. And part of the way he was cajoling him along was, I believe, getting the pickup artist set up for Toback to direct. At the same token, though, here's some memories. I just remember shooting on the streets of New York Upper West Side.

Beatty, just his pants, the New Balance low-top sneakers, the Sherry Netherlands hotel room with a perfect little weight set. And the fact that we were on set, he's the first person I ever saw that had micro sides where they'd been shrunk down to something you could fit into a paperback book. And I was like, oh my God, look what they've done to his sides. And then he got a little Zabar's delivery and he was having like couscous and just the right amount of stuff. And at lunch one day,

pick a topic as you know he knows everything about everything and he'll tell you so I was having a piece of fish and I I think there was some chopped tomatoes on it but he goes never eat fish

With tomatoes on top of it, they digest it to completely different rhythms. And I was like, note to self, never eat fish with tomatoes on it. Don't you love people like that? Of course. You know who's like this? Travolta. Travolta has great knowledge of life. How could he not?

Great not. And like, he's a, like, I want to, I just want to sit on his shoulder and learn from people like that. Yeah. And everyone I know that's worked with Travolta is like, they have come away from it, incorporating things that he brought to the process with them. And that's ultimately what we want to do. We want to be additive to our, our fellows. Duval. Give me some Duval, baby. I mean...

Maybe one of the greatest actresses who ever lived. Yes. Just that saying. Yeah. It's impossible to describe how not daunting it was

And yet at the same time, you go, oh my God, that's Bobby Duvall. I wonder if he likes me. A lot of it was just that. A lot of it was just we're doing all these scenes and the scene would end and he'd smile or go back to his trailer or say, hey, we should have a steak. You want to have a steak? A steak. He loves good steak. He loves talking about horses, neither of which I'm particularly well-versed in. So I would just like nod my head and I go, yes, steak. Yes, horses. Does he like me? That's amazing.

And then the biggest thing with Duvall is you work with him, but then you see what he did in plain sight that you weren't aware of when you see the finished product. And you go, wow, dude, this is a absolute master of this craft of screen acting. Because he makes it look easy.

Because all the work he does goes into these subtleties where he communicates something that is so beyond the text that you feel it in a way that is, he's talking directly to the viewer. And it's really hard to keep that plate spinning. I also think he doesn't take himself too seriously. He takes his work very seriously. Yeah.

And also we created a little family that was Jeremy Strong in one of his first times on film. I forgot Jeremy was in that. And Vince D'Onofrio. Jeez, what great guy. Who is a legendary guy. Vera Farmiga, who is, I don't even know who you can compare her to. She's such a singular actor. Yeah.

But yeah, Duvall. So we were walking through the Benny shell and you go, what is that? And he gave me his copy of the script for MASH. That's amazing. What a gift. I know. It's not just that he gave it to me. It's that there's a little ring stain on it from the coffee he put on top of it after the read-through or whatever. And those are the parts of history where you go,

The script is a script. Everybody had one, but he was, this was his working script. And that's literally, that to me is as important to me as if someone had, like when Norman Lear was touring the Declaration of Independence. This whole vibe today has been so great. I mean, it's been...

We've been talking about doing this forever. You know, we're both so busy and that we're able to carve this time out to do it and catch up. And I mean, it just, it's, it's been fantastic. It really, really, really has. And I'm so excited for people who've seen Oppenheimer and,

for you to continue to be recognized for it. It's so deserving. It's a win for the good guys, man. It's just such a win for the good guys. I could not be more proud of you and love you so much. Thank you, brother. Meanwhile, now that we know the spot and we basically have lunch, we get all dolled up.

for no one except us. Just us. And all the content we grabbed. And then, I want to commit to as long as you do this, I want to be part of your, part of the cadence of it. I would love it. I would love, people are going to love this. You're the best. Love you, man. You are kind and you're easy on the eyes, you fucker.

Strong hair. The hair, the hair. You didn't say fucking anything about my hair and you're expecting me to come back for episode 200? No, no. Your hair, there are times when I go, oh, Downey's going with that. Interesting. There are two people whose hair I track. I track Pitt. Oh, you got to. I track you and I track Beckham.

So, it's three people. Well, I want to say, too, I will be posting around the time of this. It was a random shot of Lowe in the chair getting ready, and it's hard to discern at first glance whether it's him or Brad Pitt. So, I might sneak in some Brad Pitt photos, and I'm going to trick you. It's Trump Loy. Okay. I like that. Thank you. I like that. That's good. My God, what a gift this has been to the audience. Oh, God. They love it.

So funny. Oh, so much fun. I hope you guys liked that as much as I did. God, that was great. There's nobody like him. Love that man so much. Ring, ring. What's that? Oh, it's the lowdown line. Hello, you've reached literally in our lowdown line where you can get the lowdown on all things about me, Rob Lowe. 323-570-

So have at it. Here's the beep. Hi, Rob Lowe. My name is Cheryl Charming, and today is my one-year anniversary of living and traveling America in a camper van.

Oh, my God. I download your podcast and then I listen to them while driving. Love it. Thank you. Thank you so much, Rob, for riding along with me. And thank you for your entertaining podcast. I really, really enjoy it. Now, if you could swap lives with one of your many characters for one day,

who would it be and why? And how do you think they'd handle being Rob Lowe for one day? Thank you again, Rob. Bye. Oh, wow. What a great question. And what a great life you're leading. I thought you were going to say, if you could swap places with me, where would you want to go in the camper? Because that

Sounds like you're, you are living your best life. So congratulations. And I'm super glad to be a part of it. Um, all right. So, uh, um, it might be fun to be JFK for a day. I played, you know, JFK and, and killing Kennedy. Um, that would be fun. And I feel like he would have, he would fit in very well with, uh, my life. Um, I think that would be a good one. Um,

I would have said a few years ago, Sam Seaborn, I would have liked to have gone into the White House, but politics being what it is now, I don't really have any desire to do that anymore. Although I could go with Dr. Jack Starts from behind the candelabra and see what it would be like to be a pill-addled, stretched-faced, B-level Beverly Hills plastic surgeon. That might be kind of a jam for a day, right? But he would definitely not do well

with the stuff that I have to do on a daily basis. Anyway, thank you for listening and enjoy the open road. Thank you guys for listening. There is more to come here on Literally. I will see you next time. You've been listening to Literally with Rob Lowe, produced by me, Nick Liao, with help from associate producer Sarah Begar, research by Alyssa Grahl, editing by Jerron Ferguson, engineering and mixing by Rich Garcia.

Our executive producers are Rob Lowe for Low Profile, Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross, and myself for Team Coco, and Colin Anderson for Stitcher. Booking by Deirdre Dodd, music by Devin Bryant. Special thanks to Hidden City Studios. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on Literally with Rob Lowe.

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

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