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<v Speaker 1>This is Later with Lee Matthews, The Lee Matthews Podcast

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<v Speaker 1>More What You Hear Weekday Afternoon's on the Drive.

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<v Speaker 2>Love having comedian, actor, television writer, author and musician Paul

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<v Speaker 2>Riser on the last time we had him on, he

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<v Speaker 2>was bringing his comedy show through Ada, and he's in

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<v Speaker 2>a new movie called The Problem with People, and Paul,

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<v Speaker 2>I guess it's the best described this new movie as

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<v Speaker 2>a different kind of fish out of watertail.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, yeah, yes, it's it's a movie I p okay.

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<v Speaker 4>So I play.

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<v Speaker 3>A guy from New York who gets a call out

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<v Speaker 3>of the blue from a guy in Ireland who claims

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<v Speaker 3>to be my cousin. He actually is, and the backstory

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<v Speaker 3>is that we are the third generation of two guys

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<v Speaker 3>who one hundred years ago two brothers who had a

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<v Speaker 3>falling out, and the two sides of the family have

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<v Speaker 3>had this unspoken feud and he reaches out to me

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<v Speaker 3>to try and put an end to it and bury

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<v Speaker 3>the hatchet and invites me over to beautiful Ireland to

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<v Speaker 3>raise a glass in friendship. And it goes wrong, and

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<v Speaker 3>it goes bad because we are flawed individuals, and that's

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<v Speaker 3>why it's called The Problem with People. Because it seems

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<v Speaker 3>no matter how well you're in you know what, however

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<v Speaker 3>good your intentions are, we all find a reason to

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<v Speaker 3>be suspicious of the next person. And so it's a

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<v Speaker 3>really it's a really fun comedy calumni and myself and

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<v Speaker 3>Jane Levy and a wonderful Irish cast and beautiful countryside

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<v Speaker 3>of Ireland. And at the heart of the movie is like, Wow,

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<v Speaker 3>why do we have to be fighting? Is there a

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<v Speaker 3>way that people can perhaps not be as bad as

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<v Speaker 3>we are?

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<v Speaker 4>And so I I.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, it seems to me people are really responding

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<v Speaker 3>to that piece of it, which is very nice to see.

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<v Speaker 2>When I first saw the title, I thought, is this

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<v Speaker 2>another one of your books? Because you know that's what

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<v Speaker 2>it sounded like. It sounds like another one of your

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<v Speaker 2>Rye observations.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, you know what, people the phrase I realized I

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<v Speaker 3>say that all the time. You know, you're driving and

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<v Speaker 3>somebody cuts you off. What is the problem with this?

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<v Speaker 4>Go?

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<v Speaker 3>What is people? It's like, oh, there's the name the

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<v Speaker 3>problem with people? Because we're never going to quite solve it,

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<v Speaker 3>but we keep trying.

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<v Speaker 2>As far as the ethnicity is concerned, I mean, this

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<v Speaker 2>is you're you're as new York as New York gets.

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<v Speaker 2>I imagine that I am New.

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<v Speaker 3>York, but you know, New York is a very there's

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<v Speaker 3>a huge Irish population in New York. Sure, And and

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<v Speaker 3>and at the heart of the movie is one and

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<v Speaker 3>the older guy, the grandfather in the movie says, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>why do we fight. We're all the same. We all

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<v Speaker 3>came from the Ultimately, we all come from the same place.

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<v Speaker 3>If you go back far enough, and it's like, yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>whatever it is, you're gonna find. You know, you may

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<v Speaker 3>live in different countries, you may have different beliefs, different religions,

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<v Speaker 3>but like, really, are we that different? Not really, not really,

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<v Speaker 3>So I've always had that belief in This movie is

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<v Speaker 3>sort of a fun just dances around that that premise

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<v Speaker 3>of like there's really no reason. We all want the

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<v Speaker 3>same thing. We all want to live and be safe

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<v Speaker 3>and have our children be safe. It's like, let's see

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<v Speaker 3>if we can get together and stop fighting. So this

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<v Speaker 3>is a comedic take on trying to solve the problem

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<v Speaker 3>with people.

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<v Speaker 2>Problem with people is the movie Call Meanie with Paul Riser,

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<v Speaker 2>who is the actor, television director, and author and musician

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<v Speaker 2>that is joining us. Now you've been at this for

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<v Speaker 2>quite a long time. Do you ever find yourself turning

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<v Speaker 2>into your dad or turning into the angry man across

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<v Speaker 2>the hall?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh yeah, yeah, you know. And it's funny. One of

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<v Speaker 3>the things that made this movie where cale Meani is

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<v Speaker 3>a wonderful actor that some people, you know, you might

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<v Speaker 3>not know his name, and you look at his face

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<v Speaker 3>go oh yeah, yeah, I love that guy. And we

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<v Speaker 3>had never met until we started filming. And one of

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<v Speaker 3>the things that we got along so well, and we

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<v Speaker 3>played together so off each other so well. And part

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<v Speaker 3>of the thing is we're both kind of like the characters, like,

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<v Speaker 3>we're decent guys, we're nice guys. We can both be

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<v Speaker 3>charming and friendly, and we're both really cranky, and we

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<v Speaker 3>both can be irritable and set off by something stupid.

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<v Speaker 3>It's like, that's what these characters are. These guys, they're

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<v Speaker 3>not bad people. You're rooting for both of them, but

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<v Speaker 3>oh why why are they at each other's throat so quickly?

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<v Speaker 3>And that's just how we are. But yeah, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>the New York and Irish thing. I grew up in

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<v Speaker 3>New York, and frankly, when I write something, I don't

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<v Speaker 3>know how to write myself anywhere else. I've tried to

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<v Speaker 3>write set something in Los Angeles, where I live. I

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<v Speaker 3>don't understand it. I go back to New York and

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<v Speaker 3>you know, and the story is. The backstory is that

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<v Speaker 3>their great grandfathers were two brothers who were finding their

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<v Speaker 3>way from Eastern Europe on their way to America, stopped

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<v Speaker 3>in Ireland to get a boat, and then one of

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<v Speaker 3>them meets a pretty girl and says, I'll catch up

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<v Speaker 3>with you, and then he never does. So one of

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<v Speaker 3>the brothers goes to America, one of the other one

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<v Speaker 3>stays in Ireland, and that's how the family got split,

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<v Speaker 3>and the brothers were both angry with each other for

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<v Speaker 3>not being together. And so yes, so I think if

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<v Speaker 3>you trace us all back, we all do come from

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<v Speaker 3>the same place. We all have so much more in

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<v Speaker 3>common than we have differences. And this is a funny,

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<v Speaker 3>hopefully funny, sweet movie about those differences and the problems,

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<v Speaker 3>the problems with people.

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<v Speaker 2>The problem with people is the movie. And it also

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<v Speaker 2>stars Paul Riser. Call Meenie. I mean, when you need

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<v Speaker 2>angry irishmen, when you need drunk irishmen, when you need

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<v Speaker 2>quintessential Irishman, you need to cast call meanie.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, he is the guy. And Amos said, how'd you

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<v Speaker 3>get call Meenie? I said, you know, you call Ireland. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 3>he picks up the phone. That's how that's how big

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<v Speaker 3>he is.

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<v Speaker 2>He's the guy and he does it so well it

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<v Speaker 2>doesn't seem to mind it. Yeah, no, you know.

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<v Speaker 3>And he's walking around Dublin with call Meani. It would

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<v Speaker 3>be like walking around you know, the Bronx with janiro Hey.

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<v Speaker 3>Everybody knows them. Everybody feels they own him. They're they're

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<v Speaker 3>not own and that their family.

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<v Speaker 2>You know.

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<v Speaker 3>There's just an easy going this So it was a

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<v Speaker 3>thrill to to to be with, to have him, you know.

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<v Speaker 3>And one of the things that made me so happy

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<v Speaker 3>is as a writer, he said, you know, whenever I get.

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<v Speaker 4>A script that's written by an American and writing Irish

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<v Speaker 4>countryside or Irish movie, he goes, it's usually every cliche,

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<v Speaker 4>you know, the top of the morning to you, he said,

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<v Speaker 4>and leprechauns, he goes, and you didn't go anywhere near that,

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<v Speaker 4>And it.

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<v Speaker 3>Sounds like actual people in Ireland and that made me

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<v Speaker 3>feel I was very proud of that. It's like, okay, great,

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<v Speaker 3>we we missed every minefield we could have stepped on.

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<v Speaker 3>And uh, the fact, the fact that it felt authentic

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<v Speaker 3>to him meant the world to me.

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<v Speaker 2>So you had you had a hand in writing it

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<v Speaker 2>as well.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, I wrote, Yeah, there was this a movie. I

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<v Speaker 3>had this idea a long time ago, and uh, and

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<v Speaker 3>I would periodically pick up a pen and start writing it.

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<v Speaker 3>And I thought maybe I should write it with somebody.

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<v Speaker 3>I found this young writer named Wally Marzano Lesnovitch, the

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<v Speaker 3>longest name, I'm not even fit on a jersey.

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<v Speaker 2>And very Irish too.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Yeah, non Irish guys writing in Irish movie. But

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<v Speaker 3>that was part of it, Like we weren't claiming to

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<v Speaker 3>be Irish with like, yes, I'm getting my character gets

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<v Speaker 3>himself to Ireland with no idea why or why he's there.

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<v Speaker 3>But what was the question?

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<v Speaker 2>See, we were talking about writing and get here anyway. Yeah, okay,

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<v Speaker 2>all right, yeah, but see what happens when that's one

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<v Speaker 2>of the problems with people. We just start talking with people.

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<v Speaker 3>And it's in theaters now and you can watch it

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<v Speaker 3>at home. You can watch it on your Amazon and

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<v Speaker 3>Hulu and your Apple TV, and you can enjoy it

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<v Speaker 3>in the comfort of your own pajamas.

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<v Speaker 2>Paul Riser, thank you for joining us.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening to Later with Lee Matthews, the Lee

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<v Speaker 1>Matthews Podcast, and remember to listen to The Drive Live

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<v Speaker 1>weekday afternoons from five to seven. An iHeartMedia presentation