Speaker 1: In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, Jensen Apples is on,
Speaker 1: Eric Dane from Countdown, Taron Egerton in the cast of
Speaker 1: Smoke on Apple TV Plus, and so much more.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 3: Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from iHeartRadio
Speaker 3: your pop culture news, views, reviews and celebrity interviews on
Speaker 3: all the movies, TV, music, and pomp culture U Crab Weekly.
Speaker 3: Here's Kyle McMahon.
Speaker 1: Nett ne it Net, Hello and welcome to pop Culture
Speaker 1: Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I, of course and Kyle McMahon
Speaker 1: and we have got an absolutely stacked episode of pop
Speaker 1: Culture Weekly. So I hope you've got your streaming passwords
Speaker 1: memorized because we're diving headfirst into two of the buzziest
Speaker 1: shows of the summer, Countdown on Prime Video and Smoke
Speaker 1: on Apple TV Plus, both really great thriller series. And
Speaker 1: I'm really really excited about that. First up, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm always you know, I spend my fourth of July
Speaker 1: in Washington, d C. For a Capitol Fourth, which is
Speaker 1: an incredible annual special that airs on pds, and you
Speaker 1: may have caught that I had the exclusive reveal of
Speaker 1: the lineup this year and it is awesome dance floor
Speaker 1: legend himself, Alfonso Robero returns as hosts for this year's broadcast.
Speaker 1: It's its forty fifth year and there's something for everyone
Speaker 1: with the performers Yolanda Adams, Gospel Queen and Anti Anti
Speaker 1: Yolanda Anti Yo, Abby Carter American Idol Season twenty two winner,
Speaker 1: Grammy winning chart topping larn Daegel low Cash is going
Speaker 1: to be bringing the summertime country bops, the Beach Boys,
Speaker 1: and the Temptations to legendary bands will be gracing the
Speaker 1: Capitol fourth stage. Trombone Shorty is performing and country crooner
Speaker 1: Josh Turner will be performing as well. And as always,
Speaker 1: the National Symphony Orchestra, led by Jack Everley, will be
Speaker 1: providing the soundtrack for this patriotic celebration. And because it
Speaker 1: is more than just about the music, there will be
Speaker 1: some incredible tributes to the people and the stories that
Speaker 1: make America America. There'll be a two hundred and fiftieth
Speaker 1: anniversary salute to the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps with
Speaker 1: an Armed Forces medley and a full color guard, So
Speaker 1: that's going to be great. World War Two's eightieth anniversary
Speaker 1: tribute honoring members of the Greatest Generation First Responders recognition,
Speaker 1: and of course that jaw dropping fireworks finale with the
Speaker 1: biggest and best fireworks in the country. So you can
Speaker 1: watch live Friday July fourth at eight pm Eastern on PBS,
Speaker 1: PBS's YouTube, and PBS dot org, with an encore presentation
Speaker 1: immediately following at nine point thirty. And if you already
Speaker 1: have plans, you will want to watch it on demand
Speaker 1: from July fourth through July eighteenth, so you'll be able
Speaker 1: to watch it.
Speaker 2: On YouTube, PBS dot org.
Speaker 1: And on your on demand. So I'll be there as
Speaker 1: always interviewing the talent, and we'll have an episode coming
Speaker 1: out the morning of July fourth with all my interviews
Speaker 1: with all of the cast, so be sure to tune
Speaker 1: in and look for that. All right, First up, buckle
Speaker 1: up for Countdown on Prime Video. Countdown is an explosive
Speaker 1: edge of your seat thriller from the Chicago Fire creator
Speaker 1: Derek has So we're talking like ticking clocks, impossible choices,
Speaker 1: and a crazy stack cast that includes Jensen Acles, Eric Dane,
Speaker 1: Jessica Camacho, Violet Bean, Juli Latsukifu, and Elliott Knight and yes,
Speaker 1: you know. I asked everything from secrets to survival to
Speaker 1: how it was on set. Then later things get even
Speaker 1: more smoky, literally with Smoke, the intense new Apple TV
Speaker 1: Plus series from the brilliant mind of Dennis Lee Haynes,
Speaker 1: who's done Mystic River and Shutter Island, two of my
Speaker 1: favorite movies ever. This one. Smoke has got Taron Egerton,
Speaker 1: Journey Smolley, Greg Kanear, Rafe Spaal and niare Moinna burning
Speaker 1: up the screen and Smoke is gritty, It's gripping, and
Speaker 1: somehow it manages to make even Greg kanear terrifying, which
Speaker 1: is pretty cool. So grab your popcorn, Aaron Haler, or
Speaker 1: maybe you know, vodka or water whatever, because we're jumping
Speaker 1: right in pop culture. Weekly starts right now. Countdown on
Speaker 1: Prime Video. Derek Coss He has brought us Chicago Fire, Chicago,
Speaker 1: p D Chicago Med and probably coming soon in Chicago,
Speaker 1: Bake Off.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: Countdown is like uphulse pounding what would you do? Kind
Speaker 1: of series where the clock's against you and you never
Speaker 1: know who you can trust. I love it. It reminds
Speaker 1: me of like an updated version of twenty four and
Speaker 1: the cast is awesome. Jensen Ackles, who still somehow looks
Speaker 1: like a CW. Hart Throb and an ABC all at
Speaker 1: the same time, Eric Dane, Mike STEENI himself, and the rest.
Speaker 2: Of the cast.
Speaker 1: I talk with them all. The show is packed with tension, swagger,
Speaker 1: and very attractive people diffusing extremely complicated situations. So first
Speaker 1: up is Julie Let Tukifu and Elliott Knight. Julie has
Speaker 1: this presence on screen that basically says, do not mess
Speaker 1: with me, but his vibe in person is totally chill.
Speaker 1: He's really awesome. And the charming and sharp Elliot Knight,
Speaker 1: who brings some nuance intention to his role and Countdown.
Speaker 1: So let's jump right into my interview with them. Julie
Speaker 1: Let Tukifu and Elliot Knight, thank you both so much
Speaker 1: for speaking with me. I really appreciate it. Hey, nice
Speaker 1: to meet you. So first of all, congratulations on Countdown.
Speaker 1: It's really enjoyable. It's edge of your seat and I'm
Speaker 1: loving it. So congrats on that.
Speaker 4: Thank you.
Speaker 1: It's awesome to hear. Thank you, of course. So what,
Speaker 1: there's so much to the project. There's action you guys,
Speaker 1: you know, shot in La on location for a lot
Speaker 1: of it the writing, the other talent. What drew you
Speaker 1: to doing this?
Speaker 5: I think the uniqueness of the mix of all of
Speaker 5: those things, not as a cop out answer, but truly
Speaker 5: it's not that often that you get so many wonderful
Speaker 5: components coming together to make something original like that. And
Speaker 5: you know, Derek has a proven track record of being
Speaker 5: able to create beautiful dynamics of characters and stories that
Speaker 5: really draw people in. And I think that having a
Speaker 5: streaming home with Amazon is just a really exciting combination
Speaker 5: and it's made it really fun to be a path
Speaker 5: And how about.
Speaker 6: For you you, I mean, mate, I was born and
Speaker 6: raised in Australia, so kind of the opportunity to work
Speaker 6: in the City of Angels with you know, the industries
Speaker 6: was born.
Speaker 1: For me.
Speaker 6: That was a real special thing that I was really
Speaker 6: hoping would happen, and it happened, and the genre again
Speaker 6: and working with Derek proven trek record, as Elliott said,
Speaker 6: So it's all been a dream, Mate, I have to
Speaker 6: tell you.
Speaker 1: Well, it's it shows up on screen. So for both
Speaker 1: of you, you know, as as you were doing this,
Speaker 1: you know, I had asked some of your cast mates
Speaker 1: because it's just so fascinating to me like I would
Speaker 1: be fanboying out wanting to know what's next, you know, like,
Speaker 1: what's happening next in the story? Did either of you
Speaker 1: do that or did you take it script by script
Speaker 1: or like, what did you do?
Speaker 6: I read in advance just for my own sanity. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I kind of just understanding my personal arc by the
Speaker 6: end well as long as yeah, yeah, right, But but
Speaker 6: then took my approach when filming episode by episode because
Speaker 6: I didn't want to preempt anything or anything like that,
Speaker 6: but I did need to know for me that kind
Speaker 6: of what Derek was thinking about where he would end
Speaker 6: up and that kind of thing.
Speaker 5: And for sure, Yeah, I think you'd fit in if
Speaker 5: that's how you feel, because I definitely felt like that.
Speaker 5: It's exciting to find out what's going to happen, and
Speaker 5: every new script feels like a little treasure chest you
Speaker 5: get to open, not knowing what's going to be inside.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Oh that's good. I should have been saying that more.
Speaker 1: That's right, Yeah, that's good. That's I like treasure chests.
Speaker 1: But it does.
Speaker 5: It feels like that, not just about yourself obviously, but
Speaker 5: finding out where things are going to go, because he's
Speaker 5: really made a story that's so unpredictable. Yeah, so, yeah,
Speaker 5: you would not be out of place. It's it's easy
Speaker 5: to get excited.
Speaker 1: About and and then you know, you you filmed this
Speaker 1: a bit of go and now it's coming. You know,
Speaker 1: now it's here. Do you get that same excitement that
Speaker 1: you kind of had as you were filming now that
Speaker 1: this project that you work so hard on is being
Speaker 1: unleashed to the world or does it turn to nervousness
Speaker 1: or like what happens?
Speaker 6: I am I'm not nervous, but I'm I am. Yeah,
Speaker 6: I guess I'm excited because, you know, watching it back,
Speaker 6: I kind of get you get memories of where you
Speaker 6: shot things and who you're shooting with. That's always an
Speaker 6: important thing. I am quietly, quietly pumped for people to
Speaker 6: see it.
Speaker 1: I love that. How about you earlier?
Speaker 5: No, yeah, it's the way that this actually feels different
Speaker 5: for me. This is completely true. It was such a
Speaker 5: relaxed experience to enjoy doing this work, still caring about
Speaker 5: it and still bringing our all to it. But this
Speaker 5: feels like such a family energy around what we've done.
Speaker 5: I'm almost on the other side of being nervous or excited.
Speaker 5: I can't wait for people to see it. But I'm
Speaker 5: also just so proud of what we've done, and I
Speaker 5: fully believe in the fun that we created and what
Speaker 5: we've all done together, and anything else after that is
Speaker 5: a bonus for me. So I'm just I'm excited for
Speaker 5: anyone who does join us on this ride and enjoy
Speaker 5: the show like we have, because there's a lot more
Speaker 5: that we want to do, and hopefully I'm with you
Speaker 5: guys watching as well, we'll be able to do that.
Speaker 1: Awesome. I can't wait for it. Thank you both for
Speaker 1: speaking with me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Jui and Elliott.
Speaker 1: Great guys, very very sweet guys, and incredibly talented actors.
Speaker 1: All right, Next up, I chat with Jessica Camacho and
Speaker 1: Violet Bean. These two just own every scene that they're in,
Speaker 1: whether they're throwing punches or throwing shade. They bring the
Speaker 1: fire to count Down. Let's jump right into it. Jessica
Speaker 1: Camacho and Violet Bean, thank you both so much for
Speaker 1: speaking with me. I really appreciate it. Hi, how are you.
Speaker 1: I'm doing good? Thank you, and I'm loving Countdown. It
Speaker 1: is awesome, and so congratulations to both of you on that.
Speaker 1: Thank you, of course, So tell me about you know,
Speaker 1: obviously it's an it's an exciting series, and but what
Speaker 1: drew you to it?
Speaker 5: Was it?
Speaker 1: The script?
Speaker 2: Was it?
Speaker 1: The idea? Was it? You know what drew you to
Speaker 1: do in the project? I think it was a bit
Speaker 1: of all of it.
Speaker 7: I think, Yeah, I mean, the characters are awesome, They're
Speaker 7: all so uniquely themselves, and Los Angeles is like the
Speaker 7: fact that you would shoot here is so wild to
Speaker 7: me because so many shows don't, first of all, but
Speaker 7: also it's a show that takes place in La you know,
Speaker 7: it's not just going to be in a studio, and
Speaker 7: we were on location probably half half of the days
Speaker 7: every week, shooting in different neighborhoods. And yeah, I think
Speaker 7: just all the unique characters with such a big draw.
Speaker 8: For me, how about for you, Jessica, Like action thriller,
Speaker 8: you know what I mean? Just the exciting nature of that,
Speaker 8: getting to play in a world where the stakes are
Speaker 8: so high, everything's the need for resolution is immediate, it's now.
Speaker 9: And you know, how people show up when they're operating.
Speaker 8: In those stakes is fascinating to me.
Speaker 9: How they how the dire need to survive relies upon
Speaker 9: you know, your your skill set, your capability, your smarts,
Speaker 9: your intellect, your your intuition, relying upon each other, working together,
Speaker 9: you know, being part of a cohesive group of people
Speaker 9: who are tasked with this mission that has detrimental costs,
Speaker 9: you know if we don't succeed.
Speaker 1: So I just love all of that.
Speaker 8: The excitement inherent in all of that.
Speaker 1: Really pulled me.
Speaker 8: And then, yeah, I've been talking about this all day,
Speaker 8: reading the script in which the scene in which oliveris
Speaker 8: is introduced for the first time. It is such a
Speaker 8: delicious scene. I was picturing it immediately, and I was
Speaker 8: picturing myself and and I was like, well, I'm gonna
Speaker 8: play this.
Speaker 7: Just set it up in her room, and he was.
Speaker 1: A bit creepy.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 10: I loved ones.
Speaker 8: I didn't know if I was a kid but that,
Speaker 8: you know, that first scene. I was like, she's so dynamic,
Speaker 8: there's so much to play with, And yeah, I was,
Speaker 8: I was in scene.
Speaker 1: Yeah I didn't, you know, until you just said that.
Speaker 1: It never really really dawned on me that, like, everybody
Speaker 1: is bringing kind of their own skill set. You know,
Speaker 1: mine would be obviously making peanut butter sandwiches, but it's important.
Speaker 7: Hey, not everybody can do that, you gotta eat.
Speaker 1: It's true, I'll keep the team fan But but as
Speaker 1: you're reading the script as you're shooting and all, I
Speaker 1: don't know in your particular cases, uh, if you know
Speaker 1: it was like sides or if you got the whole
Speaker 1: script or whatever, but were you kind of like fanboying over,
Speaker 1: like what's going to happen next?
Speaker 7: So when we when we auditioned, we only got the
Speaker 7: pilot right, yes, but then right after we or right
Speaker 7: before we started shooting, we actually had the privilege of
Speaker 7: reading all thirty if we wanted, if we wanted to,
Speaker 7: some people wanted to, some people did it. Sometimes we
Speaker 7: read like a couple episodes ahead. But that's crazy because
Speaker 7: you never get to know that. And I think I
Speaker 7: think we were both on the same side of like,
Speaker 7: I don't want to know too too far because we
Speaker 7: wouldn't know in real life where things are going to go.
Speaker 7: But it is helpful if there's some big character choice
Speaker 7: that you are making or want to make, that you
Speaker 7: get to know what's going to happen at the end.
Speaker 7: And it's very rare. Derek had already written all of
Speaker 7: them because he's crazy our show creator. He's like so talented,
Speaker 7: so he already knew everything, and that was that was
Speaker 7: fun to kind of know the general idea of where
Speaker 7: we were going.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 8: I like to strike the balance between like knowing enough
Speaker 8: in order to play what I needed to play, but
Speaker 8: not knowing, you know, too much, so that I could
Speaker 8: I could still bring an element of surprise to her
Speaker 8: and alongside her, you know, as Amber's learning information, I
Speaker 8: want to be discovering that information as well. You know,
Speaker 8: you want to play the moment, not where they end up.
Speaker 8: So it's a balance.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well I think you both balanced it beautifully. I can't
Speaker 1: wait for everybody to see the Countdown. Thank you both
Speaker 1: so much, Thank you so much.
Speaker 11: We appreciate it having I appreciate you you too, Jessica
Speaker 11: and Violent.
Speaker 1: All right, Last, but not least in our Countdown block,
Speaker 1: Jensen Acles and Eric Dane. Jensen the Man, the myth
Speaker 1: and the trench Coat legend and Mixsteini himself. Eric Dane,
Speaker 1: you loved him and Supernatural, you feared him in the Boys,
Speaker 1: and now he's back in Countdown as a man with
Speaker 1: a badge past and no time for nonsense. And Eric Dane,
Speaker 1: who has officially transitioned from mcsteeny to mister I will
Speaker 1: break you with my voice in Countdown. He brings serious
Speaker 1: weight and those intense eyes to a role that's going
Speaker 1: to keep you guessing. And I have a feeling you're
Speaker 1: gonna love it just as much as I did. Here
Speaker 1: they are Jensen Ankles and Eric Dane. Thank you both
Speaker 1: so much for joining me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4: You gonna hit us with some pop culture trivia because
Speaker 4: we're not prepared.
Speaker 1: No, no, and I wouldn't be prepared either, which all right,
Speaker 1: it's kind of typical for me anyway. But first of all,
Speaker 1: I love Countdown, and uh, it's it's such a great show.
Speaker 1: It's so exciting, edge of your seat, high stakes. What
Speaker 1: what drew you both to do?
Speaker 5: It?
Speaker 4: It all of what you just said, honestly, Like, uh,
Speaker 4: there was there was the heists, the action pack, the intensity,
Speaker 4: the fast paced. But you know, I'll speak for me,
Speaker 4: there was there was a there was a vulnerability to this,
Speaker 4: to this show.
Speaker 1: There was a heart to this show.
Speaker 12: Personality.
Speaker 1: There was a personality to the show. That's right, that's
Speaker 1: that's very good.
Speaker 4: That that it that I think it It really it
Speaker 4: made me want to care about these characters. In a
Speaker 4: way that I don't think you normally get with with
Speaker 4: a show like this. You want to you want to
Speaker 4: want you want to root for these people. You want
Speaker 4: to make them, you want to you know, you want
Speaker 4: to you want to hope that they succeed. You really,
Speaker 4: I don't know, there's they.
Speaker 12: It's there's the time enough invested so that you can
Speaker 12: as an audience invest correct.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that that's we're hoping that that
Speaker 4: that's that's one of what's going to give us seasons two.
Speaker 1: Three, ten, fifteen, twenty. And that actually was something that
Speaker 1: was something I was going to ask you guys, was
Speaker 1: are there more Is there more room in the world,
Speaker 1: in this world for more stories? A hundred percent?
Speaker 4: Yeah, Derek's Derek's an absolute phenom of a writer. He's
Speaker 4: got stories for days up asleep.
Speaker 1: Yes, he has like forty seven different shows on the
Speaker 1: air right now.
Speaker 4: I think, yeah, Well, I mean it's a testament to
Speaker 4: who he is.
Speaker 1: And yeah, what he's capable of.
Speaker 4: And I think he's uh, I think he is proudly
Speaker 4: hanging his hat on this show as he should, because
Speaker 4: I think he's done a dynami job.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it really is a great show, and you know,
Speaker 1: and it's I feel like we don't have a lot
Speaker 1: of shows like this anymore. Like when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: remember twenty four, like had that, you know, that was
Speaker 1: kind of like an edge of your seat show for me,
Speaker 1: and I feel like we've been kind of missing that
Speaker 1: and Countdown brings it back, at least for me. Scratches
Speaker 1: that itch. You know.
Speaker 12: I don't know what we've been doing, but that is
Speaker 12: a great reference twenty four.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've used. Yeah, that's a great reference.
Speaker 12: Yeah. I don't see the show as a throwback, but
Speaker 12: I do understand what you mean. And it's an elevated procedural.
Speaker 12: And like Jensen said, you get to invest in these
Speaker 12: characters because you get the time to care about them.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely, And I think everybody is going to
Speaker 1: I can't wait for everybody. I can't wait for it
Speaker 1: to come out so I can start talking to people
Speaker 1: about it because now I'm like, I can't talk to
Speaker 1: anybody about it yet. So one week, baby, one week,
Speaker 1: there we go. Thank you, Eric, and Jad said, I
Speaker 1: really really appreciate both of your time. I can't wait
Speaker 1: for everybody to see Countdown.
Speaker 2: Jensen and Eric.
Speaker 1: Love these two amazing talented actors love Countdown and I
Speaker 1: think you will too. It is streaming right now on
Speaker 1: Prime Video, so hit me up, let me know if
Speaker 1: you're watching it, let me know what you think. There's
Speaker 1: a lot to talk about with this one, so let's
Speaker 1: get to talking.
Speaker 2: All right, don't go anywhere.
Speaker 1: We're taking a quick sixty second break to pay the
Speaker 1: bills and to keep the lights on over here pop
Speaker 1: Culture Weekly. But when we come back, we're diving in
Speaker 1: just Smoke on Apple TV Plus with Taron Egerton and
Speaker 1: the rest of the cast. All right, thanks for hanging
Speaker 1: with me and supporting our sponsors who support me, that
Speaker 1: help me bring this show to you. So all right,
Speaker 1: let's talk about Smoke, Apple TV Plus's latest entry into
Speaker 1: the gritty crime drama that will emotionally wreck you in
Speaker 1: eight episodes. And I mean that in the best way possible.
Speaker 1: It is so good. This one comes from Dennis Lehane, who,
Speaker 1: let's be honest, doesn't write stories as much as emotional uppercuts,
Speaker 1: often with Boston accents. So if you've seen Mystic River Gone,
Speaker 1: Baby Gone, or Shutter Island, you know Dennis does not
Speaker 1: come to play Smoke is moody it's messy in the
Speaker 1: best way possible, and it's really magnetic. It stars Tarren Egerton,
Speaker 1: who somehow manages to look both dangerous and like he'd
Speaker 1: apologize for bumping into you at Starbucks, and Journey Smalay,
Speaker 1: Greg kinnear just the whole cast is giving emmy bait
Speaker 1: with a side of Oh no, I need therapy after
Speaker 1: this episode. It's that good. So I sat down with
Speaker 1: everybody to talk about the show. Let's get right into it.
Speaker 2: First.
Speaker 1: Up is actor Tayray and Winnen, whose performance in Smoke
Speaker 1: is so layered you'll be thinking about it long after
Speaker 1: the credits roll.
Speaker 2: Let's jump right into it. Here he is Tray and winning.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much and sorry for speaking with me.
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 11: Thank you. Kyle Culcher, was that what's up? Pop culture?
Speaker 1: I'm loving Smoke. It is a really incredible series, and
Speaker 1: congratulations to you on that. So I was talking to
Speaker 1: Dennis earlier and Taren about the series, and I asked
Speaker 1: them what drew them to this, and I wonder the
Speaker 1: same with you, just because you know, I'm interested in
Speaker 1: this for this project because it is to me kind
Speaker 1: of fascinating on how it is originally a true story
Speaker 1: that was then a book that was then a podcast
Speaker 1: that is now a limited series that has that is
Speaker 1: inspired by based on this what drew You to Smoke?
Speaker 11: Dennis Lame, Taron Erton, Joreny Small, that the incredible team
Speaker 11: that's assembled here's a dream to work with. And Dennis
Speaker 11: has been a mastermind in creating psychological thrillers that have
Speaker 11: taken us on a thrill ride.
Speaker 2: That is.
Speaker 11: Wonder where it all comes from. This piece, there was
Speaker 11: a source material, so there was some sort of loosely
Speaker 11: inspired by true events. My character is loosely inspired by
Speaker 11: one of the most prolific serial arsists in US history.
Speaker 11: So that what a playground. Any actors dream to be
Speaker 11: able to dive into this world?
Speaker 2: And were you able to or did you.
Speaker 1: Kind of speaking of diving into the world, did you
Speaker 1: dive into the reality at all or did you you know,
Speaker 1: what was your angle as an actor? What was your
Speaker 1: tactic for that?
Speaker 11: Freddie Fassano's lived a life that, from my point of view,
Speaker 11: is unimaginable. I didn't know anyone who's sort of gone
Speaker 11: through circumstances lived through I had no sort of personal
Speaker 11: connection to what he's been through. When I spoke with Dennis,
Speaker 11: I was like, where did this come from? How did
Speaker 11: you write this? And he just simply said his imagination.
Speaker 11: He let his imagination run free. And sometimes when you
Speaker 11: do that, you can surprise yourself and surprise others. And
Speaker 11: so that gave me the creative license to sort of
Speaker 11: play and play with the incredible dialogue that he written,
Speaker 11: the incredible scene partners that I had Dakota Delby, Adina Porter,
Speaker 11: Taron Edgerton, and having that sort of creative license playing
Speaker 11: opposite them led to fireworks that I think surprised all
Speaker 11: of us.
Speaker 1: As you are preparing for a role like this, do
Speaker 1: you dive into the reality of it? Do you know,
Speaker 1: go introspective? What's your method?
Speaker 11: I mean, you try as much as you can to
Speaker 11: try to understand through of what the characters live through.
Speaker 11: But for me, with this role, I had to let
Speaker 11: go of that because there's nothing I could possibly I
Speaker 11: can never fully understand the depths of despair that this
Speaker 11: characters live through. I would be a fool to say
Speaker 11: that I understand his pain, or his suffering or his loneliness.
Speaker 11: All I can do is try to pretend and let
Speaker 11: my imagination go on what that might be like and
Speaker 11: hope and pray that that translates on screen. But for
Speaker 11: you to ask me, do you really know what it
Speaker 11: feels like to be Freddie? I was like, I can't
Speaker 11: speak to that because there's people who really have lived
Speaker 11: through that, and I have utmost empathy for anyone who's
Speaker 11: been through this journey.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and for you, you know, you're you're such a
Speaker 1: creative person. You've You've done so many projects from stage, documentary,
Speaker 1: film series. Is there something that when you were, you know,
Speaker 1: considering your next project, do you have a pattern or
Speaker 1: is it just like, oh, you know, my agent sent
Speaker 1: me this awesome project and I'm interested in it. Or
Speaker 1: is there there's something you know more to it? Is
Speaker 1: there stories you're drawn to over you know, one type
Speaker 1: over another.
Speaker 11: Yeah, sometimes we can self sabotage ourselves as an actors.
Speaker 11: I didn't. I never would have thought I could do
Speaker 11: this role. This character is so far out that I
Speaker 11: was never pitching my my agent saying this is the
Speaker 11: kind of role I need to play. He's needed this
Speaker 11: this the other you know. I don't give any spoilers away,
Speaker 11: but I said to my reps, this is the kind
Speaker 11: of thing I want. I would never have thought I
Speaker 11: would never have drapped up a role like this, and
Speaker 11: so to be given this opportunity, sometimes you got to
Speaker 11: think out of outside the box and be and be
Speaker 11: surprised at what is handed to you as an opportunity
Speaker 11: and be willing to just dive in. Because even when
Speaker 11: I got the audition material, my first audition scene was
Speaker 11: a barbershop scene where they're shaving my characters surly afro
Speaker 11: and as you can see, I'm not very well gifted
Speaker 11: in the hair department. And I was like, how do
Speaker 11: I even do that audition scene because they're talking about
Speaker 11: cutting my hair and I have I'm recording that an
Speaker 11: audition where I have no hair and I'm talking about
Speaker 11: my hair. I was like, it just didn't even make sense.
Speaker 11: I was like, should I wear a wig? And then
Speaker 11: I was like, that's gonna look cheesy. So all I
Speaker 11: could do is sort of let go h of expectations.
Speaker 11: And sometimes when you let go of expectations, you experience
Speaker 11: the divine, and hopefully that is what happened on screen
Speaker 11: with this.
Speaker 1: I love that sometimes when you let go of expectations,
Speaker 1: you experience the divine. That's very powerful. Finally, what do
Speaker 1: you hope that a viewer gets from Smoke? You know, ultimately,
Speaker 1: while it is a drama, dramatic drama dramatized versions is
Speaker 1: why don't use speak words, but why it is a
Speaker 1: fictional lottt version of true events that you know it
Speaker 1: is based on some truly horrible, horrible things. What do
Speaker 1: you hope that a viewer gets watching Smoke?
Speaker 11: I think that viewers are going to get a thrill.
Speaker 11: I mean, it's a thrilling ride of love, loss and
Speaker 11: revenge and what happens when people try to connect with someone,
Speaker 11: want desperately something from someone else and doing the thing
Speaker 11: that makes things worse. I mean, we've all been in
Speaker 11: a situation where you've lost something and you try to
Speaker 11: get it back and it just makes it worse and
Speaker 11: you get in a vicious cycle and you can't figure
Speaker 11: out how to get out of it. This is not
Speaker 11: the extreme, but in a way that there's you hope
Speaker 11: for the best for the characters, and you see their
Speaker 11: attempt to try to get the best for themselves, but
Speaker 11: in the process somehow shoot themselves in the foot, and
Speaker 11: then you hope for the best for them again.
Speaker 1: Much like life. I would say Thank you so much, sir.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for everybody to see Smoke and then
Speaker 1: I can finally talk about it with people.
Speaker 11: Thank you for getting the word out.
Speaker 1: Of course, have a great day you too. Let's ay
Speaker 1: Ray awesome guy, such a charming guy and a great actor.
Speaker 1: All right. Next up the man behind the Madness Dennis Laane.
Speaker 1: His resume reads like a syllabus for incredibly well crafted
Speaker 1: trauma one oh one, the Drop, Mystic River, Shutter Island,
Speaker 1: and now with Smoke, is once again proving that no
Speaker 1: one writes morally complex, emotionally devastating drama quite like he does.
Speaker 2: So let's jump into it.
Speaker 1: Dennis Lane, thank you so much for speaking with me. Dennis,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it. No pleasure, thanks of course. So
Speaker 1: first of all, congratulations on Smoke. It is really compelling
Speaker 1: and I absolutely love it. What this story, which is
Speaker 1: obviously you know, based on a true story, has been
Speaker 1: through a book, in a podcast, now a limited series.
Speaker 1: Why did you decide to create this in this It
Speaker 1: was brought to me by Carrie Antolis, who did the
Speaker 1: podcast Firebug, and then he brought it to me, and
Speaker 1: even when he was pitching it to me telling me
Speaker 1: the story.
Speaker 2: I was like, h really, I don't know, you know,
Speaker 2: but he stuck with me because I had the exact
Speaker 2: same reaction to Blackbird too. So I'm very hard to
Speaker 2: convince to do stuff. So I listened to the podcast.
Speaker 2: I went back to him and I just said, look,
Speaker 2: carry I like one really like one thing about this
Speaker 2: that I feel like I could look into, which is
Speaker 2: I like this idea of this guy who's so in
Speaker 2: denial that he's an arson investigator chasing a serial arsenist
Speaker 2: who he happens to be, and then he's writing a
Speaker 2: book about it in which he's putting in fires that
Speaker 2: mirror the actual fires with the information that only the
Speaker 2: actual arsenists could know. That I find interested because I
Speaker 2: find this sort of I don't know, I just find
Speaker 2: denial interesting. And so I said, I can do that,
Speaker 2: and I can pull in this idea of fire, like
Speaker 2: what does fire mean?
Speaker 1: You know? What does fire mean? Metaphorically? What does it mean?
Speaker 2: What does it mean?
Speaker 1: Emotionally? Does it mean?
Speaker 2: Psychologically? What is it to be trapped in a fire?
Speaker 2: If I can do that, and then I can throw
Speaker 2: out everything else because I really don't want to do
Speaker 2: the nineteen eighties I don't want to do Glendale, California.
Speaker 1: I don't want to do this guy's trial.
Speaker 2: I don't want to do any of that.
Speaker 1: Then I'll do it.
Speaker 2: And then I had the exact same conversation with Tarran,
Speaker 2: and Tarran said, I'll do If you're doing that character,
Speaker 2: I'll do it. And so then we were off to
Speaker 2: the races. But it was always meant to be a
Speaker 2: heavy fictionalized version inspired by a true evet, which was
Speaker 2: this one guy who had done this one thing. And
Speaker 2: there's a little of the same thing in.
Speaker 1: The Freddy character.
Speaker 2: Freddy character was inspired by an actual guy too, and
Speaker 2: so inspired by and then you break bad and then
Speaker 2: you go as far afield as you want to go.
Speaker 2: And I think where we really had the most fun
Speaker 2: with that early on was Michelle. There's no Michelle in
Speaker 2: that in this story, in the real facts of the
Speaker 2: real case. And I just said, what if we created
Speaker 2: an investigator who had her own really warped relationship with Fire,
Speaker 2: and what if she was attracted to Fire in a
Speaker 2: way that she didn't even understand, And it's the reason
Speaker 2: that she ended up going to war, it's the reason
Speaker 2: she became a cop, it's the reason she makes all
Speaker 2: these disastrous romantic decisions. It's all of a piece, and
Speaker 2: that's when the show began to get really fun. In
Speaker 2: the writer's room. I remember that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting to me that you were I
Speaker 1: don't want to say so adamantly against it, but so
Speaker 1: really almost not interested in a way in the early
Speaker 1: stages to where you know, you've been able to creatively
Speaker 1: kind of, as you said, you know, go on a
Speaker 1: fictionalized version and kind of run with it. And it's
Speaker 1: it's I find that fascinating for me, just for you
Speaker 1: as a creator, you know, and and then how it
Speaker 1: comes together so well. Obviously in my opinion, it was
Speaker 1: the right creative decision. It's it's an incredibly great series
Speaker 1: and you and I think, you know, the decisions that
Speaker 1: you made.
Speaker 2: Obviously worked very well to support that. Uh Taraan you
Speaker 2: worked with them on on Blackbird.
Speaker 1: Was he at you know, at the forefront of your
Speaker 1: thoughts as you were, you know, kind of exploring this project.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I brought it to town before I wrote a
Speaker 2: line of dialogue. I mean, I brought it to town
Speaker 2: before I wrote anything. And we got we both got
Speaker 2: jazzed by the idea of the character and in what
Speaker 2: we were trying to investigate. I don't like to say things.
Speaker 2: I like to investigate. I like to question things. So
Speaker 2: we thought, what are we saying about sort of male
Speaker 2: culture right now? It's different than what we said in
Speaker 2: Black Blackbird, but also of a piece, you know, we
Speaker 2: we really that's something that he and I love to investigate.
Speaker 1: What is it?
Speaker 2: What is manhood in the world modern world, you know?
Speaker 2: And so we ran down that path, and he was
Speaker 2: all in because he knew this was gonna be a
Speaker 2: crazy character to play. He knew I was going to
Speaker 2: take it someplace absolutely nuts. I mean that was something
Speaker 2: that I was conveyed to him through text very early on.
Speaker 2: I'm like, this show is going mad, and we just
Speaker 2: we you know what, It was a wonderful feeling in
Speaker 2: the writer's room when we realized we were going to
Speaker 2: just blow the doors off this thing, like there was
Speaker 2: it was just Blackbird was a very controlled it was
Speaker 2: it was a very controlled piece of narrative, and this
Speaker 2: just felt like, no, this demands chaos. You're trying to
Speaker 2: write about chaos. You're trying to write about something that's
Speaker 2: dangerously both chaotic and sexy, which is fire and sanely
Speaker 2: destructive and what does that mean for everybody involved? And
Speaker 2: that that just that just allowed us, that became our
Speaker 2: marching orders, like basically, there's no limit to where the
Speaker 2: show can go.
Speaker 1: And is that part of what you know attracts you
Speaker 1: to a project like this where you can do something
Speaker 1: like Blackbird, which you say is is more controlled and
Speaker 1: then this you're like, Okay, we're going the opposite way
Speaker 1: with this. Is that something that attracts you as a
Speaker 1: creator to that, Yeah, it's challenging, It's someplace I've never
Speaker 1: been before, you know.
Speaker 2: And and I think that's what attracts both Taran and
Speaker 2: I think are the secret to our our collaboration is
Speaker 2: neither of us likes to do things unless something about
Speaker 2: it scares us.
Speaker 1: I think that's a big thing.
Speaker 2: Like Taran doesn't like to take roles unless they scare them,
Speaker 2: unless some part of it is like can I do that?
Speaker 2: And I don't like to write something unless I'm like,
Speaker 2: I could really mess this up. I couldn't really screw
Speaker 2: this up, so uh, let's let's give it a try.
Speaker 2: That's and that's that's why, that's what keeps the juices
Speaker 2: flowing you know what I mean. That's what keeps it.
Speaker 1: You know, you do it.
Speaker 2: That's the Tom Sizemore line. You do it for the
Speaker 2: action and uh and he you know, yeah, that's what
Speaker 2: it is, you know.
Speaker 1: So I love that, Dennis. Thank you so much. I
Speaker 1: can't wait for everybody to see Smoke so I can
Speaker 1: talk about it. Tell you, I'm like itching for discussion
Speaker 1: on it, and nobody can't do it yet, so I
Speaker 1: can't wait for everybody to do I.
Speaker 2: Really appreciate the enthusiasm. It's great to hear. Thank you, Yes,
Speaker 2: of course, Thank you, Dennis.
Speaker 1: I have a great day.
Speaker 2: Cheers you too. Dennis Waye.
Speaker 1: Love that I got to talk to him, and he's
Speaker 1: just his work some of my favorite favorite projects, like
Speaker 1: Mystic River. Shutter Island is one of my favorite movies.
Speaker 1: Gone Baby Gone, Like what anyway?
Speaker 2: All right?
Speaker 1: Next up, Greg Kinnear and Rafe Spa together they bring
Speaker 1: a wild energy to Smoke, a little bit charming, a
Speaker 1: little bit unhints, which honestly kind of how I would
Speaker 1: describe me.
Speaker 2: Let's jump right into it. Greg Kaneer and Rape Spy.
Speaker 1: Thank you Greg and Rape for speaking with me. I
Speaker 1: really appreciate it. Thank you for having us, of course,
Speaker 1: So first of all, congratulations on the series. Smoke is
Speaker 1: so compelling, It's such a powerful story. What drew both
Speaker 1: of you to this project?
Speaker 13: I was a huge fan of Blackbird, of course, starred
Speaker 13: Greg Clear and Taron Edgerton. I was really blown away
Speaker 13: by it, and then I got an email about speaking
Speaker 13: with Dennis about it. I read the first few episodes
Speaker 13: and was blown away by them. Look, it's a show
Speaker 13: which is ostensibly about fire and arson, and that is
Speaker 13: an inherently fascinating subject. But what kept me there and
Speaker 13: which in tern will keep the audience interested, was the
Speaker 13: universal themes between the characters in terms of, you know,
Speaker 13: people letting themselves down, people doing bad things. I think
Speaker 13: that's pretty identifiable. All the characters in this I think,
Speaker 13: see themselves as good people, but from the outside point
Speaker 13: of view, we can see that they do bad things.
Speaker 13: So nothing is black and white. There is a lot
Speaker 13: of gray there. So that kept me interested. Wanted to
Speaker 13: be a part of it, and I think it will
Speaker 13: be the same for the audience as well.
Speaker 14: And how about for you, Greg, Yeah, same thing I
Speaker 14: mean I was. I mean, this is a wonderful group
Speaker 14: of actors. We got to work with like Blackbird, and
Speaker 14: I was always never bored on the show with any
Speaker 14: what anybody was doing with they had. Partially that's credit
Speaker 14: to the writers and Dennis because the as I'm saying,
Speaker 14: I mean, these characters are not obvious. And but I
Speaker 14: remember reading it and thinking, oh, this is going to
Speaker 14: be interesting to see how this actor takes this. And
Speaker 14: sure enough, everybody, everybody, uh, lived up to expectations and
Speaker 14: created something that is you know, that is I think unexpected,
Speaker 14: and it's fueled by kind of an exotic, weird thing
Speaker 14: of arson at its you know, front and center. It's
Speaker 14: it's off based off a loosely off a podcast called Firebug.
Speaker 14: That's just kind of the starting point of it, but
Speaker 14: it goes it's a pretty unexpected show in terms of
Speaker 14: the dance it's doing.
Speaker 1: I think, yeah, as I was talking to Tarn and
Speaker 1: Dennis earlier, and what I find so fascinating about it
Speaker 1: as you know, essentially based on true events that there
Speaker 1: was this book, then there was this podcast, and now
Speaker 1: there's this limited series. And yet Dennis told me that
Speaker 1: he shows specifically to divert away, you know, use that
Speaker 1: use the real story as the basis but divert away
Speaker 1: from many of you know. The reality which I find,
Speaker 1: you know, so fascinating to me is that you know,
Speaker 1: for both of you and Greg, you can start as
Speaker 1: you're doing something that is, you know, loosely based on
Speaker 1: real events. Do you dive into that reality news pieces
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing, or do you pull back
Speaker 1: and kind of do your own take based on the script.
Speaker 14: Now I find you know that the source material for
Speaker 14: me is the script the first and foremost these other elements.
Speaker 14: I mean, listen, there are you know, people who making
Speaker 14: true stories, but even every story is taking license, I think,
Speaker 14: and having worked with him in Blackbird, I saw this.
Speaker 14: I think keeping the show entertaining and interesting and making
Speaker 14: it something for an audience is first and foremost what
Speaker 14: is interesting to him. It's certainly what I support. You know,
Speaker 14: I've seen shows that I'm sure are very accurate, but
Speaker 14: that's not what I'm Jason. I'm chasing for a full bodied,
Speaker 14: interesting series that's going to take me to places I
Speaker 14: don't expect, and if that has to deviate from reality,
Speaker 14: so be it. And I think that we have a
Speaker 14: great launching point on this. But this thing goes to
Speaker 14: some pretty twisted places that even the actual reality and
Speaker 14: story wouldn't take you too and for you.
Speaker 2: Rafe is that kind of the same thing. I would agree.
Speaker 13: I'm much like Greg the the Bible is the script
Speaker 13: that's to jumping off point now. I think if you're
Speaker 13: playing someone that everybody in the world knows. So if
Speaker 13: you're going to play Muhammad Ali or whatever, or someone
Speaker 13: someone that everyone knows and everyone understands the rhythms of
Speaker 13: their speech, and they everyone knows bits about their story,
Speaker 13: you have a kind of duty whoever's playing that person
Speaker 13: to be as accurate as possible. But if you're doing
Speaker 13: a world which is kind of based on a story
Speaker 13: of a load of people that apart from the people
Speaker 13: and their families, no one's ever heard of them, no
Speaker 13: one knows what they.
Speaker 2: Look like or sound like.
Speaker 13: It's a blank canvas to be as creative as possible.
Speaker 13: So I think it changes from projects to projects. If
Speaker 13: you're playing someone super famous, then you have a duty
Speaker 13: to kind of, you know, in some way give an
Speaker 13: accurate portrayer that person. But you know, when it comes
Speaker 13: to prep you've got the scripts, and if there are bits,
Speaker 13: bits from the actual story that are helpful and playable,
Speaker 13: then so be it. But a lot of research can
Speaker 13: be quite dry and not playable. What's playable is human
Speaker 13: emotion and that can come from myriad places like a
Speaker 13: song or a or a book that's got nothing to
Speaker 13: do with it, something that might.
Speaker 2: Inspire and I love that.
Speaker 1: And and finally, you know, it is some heavy material.
Speaker 1: How did you both kind of keep it light when
Speaker 1: when needed as you're shooting? You know, I assume I
Speaker 1: don't know, I'm not an actor, but I assume you
Speaker 1: need some levity in, you know, kind of when you're
Speaker 1: dealing with such heavy stuff. Maybe I'm totally off.
Speaker 14: But I would say, yeah, I would say the off
Speaker 14: camera chemistry, uh was was really excellent.
Speaker 1: I think everybody on this show was was really great.
Speaker 1: Good people, fund to work with.
Speaker 14: And and when we weren't, when the cameras weren't doing
Speaker 14: their thing, you know, we had.
Speaker 11: We're in a lot of laughs.
Speaker 2: We did have and that's what's important, you know, is.
Speaker 13: Having fun Because we're in are we breathe very sanctified
Speaker 13: air and get into what we do. We do the
Speaker 13: jobs that we dreamed of doing when we were kids.
Speaker 13: We get to put makeup on, wear other people's clothes
Speaker 13: and pretend to do shit. These are my dreams and
Speaker 13: they could see you.
Speaker 2: Guys get paid for that. I try to do it
Speaker 2: and I got yeah, sorry, yeah, exactly, yeah, but we
Speaker 2: get paid for it.
Speaker 13: People bring us into work, they bring us coffee. Everyone's
Speaker 13: super nice to.
Speaker 1: Where you're an actor, Sarah Toga when you want.
Speaker 13: To exactly, it's a it's a damn fine life, and
Speaker 13: actors tend to be really lovely people, open and fun
Speaker 13: and funny and self deprecating, and it's it's a lovely job,
Speaker 13: last work, get it.
Speaker 1: I love that. Thank you both so much. I can't
Speaker 1: wait for everybody to see Smoke so I can talk
Speaker 1: about it with them. I'm like dying to discuss.
Speaker 2: Itay very much, thanks for your time.
Speaker 1: Have a great day. Red can hear a rape spa.
Speaker 1: You can tell everybody's so passionate about Smoke. It's such
Speaker 1: a good series and you just gotta watch it. It's
Speaker 1: on Apple TV plus. It is so good and I
Speaker 1: can't wait to talk to you about it all right.
Speaker 1: Next up Journey smell a And when I say she
Speaker 1: devours every scene she's in, I mean you might want
Speaker 1: to keep snacks nearby, just to emotionally recover. We talked
Speaker 1: about what drew her to Smoke, how she prepped, and
Speaker 1: so much more. Let's jump in right now, Journey, Smelly,
Speaker 1: thank you so much, Journey for joining me. I really
Speaker 1: appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me man of course.
Speaker 1: So first of all, congratulations on Smoke. I love it.
Speaker 1: It's such compell it and television. I find it interesting
Speaker 1: for me that it kind of had this interesting journey
Speaker 1: from you know, kind of real life to book to
Speaker 1: podcast to now, you know, this limited series where this
Speaker 1: series itself isn't you know, it's not like a documentary,
Speaker 1: so there's a lot of creative license and that sort
Speaker 1: of thing. Is that part of what drew you to it? Like,
Speaker 1: I feel like there's this mystique to this whole kind
Speaker 1: of backstory of the show itself, you know what I mean?
Speaker 15: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean you know, look, Dennis Lahane
Speaker 15: is such a skilled writer and being in his hands
Speaker 15: with a project that is a crime thriller, you know,
Speaker 15: I mean, it doesn't get better, right the two right,
Speaker 15: and yes, while it's inspired by true events, he does
Speaker 15: take and he takes a lot of creative liberties with
Speaker 15: the story and a lot of the characters, especially my
Speaker 15: character Michelle. It was his brain child, you know, and
Speaker 15: I remember speaking to him early on and he said,
Speaker 15: you know, Journey, everyone says that they want to be happy,
Speaker 15: but why are we drawn to the very things that
Speaker 15: want to destroy us? And that question of why is
Speaker 15: honestly at the heart of Michelle. You know, when you
Speaker 15: meet Michelle, she's literally destroying her home in order to
Speaker 15: rebuild it, and we will see that she's in a
Speaker 15: pattern of destruction and creation. And when she's paired with
Speaker 15: Dave Terren's character, you know, at first they're in this
Speaker 15: like weird dynamic of neither of them want to be there,
Speaker 15: and then he starts getting in her mind, she starts
Speaker 15: getting in his mind. Then one minute they are kind
Speaker 15: of like brother and sisters, and then the next minute
Speaker 15: there's this sexual tension. And so, you know, I think
Speaker 15: Dennis is so skilled at writing crime thrillers that are
Speaker 15: at its core.
Speaker 2: Character driven stories.
Speaker 1: I love that so much, and it's it's it is
Speaker 1: a heavy, you know, heavy topic set. We're dealing with.
Speaker 1: How did you as an actor as a person, how
Speaker 1: did you have some you know, some levity or did
Speaker 1: you live in that world for the entire shoot or
Speaker 1: were you able to take, you know, moments, steal moments
Speaker 1: that you could be Journey and be happy and not
Speaker 1: all this heavy stuff.
Speaker 15: That's a great question, you know. I used to I
Speaker 15: remember back when I was shooting this TV show called
Speaker 15: Underground about you know, the Underground Railroad. I would live
Speaker 15: with that stuff man, you know, and take it home
Speaker 15: and stay in it. And now I'm a mom, so
Speaker 15: I don't have that luxury because my son is not
Speaker 15: only you know, he's in and out on my trailer,
Speaker 15: going to craft service, coming and checking on mommy, Mommy.
Speaker 15: I want to sit at the monitor and watch this scene.
Speaker 15: And if it's a scene he can watch, I let him,
Speaker 15: you know. And so Hunter honestly has changed my approach
Speaker 15: to my craft.
Speaker 2: I have to be very official with it.
Speaker 15: I have to do a lot of prep in the
Speaker 15: wee hours, early mornings, late nights. But when I come home,
Speaker 15: he wants dinner and he wants to play, you know.
Speaker 2: And so.
Speaker 15: I think it's a blessing because he helps me find
Speaker 15: those moments of levity.
Speaker 2: I love that so much, and I love Smoke, and
Speaker 2: I love you in it.
Speaker 1: You are amazing, Journey.
Speaker 2: Thank Thank you.
Speaker 1: I can't wait for everybody to see Smoke exclusively on
Speaker 1: Apple TV plus.
Speaker 2: Thank you, appreciate the love. Of course, have a great
Speaker 2: day you too. Thank you. Journey Smoley. All right.
Speaker 1: Our next and final guest for this episode, Taron Egerton.
Speaker 1: I love this man, Golden Globe, Winner, rocket Man, Kingsman,
Speaker 1: sometimes Mustache Icon, Robin Hood Sing, Tetris, Legend, Billionaire Boys Club,
Speaker 1: and so much more. And I love everything he's done.
Speaker 1: He is one of my favorite actors. In Smoke, He's
Speaker 1: playing a man who's moral compass is flexible, so we
Speaker 1: talked about diving into that darkness and so much more.
Speaker 1: Here he is for the first time on Pop Culture Weekly.
Speaker 1: Tarn Egerton, thank you so much for talking with me, Taren,
Speaker 1: I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Likewise, thanks Kyle Hayden.
Speaker 1: I'm doing well. Thank you man. First of all, I
Speaker 1: love your work, Tetris and Eddie the Eagle, rocket Man
Speaker 1: A Rocketman's one of my favorite films ever. I can
Speaker 1: Blackbird and now Smoke. What drew you to doing Smoke?
Speaker 1: So you know, when.
Speaker 16: A writer like Dennis likes you, you know you don't
Speaker 16: pass up on the opportunity to work with him again.
Speaker 16: So I was drawn to it because well, I knew
Speaker 16: what the character was in a nutshell, because it's based
Speaker 16: on a true story. But I also knew that to
Speaker 16: have the opportunity to have a second outing with Dennis
Speaker 16: after Blackbird was just a really one of those opportunities
Speaker 16: that you just can't pass up on. I'd so loved
Speaker 16: making that show and playing Jimmy and Blackbird alongside Paul,
Speaker 16: who played Larry. Was there just a really extraordinary creative
Speaker 16: moment for me in it, and the show remains something
Speaker 16: that I really am fiercely proud of. So when Dennis says,
Speaker 16: you know, hey, do you want to come and tell
Speaker 16: another story with me, It's like, yeah, well, you know,
Speaker 16: sign me up.
Speaker 1: And it was great, you.
Speaker 16: Know, I think as well, To be completely honest, I
Speaker 16: suspect Dennis had I loved doing Blackbird, as I've said,
Speaker 16: but you know, a part of me, I think always
Speaker 16: was watching what Paul was doing with some if not envy,
Speaker 16: you know, a mixture of admiration and desire, you know,
Speaker 16: And I think think Dennis, to his credit, maybe he
Speaker 16: saw that on some level, and I think he recognized
Speaker 16: this show smoke as an opportunity for me to maybe
Speaker 16: have a go at doing something a little nearer to that,
Speaker 16: you know, and play the weird guy for you.
Speaker 1: You're also an EP on this, uh, you know, you're
Speaker 1: an executive producer? Why why this project?
Speaker 2: You know?
Speaker 10: So?
Speaker 16: I think for me, the the you know, I suppose
Speaker 16: when there's a project where my involvement is feels like
Speaker 16: it is broader than just the job of an actor
Speaker 16: stepping on set, I say, just you know, I think
Speaker 16: it's a I suppose it just feels like a reflection
Speaker 16: of my involvement in things behind the scenes. And it
Speaker 16: tends to be, you know, when I ask to be
Speaker 16: a producer on something, or I'm approached to be a
Speaker 16: producer on something, it's it's normally those things where I
Speaker 16: feel specially excited about it creatively, you know. And it's
Speaker 16: always a lovely, lovely thing when you're allowed that opportunity.
Speaker 16: But I don't always ask and I'm not always offered,
Speaker 16: And I suppose it's a reflection in some senses of
Speaker 16: not my investment, but my involvement.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: I love that, And I want to thank you so
Speaker 1: much for speaking with me. I can't wait for everybody
Speaker 1: to see this, and I have a feeling that we'll
Speaker 1: end up seeing you at the Emmys again. So so congratulations.
Speaker 2: Well that's lovely of you to say.
Speaker 16: It might be a little early for congratulations, but I
Speaker 16: appreciate the sentiment.
Speaker 1: Thank you, of course, Daron.
Speaker 2: Have a great day you too, mate, Thanks for your time.
Speaker 2: Taron Egerton. Love him.
Speaker 1: I love that he joined us on Pop Culture Weekly,
Speaker 1: And I love Smoke, which is on Apple TV Plus
Speaker 1: right now, and I'm telling you it is really really,
Speaker 1: really really really good. So watch it, let's talk about it,
Speaker 1: and uh yeah, that's all I got, So all right,
Speaker 1: let me know what you think of this episode. Hit
Speaker 1: me up on socials and let's talk countdown Smoke or
Speaker 1: whatever else you want to talk about with pop Culture,
Speaker 1: or leave a voicemail. If you're on the free iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: you can hit that talkback button comes right to me.
Speaker 1: Or go to my site podcast dot Popcultureweekly dot com
Speaker 1: and there's a voicemail button on every page.
Speaker 2: You might just be featured on the show. All right, We're.
Speaker 1: Back on the fourth for an all star special celebrating
Speaker 1: a Capital fourth, live from the West Lawn of the
Speaker 1: US Capitol in Washington. DC.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to see you. Then, I love you.
Speaker 2: We thank you for listening to pop Culture Weekly.
Speaker 3: Here all the latest at popcultureweekly dot com.
Speaker 10: Taron Niggerton, Eric Dave, and Jansenakles. How at this becomes
Speaker 10: such a dreamy episode.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know.