0:01

Welcome to the doe where Cash

0:03

is queen and we hardly know

0:05

her, but we're still here figuring

0:07

her out together because y'all season

0:09

two is here hosted every week

0:11

by me, ex Maya. Remember

0:13

me? I'm going to be talking to

0:15

all types of people about their relationship

0:17

to money. I'm talking to reality stars,

0:20

entrepreneurs, financial experts, and even some of

0:22

my own friends. Basically anyone

0:24

who will get real with me about their

0:26

dollars, how they make money, how they spend

0:28

it, and how they save it because I'm

0:31

trying to retire early people. Season

0:33

two of the doe is out now wherever

0:36

you get your podcasts. Join

0:38

us on archetypes, a dynamic podcast hosted

0:41

by Megan, the duchess of Sussex, as

0:44

she digs into the labels that try to hold women

0:46

back in each intimate

0:48

and candid conversation. Megan

0:50

is joined by guests like Serena

0:52

Williams, Mariah Carey, Paris Hilton, Issa

0:55

Rae, and Trevor Noah as they

0:57

delve into the roots of countless

0:59

common descriptors of women like Diva,

1:01

Crazy, Dumb Blonde, and

1:03

The B-word and redefine and reclaim

1:06

each identity along the way. The

1:09

complete season of archetypes is out now wherever

1:11

you get your podcasts. Lemonade

1:19

Hey listeners, I'm thrilled to let you

1:21

know that Wiser Than Me with Julia

1:23

Louis-Dreyfus is back for a second season.

1:26

Each week you'll be able to listen

1:28

to Julia as she has funny, touching,

1:31

personal conversations with truly iconic older women,

1:33

just brimming with the type of wisdom

1:35

that only comes with age. Julia

1:38

sits at the feet of some extraordinary

1:40

teachers this season, including Sally Field, Billie

1:43

Jean King, Julie Andrews, and

1:45

of course her own 90-year-old

1:47

mom, Judy. Tune in

1:50

to laugh, cry, and get wise. We're

1:52

about to hear Act 1 of the first episode of

1:54

Season 2 of Wiser Than Me. After

1:57

you listen, search for Wiser Than Me in your podcast app

1:59

to hear more. the rest of the episode of

2:01

this brand new season. You can also find a

2:03

link in the show notes that will take you

2:05

right there. When

2:08

I look back on playing

2:10

Elaine on Seinfeld, Elaine

2:13

Marie Bennis, I

2:15

don't really analyze the character or

2:17

my performance very much. I just

2:20

think of how much fun we

2:22

had doing it. The laughs that

2:24

we had together. I mean, if

2:27

you watch any of the blooper reels, you're going to get

2:29

a sense of it. Just

2:31

how lucky I am to have

2:34

been part of something like that. Actually

2:36

there's a lot of luck in the story

2:38

of even getting Seinfeld on the air and

2:40

of me getting to be in it. See,

2:43

they made a Seinfeld pilot before I was

2:45

cast, before there was even an Elaine character

2:47

in the script. It was called

2:49

the Seinfeld Chronicles back then.

2:51

And the pilot famously tested

2:54

very badly. And NBC was going

2:56

to just drop the whole thing.

2:59

But Rick Ludwin,

3:01

a really, really

3:03

sweet guy who is the head

3:05

of specials and late night at

3:07

NBC, talked the network into making

3:09

four episodes using money from his

3:12

specials budget. But NBC

3:14

insisted that they add a regular female

3:16

character. I'm sure they said, you know,

3:18

add a girl. And

3:21

that's why Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David

3:23

wrote the character of Elaine. I

3:26

had met Larry at Saturday Night

3:28

Live and we bonded because

3:30

he was miserable there. And I was

3:33

miserable there. And so we were happily

3:35

miserable together. We really did get along

3:38

and we became good friends in New

3:40

York. So when they added Elaine

3:42

to these four scripts that they are writing, he sent

3:44

two of them to me. I think

3:47

that people forget how different

3:49

television was back then. The

3:51

sitcom filmed in front

3:53

of a live audience was the

3:56

most popular thing going. Most of

3:58

the top 10 TV shows. were

4:00

sitcoms. I mean, they weren't all

4:02

shitty, though. I mean, Cheers was on back

4:04

then. But there

4:06

was a pattern.

4:09

They were all basically set up

4:11

punchline shows, set up, set up

4:13

punchline, which is great if the

4:16

jokes are great. But they were

4:18

all pretty much variations on that

4:20

theme. And the roles for women

4:22

were mostly exactly what you think they were,

4:24

just crap. And

4:27

then I read these first two Seinfeld

4:29

scripts that Larry sent over. And my

4:33

God, it was so completely different from

4:35

everything that had come before or was

4:37

on at that time. It's

4:40

kind of hard to even explain. I

4:43

loved the scripts. And I was insane

4:45

for the whole idea of the show.

4:48

And I had an instinct. That's what

4:50

it was. It wasn't a conscious, well

4:52

thought through thing, but an instinct that

4:55

I could play Elaine as a

4:58

real person with real problems and faults, and

5:00

that it wasn't going to be a sort

5:02

of a sitcom girl part at all. So

5:06

anyway, I met with Jerry Seinfeld

5:08

and Larry David. It wasn't really like an

5:10

audition, even. We just sort of shot the

5:13

shit and made each other laugh.

5:15

I remember Jerry was eating cereal. I

5:17

don't think I'd ever met Jerry before.

5:20

I was even that familiar with his

5:22

act. But it went really well, so

5:24

well in fact, that a couple of

5:26

days later, we start to make those

5:29

first four shows, which if you watch

5:31

them now, they're a little rough. The

5:33

show didn't find itself immediately. We didn't

5:36

really find our characters right away, but

5:39

pretty quickly it gelled and it got

5:41

good. And then it got popular, really

5:44

popular. And

5:46

Seinfeld was a glorious experience creatively

5:48

and personally. And that's what I

5:51

remember when I think about the

5:53

show. So

5:57

recently I stumbled onto one of my favorite episodes.

6:00

And I actually watched almost the whole show

6:02

straight through, which I hardly ever do. It

6:05

was the contest episode, which

6:07

we shot in

6:10

season four, which is something like 35

6:12

years ago, which

6:15

I actually cannot believe that that is

6:17

the case, but it is. And

6:20

if you've never seen the episode, here's the basic

6:22

plot. George gets caught

6:24

masturbating by his mother. And

6:27

so he tells his three friends, Jerry

6:29

Kramer and me, Elaine, about this. And

6:31

he says he's never going to masturbate

6:33

again. And we all laugh

6:36

at that. And it leads to

6:38

a wager, a contest to see which

6:40

of us can withhold from

6:43

masturbating for the longest time. So

6:46

not only was this terribly funny, it

6:49

was also terribly risky. In fact,

6:51

you know, when we shot it,

6:53

I was certain, certain that standards

6:55

and practices, the network sensors, were

6:57

never going to let this thing

6:59

air. But they

7:01

did. And it became a

7:03

very, very famous episode of the show

7:06

with the line, master of my domain

7:08

becoming one of those lasting

7:10

Seinfeld catchphrases. And it

7:12

really is a fun episode. I'd forgotten so much of

7:14

it. It's pretty great. And by

7:17

the way, brilliantly, the

7:19

word masturbation is

7:21

never spoken. Never. But

7:25

here's the crazy thing I started thinking about as I

7:27

watched it all these decades later. There's

7:29

a very subtle, wonderful thing happening

7:32

underneath the comedy here, something new

7:34

and unique. Most

7:37

sitcoms of the era doing an

7:39

episode like this would have made

7:41

some joke, a joke

7:43

like they

7:46

would have had Elaine wear something revealing.

7:48

And then she'd look so much hotter

7:50

than usual, so much

7:53

so that one of the guys would make it some joke

7:55

about masturbating to the thought of her

7:57

and then a contest between the three

7:59

guys. not to masturbate, thinking

8:01

about her might emerge. That's a sort

8:03

of crappy, racy

8:06

storyline that I can see being told

8:08

on about 10 sitcoms that I can

8:10

think of. But on Seinfeld, Elaine

8:13

was in the contest with the

8:15

other guys. She wasn't a woman,

8:18

in quotes. She was just

8:20

another human being with a

8:22

very basic equity, the equity

8:24

of sexual desire. It's

8:27

a sexual subject, sure, but

8:29

it's equal opportunity. It's not

8:31

gender-based, it's just human. This

8:34

was absolutely groundbreaking and

8:37

hysterical and wonderful. It

8:40

was huge. I mean, it would

8:43

still be huge. Even now, when masturbation jokes

8:45

are a dime a dozen and female masturbation

8:47

is like literally an industry, as well as

8:49

a great pleasure, if you don't mind my

8:52

saying so. I mean, I

8:54

wasn't playing the president of the United

8:56

States or a pioneer woman who saves

8:58

her family or anything, but this was

9:00

a real powerful young woman, not a

9:02

perfect young woman at all, but a

9:05

woman with agency, a woman who knows

9:07

herself, who very much is herself.

9:11

Watching the episode, I was just laughing

9:13

so hard at Jason and

9:15

Jerry and Michael. They were all just so

9:17

fucking great, but the show put a

9:19

little smile on my face for another

9:22

reason. I was a little proud of

9:24

a very subtly progressive message about women

9:26

that was woven right into the comedy,

9:30

which leads me to Wiser Than Me.

9:34

Doing this podcast has been a game changer

9:36

for me in so many ways, and here

9:38

we are, we're starting season two. So

9:41

I'm looking back at the conversations I

9:43

got to have last year in season

9:45

one and thinking about the themes, the

9:47

common threads we found that tied those

9:49

women together. One

9:52

major thread is this. All

9:55

of these women have all

9:57

struggled and fought and worked.

10:00

to earn the right to be

10:02

themselves. And here they are 70, 80, 90

10:04

years old. And

10:08

they all say in different ways that

10:10

they are now in this late chapter

10:12

of their lives themselves

10:15

at last. That

10:19

is a superpower. And it's

10:21

what I loved about playing Elaine. She

10:23

was just able to be herself. And

10:27

God damn it, isn't

10:29

that what we all want? And wiser

10:33

than me, talking to these inspiring,

10:35

thoughtful goddesses, we've heard so

10:37

many wonderful stories of women reaching deep

10:39

inside of themselves to find the sustaining,

10:42

deep, resonant power of

10:45

self-realization of women finding

10:47

agency and strength and

10:49

resilience. So how

10:52

perfect then to begin season

10:54

two talking to a woman who

10:56

has lived just this kind of

10:58

life and has built

11:00

one of the greatest careers in

11:03

cinema history creating just this

11:05

kind of powerful character. Hi,

11:18

I'm Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and this is Wiser Than

11:20

Me, the podcast where I get school gay

11:23

women who are wiser than me. Before

11:41

we talk to these awesome ladies on Wiser Than

11:44

Me, we do a big old, serious deep dive

11:46

into their work. We read a lot of interviews

11:48

and all of their books. We

11:51

listen to their music. We watch them on

11:53

the screen. We watch their everything. So

11:56

with today's guest, I got to

11:58

watch her dance on the beach

12:00

as Gidget. fly around San Juan,

12:02

Puerto Rico as the flying nun.

12:04

The flying nun, Jesus Christ. Try

12:06

pitching that series today. And

12:09

then I got to see her transition

12:11

from TV to movies. A feat so

12:13

few women pulled off back then and

12:15

make these crazy 70s action comedies like

12:17

Hooper and Smokey and the Bandit. And

12:19

then I watched her transition again into

12:21

the Oscar winning star of Places in

12:23

the Heart and Norma Rae. And I

12:25

get a lump in my throat just

12:28

thinking of her standing on that table

12:30

in that textile factory holding the

12:32

sign that she's made that says

12:34

Union. One of the most recognizable

12:37

moments in cinema history. These

12:39

are the movies that just killed me

12:41

when they came out. There's something about

12:44

her vulnerability and goodness that makes me

12:47

root for her. I want her to win. But

12:50

she doesn't stop there. She then goes

12:52

back into comedy for Mrs. Doubtfire in

12:54

Soapdish and fuck. Do you have any

12:57

idea how impossible it is to have

12:59

that kind of range to disappear into

13:01

that many iconic roles to be just

13:04

excellent all the time? I bet she

13:06

doesn't even know how many movies and

13:08

TV shows she's been in, but it's

13:11

a staggering number and the breadth and

13:13

scope of her performances. Steel Magnolias, Lincoln,

13:15

Forrest Gump, My Name is Doris.

13:17

I mean, it's Coco Bananas. It's no

13:20

surprise then that last year the Screen

13:22

Actors Guild gave her their Lifetime Achievement

13:24

Award. Oh, and she

13:27

can write her

13:30

autobiography in pieces. Well,

13:32

I honestly, I couldn't put

13:34

it down. It's a spectacular read.

13:37

She has always been an advocate for

13:39

mothers and women's rights and gay rights.

13:41

And in fact, during her 2007 speech,

13:43

when she won the Best Actress Emmy

13:45

for her role on Brothers and Sisters,

13:47

she said, if the mothers ruled

13:49

the world, there would be no goddamn words in

13:52

the first place, which Fox famously

13:54

cut from the broadcast, first shutting off the

13:56

sound and then going to commercial until she

13:58

was off of the stage. Idiots.

14:02

On the screen and in life she puts

14:04

herself on the line for what she believes

14:06

in. I just love her. I

14:08

love her and I'm crazy about everything that she

14:10

does. Yes, the great, great

14:12

Sally Field is here and she is

14:14

so much wiser than me. Hello Sally.

14:17

Hello Julia. Hello, hello. Thank

14:19

you so much for being here. What a treat it

14:21

is to talk to you today. Thank you. So

14:24

Sally, are you comfortable

14:26

if I ask your real age? Yeah, I am. And

14:29

what is your real age Sally? My

14:32

real age is 77. I

14:35

had to think for a minute. You

14:38

know I find that every one of the

14:40

big decades are really

14:43

monumental not only in

14:47

how you are physically but

14:49

who you are. I mean how you see

14:51

the world, how you see yourself. You change

14:53

so much from decade to decade and it's

14:56

almost like it isn't until you really get up there

14:58

in the numbers that you can look back and go

15:00

well that really is true when I hit 40, when

15:02

I hit 50, when I hit 60 and when I

15:05

hit 70. And

15:08

so there's part of me that's going gee I wonder what 80

15:10

is going to be like. How

15:14

old do you feel? It depends.

15:18

It depends on the day because

15:20

I want my body to be

15:22

what it was when I was in my 40s

15:25

and could run and

15:27

do all those things but I

15:29

can't. I have a little

15:31

frame and I'm very lucky in the things

15:33

that are challenging me are not the big

15:35

ones. Not the big ones where you just

15:38

lean down in case you ask goodbye. It's

15:41

osteoarthritis and that

15:44

I don't have any more cartilage in my body.

15:47

Is that true? So is that true?

15:49

Yeah. So I

15:51

first was a shoulder that I needed

15:54

a replacement because I couldn't lift my

15:56

arm up. I was on stage

15:58

and started to notice. Oh my God,

16:01

I can't lift my arm up

16:03

to hug. And it

16:05

just got worse and worse, so I had to do

16:07

that one. And then slowly now it's gonna be, I

16:10

need the knees. And then I'm

16:12

hoping that it's just knees and I

16:14

can hold off on any of the others and

16:17

then just be old for goodness sakes. Do you

16:19

still have your hips? I have my hips. My

16:21

hips are good. My hips are okay

16:23

so far. I'm so happy you've

16:25

had this good luck with your health

16:28

and you're still working. So

16:30

okay, let's talk about

16:32

acting, the craft. I

16:35

certainly feel as an audience member watching

16:37

you, when you perform,

16:40

people are rooting for you, Sally.

16:42

No matter what character you play, they're rooting

16:45

for you. And I think that's because there's

16:47

an enormous amount of vulnerability in your work.

16:50

You wear your heart on your sleeve. Do you

16:52

think that's why? Do you think, what

16:55

would you describe that quality? If you can,

16:57

I don't know if you can step outside

16:59

yourself to recognize something

17:01

like that, can you? I don't know. I

17:05

don't know. Sometimes I rarely

17:08

look back or rarely even recognize

17:13

that I've accomplished anything because

17:15

I've always felt, I've

17:18

always felt I had to keep my head down that

17:20

you can't look up. You can never pat yourself on

17:22

the back. You just have to look for the next

17:24

place to land. But I guess

17:26

lately or the last few years, I go,

17:28

oh, huh. Is

17:31

that right? Is that me? What

17:34

do you mean when you're watching yourself? No, just

17:36

when, you know, when I, like you said, the

17:39

SAG awards or whatever. Then I have to

17:41

write about myself. I have to write about

17:43

when you get an award, you have to give

17:45

a speech. And then

17:47

I have to think, well, okay.

17:50

And then it forces you to look at

17:52

what you've done. I

17:55

don't know. Part of me always likes to

17:57

think it's because people have

17:59

known me so long. long and maybe

18:01

it's my way of sort of

18:03

discrediting the work and saying acts just because

18:05

they're confusing craft

18:08

with endurance. No. I

18:10

don't know. No. I

18:12

studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actors

18:15

Studio. I was lucky enough at that

18:17

time when the Actors

18:19

Studio had just started a wing

18:21

of their work in Los Angeles and Lee would

18:24

spend six months out of the year there. And

18:28

that was right smack dab when I was

18:30

doing The Flying Nun and I was so

18:32

depressed because I didn't want to be doing

18:34

it. And so

18:36

the wonderful Madeline Sherwood who played the

18:39

Mother Superior took me to the Actors

18:41

Studio and it changed my

18:43

life because I saw what I

18:45

wanted. What I wanted to do is learn how

18:47

to do this. Learn these

18:49

tools. I think

18:51

that forever after I've spent my life

18:54

exploring those tools

18:57

and those tools were always

18:59

about exploring yourself. Right. You

19:01

know, of finding

19:03

how the characters pieces interwove

19:07

with your own somehow. Sure. Yes,

19:09

exactly. And it made you

19:12

recognize how connected we all are.

19:15

We're all these humans that you

19:17

may interpret your life differently or behave

19:19

differently but you have the same feelings

19:22

and drives and longings and

19:24

loss and anger and rage

19:26

and confusion and sadness as

19:29

everybody else. Right, exactly. And

19:31

I think you're really talking

19:33

about being empathetic and

19:36

finding your truth in the work.

19:39

And that is seen as an audience

19:41

member watching you and it's what certainly

19:43

I try to do. You

19:45

try to find an end to

19:48

a role that speaks truth to

19:50

you. I know sometimes people have

19:52

said, well, you know, if you're playing a bad guy,

19:54

if you're playing a villain, you as

19:56

an actor don't approach playing that role

19:59

like a bad guy. guy. You know, there's

20:01

no judgment. Yeah. You're trying to

20:03

figure out how

20:05

does this character who's made terrible choices

20:08

come to these terrible choices? Yeah. And

20:10

how can I find some overlap there

20:12

in my own experience?

20:14

That's exactly. Do you think about

20:16

Lee Strasberg a lot? Is

20:19

he on your mind a lot? Not

20:21

him particularly, but certainly his words.

20:23

Yes. And he would say things

20:25

that just stayed with me. Like

20:27

what, Sally? I mean, things

20:29

that you'd have to be there to understand. Do

20:31

not capitulate to

20:34

the moment. Now,

20:36

people would go, what? What does that

20:38

mean? Well, it means if

20:41

you're saying something sad, it does

20:44

not mean you necessarily need to

20:46

go, whoa, whoa, whoa. Because

20:49

many times saying

20:51

something sad and not going

20:53

with it, holding it back,

20:56

is much more do not capitulate to

20:58

the moment. He

21:01

also kept these things of

21:03

repeating yourself in your body behavior.

21:05

It was very interesting, very hard to

21:08

do. If

21:10

you talk very fast, you're

21:12

a person that's giving this whole speech and you're talking

21:14

very, very fast, very, very fast. And he said, if

21:16

you're going to do that, then move very slowly at

21:18

the same time. Yes, it's

21:20

extremely hard to do. Yes, you're

21:22

talking about, there's always, you're always

21:25

pushing against something. Yeah. Watching somebody

21:27

try not to cry is often

21:29

much more moving than seeing somebody

21:32

bawling their eyes out. Right? Right.

21:34

Exactly. That's so interesting. By the

21:36

way, in pieces, your book in

21:39

pieces is a real work

21:41

of art. Congratulations. Oh my goodness.

21:43

Oh my god. Really, honestly, I

21:45

just, it's

21:48

just beautifully written. Oh, thank

21:51

you. So insightful about

21:53

human behavior and so honest. And anyway, I

21:56

thought it was a real work of art.

21:58

You talk about in the book, you talk

22:01

about finding your voice

22:03

in character and

22:06

having confidence while you're performing.

22:10

So when you're

22:12

in between jobs, does

22:14

that sort of fade away? Does your confidence,

22:17

where does that voice, the Sally

22:19

Field confident voice, live?

22:23

In reality, I think I

22:25

am more confident

22:28

as an actor than

22:31

I am as a human. Oh, really?

22:33

Still to this day. Yeah, I

22:36

think probably. And I think probably

22:38

part of it comes from that

22:40

I still suffer from so

22:43

much social anxiety

22:46

and shyness that

22:48

part of me just is backed

22:51

away from pushing,

22:53

constantly pushing to change that

22:55

and make that different.

22:58

It's just who I am. And

23:02

when I'm working, that's all gone. Even

23:05

like in between takes or on down

23:08

days, you're not on set, it's gone

23:10

then too. Yeah. Is it

23:12

because you're part of a team, do you

23:14

think? Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. It's because I'm in

23:17

this family. You don't have to make friends

23:19

with the family. They don't have to like

23:21

you. You just need to be there and

23:24

everybody needs to do their work and everybody

23:26

knows what their work is. And sometimes

23:29

you flub up and then you've got to

23:31

get back in on the horse and do

23:33

it better. And so

23:35

it leaves off any kind of

23:38

social norms, as

23:40

you well know. You go from meeting

23:43

someone that you don't even know and

23:45

all of a sudden you're intimate friends.

23:47

There's no barrier between stranger and

23:50

close friends. It's just there's no guard gates.

23:52

They're all gone. There's an

23:54

intimacy, a closeness there that I

23:57

don't think I've ever found anywhere else except

24:00

with my children and my grandchildren, but

24:02

even then there's a different

24:05

dynamic sure, you know, they're

24:07

my children but in work,

24:09

there is a safety in

24:12

the danger of It

24:15

all yeah, I totally get it. I

24:17

think also because to your point it's

24:19

a sort of a singular focus and

24:22

it requires the intimacy that

24:24

you speak of because everybody's

24:27

assuming they're worth their salt Everybody's

24:29

doing that work that we discussed

24:31

earlier going to the most true

24:33

honest authentic place to bring your

24:35

best work out And

24:37

you're doing that with other people so

24:39

they're there for you have to trust

24:41

them and that is the intimacy I

24:44

think that you're speaking of yeah, but

24:46

I mean like with your family with

24:48

your kids. There's it's multi-level That's you

24:50

know, I mean, yeah, it's

24:52

a straight-up fucking relationship Yeah, right. Yeah,

24:55

exactly. Yeah, and you know also the

24:57

other thing that in fact, you may

24:59

even speak about this in the book

25:01

I can't quite remember but So

25:04

many of the roles that you have

25:06

so carefully taken in your life are

25:09

about women who are trying to take

25:11

back their power You

25:14

know and I'm assuming that's

25:17

Something that you're aware of right? You

25:20

know I am I could

25:22

see that now I could not see it at the

25:24

time But I

25:26

have to honestly say it wasn't like I was sifting

25:28

through You know five

25:30

or six really good scripts and picked that one.

25:32

I would be lucky that

25:35

one came my way every

25:37

single solitary Year

25:41

of my life of my career

25:43

was such a goddamn fucking struggle

25:45

Yeah, and especially getting to work

25:47

that I wanted to do. I

25:50

mean there was a few things that came my

25:52

way Places in the

25:54

heart came my way Glory

25:56

hallelujah and you know and then mrs.

25:58

Doubtfire Came my way,

26:01

but then again, I had no idea what

26:03

it was gonna be. It just thought it would be

26:05

great I'll work with Robin, but it

26:08

was hard for me to accept to

26:10

do mrs. Doubtfire because I

26:13

at that time was at the height of

26:15

my career so I Was

26:19

like okay, so I'm gonna take a supporting

26:21

role. Uh-huh. Wait a minute. Is this a

26:23

good idea? And

26:25

then part of me said back Just

26:30

go where the work is and the

26:32

work was it was this high

26:34

comedy. It was Robin Yeah, who

26:36

you know, I had such admiration

26:38

for I

26:41

did mrs. Doubtfire and then went right into Forest.

26:45

Oh, okay. They were like right

26:47

on top of each other practically and

26:50

I did it because Tom called me and I had worked

26:52

with Tom when he was a Baby

26:55

in his career in his movie career in

26:57

a movie that I had produced called

26:59

punchline, right? and I played a struggling

27:02

a housewife who wanted to be a

27:04

comedian and he was the troubled

27:08

dark but Incredibly talented comedian

27:10

and he sort of takes me under

27:12

his wing cuz I kind of mother

27:14

him But then he gets confused as

27:16

to what am I am I am

27:19

I a mother or am I am I a girl?

27:21

Yeah, and I had

27:24

done that with him Previously and

27:26

so he called me to be in Forest Gump

27:30

And I just loved the script so much and

27:32

it was Tom. So I said, yeah, okay Who

27:35

knew what about saying? No.

27:38

Are you good at saying no? I Am

27:41

I say no a lot now because it

27:43

was like who's making this

27:45

movie? I Have

27:51

to say no to something this afternoon and can you

27:53

do it for me? Yeah, tell me give me a

27:55

call Is

27:59

there any role that you really wanted but you didn't get

28:01

it? I don't think so.

28:03

I don't think so and

28:06

also I am incredibly competitive

28:08

and a real creep. Many

28:11

times I don't go watch movie. I don't want

28:13

to watch the movie. I don't want to see

28:15

her do that. I don't want to watch it.

28:17

I'm not very, I am not exactly generous. I

28:20

mean if I ran into that

28:22

actor face-to-face I wouldn't be a

28:24

total creep but I hope.

28:28

But like I say I'm

28:30

so always

28:32

saddled with this social anxiety and

28:34

shyness I probably wouldn't be out to meet them

28:36

in first place. Got it. Got

28:39

it. I had a one

28:41

hideous experience once. Do you remember that movie? Oh

28:43

god damn it. What was the name of it?

28:49

It had Jim Belushi and

28:51

it was a play in Chicago and they made

28:53

a movie about it. Okay it'll come to me.

28:55

Yeah it's gonna come to me. But anyway I

28:58

was up for a

29:00

part and I went in and I read and

29:02

I read terribly like terribly

29:05

and I knew that I could do better than that.

29:07

So and so

29:09

I did this bold thing I say in air

29:11

quotes and I wrote a note to them and

29:13

I left it they were at a hotel. I

29:15

left at the hotel say would you give me

29:18

a chance to come in again and read because

29:20

I you know I was off my game blah

29:22

blah blah blah blah. And they very kindly did.

29:24

Yay. And I went in

29:26

and as I got

29:28

there Demi Moore was there

29:30

and I sort of entered and she

29:33

was about to exit but as she was exiting

29:35

she did sort of this little twirl of

29:37

a confident twirl. She

29:40

was owning the room. Oh dear. And

29:42

I thought oh fuck I'm fucking. And

29:44

then I read. I read and it was worse

29:47

than the day before. Oh

29:51

no. Yes anyway I didn't get the part

29:53

and I'm gonna it's called

29:55

About Last Night. That's the name of the movie.

29:58

Oh yeah okay. Anyway, I

30:00

wasn't in it and I didn't

30:02

see it either. I

30:05

remember one though actually in the 60s or so. This

30:08

was early on. I was still stuck in early television

30:10

before you were born. I

30:13

wanted to do true grit so

30:15

badly that they wouldn't even consider it. I mean

30:17

I was doing the flying non. No one wanted

30:19

to see me. You're crazy. I

30:21

knew this was my baby. I could

30:23

have killed this. I could have killed

30:25

this. But

30:27

no, they wouldn't even let me in the room. I was not

30:29

in them. I showed

30:32

them. You showed them those motherfuckers.

30:36

We have to take a break now. My conversation

30:38

with Sally Field continues in just a bit. Did

30:53

you ever get hit with a cringy memory of your 13 year

30:56

old self out of nowhere and suddenly your

30:58

panic sweating and laughing at the same time?

31:00

Don't worry. Don't worry. We all get that.

31:03

It's because being an adolescent is one of the most

31:05

visceral shared experiences we have as people. And

31:07

we want to talk about it. Join me,

31:09

Penn Badgley, and my two friends, Nav

31:12

and Sophie on Podcrushed as we interview

31:14

celebrity guests about the joys and horrors

31:16

of being a teenager and how those moments

31:18

made them who they are today. New

31:21

episodes of Podcrushed are out on April 24th wherever

31:23

you get your podcasts. Hey friends.

31:25

It's Megan Trainer. And her

31:28

big bro Ryan Trainer. And her

31:30

husband, Darryl Sabara. Each week on

31:32

our podcast Working on It, we share

31:34

behind the scenes stories and bring you

31:37

into our hilarious and heartfelt conversations and

31:39

sometimes with amazing guests. We

31:41

tackle everything from navigating Hollywood to mental

31:43

health to Megan becoming a mother, Darryl

31:45

becoming a father, and so much more.

31:47

We'll get into the nitty gritty of

31:50

our lives and leave no detail behind.

31:52

Prepare to laugh, cry, and hopefully learn

31:54

something new. Join the new episodes out

31:56

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