"Sharon Horgan"

0:00What are you eating, Jay? What are you chewing on for the cold open? Yeah. I'm, I'm, you're back on your bars? Yeah, I'm on my bars. Don't mention the brand. Because you know what? It's not worth getting, you know, $12 of free bars. Yeah, that's true. Instead, I will just give a nice Hawaiian welcome to our audience and say hello. Oh my God. Welcome to Smart Life. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Blast. Did we get a workout? We got a workout in already, JB? We got, we got some cardio, we got some sauna, we got some pool, we got a shower. What the, would you have you gone to bed? I mean, that's a lot to accomplish. Guys, I'm still up. Oh no, I'm still up. Willie, I told Jason, I saw Jason on Sunday, we missed you, sorry.

1:01Oh, you guys got together? Yeah, what was your excuse? Not in town. Is that still? You could phone in. But you're in town now. I am back. We're gonna see you later today. Wait, but what? Don't fall for it, Sean. You're back out again in a few days. No, a couple weeks. But let me just say this, we are going, we are gonna see each other tonight and this afternoon and tonight. Oh, that's right. Under circumstances that are not the best, but we're going to celebrate the life of somebody that we all work with and we all love deeply. The great, the great Jim Burrows, who we had on the podcast and who sadly passed away a little while ago. Yeah. And close, close friend of ours, close friend. Close friend of ours, father figure of ours. Oh, one of the all-time great, not just, you know, obviously, he revolutionized multi-camera like television directing for comedy, et cetera. But he also was just such an excellent guy, and so kind and generous and just funny, man. So it was instrumental in giving me really important roles in my life as an actor.

2:05Yeah. And also in mentoring me as a director and helping me find representation as a director. And to remind people, my sister Tracy, he directed every episode of Well and Grace and Cheers. And he directed like the first year of Friends and two and a half men and Big Bang Theory and Mary Tyler Moore. And everything you've ever loved. Yeah. And he co-created Cheers on top of that with the Charles Brothers. It reminds me, I think I told him when he was on the J.B. I don't know if you remember it. But one time we ran into Jimmy and Midtown in New York. And we talked for a second and he said, all right, I'll see you guys later. And I go, all right, Cheers. And then I sort of like watched him late and I looked towards you and you were just staring at me with that like, you know, I was like, hey, dummy. Did you just say Cheers to Jimmy? So, I'm like a Canadian. I'd aim it. So I told Jay the story but I'll try to tell a sort of version. So speaking of Jimmy, his wife Debbie, bros, who we love this best, she invited Scottie and I for her first outing since her husband passed away to the Hollywood Bowl.

3:11And so we go and sit outside and our front stoop and wait for the Hollywood Bowl. And Jay, please move me along if this is taking too long. Oh my God, this guy, this guy was sitting, I got him his car crosses free. I think Will, your guest just, just clapped or snapped together. I know, she's still here. Mike's still hot, still ready to come on the podcast. Anyway, I can tell you later. It's this crazy story but this guy got out of his car, came over and started like berating me and Scottie out of nowhere and put his phone up, started videotaping us and we were just sitting there. Where were you sitting in front of your house? On from our house, yeah. And then Debbie pulls up and then he starts kind of getting into her face and my face and then it was weird. And then we got in the car to go to the Hollywood Bowl and he just stands in front of the car and says, nope, you're not going anywhere. And wouldn't let us leave this guy like having like a maple break. What was the crux of his complaint? There wasn't anything he was just parked across the street and when they were sitting out on their stoop waiting for their ride to pick them up. Debbie, this guy just gets out of his car, walks towards him and says, hey, so what did he say?

4:16Something out of total, out of level. Yeah, like, hey, people have been talking about you guys and not good things and I was like, well, taking number, you know, but what else do you know? Well, that part seems fine to be honest. I'm still with him. I'm still on his side. Go ahead. But then, so, so, a deb somehow like maneuvers are car around this guy who's trying to stop them from leaving for some weird reason. He gets in his car and pursues and starts chasing them down the street in his car and like trying to ram them off the road. Yeah, and then, and then pulls in front of the car and blocks the car so we can't drive on a busy street on island. So what they decide to do is drive directly to the Hollywood Bowl and talk to some of the local security there. Yeah, anyway, it was really weird. And say, hey, this is all just to say a shameless plug for our show at the Hollywood Bowl. Oh my God. Wow. I did not see that coming shot. Come see us on cover 17th of the Hollywood Bowl.

5:17You never know what's going to happen. Yeah. Anyway, Michael, I produce like, hey, plug your show this morning. I have to have the Hollywood Bowl. So I'm like, oh, I actually got a real story. It is true. Good time too, everybody. October 17th. Come on and enjoy. We don't know what we're doing and we just need a little help out there. Yeah, we'd love to see you. Empty seats would be terrible. We'd love to see you. So come on and come say hi and shout at us. I think Will has a friend and Sean has a friend. I have no friend for this one. This is a two guests. It's true. Yeah, night. Mm-hmm. Double your pleasure. Double your fun. It's going to be a lot of. It's going to be a lot of fun ticket. Yeah. And I wanted to give I wanted to give a hint about my guest, but I'm not going to. But I believe it in there. Yeah, it's just somebody we know who hasn't been on the podcast. Who. Let's hear one more. Lots of people get it. We're we speaking of good guests. Oh, so you can talk about a segue. Hey, um, our guest.

6:19Oh, now, JB, you and I, you were just talking about the Hollywood bowl guest. I was. Now I'm talking about our guest today. Oh, less less enthused about this one. No, no, no, no. I was about to get into two because we know you and I both know and have worked with this person. Oh boy. There's a there's a. And I don't worship Darasi. No, and I think that no, I'm different on different projects. Uh, but I shun. I don't know if you know this person, but you definitely know her work. Okay. Super, super, super funny. Uh, I first saw her. I think was in her claim series pulling on BBC, which made me laugh super, super hard. Uh, she, she's one also. Sean, you're a video named pulling. Pulling. I haven't returned it. She was also got a lot of claim for her series catastrophe. I got to know her on the increase the decisions of Todd Margaret with David Cross. Jason, you were from game night. You guys always hilarious writer, producer.

7:21Sharon Harkin. Sharon Harkin. Oh, my God. Sharon Harkin. How do I just say face him at the marty day? You did? Oh, yes. That's so funny. Do you know what I was sitting? Do you know what that noise was? That click. I was just sitting here and I've got loads of shit on my desk. And I just picked up a thing and I thought maybe it was hand sanitiser. Is it eye drops? I haven't got my glass. It is eye drops. Is eye drops, yeah. Oh, okay. And you just squirted some on your hand? I think it would be okay to put it. As long as you don't put hand sanitizers in your eye. Yeah. Exactly. Oh, where is it? You said that's your officer. Yeah, well, it's my office, but it's also kind of slashed. The winter wardrobe. The winter wardrobe. Well, not really winter wardrobe. It's kind of, you can see there's a mirror there. Yeah. That's where like I might try on clothes for it. I regularly clothes like if I have to get dressed up for a thing. It's a weird room. It's a weird life. It's a weird life. Sharon, do you have a mirror face? Huh? What's that mean?

8:21A mirror. A mirror face. When you look in the mirror, you really want to see how you look. You know, isn't there a face? Walk through. Yeah. So we have a friend who he to trigger his mirror face, he kind of semi-whispers his is aligned to himself, which is he pretends he just got directions from someone and he turns over his left shoulder and he says, it's where? Ah. He's going to get used to it. You really hear it. So it kind of tightens up his eyes. It's where? It's like, like that. Yeah, not dry. Now try it. It's where? I don't need that. It worked for me. No, I mean, unfortunately, I am a, I'm in the mirror. I can't help it. You passed it. Yeah. I think we all, my 16 year old, he accuses me of doing a certain face like in photos and stuff and now he does it to me, which is really tough. Yeah. Because if it was one of these guys, I was like, okay, go fuck yourself. It's just me. It's just 16 year old.

9:21Cause I bet he nails it. Let me see it. It's kind of like that. Yeah. It's the worst. Yeah, yeah. It's the worst. Sharon, welcome to the show. Welcome to the show. Sharon, I just have to say we, Will was like, I don't think you know this person, but I called you and you took the call and you gave me a wonderful advice for a project. I had paranoid about that for a while. No, no, it was wonderful. So thank you. Tell us about this is about pulling. No. That was not a bit. That's about pulling. No. No, no, no. We don't talk about it. No, but it was great. Oh good. I'm glad. I'm glad I'm glad that worked out. But you know what? Speaking of totally different topic, bad sisters, I still talk about bad sisters. It's one of the best shows I've ever seen in my whole life. And you were, I mean, it was just incredible. And then there was a season two, which I still have not seen back. Oh, you could see that. That's the, yeah, that's, that's, if you like, if you like the first one, I love the first one. Jesus, Sean. I'm sorry. See the second. Sorry. What are you doing, dude? Sorry.

10:21You're just great, great work and great reception for you and everything that you're doing since the last time I saw you. I mean, congratulations. I'm sure you were sharing. You were sharing. You consistently, not just, not just as a performer, but it's so admirable and the way how much stuff you create, how much stuff you write for yourself. Yeah, it's really impressive. And I wonder like, does that engine still, is it just as strong in you now? Is it was 10 years ago or does it feel more like a mountain to climb the, as you go on? No, I still really like creating new stuff because I think that, I mean, I loved bad sisters and, you know, I kind of, it's hard to say goodbye to it in a way, but, but I also think when you're making something, you, you kind of get, you know, that show had a certain, a certain kind of feel to it. So with that comes a certain kind of music that you choose for a soundtrack and you kind of,

11:24you get into, you know, you kind of fall into a pattern and then, when you, when you make something new, you get to start all over again from scratch, you get to be, you get to just like, put your playlist together and, and, and, and start over and, and it's really scary because when you, when you come up with characters, you kind of, you always think that's the, that's the last time you're going to come up with a good character. So it, so it is scary, but, but it's, it's really fun to, to start over, isn't it? Yeah, I, I will, I will say that I think, now it occurs to me that the sort of the English model, which has always been, and we've sort of adopted it in this country now with, in this country, I think it was often people were known for a certain series they do one, maybe two series in their life and, and the audience will accept them in this new role. Yeah. But they knew them from the, the first thing that they were known for, you guys have always done in the UK

12:24because, because of the way that the formatting is done, you didn't have a lot of shows that did 9, 12, 15 seasons. So people could go and do one or two seasons of a show and then you could go and write a new show and the audiences were totally willing to go, oh, she's doing this new show. Oh, completely. Right. I mean, you could do a couple of shows in a year, you know, but we would be doing six episodes, like we would film a series in six weeks. I mean, it's a little bit different now because, you know, you're making shows that are, will err on Amazon at the same time as child four, so you kind of have to make eight or ten and you can't, you know, so it's a little bit different. Well, we all have the same distributors now, right? It's not this. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But back in the day, when we were just making stuff for, you know, a UK or a nervous audience, you know, you film it in six weeks and then you're kind of, yeah, you move on to the next thing. And also you would get like a couple of seasons or like with pulling, you know, that was like two seasons and a special and that's kind of your door.

13:29And that's it. And also the budgets were sort of low enough that the risk, they allowed you to do stuff. I mean, we've done it before you show up and you're like, where's craft service? And they're like, what'd you bring? There's nothing. There's some piece of Will and I did this show called the Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. Did anyone see? No, but I remember a little piece of with David Cross. It was so funny. Yeah. But it had no budget and craft services was a box of biscuits and some tea bags. It was. That was it. Yeah, it was. And for us, that was completely normal. But for any Americans coming over there, they were just like, yeah, I said not having constant food. Oh, it's a funny thing. Can I just say funny thing because it just came into my head when we were doing game nice. Yeah. I love. By the way, can I just say I'm one of the players. I've seen game night three times minimum. I fucking love that film. And I was so underappreciated to both of you guys.

14:29It is such a funny good. It is a really great funny. I urge anybody. Please see game night. It's so good. Sorry. But I was when I was filming when I was filming game night, I was writing the series for UK TV called Motherland. So when we were in the in the tray, when we were in the trailer, I was writing that series. And I'm my co-writer. Like when we would, I don't think there was even, I don't think we were assuming. I can't remember. Anyway, I would be eating lobster. There was lobster. And crop services. So I be eating all the time. For afternoon time. I enjoy in trailer while she's like, you know, sitting in her shit hole. But then I'm sure with all the massive amount of work it takes to fill up a blank page. And do what you do. Yeah. It's just, it's so impressive, but it is an enormous amount of work. And a lot of concentration. And it's just a work ethic. It's a work ethic. What is your favorite part of it that fuels you through all of that tough, tough work and discipline?

15:37What is the thing that most excites you and drives you to do what you do? I think it's the writing bit for sure, because although I do, I love, I love an edit where you're putting it together and making it better. Like we're just kind of incrementally kind of making something actually good. Yeah. But the writing bit, I think. Like what part, like creating characters or coming up with stories or just sitting in a room with funny people laughing, I think is ridiculous joy. Yeah, do you ever do it? But you ever, you do, you write solo by yourself in a room. I write solo by myself as well, but like even the things that I don't know why I did that with my hair. So even the stuff that I write mainly solo, I like now I, I, I loved to have a writer's room. And, you know, someone writes a, you know, a few episodes are written by a couple of the writers in the room. But that, like I just came from one today and it was, you know, some of the people will end up writing a script.

16:39But a lot of them are kind of there, you know, as consultants or, you know, just some more writing assistants. Yeah, just coming up with ideas. Yeah, there's nothing better. That feel, there's nothing in some of the deepest laughs I've ever had. And, you know, the stuff that, by the way, bits and jokes that never made it in to anything they didn't work. Oh, never. But some of the hardest laughs are in those rooms, pitching a bit. And somebody comes up with a bit that catches you off guard and you're like, holy shit, I've never heard something like that. And, and also like at that stage, the possibilities are endless. I mean, you can go anywhere and no one's telling you that there isn't enough money. And no one's turning it down. So wait, so, so, so, so, you just walk around with like tons of ideas all the time every day. All the time every day every week. No, I wouldn't, I know, I don't think so. I mean, I, I, I kind of, I have that slightly unfortunate thing of not always being in the moment because I'm thinking like that could be that could be. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that's not healthy, I don't think.

17:40No, I'm the exact same. No, I, I think for the most part, I don't walk around thinking like that. But I guess when, when, when I need to start thinking like that, like if I'm thinking, I, I, I don't know, I'm going to not do this series beyond, you know, and this season, I kind of think, oh, I should think of this up now. But then I also kind of go back, like I go back and look for things that were germs of ideas and, and that have now become more relevant in your life because you're at a different stage in your life, you know, right, right. You know, in your relationship or with your family or work or sometimes things just suddenly become relevant and, and you're like, oh, it's an idea. How do you decide on what to take on? Will you primarily do what it is you think up or, or like what's the ratio as far as incoming calls with ideas like, hey, maybe think about it, maybe adapting this magazine article or this book or write this script. For the most part, for the most part, I don't do that. Like, although bad sisters was, that was an incoming call. That was brought to me because it's a Belgian series.

18:51And, you know, would you like to adapt this? And so that was kind of sort of the first time I did that. But generally, it's, you know, like, there's incoming calls with like IP to adapt and that kind of thing. But, for, but usually, you know, I do that within the company or, you know, like, you know, connect something with the writer that I admire or, you know, kind of the things that I do myself often are things that I just kind of think I should probably have, I could either have some therapy or I could write this thing about my address. But there must be a certain relief like when you're knowing that like when you're working on all these ideas and the sort of the various stages of development, we all know that sometimes that can be long, it can be arguments, you're trying to put it together, use all those different elements. And then all of a sudden you got to call from Hollywood and, you know, big Hollywood superstar Jason Bateman's doing a movie. That's a, that's a cakewalk with lobster. They're going to have lobster every day. And all you got to do is sorry, you mind taking a couple of first class flights to Atlanta.

19:54You know, I mean, it's staying at the four seasons. Would you would you do that? I mean, that kind of feels like a vacation a little bit doesn't it? Oh my God. I love doing that. I mean, I really do. I think that's a total buzz to, to drop in and do something. Where have those jobs gone? We'll be right back. And now back to the show. Now Sharon, talk to me about how you write something that you know you're going to play this character and you're writing that one, but you're also writing other characters. Yeah. And you have to oversee or drive or approve the casting of those characters. And inevitably, they're going to perform those lines differently than how they have lived in your head as you wrote it. And the reason those lines work is because you're kind of performing them in your head is you're writing them. And then they come in and they read it in a different way. And you might not be directing or something like that. How do you manage that? Because like when you're playing the character, you wrote for you, you're doing it perfectly.

20:58Right. I mean, you're like, you know, but you're like reading, you're like reading the mind of the author. But with these other characters and it all sounds a little bit different, is it, do you have to bite your tongue? Do you kind of whisper to the director or the showrunner or oftentimes you are those people? Yeah, I mean, it, yes, I think it is, but I think I've learned how to be better at it. Because I used to, it used to be a problem, you know, if people didn't do it the way that was in my head or like when when I'm done. I just, I just, it doesn't work as well. Yeah. And you sort of end up, I remember with pulling like and Dennis Kelly who wrote it with me, we never made anything before. I don't know how we were allowed to make it. We didn't even have to make a pilot. We just wrote a script and then something we wrote. It's because it cost 10p to make. So there was like, they didn't have much to lose. But I remember we wrote this. So you see 10p is 10 trillion dollars you were very expensive over there.

21:59We wrote this line for one of the main actors in it and it was just a stupid line. It was a joke about a thing. Do you remember the Cock lollies episode? Well, one of the girls has created this, come up with this thing called the Cock lolly. And it's it's an ice lolly in the shape of a car. She's like, you can market it to, you know, hen hen, hen parties or and she has to say but she has to go to car. Go to car. Go to car. Someone must have done it. Someone must have. Someone must have. Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay. The guy that she's pitching the Cock lollies to, she's doing it as a sort of like dragon, dragon, dense, style pitch and the guy she's pitching it to. He suggests like, or he goes, can you can you get, will there be a joke on the stick? It's a brilliant idea.

23:00Should I be a joke? Well, there's a joke. A joke, you know, used to be able to, used to be able to like, like, right, or just go on the stick, yeah, on the stick of the lolly. And she says there's a place in Birmingham. It's all they do. And it was like, you know, it was just because she was so honest. She was like, she researched this thing. She practiced for this pitch. She was just like, had to be off the cuff. There's a place in Birmingham. It's all they do. And like, she said it in a brilliant way. It was perfect. And we just kept going in and going into, it's a place in, in Birmingham. It's all they do. So you just throw it away. And then we walk off. And then she'd say it again. And it went on and on and on until she hated us. And then we made her come in and do it again in ADR. Oh my God. Oh really? Yeah. So talk about a line reading. You were like saying, no, here it is. I'm going to say it. And you're going to repeat it the way you get all hot. She wanted a line reading because she was like, I want to do it the way.

24:00So we were doing it. But even then it was stupid. It didn't make it. Okay. So do it. Do it how she did it and then do it how you wanted it. Oh God. I'm not going to remember really. I think she was. We'll just have her name. What's her name? She was brilliant. By the way, it's very strange. Sean, Sean, let's do. Let's do it. So we haven't done it. What happened to the fan or does the fan? Where's the fan? Where's the fan? Do you know? Yeah. Sharon. Yeah. Funny or in life, but if I've never heard of it. What is it? Yeah. We've done it. So you have to do a line reading of where's the fan? Okay. So when I went to. No relation to this. I went. Obviously. I went to San Francisco for a trip. And we checked with the friend of my. Just the ones. It's so slow hanging. That's about the cheapest joke I think I've ever. It's ever slipped out of my mouth. It's not an awful.

25:00Unbelievable. So you're in. You're in Greece. Wait, what are you saying? So I go to San Francisco with a friend and we check into a hotel. And I can't sleep without a fan, right? So I called the front desk and I can you send up a fan? And they said, sure. So they sent up a fan and on the fan is a note that says, please do not remove from the office, right? So then we were like, well, what happens? What happens when the boss walks into the hotel that day? And then you have to give the line reading of, where's the fan? But you have to give it like a preamble up to it. So then I would say, so like somebody coming and be like, oh, okay, boy, we got a lot of problems in the hotel. I've done. Where's the fan? Right. Can I go? You have to notice. Yeah. Okay. Everybody has to go around and do a different reading of noticing the fan and seeing that. So I have to do the preamble too. Yeah, just a little bit. Hey, listen, I'm sorry I'm late. The trap was, where's the fan? Yeah, okay, that's. And now Amy had one.

26:00Amy Polar had one. It was really funny. She comes in, she goes, guys, I am fed up with, ha ha, where's the fan? Oh, that's great. By the way, the first time I've ever played this game, you never heard it before. Nailed it. Nailed it. So I wanted you to do what it's written. It's Birmingham. They what? I think you're in Birmingham. It's basically it. They're placed, just place in Birmingham. What is it? They're placed in Birmingham. That's all they do. There's a place in Birmingham. That's all they do. You need to, you wanted the pause. You wanted the pause. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, there's a place in Birmingham. That's all they do. That's all they do. Yeah. That's all they do. Yeah, maybe with a bit more, like, satisfaction in the fact that she's already thought of that. There's a place in Birmingham. It's all they do. I will tell you that later. That's good. But you can pull out this. Yeah, I make sure you can pull out. You can pull out the whole. But you know what? You know what? The thing is that I was continuing to be a bit prescriptive with,

27:05you know, with actors and how they do think about it. I know they do things because, because, because, like, the thing is, there's not, I had to learn that there's not just one way of, of doing things. Yeah, right. You know what I mean? Right. And I remember speaking to Donald Gleason about it and him, and him just sort of going, what's the point in, in hiring actors? If you're just going to tell them how they should do, like, what, what are, what are we there for if we can't sort of, you know. Right, but what you were, what you were trying to manage was also the, the assumed expectation from the hiring hands that brought on Sharon Horgan to deliver something that you stand by, that you stamp, that is your aesthetic, that is your humor, it is your script. And then if all these actors come in and they start freestyling, it starts to drift away from something that you can stand by and, and manage and say that, right, I would assume that that was going through your calculation of, like, how much do I let these people contribute? Yeah, were you, were you, were you worried about the people at the BBC getting the cut of this

28:06and they're going through and they're all watching in a conference room and then they go and they hear her go, they're placing Birmingham, it's all they do. And then they just pause, pause it right there. Because that's the thing. Sharon Horgan lost her fucking mind. That's the thing. What have we done? No one gives a shit. That's the thing you kind of, but it's all so like, nobody gives a shit. I genuinely feel that there is an accumulative effect thing though. And if you let all the little things that you stand by, for sure, then over the course of it, it's just not a deal. So then what do you do? You, you, you, you do lots of takes and then you, you sort of, you know, create it in the edit, I guess. Well, you know what they're saying? What's coming is like the, the, the, the stage you got to by having her come in for, you know, ADR and, and for Tracy, that is, I think it's automated dialogue replacement. I think it's what it's going. Anyway, addition, I think it's additional or something. Yes. So you go in and you, you just record the, the, the, your, your line that you,

29:06you read and then they kind of put it in your mouth to picture. And so, but you've, sometimes you can change the, the way the, the line sounds. Yeah. And what they're saying is coming with AI, is that not only can you unilaterally Sharon as the show runner change the reading of that line, but you can also manipulate the face. And this is the stuff that they thought we need AI for that. Right. I've, I've shut someone's mouth this week. I'm really just right. So it doesn't look like, yeah, because you can make you, Jason, they can make you look happy. They can work. Wax. Yeah. They can look around. They can look around. Yeah. Well, you can cancel your appointment with the, with the Beverly Hills doctor that I know. Dr. Left. Yeah. Yeah. Wait, wait, Sharon, you shot somebody's mouth. No, listen, it was such a small thing. We, it was, it was actually, it was actually a, what you call it, an extra supporting artist. Mm-hm.

30:06Who was, it was mouthing, like, he looked really funny. Mm-hm. And the face, he was doing something funny, but he was, he was mouthing something while the actor was speaking. So we didn't want to cut him out. So we just shut his mouth. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it looked like he wasn't talking. It looked like he wasn't, he wasn't talking, yeah. Someone told me that, that, that I should work in animation, because if you work in animation, you can just make the, people do whatever you want. Yeah. By the way, talk about like you, you can do, it's, it's like the running process. So it's why Simpsons is, I'm not why it's so funny, they're brilliant people. But you can do anything you can go anywhere. There's no budget. Perfect. Yeah. But that's what they're saying is coming in, in, in AI, it is not, and it's not going to be some cartoon character. It's going to be something that looks exactly like a person. Yeah. And like, you know, I mean, I, that's a whole different episode, we talk about how we all feel about that, but it, it's just like, it's freaking remarkable. But isn't it, isn't it interesting? It's not interesting. An animation, what I was saying yesterday was, human behavior has become so cliche,

31:09that animators can now animate, you know, the way people behave, because we've seen a billion movies and TV shows, we know how they're going to react, basically. Right. And so I, I don't know what I'm saying other than it's just like, there's no surprises, it feels like there's no surprises with like, if you're shocked, you're shocked. This, this is what you get with your shock. For this actor and that actor and that actor, there's certain, you just get a different look of it. Show me shocked. Show me shocked. Show me shocked. Show me shocked. Oh my God. That guy is shaking. I like it in Ada. Lucky to five. Still rolling. I could do laughs. I could try laughs. I could try laughs. Slightly shocked. Slightly shocked. I have like 10 faces. No, that's what I shuttle through. That's the idea. Yeah, right. Anyway, Sharon, I'm just remembering, Sharon, I remember you know, some of the, I saw it on a talk show or a redder or something about, you know, I read it. I live for, I live for medical stories, you know. Oh yeah.

32:09Yeah, and I read something, all right, remember, maybe you said it about a catheter or something what, uh, yeah, just take your time and sort of figure out what you're going to say. Yeah, it was. I got it. I want to take a second. I don't know. Well, we'll ask you a question. Not only do you not know the source, you don't know what she said. I don't remember, but it was. No, no, no. You're making this up. Do you want it? We can use AI and we can have her say it. If you want. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Do you remember it? Do you remember your position on catheters, Sharon? Well, I think so. I had a catheter. Yes. I don't remember having one of those. You did? A catheter just sort of drains, could be draining anything really. Good, no? Sure, yeah. I think it's just urine. I think I had, I think is it just urine? I think it's up your peepee hole. Yeah. Oh, that's where the urine comes out. No, I've never had that. Oh, sorry. I'm sorry. What? Come here, name again. I had one inserted in my leg to drain blood.

33:10Oh, maybe that's what it was. I'm sure maybe I don't ever remember. For what? What happened? I dislocated my hip. Oh, wow. But I did it when I was little and the doctor I was seeing didn't realize that it was just growing pains and it got more and more disacrated. So then they had to open it up and put pins in. Oh, I remember that thing hanging out of my leg, but I don't believe I ever told anyone. Hold for you. I was 13. Wow. Was this an Ireland? Yes. Because you were born in England, but you moved to Ireland, is that right? Because your mom's Irish, is that right? Yeah, my mom was Irish and my mom met my dad in London and they had the first of their two kids in London before they moved to Ireland to trace us. Right. And then you guys moved to Ireland because of their medical techniques of London.

34:14Well, they moved to Ireland because my mum and dad worked in a pub. My dad was a landlord of a pub and it was in the east end of London when it was really like really dodgy kind of area. Yeah. I think he was asked to give an alibi for a local gangster and he was right, right, I'm getting my family out of here and say you moved us all over to Ireland. My grandpa's from Dingle. Oh, really? That's beautiful. No kidding. Yeah, it's really pretty. Sean's back. Do you go to Ireland? I went twice with my family in 2001 and then I did one of those, you know, audience with. No, they family, they follow your family tree. Oh, who do you think you are? Yeah, that's what it is. That's the one. What do you find out? You're scared to do it. Everybody was drunk and ended up in jail and yeah. Oh, yeah, that's it. Wow. Have you done that, Sharon? I haven't actually. Willie, have you done that? No, but a lot of people ask me who do you think you are.

35:15I get that immediately at restaurants. I will so Sharon. So you're born in England. You moved to Ireland. At what point does sort of the idea of making people laugh and write in? Yeah, parents are running it. Pub, like. Yeah. When does that all start? They were running a pub and then they moved into poultry. Sure. And how did it happen? The funny thing. Well, I guess I'm in a family of five kids and, you know, I guess, right? That's where are you? You kind of second eldest. OK. And it's, you know, how you get attention, I suppose, is making people. Right. Parents laugh. When did you think I might be able to make a living at this? Oh, fuck no, for years. I mean, I, I didn't start making a living out of it until, like, about, until I was about, you know, in my early 30s. I did other things.

36:16I didn't do this job. Like what? I worked as an administrative officer in the employment service for six and a half years. Oh. That sounds like a desk in an office building. Oh, yeah, yeah. I was like signing people on for, you know, employment benefits and helping the best. No, signing on at the labor exchange. Yeah. What happens when you get laid off from the, from the employment office? The New York Times. I didn't get laid off. I would have been there for life. I just had to, I had to just like, it must be a tough job, actually. I just had to leave. And this was a job you took for practical reasons. It was, it was an opportunity and you wanted to make sure, right? No, it was because I, yeah, I think I just, my dad just kind of instilled a work ethic in us. And if you weren't working, you were, you were just kind of, what the fuck were you doing? Yeah. So, like, I wasn't getting, I kind of went to London to find my fortune, kind of thing, you know.

37:19But I didn't know how to do it. And I was kind of too scared to do it as well. Did you know anybody was performing or doing comedy or? No, nothing. No one. I just knew people like me who kind of did know what they were doing with their lives and... Did you study something in college that you went to London to pursue? I was studying Orch in Dublin. And then I tried to get into drama school in Dublin and get in. And then I came to London to try and get in, drama school and get in anywhere. So, and I was just like, oh my god. So, yeah. So, but then I did go back to it. When I left the employment service, it was to do, I went and did a degree. Because I thought shit, I better get some kind of... Degree in what? In English. Okay. So, that's when I started doing creative writing and that's when I kind of saw... Oh, because I wanted to be an actor. Like, I had no... Weirdly, I had no interest in writing or... Well, so, tell me about that. About them not letting you into frickin' drama school twice. I know. I mean, it was laughing now. I went to...

38:19I went to so many places to apply. That's wild. And we will be right back. And now back to the show. When you look back, was there something that you were doing wrong or different? Because you're clearly very talented and very capable and have a definite control over your acting tool. Were they looking for more grand sort of classical Shakespearean type of performance that you weren't interested in doing? No, because for all drama schools, all drama schools, you have to do a modern piece and a Shakespearean piece. I think... I don't know about you guys, but like... Auditioning used to terrify me. Like, I used to lose all my skills. You know, I took me a long time to learn how to do a good audition. I mean, I was probably getting... I was still trying that. I was terrible at it.

39:19Yeah. No, first of all, both of you, that's not possible. You guys are both terrible. Auditioning is one of the more terrifying things that has been in my life, for ever and for always. Really? I remember going for an audition for extras. Do you remember the Ricky? Yeah, I remember going for an audition for extras. We had the same agent, which is I think why I got the audition, because it was kind of early in my career. And I got a phone call they say and Dung's said, they weren't just coming back in. I was like, oh, that's great. And as Ricky said, I wanted to come in backing, because she can't be that bad. Like, because my agent had obviously baked me up, you know. And I'd done a few bits, but not much, so... But I bet you got worse on the second time, because now it's a whole shit. I got to go back in there. All I want to do is get the hell out of there as soon as I get in there. Yeah. And if they give me notes and they want me to do it again, now I'm in a total flops world. Yeah. And I'm starting to have a panic attack.

40:19Jason, you used to have... What was your parting line that you used to say is great? What was that? No, I just don't say. Good luck with it. Yeah. Oh my god. How much? Because I used to sweat so much. Yeah, I would have to wear layers. I'm not wearing layers. I'm not wearing layers. I'm never doing an audition with Matt LeBlanc for that show. Joey. No. No, no, no. Oh, I know the one you mean. Episodes. Episodes. I got quite far down the line and I was called back and called back and then I was doing the scene with Matt. And when I got up to leave, I'd left my... I'd been wearing this little cardigan and sort of took it off and it was sort of sitting on the seat. When I was leaving, I forgot my cardigan. And he picked it up and he sort of held... Like, this... Like it was a sweaty, smelly thing that it was. Like I'd sweated so much into it, I think, sort of... Oh, my god. ...picked it up like it was a snot rag and handed over to me.

41:21It was horrifying. But I think I found a way to sort of... What is it? What's the secret? I don't know. I had to just start doing a breathing thing. I had to just sort of start... You know, another thing was like, I would eat a banana. Eat a banana and just sort of learning to kind of control my breathing. Like the banana thing is... Probably completely psychosmotic, but I thought that it would give me a slow release of energy. And if I had this banana, I wouldn't convince myself that, you know, it would help me with the shakes or... Wow. I mean, now I use beta blockers, but like... Yeah, there you go. ...and the ages to raise. Yeah, it just takes annex. You're done. You're fine. But you... Fixes it all. That just destroys your brain cells, though. I don't understand. You hear these super famous stories of very famous actors, movie actors, and stuff who later, like, 20, 30, 40 years later, after... You finally hear that, like, oh yeah, they were high on this or drunk on that when they filmed that thing. I didn't... How can you say your lines?

42:21I'm not... Like the Charlie Sheen documentary. And, you know, it's out there for everybody to see, so I'm not commenting on anything other than... He admitted, like, oh yeah, I was high then, I was drunk. How do you remember your lines? Remember we had Seth on here, Seth Rogan, and I said, Seth, you ever work stone? And he goes, I've never not. I don't know how that's possible. I mean, either. Well, do you remember when we were doing the increasing quotations of Todd Margaret, such a long name to say? I know. But I was doing a scene with you and Spike Jones and David. I think it was just the three of you. And I was jet-like. I'd just arrived over London like before. And every single line in my head just went, like, everything. And the more I tried to think of the lines, the more panic I got until there was nothing. It was just like a blank nothing.

43:22And I was just standing in front of it. I'd never met you. I hadn't met you before. Like, Spike Jones, like, the whole thing was... Right. It was the worst experience. And in the end, they had to just date, because David was directing it as well, wasn't it? And the end he had to just go, you know, we haven't got it, basically. Goodbye. We haven't got it. And they had to do an extra days filming, an extra half days filming, whatever it was, to get the scene, because I, I, I, I, after it all up so badly, because my lines... You know what, Sharon, I don't remember that, because my recollection is always is how impressed and I sort of, I was, I had such a talent crush on you. I was always like, Sharon, so good. So I never, in fact, in fact, if you remember, the only person I remember going up in their lines all the time was Spike Jones. Had to, he got to a point and we were like, remember, I was sort of investigating, I forget what the story was. But he ended up, he had a notepad with him.

44:22So eventually, he just wrote down all his dialogue in the notepad. Right? And so we're doing a scene, we're doing a scene, you know Spike and he has his laugh, it's so funny. And he's like, okay, so, Bumble, literally pretending to go through the thing, but he's actually just reading his dialogue of the paper. And at one point he goes, and he goes, so anyway, so I, damn it. And then he goes, I, I, and then he goes up, and I just look at him and I go, you're reading. How are you going up on your dialogue? But he's the greatest actor. I wish he would do it more. Oh, he's so good. He's so, so good. My other recollection of that is, do you remember Simon, the sound, the sound mixer who was so funny? Yeah, I do actually. Yeah. He was one of the funniest, right? I kind of had a bit of a crush on him. I think he was so funny. He was so funny. He was handsome. He's the funniest sound mixer. And I remember one time we were shooting a scene. Maybe was, maybe we were in it and we were shooting on a stage somewhere in London. And we're going through and there's some sort of thing in the story. And David's like, hang on a second.

45:27I don't think that that's right because the timeline does it. So we sort of stop shooting for a second. And he's like, I don't think we have to change that because the timeline doesn't work on a David Cross is going through in his mind. And I think that people will notice the timeline. And then you can't even see Simon because he's just offsetting the sound mixer. And just here and go, he goes, dear channel four, imagine my disgust when I realized the timeline. Did it work out? And it's fucking that he brought me to my knees. I was laughing so hard. God, that guy. Simon, if you're out there, we love you. Well done Simon. Now, Sean, when are we going to get you to the States to do a little bit of work? What kind of work? Well, how much you got? What's in the menu? What's going on right now? What's going on right now? Karen's got a new show that premieres September 20th, when the year 2026 called Youth.

46:32Yes. Which I'm surprised I'm not part of considering the eye you. Right. But Sharon, talk to us about youth a little bit if you would. Well, it's on HBO. Yeah. And. And. And it's eight episodes, half hour. So it's kind of going back to, it's more sort of along the pulling catastrophe kind of lines. Because it's kind of documenting, I suppose, a certain period in your life. And like 30s was sort of misspent 20s and catastrophes, like having young kids and, you know, trying to stay in love with your partner. And youth is about kind of someone slightly similar to me who's in their 50s. And their, their kid is leaving for college. And their, their parents are kind of, you know, getting older. And there's sort of, it's kind of about the sandwich generation.

47:32Yeah. And now you kind of hit a point in your life when it should be about you. Like you should be out there, you know, living it up and, and sort of, um. Get overwhelmed with some of these other elements. Yeah. And it all comes kind of crashing down on her. And I kind of, I sort of wanted to, I came up with the idea and the characters ages ago. But I'm kind of glad. And then bad sisters came along and I ended up doing that. But I'm kind of glad that I'm doing it now because I feel like I've got so much more to say about that period in a woman's life. Did you shoot that here or did you shoot it in, and did you shoot it in England or here? Here. Here, sorry, where we are in the States. Sorry, I shot it here in the, in the, in England. And you can't, got you. And, and, and in, and in, and in Germany and in Spain. So we shot in a few, and it sounds nice. Jesus. I like a nice arc on that.

48:33I mean, you know what? It's the first time I've ever, you know, when you shoot something and you're, you're filming and it's like disgusting weather and everyone goes next series we should like set it in Spain. Yeah. So I kind of did a slight version of that. Even though it's just one episode, like, got to do that thing of like shooting somewhere. You and Sandler have it all figured out. Yeah, maybe, maybe after, did you get a taste for it an hour or you like, hey, maybe my next character, she just, boy, she loves Italy. Yeah. I should, I should have actually, because, because it kind of, we're, we're, we're kind of figuring out some ideas at the moment for where it could possibly go. We got to do it again. And if you did that, that would mean not living where you live now. What would you miss most about living where you live now and the way in which you're sort of your, your, your whole personal life is set up there? What, what, what, what, what would you miss most about your, your creature comforts? Well, I didn't even create your comfort. Like I admit, I'm, my brothers and sisters kind of live nearby. Yeah.

49:33The ones who aren't in London are in Ireland, which is also very nearby. It's just over there. And, and so I think it's that. She's pointing to her right just to French. Yeah. But my, my, you know, my kids are grown up now. So it's kind of weird. So all those things that kept me in London, which, you know, it was mainly that, it was family. But it's also I'm just not great at change. Like I'm not great at, yeah. No way. I mean, that's so funny considering that you've had so much change in your professional life. And it's all about change. Yeah. I know I just kind of don't, I mean, I've had the same agent for like 25 years. I've, you know, lived in the same house. I just kind of once I kind of settle into something, I might know this feels like a good place. Yeah. When you go to the, when you come to the States, where do you go? Where's your favorite place to stay? Where do you prefer? I, I actually have a house in Beachwood, you know? Oh, yeah. Do you need me to go take care of that? It's very close to me. Well, I mean, I, I get over when I can.

50:35I used to be there a lot more, but you know, when, you know, after COVID and everything kind of changed, like, it used to be that you used to fly. No. It used to be used to fly to pitch ideas. Right. Do you remember? You would have to just be in the room. And so I used to be there a bunch for that. I love that. But now it's all Zoomy Zooms. You ever walked down to a large mount? You know, a large mount? Really? Careful here, Sharon. Yeah. All right. That's all I wanted to know. And here's House. Yeah. It's pretty. It's like, I like it. Then Sean's going to be the guy outside of your house. Yeah. A lot of people are talking about you. What is this? When you, when you come to Los Angeles and then you leave and you're back in England, what are some of the things you're not missing about Los Angeles? Oh, nice. Not missing. Yeah, it's like, oh, you know, I don't miss such a... I don't miss, I don't miss hearing industry talk everywhere. I find it very disconcerting and disabilizing.

51:37Yeah. You know, there's not like that here at all. Like you'd have to sort of seek it out or just spend all your days and so on house or something. Right. It's just, for the most part, it doesn't sort of touch you. So you get to just say... Right. New York's the same way. There's so many different industries in that city. Yeah. Yeah. What are the main industries in LA outside of like tech and entertainment? Carpets. Carpets. Carpets. Carpets. Carpets. Carpets. Yeah, that's really the second real optic home in the... That's very funny. Home of engines are... Yeah, they're super popular. Home of engines. Yeah. Home of the dog grooming, obviously, that's like a huge... Yeah. Yeah, everybody has dogs. Posing at a coffee shop. That's pretty big. High-speed car chases. Personal training. I mean, I like LA, though. I like it as a place to sort of... I think I'm like... I'm fitter in LA. You know, like I do more kind of wellness things. Like I look... It's easier to be fit.

52:37You're right. I think you kind of end up just drinking a lot of green things and... Well, what are you drinking today? You're drinking something orange. What is that? Yeah, it's actually my... Someone gave it to me. Okay. Oh, see, don't know what it is. It's... Careful, careful, careful. Don't do it. It's a zoo key. It's called a zoo key. Is that product placement? I needed something to give me a bit of energy, because I was worried that I was going to be low energy for you. Because of us. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because of me. You've done a full day at work. And I didn't really sleep last night. Oh, no. You're going to sleep so well. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's dig into this. They're just a little bit. What happened with your sleep? Oh, yeah, well, then. I don't know. I go... I'm really up and down. I mean, I think it could be hormonal. Sure. But, yeah, at the moment, I'm not sleepy. I think maybe I'm worrying about what... The show's about to come out, potentially. Yeah, well, I don't know. You're mind is spinning. You're mind is spinning. I keep waking up at like 415 and just like lying there.

53:39And I keep putting on a podcast that, you know... Put this one on you. Go right up. Right now. Yeah, I have been listening to you guys over the last few hours. We got an award from the Insomnia Association. They found the cure with our bugger. Wait, do you... It's not so I hate not sleeping it. I think this is... But it's our age. I, you know, Sean has arguably the worst sleep hygiene of all time. Oh, that's horrible. And it's just gonna get worse. Thank you. But do you... Now, how do you try to like... Do you go to bed early to try to compensate for that? I try like last night. I was in lying down at 10.30 pm. And I thought that that would be good. And I actually took a calms last night. You know, calms. No. Homeopathic sleep thing and... Kind of like melatonin or whatever. Yeah, kind of like that. And it still didn't. I was like, you know, it took me ages to even get to sleep.

54:39And then when I got asleep, I woke up. Are you a coffee drinker? See, this is the thing. I am a massive coffee drinker. And you know when you're in a writers room, everyone is disgusting. The amount of coffee you drink. So I'm definitely taking in more caffeine than... You just need to shut it off earlier. You know, like stuff drinking in like... What time though? Like two or three. You can't have any after that. Yeah, but that's what I'm doing now. I'm stopping it like two and three. How about green tea? Try green tea instead of coffee. Really? It's a much better high. Is this? Oh yeah, it's not such a spike. It's just a nice steady. I like the just the right thing though. I like feeling a bit like... You like a little hundred. I like that morning. I love that morning. Just last night. Yeah, but in the afternoon... I talked to Sean this morning to give him shit about his internet before we did the... The pee-cass as we call it. And Sean said, how much coffee we had this morning? Yeah. It was on. Bamboo. But I love it. But I love it. But I love a crash. So it's intense, isn't it? It's like... It's a proper drug.

55:39It is a proper drug. Do you do... Do you ever do any sort of like a sleep... I don't know. Like those... I listen to like rain sounds. Yeah, I've tried all that. You know what I do? But Sharon tried this. This is what I do sometimes. Sometimes I'll Google facials. Well, I mean... So I'll Google somebody having... Wait, wait, narrow it down. I'll Google somebody. I don't know. Google somebody... Yeah, I'll Google somebody having... What do you say, facials? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I'll Google somebody giving somebody a facial. Okay, I mean, you're really having a tough time here. You don't need to enunciate anymore. Okay, it's begging it worse. And watching it... Watching it that like... Like falling asleep makes me fall asleep. Like because I'll imagine my face is... Oh, okay, so... Yeah, because of the relaxing thing. Yes, it really, really relaxes me. Try and check it out. Do me. Do me. Do me. I'm afraid we're gonna die. I thought you were gonna... Yeah. Oh, you want me to send you a link, sir? Well, no, I thought you were gonna give me like a specific kind of...

56:42Well, I do like the Japanese... Like more like Japanese facials. Because they really get in there and the person falls asleep immediately getting it. Oh, I see. And they make fun of me. Are we listening to on this podcast? Fucking Sean's looking at people getting their faces rubbed so he can fall asleep. Yeah. But you're gonna lose everybody. Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Oh, love it. Anyway, try it, Sharon. Yeah. Yeah. Get back to us if it works. I will. I will. And the meantime, thank you for being here. Sharon, you're the best. Sharon, you are the best. We, God, you're so good. You're so funny. You're such a talent. HBO is premiering youth on September 20th with the incredible Sharon Horton whom we adore. Sharon, thank you for taking the time. We hope you get some old rest. Hey, it's really nice to see you. You're great to see you. Thank you so much. It's been hanging out in Beachwood. Come on back. Give us your hand. Yeah, do it. Well, yeah, I think I'm on top of her or something. All right. Game night.

57:42Game night, too. That's a great time here. In a handful of seconds. I missed you. I will be first in line to watch его with you, thank you. Please enjoy your fullieleness. Have a good night. Good morning, Sharon. Have a journey. I would like to stop the G$4 news, Okay, the livelihood, the biggest win in affect announcement is usually for the most successful races of just Arizona. We finally get to a race at Mars Academy of Outcheek Rocks in Tangirlville. And we're gonna do Undertуш. Isaster track on to start in Las Vegas in Broadway. Starting off at the Super-edereen Awards right now, it's 12th caliber. If I'm a drama・・・ of course, those boys will wear scissors today. Super- denktones atérique rich football team and do they say, podcast sports to skateboard people and will also pose for sports games. and you never see her acting very, very real. Right, exactly. Always so, she's so funny. And it was one of those when I knew she was coming on and I was thinking like, what else is she? And then I was like, I remembered game night that she was in that. And I was like, oh, and I really lived. I don't want to go back into game. I kind of love that movie. I'm gonna watch that again. I tried to watch it with the girls, I don't know. It's so, so ago. And we only got through the first five or 10 minutes and they just had a look in that. Well, because they were looking. I'm too tough.

58:42Because they were looking at me like, dad, why do we have to watch your shit? Like, we want to watch something else. Or at least that's what I thought they were thinking. And I just started to just get all sort of like cringed out. And I was like, you know what, let's turn this off. It's sorry guys, you know. Well, don't watch it. By the way, I've done that before with the boys too. What am I doing, you know? But trying to fall asleep with the facials is a good trick. Yeah, but how did you discover that? Hacks on you. Yeah. I don't know because I, because I always fall asleep if I get a facial. I'm gonna get like a few a year, but you know, you know. And if you watch somebody getting a facial that, yeah. And like literally that was your cause. You and go, she you changed my life. That's right. I'm waiting for the phone. I'm, I'm, it's gonna happen. Huh? She's gonna call me. Right. Anyway. JB, do you have trouble falling asleep? No, he's asleep now. You know what, you know what I, for me, the best thing for falling asleep, honestly, works like virtually every time. Is that just, I listened to a really cute little Lala. Bye. Oh, that was a beautiful, beautiful end there.

59:44I didn't even see it coming. Bye. Bye. Bye. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smart. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Bennett Barbaco, Michael Grant Terry, and Rob Unjurf. Smart. Smart. Last.