Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach and Donald - 2023: My Director/Producer with Elizabeth Banks

Episode Date: September 12, 2023

On this week's episode, we're joined by writer, producer, director, actress, and all-around badass Elizabeth frickin' Banks! She talks to us about her experience using a surrogate, what she learned working with Spielberg, and why Cocaine Bear is secretly a revenge film. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Raquel Willis. Join me on my new podcast, Queer Chronicles, a show where LGBTQ plus folks tell their own stories in their own words. This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. We will always exist and we will definitely not let them take away our joy, no matter how hard they try. Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and I'm the host of the On Purpose podcast. And I had the opportunity to talk to one of Hollywood's major icons, Michael B. Jordan. In our conversation, Michael shares the highs, the lows, and everything in between, offering a genuine glimpse into his world.

The closest to getting what you want is always the hardest. People give up right before they get what they've always wanted to get. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine you ask two people the same seven questions. I'm Minnie Driver, and this was the idea I set out to explore in my podcast, Minnie Questions.

This year, we bring a whole new group of guests to answer the same seven questions, including Courtney Cox, Rob Delaney, Liz Phair, and many, many more. Join me on season three of Minnie Questions on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Seven questions. Limitless answers. Ain't nothing gonna break my stride.

Ain't nothing gonna slow me down. Oh, no. I got to keep on moving. Ain't nothing gonna break my stride. That's a fucking fire song. What made you think of that? Banger. The only song I can fucking hear because I'm back in the city is the ice cream truck song.

Because I'm back. Yeah, I'm back. It's 95 degrees. It's 95 degrees it's 95 degrees right and all I hear all day long is fuck that

fuck that I went and googled I don't want to fucking slow the guy's hustle right I'm not trying to fuck with his business you never destroy

someone else's hustle I know but listen he's making that money on your block man he's making that money let him make, man. He's making that money. Let him make his money. I'm not trying to slow his roll. I'm just trying to say that I did Google, how long are you allowed

to play ice cream truck music in Manhattan? And he's allowed three minutes legally, and then he has to keep moving. He can turn the song off, but if he's parked, he can't rock that song for more than three minutes. Now, I don't have the

heart to tell him, but I want to. You want to go down and be freaking Ken. Pop goes the weasel. Listen, if you're listening to this podcast, wherever you are in the world, I want you to imagine there's an ice cream truck parked outside your house, and at full volume

he's playing Pop Goes the Weasel all fucking day. Goddamn. At a certain point, you become Nicholson in The Shining, and you're like, I need to break his truck. All right. Joelle, how is Beyonce? We can talk about that. I'm so sorry to the audience.

My voice sounds horrendous because I screamed for four hours straight. Was this two nights ago, or was this last night this was on her fucking birthday it was the fourth um and it was amazing this is ridiculous that you have no voice because you screamed so loud that was two days ago every song then diana ross came out i thought i was done after like before diana came out i was like i could feel it already i was like i've shredded my voice did you know that diana ross was gonna come out oh there was like, I could feel it already. I was like, I've shredded my voice. Did you know that Diana Ross was going to come out? No. There was rumors, but I hadn't read it before.

I was so locked into helping my cousin get ready and getting there on time and everything that I didn't read anything about it the day of. So when she came out, complete surprise. Lost my fucking mind. I was like, Diana Ross. What did they sing? Oh, my God. Did they sing Ain't No Mountain High Enough?

She sang Happy Birthday. It was Beyonce's birthday. So she led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday to me. How was her voice? Ain't no mountain high. How did Diana Ross sound? Did she sound good? Oh, she always sounds good. Don't hate now.

No, I just don't know. Some people get older. She's a little older. Whoever was running sound had two flops that night Kendrick Lamar came out, Mike wasn't on for about 16 bars and Diana Ross's Mike wasn't on until about halfway through her introducing

herself essentially Where was that? SoFi which is our football stadium for those people who don't For those out there, same place that Swift Joelle, I saw your outfit it was very unique. You looked beautiful.

Thank you so much. I saw. I was really following your whole Instagram. I was invested in the whole Joelle goes to Beyonce storyline. Did you cry? Oh, my God. Immediately. She's saying.

So when she first came out, the audience was nuts because everyone knew it was her birthday. And so she got like maybe a four minute stay like just standing ovation for coming out and so now she's crying and then she gives one of the most beautiful speeches of all time about how she's just grateful to be here she thanks every member of every version of destiny's child her mother her father it was like so beautiful and then she thanked us and then she proclaimed the space a safe space and then she took off into flaws and all which is one of her best ballads it was perfect it was so perfect one of her best ballads. It was perfect. It was so perfect. All of her outfits were top tier.

We got every major song because, you know, she doesn't perform every song. Was there a whole verse siding? He was there. I mean, yeah, he was there. Did he get on stage and say, all I need in my life is sex? No whole appearance in either microphone or physically on the stage. And we know he was in the audience. Well, that's kind of whack, though.

Is it? Yeah, why didn't he come on stage, Jewel? Why didn't you? They've done two world tours together. I think she was like, babe, it's fine if this one is mine. They got hits. They do. They have lots of hits.

Did you stay? You obviously stayed to the end, right? So you see, Donald and I, when we went to Taylor Swift, we weren't trying to fuck with leaving with 70,000 people. People left before the last outfit change. It was crazy to me. I was like, leaving Beyonce early? What's happening?

How did she put it together? Just tell us what happened. Like, how was it put together? Was it just random? Was it a playlist? Was it the hits? So she comes out. She's her own opening.

So Kay Trinata technically did an opening. Usually there's not an opening act, but he came and spun for like an hour. It was amazing. I love Kay Trinata. I know, it really was. So then Beyonce has her own opening act. So she does like some of her top ballads, which are beautiful. She comes out in like a very standard like gown and sits on a piano.

It's wonderful then she leaves you alone with one of the queerest dance pop like almost raver but mostly club music which was insane because immediately you could tell who was gay and who wasn't the gays were on their feet for like five minutes just absolutely dancing in the aisles and like then a lot of people were like what's happening i don't understand uh then she goes back and she performs the entire um album of renaissance the whole thing front goes back and she performs the entire album of Renaissance, the whole thing front to back. And then she'll, but not, never a full song. She'll intermix old classics, old songs from her past. At one point she saw Tia Mowry in the crowd and she was like, went into a verse of Tia's song from when she was in a girl group when she was like 10, which was crazy.

We were like, Beyonce, what are you doing? Just off the top of the dome, saw Tia in the crowd and was like, I'm just going to do a version of your song for you right now. I was like, what is happening? So that was the whole evening. Wait, Tia and Tamara were in a band together? Yes, when she was like 12. They're very young before they get the TV show. They have two songs, one of which is kind of a bop.

She did the one that's kind of a bop, and it was amazing because she's plugged in and she cares. Could you imagine being Tia in that moment? I can't. I really can't. You're at her show and Beyonce looks at you and sings your song. Your song. You'd melt into the floor. Like, amazing.

Yeah, I'll never forget that. Or there's you play it so cool that everybody's like, what an asshole. You do one or the other. It's one or the other. What if the four of us were in the crowd and she saw us and she like, she all cuts us off. Here's some stories. Oh my God.

I'm a boy. Oh my God. That's how loud I scream. I know that Beyonce loves this podcast. She listens. She talks about it all the time on her show. No, I heard through the grapevine that she's an avid listener. At what point in the show did she talk about the podcast?

Yeah. She's an avid listener. Thank you, Beyonce, for listening. Thank you, Beyonce you someone told me that um uh governor whitmer she's the governor of michigan is that correct well you're our politics expert that she posted a scrubs gif donald of us cute she uh she was it was about some health care achievement in her state and she posted a gif of you and i fist bumping nice i like daniel you could look that up i think it was on as long as it's not

on some negative stuff i found it already no good with it no she was what is it daniel she was bragging about something positive that happened just posting the chat more michiganders are going to be able to access the health care services they need we're boosting medicaid reimbursement rates investing in our healthy moms healthy, Healthy Babies program, and expanding access to mental health services. Pound it. It's you and me. That's what I'm talking about, baby.

That's what I'm talking about. Shout out Gretchen Whitmer. I don't have my sound effects machine, so you're not going to hear. That's what I'm talking about. You're going to have to do it live. That's what I'm talking about. Thank you. That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Yeah, thank you. You played it again.

That's what I'm talking about. That's what I'm talking about. Wu-Tang forever. Wu-Tang forever. Wu-Tang. Oh, for fuck's sake, stop talking about your willies. You honor me. You honor me.

You honor me. You honor me. You honor me. We have an exciting guest today, everyone. Wu-Tang forever. Wu-Tang forever. honor me you honor me you honor me you you you you honor me we have an exciting guest today we'll tank forever we have an exciting guest elizabeth banks is on the program we are bringing the guests we are booking them one by one and we also secured yeah dan i don't have my gear on we also secured another exciting guest for Pete Holmes. The comedian that I love very much is going to be coming on the podcast.

Donald, feel free to reach out to anyone you know and try and get them on the podcast. You know, Alicia Silverstone. You know Alicia. Yeah, but she'll more likely say yes to you than me. Bullshit. Bullshit. I get shy around Alicia to this day. Really?

I mean, I'm friendly with her because she did my short film, and I've known her, and she's so sweet to me, and I love her. But I had such a crush on her that to this day, when I see her, I get flustered. I have to look for my words. I love that because that doesn't happen often, man, with you. You know what I mean? You are one of the greatest people.

The Aerosmith videos really made an impact in my life. Yeah. You know, one of them came on. I don't know how I was. I guess one of my kids was watching YouTube or something like that. And the one where she jumps off the bridge. Yeah. And throws the middle finger.

And gives the finger, yeah. To Stephen Dorff. Yeah. That's a good one. I was crying when I met you. Now I'm trying to forget you. You had a name.

That was a fire song. Yeah, man. That shit was... Are you kidding me? And then what was the other one? Crazy. Crazy. You could put those two together. It's like the same song. It's like you could just like... They're probably all written by Diane Warren or something. But they do sound the same.

But they were fucking fire songs. And in both videos, Alicia Silverstone. Is she here, Elizabeth Banks, Daniel? She just arrived. All right, let's let her in. You know, we're going to talk to... This woman has had an extraordinary career. I mean...

Are you kidding me? She would have had an extraordinary career if we were just talking about her acting credits. But now she has become an enormously successful filmmaker, including with the latest movie, Cocaine Bear, which made a zillion dollars. And we just love her. She was my baby mama. She's just the nicest person you'll ever meet. On television. Yeah, oh yeah, thanks.

I don't have a baby mama yet in real life. But she was my... Imagine I said it that casually, like she was my baby mama. I haven't seen her in years. Actually, Donald and I just saw her at T-Swift, and that's when I had the idea, like, wait a minute. Now that we're, you know, in this holding pattern

where we can't talk episodes, and we also want to have interesting people that we know on, I got to ask Liz, and she said yes immediately. So I'm so happy that she's here, and we'll ask her about everything in her life because she's got a very interesting life. All right, Daniel, allow her in the room. Do you want to count in?

Oh, yeah. Donald, count in. Boop, boop, boop, boop, boop, five, six, seven, eight. Stories about a show we made About a bunch of docs and nurses 5, 6, 7, 8 Ladies and gentlemen, give it up for Elizabeth Bay! There she is. There she is, America. There she is. I love a song and dance number.

You are even more beautiful today than the day we met you when you were my baby mama. That's true. I have more money now. You do. You really do. Have you noticed? Oh,

yeah. Women get prettier when they get richer is what I've, I was, what I've noticed. Well, let me write that down. No, because Donald and I are, are age, Elizabeth, and you just don't seem to age. Well, Donald, Donald, obviously a lot less

than me. Yeah, because Donald has flawless skin. But you, I'm not just saying this to butter you up as our guest on the podcast, but we saw you in person person the t-swift concert and you looked like you hadn't aged a day since since i saw you on the tv show scrubs and you pretended not to be impregnated by me oh thank you praise um yeah it's i i i'm i'm doing it naturally so far i don't have a um i don't have any doctors yet i i'll. I'm collecting names for the future. I haven't done anything to the face or the body yet. I'm not doing it. I don't know. We'll see how I feel in the future.

But, yeah, I'm just trying to keep going, guys. How's the eyesight? I'm 49. It's not good look i mean i got the readers yeah hello yeah but those are very hip audience she has very hip readers on they're kind of like clear ray bands yeah they're they're pink ray bands actually they're called caddis i live for them there you go uh by the way this is a dj dan who's our engineer mixer and that's joelle monique she's our our producer. Really nice to meet you.

Hi. She knows this already. She listens to the podcast. She's never. Be honest. Have you ever heard the podcast? I have. I have listened to a couple bits.

I go on walks with my dog, and I need things to listen to. You two are pleasant enough. I think you'd really find us. I think you'd really laugh at us because we talk about things that would make you giggle. That's typically true in life with you guys too. And also if you listen to the ones we did of that you were on, we said such loving things about you. We talked about how talented and hilarious you are. I had so much fun making the show with you guys and what an awesome job. It also helped that it was five minutes from my house where I was living

at the time in LA. And, you know, I was trying to have a babies back then. So I was like really focused on staying in LA, staying near, you know, near my sweet husband, who you guys know. Yeah. And, you know, and trying to make our babies. I had to do a lot of IVF and stuff to make my kids, which is a well-known fact in the world. Maybe not to your listeners, but so I was like literally, you know, giving myself shots in our fake hospital set the whole time we were making that show. I did not know that. We didn't know that. There you go. So what ended up happening? Did you have, I forgot if you, did you have children? I know you have children.

Did you adopt? Did you do IVF? What did you do? Yes. I had to use a gestational surrogate. So my kids are, they're me and my husband. We made baby cakes. Right.

And then we baked the baby cake in another lady's oven. And I did that twice. So I have two kids that are that are so women are for and sorry for being naive about this but I truly don't know um women are available for for pay to host your baby inside of them for nine months that's right you rent the womb and is there I'm sure there's legal precedent but is there concern that the woman will ever be like, sorry, this is mine now? No. In fact, when you go, first of all, you use agencies.

This is all done above board, you know, in the state of California. You don't do it on the black market. You don't do it on the black market. No, of course not. No. And, you know, I was an early, you know, I was one of the people, I did this 12 years ago now, 13 years ago. So it's been a long time since I did it.

It was at the time. It's not legal in every state. I'm not sure how many states is legal in anymore. But California had really great laws protecting what's called intended parents. When it comes to all this stuff, you go through an agency. Everybody's well looked after. It's all legal. And, you know, there's lots of paperwork and they'll tell you when you go through an agency everybody's well looked after it's all legal and you know there's lots of paperwork and they're they'll tell you when you go that the number one concern is not that

a surrogate is gonna want your baby the number one concern is that the parents aren't gonna take the baby like the surrogates like well surrogates already have kids because they have to prove that they can do it that they can do it. That they can do it. They're already moms, you know, like they don't want your freaking kid. Wow. So their biggest concern is like people getting divorced during the process and then suddenly being like, we changed our mind. It's like, then what? So the biggest concern is not the way that people think it's going to be.

It's the other way that causes the most problems. That would suck, man. You go through it all and then the people get divorced and you don't get paid, but now you got a baby and everything. It's like, wait, hold on. And it's not, man, I'd be like, hold on. And it's not even your baby. Not your baby, no. You're just renting

your oven. Yeah. Not your oven. That's a good movie, though. By the way, Elizabeth Banks, you are the perfect person to make this movie one day because that's a good movie though by the way elizabeth banks you are the perfect person to make this movie one day because this is a great movie oh well i don't know it's if i can share the journey a little bit i do find it helps people um who are going through it i'm sure there's so many people listening who uh are in a similar place and are curious about it and i and i truly know nothing about it so that that's really interesting to me and and so the woman's hired she gives birth to the baby

and then there's not you know it's not like a it's not like a she's then she's gone you don't have contact with her anymore does she is she ever curious does she ever you can have con you can do it so you do whatever you want to do you know, you have you make there's not really rules about that. I think there's decency and human and humanity in it. So, of course, you want to know my kids are being raised Jewish. We had a bris. They're both boys. So we were lucky that, you know, eight days after the ceremony, I mean, ideas after the birth, we had a ceremony where we sort of welcome our children into the world, et cetera. And so their whole family got to come and sort of like have a real, you know, everybody's families got to be part of that. And people do it all

different ways. You know, some people have, I had a really beautiful, amazing and full of gratitude experience with my surrogate and with our surrogate and her husband, because he, of course, is part of it too. And so that we had a great experience you know and and kept Kevin Dutch and I still send the you know a photo everyone's not like it's his 10th birthday can you believe it or they graduated from middle school can you believe it so that's so sweet awesome yeah well that's good to know that people have that option um they need it and yeah and you can also be like, I was horrible. I didn't, this was a trauma for me and goodbye. Like, you know,

whatever you have to do to keep it. Well, I don't know. That wasn't my experience, but I know that there are women who just find the whole thing to be pretty traumatic. And, and I,

and I honor that experience as well. Right. Let's switch. Please let's switch. How did this even come up? No, no, no. We love it. I thought it was an awesome segue.

I thought it was a great segue, Zach. We want to be informative. No, I honestly, I'm not. This isn't a bullshit joke. I love it when people come on here and they explain something to me and Donald and our crew here and or the audience that they know nothing about. Like you just told a little short three-minute story about something I know nothing about. I find that very interesting, and I'm grateful for you for doing it. Thanks, babe.

Thanks. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who change the world. Encore Jane, about creating a billion-dollar startup.

Dr. Elisa Pressman, about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabricant, about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. iHeart podcast update this week on your free iHeartRadio.com A discussion on work-life balance, career development, parenting, time management, productivity, and making time for fun. Hear these podcasts and more on your free iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts. I used to have so many men. How this beguiling woman in her 50s.

She looked like a million bucks. With zero qualifications. She had a Harvard plaque. Tricks her way past a wall of lawyers and agents. She's got all of these Maseratis and Bentleys all in the driveway. Is it like a mansion? Yes, it's a mansion. That this queen of the con uses to scam some of the biggest names in professional sports out of untold fortunes. About six million. Approximately $11 million. Nearly $10 million was all gone. Employing whatever means necessary to bleed her victims dry.

She would probably have sex with one of her clients. Hide your money in your old rich man because she is on the prowl. Listen to Queen of the Con, Season 5, The Athlete Whisperer on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Con, Season 5, The Athlete Whisperer, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I want to talk about, you have the most incredible career. And the first time I remember, I mean, you really do. I mean, you have a career that is to be envied because it's not only been so long, but your segue into directing is just incredible. And I just want to just go back to the very segue, buddy.

I want to go back. I'm trying to be a good host. I'll stop fucking cock blocking me. I want to go back to the very beginning. OK, now I first remember seeing you you in Catch Me If You Can, but was Spider-Man your first big thing? The thing that, yeah, the thing that actually, I wouldn't say it put me on the map because nobody saw the movie at the time,

but What Had American Summer was my, it was the movie that I, you know, had to get my SAG, I had to change my name and SAG for that movie. Right. It was like because I there was an Elizabeth Mitchell. She is a fabulous actress. She was on Lost for many years. She's also blond haired and blue eyed.

That's my real name, Elizabeth Mitchell. For all the listeners who don't know my real name is Elizabeth Mitchell. And I had to change my name when we were making because it was getting too confusing. I was living in New York. So was Elizabeth, the other Elizabeth Mitchell. I was using like three names. I couldn't give up my first name.

And I figured, well, women change their last name when they get married. Not that I was planning to. But some do. That's something that happens. So, okay, let me figure this out. I've got to get a new last name. And all the guys in Wet Hot were like, we're going to put you in the credits. Like, this is going to be a cult classic, which is what we all believed when we made it. And so I changed my name for, you know,

to Elizabeth Banks. I'm in the credits. That movie goes to Sundance. And it's a huge Sundance. And this is like in the heyday of Sundance, you know? Yeah. What year? Do you remember? like in the heyday of Sundance, you know? Yeah, what year? Do you remember? 2001, I think. Yeah, 2000 or 2001. And, you know, this is like four or five years after Sex, Lies, and Videotape,

and like, you know, where it really became like movies were getting bought out of it and stars were getting made out of these movies, right? Yeah, Garden State was 2003 there. So it was like, it was the eye of the storm. Exactly. So, so I get there, I'm in this little movie that could, we, the movie, I think it's, you know, it's a big, big whole deal.

And I met my manager there. Well, I met managers there and then I developed my relationship with my manager there. managers there and then i developed my relationship with my manager there i got the audition basically through those connections that i made literally at dance parties at two o'clock in the morning after a midnight showing of what had american summer um for spider-man and so then i was auditioning to be mary jane watson in the new spider-man with Tobey Maguire. And so like those kinds of things all happened out of that movie. And through that auditioning process and getting to know the casting directors, which I had been working in New York steadily. I had done all the TV shows in New York that you could basically do back then,

which was Sex and the City. Third Watch was on. Oh, wow. Yep. And of course, wow. Yep. And, of course, Law & Order. And I was on Law & Order SVU. Oh. Did you do both Law & Order and Law & Order SVU?

No, only SVU. Are they the same universe? They are, right? They are, yeah, yeah. It's all the same universe. So once you're a victim on one, you can't be a victim on the other you could be a victim like nine times really i wish i was the murderer so they didn't have oh spoiler spoiler i was very very memorable guys you would love this episode i played a porn star

go on um my husband was mark my husband on the show was mark paul gosselaar lovely um he also he did gay porn and the two of us our dream was my my character's dream was to go to vegas to be in a gang bang so she could get on the howard stern. Oh, my God. This is the best show ever. And get more money. You know, make bigger money because we had a sick kid and blah, blah, blah. Anyway, we end up, my husband and I end up conspiring to murder this, like, this producer, this porn producer for cash. I don't actually remember how it all broke down at the end. Dan, we're going to need that link found. You're going to need that link.

It's absolutely fantastic. I really couldn't be prouder. I really played it to the hilt. I'm still kind of friendly with Mariska Hargitay off that show. She gave me some really good advice when I was on that show. She's a much beloved figure. People are obsessed with her. Let me ask you a question when you when

you hit did mariska ever were and you saw her was she like holy shit i remember you from fucking sbu yeah when you were the porn star yes the answer the answer is yes yes dude how fucking awesome is that well i look i have to give a little. Chris, her co-star, was in What Had American Summer. Got it. Oh, that's right. That's right. Maloney. Maloney.

He was on Scrubs, too. Yeah. Maloney. Maloney. Chris Maloney was in What Had American Summer. And so I think she also, it's not like I lived in a universe that she had no idea about. I think she saw me in that as well. Anyway.

All right. I have a very similar story with Wesley Snipes, actually. I did a guest star in one of his many television shows where, like you, he had a show in New York and he was the star of it, one of the stars of it. And I guest starred on it. And I wasn't even in a scene with him, but I remember he walked me and my mom to the subway station and like five years later I get I get this movie Sugar Hill and he remembered me or three years later Sugar Hill and he remembered me just from the walk to the and he I think he was trying to bang my mom to be honest with you really you know what I mean like that's just keeping

him 100 that story that's a good story. Blade? Blade? Your mom could have had Blade? Do you think your mom ever had sex with Blade? You know, my mom was pretty hot when she was younger. You know, I'm going to keep it 100. And this ain't me just saying, this ain't just me being in love with his mom like all little boys are. My mom was fine, man.

It used to be a pain in the ass to take the subway home. in love with his mama like all little boys are. My mom was fine, man. That shit would... It used to be a pain in the ass to take the subway home. She would be with kids and motherfuckers would still be like, hey, hey, dark skin, hey, hey. Like, yo, hardcore. Can I walk you home? I remember my mom would be so tired Of carrying us She'd be like

Fuck it Y'all can walk me To the end of this Motherfucking To the end of When the turnstile Is there And then we gonna say goodbye

Take my kids And I'd be like Walking with some Fucking dude Like who the fuck Is this motherfucker You know what I mean But my mom

It would be like That's so funny 11 o'clock at night My pops is at the theater Working National Black Theater working. And she's on the way home with us by herself. And we're being little bitches.

Pick me up, Mama. Pick me up. You know what I mean? And she's like, fuck it. You can take my kids and help me to the motherfucking. You want to really be of service? The guy's trying to hit on your mom. And he's like all right fine fine

i'll hold your kids right yeah thinking that something would happen like a like a payment for the harassment is nice i think she was just tithing like just tithe in order to hit on her all right so ebanks then you get on an enormous movie spider Spider-Man. That must have been a switch from a smaller little indie. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I'd only ever made indies. It was the first time I think I saw like Dolly Track and stuff. You know what I mean?

They could afford Dolly Track. I mean, I've been on a couple of decent TV shows. But yeah, this was really cool. It was also, though, you know what's the most interesting thing about it for me is, because I remember it so well, is so I played Betty. I ended up playing Betty Brant in the movies. I did not get the role of Mary Jane Watson. That went too. And I was literally told, she's too old.

Really? How old were you at the time? I'm the same age as Tobey Maguire. Sorry, that's not funny. All you need to know. All you need to know. That's not funny. That's how Hollywood works, everybody. Right.

So I learned that lesson real early on. And anyway, I played Betty Brant in the movie, which was like a consolation prize which was fine i i'll take it right and um and i got to work with uh jk simmons and in spider-man who's a genius in these really fun what we kind of thought of as the comic relief of the movie and And at any rate, I was on set for the end of, I want to say, I don't know, one or two, I forget. And I was watching Sam Raimi, the director, work with Bill Pope, the DP, and they were setting up a shot.

And pretty much all the time, the shots were like, you came to set, they knew what was happening. You know, there was not a lot of room for like farting around. all the time the shots were like we knew they you came to set they knew what was happening you know there was not a lot of room for like farting around but because we were just like in the office and it was a little it was a built set they could do whatever they wanted with it you know we could move the camera wherever i think they just thought like it was a little less um determined what was going to happen so today i got to watch sam and Bill Pope decide how they were going to set up this one big shot of J. Jonah Jameson getting mad and whatever in the movie. And for the very end of the film, I'm letting my dog out because he's going to keep going crazy until I let him out. And in that moment, I thought so.

I watched them do it and I thought, oh, OK, well, if I were setting this shot up, here's how I would do it. I would push in and I would use this and I would da-da-da. And it was the first time that I thought, why am I directing this something in my head? Like, what am I doing? Like, this isn't what I'm supposed to be doing. And then Sam and Bill Pope set the shot up exactly how I would have done it wow that's and I thought oh wow that I actually maybe I know something about something you know like it was like a seed in me that was like oh well it can't be that hard I figured that

out these two are genius you know so that's the first moment that's the first moment that's the first moment you remember being like hmm maybe I'll direct one? So that's the first moment. That's the first moment. That's the first moment you remember being like, hmm, maybe I'll direct one day. It was the first moment that I really remember thinking that there were not really obstacles to doing it for me. Do you know what I mean? I think a lot of people think that they're, well, I don't know how the camera works.

I don't know about light. I don't know what the gaffer does. It's like, you go on a couple sets and like you know and if you if you're if you're a storyteller and you have a visual sense because it's a visual medium and i remind people that that's the problem i find with directors who don't understand you're telling the story in pictures um you know there are people too that like have these scripts and they're, they're so set on the, the script and the words and the words matter the most. And I'm always like, then write novels because that is not the number one thing when you get to a movie set,

you know, um, the words, you have to have the story and you have to have the characters, but then you have to collaborate with everybody to figure out how to bring it to life in pictures and anyway i think that was the first time that i really remember thinking that i that i was like oh my gosh i'm i came up with something that sam ramey and bill pope came up with and that just made me really excited like just set a little fire inside me that's really like what you kind you like what you just said that it's about telling stories and pictures a lot of people try to tell stories with words and it really does it's not the process for me at least that's just for me you know and also as as an actor when you get on a set and the and the director doesn't know anything about the camera really i find that um frustrating because we've all as actors been on

a set where sometimes they lean towards being able to really direct actors well and acting sometimes they lean towards being more of a techie guy who knows how to the camera stuff in a in a really incredible way then there's then there's people who are the ideal who can do both they're going to move the camera in a cool way they They're going to, they're going to have a sense of the tech stuff, but also aren't unable to come to you and have an intelligent conversation about what you should be feeling as an actor. That's right. Yeah.

Well, and who trusts you? Like I remember on the set of catch me if you can, which is funny that you mentioned that movie too. The thing I learned on that set. Spielberg. Spielberg. Yeah. The thing I learned from Stevie. Can you. the thing i learned on that set with spielberg yeah the thing i learned from stevie

can you yeah the thing i learned the thing i learned from steven spielberg well besides you know he was so relaxed he sat in video village he was so um generous with i mean why why do i get to go stand next to steven spielberg and sit in video village i I just did it, guys. I was real, real. Well, you don't seem like a shy person. I was not. You know, I was somebody who was like, I don't know, I won the job. I have a right to be here. So I'm going to come over and stand with the director of the scene. I don't know. That seemed natural to me. And so he was obviously so generous with that, too too because not every director wants actors in video village right um but he he was he was cool and we had these a couple really incredible conversations but the

main thing I noticed about him was he was so relaxed a couple things he was so relaxed in video Village because he is literally working with the best of the best of the best. He has total trust in every department, right? He knows that, you know, I'm sure there's never enough time and money to make anything, no matter who you are, how big of a director you are. But he was real relaxed making that movie. I trust my DP. I trust my set designer. I trust my locations vendor. I trust, you know, I trust costumes. I trust makeup. So everybody, there was just this wonderful communal sense of like everyone working in the same direction. And he clearly gave everybody their own sense of power over their departments, which not every director

does. Right. Yeah. So that was something that I really saw him do, which I thought was amazing. And then the other thing is that he is editing while he goes and not everybody does that. So he was very open to allowing actors to kind of flow and like maybe the end of the scene isn't the last word. And you kind of go a little over, you build up a little bit or, you know, there was you could you could play inside of things. He was not rigid about it at all but he

also would be like i'm never gonna i'm gonna cut out here i'm never gonna yeah well let's just like and very clear about it with the actors not like you did a bad job i don't like your improv just like that's just the end this scene ends here so naturally so why i'm not gonna need that and you just and it actually gave you a real sense of like, he's crafting the movie the whole time. And as a director, I found that to be really interesting to watch somebody who's like, oh, I know, no, no, I know exactly the ride that I want to take the audience on. Yeah.

This is where it ends. I think when you get to directing for myself too, especially when you're not on that kind of Spielberg pace, when you're on what I'm usually on, which is a single camera comedy pace or an indie pace, you have to be thinking like, all right, I'm going to have to cut shots for time. What am I really going to use? Totally. And you have to be shooting like that, being like, I can't do six takes of this master. I'm going to be in it for two seconds. I got to just get, all right, two takes is fine. Good. Then I got to get into the meat of this

because I'm running out of fucking time. You know? So I learned that myself from watching directors and watching particularly where most of my education was, which was, which was Scrubs. You know, we did, it was, it was watching all of those great directors who directed Scrubs, who figured out how they could execute making an episode of Scrubs in five days, which is such a which was such good training for making indie movies, as you know. Really for making anything, because it's about what's essential. I mean, Spielberg was doing that on just on a larger scale. Right. He's going like, I know what's essential to tell the story. to tell the story, he's got more planning and more storyboarding and more time and more, you know,

and all the best department heads and everybody's ideas have already been sort of intermixed by the time he's there. Whereas, you know, that on indie films, you're kind of having to, sometimes you have a grand plan, but it's all, once it goes sideways, there's no extra money to like have the extra hour of the day. So now you've got to go like, okay, wait, wait, I had a plan. I wanted all these beautiful things, but what is essential to tell the story that's a great exercise to do and you know you do commercials too yeah and I find that's even sometimes even more demanding it's such a different storytelling structure right like yeah in 30 seconds or 40 45 seconds 15 seconds like I got to introduce this idea of the

audience I got to surprise them in some way so that they didn't see it coming so it's memorable and then I got to wrap it up with like and and I got to sell the whole time you know well and you and you have to and you have to do what the advertisers want you to do yeah so really your plan is is is you're trying to make it so that your plan is actually their plan their plan trick them into thinking this is your plan we're doing your shit totally yeah tell us a little about did you have to audition with leonardo dicaprio for that movie or did you just do it on your own no i just did it on my own i still remember that audition though because um i remember what was with deb zane who I use as my casting director on a lot of things who I love and she cast Seabiscuit as well. So, um, catch me if you can that audition. I just remember we were supposed to be dancing or whatever. And I did like, I'm gonna do it in this little box right here. I was I went like, Oh my god god and then i sort of like threw myself like out of

the frame at the end like i like wiped i like wiped frame at the end with like while i was like giddily laughing and being danced off my feet or whatever and i remember doing that um and i think that's what got me the job why because you made her laugh i mean mean, I think, I have a pretty good laugh. I have a laugh that, you know, people remember. And I think that's probably what got it for me, right? I was like, oh, yeah. You know, giggled off. Like, you know, like Leonardo DiCaprio.

It's not hard to imagine Leonardo DiCaprio sweeping off. Was that tricky when you're 25 years old? Listen, I think every dude on the planet, it was either Brad Pitt in Fight Club or Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic. You wanted to be one of them motherfuckers, right? Yeah, totally. Am I wrong?

No, both. For me, it was both. I remember I went to see Titanic with my dad. I was a struggling actor. I was barely getting any work. And we came out at Titanic, and it was both i remember i went to see titanic with my dad i was a struggling actor i was barely getting any work and we came out at titanic and it was so incredible and leo was so incredible and my dad turned to me went huh he's about your age isn't he yeah leo was the humbling experience for a lot of us man yeah man i was like was like, I felt so low because I was just not getting any work at the time. And I was like, yeah, yeah, dad, Leo's about my age.

He's doing well. You guys, he'd been working since he was like eight or something. I know, I know. No, yeah. So wait, what was that like? I think our audience would like to know what it was like when you are all of a sudden across from Leo in a scene. Was that intimidating for you? Are you able to just go, okay?

Because you were so green at the time, relatively. Yeah. Were you able to just be like, give yourself a pep talk and go, okay, it's just anybody? Like, how did that feel? Yeah. I mean, a little bit. It was, again, it's the, well, I got here, so I must have done something right.

So like, don't, you know, I think women in Hollywood have to give away so much power all the time. We have to like really defer, especially when we're young and pretty and trying to get jobs, but you have to walk this fine line of like, I'm giving away a bunch of my power, but I also want to like have confidence and own this and be here for a reason. And I walked that line, um, a lot as a younger female actor and, but, but I mostly erred on the side of like super overconfidence, honestly, you know, and just

like, I'm here for a reason. We're fellow actors. You're my, this, you're my, you know, um, scene mate. So, and, and also like, I want to be great in the scene. And so, and I want my partner to be great. Like, I really think about it as, as a partnership in those moments, you know, like I'm here, I need you to look good. So I look good. Let's all look good. Like, let's bring our A game. There's no farting around. You don't show up and be like, I don't know. What should I do? Oh my God. You're like, okay, I'm this character. I'm here. Good for you. I got to say, I love what you're saying. And I felt that myself where I'm, where I'm acting opposite someone who's intimidating or, or, or I'm directing them.

And I, and i have to give myself a pep talk like dude no one's gonna give a fuck in a year that you were nervous you need to show the fuck up i'm literally saying that to myself i did this movie with de niro where i that fucking unfortunately still hasn't come out but i had a big scene where i'm screaming at him and i slap him and i'm just fucking going at De Niro. And I had to give myself this pep talk like this is a big moment in your life. You're not going to be a wimp. You are going to be, like you're saying, his partner.

And a year from now when this comes out, you're going to want to say to yourself, be proud that you went toe-to-toe with a living legend and not that you were intimidated or nervous, all that bullshit. That's right. But I have to give myself that pep talk still yeah we all we yeah we all do whatever version of that we have to do when you're working with people who you freaking worship you know of course when you slapped deniro and you asked him if it hurt was he like a little bit i i i also in when that scene with den Niro, I was like, I want him to be like, okay. Like, I want him to have the vibe of like, oh, shit.

Okay, he came to play. You know, I didn't want, so it was a fake slap. It wasn't like a real slap. It was, you know, it was a comedic slap. Yeah, yeah. But yeah, it was funny. That's, I mean, that's really interesting. Like, it seems like it really, like, once you hit the ground, you really hit the ground running, too.

Hell yeah. You know what I mean? Like, it was like, boom, and then bam, and then all of a sudden it became like, when we were doing Scrubs, you said you were trying to get pregnant. It seemed like five years later, you were executive producing movies. Wait, you're going too fast. You're going too fast. Slow down. Sorry.

Slow down. No, I was. I was doing that. I was doing all that. All right, before we get to you taking, you're conquering the world. We got to go to break. Yeah, we're going to take a break. And we come back.

We do want to talk about, really, for me, the time where you first, where I was like, holy shit, this woman is so funny. I mean, was 40-year-old virgin. That's when I was like, this is next level shit. That's great. Reset my career. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.

After these fine words. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson about the geniuses who change the world Encore Jane about creating a billion-dollar startup Dr. Elisa Pressman about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans Florence Fabrikant about the authenticity in the world of food writing

Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts. She looked like a million bucks. With zero qualifications. She had a Harvard plaque. Tricks her way past a wall of lawyers and agents. She's got all of these Maseratis and Bentleys all in the driveway. Is it like a mansion? Yes, it's a mansion. That this queen of the con uses to scam some of the biggest names in professional sports out of untold fortunes.

About six million. Approximately 11 million dollars. Nearly 10 million dollars was all gone. Employing whatever means necessary to bleed her victims dry. She would probably have sex with one of her clients. Hide your money in your old rich man, because she is on the prowl. Listen to Queen of the Con, Season 5, The Athlete Whisperer,

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you've been following the news, you know that from health care access to safe schools, LGBTQ plus rights are under attack. And it's about time queer and trans youth get the microphone and tell their stories in their own words. I'm Raquel Willis. Join me on my new podcast, Queer Chronicles, a show where LGBTQ plus folks tell their own stories in their own words.

This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. I wish I could feel more comfortable in my own body here, but that's just not the case. And follow along as they discover what queer and trans liberation means to them. along as they discover what queer and trans liberation means to them. This isn't running away from yourself. It's running into who you want to grow into. Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. And we're back! We take fake breaks here, Elizabeth Banks.

We just go right into it. Yeah, of course. So tell us about 4-Year-Old Virgin because to me, I had seen you in those. First of all, you stole the trailer. The trailer was what it was. You know what I mean? Like that's what freaking really jumped off. Like everybody was going to see that

movie because that line it's the last line in the trailer and it's the funniest line in the trailer i can't believe you remember the trailer dude i haven't dude this shit was hilarious like it's all these funny moments funny moments and he says something about i'm gonna i got a bicycle and i'm gonna put it in my trunk and he banks goes and she oh, and she flips her butt around and does the, right? And that's how the trailer ended. And I remember being like, holy shit. I think everybody went to see the movie because of that. Do you know what's funny?

Donald, people come up to me and they're like, back then, and not so much anymore. Now it's a lot of Hunger Games. That is mahogany. But back then it was a lot of like Games that is mahogany. But back then it was a lot of like save the line. Save the line. Put the bike in the trunk.

And I was like I don't that's not my line. Steve Carell saved that line. Like do the line. Do the bike in the trunk line. You know?

And I was like okay the whole bike in the trunk line is me going oh! Oh! Oh! Yeah.

Okay, the whole bike in the trunk line is me going, oh, oh. But you were, Fabi, to me, I had seen you in Seabiscuit. I had seen you in Catch Me If You Can. But the first time I was like, this woman is not only so beautiful, but fucking hilarious was for your version. So tell us about that experience because that really, to me, must have really launched you to another stratosphere. Well, it definitely reset a lot of things that were going on in my career. You know, I'm classically trained.

I went to drama school. Which school did you go to? I went to ACT in San Francisco. So, you know, I was like a theater nerd. And when I came in and I got Catch Me If You Can and Seabiscuit which was you know nominated for a ton of Oscars and so I was sort of getting known in the industry as that kind of actress I was getting compared a lot to like Laura Linney and um uh whatever anyway dramatic actresses you know and um the 40-Year-Old Virgin thing.

But I had done What Had American Summer. So, like, I knew that I was funny. And I knew there were some people in the industry that knew I was funny. But no one, I wasn't doing it. And the other thing that was happening to me was I wasn't getting any freaking rom-coms. Which is literally why I came into Hollywood. I was like, that's me. I see myself.

I'm Meg Ryan. I'm Julia Roberts. Like, let's go. That's what I see myself I'm Meg Ryan I'm Julia Roberts like let's go that's what I'm supposed to be doing and then I didn't get any of those jobs and I thought oh no something's gone sideways here I'm I'm the serious actress and then I did this movie Heights with Glenn close in New York for Merchant Ivory you know very fancy pants stuff. So I was, I believe I was the last person to audition for the role of Beth in 40-Year-Old Virgin. I went, Steve Carell was there because I think he was like also a producer or something in the movie. He was very involved with the casting process at the end there. And I only auditioned one time I went in and there and we it was all improv.

I mean, I think there was a scene, but eventually it devolved into improv with him, with Steve Crowell. So I devolved into improv with Steve and I ended up basically giving him a lap dance and I was just like hysterically laughing, thinking it was hilarious and him being super uncomfortable. Like, I don't understand what's happening and me just being like, I'm just like hysterically laughing, thinking it was hilarious. And him being super uncomfortable, like I don't understand what's happening. And me just being like, I'm just using you as a chair or whatever. I don't know what I said. And, you know, and I kind of left there just honestly being like, this was so fun.

Great to meet all you guys. Like, you know, truly just thought it was really funny. Seth Rogen was a huge Wild Hot American Summer fan so he knew like that you know like the she he liked my cred but I don't know that Judd I don't know if Judd really knew or whatever but um yeah next thing I knew I was I was Beth and they were like will you masturbate in a bathtub and I was like yes, I guess so. I remember you just thinking you were so fearless. That's the thought that came to my mind when I saw the movie was like, you had such courage. I could tell you were riffing. I could tell a lot of that stuff wasn't written. And I was just so impressed by how funny you were, how free you were, how you're going toe to toe with Carell, who's just a genius at that genre.

Yeah. Totally a genius. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I approached that with just like, this's a genius at that genre. Yeah, totally a genius. Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, I approached that with just like, well, this is a lark. This is fun. You know, they shut down that movie like day three. Mary Parent was one of the producers and she kind of came to set and she's like, so we're not shooting. We're on hold for a few hours. I remember because the early dailies, so we shot three days and you remember the guys they i think that what they had what we had already shot was the stuff in the um store where they all worked they all worked at like a best buy type place and they were wearing gray shirts and i was there i did the little bit with my like you know thong hanging out and whatever and i guess the word came back like

this doesn't look like a comedy like he looks like he's a sir he seems like he's a serial killer and they're all wearing gray shirts and they should be wearing red shirts or something like it was all about like the costuming's wrong the tone is off we don't know what this movie is and you have to remember too that judd shoots forever he this is when we were still using film and he would shoot out a full mag right so like a thousand feet of film per scene And he would shoot out a full mag, right? So like a thousand feet of film per scene. So much footage of just riffing, riffing, riffing. And, you know, we would build on improv.

And if he likes it, he had little, he had assistants who would write down like things. So if you were like, and then I'm going to climb that mountain over you. And then you, you know, and he'd call cut 10 minutes later and he'd be like, okay, what do we like? And this assistant would be like, you like the thing about the mountain? Like, okay, remember the mountain thing? So a a little more of the mountain but maybe do this on the reverse whenever i go okay great so now we're gonna build the mountain bit or whatever right and that's how we remembered like what to what we were saying you know like how we built jokes over the course of it so i can imagine he has the luxury just let me pause for the audience that is

very rare to have the luxury, especially back in the days when people were actually shooting film because it's so expensive. And I think Judd like has the records in Hollywood for amount of film shot on anything because he just would let the camera roll and roll and roll and let everyone just improv and improv. And I'm hearing this for the first time.

And then he would notate, oh, go back to that improv and build on that right yeah yeah yeah and so it was really fun but so the whole so my point really is just like the set was so free there was no you you had to keep going you didn't have a choice as an actor it was like you know you know you go until they call cut well if they don't call cut for 10 minutes you got to stay in character and stay in the scene and stay in the moment and come up with some shit to say the whole time you know and let's keep going and you're in a scene with some of the funniest fucking people yes yes they're geniuses not everybody is good at this right no we know that we know yes you two You two are very fucking good at it. Thank you.

So good at it. No, you guys are really good at it. And, you know, it's really fun. And Donald knows that I've directed Donald a little bit, too. Like, I like this vibe. But I'm also someone who I don't want to go 10 minutes every. I don't want to be in the editing room the whole time. Right, right.

Well, you cut a lot of my shit out of Pitch Perfect. I'm just going to put it. Right. You cut a lot of my shit out of Pitch Perfect. I'm just going to put it out there. You cut a lot of my shit out of it. Oh, this is an old grievance. This is an old grievance. Donald, I had to cut a lot of all the old guy's stuff out of that thing. Also, he was supposed to come back and be a trouble hanger again and again. You know what, man?

I'm still upset about that. I was available. The show that I was on wouldn't release me for the fifth day is what happened that's right if it was four days i was good to go but if it was five days they were like no he's missing the whole donald was supposed to be in the scene with the travel hangers with like yeah all of the um football players you know and everything yeah in with with the Green Bay Packers and the whole thing, yeah. I wasn't just supposed to do the beatbox anymore. I was supposed to sing, all that stuff.

It's a natural perfect pivot to Pitch Perfect because this was another. Where you don't want to do Hunger Games? That's after. I'm following the order of her epic career. Okay, let's go. Okay, you mind? I'm going to order. Okay, my bad,. Okay, you mind? I'm going to order.

Okay, my bad, dog. My bad. In 2012, you produced what has become, what became a giant phenomenon, which Pitch Perfect. How did, what was the- Aka what? Aka who? Aka who?

This was your, you didn't direct the first one, did you? No, I did not. Jason Moore directed the first movie. And you directed the second one? I did, yeah, yeah. And then, did you direct the third one or no? No, I did not. Jason Moore directed the first movie. And you directed the second one? I did, yeah, yeah. And then, did you direct the third one or no? No, I did not. But this was your baby, right?

That baby all of a sudden became like a secret spy and stuff like that. And then everything changed. Well, by the time you get to three, Donald, someone has to become a spy. Elizabeth Banks, how did that come about because that's your first big producing credit and gosh what a fucking phenomenon that was i can still

hear the cup song in my head yeah how did that happen didn't you write on that too i did yeah i yes i did yes of course but like the the main thing that happened was my husband, Max, who you guys know well, he he heard he heard about and then read the book Proposal for Pitch Perfect, which was a book written by Mickey Rapkin, this, you know, friend of ours for forever now, who went to Cornell and sang acapella and did like a behind the scenes of that. He was a writer at the time for either GQ or Esquire. I can't remember which, but I think GQ. And so, you know, he was a, he was a established magazine writer and he decided to like write this book. And it was really funny. It had a lot of the funny bits in it. And, and one of the main storylines in it was about this group

from the university of Oregon who was, who were the first all-female group to win or go to the finals of the ICCAs, the ICAs, which is the big competition in America. So that became sort of like the seed of the whole thing. And then I was working on 30 Rock at the time, and I knew Kay Cannon. She was a young writer on the show um I had made a movie with her then husband Jason Sudeikis so we were all kind of like friendly in New York and she called me about another movie idea that she wanted to do I think it was called The Z-List or something and um and I was like yeah yeah yeah yeah that sounds fun yeah maybe but um we have this book called pitch perfect would you

want to you know work on a treatment for it and the reason that we needed someone so fast was that we were not the only people to pitch the book the book was also being pitched by these other guys who did acapella um who had a very different take than us and so we were only given like two weeks to come up with a take and we had to take it out to we got like three studios universal being one of them um the weinstein company interestingly one of them and um you know what's the expression um wait wait pete holmes taught us an expression um scandal noted scandal noted scandal noted tm tm after the scandal every time we stole that i stole that from pete holmes because on his podcast you're allowed if something Scandal noted. T.M. T.M. After the scandal. Scandal noted.

Who wants to come in? T.M. Scandal noted. I stole that from Pete Holmes because on his podcast, you're allowed to, if something like that comes up, you don't want to go down the rabbit hole. You just go, scandal noted. Scandal noted. That's right.

It's well done. I'm going to steal that now, too. Yeah. And so anyway, we had to come up with this thing like really fast. And so Kay came out to LA. We sat around our dining room table. I remember we decided very early on that the first thing that was going to happen was that Kay was going to blow a pitch pipe at the beginning of the pitch and go like, and then we were going to like match pitch.

And we sang in the pitch. She and I sang in the pitch together. And we did this whole pitch. And I mean, I have such great memories of us doing it. And I remember the guy, you know, Peter Kramer, who bought it at Universal to his everlasting credit. We had more of a like a super bad. if Michael Cera and Christopher Mintz-Plasse like went to Dartmouth at the end of that movie and then got into acapella and then met up with like the lady acapella singers we kind of had that version of the movie like it was always boys against the girls but it was not it was very evenly weighted and and to his credit he also said really just make it about the girls

like don't worry about the guy like let the guy group be the bad guys wait it towards the women and and then and then that's how the script was written like really fast because we had a great pitch then we waited for five years to make the movie why wow um well number one glee came out oh Oh. And yeah. Glee cock-blocked you. Glee definitely cock-blocked us. Did you ever do any Glee? No, I never did Glee. You never did Glee. I did not. Zach, did you do Glee?

No, but Elizabeth Banks has been on so many popular television shows that she couldn't- Dude, she's been in so many popular, so many popular. No, but I'm saying that- Dude, we could go into the James Gunn of it all, man. I mean, there's like so many things that we i'm saying that like we could go into the james gunn of it all man i mean there's like so many things that we can talk about bro elizabeth banks is one of those people that you could be like oh yeah of course i did the three episodes of glee um you're not right she's right though we skipped over the whole james gunn of it all man like james we only have an hour and nathan filion were like the two that that's the go-to

that I'm surprised you're not in guardians. Are you in guardians? You're probably in guardians. No, I'm not. No, I, we did have a conversation about something very long ago, but I couldn't do it at the time. I think I was directing. I think I was doing something. I don't remember. Listen, the truth is the truth is your career is really a three hour conversation, but I'm trying to give the audience the hour long version. I just like telling stories. Anyway, because people love to hear how things start. Yeah, so tell us.

Wait, just sorry. Go back to you. I always think people think like, oh, well, now it exists in the world. It must have been easy. And like, no, no, no. It was so hard. No, that's just not easy. No, it was so hard.

We had a great script. We attached this director who we pulled out of the theaters. He did Avenue Q, and he was working on Book of Mormon. And we ended up, you know, and he just got the sense of humor of this movie. And we knew he could do the musical numbers, which we knew nothing about. And right. And like, how do you put on this this movie musical? And the casting process was incredible. And we really wrote to a lot of the characters.

Anna Kendrick auditioned with the cup song that was not in the script she auditioned with that and then and we were like y'all made an academy award nominated actress audition for your movie that's crazy she wasn't nominated yes she was i think she was actually yes she was i think she had okay well then she still have to prove that she can sing in a really amazing way yeah i mean she'd been on Broadway, so. Right, she'd done musicals on Broadway and everything. It was not our call. The studio, we were like baby producers.

They didn't know us. The studio wanted to approve every single person that we cast in the movie. And you know who, a lot of great people came through that room who have gone on to do awesome things that didn't end up in Pitch Perfect. Yeah, well, Anna was perfect. She was. I mean, the whole cast was perfect. I love that she auditioned with the cup song.

That's so cool that she chose that as her audition song. Yep. She brought it. You just worked with her? I had worked with her right before on What to Expect When You're Expecting. And Rebel Wilson plays my assistant in that movie. when you're expecting. And Rebel Wilson plays my assistant in that movie. And so I knew like, you know, so there was just like a lot of synergy happening in the world at that time, too.

Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who changed the world. Encore Jane about creating a billion-dollar startup. Dr. Elisa Pressman about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabricant about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast.

Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This segment of Fake Doctors, Real Friends is brought to you by T-Mobile 5G Home Internet, protecting you from exploding bills with a price lock guarantee. Visit T-Mobile.com slash Zach to check availability. And we're back with another letter from T-Mobile.

This week's letter comes from Kate D. Love the podcast and the show so much. I'm rewatching it again. And anytime I mention it to my mom, she has to bring up her Scrubs story. She went to high school with Bill Lawrence and is convinced he had a massive crush on her. Her name is Kim, maiden name Robinson, so she's also convinced Bill loosely modeled Dr. Kim Briggs, Elizabeth Banks' character, after her. She listened to a podcast episode he was on to see if he would mention her. He did not.

I have to know if Bill remembers my mom and or based Dr. Kim Briggs off of her. I've attached a current photo of my mom for reference. Love you all so much. Katie Dunn. Well, this is the ultimate ask Bill, Joelle. You got to get on this. Yeah. I think this is a fascinating story i think we what

could donald and i possibly say other than to beg joelle to track down bill lawrence and get him to answer this question i don't remember her well he'll be honest i think i think bill's gonna be honest um he's not gonna lie what if he's like i named it i named dr kim after kimberly drummond from let me see the woman um i was gonna say based off the picture do you think it could be yeah sure by the way bill wears that outfit it's one of those this is the most the husband in this picture is wearing the most connecticut ass outfit and bill has worn this shit it's like the pink pants you know that people wear on like martha's vineyard and light blue shirt. Bill has rocked that very often. He got on salmon pants. He got on

salmon colored pants with penny loafers. Yeah, I've seen Bill wear that in the Hamptons. That's some Connecticut shit. Connecticut vibes. She's very lovely. We'll try to get Bill to answer. So, Joelle's going to get Bill to answer that. Thank you for your question. Tune in next week for Bill's answer to this question.

Thanks, T-Mobile. If you're over exploding internet bills, visit t-mobile.com slash Zach and find out how new and existing customers get T-Mobile's price lock guarantee for home internet. Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson about the geniuses who changed the world. Encore Jane about creating a billion-dollar startup. Dr. Elisa Pressman about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabricant about the authenticity in the world of food writing.

Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart Podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart Podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Donald, for you and for the audience, we will now move to the Hunger Games chapter. Jesus Christ. Be in more successful franchises.

You guys got to just hang out on scrubs for years and years and years. I didn't get any. I never have ever gotten that. That's a great. That's a great answer. That's a great answer. You guys got to like just. I never did get that friend's money. These things are happening at the same time, audience.

The Lego franchise, the Hunger Games franchise, the perfect franchise. All of this at the same time. Are you ever like, do you look in the mirror and go, fucking hell, I'm killing it? Or do you not feel it? No, we just released a little bit I know we're not allowed to really talk about any of our movies right now we're on strike and I would like a fair deal for all the actors and and well I'm being careful we're not we're not we're not plugging anything we're just grazing your career so but I just I that all that to say like every time there's a new thing there's a new anxiety and a new worry and a new, you know,

what's going to happen. I mean, I, I will say I now I've, I came to a point a while ago, and I'm sure you guys feel this way too. Like you work enough, you build up an audience and a trust with people, the audience that I do feel like I'm okay. Like I'll be, I'm going to be here. I can rest easy that I am actually in Hollywood. This is my job. They're not firing me tomorrow. Well, who knows again. Right.

Again, who knows? I don't know. Maybe I tweeted something in 2011 that I forgot about. Don't do that. Don't do that. Who knows? But surely you feel disappointment when thinking, you know,

as filmmakers, we work so, I mean, as filmmakers and actors, we work so hard on something and you put everything you have into it. And then in an opening weekend, in the case of film, it either works or it doesn't. That's really, I mean,

that's evolving, obviously, with streaming and everything. But in the theatrical experience if you're still getting a theatrical experience uh and up and throughout history and up until current day it's like it doesn't matter it's all it matters is how did it do that opening weekend and that and what did the critics say um and so you know that is that is shitty it's hard not to get caught up in the hype of all of the shit that's coming before it, though, man. Like, I've done television shows. I've done movies.

And they've said to you, yo, this shit is tracking, bro. It is tracking. It's tracking. Things are happening. Everybody's going to watch this movie. There's so much tracking. There's so much tracking. And then the shit comes out and the tracking didn't track the way they were talking

right you know and it's like i it's fat i hear everything that you guys are saying i subscribe i really try to subscribe to a slightly different mentality which is because i've been burned too many times now and i just don't want the roller coaster. One, I really try not to read anything. I don't read the critics. I read it about other people's movies. Right. What'd they say?

I don't read my own. What'd they say about him? But you see the Rotten Tomatoes score, no? Yes and no. I couldn't tell you what any of my movies. I could not right now reliably tell you what any of my movies, I could not right now reliably tell you what any of my movies are sitting at on Rotten Tomatoes. It is not something that I think about. And I also really have come to the conclusion

that for all the reasons you guys are saying, like the hype machine and the bubble that you get put in and the tracking and by the way, all the people that are invested in it working or not working, because by the way, there's all schadenfreude all over the place too, so which I'm very uninterested in, is like, I'm really trying to subscribe to this notion

that like, it's just about the process, making the thing with the people that you make it with. And were you fully engaged in that process? Did you learn anything? Do you did you feel like a artist? Did you feel like, you know, something happened? Did you make like moments between people? Were you a good leader?

Were you, you know, whatever your job is, did you, you know, did you play that as well as you could? Or did you? I just try to. That's what I focus on because i everything else is so out of our fucking control yeah and i i hate that sense of not having control over it so i just give it up i've really i control what i can and then everything else i try to look i think that's so amazing and i i try to do that but i get very caught up in the machine of it all i feel it's

hard my last movie i i you, the critics were split on it. It was hard for me to not read negative things. It was so personal to me and I was so invested in it. And I didn't go down the rabbit hole and read it all. But you do, I did, unlike you, read some of the negative stuff. And I wish I could be, i aspire to be more like you with that and not give a fuck i have a question though did you read anything where the person totally got it like where you read someone you were like oh this person oh absolutely i

communicated to this person exactly they got the movie. Oh, absolutely. In fact, the responses that she, I'm sorry, let me just say one thing real quick. The responses I've seen from people, people that are in the industry, people that are not in the industry that have dealt with some form of addiction, the response that he's gotten or depression or anything, the response that he's gotten from interviews that he's done has been the type of shit where it's like, dude, you got to feel good about what just happened just now. That has to feel good. That has to feel good. Fuck what everybody else is saying.

Dude, you're making real connections, man. It's like the fucker that puts out something on Instagram and gets no likes, but then there's like 2,000 to 4,000 comments on the shit. You did make an impact. You made so many people say, oh, dude, look, or yo, you fucking, or whatever it is, man. You know, I was reading something, I don't know, some big writer was like, I write a novel and I think about one person reading it.

You know, I think about one person who like gets moved by something. Or I remember, frankly, after 40 Oversion, honestly, I was having kind of like a down moment you know i think about one person who like gets moved by something or i remember frankly after four-divergent honestly i was having kind of like a down moment because not because the movie worked it was great i was so happy on one level and on another level i was like oh my god my dad works in a factory he works in a general electric factory in schenectady new york on the third shift and he is somebody at his work is like, I saw your daughter masturbate in a bathtub to my father. Like that's like in my mind, I went to a place where I was like, my father is like, you know, and then I met a woman and her 14 year old daughter

who said to me, my daughter was going through cancer treatment at the children's hospital whenever five months ago and we got to watch 40 year old virgin she loves this movie it it got her through a really hard time so my point is like you know i now choose that's what i think about when i think about the 40 year old virgin you know i think about that conversation with that teenage girl who was in cancer, like, what the fuck? I'm an artist. All I'm trying to I don't do it in my closet. I'm doing it to connect with people out in the world. And if you tell me that it happened, then I did it.

That was that was the point of the entire exercise. Now, the studio wants you to connect with as many people as possible who buy tickets right the studio's like can you do that a billion times now on a much larger scale right you know well let's talk about that because that's a great segue to cocaine bear which is just was a fucking phenomenon. I mean, I mean, the movie made so, so much fucking money was such a huge hit. It did a good job. And, and people loved it. And it was kind of like, it came at a time, I think when people wanted something silly and fun and the, you know,

the, the comedy at the box office is really tough these days. It just doesn't happen that much anymore, you know, the comedy at the box office is really tough these days. It just doesn't happen that much anymore. But, man, did you really hit the mark with that. And as a director, too, I just felt so, as someone who cares about you and loves you, I felt so happy for you because I was like, when I saw that you directed, I was like, oh, that's fun. That's going to do, people are going to love that.

That'll do well. And then it was like a hundred times what I imagined it was going to do. It just kept going and going and going. You know? Yeah. And it's, it's, it's been fun to see how many people see it at home and people watch that thing like multiple times, which really delights me. Well, thank you for saying a lot. I, I, I read that movie, you know, in the pandemic, and it was

the movie I wanted to see and I wanted to make because I was also like, holy moly, the world is falling down. And you know, where, where's this all going? And how do I and I really felt a lot of sympathy for the bear in the real story, because the real story died. And so I honestly was like, oh, I can make a revenge tale for the cocaine bear. Like, you know, that was really like a big part of it. And but more importantly, I this it was tone. How do I make something really funny? Right, right, right. I've done that before. I've made funny things before. I've made things funny. So I wanted to show I wanted to show something else I wanted to learn

something else you know that that that was really when I read the script I loved every character I wanted to play every character I I saw casting I was like okay I get this movie I get who all these people are I get why this is going to be fun so So many of my favorite directors make movies like this, the multi POV, you know, the the Coen brothers and the and Quentin Tarantino and, you know, this idea, Sam Raimi, this idea of like gory blood, but it's fun and you're having a great time. And, you know, everybody's in over their head and everyone's a underdog because I don't care how many guns you bring to the party. If the bear's on cocaine, you're losing. That's a great.

That would have been a great. That would have been a great line for the poster. You know, like you did. If you don't know the bears on cocaine, you don't have all the information. You didn't come prepared so have they already reached out to you to to do some sort i'm sure they have but i mean is there a way you can make another one i i'm i'm waiting what about a shark everybody wants to do the shark one i think that's just jaws and if you just revealed that jaws like ate a little something at the bottom of the ocean,

it would just still be Jaws. I can't make it better, you know? We're going to need a bigger boat. We're going to need more blow. They keep making this movie too, man. Over it, over it, over it. Well, listen, they are going to beg. For those of you who don't know Hollywood,

they are going to beg Elizabeth Banks every day for some other animal to ingest cocaine. To eat cocaine. They could get a lot of pitches on the animals. What if? But no, I don't look like I want to do something different. I want to do something different. There is a well, we had a whole other ending to that movie where basically we're stashed. You know, the kid at the end makes it out with the

bag, you know, he's going to New York City. And we had we I always wanted to shoot a tag where he then gets to New York City. But the drug dealers who were looking for his drug, like Sid's, the guys above Sid, right? Because Sid's there because they're going to come and kill his family. He's got to get the drugs. So there's always a level above Sid White in Cocaine Baron it was like who are those who are the Colombians that are coming right right right and I always imagine Stash um in New York City like looking at a map like he's never you know he has no idea where he's going with the bag in between his legs and then the Colombians just come out to get him but the but the bag is actually filled with rats yeah and I'm I was about to say rat cocaine.

Cocaine rats. Cocaine rat. Coming soon. You guys heard it here first. Cocaine rat. Unleash hell in the subways of New York City. So maybe that'll happen someday. What are you singing?

We both found what we were looking for. Big. Oh, I didn't get it. Sorry. It's the story of the rat. It's the story of the rat. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after these fine words.

Hi, I'm Martha Stewart, and we're back with a new season of my podcast. And we're back with a new season of my podcast. This season will be even more revealing and more personal with more entrepreneurs, more trailblazers, more live events, more Martha, and more questions from you. I'm talking to my cosmetic dermatologist, Dr. Dan Belkin, about the secrets behind my skincare. Walter Isaacson, about the geniuses who change the world. Encore Jane, about creating a billion-dollar startup.

Dr. Elisa Pressman, about the five basic strategies to help parents raise good humans. Florence Fabrikant, about the authenticity in the world of food writing. Be sure to tune in to season two of the Martha Stewart podcast. Listen and subscribe to the Martha Stewart podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you've been following the news,

you know that from healthcare access to safe schools, LGBTQ plus rights are under attack. And it's about time queer and trans youth get the microphone and tell their stories in their own words. I'm Raquel Willis. Join me on my new podcast, Queer Chronicles, a show where LGBTQ plus folks tell their own stories in their own words. This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. I wish I could feel more comfortable in my own body here, but that's just not the case. And follow along as they discover what queer and trans liberation means to them.

This isn't running away from yourself. It's running into who you want to grow into. Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. I used to have so many men. How this beguiling woman in her 50s. She looked like a million bucks. With zero qualifications.

She had a Harvard plaque. Tricks her way past a wall of lawyers and agents. She's got all of these Maseratis and Bentleys all in the driveway. Is it like a mansion? Yes, it's a driveway. Is it like a mansion? Yes, it's a mansion that this queen of the con uses to scam some of the biggest names in professional sports out of untold fortunes.

About six million. Approximately $11 million. Nearly $10 million was all gone. Employing whatever means necessary to bleed her victims dry. She would probably have sex with one of her clients. Hide your money in your old Richmond, because she is on the prowl.

Listen to Queen of the Con, Season 5, The Athlete Whisperer, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. You're such an inspiration i really mean that to to every person who wants to make it in hollywood you've just you're so impressive and um i think that you know when we knew you you were just not just you were hilarious actress. I knew you wanted to direct and produce. But I think I speak for both of us when I say what you've accomplished is just such an inspiration. I saw it coming. I knew it this whole time. I saw it coming.

And I just want to lastly say that Donald and I are both available for hire. Me too. No, you're too busy. You're too busy now. That're you're you're you're you're too busy now you're the that's a good question actually what do you prefer to do i'll ask all of you i'll ask the the the two the direct hyphenates the hyphenates and the direct right and uh star hyphenates what do you prefer hyphenates i feel the most um well i i really i i love directing but it's the hardest it's by far the hardest and it's the longest commitment and i like to i'm i hate long commitments

so that's tough um i love acting they bring you coffee they They dress you up. They do your makeup. It's a delight. And you get to play with your friends. I mean, there's nothing better, I think. So I still, if I can do that, that's what I'm going to keep doing. I love making Press Your Luck my game show. Love that game show. Because I love giving away other people's money to people who need it it's real fun um and then you know and i really enjoy writing when i find something that like clicks i i think i take

the most pride in writing um because i'm not naturally good at it i really have to work hard at it and when i find something that i feel like works or clicks in or or i i i can i can be additive i get and that makes me really excited for me uh writing is by far the hardest and i dread it um directing is so stressful but but i think i'm living my living my truest self when I'm doing it. I just love it. I just like, I love cameras and I love actors. And I love choreographing scenes and collaborating and improv.

And like being a film director is, it's like everything I love in one job. But it also makes me so stressed and takes years off my life. And then, like I said, you, but that finally put it out and, and people either go or they don't. And it's, it's just, it's, it's very, very hard. I do love doing it.

Acting to me, once you've done all that is like, you can't believe that this is a job. Like you can't believe that you guys are all going to stress about this shit. And I just go back to my trailer and drink coffee. Yeah. Like for real. Like, I don't have to weigh in on the fact that we're over budget and the teamsters are walking off because of some reason,

like that's your guy's problem. Yeah. Yeah, exactly. But you know, it's interesting as an actor, when you, when I first heard that it was,

it was amongst you and your director friends and stuff like that. And you guys were talking about putting the puzzle together and stuff. And how, you know, actors are the worst also. Because we come in with this fucking ego thinking this is all about me. And I'm the one that's supposed to cater to. You said it yourself. They bring me coffee. They bring me my clothes so you walk in thinking this is my life and this is how everybody should feel about it

but really when you're that person you are fucking everyone so hard by by throwing the monkey wrench in there dude and so the one time and it was like it was very humbling and it was also very eye opening. It was like, you know, Zach was like, you know, the actors are like the least bit of the worry when you're doing it. You're like, just fucking show up and do your fucking lines. I got so much other shit I have to take care of. And I was like, oh. And that was the moment when I realized, I was like, oh. I don't want to be that person that, oh, shit, wow.

Anytime I have my little fucking diva blow up or my little attitude, I'm really fucking everybody so hard. Yeah, you are. Like, I am fucking, like, this is, oh. And I'm trying to sit here and be like, I'm a team player. I'm a part player you're balancing as a director you're balancing so many fucking plates then when when an actor's like has some bullshit you're like what i did not account for you to get a haircut now your haircut is so fucking my day why are you why are you getting a haircut now why did you shave your beard? Why did you fucking shave?

Right. All right, Banks, we'll wrap it up. We love you. Thank you for doing this. I love you guys. I'm so glad to finally work with you. I love you so much, E-Banks. I feel like we've been talking about this forever.

And if you want, Don, when I just send you our- I love you so much, it's crazy. You know, E-Banks, you were the first person, listen, this is how much I love you. So, like, I love you, love you, love you, love you. She's not going to cast you, bro.

Just send your headshot. No, this is all. First of all, I already tried. I tried to cast him in things. She's trying to put me in things. But look, I love you so much. Look, first of all, there's an article out where it's me and Casey, and I got so excited to see you.

I think it was in front of some restaurant. And I'm so excited, and I'm grabbing you. And they're clowning me like Donald Faison, overly excited to see you. I think it was in front of some restaurant. And I'm so excited. I'm grabbing you. And they're clowning me like Donald Faison, overly excited to see Elizabeth Banks. But then the other thing is, when we found out we were pregnant with Rocco, the first person I told, I could have told anyone on the planet. The first and only person I told was you. Yeah. And I sent you the sonogram. Yeah, I remember.

And I don't know why, but it was like, no, I want to tell you banks about this. No, I do know why. I do know why. I do know why. Because when I started dating Caseyy everybody gave me shit for it everybody was like dude fucking i can't believe it you're dating the girl from the fucking reality show everybody gave me shit for it and you were like i don't know i kind of like her she's really awesome yeah she seemed real cool to me she's really cool and i was like and and and i wanted to say look you you were right look how far look at look, look how far we've come.

We're now that's 10 years later and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. I thought you guys were great. I thought you guys were like really great together. And I, I, I think she's awesome. I don't get to see I don't get to see you guys enough. I mean, I don't see anybody enough, but yeah, I'm so happy. I just want to I just want to end with a brief cold read for you, Elizabeth. Just to have in your head.

Wait, just listen. Just to have in your head as you go forward. There's something up with that rat, guys. I don't know what it is, but he's really hyper. All right, I'm writing it down. Wait, wait, watch this. Just take this. This is recorded, right?

Because I'm going to need to show this to some people. No, but this is it down. Wait, wait, wait, watch this. Just take this. This is recorded, right? Because I'm going to need to show this to some people. No, but this is my reading. Ready? That rat has something going on with him. I don't know what it is, guys. That might be the animated. I feel like that's the animated version. I can be smaller.

Thanks, I can take it down. Look more real, okay? Like the rat really is eating your foot all right take two take two take two the rat's really eating your foot here we go this fucking rat i think he's on blow we gotta go all right we love you so much About a show we made. About a bunch of docs and nurses. And a janitor who loved to hate. I said he's got stories. That we all should know.

So gather round to hear our. Gather round to hear our. Scrubs Rewatch Show with Zach and Donald. I'm Raquel Willis. Join me on my new podcast, Queer Chronicles, a show where LGBTQ plus folks tell their own stories in their own words. This season, teens will share all about growing up in political battleground states. We will always exist and we will definitely not let them take away our joy, no matter how hard they try.

Listen to Queer Chronicles on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your most fabulous shows. talk to one of Hollywood's major icons, Michael B. Jordan. In our conversation, Michael shares the highs, the lows, and everything in between, offering a genuine glimpse into his world. The closest to getting what you want is always the hardest. People give up right before they get what they've always wanted to get. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Liz Fair and many, many more. Join me on season three of Many Questions on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your favorite podcasts. Seven questions, limitless answers.