Transcript
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Speaker: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR. [Music fades out.]
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jordan morris
Coming to you from my house in Los Angeles, it’s Bullseye. I’m Jordan Morris, in for Jesse Thorn. I’m the co-host of Jordan, Jesse, Go!, here at Maximum Fun. And I’m also a comedy writer, who created the sci-fi comedy fiction podcast, Bubble. My guest Rose Byrne has been acting for over 25 years. She was born and raised near Sydney, Australia, but quickly made a name for herself in the states. She had a breakout role in the FX series Damages. She played Ellen Parsons. She’s acted in movies like Knowing, and Get Him to the Greek, and the comedy classic: Bridesmaids. She played Helen, the filthy rich antagonist to Kristen Wiig’s Annie.
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[Birdsong and the distant sound of other people in the background.] Helen (Bridesmaids): [Amused.] It’s funny how people change, isn’t it? Annie: Yeah. I mean. I don’t know, do people really change? Helen: Mm. I think they do. Annie: Yeah, but I mean they still stay who they are, pretty much. Helen: I think we change all the time. Annie: I think we… stay the same but grow, I guess, a little bit. Helen: I think if you’re growing then you’re changing. Annie: But, I mean, we’re changing from who we are—which we always stay as. Helen: Mm, not really. I don’t think so. Annie: Eh. I think so. Helen: I don’t. [They chuckle in a pleasant and uncomfortable way.]
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jordan
Now, she’s starring alongside Steve Carrell in Irresistible. It’s a political comedy directed by Jon Stewart. It’s a movie about a small town in Wisconsin, where the race for mayor becomes a national sensation. Money and strategists from both parties arrive. Rose Byrne plays Faith Brewster, the republican nemesis of Carrell’s Gary Zimmer. Let’s hear a clip. This scene is from early in the movie. Faith has just arrived in Deerlaken, Wisconsin. And wouldn’t you know it? She runs into her rival, Gary.
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[The sounds of a crowd milling about in the background.] Gary Zimmer (Irresistible): “Deerlaken always!” Sooo, apparently “Deerlaken über alles” was copyrighted? Faith Brewster: Well, we were gonna go with “I’m with him” until we remembered how [censored] stupid it sounded. Gary: No, no, no! No! I love it. I love the whole town genealogy angle. It’s got a real bold, “You ain’t from around here,” flavor. Faith: [Laughs.] Gary: With subtle notes of xenophobia. Not to mention the cognitive dissonance that your booth is basically a love letter to immigration. Faith: That’s a great observation. So, all these people are hypocrites? I’d run with that. Gary: All you have is fear. Faith: [Quietly.] Now we’re getting somewhere. Gary: [Giggles.] Faith: 20 bucks says I do better with fear than you do with shame.
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jordan
Rose Byrne, welcome to Bullseye!
rose byrne
Thank you!
jordan
So, I wanna talk about your new movie, Irresistible. And I think the best way to start the conversation is by talking about what I think is your character’s first scene in the movie. You exit the scene by very aggressively licking Steve Carrell’s face? [Laughing.] What—what was it like to film this moment, just as an actor. And also, why do you think that’s a good introduction to this character?
rose
Well, that was my first day on set. It was the first time I’d met Steve. The first time I’d met Jon. [Chuckles.]
jordan
The first day’s the licking scene?! Oh my gosh!
rose
First day was the licking scene. So, we shot it in sequence. You know, we shot our conversation first and then we—at the end we set up for the [laughs] the lick. And I remember, I was far too timid, initially. And Jon… Jon sort of had to act it out for me. [Jordan laughs.] Yeah! I realized quickly, then, that it’s an intimidation tactic by Faith. [Laughs.] And, you know, she’s not a nervous person by any means. And she really delights in the—the sort of—the terrors of her job, I think. So—but as an actress, it was a very… one of the more strange… meetings—first scenes I’ve had to do. [Laughs.] And I, um—yeah. I also had a lot of earrings and a lot of, like, bags and shoes and all this extra stuff going on. And Steve was very funny, though. We laughed a lot, which was good. There was a lot of laughing in between takes and laughing—trying—and then trying to not laugh. [Laughing.] So we could get through it. But once I realized how aggressive she had to be, it was a good—a good—it was a good introduction in that sense.
jordan
So, your character in this is fictional. But it’s—it’s obviously based on, you know, real people. Real people who work in Washington. Real people who work in media. Did you study any particular real-world people, for this role?
rose
A few. I mean, Jon immediately pointed me toward the very well-known documentary from the ‘90s, called The War Room. You know, that Pennebaker documentary. And it’s—it’s just got great footage between James Courville and Mary Matalin and their dynamic and their relationship, being on opposite sides but also being in this romantic relationship. And the kind of chemistry that they had. He really was inspired by—with Faith and Gary.
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Faith (Irresistible): Look, Zimm… you all punched your ticket on a changing demographic and now Whidey don’t want you back. Gary: Okay, Jeb. Exclamation point. So why are you here. Faith: ‘Cause I enjoy demoralizing you. Because crushing the last piece of hope in your eyes really gets me off. Gary: [Sighs.] You are a twisted [censored], Faith. And you don’t know jack. Faith: Please don’t tell me that is the campaign slogan you came up with. [Beat.] This guy, Zimm? He’s not the last jedi. And even if he were? I’d still crush him. Because that’s what I do. Gary: You realize in that analogy you’re Darth Vader? Faith: Whatever you say, nerd. It’s good to see you. Gary: Yeah. Faith: You look fat. Gary: [Chuckles.]
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rose
I mean, I looked at everyone from, you know, your Megyn Kellys to Kellyanne Conway. All those sort of various strategists or members of the White House team or, you know, yeah. Pundits. In particular, you know, the right—Republican female strategists. There’s a very particular type. Because there’s not many of them. They have to have a certain, sort of, brashness or loudness about them. And it’s a very specific type, really. [They laugh.] That type of personality. Type of look, usually, as well. So, I was trying to capture that. It was a lot of fun. Lot of fun to do.
jordan
So, this movie has a—has a pretty, you know, on its sleeve political message. And, you know, it’s coming out in an election year. What did you think about signing onto a movie that has such a clear message in a time that, you know, people are extra cognizant of politics? Is it—is it nerve-wracking at all, having something like this come out in a time like this?
rose
Well, I certainly—a year ago, when we shot it, I did not realize there would be a… a… global pandemic, unlike anything since 1918, or whatever. [They laugh. Jordan agrees.] And that there would be a, you know, a reckoning of the racial, you know, injustice in this country and the police force in this country. And [laughs], you know! We certainly didn’t know that it would be so, uh… contentious and unprecedented, really, in the—in the time that we’re in right now. It was definitely—we were in the midst of the Trump administration, which was already so tumultuous and unpredictable. But now, of course, where we are now—no one could have—no one could have predicted. So, it’s—I’m grateful the film’s coming out at all. You know, these things, you don’t know when—so many things have been infected, in the business. So, I think that it’s exciting that it’s getting a release on demand. And so that’s—it’s a—it’s a bit, um, yeah. I guess it’s taken on even more weight, because it is a—it’s a political film in a time when this election is perhaps one of the most—you know, it’s gotta be up there with the most important elections of—in history, really. So. [Laughs.] And this film is about how we vote. So. You know. I hope people vote. I hope people are inspired to vote, after seeing it.
jordan
I’d love to hear more about what Jon Stuart is like, as a director. He strikes me as a guy who’s pretty—who’s pretty private. You know, since he left TV, he’s—you know, he kind of only pops up occasionally for interviews and appearances. Yeah. What is he like as a guy and what is he like as a director?
rose
Mm. He’s very—he’s—Jon’s really disarming, you know? He’s so warm and friendly and down to earth. But absolutely private, for sure. There’s a mystery about him. But very affable and friendly to everybody and anybody. There’s no airs and graces. There’s no, sort of—he’s not a snob in any way, you know. He’s really quite disarming with how down to earth he is. And as a director, you know, it—he’s really collaborative. And it was a lot of technical, politico speak and slang and things that I struggled—like, I was like, “Oh, I kind of understand the system and I’ll be fine.” And I quickly realized, “Oh. I’m… I do not understand a lot of this. So.” [Laughs.] [Jordan chuckles.] Having him shorthand, trying to explain stuff to me on the fly—and it was a short shoot. We didn’t have much time or money. You know, it was by no means a big production. So, he was really collaborative and would adjust things on the fly. So, very flexible. You know? Not precious about stuff. Really like, “Oh, you know what, that doesn’t work. That’s too wordy. This is—” He’s very critical of his own writing and he—you know, he’s very quick to change things and adjust stuff to make it better. Always looking to improve things and very enthusiastic, really one of the crew. You know. Super energetic. And because it was such of his world, too—this lampooning of politics, both sides, you know. No one is kind of spared. It was really a pleasure, ‘cause he—it’s such his field, you know? So, it was great to—you felt—I felt very safe in—with him driving the ship.
jordan
More with Rose Byrne in just a minute. Coming up, is there a language barrier between Australians and Americans? According to Rose Byrne, yes. It’s Bullseye, from MaximumFun.org and NPR.
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jordan
Welcome back to Bullseye. I’m Jordan Morris, in for Jesse Thorn. I’m talking to Rose Byrne. You’ve seen her in movies like Bridesmaids and on TV shows like Damages. She stars alongside Steve Carrell in Irresistible, the new political comedy directed by Jon Stewart. You can stream it now. Lt’s get back to the interview. I’d love to talk about the stuff that led you to where you are now. I read that you went to a performing arts high school. I’d love to hear more about that and maybe specifically what kind of material you were doing, in high school. Was it, you know, Neil Simon? Was it Shakespeare? Was it a little bit of everything?
rose
Mm-hm! Um, well, I did—yeah, I went to this—I left one high school and I went to another, sort of—[chuckling] a little bit more of an artistic school. It was also full of a lot of people who’d dropped out of other schools and they couldn’t get in to anywhere else, [laughing] so they went to this college. [Jordan laughs.] I actually don’t think it exists anymore. Called Bradfield College. But in any case, it was definitely a lot of interesting types there, and we did a lot of self-devised work, [laughing] at Bradfield College. It was more—it was more really through my time at the Australian Theatre for Young People—ATYP, which is a theatre youth group that I, sort of, fell in love with more, like, material-based stuff. And really studying English literature in school, ‘cause you always—you know, you’re reading all of the classics and the—whether it’s Shakespeare or Ibsen or… you know. Arthur Miller or whomever. So, it was a real combination of lots of experiences, growing up. Of seeing the theatre, studying, and at school, really. Kind of informed it all. But I started very young, yeah. I was 8 when I started classes—like, at the youth—at the youth theatre group. And then 13 when I got my first professional job, in Australia.
jordan
When you got to that performing arts group and you kind of were, kind of, immersed in this world of other theatre people, were you like, “Oh, this is it. I’ve found my tribe.”?
rose
I did! I did feel that! Yes. Not to sound sort of cheesy and sentimental, but I did find— [They laugh.] You know. I’m Australian, after all. Okay? We don’t believe in any of that mushy stuff. [Laughs.] I did. Yeah, I did feel like that at—when I went to ATYP, I did. Yeah. I loved it. I was very young, and I used to go with a bunch of kids from my neighborhood and we would get the ferry across to Circular Quay and it was in this old, beat-up warehouse. And it was magical! Loved it! And I was very much at home. And I was shy; I wasn’t a particularly… I don’t know. You put me in a group and I’m quite quiet, but within the context of drama and imagination and all that stuff, I found it really fun and liberating. So, I was one of those weird, quiet actors. [Laughs.] ‘Cause it—we’re all—we’re all a bit different, but some actors, I think, can be kind of shy. But—and I was definitely, then. But I did! I did feel like that. I felt like I had found a sort of—a group that I was very easily, kind of, adapted to.
jordan
You mentioned doing, you know, Shakespeare and Ibsen and things like that. Did this kind of early training of yours—did it include any, like, sketch comedy or improv or anything like that?
rose
No—I mean, you do that… in—ATYP we had a game called “space jump”, which was all sort of improvised and stuff. I mean, it’s all games when you’re little and the—sort of the more serious texts and stuff come later on. But the serious improv comedy, that I didn’t—wasn’t exposed to until I did—I started working with, you know, Nick Stahl and Judd Apatow and Paul Feig and Seth Rogan and all those—all—you know, and Melissa and Kristen Wiig and all the girls from Bridesmaids. That was really my introduction. Really when I did Get Him to the Greek and worked with Russell Brand. And that was my introduction to the—sort of—the improv comedy world.
jordan
We’re jumping around here a little bit, but I really wanna talk about the fact that one of your very early film jobs was in a Star Wars movie. [Rose hums in agreement.] You’re in a Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones. Before getting that job, were you a Star Wars kid?
rose
Uh, I wasn’t. [They laugh.] You can hear a collective groan. Uh, I wasn’t. I was one of the, like, 1% of the world who had never seen Star Wars. I didn’t know it. I didn’t know the movies. I knew the characters from pop culture, but I didn’t know the story and… no, I was, like, very much in the minority. [Laughs.]
jordan
[Chuckling.] You know, I know that the—you know, like, when—you know. Kids get into Star Wars at a certain age and people who are serious about it get serious about it at a certain age, I think. Was there anything you were just a super geek about, when you were—you know—in junior high, high school?
rose
Oh, yeah! I mean—well, when I was reeeally young, I was really into a very famous pop singer in Australia, called Kylie Minogue. You know. A kind of Australian icon. She’s lovely! [Laughs.] I’ve since met her. But she was—I was a fanatic pop music fan and went to five of her concerts and had all her t-shirts and the albums and the this and that, up until—and it was by no means cool. I was pretty dorky. It wasn’t—I was not a sophisticated [laughing] young—you know. I was—it was, I mean—I look back now and I’m proud of my Kylie days, ‘cause she’s amazing and she’s—you know, she’s, like, stood the test of time and she’s very charming and smart and funny. So, that was my sort of fanaticism. And the other thing I was really into growing up was this British comedy series called Fawlty Towers, with John Cleese.
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Jordan: Oh yeah! Sure! Rose: Yeah. I loved John Cleese. Jordan: I would say, uh, yeah.
rose
And I was obsessed with Basil Fawlty and then I got into all the Monty Python films. So, I think my introduction to comedy was quite—was really through that. My father really loved the Fawlty Towers. So, it was Fawlty Towers and Kylie Minogue. Which is a pretty strange combination, but. [They laugh.]
jordan
Yeah! That’s so interesting. I think when people think about, you know, British comedy or when people who aren’t from the UK think about British comedy, you know, they think of something that is very—you know—maybe stuffy and dry. But, you know, Fawlty Towers and Python, those are sooo silly.
rose
Sooo silly. And the physical comedy’s brilliant and the more I learned about—you know, they just rehearsed for six weeks for every episode of Fawlty Towers? Which was just—you know.
jordan
Oh wow, I didn’t know that.
rose
The physical comedy is remarkable and… they hold up, today. You know. And he’s—you know, he’s, like, just in the canon of television characters of—you know. History. As far as I’m concerned. [Laughing.] Basil Fawlty is. So. [Jordan agrees.] But yeah. It’s definitely a lesser known in the states, I would say. We used to get a lot of—you know, we would get all of the… all of the British programs came to Australia before we had the American programs. So, when I was growing up it was more kind of on British television than American television.
jordan
You mentioned, earlier, that your new movie—Irresistible—is premiering on demand. You know, obviously because of the pandemic. You know. Theaters aren’t open. But it also kind of got me thinking about movie premieres being something that can’t happen in this—in the current climate. Yeah. Are you bummed not to be able to see this movie at a premiere? Or, you know… are those just kind of obligatory appearances that you make because, you know, you have to?
rose
I’m—you adapt so quickly. You sort of go, “Oh, well, all that’s gone.” And so, you just realize, “Oh, well, all the work you have to do to promote it is now through Zoom and all that stuff.” And—which is as tedious, in its own way, or whatever. But not to take anything away from [laughing]—I feel bad to say that. But you just adapt! Like you don’t even think about it. You know what I mean? You go like, “Yeah.” You don’t—just—maybe that’s just me. I just compartmentalize. But what’s a bummer is you don’t get to see people. Like, I would love to see Jon. And that’s a great excuse to see Jon. We had bonded. You bond with these people. So, that’s what’s the best part about it, in a way, is to—for me, I love to, you know, see people again and talk and catch up and—you know. You—you know. And this was a really nice experience. It’s not always like that! Like some—obviously every job is different and some things I don’t wanna talk about at all. But you know. [They laugh.] And Irresistible and Mrs. America were both very—really fun and really creative and different. So, that—that’s disappointing. But, you know. On the scale of things, I—it’s not a big deal [laughs] with the rest of what else is going on in the world, I’m like, “Ah, we could go—you know, everyone’s okay. But—” [Laughs.] I think I need to, you know, look at—look at the bigger picture.
jordan
You gave another interview where you talked about the first time you saw Bridesmaids and it kind of being under not-ideal conditions. I would love to hear more about that and how I kind of changed how you watch your own movies.
rose
Well, I saw it when—it was a press screen, and I was kind of snuck in at the back. And so, it was with a bunch of journalists. [They laugh.] And, um, they were really just—everyone was on their Blackberry, at that point—back in 2000-whenever. 2011 or something.
jordan
Yeah, that dates it.
rose
And… wasn’t that much laughing, except I remember one person, down the front, was losing it laughing. And so, I walked away going, “I think it’s terrific, but gee, the audience didn’t seem to enjoy it that much.” Because, you know, the press is jaded, and they see six films a week and they don’t—you know. They’re not—they’re just thinking about the next appointment they have to do, or whatever. So, it was definitely eye opening, yeah. I thought, “Oh wow, this is… this, uh—you just—you just, uh. Yeah.” I realized it was a—it was window into that world.
jordan
So, Rose, you have played a lot of Americans. You are an Australian person, as I’m sure the audience can hear. Yeah. It seems to be something that kind of happens a lot, in Hollywood. There’s a lot of Australian actors who play American characters. Is there a class that they make you take?
rose
Yeah, there is. It’s called watching television. Now adays, everything is American, so everyone grows up with all of the sitcoms and all of the films and, you know, like—so, it’s very much immersed in the American culture. You know, my nephews know all of the, you know—and even sports now. It’s so global, all that stuff. But when I was growing up—I mean, yeah. I definitely had classes, like for—you know, vocal, um—you know, like, accent training and all of that. But I mean, I’m married to an American and he still doesn’t understand anything I say. [Jordan laughs.] I’ll be like, “Can you—where are my sunglasses?” Or “Can you chuck me my sunnies?” And he’ll be like, “What?! What did you say?! Wh-what did you say?” So, you know. I walk around just talking to myself all day, in my house. No one—they don’t understand me. [They laugh.] But yeah. He’s always getting—he’s like, “Ugh, they cast an Australian. Why are they always casting Australians?” There’s—I don’t know if it’s as popular, now, but there definitely was a trend for a while there of Aussie actors coming in and, um… you know, popping up in every sort of—every kind of movie or TV show or whatever.
jordan
So, we are about out of time and I think, you know, maybe we have time for one more question. And I just had something that I really wanna ask you about. This is a—it’s a little off topic. It could be, you know, something that we cut from the interview, but I just really wanna know what’s Nicholas Cage like?
rose
[Laughs.] Uuum, he is a true eccentric. Yeah.
jordan
Yeah. You were—you were in a great movie with him, called Knowing.
rose
Yeah, an Alex Proyas movie. He’s a great filmmaker. And he’s a true eccentric, yeah. I—we—I remember we went to an animal park together and he held, like, a bald eagle. And, you know.
jordan
[Cackles.] He had permission to hold the bald eagle, right?
rose
Oh yeah. Yeah, we had permission to hold everything. I mean, I—we were looking at Tasmanian devils at one point, I remember. But he was a gentleman. Absolute gentleman, but absolutely eccentric, for sure. It was definitely no—it’s definitely not a fabricate thing. And it feels like he’s perhaps getting even more eccentric [laughing] as he gets older. Which is very entertaining!
jordan
Sure! [Rose agrees.] Well, Rose Byrne, thanks for joining us on Bullseye.
rose
You’re welcome! Thank you so much for having me!
jordan
That was Rose Byrne, folks! Her new movie, Irresistible, is available to rent digitally, now.
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jordan
That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye is produced out of the homes of me and the staff of Maximum Fun, in and around greater Los Angeles—where producer Kevin Ferguson made a drink called a “shrub” out of some extra beets he had lying around. He says it tastes great when paired with sparkling water. His wife says it tastes like salad dressing. But hey! If you enjoyed my talking, on Bullseye, why not try Jordan, Jesse, Go!? It’s a comedy podcast with me and the usual host of this show, Jesse Thorn. We have on great guests, every week, and just make them participate in nonsensical nonsense. It’s very dumb and a ton of fun and I think you’ll like it. Jordan, Jesse, Go!, wherever you get your podcasts. Bullseye is produced by speaking into microphones. Our producer is Kevin Ferguson. Jesus Ambrosio and Jordan Kauwling are our associate producers. We also get help from Casey O’Brien. Our interstitial music is by Dan Wally, also known as DJW. Out theme song is by The Go! Team. Thanks to them and their label—thanks to them and their label, Memphis Industries, for letting us use it. You can keep up with the show on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Just search for Bullseye with Jesse Thorn. And I guess that’s about it! Just remember: all great radio hosts have a signature sign off.
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Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.
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