Rashida Jones on Good Hang with Amy Poehler

hi welcome to another episode of good

hang I cannot wait to uh have you uh he

this episode with the great Rashida

Jones the an to my

Leslie um my wife for life Rashida is

just one of my best friends and she's

just an incredible person and interview

and she's so deep and smart and funny

and um we're going to talk about what

it's like working together and we're

going to talk about our relationship to

work and what makes a good gift giver

and how much we both love music we're

going to go deep and then stay real

shallow all at the same time so it's

going to be a lot of fun and you know

we've been um trying to do this thing

where before I interview a guest I get

to talk to people who know them who are

fans of them or who want to just you

know give me some ideas for what to ask

them so we have gathered two great

comedic actresses reetta from Parks and

Rec who played Donna Meagle

and Darcy Carden from the good place uh

so they're going to um help me get

started

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[Music]

Places hi he you know it only takes it

only takes three people to to to make a

Hang Gang to be a gang that's right

everybody knows that um we're talking

about and to the great Rashida Jones

today wouldn't want to talk about anyone

else not One Singular human being

honestly it's it's kind of overwhelming

because she does so many things

well

yeah she's what is it called a poly

maath is that the word but what's the

math

yes it's so many maths it's prob math

yeah I was thinking of say thing a I was

thinking like um she's so unique in that

there's not she's not you know even to

introduce her I don't know how you what

you would even say she's not I mean

she's there's so many things to list and

not just in her career but in her life

she's she's so many things to so many

people and she's so good at all of it

and yet that doesn't bother me I'm not

like annoyed by that as I'm saying it

I'm not like rolling my eyes I'm like

she really does it all and she does it

so well and in such an inspiring way I

agree to me she's the lawyer in the

group when people have like a outrageous

idea or plan or think they can fix

something in a certain way I feel like

ra is the person that's like okay

everybody relax here's what we're gonna

do here's what we're gonna do this is

how we fix it or let me let me just make

a call or I feel like even though you

know she's not an attorney she's the

attorney of the group that she's in yeah

is that weird

no that's really well said what makes

Rashida a good hang well she's super

funny and she also loves to laugh so she

makes you feel super

funny

right yes which is great she's on it

she's really on it she's just like she's

um sharp in like in every way I can

think of yes and so and like so stylish

and cool totally like like Beyond cool

it's actually oppressive I know I know

somehow doesn't make me feel shitty

again no never but I do but I make

myself feel shitty sometimes I'm just

like damn it like what we're wearing

Japanese pants now no one told me I know

but the thing is is we are not she is

she is but all of a sudden I'm like oh

all my clothes are small they're

supposed to be big like do we have bangs

we don't have bangs big Co little coats

okay aob no long hair now okay okay okay

yeah totally totally glasses small

glasses little coats I don't know that

she's ever done little coats maybe

before I knew her I've only seen her in

big coats big the only the only people

on Parks doing little Coats were Adam

and hisas they had the littlest

coat exactly I remember lifting up a

coat and being like who coat is this and

it was A's little

coat she's like a host right she's like

a good host she and I think um maybe

that's one of the reason she's such a

good hang is because she like really

appreciates the the Hang portion like

she's putting in the time to make the

Hang like pleasurable right yes like I

don't feel a stressy vibe from her when

she's hosting for example yeah yeah me

too like I I'm always working out on my

I'm always working out my own stuff

which is wanting to get things like want

it to be good and fun and being and

people coming over and saying like hi

and me saying just a second like making

them feel making them feel stressed even

though I had the

party or like explaining something like

don't go in this room or if you do this

is what's going

on or you got to hold the toilet down

the handle down you oh my god tot

totally or and someone's like can you

can I give you a hand and you just go no

that's okay I just have a lot of things

right now that I'm dealing with and

everyone's everyone looks at you and

says you did have to invite us you did

not have to invite us beg us to come

over the other the other question I had

is

um I want to talk to her about

dancing

because we dance a lot together she's

had a lot of dance parties for her

birthday parties and you two are big

dancers like you you both like to dance

I know why I like to dance at parties

yes why do you like to dance at parties

I think about connecting with people

while dancing like Amy I can think of a

wedding we were at where we didn't know

each other that well it was like early

days of friendship and we just like

danced at a wedding and I felt closer to

you afterwards I felt like totally you

know what I mean that I we just we just

kind of pointed at each other

and and then afterward like we took a we

took a step we took a we leveled up

people listening Rea is really doing

some good pointing right

now um

I I'm drawn to people who I feel really

Vibe with music and and and don't look

crazy dancing you know um there's not

like especially like when we were

younger high school and college like

white boys with rhythm

were like you couldn't get enough like I

was just like and I remember and I will

say it one of she's birthday parties one

of the most

impressive dancers that I didn't see

coming was Max

Greenfield yes Max can move um and the

feeling that I got seeing him dance is

the feeling I won't be have when they

see me dance yeah I feel like if a good

song comes on both of you and Rashida

would be the people I would look at

Point at and be like oh I I was just

gonna say the noise you would make would

be like

oh oh

[Applause]

[Music]

[ __ ] here we

go okay well we're gonna okay this is

perfect I we wrap it up with uh is there

any question you think like anything you

want me to ask rashita it's it's simple

it's a simple question but I think my

question for rashita specifically is

when you were a little kid what did you

want to be when you grow up or what did

you see your adult life looking like I

think what did you want to be when you

grow up because I think because she you

know like it's such a unique childhood

where where it kind of was like the

endless possibilities of what you could

possibly do and it seems like you know

that maybe that's one of the reasons she

does so much and is so good at so many

different things but the simple question

I think is when you were a little kid

what did you want to be when you grew up

it's a great question mine would be it's

also a childhood

question what was the coolest thing that

ever happened to you as a kid because

she's been around so many cool things

what what really was the the thing that

she remembers the most and was the most

exciting for her that's probably gonna

be hard to pick I

know because she was you might get a few

you might get a few things like partying

with ET and

stuff all right well love you guys thank

you for checking in I know it means a

lot to squeeze this time in and rasida

is going to be so grateful when I tell

her that we chatted today so come come

on this podcast and be a guest soon

please and thank you can't wait can't

wait Hang Gang thank you so much Hang

Gang Hang Gang love

you good okay love you guys this episode

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now rashita Jones Is Here hi Rashid hi

Amy I mean people should know that I

call you bones so maybe if I call you

bones during the interview they'll know

yeah and I call you poles polos polos so

poles or polos and Bones polos and Bones

the new detective series coming CBS yeah

I'm Paramount minus okay okay um bones

I'm so happy you're here I'm so happy to

be here thank you for doing this please

on the way over you just told me you

were listening to something in your car

I was listening to um I'm really into

frequencies right now you know there's

like a lot

of stuff theories around like the

frequency of sounds and how it impacts

your brain and your mood um there's ones

for anxiety for sleep for happiness for

abundance whatever but I was listening

to One for road rage because you have

road rage I do I've seen it in action

yeah because we leave each other Marco

polos and I've seen you in real time get

mad for people that are um listening

that don't know Rashida and I have been

friends for many years it's got to be

over 20 now over 20 plus and whenever we

see each other we just jump in like we

talk a lot about we just kind of jump

into the deep end yeah always we get

into feelings we get into what we're

trying to work on what we're excited

about like we just get right in there we

don't do a lot of small talk you not a

lot of small talk and I feel like you

are that way or I can speak for myself I

feel like I'm more and more that way

with the people that I'm closest to and

the people that I'm not particularly

close to are the people that I say like

what movies do you like right yeah and I

find I don't know about you but I find

that my tolerance for small talk has

changed like I used to I used to like

and feel like it was a it was just kind

of like a way to tiptoe into a

conversation and now it feels like why

bother let's just get into it I know

let's don't waste time what are you

afraid of what are you afraid of what

are you working on yeah exactly no no

not not your actual job but yourself

your inner self what are you working on

what's your love language what's your

attachment style um Tina and I had a

good convo about we were laughing

talking about um Harvard [ __ ] Harvard

yeah [ __ ] Harvard [ __ ] Harvard yeah so

for people that don't know what is your

relationship with Harvard and what was

your relationship with Hasty Pudding oh

interesting I was just thinking about

this last night actually well first of

all I just want to say I'm very happy

that you have this podcast because I'm

just going to say I have been

encouraging I've wanted this from you

for a very long time thanks bud okay

sorry I just had to say that thanks dude

um okay Harvard Hasty Pudding yeah I

mean I went to Harvard um I was yay I

was in the Hasty Pudding theatricals but

they didn't allow women at the time

women couldn't

perform um I was a manager I was manager

of woman the woman of the year event

which you've been I'm sure I have not

thank you so much Hasty putting

theatricals I'm I'm actually like the

only Alum but anyway wow we need to

correct that whoever's listening yeah

anyway and then my senior year Mimi my

friend Mimi who you know we were the

first women ever to write the music for

the musical in the in the like whatever

four 100 Year history of the show but

you no one was allowed to sing it

because it was written by women I

couldn't sing it no of course not wow

yeah and then when I went back for class

day that was kind of like the one thing

I snuck into my spe well actually it was

very political but the one thing about

school I snuck in was like make it co

enough enough and now it is it is right

it is finally um yeah that seemed so

silly it's so silly but I will say it

was really fun and I learned a lot I

learned a lot about production because

it's a it's legit production you travel

to New York and Bermuda and everybody

has to like chip in and work on tickets

and costumes and like we had you know we

got to like we had an arranger who

arranged for like a full Orchestra it

was so cool and you I know from us being

friends you started you were started

going to Raves oh yeah I was raving I

was raving was raving during Harvard I

was and that almost took you down almost

took me down but luckily or took yeah

took me up and then way down um but then

I joined an Acappella group and

everything was fine

acapella Saved My Life um but I I would

say the most surprising thing is is

probably that what what I have left from

the whole experience is the people

including Mike Sher including Mike sh

for those people who don't know who

created parks and wreck and um the

American office he was Mo and uh worked

good place good place place good hand

good place um and he um wow do you think

he's going to sue me for that good good

place yeah yeah he's very litigious um

and he's working on a million other

things and you and Mike met at Harvard

where did you guys meet FR freshman year

we did a play together called love sex

in the IRS where we were this the place

started with us making out wow and lucky

him thank you I

mean he must have been like the day when

they were like and here's your make out

partner it could have been anybody he

must have he must have done a quiet fist

pump I mean he he did it while we were

making out it was so awkward um I mean

that's the thing is you just auditioned

for shows and especially in college and

you're just like who you get is who you

get like the fact that we met freshman

year is is nuts I'm I'm having these

like like memories of when we were in

all of us were in high school and

college and we'd have to do like make

out scenes with just people on stage and

how I guess exciting it was kind of

exciting so fun I know I mean you've had

to do quite a few love scenes in TV and

film I have yeah and any tips or

thoughts about that it's so weird but

also comedy make out is so different

than serious serious H up you know

you're right I mean like a real

genuine our friend kathern Han has to

has had to do a lot of sex scenes yes

and intimate genuine like baby girl five

orgasm sex scene is so intense it is

this is my baby girl

dance I will be your

father um that makes me stressed it's

stressy it's fully stressy yeah I'm not

I'm not good at I'm not the person to

ask because I always feel stressed and

weird about it because the best case

scenario is that you do it and you sell

some sort of chemistry but like it it's

all above board and professional that's

the best case scenario which is like

seems impossible

also I did hear an actor's tip one time

that I thought was interesting which is

if you want to get chemistry with

someone and actually parks and recck did

this really well which is the camera

became the Gaze right so like you know I

I I it it caught me looking at Ben when

played by Adam Scott when when Adam

wasn't looking and it created this Vibe

and vice versa it was so much easier

than direct eye contact totally but I

heard some trick that if you want to get

chemistry with an actor look at them

when they're not looking at

you like don't try to do it with them at

all just project all this fantasy stuff

on them when they're not paying

attention to you does that work in real

life um I've tried and the answer is no

the answer is a hell no um okay okay so

do you think some of your best acting

was in parks and wck when you had to

pretend that you didn't know who genuine

was do you know it's it's still one of

my biggest complaints I remember we did

the table read for that and I was like

no no no one's going to buy it because I

don't buy it okay pick anybody else on

this cast to to try to play that in an

honest way it is so unfair that you're

making me do this it really yeah it

still hurts because how how how familiar

are you with genuine we were married

no um I mean you know I live live in

'90s R&B that's where my heart is it's

not here I mean it is with you but and

for the most point it's part it's not

present it's in '90s R&B so he's a very

important figure yeah I just want to

talk for a second about your

relationship to music because it's so

it's it's an amazing combination of

deeply familiar and personal because of

your family and the work you've done

since you were a little kid like the way

music has surrounded your life and then

as an adult knowing your relationship to

music you kind of come in as

like I don't know how else to explain it

other than

uh a deep appreciator of it like you you

know it and can do it and also you

deeply appreciate it it's kind of

closest to like an art historian or

something you know how art historians

love art and they know it and they also

know how it's important I feel that you

are that way about music that's really

nice thank you what is your relationship

to

music to me is the kind of thing you

can't there's something inherent about

it that you can't explain why it has the

impact that it does you can break it

down you can talk about frequencies you

can talk about combinations of notes you

can talk about bpms but at the end of

the day the way it makes you feel is

something that's just very hard to

explain you know in a way that feels if

you don't believe in God like the

closest to an unknown that's outside of

us like you can tap into something

outside of us in a way that like even I

love movies but there's a visual aspect

so you don't like use your imagination

as much when you're engaging with the

thing well do you think then you're like

an oral a r l learner more than a visual

learner I am I am and in fact it's a

it's a shameful thing but I took a lot

of piano when I was little and I love

playing piano but I never really learned

how to read properly because I learned

so well by ear so I'd play these like

chopan polles like big Pieces by ear I

wouldn't I I couldn't read it cuz I was

like just picking it up you know wa I

know it's sort of like it would be nice

to have a balance of both but you know

it's definitely way more our our our

our ARL Roberts remember him I feel like

we've had some hard ass laughs and I was

trying to think the other day like

places that we've laughed deep laughs

and it's it really does add years to my

life I know that

and I I wonder if you could tell the

story about um when we were on um parks

and it was cuz we talk about it we've

talked about it before when we were on

Parks and it was the first season it was

the hunting

episode and just kind of set up uh we

were shooting that whole week way far

away somewhere in California you know I

don't even remember where and we had to

do a scene with Nick Offerman and that I

think about it sometimes the way that

laugh came it was like G it was giggle

giggle orgasm City but um but but uh

don't worry we'll cut that

but but um what do you remember about it

what do you well I remember we were he

maybe ate something weird and we were

trying to give him epicac is so Nick

Offerman playing Ron Swanson ate

something yeah I don't remember actually

what happened in the show I was like

determined as a nurse that I was like

you have to throw up like you can't

right you're going to get sick and he's

like I'm fine right and I we were trying

to get this like liquid in his mouth and

you know it's Hollywood so um things

that happen like on camera don't

actually happen in real life so it was

written that we like hold him down and

he's resisting us and we give him this

this thing

but like you don't know you don't know

how small you are cuz I think both of us

like I'm always like I'm like a tall

person right like I ask people if I feel

tall not and I'm not and I'm and I'm how

tall are you five three and a half yeah

yeah 5'2 and and and Nick is solid yeah

he's a solid dude yeah he's like a

Midwestern cornfed dude dense and like

and muscular and he we were trying to

hold him down and he was whipping us

around with such ease like we couldn't

we actually the both of us could not

hold him down and he was like literally

just go beep and we would just fly off

the bed in each direction we could not

stop one of us we each had one arm yeah

and he would it felt like just the flick

of a wrist and we would fly acoss he was

being gentle he was he wasn't fighting

for his life yeah no no and we could not

get him to stay down could not could not

and I remember that feeling also I think

there's something fun about wrestling

like there is so good it's so good and

being thrown around is so fun yes and he

was throwing us around and I feel like I

just like if I was to picture it in my

mind you were just like like I could

just see you going past me and your hair

going and then your legs going and me me

and I just remember like R like I didn't

never see you flying by which can't be

true but feel like we were tumbling all

over the floor like every time we got

back on the bed we were like T and we

were we were kind of like in each we

were both trying to be like on top of

him and then like just flipping over

really quickly and I think too because

Nick is such a lovely gentle guy in

general we knew there was something

about us that knew we weren't going to

get hurt safe but he was making like

grunting bear

sounds it was really really really was

really fun that was a really I mean I'm

trying to think of like there was so

many good crackup moments crackup

moments I'm 100 years old what a crackup

but I'm just like I was like there's

that spot in in uh Andy and April's

house remember where we could never get

a scene done just that one that living

room spot yeah it was haunted yeah and

then I remember there was one time you

were like Rashida cuz I could not get

through it but I really it's it felt

like haunted it did not feel like it was

my fault yeah I'm sorry I said that

there was I a couple times I would see

bloopers for the show and I'd be like

Amy no but those days were so long they

were long and it was fun until it wasn't

you're like oh my God it's temp we just

want to go home I know and the and there

was a scene for people that um care

there was there was a a spot in that on

that set where anyone who stood there

couldn't get their lines and then of

course it became self-fulfilling

prophecy in many ways yeah but there was

just a lot of um deep laughs and deep um

and deep laughs off camera like one of

the thing one of the things I treasure

there's so many things I treasure about

my friendship with you was that we would

be talking like this and we' be just

talking and talking and just like

talking about our day and talking about

life and then they would just go action

and then we would just talk like Leslie

and a and we do our scene and be like we

kind I'll speak for myself kind of knew

it kind of didn't and then they then

they'd cut they'd work on it and we

would just go back to talking like it

was like a dream job we filmed in

between our conversations and also I

think I remember very clearly in the

pilot because we had already been

friends for years when we shot the pilot

and they were doing one of those spy

shots and we were in your office and we

were talking and it was like you know

other people were like oh this is great

like this is a thing that really works

their friendship we're really going to

be able to sell and we're like uh duh

duh no kidding what do you mean I mean

they really did base the entire show at

the end of the day on the fact that

Leslie and an were you know each other's

number one yeah yeah not hard to do no

and what I I mean we've talked about

this before but we when we first started

the show I think it was like it was kind

of like we were trying to figure out who

was going to play what part and who was

going to come on

board and

um and kind of like the beginnings of

that show

were I'll say a little clumsy crunchy

crunch crunchy can we talk about it love

to oh my God yeah it was crunchy because

I think for I I don't think a lot of

people know this for the beginning I

think we both were worried that we had

taken each other's part like yes so so I

had been on hold for this Untitled thing

that was G to that Greg and Mike were

going to write right and I had done a

year on the office and they let me go

which made sense it was it made sense I

was you had such a tough job there

because everybody wanted Jim and Pam and

then guess who shows up a very likable

cool and everyone was like oh no wait I

Love Ken it did not feel that way people

did not like me like fans were not about

it but they had to create tension for

the relationship to be earned later so I

was the third point in the Triangle it's

fine I like accept it but anyway so Mike

was like we're working on this other

show I'll put you on hold we don't know

what it is yet remember people thought

it was like a spin-off of the office for

a second but anyway so they kept like

kind of decid like changing the the car

the the main characters of the show when

they pitch it to me the boss was a was a

guy and they didn't know if they were

going to cast me or not but I remember

you were extremely pregnant yeah we had

just gotten back from

Italy you and I were in Italy yeah

that's right we were in Italy and it was

very hot that's right and a day later

you were like let's go to lunch and need

to talked you about do you remember

where we went past yes I do New York

City I do oh God and I said let's talk

about something and you said here no no

no you and I was like I want you to

raise this baby with

me it's yours this baby is yours I know

this you need to accept it um but you no

I actually hold this this moment as like

a gold standard of friendship and being

able to take care of your oneself and

the person that you love at the same

time I really do polos because it was

what you did and how you did it was very

hard because you took me to lunch and

said I'm so sorry but they offered me

the part both of us think

it was the same part I was on hold

for being created by a friend of ours

and so I immediately started crying in

pesties and you held my hand and you

were so warm and you were so there was

something about it where you were like I

know I'm sorry buddy but you also you

didn't like do the thing that I

sometimes do where I'm codependent where

I'm like I know I suck I'm the worst

person I don't even deserve it like

whatever I would say to try to make the

other person feel better which doesn't

work you didn't do that you like held

your space and you also comforted me at

the same time which was like a very

beautiful thing I wonder what sher's

version of this is let me tell you

because I left him a

message almost immediately cuz I'm not

shy I was and I was like oh I'm such an

idiot for thinking I could even be on

the show like anybody wants me on the

show of course I didn't get this like

Amy is like a you know mean part of

yourself very mean very mean we that's a

that's a person we're trying to um to

not invite to the dinner party anymore

but um so I I called him I was like Hey

would love to talk to you he was on a

plane and he landed and he's like uh I

was like mhm you want to you want to

tell me what's going on cuz it would

have been really nice for you to tell me

and not Amy to tell me that I wasn't

getting this job and he's like no no no

back up we changed the boss it's a woman

and Amy's playing the boss and I was

like

you oh my God like we might be working

together yeah it kind of went from oh no

to oh my God we might be the two women

on the show yes yes and I still wasn't

cast cuz I still had to do a bunch of

chemistry reads after that but but that

became you know this huge possibility of

like my life being the best from the

worst to the best God I'm sweating even

thinking about that he wasn't they had

they just hadn't decided things and and

they they were trying to build around

you I think is what happened around that

character so I think they had just done

that and I think you wanted to tell me

as soon as possible because we were were

so close which was the right Instinct

and Mike decided to get on a plane which

was his

Instinct and he just flew for hours he

just went to different cities and he

never got off plane and that's what

exacts do that's what a powerful person

does is they get on the plan they just

get on as many planes as possible my

phone was off but I have to say you are

very good and and you've taught me a lot

about handling

feedback because like you you know uh

even recently like you reached out to

friends about giving give me some

feedback on something yeah and I thought

about wow I mean I I'm always trying to

process taking Fe like like we talked

about like just figuring out who I can

get feedback from and I love your

feedback I trust it I respect it the way

you give it is very caring and loving

but feedback from the wrong person oh

yeah nightm not great nightmare

nightmare well how do you handle that I

will say you know it's I part of me was

doing it because my little inner critic

that person that was at the table um is

so loud and mean and unreasonable and so

I Look to people who love me and can

tell me that that's not always the

person I should be listening to so

weirdly my friends sometimes are like a

standin for my highest self when I can't

do it for myself so that's I was sort of

looking for that and it's funny because

I was looking for feedback about the

things that kind of bring me joy and the

parts of my work that my friends see

light me up the point is I was very

targeted about it I I asked people that

I love and respect and that's that is

the thing to do I think I also think

that if you are going to get feedback

from people because a lot of us get

unsolicited feedback yeah Bill hater

once said to me it was when I first

started writing and he was talking about

notes because I did not understand that

process I didn't really start writing

till I was like in my 30s and he said

you know you should take the note and

not the solution

and that's that's what I feel like with

feedback people like aggate the kind of

like common threads and then you be like

okay I'm getting a kind of similar thing

in this area where people seem to think

I'm this thing what does that actually

mean and where's that where's that

coming from for me and is that something

I feel like I can fix or investigate as

opposed to being like that person has a

problem with me and then also as we know

everybody's just thinking about

themselves all the time 100% And what do

you do when you're cuz you're right all

the time producing directing when you

get a note that you deeply disagree with

how do you handle it in real time do you

push back do you say let me think about

it do you I most likely go that's a

really good point I I'll address that

and then most of time if you don't it

doesn't if you make the rest of the

thing good it doesn't matter it's so

true like it's the advice I always try

to give people that are starting out

which is don't fight every battle in

real time because

execs want to feel creative and they

want to feel like they're part of it and

if you they get embarrassed yes if

you're like what a dumbass note yeah why

would you say it's just such a stupid

thing and also it's a waste of energy

because it's such a long process and if

you're like using all of your you know

currency to fight back with everything

you're going to be exhausted you're not

going to be able to be creative where if

you go yeah good great idea let's we're

going to figure out how to solve that

you know but then you don't do it

sometimes sometimes it doesn't make

sense because the thing they're asking

for isn't is you know completely

contradictory to the other thing they're

asking for that happens a lot so you

can't do both again it's like if you if

somebody's having a problem with an area

of the script or like a theme of The

Script or a character you know

something's wrong but they're never

going to know how to fix it you have to

do that when I gave you some feedback

recently one of the things that I said

that you love to do is dance I was going

to bring that up I want to talk about

dancing the importance of dancing in

your life and and our lives our lives

and I want to tell you something fun

about this show so we do this thing um

like a little secret like talking behind

people's backs but in a good way which

is before I interview you I do a little

Zoom with people and ask them what I

should ask you oh so I um before you

came today I zoomed Retta and Darcy and

was like you guys I'm talking to rashita

what should we ask her and we all

started talking about dancing cuz we

were talking about how we love doing it

with you how we've done it so much with

you how we've had the joy of like doing

with you over and over again at

birthdays and it was so fun to talk

about because it's like what a lot of

people associate with you that's nice

the feeling of dancing and the feeling

of like what it feels like to be good at

dancing thank you so what what's your

relationship to it what does it do for

you well I will say when we first met we

I feel like we got right into dancing

right away like we were we'd go out and

New York and we would dance like it was

almost like that was the way we got to

know each other like we sat and talked

but also we just went and danced um and

there again there's something it there's

something that's so that feels so

instinctive nonverbal like just being in

in your body I think is somebody who

like probably is in my brain too much

it's such it's a relief to dance it's

such a relief to dance yeah um and I

don't even know how to describe I just

want to be dancing all the time and you

know that just want to be dancing all

the time I think I'm a little I think

that I my especially in Social you know

like at social events I get a little

anxious and I need to express it somehow

yes and the chatting and talking like

you said the small talk makes me feel

crazy yes yes I would and there there's

nothing worse for me than being in a

small talk conversation and seeing the

dance floor and hearing a song and being

like I can't believe I'm not not there

right now and some I I have very rudely

been like excuse me and just run to the

dance Flo because I cannot miss a good

song and Darcy and Retta and you have

all been to my birthday party so I I

used to have an annual birthday party

that was a pajama Jammy jam and there

were very strict rules they were come in

your pajamas you can't not you will not

be leted in without your pajamas I only

served cereal and pizza and candy and

this is not a party for socializing

there will be no in a corner you're

there to dance and dance only you have

to dance and people stuck to the rules

and the people like the Diehard people

who want to be there to dance you could

tell like there is like a there's

certain people who are like that and

there's some people that are not I

remember in those early years too people

saying I don't really like to dance

should I come and I'd say no no yeah

don't come it's fine we'll we'll hang

out some other time in a different way

but that's not this we have a cup of

coffee outside of a deli sometime but

not not this not this and it is like it

is a marathon like we get there we are

on the dance Flor DJ taji is messing it

up like every era just crushing it and

we're just there for 6 and a half hours

with a couple of water breaks like we

just don't even talk to each other no

but um Rea was so funny she was like Rea

was saying like the thing I love the

most is when white when you find out a

white guy can really dance and she said

Max Greenfield yeah Max Greenfield

really brought it also Ben Schartz great

dancer people should know that John R

great dancer and also like understands

'90s R&B and 2000 R&B in like a deep

deep historical way also like there's

it's great cuz it's such an equalizer to

wear pajamas it's not like and I and I

you know if you want to wear like a sexy

pajama okay but that's not really the

point the point is to be comfortable and

and be kind of uniform in the sense that

you can really focus on the dancing I

sound like extremely strict about this

and it's not it's actually fun and the

way we're talking about it makes it

sound like it's not fun I you're talking

to a person that I think rules are what

make things

fun I hear somebody laughing in this

room I don't know why that's

funny rules rules are boundaries right

everything has like you know you can't

just be like come whenever and anybody

can come or whatever it's like that's a

nightmare yeah if someone's like from 7

to 11: or we're going here or like that

I feel seen Tak care of somebody said

I'm going to do this thing it's going to

go like this then you can have your

feelings about it but this is what I

like it makes me feel like people are

taking care of themselves very swim

lesson yes yes okay swim lesson I just

remembered my high school friends also

all up in the your high school friends

and I know all of your high school

friends because of those Jammy jams and

your college friends and they're amazing

thank you thanks and they're so fun um

but talk to us about swim lesson for a

second because uh yes tell us what swim

lesson is

well to your point it's a it's a movie

about a swim teacher Bill Marsh who has

taught over 5,000 kids from like ages 2

to five um and he has a very particular

way of teaching um but but part of that

is the sort of boundary uh his

boundaries that he sets with these kids

so he's like you can have all the

feelings you want but you have to stay

in the pool it's an eight-day intensive

program and the hope and and actually

the outcome most of the time very very

very most of the time is that the kids

have these breakthroughs and they go

from crying and screaming and vomiting

and running out of the pool to really

enjoying being underwater and actually

swimming a little bit um and it is the

sort of parable for what it is to be

alive it's the first of many many many

times that you will face something that

you don't understand that you're scared

of that you don't know how to do and you

make some progress and you feel good

about yourself and you push through that

and it's both the pushing through it and

the learning something new that makes

you feel that gives you self-esteem and

you and will McCormack directed It

produced it it's a short documentary

beautiful short dock um it's winning a

ton of awards and it's yeah where can we

see it you can see it on YouTube on the

LA Times um Channel on YouTube highly

recommended it's so incredible we got to

screen it I got to see it when you

screened it at Pixar which was very

special was so awesome and I don't think

a lot of people know about your tenure

at Pixar like you I mean that of the me

like you know it's almost impossible

bones to get a

full you know you know I just have to do

little snapshots of your wide and

illustrious career because you have done

so many things you do so many things so

well and because you're a curious person

who likes to challenge themselves you

also are just doing new things all the

time and on top of the million places

that people have seen you act and the

things they've seen you write and direct

I don't think people also know that you

had a stint at Pixar where you were

writing um and you you just have this

way in which you um you kind of are of

the world you really want to experience

a lot of things thank you for saying

that because for me it's like a I I

don't want it to be a problem but it's

like I see myself as a

generalist almost you know like where I

don't I sort of do like a little D like

a tiny little dive into all these areas

but like a lot of people by the time

they're 50 have done a deep dive into

one area and I feel grateful that I

haven't totally done that but then in

some regards I'm like hm had I spent all

of those hours doing one thing would I

be like that kind of you know would I

would I be like um you know virtuosic in

one place I think also I mean the the

truth is you know my beloved father who

passed away a couple months

ago he the bar of what he accomplished

in this world is so high it's unfairly

high for anybody um and thank God for

him because he really did like change

culture and so if I were being honest

like you know he was a great dad and he

loved me and he was so encouraging and

he was so proud of me but at the end of

the day like I'm looking at this person

who's accomplished things that are like

unimaginable and I can't not let that

enter my Orbit so yeah my standards are

stupidly high like and unfairly High to

myself so that's like also something I'm

thinking about as I approach 50 I'm like

okay how do I let go that was his life

I'm so glad he let let it and that's not

my life and what is my life and also

what do I find kind of like joy and

connection and what do I feel good at

doing in my life that has nothing to do

with that and also like I do feel like

this there's this like trick where like

the the oppression of like only being

one thing and being like domestic you

know domestic and whatever knocking out

the house we've done the opposite which

is like the press the oppression of like

having to do everything and then pretend

like it's all easy and we're all fine

with it like yeah that's it's imp it's

impossible it's an impossible standard

and I like one of the reasons why I want

to do this podcast as I've watched so

many men do the bare

minimum is this is this this your bare B

and this I'm truly giving

25% which is a for most people a 75% but

it's like enough is enough enough with

the 100% And enough with improving

ourselves and listening to stuff about

how we're supposed to get better and

better and better but it will make the

rest of our life very interesting like I

mean we're all going to live on a farm

together and you know like right we're

all going to live on a farm together

right 100% so Darcy and R had two

questions for you okay they're kind of

the same question and then I'm going to

finish with the question that we're

asking everybody on good hang so the

question they had for you which is kind

of a cute question because it kind of

got came off of um us hanging out and

talking about how Retta uh described you

as like you know like Rashida can be the

lawyer of the group which I love um so

true um which is like wait hold on but

it got us talking about who little

Rashida like what did little Rashida

want to be when she grew up what was her

what what does she want her job to be

well reetta is partially right I wanted

to be a lawyer really I wanted to be a

lawyer or a judge or the

president no thanks no thanks to that

one but yeah I wanted to be a lawyer or

a judge did you know anyone that was a

lawyer or a judge my grandfather was a

lawyer and my uncle is a judge no way my

Uncle Richard is a judge and you saw him

did you ever see him in action like see

him bang a gavl and like judge no but he

his brain is just that he's got that

brain he's just like he's like see he's

parsing all the details and he's putting

the facts together and he's like

assessing I love that do you think you

would are like you make a good jury

member do you think you're able to be I

don't me neither I don't think so I

don't think so um I think it would be

I'm too emotional for that same judge is

different cuz I think you're like you

are considering emotion that's in there

obviously you're considering facts but I

think I like the idea of being the

adjudicator of right and

wrong which is something I'm like trying

to let go of as I get older because

there's so much gray and like it's so

boring to think that you know morally

what's the right thing for anybody you

know um but I think I liked it like as a

kid you know like you're always trying

to sus out like where your boundaries

are and like what's good and what's bad

and I think I liked the idea of like

really enforcing

you know we did a fun um jokey thing on

Parks and wreck where we took a picture

one day on some like Courthouse steps me

you kathern Han Adam Scott Paul Rudd and

we looked like we were in a '90s

drama called Philly Justice is what we

called ourselves and then because it was

whatever season seven of parks and we

were probably phoning it in at that

point but we ended up pretending that we

used to be in that show we did a whole

text chain the writers took time off

writing the show and wrote an entire

episode of Philly Justice that's right

the writers wrote an episode that we

filmed yes that I have a copy of that I

keep wanting to put on like Tik Tok or

something know I want to see it oh so

good morgan sacket our producer sent me

the full thing and you play Angie

Martinez yeah and she's a lawyer yeah

right she's a lawyer she's a young she's

like a young second attor student or

yeah something yeah um and there's a

bunch of scenes where you object to

things and you throw things down not in

the courtroom yeah you're not in the

courtroom and um you I think you and Han

have like a a rivalry no I think you're

in love I think oh we are I think you

guys maybe you yell at each other and

then you kiss at some point I forget oh

my God I got to get that out there on

the internet so people can see it that

was really fun but it's so fun and there

is a side of view that 100% I could see

going in and and I'm putting a briefcase

down yeah I'm not going to law school

but yeah I I think some part of me

thinks I'm a judge isn't that just a

testament to how much down time you have

on a set that we created an entirely new

show yeah we had yeah we had time for

other a whole other show that no one

ever saw um okay and then the last

question good hang so we're trying to

figure out how to like continually

self-regulate here and and find joy in

all different places and like I'm asking

everybody to talk about what gives them

relief what is the thing they go to when

they want to like laugh check out tune

in take a load off it's small or big but

I feel we like we learn a lot about

somebody by what they laugh at what's

yours well it contrary to what we just

talked about which is I I love good

music and I love you know I I love the

emotionality of listening to great music

nothing makes me laugh harder than

really confident really bad singing like

like

sincerely confident bad singing people

that know that they're doing a bad okay

I'm not laughing at them I just like the

the the the gusto in which people like I

would watch the first couple seasons of

American Idol with friends like

appointment television sit down not like

when it got to the good people but like

those first five episodes where people

were just coming in hard with like no

musicality whatsoever and they were

super cocky super cocky there was one

girl who it was like what she did was

actually musically amazing because she

was toned deaf she went to like six

different keys in like 20 seconds like

just kind of brilliant but didn't know

and nailed it and walked out being like

I got it nailed it she said she was like

Maria Carey that's what she said that's

so interesting you say that because

there must be some like psychological

part of you that likes the way people

are approaching music as something that

you rever so badly like it must be a

huge release it is and it is and to that

point I remember there's David Wayne and

I once I I pitched this bit to him it

did not go well when we did it at comedy

at sketchfest is that it's called

sketchfest where I was like let's do

California California what was

California California Dreaming I'm like

but let's do it like super genuine

sincere come in like with a guitar like

start singing and then I'm gonna come in

with the harmonies and they're gon to be

totally wrong it was funny and concept

but like it was a release it was like a

feeling like oh I don't have to sound

good yes I could just go for it do you

have you ever seen that Domingo sketch

on SNL totally that's kind of like great

job when they come in so

off how they do that I wonder if they

somebody coach them how to sing badly

because there's good singers singing

badly it's s to watch like Ariana Grande

not get the note yes but but but it's

not like sometimes when really good

singers sing badly they're like and you

could tell they're good singers they're

actually doing a good job convincing

people they're bad when you do karaoke

or see people saying karaoke do you like

it when they're

off that's a little bit more painful

because it's in in person okay you know

so to just to get get it down to the

nitty-gritty it's like being with

friends

watching on TV someone that comes in and

like buckle

up and then they just start singing and

they just whale Roar by Katy Perry and

they get it way wrong and then they

leave being like nailed it yeah suck

people who don't who are so confident

were like if you laughed they wouldn't

crumble like I would I don't want I

don't want to hurt anybody's feelings

you know what I mean yeah yeah yeah

that's good that makes me want to watch

old American Idol I'm going to send you

some cuz I found them again I found like

the girl that knock

wait let me just look at her her up

before we go cuz we can do this now I

have a laptop it's Deep In Like A C it's

like in a super cut of like do you

remember her name I don't but it's like

you remember what she's saying yeah

she's saying she's saying Phil Collins

take a look Against All Odds and she

came in she was like people say I look

just like Mary Carey and I sound just

like her too is this her no that's not

her oh you sure oh my God that's her

okay okay oh my God okay sorry we got to

listen to this before we go oh yeah she

said she looks like Mar does it not look

like Mariah no she does she's cute she's

cute we got to turn way

up you would not think that this is

going to go badly like that's what I

mean she's cute she's wearing a Shaw

she's wearing a Shaw she has really cute

hair she's like she definitely like she

wears cute jeans and she's a little too

close to the judges which is already

making me nervous like she's standing

too close to the table which she doesn't

have a good like here she goes you ready

here she goes okay hold on stand by

the end she goes off

[Music]

[Music]

watch okay wow so uh like that's like

acrobatic hard to do like I could I've

tried to imitate that it's hard to do

that is very very good you're right

that's very very satisfying to watch

because you're right she's kind of good

she just not

she's she's not hitting any notes no

she's not hitting any keys and and

within that she's hitting all the keys

which is amazing like it's really hard

to do she's also doing something that I

like when singers do she's holding her

throat as if that like she's like I'll

get it she's so nervous I mean she's so

nervous you can tell but she's like

she's like this is not going well she

know she starts to figure it out wow

that is really satisfying I'm going to

hold on I'm going to send that to myself

so I can watch it again because that's

so

good also um take a look at me now

now you're just an empty

space and you come

and and then at one point she goes she

get a little out

too um she didn't seem to be um feeling

like it was going badly though so really

I think she I think she was like

uhoh maybe too late but she was like uh

oh cuz she was I think this was like

please stop please stop you stop how

funny would it have been at the very end

she ended and went

uhoh that would have been so funny and

she said uh oh at the end all right love

you bones thanks for doing this love you

that was fun

all right thank you so much rashita

Jones you are the best I love you thank

you for doing this for me I don't think

you had much of a choice but thank you

for doing it anyway and I will do

anything for you um we talked a lot

about music and it makes me think that

before this episode is over I feel like

I need to just ask Chapel rone if she'll

come on again chapel chapel are you

there are you

listening uh we've been reaching out to

your team and I'm assuming that no

answer means a maybe and I'm excited

about having you on I just think you're

the best I just love your music and

everything that you're doing for the

music industry and I kind of started

this podcast to talk to you and when you

come on I'm going to end it so I haven't

told Spotify that yet but you will be my

last guest so Chapel come on soon

because I'm tired and I'd love to wrap

it up um so uh thank you everybody for

listening thanks for hanging and we'll

catch you next

time you've been listening to good hang

the executive producers for this show

are Bill Simmons Jenna Weiss Burman and

me Amy polar the show is produced by the

ringer and paper kite for the ringer

production by Jack Wilson cat Spain Ka

McMullen and Alia zerys for paper kite

production by Sam green Joel LEL and

Jenna Weiss Burman original music by Amy

miles