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In this episode of pop Culture Weekly, I talk with
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Oscar nominated actor David Oya Wello and Aaron Eckhart.
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Let's go.
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Welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from iHeartRadio
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your pop culture news, views, reviews, and celebrity interviews on
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all the movies, TV, music, and pop culture u Crab Weekly.
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Here's Kyle McMahon.
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Net No No, No, No.
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Hello, and welcome to pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon,
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the show where we celebrate pop culture, question our life choices,
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and try to keep up with Madonna, which, honestly, at
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this point it's a full time job. In this episode,
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we've got a lot to talk about. We've got two
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incredible interviews David oh Y Looo and Aaron Eckhart, and
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they're talking about their brand new films. But first let's
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talk about Madonna, because she's not just back, she's literally dominating.
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As she tends to do. She's the top selling female
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artist in history. Her brand new track bring Your Love,
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which is the official first single off of her upcoming
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album Confessions two, which comes out July third. That track
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has already debuted at number one in forty eight countries
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on iTunes.
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Forty eight and it's been out like two.
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Days as of this recording, and on Spotify nearly two
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and a half million streams on day one. That's not
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like just Madonna releasing her latest track. It's a takeover,
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which is Madonna releasing her latest track. And because she's Madonna,
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she had popped up last week at Coachella with Sabrina Carpenter.
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They performed Vogue Like a Prayer and the new track,
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the new single, bring Your Love Together, And that night,
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after the Coachella performance, her buzz track I Feel So
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Free started building crazy momentum as the first look at
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Confessions two, which is a kind of spiritual sequel to
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Confessions on a Dance Floor, which of course was a
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huge culture defining moment in pop culture that came out
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twenty years ago two thousand and five, so a little
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over twenty years ago. And of course, you know, Hung
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Up went to number one in forty six countries. Confessions
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it sold has sold nearly twenty million albums. I mean,
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you know everybody was doing Time Goes By and the
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dance and you know that sample. Anyway, every little thing
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now that stuck in my head. So anyway, yeah, we
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are officially in a Madonna era again, and pop music
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feels a little more alive because of it. So anyway,
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go stream Bring Your Love with Sabrina Madonna and Sabrina
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Carpenter such a good nineties house esque song, and I
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think she makes it clear with I Feel So Free
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and Bring Your Love that this isn't just a rehash
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of Confessions on a dance floor.
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Madonna doesn't do that. It's, you know, a spiritual sequel,
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a sister album, if you will.
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So anyway, before like we get into everything, I gotta
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say the National Memorial Day Concert, you know, that's on
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PBS each year and I'm there every year covering it.
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They have announced the lineup for the twenty twenty six
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concert and.
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It is absolutely incredible.
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As always, Gary Sinise and Joe Montagna returned to host,
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and then they'll have performances with Noah Wiley, Melissa Leo,
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Andy Grammer, Jonathan Banks, Mickey Geiton, Amy Johnson, Alan Jackson,
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Mary McCormick, Lara Osnez, Blessing Offer, and as always, the
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Maestro Jack Everley, who will be conducting the National Symphony Orchestra.
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This will air live on PBS May twenty fourth. It's
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a Sunday at eight pm Eastern on PBS, streaming on
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PBS's YouTube and socials as well. So it's always one
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of those annual specials that like has me in tears.
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You know, it really is truly a beautiful, touching tribute
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to the brave men and women that you know put
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their lives on the line for us, and so many
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of their stories are untold and what National Memorial Day
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Concert does is tells those stories.
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So lock it right here.
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I'll have full coverage as always, and be sure to
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tune in Sunday, May twenty fourth for the National Memorial
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Day Concert.
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All right, we have got two amazing interviews.
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First up is David Oloo, an Academy Award nominated actor
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whose career is built on powerful, layered performances and he's
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someone who consistently brings depth and humanity to like everything
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he touches. And I happened to co star with him
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in a little Oscar nominated film called Selma, And by
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co star, I mean I had one line that was then.
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Cut, but you know, co star, and.
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David is talking about his brand new film Newborn, and
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then later Aaron Eckhart joins us to talk about his
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new film deep Water, and trust me, there's a lot
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going on beneath the surface of this one. There's a
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lot going on beneath the surface of this one. Get
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it anyway? Before we dive in, just a quick heads up.
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If you want to stay on top of everything happening
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in movies, TV, music, and streaming, make sure you are
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signed up for the pop Culture weekly newsletter.
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Become a pop culture degenerate just like me.
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Every week I'm breaking down everything coming out that weekend,
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what's worth your time, what's not, and what you need
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to be watching before everyone else is talking about it.
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It's like your cheat code to never scrolling endlessly again.
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So you can sign up right now at popculturewekly dot
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com or click the link in the show notes. All right,
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you ready, Let's get into it. David oh Yloo.
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Is one of those actors who doesn't just play characters.
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He like fully inhabits them, from powerful historical figures to
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deeply human complex roles. His performances all ways feel intentional
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and they always feel grounded. And his new film, Newborn,
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he's diving into something that feels very raw and very intimate.
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It's the kind of story that explores identity, responsibility, community
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and the responsibilities of the community for you know, our own,
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and what it really means to step into a new
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chapter of life. So in this conversation, we zoom out
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talking about his journey so far, you know, in his career,
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his philosophy on storytelling, and what continues to drive him
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creatively he always chooses such incredible roles, and then we
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zoom in on Newborn, what drew him to it, what
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made it resonate with him, and why this role stands
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out and is already incredible.
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Body of work. Here he is, David, oh Yellow, how
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are you?
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Thank you?
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Nice to see it, Nice to see you.
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So, first of all, thank you for talking with me.
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I really appreciate it.
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My pleasure.
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So a funny story, and you probably won't remember this,
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but I was on a series of Oprah's Life class
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shows and she completely changed my life. And miss A
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Yanla was on there as well, And anyway, she got
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me a gig with Huffington Post doing on her own section,
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doing like self improvement for millennials. And then I got
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this small part in Selma and so I went down, Yeah,
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I went down to Atlanta and filmed for a couple
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of days and I was supposed to be this like
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senator and that in the scene, and you know, and
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they had me with this other thing.
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I guess you were walking.
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This was like outside of a building, and I guess
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it was outside of like the courthouse or wherever we were,
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and you kept having to walk and kept having to walk,
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and they had me as an extra like walking by
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you or something and lighted right into you.
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And I was mortified. I'm like, oh my god.
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And I said to Ava, you know, later, I was like,
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you know, this is my big debut as a you know,
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as an extra in this film, and you know, I've
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like collided with the star.
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And she was like, he's fine, he's great, blah blah blah,
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Like oh my god.
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But anyway, it was it was such a cool experience.
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I'd obviously never done anything like that before. And then
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they had asked me to go to Selma, you know,
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when filming moved to Selma, and unfortunately with my schedule,
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I couldn't do it. But it was just such a
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cool and of all the movies in the world to
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be able to be, you know, this tiny part of
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that was so awesome, and and congratulations to you and
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all all of its success and and really what it said,
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you know.
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Thank you, my goodness, thank you so much. Well, how
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you feel about it is how I felt and continue
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to feel about it, which is how did I get
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to be involved with with this amazing thing myself?
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You know?
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And I hope that when we when we collided with
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each other, I was kind to you.
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Oh, you were amazing.
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Yeah, I wasn't dismissive or anything.
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Not at all.
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Well we all have those moments, but yeah, I mean,
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what a seminal moment in my life and in my career.
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And as you say what the film went on to say,
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and you know, at that point, Mike Brown hadn't been murdered.
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We hadn't.
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We didn't have all of that stuff happening. We didn't
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have what went on to happen with the resurgence of
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the Black Lives Matter movement. We didn't have all of
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the division that the country has gone into. We didn't
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have the degree to which the Voting Rights Act has
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been attacked.
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So we didn't We thought we were making a period film.
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We didn't.
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We didn't.
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We didn't realize we were making something that was going
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to feel so contempt perraneous with what the country is
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going through and was about to go through. And I
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do think that is storytelling at its zenith, when it
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can continue to shine a light and hold a mirror
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to society, because unfortunately for us as humanity, we keep
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on making the same mistakes, which is why I think
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story is so important and impactful.
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I love that.
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And you know, and I think to your point, art
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as a whole, you know, mirrors often what we go
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through as a people, and good art does that even
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you know, even more succinctly, I guess you could say,
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and I think as storytellers, you know, people in the arts,
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it is often I feel they feel a responsibility as
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well to kind of, you know, to put that into
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the world. That's why I always laugh when I hear,
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you know, critics or whatever say you know, you're you're
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an artist just sing or whatever, and it's like, have
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you listened to art since the beginning of time or
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looked at art since the beginning of time? It has
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always reflected, you know, what's going on in the world. So,
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you know, I love that. As storytellers we are you know,
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storytellers are able to do that. So h And speaking
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of Selma, you know you've gone from Selma to massive
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studio films intimate dramas. Do you approach each role differently
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from the standpoint of being David as an actor or
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do you kind of have you know, a setup, if
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you will, or a template of how you're going to
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approach each role.
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I think you simply must treat each role on its
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own merit and what it requires. It's a little bit
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like making the mistake, or if you have a few kids,
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treating them all the same way. They all have personalities,
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they different needs, they all have different quirks, they all
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have different gifts that are to be accentuated and weaknesses
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that are to be bolstered. And so that's very much
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the case with the roles I get to players. You
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can imagine playing doctor King is a very specific thing
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in terms of historical figure, that time, that period, the
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size of the film, to a film like Newborn, which
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you know, in terms of the specificity of what that
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character is dealing with. Sometimes I feel the need to
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stay in character the whole time. Sometimes that's not what's required.
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In fact, the opposite is what is required because it's
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more of an ensemble situation whereby you want to have
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real tentacles to the other performers and really be bouncing
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off their energy. So, you know, I think you need
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to be alive to what every character requires, every director requires,
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every cast requires. And you know, my privileged time in
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the theater is has really taught me that because every
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play requires a different muscle to be flexed. If you're
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doing Shakespeare, that's one thing. If you're doing a one
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man show, that's a different thing. If you're doing a musical,
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that's a different thing. You know, So being able to
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have that malleability is key.
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I love that and I can't wait to get into
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Newborn with you. But if I may ask you a
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few questions, zoomed out for a moment. You have portrayed
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fictional people, you have portrayed real life figures. What do
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you feel as an actor is or do you feel
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as an actor there's one harder to get right or
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one more complicated to.
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Attack, if you will.
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In terms of characters, yes, I think there's a lot
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of hazard around historical figures, obviously, because people have their
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own preconceptions about who they were or are and depending
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on what these people did.
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That either people who are greatly.
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Admired or loathed, and so that's always tricky. You have
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to make peace with the fact that you're never going
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to please everyone, but if you can please some, that's
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job done in a sense. So that that has its
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own very specific hazards. But you know, whether there's an
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action movie or a comedy, or they all have their
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thing that is gonna be the the hill to climb,
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so to speak. But I would say there is a
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very specific challenge that comes with roles like historical figures
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or famous characters. You know, I've just played long John
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Silver in a limited series of Treasure Island, and that,
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of course is an iconic character with the parrot, with.
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The peg leg, with that story, it's it's a pirate story.
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So that genre is beloved, so you know, you walk
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into a different kind of buzz saw with that. I
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welcome and relish those challenges, but you just have to
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accept that again. You know, people are going to come
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with their varied opinions to those projects.
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And are you is David, you know, because I'm sure
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this is a very individual, you know, situation, But are
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you able to kind of separate that noise because it
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seems like you're in a very good place, you know,
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to be able to say, like, I know, I'm not
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going to be able to please everybody all the time.
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Are you able to separate that as you're going into
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a role, like, Okay, this is going to be controversial
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or okay, this is going to be you know whatever,
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and kind of block that out as you're performing.
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I've gotten better at it out of necessity, you know.
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I played Henry the six of the Royal Shakespeare Company
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and played the King of England, and as you can imagine,
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there were people who took Cambridge with that, you know,
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being black and British as opposed to African American playing
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doctor King. There are folks who have things to say
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about that.
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You know.
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I think I'm the first black person to play long
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John Silver. I'm sure there'll be people who need to
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say about that. I can't control the noise, you know.
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All I can control is the credibility of my performance
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and the work I put into it. I don't take
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roles that I don't think there is a legitimate reason
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for me to either take it in terms of the
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challenge it poses to me or whether I feel like
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I can bring something to that role that hopefully is additive.
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So once I've made that choice.
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I have to just stick by the fact that my
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work ethic and how successfully I achieve the role is
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literally all I can do. You just have to sort
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of walk away from the rest. I'm a human being,
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I'm sensitive, I have an ego. So if I become
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aware of a high level of criticism, of course, you
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know it, it puts a dent in your day. But
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at the end of the day, I've become better and
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better at just, you know, controlling the things I can
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and letting the go of the things I come.
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It's a great philosophy. You have been your body.
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Of work, you know, so far it's screen and stage,
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and and you've done such varied work.
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Do you think that audiences today are more open to
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different kinds of story storytelling?
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You know.
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One of the things I love about Newborn, which congratulations
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by the way, it's an amazing film, is it is,
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in my opinion, visually bold, you know. And I love
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that because a different director, a different team, you know,
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could have approached that story in a different way, and
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I think it just complements the story so, well, do
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you think audiences today are open to more different kinds
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of you know, storytelling than they were maybe when you started.
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Absolutely I do, and.
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I would attribute that to streaming and the fact that
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you know, it used to be that something like Squid
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Game would be a foreign TV show or Lupin would
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be a foreign TV show. But when it has the
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level of success it has in English speaking countries, that
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just shows you that we are way more connected than
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we are divided when it comes to storytelling. And in
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the past, especially the studio system would have us believe
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that a foreign film is niche despite it coming from
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as popular as a country as India or China or
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countries within Africa. But now that streaming has sort of
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removed the geo fencing that has sort of been placed
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there in the past. You see that my kids speak Japanese, Korean,
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and French because of the shows they like to watch,
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whether it be anime or k pop or you know,
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or just the fact that you know, they did go
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to a French school, but they they are truly global
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in their mindset.
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That was not my upbringing. That was not the norm
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when I was growing up.
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I mean, we literally went to Japan recently and my
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kids were ordering food in Japanese. I couldn't get my
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head around it, and I was like, and during the pandemic,
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because they were watching so much anime, they said, well,
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we want to learn Japanese. My wife and I were like, oh, okay, fine,
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but that I guess. That's my point is that absolutely
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the diversification of interests when it comes to the audience
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is so present, and so that means you can be
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bolder with your filmmaking because yes, you're not going to
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please everyone, but you're going to please when when storytelling
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becomes more good, You're going to please enough that will
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gravitate towards what you do that will hopefully lead to
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the kind of remuneration that means there is a degree
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of success that you might not have had if your
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film only came out in America or only came out
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in the UK. Now you know, Newborn, after its theatrical run,
357
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will be available globally, and that is definitely something that
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was not the case for this kind of movie.
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When I first started.
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What was it about Newborn that you know you were like,
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I need to I need to do this.
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I wasn't aware of how commonplace solitary confinement was in America.
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I did not know that over eighty thousand men, women
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and children are in solitary confinement today in America.
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And when you.
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Think about the fact that that is twenty three hours
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a day in solitary, sometimes for years at a time.
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You know, I shadowed a guy called Richard Rosario who
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was wrongfully convicted of a crime commit for twenty years.
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Seven of those were spent in solitary confinement, and you
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know he has now had to deal with the fallout
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of that ten years out of prison, awarded five million
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dollars in compensation, but still dealing every day with the
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fallout of that with his wife and kids.
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I spoke to a guy who was.
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In his late teens but had been in solitary confinement
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for a year and a half at the age of fourteen.
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Like one of my kids is fourteen, I couldn't even
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begin to imagine what that must feel like.
380
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So shining a light on that was one of the
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things I was keen to do.
382
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But also as a father, as a husband, as a brother,
383
00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:46.480
all relationships that play out for Chris Newborn in the film,
384
00:22:46.880 --> 00:22:50.000
I could relate to that. I could relate the desire
385
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to reconnect with those things having been subjected to solitary confinement,
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and so I felt, if I can relate to it,
387
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hopefully an audience can relate to it. And I truly
388
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believe that stories at their best are relatable despite the
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fact that your protagonist might be going through something extraordinary.
390
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And so the connectivity to the audience and awareness of
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soltry confinement with the two components that I was interested in.
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Was there something?
393
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Was there something not obvious to you as you were
394
00:23:21.720 --> 00:23:24.759
you know, once you read the script and then you
395
00:23:24.839 --> 00:23:30.160
went and you know, you're portraying newborn. Was there something
396
00:23:30.200 --> 00:23:32.960
that wasn't obvious when you were reading it that became
397
00:23:33.119 --> 00:23:37.359
obvious for you once you're in production, Something that was
398
00:23:37.400 --> 00:23:42.079
almost like an aha that you hadn't seen on the page,
399
00:23:42.519 --> 00:23:45.599
but as you brought him to life on screen, was
400
00:23:45.640 --> 00:23:46.039
like Wow.
401
00:23:47.680 --> 00:23:51.440
I think when you think of solitary confinement or isolation,
402
00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:55.880
for me anyway, I thought of that primarily as a
403
00:23:55.880 --> 00:23:59.359
as something physical. I thought more literal, I mean a
404
00:23:59.480 --> 00:24:03.799
tend by a sell that physical restraint is what I
405
00:24:04.440 --> 00:24:08.519
initially initially was preoccupied by. What was surprising to me
406
00:24:09.079 --> 00:24:12.960
is just how much you crawl into your own mind
407
00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:19.160
and how much you exist there because think about it,
408
00:24:19.200 --> 00:24:24.599
ten by eight cel lights on all the time, isolation,
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00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.160
no human interaction.
410
00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:30.799
The only place to go that is expansive is your mind.
411
00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:34.079
And if you're in your mind for long enough without
412
00:24:34.119 --> 00:24:40.920
any human interaction, it becomes a very confusing, blurred, magnified,
413
00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:47.240
paranoid place. And that's what I couldn't have anticipated is
414
00:24:47.599 --> 00:24:52.359
just how vaster topography the mind can be when you're
415
00:24:52.400 --> 00:24:54.920
subjected to that kind of isolation. And when I spoke
416
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to Richard Rosario or Shaka Senkoor, who wrote a book
417
00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:03.960
called Wrighting My Wrongs, who had also been incarcerated for
418
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nineteen years in his case, on and off in sology
419
00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:10.960
for seven years again, or a book by a guy
420
00:25:11.000 --> 00:25:14.640
called Albert Woodfox who had endured over forty years in
421
00:25:14.680 --> 00:25:22.920
solog you can only imagine how how complex a place
422
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:26.960
the mind is. And that's why ours is a psychological thriller,
423
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because so much of it is about the complexity of
424
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the mind in relation to isolation.
425
00:25:32.839 --> 00:25:35.440
And it, you know, I do think it has portrayed
426
00:25:35.480 --> 00:25:39.720
that beautifully because it seems like, you know, on the page,
427
00:25:39.759 --> 00:25:42.680
it would be a hard concept to kind of get
428
00:25:42.720 --> 00:25:46.240
across on screen, but it was done expertly and that's
429
00:25:46.319 --> 00:25:49.839
you know, I love that about it. Of course, what
430
00:25:49.880 --> 00:25:57.559
do you hope that someone leaving the theater feels about
431
00:25:58.119 --> 00:26:01.920
the film? What do you hope they take from it?
432
00:26:03.559 --> 00:26:06.359
Well, I've had the privilege now of watching the film
433
00:26:06.400 --> 00:26:09.400
with a big audience, and you never know what the
434
00:26:10.000 --> 00:26:12.680
effective film is going to have until you're literally in
435
00:26:12.680 --> 00:26:18.200
that circumstance. And what I've been taken with this is
436
00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:22.000
how moved people are by the film, because ultimately it's
437
00:26:22.000 --> 00:26:24.599
a love story. It's about a man trying to reconnect
438
00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:29.480
with his family, primarily his wife and son. And what
439
00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:35.599
I am finding is that it's more relatable than I realized.
440
00:26:35.759 --> 00:26:40.319
You know, you think about solitary confinement and isolation, and
441
00:26:40.400 --> 00:26:43.000
thankfully for a lot of people, for most people, that
442
00:26:43.119 --> 00:26:45.119
is not something they're going to be able to relate to,
443
00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:49.759
but they will I imagine being able to relate to the
444
00:26:49.880 --> 00:26:55.759
desire for connection trying to recover from isolation, because no
445
00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:58.400
matter who you are, we have moments where we are lonely,
446
00:26:58.519 --> 00:27:02.480
where we are dealing with feelings of isolation, whether it's
447
00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:05.960
being misunderstood or literally isolated. Or still coming out of
448
00:27:05.960 --> 00:27:08.960
the effects of the pandemic, whatever it may be. That
449
00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:16.400
is a relatable circumstance. And you know, Richard Rosario reconnected
450
00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.559
with his family and his kids after the fact and
451
00:27:18.960 --> 00:27:23.759
he said love saved him. And essentially that's the core
452
00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:27.599
theme of our film. And you know what I hope
453
00:27:27.640 --> 00:27:30.039
is that that is what people are going to walk
454
00:27:30.079 --> 00:27:30.480
away with.
455
00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:31.400
I love that.
456
00:27:31.720 --> 00:27:36.839
And finally, where, you know, looking back from your first
457
00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:44.880
project to now Newborn, where does this fit in for
458
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:48.480
for you as an actor? You know, in your kind
459
00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:52.440
of legacy thus far, if you will.
460
00:27:53.599 --> 00:27:58.000
Well, it's another opportunity to scare myself. You know, when
461
00:27:58.039 --> 00:28:01.559
I read the script, I thought, well, I don't know
462
00:28:01.839 --> 00:28:04.880
that I will be able to achieve this. I always,
463
00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:12.839
unfortunately for me, gravitate towards those almost masochistically opportunities.
464
00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:14.759
You know.
465
00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:20.319
But I always try to find projects that simultaneously entertain
466
00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:25.039
but also enlighten, and I.
467
00:28:24.960 --> 00:28:26.559
Feel this does that.
468
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:30.200
So that's part of the continuum of what I try
469
00:28:30.279 --> 00:28:33.480
to bring to the screen. But I have not played
470
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:36.640
a role like Chris Newborn before. I have not gone
471
00:28:36.680 --> 00:28:39.519
on the journey that this film took me before. And
472
00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:42.240
I'm always looking for ways to become a better actor,
473
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:45.119
and I think being outside of your comfort zone.
474
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:47.279
You know, it's like being in the gym.
475
00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:51.519
There are muscles that if you don't exercise, will atrophy,
476
00:28:52.200 --> 00:28:54.559
and if you do exercise.
477
00:28:54.240 --> 00:28:58.640
You become more strong in a holistic way.
478
00:28:59.279 --> 00:29:03.960
And you know, whatever this muscle is, I've now exercised.
479
00:29:03.279 --> 00:29:06.440
It and I feel like it will go into whatever
480
00:29:06.480 --> 00:29:07.079
I do next.
481
00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:10.720
So it has ticked so many boxes for me, and
482
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:13.480
from a legacy standpoint, you know, I just want to
483
00:29:13.599 --> 00:29:17.799
keep on building on these kind of stories and characters
484
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:21.960
that really really scare me and hopefully, you know, continue
485
00:29:21.960 --> 00:29:24.559
to challenge my notion of what I can do. And
486
00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.319
I guess that that will be the same effect it
487
00:29:27.359 --> 00:29:28.960
hopefully has on the audience.
488
00:29:28.960 --> 00:29:30.880
It certainly did for me. David.
489
00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:33.160
I can't wait, you know, I can't wait for everybody
490
00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:35.720
to see Newborn. And I thank you so much for
491
00:29:35.920 --> 00:29:38.599
speaking with me and really going in depth in your
492
00:29:38.640 --> 00:29:39.880
career and Newborn.
493
00:29:39.960 --> 00:29:40.960
I really appreciate you.
494
00:29:41.839 --> 00:29:44.240
Thanks, Kyle, I appreciate it, and I'm glad you bumped
495
00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:45.400
into me all that time ago.
496
00:29:45.599 --> 00:29:48.039
Yes, and you were you really were so nice because
497
00:29:48.279 --> 00:29:51.160
you probably saw the shock on you know, on my face.
498
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.079
You were like you're good, You're good or whatever you said,
499
00:29:53.119 --> 00:29:55.880
and I was like, thank you, Oh my god, I
500
00:29:55.920 --> 00:29:57.000
appreciate it, David.
501
00:29:57.559 --> 00:29:58.400
Thank you all right.
502
00:29:58.440 --> 00:29:59.720
You take care you as well.
503
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:02.799
David.
504
00:30:02.839 --> 00:30:03.519
Oh yalloo.
505
00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:09.599
I love conversations like that because it's not just about
506
00:30:09.799 --> 00:30:14.240
that film, it's about the human experience behind it. To me,
507
00:30:14.480 --> 00:30:18.599
that's you know, you know me, Degenerates, that's where things
508
00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:20.839
hit for me and for you obviously, or you wouldn't
509
00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:24.319
be listening. All Right, We're gonna take a quick commercial
510
00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:27.359
break to pay the bills. We will be back right
511
00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:31.599
here in sixty with Aaron Eckhart talking about his new
512
00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:33.480
film deep Water.
513
00:30:33.960 --> 00:30:40.119
See in sixty.
514
00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:44.319
All right, Degenerates, Welcome back to Pop Culture Weekly. Thank
515
00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:47.880
you for supporting our sponsors, who of course support me
516
00:30:48.160 --> 00:30:48.839
to support you.
517
00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:51.920
So now let's talk about Aaron Eckhart.
518
00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:56.680
You know him from everything blockbusters, dramas, thrillers, and he
519
00:30:56.759 --> 00:30:59.839
always has like that intensity that just pulls you in.
520
00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:04.079
And in his new film deep Water, that intensity is
521
00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:06.200
front and center, both.
522
00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.279
Above and below the surface.
523
00:31:10.359 --> 00:31:12.559
Deep Water is one of those stories where you know,
524
00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:14.480
and I'm not being funny with this part, but what's
525
00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.640
happening on the surface is not what's actually happening underneath
526
00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:21.079
of the surface. And I was being funny about that earlier,
527
00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:24.839
but in this sentence, I'm not. So we get into
528
00:31:24.880 --> 00:31:27.279
all of that, the psychology of it, what drew him
529
00:31:27.319 --> 00:31:30.680
to it, how he approaches a role like this, and yeah,
530
00:31:30.720 --> 00:31:33.200
there's definitely stuff in here you're gonna want to hear
531
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:35.720
here he is Aaron Eckcutt.
532
00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:40.000
Yes, Kyle, Hi, how are you.
533
00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:42.519
I'm doing well. Thank you, Thank you for speaking with me.
534
00:31:42.559 --> 00:31:46.519
I really appreciate it. So watching Deep Water, you know,
535
00:31:46.720 --> 00:31:48.720
one of the things that really struck me is it
536
00:31:48.759 --> 00:31:51.559
feels like, you know, as scary as it is to
537
00:31:51.599 --> 00:31:53.480
me in many ways, I'm you know, one of my
538
00:31:53.680 --> 00:31:55.880
I think my biggest fear is playing crash and the
539
00:31:55.920 --> 00:31:57.079
second one might be sharks.
540
00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:59.920
So but ultimately, what this movie.
541
00:31:59.759 --> 00:32:02.920
Comes down to me for me anyway, is it's about
542
00:32:03.000 --> 00:32:06.839
relationships and the strength of them and that emotional power.
543
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:10.839
When you were making this, what did you feel like
544
00:32:10.920 --> 00:32:17.119
the story was really about underneath everything in relationships.
545
00:32:17.839 --> 00:32:21.960
I mean, it's that's what movies are about, human beings,
546
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:25.519
and we want to see other human beings in relationships.
547
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:28.039
What do you mean to somebody else, how do you
548
00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:31.480
affect somebody else? How does this circumstance affect us all?
549
00:32:31.839 --> 00:32:35.119
I mean, we're all exchanging energy every day, whether we're
550
00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:37.759
conscious of it or not, and that could be good
551
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:41.559
energy or bad energy. We're all trying to manage ourselves
552
00:32:41.680 --> 00:32:44.599
around each other. And that's what you want to see.
553
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:48.960
How much humanity do we have in this situation, how
554
00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:53.599
that people handle the situation differently? And the heart of
555
00:32:53.599 --> 00:32:59.160
the movie is the little girl and she lost her parents,
556
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.039
she's on her own own, who sacrifices herself themselves for her?
557
00:33:04.559 --> 00:33:09.160
How do we get her through this journey? And she
558
00:33:09.319 --> 00:33:13.680
represents the heart of the movie. And it's that relationship
559
00:33:14.960 --> 00:33:19.920
that gives it is the motor And so it was
560
00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:23.559
very important to me with the humanity and also with
561
00:33:23.720 --> 00:33:28.799
Sir Ben Kingsley, you know him Zack biting himself us,
562
00:33:29.119 --> 00:33:32.279
you know, trying to problem solve that situation, putting ourselves
563
00:33:32.279 --> 00:33:36.799
at risk and all the other passengers as well as
564
00:33:36.880 --> 00:33:41.279
the first responders. It's all about that exchange of energy.
565
00:33:41.359 --> 00:33:43.319
So it was the most important thing.
566
00:33:43.640 --> 00:33:44.240
I love that.
567
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:49.079
And you know, how do you approach playing someone who's
568
00:33:49.079 --> 00:33:54.599
so internal but still still has that intensity kind of
569
00:33:54.720 --> 00:33:59.559
underneath those demons that he's struggling with in the film.
570
00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:05.400
Well, well, I don't know, just I guess. Uh. You know,
571
00:34:05.519 --> 00:34:08.400
first of all, you're given a script and so you
572
00:34:08.440 --> 00:34:11.360
have obviously the words, but it's it's everything underneath that
573
00:34:11.519 --> 00:34:14.960
that that counts. And it's just going through your own
574
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:18.440
life and substituting things and you know, being in the
575
00:34:18.519 --> 00:34:22.119
moment and let it, let everything. You know. It's it's
576
00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:24.679
it's interesting about people because they they don't want to
577
00:34:24.679 --> 00:34:28.239
show you anything, but everybody shows you. They can't help it.
578
00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:30.280
You know, you physically cannot help it. You have to
579
00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:33.400
show people how you feel, whether it's through your your
580
00:34:33.559 --> 00:34:37.639
your behavior, your movements, or whatever it is. And it's that,
581
00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:40.719
you know. It was Jack Nicholson's he said, Uh, they'll
582
00:34:40.760 --> 00:34:45.719
never forget, he said, he said, it's it's all about behavior.
583
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:49.440
This whole business is about behavior. It's yeah, it's about
584
00:34:49.480 --> 00:34:54.000
script and it's about camera and lighting and blah blah blah.
585
00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:56.320
That it's really what the audience wants.
586
00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:57.639
To see is behavior.
587
00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:04.519
Because we our little behavior machines. And that's why we
588
00:35:04.559 --> 00:35:07.320
love the people watch. That's why we love to go
589
00:35:07.400 --> 00:35:12.079
online and watch these scenarios or cops the show. You know,
590
00:35:12.119 --> 00:35:17.519
how do people behave under these circumstances and always don't
591
00:35:17.519 --> 00:35:22.559
surprise you? Yeah, you know. And that's the interesting thing
592
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:24.840
about the movies is because you're given a script and
593
00:35:24.880 --> 00:35:28.239
so you think, well, might be my character would do this,
594
00:35:28.440 --> 00:35:30.400
But then you watch a reality show and you're like,
595
00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:35.119
that's not what they did. Yeah, it's something completely bizarre
596
00:35:35.159 --> 00:35:39.199
and different, which was wonderful. And if you can do that,
597
00:35:39.280 --> 00:35:41.559
I think Jack was one of the best at it,
598
00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:46.000
if not the best ever. Behavior We remember that in
599
00:35:46.039 --> 00:35:49.199
the audience is relaship. So that's the I think the
600
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:51.519
challenge in these in this particular circumstances.
601
00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:54.320
I love that and kind of building on that. Do
602
00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:58.559
you think that most relationships are really about love or
603
00:35:58.639 --> 00:36:02.079
is there a power? Uh? In ways that we may
604
00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:06.400
not even recognize ourselves.
605
00:36:06.639 --> 00:36:09.679
I think that it is a higher you know, that's
606
00:36:09.719 --> 00:36:13.760
an interesting question. Uh. If well, you know what, you know,
607
00:36:15.320 --> 00:36:17.400
that's a huge that I can write a novel about that.
608
00:36:18.599 --> 00:36:25.440
It's it maybe not love, Uh, it's about That's an
609
00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:30.159
interesting question, it's about I think it has less do
610
00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:32.280
its love and more to do its humanity in the
611
00:36:32.320 --> 00:36:36.199
sense that we are human beings. When we're saving somewhere else,
612
00:36:36.239 --> 00:36:40.960
we're saving ourselves. It's this desire, this and killing. By
613
00:36:41.000 --> 00:36:46.239
the way, it's this. If we didn't have that, we
614
00:36:46.280 --> 00:36:50.079
wouldn't have a civilization if because why would we care
615
00:36:50.079 --> 00:36:54.079
about somebody else if it weren't directly reflected at us. Yeah,
616
00:36:54.360 --> 00:36:57.400
we're always acting in our best interests, our self interests.
617
00:36:57.920 --> 00:37:00.679
This is an interesting question about humanity because if you're
618
00:37:00.719 --> 00:37:03.679
always acting in your self interest, why are you helping others? Well,
619
00:37:03.719 --> 00:37:06.519
you're doing it because you're doing it as if you're
620
00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:10.119
doing it to yourself or if somebody were to help you,
621
00:37:11.360 --> 00:37:14.480
and in this particular case, because all you people are
622
00:37:14.519 --> 00:37:17.000
doing in this movie is helping each other, right, Yeah,
623
00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:20.320
And then you say, well, why are they doing that.
624
00:37:20.360 --> 00:37:23.239
They're different, they're culturally they're different, or they don't speak
625
00:37:23.239 --> 00:37:25.199
the same language, or they do blah blah blah. It
626
00:37:25.239 --> 00:37:28.360
doesn't matter. It's all about humanity. It's all about this
627
00:37:28.480 --> 00:37:32.079
thing that we're on, this rock, the spinning rock, and
628
00:37:32.599 --> 00:37:39.159
how do we help each other do it? Otherwise we're incomplete,
629
00:37:39.280 --> 00:37:46.480
just anarchy and nothing lessen. Yeah, and I think that
630
00:37:46.599 --> 00:37:48.199
shit for me anyway.
631
00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:52.039
Okay, it is for you well, and you know, you
632
00:37:52.079 --> 00:37:57.000
have played so many different kinds of roles, heroes, villains,
633
00:37:57.119 --> 00:37:59.719
you know, kind of in the middle, and you keep
634
00:37:59.719 --> 00:38:04.199
coming back to these really kind of complex layered characters.
635
00:38:04.559 --> 00:38:08.800
What is it about those types of roles that you
636
00:38:08.840 --> 00:38:10.599
know that attract you, that pull you in.
637
00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:15.440
They're they're they're an actor's challenge. You know, I'm an
638
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:18.519
actor and at the at the end of the day,
639
00:38:18.800 --> 00:38:22.519
I'm an actor. That's it. That's what I'd love to do,
640
00:38:22.599 --> 00:38:24.880
and that's what I chose to do, and fortunately I'm
641
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:27.719
able to do it. But when I read a script,
642
00:38:27.920 --> 00:38:31.000
even if it is the actors genre, I'm not playing
643
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:33.400
the action. I can throw punches all day long. I
644
00:38:33.440 --> 00:38:36.559
can shoot a gun or drive a car that anybody
645
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:39.280
can do that. Of course you're having people do that
646
00:38:39.360 --> 00:38:47.000
for you. Yeah, And so really the actor's gold where
647
00:38:47.039 --> 00:38:52.719
they're important is the behavior and the emotion and the drama.
648
00:38:53.280 --> 00:38:59.159
And you know, you know movies is about movies are
649
00:38:59.480 --> 00:39:02.840
or say in movies or the theater or whatever it is,
650
00:39:03.360 --> 00:39:09.639
is about conflict. It's about crisis, and you know that
651
00:39:10.039 --> 00:39:13.519
is what attracts me to it. How How can I
652
00:39:13.679 --> 00:39:16.519
convince you that I'm going through this thing. How do
653
00:39:16.599 --> 00:39:19.239
I under immersion? How do I how do I be
654
00:39:19.320 --> 00:39:23.920
real under imaginary circumstances. That's the actor's baseline, and that's
655
00:39:23.960 --> 00:39:26.800
what I've always been attracted to. If I watch Paccino
656
00:39:27.400 --> 00:39:30.119
in uh, or if I watch you know, any of
657
00:39:30.119 --> 00:39:34.679
the MI grades, right, why are they great? How do
658
00:39:34.719 --> 00:39:37.880
they convince me that they're going through this? Look at
659
00:39:38.000 --> 00:39:42.079
Rocky whatever it is that have influenced my life, and
660
00:39:42.119 --> 00:39:44.719
that's always attracted me. And it's I think it was
661
00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:47.760
Mickey Vork that said, if you have two real moments
662
00:39:47.800 --> 00:39:51.360
in a movie, you win. You two have two actual,
663
00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:54.079
real moments in a movie. It doesn't sound like a
664
00:39:54.079 --> 00:39:58.119
big base of barometer, but uh, it's really difficult to
665
00:39:58.159 --> 00:40:02.719
do under those amounts and those false circumstances. And that's
666
00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:05.239
what compels me as an actor, is to try to
667
00:40:05.239 --> 00:40:09.559
have real moments under imaginary circumstances. And it's what as
668
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:13.760
I say this, I'm thinking about me in drama class
669
00:40:13.800 --> 00:40:17.559
in school when I was seventeen or fourteen or whatever
670
00:40:17.559 --> 00:40:19.840
it is. It's the same question today that I was
671
00:40:19.880 --> 00:40:29.239
battling with then. Wow, it hasn't been solved yet. When
672
00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:32.920
you watch you, when you watch blend of breath blessing
673
00:40:32.920 --> 00:40:35.280
in secrets and lies, and she comes up with this
674
00:40:36.039 --> 00:40:39.119
realization that the person in front of her is her daughter,
675
00:40:39.800 --> 00:40:41.599
and she has that moment where you see it in
676
00:40:41.599 --> 00:40:46.159
her mindence. It's insane, it's exhilarating, it's the height of
677
00:40:46.199 --> 00:40:49.880
the profession. Yeah. So that's a long way of saying
678
00:40:49.880 --> 00:40:51.519
I have no idea what I'm talking about.
679
00:40:52.960 --> 00:40:57.440
Well, finally, what do you hope people take away about
680
00:40:57.639 --> 00:41:01.320
relationships or anything even beyond the story itself when they
681
00:41:01.639 --> 00:41:04.920
when they you know, finish deep Water.
682
00:41:06.400 --> 00:41:08.440
At the end of the day, we're all taking care
683
00:41:08.480 --> 00:41:10.960
of each other. At the end of the day, when
684
00:41:11.119 --> 00:41:15.039
when you're in a crisis, what it's go mode. You
685
00:41:15.159 --> 00:41:17.480
all are just taking care of each other. That's the
686
00:41:17.480 --> 00:41:24.159
default position of a human being. That people are living
687
00:41:24.239 --> 00:41:25.679
that right now.
688
00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:28.079
Yeah.
689
00:41:28.440 --> 00:41:33.519
Yeah, so everything else disappears, you know, my car payment disappears,
690
00:41:34.039 --> 00:41:38.599
my opinion on the architecture of that house, disappears everything,
691
00:41:39.199 --> 00:41:45.119
and you're just literally down to the bones of of
692
00:41:45.440 --> 00:41:48.320
really humanity of life. And that's what this movie is about.
693
00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:51.920
I love that, Aaron, I love the film. I can't
694
00:41:51.920 --> 00:41:54.840
wait for everybody to see Deep Water. Thank you so much.
695
00:41:54.880 --> 00:41:55.960
I really appreciate it.
696
00:41:56.320 --> 00:41:57.920
Thank you very much. Nice talking with you.
697
00:41:58.039 --> 00:41:59.519
Nice talking with you. I have a great day.
698
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:03.719
Thanks Tarnet.
699
00:42:06.079 --> 00:42:10.280
Trust me on this Deep Water is definitely one you
700
00:42:10.320 --> 00:42:13.159
want to watch, and it's out right now, as is Newborn.
701
00:42:13.239 --> 00:42:15.119
All Right, So that's gonna do it for this episode
702
00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:17.639
of pop Culture Weekly. If you're not already, make sure
703
00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:21.280
you're following, subscribe, doing all the things, because you know,
704
00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:23.800
I got a lot more come in your way. I
705
00:42:23.880 --> 00:42:26.400
love you, and that's what I do for you. You know,
706
00:42:26.599 --> 00:42:28.920
somebody's got to do this hard work, and it's me.
707
00:42:30.039 --> 00:42:33.440
I'll have more interviews, more deep dives, more pop culture chaos,
708
00:42:33.840 --> 00:42:37.519
because clearly the universe refuses to slow down. And honestly,
709
00:42:38.440 --> 00:42:41.440
would we wanted to, We wouldn't. We wouldn't want it to.
710
00:42:41.760 --> 00:42:45.320
All Right, I'm Kyle McMahon, and until next time, stay obsessed,
711
00:42:45.639 --> 00:42:49.000
stay curious, and try to keep up with Madonna. Good
712
00:42:49.079 --> 00:42:52.039
luck with that one, all right, I'll see you next week.
713
00:42:52.400 --> 00:42:55.239
I love you, We thank you for listening to pop
714
00:42:55.280 --> 00:42:56.000
Culture Weekly.
715
00:42:56.519 --> 00:43:00.880
Here all the latest at pop cultureweekly dot com.
716
00:43:04.840 --> 00:43:12.000
I have a conversion of lovel
