- I have to say this 'cause
I started "The Walking Dead" when it premiered on AMC and I remember just noticing you and being like, this is
gonna sound really obnoxious and like I'm trying to sign
you or something like that, but I was like-
- I'll take it. I'll take all this. Thank you. - 5%, no one else-
- Yeah, all right, I got you. Oh, that's not bad. I'll take that.
- I own you. - 5%, all right.
- And then we'll, and then we'll talk about- - Yeah, yeah, yeah. (upbeat music) How much did you know
about "The Last of Us?" - I didn't know about the
game when they got in touch with me about the project. I hadn't heard of it. But I learned like
immediately what it was, what the context was. The first thing that came
to me were just the scripts written by Craig Mazin. And I should have assumed
that it was connected to some serious IP because the world was
like immediately present and really rich and cool and I was like, "This story is amazing." I saw a man kill his own brother, to save her, while I just watched. And today I thought that
dog was gonna tear her apart because it smelled something on her. And my nephews were like,
"It's a video game, you idiot. It's amazing." - It's so amazing.
- "If you don't do it we won't talk to you anymore." - I feel weirdly connected
to you in multitude of ways but one is when I was shooting a show that is kind of spiritually connected to your show, "Walking Dead-" - Yeah.
- I remember like, I don't remember what season it was but the game came out and I remember I played
it 12 hours straight. - Really? - Down to that last like, I
don't know if you've played it, but like-
- This is part one? - Yeah. Where he just, you just
push the characters forward as they're having that last
beautiful scene you have. - Are you serious? - Yeah, you just, nothing happens, you just walk through the forest. - You've told me more about
the game than the creator of the video game.
- Oh, no. It's beautiful. I remember finishing it and
then coming to set the next day being like, like catatonic. - Wow.
- Just like, "Guys, I just experienced something." - That's amazing.
- Yeah. - So you're saying that
you get to a certain point but you still have to basically play but you're not fighting anything- - No.
- Or looking for anything, you're just having them- - [Steven] Just moving. - But it's not a scene in the video game, you actually have to... - You have to control the person and you just walk through the forest. - You must have been imagining that. - In real time. It was amazing. - That's really cool.
- Yeah. And then to see you play
that like, you know... I'll pivot right now away from the thing 'cause like, for me, I
wanna gush about you. I think, like, you're so
immense and incredible. You fall into your characters in a way that I think is so gracious. Is it the right word? - I'll take it. I love the word gracious. - Yeah. What a joy to have a scene partner that was immersed in the role,
and the moment, and the space with you that those are the
blessings where you're like, "Oh, we're in."
- Yeah. And think about how scary
it would've, it was frankly to know that you were going
to go into an experience that was a 12 month kind of
away from home experience with a teenager. I came here to talk to you. - No, why are you still here? If you're gonna ditch me, ditch me. - What exactly did you hear? - Bella Ramsey was incredible with you, and, like, yeah, you're like- - And I was like-
- In it. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- I could tell she was cool. I knew that.
- Yeah. - [Pedro] She was cast
in the part before I was. - [Steven] Oh. - And I don't know how
they knew how to put these sort of two pieces in place, but I'm not surprised that
it started with Bella. And I couldn't have asked
for a more anchoring, generous, thoughtful teenager. And I don't mean to say
that in a patronizing way, but it's just the way it is, you know? - Yeah. Yeah. - They had their 18th birthday
while we were shooting, and that just could have sucked. (Pedro laughing) |- I know what you, I know what you mean. If there's like any type of not groundedness there,
maturity there, like- - Yeah, they're more grounded
than anyone would deserve them to be in a way, you know. I relied on Bella for so
much of the experience and it was weird because it was easy for us to kind of focus on
what we were meant to fulfill and the kind of chemistry
we were supposed to have. - Yeah, yeah. - And we both really sort of
scared and shy about that. But I guess, like, Bella
just inspired me to be mature about it psychologically in a way. - I know what you mean because like sometimes these
question ask of you, like, "Did you have the best
time with your co-star?" - Yeah. - And you're like, "I'm gonna
tell you, like, the version that you probably wanna hear,
which is like, 'Yes, I did.'" But, like, there's the
other version which is like you're experiencing this thing together that has like levels to it. - Totally.
- And sometimes someone's gonna come in in a subconscious way, or in a conscious way,
with a specific mood, and you're gonna have a
mood, and you're just, you're working together. - Yeah. - And I don't think you can
pull out the performances that y'all pulled out
together between you two, you have to have a full
range of experience together. That last frame when she's looking at you to see if you're telling the truth. - Yeah. - It's crazy. - Yeah.
- And that's a whole journey lived together. - Yeah. - All shades. - [Pedro] Yeah. - That's badass. - Yeah, it was cool. I will say that I really
don't think I've met anybody like Bella in that
I was truly sort of inspired and humbled, they brought the
best out of me as a person. - And that is the journey that Joel goes on.
- Yeah, I know. I hate to give it to them but, like... - Yeah. I mean... And the symbiosis is, you
know, they have their own, you know, growth from that experience too. That's why this stuff is
so strange to me sometimes. Like...
- Yeah. - You work with like a deer or something, or like an animal, or
like a young, young child and it's so scary 'cause you're like... They'll tell you if
you're fake every time. If you're a liar, like
they'll tell you every time. - Yeah. - That's gnarly. - Can I ask about Ali? - Yeah. - Because ultimately, in
the most fulfilling way, your characters are sharing the screen and apart for so much of
it, how much proximity did you have with one another
through the experience before you actually had to confront each other as characters? - We worked on tangential things, we did "Tuca & Bertie" together, but we never were in the same room. We didn't even do like a big press tour 'cause "Tuca & Bertie" was
mostly her and Tiffany Haddish. Ali was just someone that I
always kind of like looked... I remember when her first
special came out, "Baby Cobra," I was like, "Whoa, who is this person?" And especially for an Asian
American voice I was like, "Yo, we needed you so bad." And I remember reaching out to her and we connected here and there
but we never really hung out or talked to each other much. What's really fun about Ali
is that she is my inverse in a lot of ways. And, you know, when we
were approaching shooting this I would always notice that, like, we kind of had
like different entry points for the same thing, but we
would end up at the same place. And I was like, "Ooh, this is
gonna be really interesting." - Yeah. - And a very yin-yang situation that way. All your hard work paid off, right? You're fulfilled. - Why do you care? - I just wanna know if I
gotta get to where you are? I think a more naive,
less experienced version of myself, younger, I
would've like tried to force some sort of chemistry or, like- - Right.
- Let's hang out and let's do the thing.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - But-
- Yeah, yeah. - There was this level of
professionalism there too that felt like Ali was
gonna take care of her side, I was gonna take care of my side, and then every time we come together there's gonna be this
like interesting tension. - Yeah. - And we weren't doing
any like method things 'cause like in between
takes what I love about Ali is she'll like pull you
aside, pull out mics and just like talk shit. - Yeah.
- And, like, not about people but just like talk shit. - Yeah.
- And that type- - You can talk shit about people. - Oh, yeah, we were talking shit- - [Pedro] Love talking shit about people. - We were talking mostly
shit about people. But like creating that environment that frankly I am not personally used to. I experienced that type of
environment on "The Walking Dead" and then afterwards I kind
of like maybe connected- - Well this is the first
episodic television that you've done since "The Walking Dead." - Yeah. Which like in some ways TV, like, you do have to submit to family. - Yeah.
- Right? You're just there for a long time. - Yeah.
- Whereas film I feel like you can kind of like live in your isolation and then leave. - Right. ♪ Forgiveness was bought ♪ ♪ With the precious
blood of Jesus Christ ♪ - It really is brilliant writing because the two opposing
figures of your show finally end up, you know, in
nature together, on nature, where was it... On the schedule did you guys... Was it towards the end? - So the schedule was gnarly because we block shot most of the thing. - Yeah.
- And so you're sitting there like one day is
like, I'm doing a scene from episode five, eight and two. - Yeah.
- And I'm like, "What the hell is happening?" - On a day?
- On a day. - Oh, man. - But the thing was is it kept us honest and, Sonny, Lee Sung Jin,
our writer and creator, he wrote something airtight
where you could just enter in and like it works. But episode 10 we shot- - Don't even tell me. - [Steven] By itself. - Okay. Okay.
- We got to say like, "This is just for episode 10." - Right, that's very smart.
- And Sonny directed it. - And where in the process
of shooting was it? - It was at the very end. - Okay.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - Yeah.
- We like saved it for the end.
- That's smart. - Yeah.
- It translates. - Right?
- Yeah. - And we just had a time. We just had a great time and- - It's so dropped in
at that point in a way that it has to be for the story. - Yeah. - I'm begrudgingly
giving it to the writers. - Yeah. - 'Cause when I said that
I hate to give it to them I wasn't talking about Bella I was talking about the
creators of the show. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. - But, yeah, getting them
super sick and high together was like bringing them to
their knees in a way that that- - Total submission. - Total submission. Like, physical, out of
the ass, out of the mouth. - [Steven] Yeah. Yeah. - Out of the mind, out
of the heart submission. - [Steven] Yeah. - Was really the only way it could go. And it was so huge.
- Well it mirrors... For me I look at that, your
finale, in the same way. Leading, you know, having known the story, like leading to this, you know,
I'm doing this for a reason, I have a mission, I have a
goal, you're just tagging along, or I have to deliver this good. And then to like take that whole arc and land it in that last episode and then like make that turn
where you become conscious of what they're gonna do was amazing. - I haven't seen it.
- And... You haven't seen it? - I haven't.
- You crushed it. - I haven't-
- You haven't seen it? You fucking crushed it, Pedro. You crushed it. Hell yeah, congrats. - Thanks, man, I appreciate that.
- But, yeah, like, you can see the lived in... It didn't feel like chummy, it felt very lived in. - We have, we both have good finales. - Yeah. - Aren't we lucky? - Yeah, super lucky. Super lucky. Super, super lucky. - I'll take your word for it. - Yeah, excellent.
- I saw it all up until... It's just this bizarre... I haven't done anything for
that amount of time before and so my attachment to the
experience is something, and it's a strange thing
kind of later, you know, as a guy who's pushing 50,
like to feel this very, very kind of like innocent,
semi angry, emotional attachment to an experience that is over, you know. It continues, I understand,
but, like, there will never be another sort of like meeting
Bella for the first time, working with Craig, with the entire crew, my friend Coco who did my hair, and the whole sort of
like family experience of it, which we've had in the past, but this was something that I
haven't been able to let it go in a weird way. - Yeah. - And I don't like getting
kind of emotional about work. I think a lot of effort will go into a kind of sort of detachment because the practical issue
is that you never know what's gonna happen, things change, different people, different
places, da da da da, from one thing to the next, you know. And this one has been like... Just different.
- Yeah. - And that could just be because
it was 12 fucking months. - It could be. And it also could be... I relate to you in what
you're talking about as coming over here,
feeling like an outsider. - Yeah. - Living in the gap. Like seeing- - Still.
- Yeah, same. Like I'm on this gap
rail and I can't leave. And experiencing life from that place, and the humanity that
comes from that place, and then in that same way,
you know, I got to experience "Walking Dead" where, like... The luckiest thing for me
is if I had been on a show, I think, especially at that
time, as an Asian American actor where it was rendered, the
show was rendered in the world we know, I would've had a
slot, there was a slot for me. - Yeah. - But we got to experience it in a world that was completely devastated
and society was broken and so there was no rules. - Like reinventing itself completely. - Reinventing.
- Totally. - And our cast, all the time we'd be like, "None of us would be
friends in real life." - Right? - In this world.
- In a world that wasn't broken.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- But we're all like deeper friends now. - Yeah.
- I still... I'm so deeply connected to
all the people I experienced that show with, and I
wonder if you're touching a similar thing? - Yeah, yeah. - With a post-apocalyptic world. - Yeah, yeah.
- You know? - Yeah. - You see people for people at that point. - [Pedro] Yeah. - And that is, that's pretty fucking cool. - There is like a crossover energy. - Yeah, yeah.
- You know? In terms of what the
narrative is and like- - Totally. - And what your brain's relationship to the experience is because the crew, we were all just so close. - And was that deeply healing for you, or- - Yeah. - Same, I feel that same way.
- It really was and like we all kind of
fell in love, I think. It was like falling in love. - Yeah. - I have to say this, 'cause
I started "The Walking Dead" when it premiered on AMC and I remember just noticing you and being like, this is
gonna sound really obnoxious and like I'm trying to sign
you or something like that- - I'll take it. I'll take all this. Thank you. - 5%, no one else-
- Yeah, all right, I got you. Oh, that's not bad. I'll take that.
- Okay, I only need- - 5%, all right.
- And then we'll, and then we'll talk about-
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - But I was like, "That guy's a star." And to engage your attention in something that is such a world, it's such a genre, and it could have been
sort of like the character could have just easily worked without somebody who the
camera just drinks in and is like so charismatic. - Thanks. - So starting there I've
just been kind of unsurprised and drinking it in. - Oh, man, I'm surprised.
- Thereafter. Yeah.
- I appreciate it. I don't know if this is what it feels like for you but like
the journey continues to be a self effacing one in a way. Like, that's kind of what
I mean by your graciousness is that I don't see judgment
in your performance. - Oh, I see. - I see like real love
in your performance. When I think about "Mandalorian," people could get really
trapped by that role. Meaning who among us is
brave enough and also... I don't, I don't, you know,
I don't wanna like gas you up too much but, like, selfless enough- - That's what we're here for, I guess. - Is this what it is? A gas party. - This is fantastic. - But, like, selfless enough to go, "I'm gonna enter this character that might not have my face be seen," and then still land it in a
way that it doesn't trap you, it doesn't like, you're... These characters are kind
of part of your journey as opposed to these characters eat you. - Your observations are so good. What a word. What a fancy word, good. - That's a great, that's the best word. - Which I'm sitting here
and trying to take that in. But the only thing that
it's making me think is that that kind of
intelligent and astute observing is so much, has so much to do
with, like, what I see you do and it helps me actually understand what it is that is so
engaging and watchable. Which, not to limit it to any of that, but
"Beef" is a perfect example of somebody who has just
so much shit going on. - Yeah.
- You know, so much... And not in a world that... He's not being chased by
zombies, he's not flying a ship through the galaxies,
or any of these things, but there's just so much danger within the averageness of his life and the generosity of sharing
that in the performance with us, being able to fulfill it but ultimately like sharing it and inviting us in into
all of his intimacies. - Yeah. - All of his self-loathing,
all of his guilt, all of his rage. - Yeah, yeah. - How many people have
been like telling you their road rage stories? 'Cause I have one. - Really, do you-
- I had one yesterday. - Oh my God, please. - I'm, this is not a lie, I promise you. - I had one yesterday too, actually. - Really? - This is weird.
- Yesterday was a day. - Yesterday was a day. - There was something going
on and I was in the car from 11 in the morning
to 11 at night yesterday. So... It was my fault. I've had like three kind
of incidences in the last couple of months and
they've all been my fault. But yesterday I cut somebody
off to get out of their way. - Yeah, okay. - Okay?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah. - I didn't like cause an accident but I was like, I saw an
opportunity, I got in, this person really didn't want me to do that, I got out of his way and then got into the left turn lane and he was like... He, she, I don't know, I
didn't really see them. Laying on the horn, laying on the horn and I was like, "Get it out, get it out." My little sister was next
to me in the passenger seat and I was like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." (imitating car horn sounding) You know, that kind of thing?
- Mm-hmm. - And then I hear her go, "Oh my God." And I look over and there is
a big glob of saliva like, just like, somebody- - Nice. - Like visual effects put it there, man. - Damn.
- It was... And just dripping down the
side of the passenger window. And my sister was like, "Fuck." - Holy shit.
- Yeah, yeah. - So like a glob from the driver's side? He just like hocked a hard loogie at you? - Spit at me. - What did you do? - I was in shock.
- Right, yeah. - It didn't trigger any kind
of rage out of me, it triggered like, "Whoa, I guess I
really crossed the line." - Yeah.
- Like, some... You know what I mean? - Yeah.
- Like, I thought I was just getting into
the left hand lane. It absolutely kind of
humbled me and shocked me, scared me a little bit, disturbed me. Didn't make me angry. - Mm. - And I, you know, I'm quick to anger. - Yeah, yeah, me too. Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah. - I wonder if, like, your consciousness about, like, not like
reacting to that negatively is you recognize that that
person's trying to connect with you in some way? You know what I mean?
- They want me to drink in their saliva. - Yeah.
- Literally. - Like they just spit, like, their fluids at you.
- It made me feel guilty. I was like, "Gosh." You know, people are going through shit. - Yeah, especially yesterday. I got flipped off yesterday. - Dude, yesterday was crazy. - It was a crazy day. - We're gonna turn this,
the whole "Actors on Actors" into a discussion on Los Angeles traffic 'cause it was really- - It was nuts. - And "The Matrix" aspect of it, I was, you know, watching "Beef," and with this sort of like envy in terms of how much it reflects
such a livable truth, a living truth, you know, in day to day that can happen anywhere, but
was happening to me yesterday in Los Angeles. - Yeah. The task is always, as difficult
as it can be to not abandon your character, to like
really live in their reality and like- - How do you approach that? Like, where do you start
with something like that? - I really look inward. I start inside. I go, "Where am I? Where is the part of me that
deeply understands this person? Where is my Danny?" - Right. - "Where is that part of me
that like feels isolated, or alone, or cringe,
or gross, or whatever?" And I would walk up to
set every day being like, "Fuck, I gotta do what?" - Right. - "I gotta, like, get dropped from a tree and everybody's just watching
it and I look pathetic?" - Yeah.
- And like... - Was that challenging, or did
you see it as an opportunity to kind of like lean into
the richness of that? - When I was younger as an actor I always, and as a human, I was always like, "Why are things happening to me?" And, you know, growing up and
kind of maturing over time, and then also getting to
do this work, you're like, "Oh, things are happening
for me or through me." - Mm-hmm. - And I might have warred
against being dropped from a tree like that and like
hanging in front of everybody and just like looking
super pathetic and dumb. I remember constantly saying
like, "I see Ben Stiller, I see what, like, 'Meet the
Fockers' must have been like." Just to get shit on the whole movie. And it was this thing where
I had to use my own shame, that I'm sure was connected to Danny in that way where you're like,
"Don't ever bail on Danny, don't ever bail on yourself, don't ever bail on, you know, people." I think that's the thing
is that it's easy to bail these days.
- Yeah. Totally.
- Especially... Forever, but, like, it's
really easy to bail. - Totally, and not look at things. - Yeah.
- You know? I think that I underestimate the kinds of things that
you need to confront so that you can fulfill an assignment. - Yeah. - I love the kind of
ugliness slash vulnerability generally in characters I've seen you play and also, you know, bringing
kind of a layer of humanity to something that is sort
of a silhouette of heroism. You know? I'm curious about how
much you have to deal with yourself to, like I
said, fulfill an assignment. - Yeah.
- And, because I don't like actually dealing with
myself very much, you know? - Yeah, same.
- I don't wanna cause harm. - No.
- I don't wanna, you know, I don't like drama, but... Gosh, I'm not into challenges. I think I'm not, I don't know. - Yeah, but you keep throwing
yourself headlong into them. Right?
- Right. - Like...
- Right. - You know, you, the
way you approach Joel, the performance that I saw the whole time was like to have this depth
of, like, pain, guilt, shame, sadness, everything just repressed down that you could just
stand there in the frame and it goes... That says everything. And that's a lot of internal work. - Raiders attacked the hospital, I barely got you outta there. We'll find you some new ones on the way. - Are people hurt? - It's kind of fun to have the permission to like feel everything,
contain it or express it. I'm not gonna lie, I'm super envious of a part like yours in "Beef" and the idea of, like... I was listening to your show's creator and it said, "Yes, we
know Steven is amazing and we know he can do everything, but you still haven't seen
everything that he can do, and here is a range that
has always been there that not everyone is aware of." And-
- Thanks, Sonny. - But it's clear though,
like, I admire you very much. - Same. Same. And I think it's, I think... I think there's like a
congruent, similar... Not similar process,
we have very different, has a different thing, but,
like, I really understand what your process might be. I really admire what you're doing because it's not... Because, you know, there's
a technicality to this job where, you know, you gotta do... There's a base layer of, like, what you gotta be proficient in. - Totally.
- And then after that it just becomes
like a study of yourself. It becomes like a... At least for me, it feels
like a study of yourself which then as you go deeper into yourself you realize it's everyone. I remember Andrew Cooper
was our set photographer, who is like, only does, like,
movies for, like, Scorsese and, like, Quentin Tarantino,
and he said he'd do... He's never done a TV show and he's like, "I'll shoot your show." And we're like, "Why?" I'm like, "Dope, we got Andrew
Cooper to shoot our show." And I was like, "Oh, he's gonna
show up like once or twice, snack some things and then leave." He was there every day. - Wow. - And he was just watching us. And I would talk to him. I was like... One time... At one point I was like,
"Andrew, why are you here?" And he was like, "I'm watching you guys and I'm seeing what y'all are doing." And I remember him telling me, he's like, "Nah, like, I see what you're
doing already but I love it, don't bail on Danny." - Wow. - And that was really amazing
for me to take that in, like. - And to be seen also. - Yeah.
- You know, because something that occurred
to me when you were talking about, you know, process but
also just basically, you know, playing your character
and how, as richly as you, as you can, and how
lonely it can kind of be because all of this work sometimes, in terms of the function
of a set, time, lighting, I don't know, social dynamics
that can overwhelm the energy of the experience but you
still have to do your job and be super vulnerable
and you, and get along and do this kind of a social activity and also very specific work and so it can become, in
terms of, I don't know, maintaining a certain amount
of concentration, one. Two, just being in tune, like you say, and not bailing on the character. It's easy to bail, like
we've already identified- - It really is. - But I didn't realize it could be because I cared so much
about acting my whole life and I was like, and I
have way too much of an, I have too big of an
ego and too much, like- - Yeah. - That I, it doesn't matter how bad it is, it doesn't matter what it is,
I'm gonna give it, you know, 100 and whatever percent no
matter if the camera's on me or off me. And then with age I
realize in some instances I've gotten kind of
scared where phoning it in isn't necessarily, but
I can feel like I'm not, I'm not in it and I don't
know how to get in it, and I don't know what I haven't done or what I need to do to get in it other than just sort of
like breathe, not bail, and kind of let all the
feelings be and be present and everything like that. And that can be-
- And have those performances ended up being like some of
the ones you watched back and you're like, "I
liked what I did there, I don't know how I did it,
but I liked what I did there." - I have been watching less and less. - Same, same. It's almost the experience itself, right? - Yeah.
- Like, it's, it's, it's... I agree. - You know what I mean?
- Yeah, I agree. - And it isn't about, "Oh, I just don't, I don't like watching myself." Because I really am conflicted,
there's so much more outside of you that goes into making something and you wanna honor and
take in everyone's work but that feeling that I
get when I see myself, it takes me out of the
experience in a weird way that I just don't have
the patience for anymore. You know? I remember an episode in "The Last of Us" and I'm dying in bed, and
I'm on a dirty mattress, and I'm at the very beginning
but I know that the whole rest of the episode, like,
I'm not in it and I was like, "I finally get to enjoy
this, you know, show 'cause I don't have to, I'm not in." I was like really excited
about that one premiering and turning the lights out,
and like turning my phone, and like phone off and watching it, you know?
- Right. - So, anyway, the thing
that I was trying to get to in terms of like how special it can feel, like somebody like Andrew Dominic just kind of penetrating the loneliness of the experience a little, in a way, it's like the psychological loneliness of it, and making you feel
like it's not in vain. And of course it isn't
because we all get, the camera is taking it all in and we get to see it. But still it can be edited
in a way that you don't- - [Steven] Right. - Your performance can
be editorialized in a way that you have no control over, you really kind of have to
give it absolutely everything. - Yeah. - And then give it up completely. - Yeah.
- You know? So it's nice for on the day
for somebody to be like- - Totally. - "I see you." - Yeah, that's right. Like, Andrew Cooper,
that's what you're saying, Andrew Cooper.
- Yeah. Yeah. - He really, yeah. Like, especially the
guy who is seeing you, like, who is like- - Yeah. - You know, he's seeing you,
and he's seen so many things. - Yeah. Yeah. - It was really cool. - That is cool, you deserve it, man. He's, he's, he's, he knows
what he's looking at. - Oh, man, he was incredible
and like so integral to that process. It makes me just think
about what it is that we do. (both chuckling) Maybe I shouldn't have asked that. Maybe we should cut that. That's an impossible question. But how often does the
day shape the performance, and how often do you let
go to whatever the day is having you experience? Even if it's not directly
correlated to what's on the page. Like, sometimes I'll
walk in and I'll be like, "I feel fucking bummed today." - Yeah. - And then I'm like, "But that works." - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - You know?
- Totally. - And there's this subconscious process that happens, I feel, like,
that I'm not always aware of. But, like you were saying, like- - I think it's so smart to lean into the subconscious
process because I have, I'm inclined to kind of control- - Same.
- The experience. And the very painful growing experience of letting go of expectation
and, for the benefit of, like, of the assignment. - Mm-hmm.
- You know, of the role, of the performance. Like, realizing that you gotta let go of the fact that we're losing the light, or that there are all of
these different elements that are obstacles out of your control and just kind of go with it. I almost feel like I need to talk to you beyond this conversation so that you... 'Cause I have more
questions in terms of like, "Steven, how do I deal
when this is happening?" - Oh, I don't know. I don't... I just get bad things happen. - You know what I'm getting at though?
- I know what you mean. - Like right where you're...
- Yeah. - When you say kind of like letting go, there's so many different
ways to sort of figure out how to have, not the best experience but just find the most practical way to fulfill an assignment. - Yeah, I know what you mean. I feel like I, where
I got extremely lucky, and I've been very, very
lucky my entire career, is that I got to work with
this particular director, Lee Chang-dong, who,
basically we are about halfway through the movie that we
are doing, called "Burning," he was just like, "A movie makes itself." - Uh-huh.
- And I was like, "Okay." I was like, "I don't know
what that means, but okay." - [Pedro] Yeah. - And I would just watch
him set up the pieces and then just like go,
"Let's see what happens." - Yeah.
- And then know when he... He's not trying to control anything. Like I remember we did this one scene where like it's this like dusk scene that we only had like a 30
minute magic hour window to shoot every single time and we shot that over
the course of a week. We shot it, he watches it
all back and he's like, "I'm gonna do it, we're
gonna do it again." So we go the next week
back and do the same thing and then all of a sudden
in one of the takes a flock of geese fly past,
reflect off the window pane and he's like, "That's it." And I was like, "Okay." I mean, like, that's not
available to everybody. - That, no, of course not. - But...
- Rarely, yeah. - Yeah, but that I was like, "Oh, I see, sometimes you just... Actually, most of the
time you're just dealing in letting go." - Yeah.
- Yeah. - It's so funny how hard that is. - Oh, so hard. So hard.
- It's so hard. - 'Cause you're just like, "Time is out." Like, do you have any,
has that happened to you on "Last of Us," like things where- - Oh, God. - So outta your control
but then you're like, "That made the show better." - Yeah, there were so many
elements that were physical in terms of locations, and
light, and weird weather patterns that weren't expected, and
places where every year there's been snow and
there wasn't and, you know- - And it's perfect.
- Yeah. - It's like, it never
snows here but it snowed on that one day that we needed to shoot. - Right, yeah. - That's awesome.
- We didn't have any of that. - Okay, damn it. (both laughing) You were just... It was just all, "Fucks." It was like, "Fuck."
- It was like 12 months of like, "Ah, shit." "Oh, well." - I'm a huge fan of what you did in "Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent." - Oh.
- That was... You look like you had a fucking blast. - [Pedro] I had a really good time. I really did. - I don't know how... I don't know anyone else
that could have carried us as an audience through that journey.
- Oh, man. Talk about an emotional experience because that was the first job that I got during the pandemic, and it was also kind of like a ticket out of a very isolated place and into a world that you
were afraid was disappearing in a way, in terms of
basically going back to work and being around people. - Yeah.
- You know? And that it was also hilarious. And the homework for
that, for me, I, you know, I was born in '75 and I started taking... We have... Similarly, I was less than two years old when my family made it
to, we got to Texas first, and you said that you guys... Did you get to Canada?
- Yeah, when I was four. And then Canada, yeah. - Canada from Korea?
- Yeah, yeah. - And then from Canada to Michigan? - Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
- Oh, cool. Are they still in Michigan? - They're still in Michigan, yeah. - Oh, okay, cool.
- Yeah. - Because we haven't even
gotten into the whole like sort of bilingual like- - Yeah. That reality and understanding
that comes from that. Yes. - Being completely, like
as we would say in Chile, "Total gringos." And also, like, just a foot
in so many different worlds and how that informs the things that we do and how it informs it in ways that we don't even fully understand yet. And, anyway, I just like love sitting down with you and I relate
to you in so many ways. - Oh my God. - And it has a lot to
do with that, I think. But back to "The Unbearable
Weight of Massive Talent" - I, my joy was your joy. Like watching your joy on
that film was like my... I was just like grinning ear
to ear watching you do that. - Yeah, that was totally the point. I felt that way, you know,
growing up watching an actor like that who kind of was
breaking all the rules and informing us in his way
like what can be done on camera as far as commercial, independent, action. - Right.
- You know what I mean? Everything.
- Right. - He was still, like no
matter, uncompromisingly sort of making choices. - Yeah, yeah.
- And I started to take that in at a really, really young age so it was very weird to... It was, that was like the easiest, the closest thing to
myself that I'd ever done outside of the billions of
dollars in the illegal weapons trade that the character was involved in. - Right, right, right. I'm so glad to meet you now. - Me too. Me too. I've been watching your whole... I mean, you've been, I'm
sure you were doing stuff before you got "Walking Dead." I feel like you started in... You were-
- Well, you know... Well, you know what was cool was- - Like, you did comedy, you,
like, you fulfill, like, we haven't talked about
"Minari," and, like... And I just am, I'm a big fan. - Oh, same. And I feel connected to you because I remember when
you did "Game of Thrones." - Oh, wow.
- We were at the same Comic-Cons. - Right?
- Yeah. - That's right.
- Yeah. - Yeah, man.
- So there's just, I've just been, you
know, admiring your work. - On the journey together.
- Yeah, I appreciate you. - Me too, man.
- Yeah, so good to- - Same. (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues)
I like these actors so very much. Pedro's rise has been amazing and completely deserved. They both seem so grounded which is always very nice to see
Beef was completely worth watching cold, not knowing anything about it.
Great story and acting and a ton of fun.
'Pedro Pascal' popped up trending on reddit and my internet poisoned brain was like... 'oh fuck. Did he die? Did he DM his dick to a 15 yr old? Did he slap a flight attendant?'
NAH. it's just cute ass pics of pedro pascal and Steve yuen. People are excited as hell about that. Honestly, I get it. Love you.
Pedro is so fucking funny
beef was so good, hope season 2 comes fast
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