Ryan Phillippe opens up to Larry King about his ABC crime drama, relationships and more

today I'm Larry King now the very talented Ryan Philippi on his much talked-about new drama series secrets and lies I had no scenes off no days off and it's such heightened dramatic material that it was really emotionally taxing on his mission to expose an underreported atrocity they're trying to force the indigenous people up into the hills and the mountains where there's no place no access to water it's a journalistic dead zone plus I didn't know that so you know I don't either it's and this is something that comes up with relative frequency and I'm not always sure where it comes from but I you know I'm a pretty regular dude it's all next on Larry King now welcome to Larry King now for the better part of two decades Ryan Philippe has had one of a modern-day Hollywood's most eclectic careers from teenage heartthrob and fan favorites like I know what you did last summer and cruel intentions two critically acclaimed roles in igby goes down the Lincoln Lawyer and 2005 s Best Picture when a crash he's now taking on a very complicated and mysterious role as Ben Crawford in ABC's highly anticipated secrets and lies which I think is one of the best maybe the best of all these new shows I really I really dug it I think the first two episodes it's got me intrigued now you get you set for 10 episodes right we are yeah similar to the way true detective was it's a it's a 10-hour series 10 hour mystery that will be solved in May when when we wrap up do you know the way it's solved I do I do but no no matter how much I respect you there's nothing you can do to get to get the ends and there's a clue that doesn't help me I read a big article today on Juliette Lewis you use your co-stars you're from antagonisms as they sheriff or they she's a detective detective it says the series may be continued for another 10 shows next year in which you will not appear that's correct and Juliette will be the star of that series yeah similar to how of course you could be the murderer or not the murderer earth depending on you could just could be out of the series and not be the murderer yeah that's correct I mean this story this this particular crime will be resolved this season and then similar to like prime suspect with Helen Mirren next year Juliet would have a new cast a new crime a new suspect to harass I guess because her role is unusual right now she's dogged yes she is and also if you know Juliet's career you know Natural Born Killers and all California as she plays typically free spirited wild one of the offbeat characters and in this she's so focused and and tough and conservative and still which was a challenge for her because you know the real Juliet as a rock star literally like she plays rock concerts and you know and so for her to be this buttoned up I think it was really tough for her at times how do you see your character you know the appeal of the show is the notion that this could happen to anyone he's he's an everyman you know somewhat flawed as you find out as the series unravels but but a well-intentioned dad suburban dad who finds the body of this child and having founded a you know his world is turned upside down he becomes the prime suspect and then the pressure and the scrutiny associated with that leads him to start making decisions that can kind of make him look a little guilty or that you're wondering well if you are innocent innocent why don't you just give the DNA test why don't you you know so it there's a lot of mystery as a father that you had kind of your own feelings dealing with the death of a child not only that but also what happens to my characters kids as a result of his being accused that was something that hit pretty close to home to me because my kids have grown up with celebrity parents now and they have to deal with paparazzi and things being said about their parents and the press and how that comes back to them at school and and that aspect of of secrets and lies which you'll see you know as the season wears on was something that really really pulled me in was I've interviewed many actors who've had roles in movies like this and one of the questions that intrigues me is does it affect the acting if you know you killed him no not in this particular incident instance because I'm playing a guy you were the killer would you act differently do you think I don't think so because my character in this piece believes himself to be innocent and you'll see as the series there's a there's a period of time that he can't account for that comes to light that then raises some questions about what happened in that period of time but my character wouldn't be aware of whether or not it's sort of a blackout situation so so I'm playing an innocent man whether or not I end up being proved guilty as why did you take this role this is your first TV series right first starring role in a series I did damages a couple years ago with Glenn Close I did their final season and in a supporting capacity where I played a character that was sort of like a sort of a computer mastermind or whatever it was this one I you know it was a chance to it was a really the scripts were compelling as hell I I read the Australia it's based on Australian series and I read the all six Australian scripts back to back to back I couldn't put him down and I was a little bit scared of it too because well it's a forced perspective show meaning the the there's no scenes that I'm not in so it's all through my character's eyes which is a tremendous workload to take on I had no scenes off no days off and it's such heightened dramatic material that it was really emotionally taxing you know to get through the piece it was just television different than film the pace yeah absolutely get it done you got to get it yeah Peter Falk complain once in television it's not get it right it's get it done that's right it feels that way sometimes and you can still create great entertainment out of that but it's shown but you're I think you're a lot more aware of the bottom line maybe in TV than you are in the independent film you can kind of explore and take risks and television is a little more regimented what's it like working with Juliette it's great we we work together the first time 15 years ago in a movie called way of the gun which is like a cult favorite of a lot of people's it was myself Benicio del Toro and James Caan Western sort of like a pseudo modern Western yeah Chris McQuarrie who did usual suspects wrote and directed that one and so to meet up with her 15 years later in a completely different dynamic and in that film I played a kidnapper who who abducted her for ransom and now in this I'm playing the murder suspect and she's pursuing justice since it is all about truth and lies I'll give you some questions multiple choice and you tell me I'll give you will do to to Scylla and these are about you yeah now I'm very well aware of your career there's a lot about Yusuf all right - or true right okay one my father on the bar - I was born in the Bronx and three I once worked as a mail clerk I'm pretty certain you were born in the Bronx no that was the one then that was the Y another one I've done a voice act I've been a voice and three and two animated films which - Shrek - Shark Tale or b-movie Shark Tale and Shrek b-movie as you see up next I'm gonna ask Ryan about rumors that there's a sequel coming to the cult film macGruber and we'll talk about his mission to expose and underreported human rights atrocity in an unlikely place and his new series and I love it it's just the whole thing about it is great secrets and lies it's on ABC Sundays right that's right Sunday at 9 o'clock we'll be right back Philip he is still the god Philip II is an odd name yeah would you get that man you know it's from my parents no it was originally I think it was originally Philippe the French the French last name for lead they changed it and then was Americanized yeah because my French ancestors moved to Mountain City Tennessee and I think somehow Philippe not lost and that ville Philippi yeah okay you were in the Saturday Night Live fortieth anniversary yeah what was that like historic I felt so lucky to be there who promoted you you started it was right I got to host once yeah a couple years ago when I was promoting macGruber I got to host which was a dream come true you know I'm 40 years old myself and so is the show and I think I've seen every single episode of Saturday Night Live so to be there for a moment like that and who knows how much longer it's gonna go on or any of that it felt really special and to get to see all of those you know hero's comedic heroes of mine and I spent time getting down talking to Bill Murray and Dana Carvey and you know got to meet louis c.k for the first time because he was there also and and then the after-party was outrageous you had Paul McCartney playing alongside Taylor Swift prints came out and performed Elvis Costello was really really a really special night did you ever work live before you and that have you done theater no I haven't no so that was your first live acting it really was and it was such a high praise it's the closest thing to an athletic event I think an actor can do because they literally between sketches someone grabs you your feet don't touch the floor they move you to another area they're stripping your clothes off it's really crazy and then before you know it you're on another set in this next sketch is beginning a whirlwind would you like to try theatre you know III don't know if that's for me I don't think I'm innately a performer III think that you know I'm kind of transitioning now in my career I've directed my first film last year I'm directing my second this spring I'm really into producing I've got an internet startup that is a big passion of mine and so acting as much as I love it is is one of the things I do and I tend to think that if someone pursues theatre that that acting is sort of the the end-all for them in some ways like that's their primary passion and the Alpha Chi knows this theatres his favorite yeah he's got an audience and it starts somewhere and goes somewhere right that doesn't thrill you not as much I'm a little more shy than that I think is there gonna be a sequel to macGruber I hope so that's that's what we're talking about will forte and Jorma Taccone who directed it they're working on the script now and it's become a real cult classic that movie there's drinking games associated with macGruber there's and every comedian that I I know loves it and they all want to be in the sequel so we got a lot of people trying to trying to play the villain what are you gonna deck of a film that I co-wrote it's a dark comedy based on a true story it's very much an homage to the early Coen brothers work it's reminiscent of raising Arizona oh wow so we're casting for that now and we hope to start shooting in May May June all right let's discuss a documentary called isolated are you in it I executive produced it and I narrated it like about well it started off as a as a surf documentary these guys were gonna go around the world looking for touched waves waves that have never been ridden by pro surfers and what ended up happening and so on that in that pursuit they ended up in West Papua Indonesian yeah and and what they uncovered while they were there shifted the entire focus of the documentary so something that started off as a surf documentary ended up as a human right sort of piece to to shed light on the genocide that's taking place currently in West Papua what the West problem people have had their land and resources taken from them over the last you know 25 years or so and by the Indonesian military essentially to to free up space to have resorts built they're taking there they're trying to force the indigenous people up into the hills and the mountains where there's no place no access to water it's a journalistic dead zone so when when they were shooting isolated they had to smuggle the cameras in in surf equipment because if they've been caught they would have been imprisoned we were there from the start when it was going to be a surf movie or did you come in when they discovered this I came in later yeah so I wasn't there when they were shooting but the difficult thing about this situation is because it's a journalistic dead zone and there isn't much infrastructure they don't have a way to get their voice out at all and so that's been a we're trying to get petition signed people can go to isolated TV and sign up there's also free West Papua org when Willy will it be out the documentary is already out and available it's on it's on Netflix it's on iTunes isolated yeah yeah that's chopped you shocked me what shocks me yeah that a genocide can still take place regardless of how of the size is is mind-blowing in modern society you're involved in the Innocence Project too yeah recently just signed up to become part of their and I know you did a lot with them and I think they're terrific yeah and when they had their documentary conviction out you dedicated an entire episode they did can you imagine a more frustrating live e in jail for something you didn't do and have your life taken away there was a man recently released after 40 years unbeliev you could never repay that person back and what are you gonna give when we come back we'll lighten things up a little bit trip down memory lane we'll play a little game if you only knew and don't forget secrets and lies 9 o'clock Sunday nights can't wait but an edge that was so he knows the answer Ryan Phillippe's our guests the show secrets and lies on ABC Sunday nights it's engrossing will I be shocked when I see the tenth episode I think devastated has a better word I'll be devastated yeah it's it's pretty emotionally wrenching it's gonna hurt me like you I'll be I'm not gonna be devastated if they find somebody else that I haven't seen yet well it doesn't mean that it doesn't mean that I've done it but what's interesting about this to Larry and you brought this up in between the break you know other shows you kind of have you're like where is this going you know how long am I gonna be strung along until we bring in a team three new characters right no this is this is concise when you start watching you're gonna know within you know a matter of two months so by that by the seventh episode will I have in my head this affair other suspects yes it's alright good little clue you must get a lot of you do you see a lot of scripts yes and no the last year I've been working primarily as a writer and independent filmmaker so I kind of took myself out of the game for a little bit too to pursue directing being married to a famous person Reese Witherspoon ex yeah being married to him was that part of the problem two people in the same business no I think I think more of the problem was age you know when we got together so young I think it can create issues to people who in in this industry because there's so much noise that goes along with it but no I wouldn't I wouldn't are you friends yes very much we have kids together and not many - yeah yeah ones in high school so I've got a 15 year old yeah my daughter's in ninth grade you got a son too I do an 11 year old son yeah and now fathers and daughters that's I have a daughter and that raise both daughters and fathers definitely have a thing oh absolutely absolutely yeah and I had three sisters and grew up in a very very female household so I have a real sensitivity in a connection with her that your daughter started eight yet no worried about it not too much no cuz I don't think she'll suffer fools she's gonna be you know she's gonna have high standards did you have a rep there's a Hollywood bad boy will you there's that part of your well I didn't know that so you know I don't either it this is something that comes up with relative frequency and I'm not always sure where it comes from but you know I'm a pretty regular dude and are you seeing anybody now yeah I've had I've been with my girlfriend for four years and she's a civil rights lawyer so we have a lot of um and common interests and yeah and I'm also a pretty dedicated dad and I've got multiple companies so there's not a lot of time for me to be a Hollywood bad boy I loved hip-hop too I do I'm a huge huge hip-hop head okay we got a couple of questions for you if you only knew I just throw a match sure who's the first girl you ever kissed Tia fish TF her name is Tia Tia fish it had initial surface how old were you and where was it it was behind the school my behind the Baptist school that I went to and I was probably 15 I was late yeah you know what city Wilmington Delaware if you could have a superpower what would it be fly to be able to fly like Superman I'd like to be invisible yeah yeah come on why you want to creep on people there I'd like to go to inside the Oval Office oh yeah I've been there Jerome anytime anything what's the last lie you told the one that I just told here about graduating high school at 16 I was actually 17 Wow when did you do less what did you do last summer that's out of your history last summer I shot secrets and lies all that was shot over the summer yeah how long did it take to shoot ten four months four grueling months I worked an 80 hour week one week on doing what was it shot here Wilmington North Carolina oh oh that's right north no it's setting off their line and shot off yeah it's set in Charlotte and we actually shot in Wilmington which is that beautiful beach town actor or actress you'd like to work with Joaquin Phoenix interesting yeah and I think he's awesome best thing about living in LA the weather worst thing about living in LA what do you think the traffic a roll you regret turning down I have to name it but was there a role usually somebody else got it you know I I don't look at I don't know I I don't look at my career in a regret sort of I mean there are there are personal regrets but but as far as occupational I don't really have so that hasn't been a film but you've seen where you turn down the bottom you have said oh why no that's good yeah something we'd find on your DVR the Kroll show I like a lot of comedy stuff Daily Show I'm a big fan of sure yeah those are an SNL sorry on live always guilty pleasure guilty pleasure nothing nothing is coming to mind really that deep oh I'm gonna guess it's injustice and it is injustice yeah it is it is discrimination me to your most cherished memory probably flying by helicopter from the set of way of the gun in Utah and landing at cedars-sinai for the birth of my daughter 15 years did you watch the birth I did yeah I've watched birth of my children there's nothing like it and where do you stand because some men you know they say it'll give you the advice don't do it well I watched two boys so I got to it was a thrill to watch it and I cut the I did absolutely you never forget now you don't coming up we'll wrap things up with some fan questions for Ryan from social media don't go away we're back with Ryan Phillip Ely film belts the television series secrets and lies two episodes down eight to go and a conclusion that I will destroy me will bother me I hope you didn't do it anyway you recently opened up about having a problem with depression yeah I did yeah when did you have it or do you have I do it's an ongoing issue for me it's been it's been a part of my life since I was a kid I was born with it you know an education I do but I also I find I you know exercise is a big outlet for me and and meditation I've just started to kind of recently get into and I think what I think is interesting is that people we have such a reaction I guess they think that if if you look a certain way or if you have a certain I don't job well no I know but I think a lot of times people look at people in our line of work and say their life is perfect they have no you no reason to struggle and it's just not the case you know and it's something that I work at and a mindful of daily hubs of trying to kind of recorrect some of those issues and the people they don't do it as kidney disease right right yeah no they look at it as different right there's it's a major disease by the way over 20 million now I mean look at how much of the country is on some kind of medication I mean you everybody watches TV there's no surprise there shilling these drugs constantly it's not an anomaly that the that people like me would have you know some issue with depression what about this internet series Deedle Deedle is a startup that I am a co-owner of and I've been designing this game it's gonna be a new mobile app we're gonna set mobile records hopefully we've designed this interface where we can have up to a hundred thousand people competing for a prize for an item and we're gonna give away X boxes and surface tablets and we're working with clothes clothing different clothing companies it's gonna be this really fun sort of faux gambling game that is free to to anyone who downloads it but we're gonna be basically we're gonna be like the t-shirt cannon of the Internet we're just gonna be how do you make money well it's gonna become a new way to advertise essentially because we'll have will be able to provide a hundred thousand eyeballs for your product and so it can work for really established companies but works even better for the companies and and people who can't afford to pay the big advertising rates for to get commercials and banners and all details yeah doodle I just named after my son Deacon isn't it yeah deacon is my son it is sort of like Deacon Jones but his nickname when he was little was Deedle and so we named the company Dido you said Clint Eastwood assuming you admire did he direct oh you and Flags of Our Fathers yeah of that movie yeah I did too man and one of the guys I was I play doc I played the medic I was sort of the lead of the movie and you know both of my grandfather's fought in World War two to a three of my uncles were in Vietnam my dad was in the Navy during Vietnam so to get to do that film and pay tribute to those men into that generation was incredible and also you know East was directing it Spielberg was producing it I got to play the guy the guy's father who wrote the book it was just a really incredible when I started out as an actor I think what I dreamt of was eventually doing a job like that and and even though it wasn't a huge commercial success I'm so proud of it and he did the Japanese version yeah which was incredible did you like working with him and crew yeah absolutely I learned so much from him in Robert Altman the two of them taught me the most what movies you do for all them I did Gosford Park which was also nominated gratefully yeah Altman was in fishing right at Florida yeah but the two of them were similar in a lot of ways where they build this great credible unit of people around them and then they trust them to do their job they they they make their films with such confidence and ease you know the says I'm in under budget yeah and and on and and there's no yelling everything is efficient onset with with guys like that and it's really see American sniper yeah very well done we have some social media questions for you Adrien Higgins on Twitter which character from Iggy goes down do you most identify with probably igby even though I played like this conservative Republican brother in that I kind of identify more with the Holden Caufield ish character my favorite character invasion is that right yeah at Tiffani gray so one three tweets will secrets and lies have differences from the Australian version absolutely yeah a lot of different a lot different they went there's was six episodes ours is ten and so there's characters and there's suspects that are explored you know more and more in depth than ours did you watch this series I didn't know would you have been affected playing the same kind of role that the guy did there I don't think so no gay Brian tweets what are some secrets and lies you told when you were younger the worst one was and I didn't come from money the worst I made up an injury and and the resulted in the hospitalization and it was all completely made up and I feel so I still think about it cuz my parents didn't have much money at all and I did I was so anti going to school I hated going to school that I'm a I faked this neck injury they put me in traction put me in the hospital for like a week or two weeks and it was completely made up and I still feel terrible about it you really hated school that much how did you say you got the neck injury well I think I made it up I think I said I got I incurred it there during martial arts Hawaii I was like 13 12 or 13 or to feel like being in traction people being in prison for no reason you know I was literally diagnosed with school itis I I'm one year I missed 36 days of school because I had like some cycle I didn't make you go I'm my mother I had I guess I had her in the palm of my hand maybe ever known one other quick question Asher o23 on Twitter what's your greatest fear and what's your dream role my greatest fear is any harm or coming to my children any any any kind of and is there a dream role you'd like to play some some famous you know I used to think maybe Charles Lindbergh I wanted to do a Limburg story so the steward did it yeah yeah but there hasn't been one in a long time but I don't know I guess because I think less about acting these days I don't really have my sights set on oh no Lindbergh would be a fascinating film since he at the end of his life lost all credibility was low Hitler him yeah but he was an American hero up until then and never were captivated by the ladies of the market napping yeah the kidnap it's a really interesting one kinda not so Nazi hey great man I love the series thanks to you good luck I'm such a hero you're such a hero of mine I'm so it's all that yeah absolutely absolutely I've watched you since I was in 85 your CNN show started 11 years old I think I've watched I watched almost you know Wow honor to have you with us I met you at the Howard Stern birthday and I'll see you at Craigs I'll see it grapes great restaurant you come in LA well by the way he developed a really bad knee while here and he's gonna go to the hospital for surgery so he won't have to go to that extra school meeting he's not even he hates school so much he doesn't go to PTA secrets and lies hair Sunday nights on ABC and you can find me on Twitter at Kings things and I'll see you next time

Channel: Larry King

Views: 29,797

Keywords: Ryan Phillippe, Larry King, ABC, drama, Juliette Lewis, Secrets & Lies, season finale, cast, Will Forte, MacGruber, SNL, Val Kilmer, Sequel, Kristen Wiig, Comedy, Cult Classic, Reese Witherspoon, Cruel Intentions, phillippe, ryan, larrykingcid

Id: 6xbLIucLthI

Length: 28min 47sec (1727 seconds)

Published: Thu Oct 05 2017