This week, Ira and Louis discuss highlights from the 97th Academy Awards, including Conan O’ Brien, Anora’s sweep, Adrien Brody, Kieran Culkin, the James Bond tribute, the Quincy Jones tribute, the Wicked opener, and Mikey Madison’s shocking win. Then, Brenda Song joins to discuss her love story with Macaulay Culkin and her new Netflix series Running Point.

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TRANSCRIPT

 

Ira Madison III [AD]

 

Ira Madison III And we are back for an all new episode of Keep It. It is the Oscars palooza, as they say. Famous expression no one says that.

 

Louis Virtel They should stop saying it if they’re saying it.

 

Ira Madison III I’m Ira Madison, the third.

 

Louis Virtel I’m Louis Virtel, and yes, this is our eighth Oscars episode of Keep It.

 

Ira Madison III Oh God.

 

Louis Virtel Put me in the grave. Put me in the friggin grave. But we’ll get into the ceremony, etc.. But first of all, we have to talk about Mr. Gene Hackman, who died this week at the age of 95. Except that’s not all. This situation, if you’re familiar with the. His wife is also found dead. She’s like 30 years younger than he was. And then their dog was also found dead. And initially we heard that there was no carbon monoxide involvement. But anyway, there should not be this much intrigue with the death of Gene Hackman, a 95 year old actor who could have just passed away, and we would have been all like, what a great life! But instead it is attached to this strange, intriguing tale. And it’s one of those things like that movie last year, anatomy of a fall, where truly all of the scenarios you could spell out feel like they’re wrong. Like, I don’t like what we’re going to find out whatever happened and I’m not going to believe it.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Let’s see. I feel bad that, like, everything was swirling through my brain. I was like, this is so hard. My situation. Like, that’s the first thing that hit me.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. No. Like, why would two people be dead and in different rooms, you know? Well, just like what is happening that they both dropped dead anyway. It’s. I’m not good at even speculating about this kind of thing, but I will say, Gene Hackman, if you just said straight up Gene Hackman is your favorite actor, I don’t think anybody could deny the legitimacy of that. 100 different roles that have nothing to do with each other. But he doesn’t. Unforgiven has nothing to do with what he does in Heartbreakers, or my favorite Gene Hackman movie, which is called twice in a lifetime, which is this family drama from the 80s where he’s married to Ellen Burstyn, and they have a sort of placid suburban existence. And then he starts getting with Ann-Margret. And who wouldn’t?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel And it’s just about like, divorce and families moving on and stuff. It is such an underrated movie. There’s a nominated performance from Amy Madigan in it, but that’s one of the rare cases of a movie where the worst performance in it is the nominee.

 

Ira Madison III I can’t name a few. Oh yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Because sometimes they just pick the loudest performance. I’m talking about you, Mark Wahlberg and The Departed.

 

Ira Madison III Talking about you, Jamie Lee Curtis.

 

Louis Virtel No kidding. Well, at least in that case, other people were nominated too.

 

Ira Madison III But yeah. Gene Hackman, I’m glad you started off with Heartbreakers, because that is that is cinema, by the way.

 

Louis Virtel The laughs are fucking real. And that Sigourney Weaver just said, actually, I’m going to go balls to the wall every once in a while. She’s clearly having a good time on screen. It happens about once every four rolls.

 

Ira Madison III When I think about a Gene Hackman film that I love, obviously I am a Superman fan. You know, I think like the first Superman.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, that does sound like you.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. You know, did you know I like those superheroes? The comic books?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. The funny. What’s wrong with you? I meant to ask that. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III On the funny side note, I missed reading those. Okay, I think that our nation was better when we had not just newspapers, but when I was reading Superman and Spider-Man. Just like every day in my grandmother’s newspaper. Okay. I was also reading Mary Worth seeing what that old bitch was up to.

 

Louis Virtel The family circus, one panel.

 

Ira Madison III You hate the family circus, don’t you?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. I mean, I’ve been read. All that stuff rhymes with orange. Like I can go back and back Brenda Starr.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, but Superman. And then obviously you’re right in that, like, all these roles are so unlike each other. Because if you want to start out with the beginning greats like The French Connection, you know, and you like, like The Poseidon Adventure, and then you jump to Young Frankenstein. I mean, in the conversation, these are films that happened within like four years of each other. And they’re all for different movies.

 

Louis Virtel No. And also, he’s somebody who, when he hit as an actor, the the string of completely unrelated awesome movies just began and didn’t stop, like he was in Bonnie and Clyde. And then not long after it was end the fabulous I Never Sang for My Father with Melvyn Douglas. Very underrated. Also a two time Oscar winning actor, and then The French Connection, which I think is still maybe the definitive action movie of the 70s. I mean, you know, you have things like Marathon Man and Jaws is a thriller, but like an action movie. I think you would still probably pick The French Connection as the best. It’s obviously a Best Picture winner too, but no, he’s he’s such a reliable on screen presence and also so exactly the epicenter of what we watched in the 70s. Just an intense actor who we watched him think on screen a lot. He was a very intense person. And you could you could register his just just extreme intellect as he would navigate a sea. And of course, I think his best movie is The Conversation, which is a 1974. Francis Ford Coppola also made Godfather Part two that year. But that is, and I say this with affection for my Girl Jane, include but the best paranoid thriller where he’s listening to a tape of a conversation again and again and again, and having to solve what it is, he has to basically figure out what’s going on in this conversation. Cindy Williams from Laverne and Shirley is in it, and you are right there with him. It’s a detective story that’s very unusual. And every time I carry audio equipment around, like, I’m going to go fly somewhere and I need to carry my audio equipment for this podcast, I feel like Gene Hackman in the conversation.

 

Ira Madison III If I’m thinking about one of my favorite Gene Hackman votes, I mean, it’s probably The Royal Tenenbaums version, of course. Yes. You know, I mean that when that movie first came out, the the introduction to, you know, some people had seen Bottle Rocket, obviously, but I mean, the introduction to Wes Anderson into culture with that movie is just so, like, unparalleled for just like a new director with a, you know, very bold idea, but also just a visual style of his own. And I think that when that movie came out, you know, that became so many people’s favorite film immediately and still is to this day.

 

Louis Virtel And also talk about a director who stuck to an esthetic. You mean he said, I’m going to give it to you again, and here comes the guy. And by the way, I’m back again.

 

Ira Madison III West Anderson brings it to you every ball. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. And also just there’s something about the pauses in Wes Anderson’s work and, like, what he gets out of actors. Like, you just get a new sort of droll, whimsical quality from from performers you didn’t think would otherwise give that like Gwyneth in that movie, is unlike anything she did in any other movie.

 

Ira Madison III Now I’m going to give you another film of hers that I love, which is The firm. Because, you know, I love Tom cruise.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, yeah. Right.

 

Ira Madison III And two films that you might not expect from me. But my grandmother was a big Western fan. And so I have seen The Quick and the dead oh, so many times. And also Unforgiven.

 

Louis Virtel Unforgiven? No, I think I did a list recently. You can find this video on our YouTube channel. The ten Best Oscar Winning Performances of the 90s. And I for, as a special mention, had to bring up Gene Hackman at number 11 in Unforgiven. But, Wolf, I mean, like half the power in that movie is what he brings to that role. The dastardly nuns.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I mean, Yellowstone got nothing on that, but I will say I missed that sort of early 90s era of cowboy movies like the Renaissance for cowboy films. I feel like they were really good, and we really haven’t captured that again in American cinema.

 

Louis Virtel Or even really revisited those, you know?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. I feel like when we did revisit cowboy films, it was sort of it was not really goofy like that, like the mid 2000 cowboy films. They were very what are we doing here?

 

Louis Virtel Also, there was even an all lady cowboy movie and then that.

 

Ira Madison III Girls.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. God damn it, you knew about bad girls? I was all ready to educate. We made Andy McDowell do all sorts of crazy things.

 

Ira Madison III Bad girls, Unforgiven. Like. Like these movies were on display on Bobby’s charades shelf. Okay. These were the voices that raised me.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Okay. I actually wish we got more of a moment about him at the Oscars. Something more extended. But this leads into my problem. Several people were disturbed with the In Memoriam this year at the Oscars, and just who they said didn’t make it, like Michelle Trachtenberg, who just passed away tragically over the past week.

 

Ira Madison III That was nasty word.

 

Louis Virtel No. But I’ll say this, though, is she really a movie actress? I mean, you got to draw the line somewhere.

 

Ira Madison III Harriet the Spy, honey. 17 again?

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Two films. Agreed.

 

Ira Madison III Children were watching these movies. Okay. That’s right. Weddings, graduations and funerals in the other room. So disturbed.

 

Louis Virtel Right. The adults could grieve on their own. I want to give a shout out to Jim Abrams, the writer and director of airplane! And the Naked Gun, who is not in the In Memoriam reel. I mean, can you get any higher in comedy than those two franchises? I mean, like truly the the nipples ultra of comedy, I would say airplane is the undisputed, most revered comedy of the past 50 years. And I know there are. Annie Hall stands out there and I will fight them.

 

Ira Madison III The new plus ultra, monsieur. Oh, we will be on here.

 

Louis Virtel Come back to school. Yes, dad. I go to the University of Iowa. Yes, it is a school of the state.

 

Ira Madison III Speaking of Woody Allen, you know our girl. What do you think of another woman? The Gene Hackman film?

 

Louis Virtel Oh, excuse me, another Woman is my favorite Woody Allen movie.

 

Ira Madison III Okay.

 

Louis Virtel It is a very short movie. It’s like 78 minutes or something. It stars Gena Rowlands, and you get into her. She’s with Gene Hackman in the movie. It’s sort of a minor role for him, but it’s.

 

Ira Madison III Very the conversation that she overhears something.

 

Louis Virtel And everything is overheard in this movie. Yeah, that’s the whole drama. Mia Farrow is in it. But my girl Sandy Dennis has a two minute role in that, and she smokes Gena Rowlands in that scene.

 

Ira Madison III Oh. Closing night

 

Louis Virtel I think of them as fighting just in general. Great movie. Literally my favorite Woody Allen movie. You should watch it.

 

Ira Madison III All right, well, we’ve got the Oscars to get to. And we also have the fantastic Brenda Song joining us this week.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my God, what a ball of fire. Much like Barbara Stanwyck nominated in 1941.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, too bad we interviewed her before. Kieran Culkin, her brother in law, won his Oscar this week. Cause I want to know what’s going on in that family with all these requests for children.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. Do you just ask for that? It’s like. Yeah. You submitted in writing, I guess.

 

Ira Madison III That’s like the contract scene in 50 Shades of Gray.

 

Louis Virtel Oh my God. Remember that franchise? Remember Rita Ora?

 

Ira Madison III Every day.

 

Louis Virtel Right.

 

Ira Madison III All right, well, we’ll be right back with more. Keep it.

 

Ira Madison III [AD]

 

Ira Madison III Sunday was the 97th Oscars officially closing out one of the most controversial awards seasons in years. Hollywood’s biggest night was hosted by Conan O’Brien and dominated by an aura. There were tributes, obnoxious speeches, and musical numbers. A few of them good. And now we’ll get into all of it. I guess starting with the host with the most.

 

Louis Virtel Miss Conan O’Brien, the reddest, palest girl in the game I love. It’s her versus the Wendy’s logo. One of them can win. You know, first of all, I just want to say I love Conan. I don’t think there’s anything a such thing as working in late night, not loving Conan O’Brien. I think something specific I love about him in the case of hosting the Oscars is, and this has always been true about him. He is not for everyone like he is. I think he is smart, silly in a way that registers to a lot of people as just weird or quote unquote. They don’t get it. But watching him, just the high level of intelligence he brings and sincerity and of course, that like, well, of kind of Irish darkness that’s at the heart of how he performs. All that together. I love seeing on the Oscar stage. And apparently he had been testing out this material for weeks. He literally even went to Ackbar, which is the big gay bar on the east side of LA that I ran. I’ve been to 25,000 times. In fact, I probably met Ira at Ackbar. He tried it out at a stand up night there, so he cared. What, like the queens were thinking about this monologue.

 

Ira Madison III Oh, okay. Come on. Conan. Yeah. No. What did he do that learn the words.

 

Louis Virtel But he got up there and did. Ava. Max. Kings and queens. And then said, by the way, I’m hosting the Oscars. Let me let me rehearse this.

 

Ira Madison III Obviously, I’m a huge Conan O’Brien fan. I feel like for me, this ceremony, for being such a controversial awards season, like one of the most controversial in forever, right? Thanks to our homegirl Karla Sofia Gascon.

 

Louis Virtel Who arrived at the Oscars and I believe her own lime scooter. I don’t know how she got there. Wasn’t a Netflix car girl?

 

Ira Madison III On a motorcycle just like Lana Del Rey or drama.

 

Louis Virtel I know, but like. Like the Great Gonzo. Just like jumping into the ceremony.

 

Ira Madison III Weirdly, a lot of the ceremony just felt very understated to me. Which feels weird. I felt largely bored by the Oscars this year.

 

Louis Virtel Maybe it’s just because of the buildup. We expected a lot of, you know, things to go awry, fires to have to be put out. And it was a largely pretty controlled space outside of a couple of very long speeches. But I’m going to say elsewhere about Conan O’Brien’s hosting. Do you know what I love about him? He is a very set up and punchline joke writer. Like, he would be a great Weekend Update writer, for example. And I liked the formality of that. That said, he would begin the jokes every time by being like, oh, and I love to Nora and I love the brutalist, and I wish there was something a little bit spicier in the set up for the jokes that didn’t feel so we’re just getting to the punchline.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I think it’s always hard when you do one of these. It’s sort of like we talked about this with Nikki Glaser right at the Globes. It’s just sort of you start this and you sort of have to run through everything that’s nominated. You have to address things like a bullet point. Yeah. And I know I really enjoyed when Jimmy did it.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. No. And generally speaking, I liked Conan’s jokes a lot. I even sympathized with he just left in a joke about baby Girl that was almost certainly written months ago, you know, when that was still in the conversation, because he liked it so much. And working with Jimmy on the two Oscars preceding this. I know that feeling about that joke is so hilarious, but that whatever movie we’re talking about didn’t make up. We had pages and pages of Saltburn jokes, and that movie obviously did not make it into the Oscars conversation. But you just wanted something about, you know, humping the ground or whatever happened in that movie.

 

Ira Madison III I don’t remember that movie.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, yeah, not at all.

 

Ira Madison III It was in it. No.

 

Louis Virtel Jacob Elordi, girl, where are you? It’s time to come back.

 

Ira Madison III I’m excited for the sequel. Pepper. Freeze!

 

Louis Virtel Oh, my. That’s your wordplay.

 

Ira Madison III What’s the. What’s the antonym to burn?

 

Louis Virtel Noel Coward, you are not chill.

 

Ira Madison III Pepper. Chill beverage.

 

Louis Virtel I watch that every ABC Saturday morning for years.

 

Ira Madison III But no, I mean, I obviously sympathize with the Whole procedure of trying to, you know, make this Oscars. I feel like not just a controversy with everything going on, but it’s also still after the fires, you know, there’s still this sort of need to be so respectful. I feel like people don’t want to be a little bit too spicy. Yeah, and the Oscars certainly aren’t the Globes right?

 

Louis Virtel No, there’s little opportunity to be that irreverent. One other thing I wanted to criticize lightly is that so Conor had a big part of the monologue where he was very sincere, talking about the how reliable the Oscars are and that like for years and years, we’ll have the ceremony, you know, even though it seems to perf Louis whatever. And of course, we know my feelings about calling the Oscars superfluous. And meanwhile, the Super Bowl is like we consider it like an essential human event.

 

Ira Madison III Moving on, at least Trump did in front of this.

 

Louis Virtel No fucking joke. I mean, you you say that. You say that facetiously, but I am glad he doesn’t have the instinct to come. But so coming into this big, sincere section and then afterwards he did this musical number called I Won’t Waste Your Time, and my problem with it was I thought the number was really funny, except the numbers should have been really long and the part preceding it should have been briefer. He should have wasted our time even longer, and I think that would have been the more agonizing it got, the more the funnier it would have gotten. Especially when you consider in retrospect how many people wasted our time later in the ceremony.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, well, we could talk about the Emilia Pérez of it all now and just get it out of the way. First of all, the jokes about Karla Sophia Gascon went a little easy.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, though I don’t really know how you do that. Yeah, like, how hard can you go into the things she specifically referenced, like. I mean, I’m just saying there’s if the words George Floyd came out of Conan’s mouth, I mean, what would we do? I mean, I don’t know what I would do with myself.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I think there were there was sort of a reticence to touch on some things. I mean, I feel like you could have made, you know, a joke about no other lad being her favorite movie or something. Yeah. You know. Right. But yeah, there was just it was so interesting seeing a joke made about her. And then the camera wasn’t focusing on her at all. Right. So it’s like, is she here? And then you get a close up of her and she’s doing like a like, thank you. Like, I’m just. I’m just here to have a good time. And then when he did make another joke about her, I love how she, like, leaned into someone and whispered, like, I don’t even think she knew what he was saying.

 

Louis Virtel No, that was when he was like, oh, and Carl, if you want to tweet about me, my name is Jimmy Kimmel, and she appeared to be leaning over to someone to ask what he said, or maybe who Jimmy was. I don’t know what was happening there, but she didn’t. It didn’t look like it registered for her.

 

Ira Madison III But that wasn’t at the Oscars she was tweeting about.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, that’s probably true. Yeah. Oh no no, no, I think it was maybe three ago. I could be wrong. It’s it’s it could be. It could be my favorite part of that joke though. And this is why I’m so glad Conan got to host the Oscars. He made the joke about her, about her publicist saying the F-word 475 times or something in reference. I guess Anora uses the F-word that many times. And then Conor does an impression of the publicist where he screams, what did you tweet at the cartoonish ness of it? That is something that many other Oscar hosts wouldn’t give you. Like, that’s not Kimmel. That’s not Jon Stewart, that’s not Chris Rock. So that silliness I loved seeing, I.

 

Ira Madison III Just love seeing his face like he makes me comfortable. You know, I love I’m watching Conan O’Brien every night. That was a late night show that I always tuned into.

 

Louis Virtel When we are at Kimmel, we can’t even pick a favorite bit he did in that show. Like, I personally love when he would do the fake TV channels that he found on the NBC satellite. And and there was one called the Clive Clemens Inappropriate Response Channel, where you would just watch scenarios where someone says something inappropriate, like a dad and his son are talking, the son’s like, dad, check this out. It’s a magazine of, I don’t know, Fishing. And then the dad goes, check this out. And it’s like near naked guys playing volleyball. And it’s just. And then you see a guy go, inappropriate. Like what? Who thought of this?

 

Ira Madison III It’s so stupid. By the way, the amount of efforts and Nora be hard pressed to know if they were talking about fuck or faggot.

 

Louis Virtel There is a scene where the word faggot is said 11 times.

 

Ira Madison III She says it so many times in that end scene. And you know what? That is real acting. Okay? Because I know she’s an ally.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right.

 

Ira Madison III You can’t be a ghost face and not be an ally.

 

Louis Virtel I was rewatching the scenes and that she really does act the shit out of those scenes when she’s unmasked as the killer in scream.

 

Ira Madison III When Courteney Cox, like, has the gun on her and she’s, like, pleading for her life. And then she’s like, sell something, you know, like like, do we like, cried like a bitch or something? Like. And then she slabs her into the stuff like that. In some of the best acting that’s been in the scream franchise.

 

Louis Virtel No, I completely agree. I mean, those movies aren’t as revered as the first two, but the acting in that scene does hold up to that. Also, we should talk about Sean Baker winning four Oscars in a single night, which has and for a single film which has never been done. Walt Disney won four Oscars once upon a time for whatever weird ass fucking shorts he was doing in the 50s. And then Bong Joon Ho won three Oscars. And then the fourth goes to international film, which means it goes to the country and not him, which is a little bit of a technicality.

 

Ira Madison III But speaking of international film, baby, I saw a clip of you on Instagram from like, oh, Brazil’s Instagram or whatever, and it was the funniest thing I’ve seen.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, here’s what happened. So I was at on the red carpet at the Oscars with Guillermo from Jimmy Kimmel. He does that bit every year where he, like, bothers people on the red carpet and does tequila shots with them. So I was the writer supervising that. I happened to be on the carpet. Next to press from Brazil. And I just turned. I just turned to them and I go, oh, wait, are you from Brazil? And then they turn and they say, yes. And I said, I love, I love Fernanda Torres. I need her to win this year. She was amazing. And I’m still here. And I love her mom, who’s in the movie. Fernanda Montenegro, who was nominated in the 90s for Central Station. Suddenly they have turned a camera on me. I literally am just speaking to this woman. And then. And then, by the way, I haven’t said my name. 20 minutes later, my entire Instagram is filled with Brazilian flags. I’m telling you, I’m smothered in Brazil right now.

 

Ira Madison III Now you have to come to Brazil.

 

Louis Virtel I know right, I get I. And by the way, I get the thrill of being told to come to Brazil. I wanted to be like, I can’t believe I wasn’t at that Madonna Copacabana concert she did with, like, a 55 million fans or whatever were there or something. Anyway, Brazilian people do fandom right.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Not only are they obsessed with Fernanda Torres, who unfortunately did not win Best Actress the other day. But they literally had, like, plaster cast figures up for like, parades in the street, artwork of her and her mother. It’s like we don’t have anything like that here, and we’re allegedly obsessed with actors. Why are we not this avid? Like, why are we so inhibited?

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Well, you know, I we see big things in her future. You know, she’s definitely going to voice a villain in Despicable Me six. And I’ll be there opening day because I’m a crew head.

 

Louis Virtel This is news to me.

 

Ira Madison III I love the Despicable Me films. The minions films a little annoying.

 

Louis Virtel They are. I’ve only seen the one minions film, I believe, called minions, where Sandra Bullock is a villain in it.

 

Ira Madison III Yes.

 

Louis Virtel And Jon Hamm. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. My favorite thing is how they do explain away that the minions were out of commission during World War two.

 

Louis Virtel I do not need to know this timeline.

 

Ira Madison III They follow villains around. It’s like, well, did Hitler have minions? He did not.

 

Louis Virtel They should not have taken a hiatus during that point. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III The other thing about Emilia Pérez was they might have made Karla Sophia Gascon walk to the Oscars ceremony herself, but they sure piled in a lot of people either involved in the movie or from Netflix, because every time Emilia Pérez was mentioned as nominated for anything, I heard the loudest applause in the theater. It was just like, okay, it’s 900 people here representing Netflix.

 

Louis Virtel Well, I mean, of course Zoe Saldana ended up winning. You know what I’m surprised is not meme memed to death. Zoe Saldana looking to camera and going mummy like this. So me. But also El Mal won best original song, which means the director of the movie, Jacques Audiard, won an Oscar for that. Among his many nominations, I was the only one he won for. But the two main writers of that song went up there. One of them is a startlingly handsome man, and then this other woman is talking about the song and then just starts singing it and then correct me if I’m wrong. She wanted everyone to sing along with her. Girl, we don’t know the words to that song.

 

Ira Madison III What?

 

Louis Virtel And then, by the way, nobody reported on this. They. She does that. The guy she’s with leaves the stage. He’s like, hundreds of feet ahead of her. I’ve never seen two people disperse on a stage before.

 

Ira Madison III Also was a jock who was like, wrap it up.

 

Louis Virtel Just right.

 

Ira Madison III There because she thinks so. What’s it’s like rap it. I don’t know what that French man looks like. To be honest, I tried to avoid. I tried to avoid most contact with the French, to be honest. They they have great PR. Okay.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, yeah.

 

Ira Madison III All right. Actually, it’s the Italians who have great PR because we know that the French are rude, you know, but Italians are a little bit ruder. But I’m actually going to go back and say that the French extremely annoying. I’m sorry that on that stage, I have never wanted the hook from the Apollo to come out quicker and pull these people off stage. Not only was she singing from Emilia Pérez and then she besmirches Sondheim.

 

Louis Virtel Wait, what do you mean?

 

Ira Madison III At the end, when she was like. Emilia, Emilia, Emilia. I was like, she was doing Maria.

 

Louis Virtel Wow. Of all the nerve.

 

Ira Madison III That was. That was low down. It was disgusting. As you will be hearing from Stephen Sondheim’s Wire as soon as I contact them and tell them that they need to sue.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Right. I’m sure they’ll listen to you. Okay, but these are some uncontrolled moments in an otherwise pretty controlled ceremony, I think. Do you know what really surprised me? Kieran Culkin when he won for a real pain. And that was the obvious choice of the night. Like there was no use betting on anybody else in that category winning. A lot of times when people give like 11 or 12 speeches in a row over award season, the last one at the Oscars is the most pretentious or the least fun or the most like. Let me just thank everybody who needs to be thanked. Kieran Culkin speech at the Oscars. Definitely his best won all season, and I can’t think of another speech where his performance on stage was as important as the one as the person in the audience he was talking to. He was talking to his wife, and he made this joke about how she said if he won an Oscar, she would then give him a fourth kid. She was so shocked, clearly, and enjoying it. And that was an unusually classic moment for the Oscars. I thought that was like a really, really memorable moment.

 

Ira Madison III You only get moments like that when Whitney’s on stage because she’ll be talking to anybody. Whitney Houston.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I went with that. Like that time Natalie Cole won that American Music Award, and she pointed out in the crowd. That’s one of the best moments ever.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, Kieran, it was fun. You know, I think he is. He is the epitome of mixing pop rocks and soda. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, he’s a little he’s a little shaky.

 

Ira Madison III He’s just up there. And also Macaulay is kind of the same. I don’t know if you saw him on the red carpet, but he like the poses and like, just like his goofiness on the red carpet, I just I love the Culkin’s.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, yeah. Then there aren’t is Bonnie Bedelia from the Die Hard movies?

 

Ira Madison III And also their other brother. Another ghost face.

 

Louis Virtel I know it’s confusing. Yeah, it all rubs together.

 

Ira Madison III Unfortunately, he wasn’t one of the better ones, but his death was very funny when Emma Roberts was like, no, bitch, you’re not part of this.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, she actually, it was very novel to cast her as a ghost face. But when the turn comes, you’re like, oh, yeah, of course you’re a killer. I’m an idiot. You know who I want to give a shout out to? Divine Joy Randolph, who presented to Best Supporting Actress. She really was tasked with something difficult where she basically did what we used to call Fab Five, or the five former winners present to the five nominees and say something you know, sincere about their performances or whatever. She did it all single handedly. So she addressed all five of the nominees while looking at the teleprompter and also looking at them and then presenting the award to Zoe Saldana. Now, Robert Downey Jr did a similar thing for supporting actor, but I found that to be a little chummy and uncomfortable somehow. I thought she really handled that with some grace.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, well, I mean, Robert Downey Jr, not handling something with grace isn’t very shocking. Even though I love him.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, right. And he is still committed to these bootcut slacks. He has said I am going to swim in the pants on stage.

 

Ira Madison III And the and the sunglasses.

 

Louis Virtel Right. No, he really is like a celebrity from, like, 1961. Like hanging out with latter day Cary Grant.

 

Ira Madison III Now I have a question.

 

Louis Virtel Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Do you think David watched all the movies?

 

Louis Virtel Absolutely not. Well, you know what? She is a huge movie fan, and I’ve seen her on TCM. Talk about how much she loves desk set and stuff. So that means she’s got. She cares about movies.

 

Ira Madison III She did.

 

Louis Virtel I wouldn’t be surprised if she saw all of them. But at the same time, I don’t know that I thought those opinions were necessarily all hers.

 

Ira Madison III I think she saw the brutalist because, like, she had to see the brutalist, you know? But I don’t think she wants a complete unknown.

 

Louis Virtel It’s a good question. I keep going back and forth about what I think about MonicaBarbaro in that movie. I’m like, she was Joan Baez, but she wasn’t really. Anyway, just to know that that’s still on my mind. But let’s talk about a complete unknown.

 

Ira Madison III Well, let’s get into your thoughts on a complete unknown. When we come back with more Oscars on  Keep It.

 

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Ira Madison III All right, we are back with more Oscars chat. And we were last talking about a complete unknown. I just want to say that obviously Timmy wasn’t really going to win. You know he got the SAG, which was great. But I just think that his his swag has just been dialed up so much during this award season that he won in a different way.

 

Louis Virtel Well, he like Colman Domingo I think this year and now Cynthia Erivo this year was there. You will get it someday. Oscars, you know what I mean? Like, guaranteed it will happen eventually, but. And I apologize if I’ve said this before. Even though I like him as Bob Dylan, you know he’s capable of way more than this. Like his, his wins should be more special than the performance he gave in this movie. I mean, honestly, the world doesn’t demand that much complexity from him. Like he’s meant to have mystique more than anything. The movie is called The Complete Unknown, so I was happy Adrian won because I think Adrian is the best performance in the category. I thought the brutalist was underrated. I would have voted for that for Best Picture personally. But now let us please get to the speech of Adrien Brody. Because girl.

 

Ira Madison III If you thought the brutal list was.

 

Louis Virtel Long. Yeah, bitch, talk about needing an intermission, motherfucker. I was so shocked. But also, let me just say and I have I cannot do cringe anything. I hate cringe comedy. I don’t want to watch. You’re a viral, awkward video of somebody.

 

Ira Madison III Just say you hate The Office, Lewis.

 

Louis Virtel I’ll go into that some other day, But watching this man go on and tell the orchestra to stop playing because, quote unquote, he’s done this before and then go on and then somehow have less to say after he tells them to shut up. Almost offensive. And also. But what I want to say about him is actors never change. Please stay this way. I want you to be insufferable. I want you to be Sean Penn, standing in front of me, telling me what the real war is or whatever I want it. It was out of touch in such an old fashioned way that I expect from maybe a Dustin Hoffman Best Actor speech or something, you know, condescending, strange, going for poetry, coming up with very little. And I sympathize with Adrien Brody in a way, because do you know what kind of rolls Adrien Brody ended up doing after he won the Oscar? And then, you know, Tina Fey said he was a terrible SNL host, sort of squandered his reputation. Well, 12 years ago. And I found this out via Twitter. Thank you to Carter Nixon and at Curley McNulty for bringing this up. He was in a Rob Schneider movie called Inappropriate Comedy. It’s it’s one of those movies where it says unrated on the cover. It’s him. It is Michelle Rodriguez. It is Lindsay Lohan and Adrien Brody, and he plays a character named flirty Harry, which is a gay parody of dirty Harry. And he says, go ahead, make me gay in the movie. This bitch was down low near the bottom, desperate.

 

Ira Madison III But you know, that was right before he met Grand Budapest Hotel. You know, so he, like, he made a little comeback then.

 

Louis Virtel And also Wes was always in his corner. And, you know, Wes loves making little corners, so that was cute. But Adrien Brody, I’m just saying, like, once you get the opportunity to prove after 20 years, you still have it and deserve an Oscar. I could see wanting to be a little self-important in that moment when you are literally a fucking costar of Rob Schneider 12 years ago. Because, you know, Deuce Bigalow didn’t win at Cannes. You know what I’m saying?

 

Ira Madison III Also, remember that, like for our History Channel mini series, he did Whodini.

 

Louis Virtel Oh my God, yes. What did we learn about him other than he was Hungarian? And, you know, a little spooky.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Chains and whips excite him? No.

 

Louis Virtel And then he had two hit songs over the past. We had the Dua Lipa and the Eminem. Houdini.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. All right. I was very happy with an award winning best. Okay. Yeah. And let me say why I like fun. You know, I like I think I was talking about this last week. Like, I like films that just feel like they’re films that people enjoyed. People wanted to see, you know, people didn’t feel like they had to see it out of obligation, which is how I felt about the brutalist.

 

Louis Virtel I concur, And also it’s like it bends a lot of genres really successfully, like when it’s a romance, even though it’s the set up arrangement and she’s a dancer and then she gets involved with this Vanya guy, and then it’s arranged and then it turns into this caper. It plays with all those genres really successfully, and it feels totally epic, not just because of the runtime, but because of what she goes through that she has this. I can only compare her to Marissa, to me and my Cousin Vinny. That kind of like in your face screaming, hilarious, emotional kind of character. And even though I didn’t like the kind of White Night quality of Europe resolve at the end of the movie, I did like how you think this movie is only about her having a soul, and at the end, this other guy emerges who also has a soul, and that was pleasurable. And also, if we’re talking about the way that you you choose best picture, which is you rank all your choices. I cannot imagine putting it below four on the list of the nominees. You know what I mean? Like you, you would have to put it in the top.

 

Ira Madison III And if you’re talking about that when from Mikey Madison to that’s what people vote for. You know, I mean, people vote for a performance that just sort of feels like it carries the film, you know? And I think that there’s been a lot of talk, annoying talk about how, you know, her beating Demi Moore was just like the plot of the substance, which I’m like, sure, if you understand just the bass line of the substance. Being a younger woman replaced her.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. Margaret Qualley has dark hair, too. I mean, what.

 

Ira Madison III Okay, the actual plot of the movie is that she becomes Margaret Qualley. So actually, I feel like some most interpretations of the substance don’t even seem to understand what the fucking substance is about, because the movie is about her internalized shame and her actually becoming this woman and continuing to want to be this woman and fucking up herself in the process. You know, like it’s very telling that so many people skip that scene. One of the best scenes on the substance, actually, where she is listening to the voicemails of the man that she’s supposed to be going on the date with, and he’s so excited to see her, but she can’t stand how she looks. You know, and I think that is the core of the substance. And too many people boil it down to she’s been replaced by this younger woman. And, you know, I’m like, now they want to come after my girl Mikey Madison because she beat Demi. And I’m like, you know what? Demi should have known she was going to lose to a to a hooker role. Okay, because Julia Roberts took the globe over her when she was nominated for ghost.

 

Louis Virtel Oh my God. Well, thank you for doing that math for everybody.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Okay, so, Kevin, who should have known?

 

Louis Virtel I want to say I feel like for Demi Moore, the nomination should have been the win. I just I personally cannot imagine watching that movie back to back with Anora and thinking Demi Moore deserves the Oscar more than Mikey Madison does. Mikey Madison dominates the movie more than Demi Moore. Does she do me basically gets half the movie, you know. And it’s also not a lot of dialog to play with. Also, I’m sorry I’m annoyed with the fandom for the substance, the amount of people being like, oh, I was really wrapped up in the narrative of of Demi Moore. Really. Well, that’s not the same thing as the performance. And also, by the way, there’s every all the actresses here have narratives. So maybe go and Wikipedia them and see what they’ve been up to. Because by the way, Fernanda Torres should have won that Oscar and like watch the hundreds of fucking roles she’s been in or however many dozens she’s been. And she’s a tremendous actress. It just feels like, in a way, people only humanized Demi Moore in this race and didn’t think of any of the other actors as necessarily deserving because they haven’t been through as much as Demi Moore has. And it’s like, you don’t sound like you’re even educated about these people.

 

Ira Madison III It also goes back to a thing that’s very annoying about the very basic. This is just like the plot of the substance things, right? Because, I mean, when she won the Golden Globe and everyone was very excited and we were obviously moved by her speech. And if you’ve read her memoir, which is fucking amazing. We love that memoir.

 

Louis Virtel Her life was downright bracing. I do not mean to downplay the the hardships that Demi Moore has faced.

 

Ira Madison III Yes, but this is another classic example of an actor that we love. We really want them to get it because we love them, because we have like familiarity with them. Like, you know, it’s giving them. Sandra Bullock winning for the Blind Side, you know, and it’s it’s not the same as you know Julia Roberts winning for Erin Brockovich. Like that was a fucking role.

 

Louis Virtel Oh I mean, the way she tackles dialog in that movie is unbelievable. And also people really vote for an unforgettable character. Yeah. You know, which Nora definitely is.

 

Ira Madison III And unfortunately, I don’t think the character of Elizabeth Sparkle is unforgettable, because I honestly think that the movie plot itself is very basic.

 

Louis Virtel And also I just feel like the star of the movie is the direction. Yeah, more so than any one acting moment. You know, again, I make a broken record comparing it to a music video, but it’s it’s the sensation of a music video, just like a well drawn concept.

 

Ira Madison III Also, there’s this idea that the Academy doesn’t really appreciate genre films, and that’s why she didn’t win. And I’m like, I don’t think that’s it at all.

 

Louis Virtel Well, also, it’s like, maybe they don’t appreciate horror as much as they should, but is it possible that people she was up against were just amazing? It reminds me of the Barbie conversation last year. It’s like you guys are complaining this movie isn’t getting more, but I’m not hearing any intelligence quotient about the other films. Like, it sounds like you didn’t pay attention to those and you just paid attention to this one.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Also, a different man did it much better.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Which did not win makeup. Correct?

 

Ira Madison III No it did.

 

Louis Virtel So that is a bit upsetting.

 

Ira Madison III There’s a lot of hate in the world now.

 

Louis Virtel Good to know. That’s also like a Bruce Springsteen lyric. Okay.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I think it’s from Nebraska.

 

Ira Madison III What else is going on at the Oscars to wrap this up? Oh, weird timing with the announcement that Jeff Bezos is going to get his greasy hands all over the James Brown franchise and then doing this right tribute to the Broccolis because, man, it felt like a eulogy.

 

Louis Virtel Well, it was just downright confusing also. So Barbara Broccoli, the famed James Bond producer, won the Governor’s Award or the Irving Thalberg Award this year. And so I guess that’s why they set up this little thing where Lisa from black Bank performed Live and Let Die, a version I didn’t care for, even though she sounded pretty good.

 

Ira Madison III Fergie was better.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I forgot all about that. Thank you. And but also, by the way, Paul McCartney is still with us, and I feel like I see him in the news all the time. Was he not available anyway? And then Doja Cat did a Shirley Bassey impression, which was a pretty good impression for three seconds, and then we could have moved on from that.

 

Ira Madison III I appreciated her Instagram though, where she was like, listen, I pushed myself, I had fun, a bitch had some flats.

 

Louis Virtel I love the Instagram post. The girl is funny. I mean to say the girl is funny. And then Ray performed Skyfall. Now we definitely still have Adele in our midst. I mean, that was that was a tough ask, Ansel, even though she is a brilliant singer.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, I guess it’s just promo for that song Born Again that they have. Lisa, Doja Cat and Ray. But I love. When they were first announced as performing at the Oscars, it was reported that they were going to be singing that song, which was weird. And then it was, oh no, they’re going to sing some other tunes and it’s okay, when are we going to get Vincent Boone out here singing a song from from I Don’t know, singing in the rain? Yeah. No, let’s just try it. Do you think about the Oscars for me, too? Is that whenever they decide that they’re going to tribute something because it’s an anniversary. It always feels so weird. Like I thought we were going somewhere else when Conan O’Brien was like the anniversary of kill Bill. And then it was just, here’s Daryl Hannah. And I was like, oh, okay.

 

Louis Virtel Also, right. And also why Daryl Hannah for I mean, I understand she is Al Driver, but she’s like the sixth.

 

Ira Madison III Lead in that. Uma was busy, right?

 

Louis Virtel Right. It makes you feel like uma was busy. Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Also, the Quincy Jones tribute was lovely.

 

Louis Virtel Okay. Except interesting. I mean, like, not that I don’t want two songs from The Wiz at the Oscars. We obviously got Cynthia Erivo at the beginning, which, by the way, fabulous. The Ariana Grande night over the rainbow, Cynthia doing home, and then the two of them doing Defying Gravity together. Lovely. And then Queen Latifah performed. He’s on down the road. She would have maybe been my sixth choice for that, I don’t know.

 

Ira Madison III You don’t think she brought down the house?

 

Louis Virtel No. It may have been her last holiday.

 

Ira Madison III If I’m being honest. Someone set her up.

 

Louis Virtel You know what? It wasn’t that joyful of noise to me. I have to say, remember that movie, Dolly Parton?

 

Ira Madison III Of course I remember that movie. Dolly Parton, R.I.P. to her husband, who we never knew.

 

Louis Virtel Who I was shocked existed. I’m sorry. Yeah. You know my theory about this, which is all very few people have stories about Dolly Parton’s now late husband. And one of them is Jane Fonda, who told a story about how Dolly made him laugh so hard. He fell over in his chair or something. And I listen to that story, and I thought Jane Fonda would lie for Dolly Parton. I think she knows this is all fucking made up. She would help her.

 

Ira Madison III You think there was this time where they were like, well, we gotta say, is that right?

 

Louis Virtel Yeah. It’s like. It’s like, who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf? Yeah. The kid has to die eventually. But yes, to that man Quickly to get back to Sean Baker. Crazy to see somebody with four Oscars in their hands looking like, you know, Adele at the Grammys or Lauryn Hill at the Grammys or whatever. And I could not believe how well-prepared he was for every single speech. He was really impressive throughout the night. I did not expect that level of just clarity. Loved him standing up for movie theaters, which everybody in that room jumped up in approval for. Because if you saw the brutalist at home, you probably did not understand why the brutalist was at the Oscars.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Isn’t streaming yet.

 

Louis Virtel I don’t know, I mean, like, imagine watching that on a plane.

 

Ira Madison III I’ll finally check it out. I’m telling you, I’ve seen it. Sean Baker I absolutely love and I just feel like I loved him shouting on Film Independent. I just love this spirit of an independent film winning because we’re in such a film era right now, where the industry kind of sucks. You know, it sucks for writers, it sucks for actors. It’s shit’s not being made. Corporations are running shit. Everything feels like it’s being, you know, focus groups or algorithms at this point to death, right? And a true independent filmmaker who is making movies that he wants to make. Getting funding to make movies that he wants to make and not trying to like he has said in interviews, he’s not trying to get this Oscar so that he can go off and make a bunch of money making a marvel movie, you know, like he’s going to make another Sean Baker film. And that’s what I love.

 

Louis Virtel It’s like, I’m happy for Chloe Zhao that she got the opportunity to make whatever that superhero thing was. But at the same time, can we let the Chloé Zhao’s be Chloé Zhao? Like, can this not be like a livable life?

 

Ira Madison III Well, she’s going to do Buffy, so let’s let her do that first.

 

Louis Virtel Okay? All right. I do trust her. I do trust.

 

Ira Madison III Her. Anyway, I just I love Sean Baker, and I love him shouting out the sex worker community and Mikey Madison doing the same. And you know, there are annoying comments about it online. People being like, he just used the community for this movie or whatever, and I’m like, watch a single fucking Sean Baker film, okay? He cares about people on the fringes of society in every movie.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, no. He gives you unforgettable characters every time I get it. I mean, it’s just so crazy that Red rocket got nothing like that. Like Simon. Rex absolutely should have been in the Oscars conversation that year. And the fact that Sean got his comeuppance this year, with so much praise for this movie is at least a bit just.

 

Ira Madison III By the way, someone did comment on our YouTube that the actress from Tangerine, the actors, were not allowed to be a part of the Hollywood Reporter roundtable, I guess, which is why The Hollywood Reporter at the time wasn’t excluding them.

 

Louis Virtel I see. Okay, good to know.

 

Ira Madison III But I want the real team who didn’t allow them.

 

Louis Virtel And I know there is some I. Yeah, I want the real tangerine. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III It’s clement. Time for us to learn the truth.

 

Louis Virtel Okay, okay, let’s move it along.

 

Ira Madison III Anyway, I did have to rewatch the ending of the Oscars because, man, I fell asleep for the last hour.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I was amped from being at the Oscars for a second, but I loved the long, drawn out ceremony of it. I love that it’s paced like something for, like, like Henry the Eighth or something, you know, just like, sit in your throat all day and take this all in.

 

Ira Madison III I was tired, I was I actually watched the Oscars in D.C., in our hotel room, because I went to DC for a rescheduled book tour event with Dan. Zack was the yes, my friend, my moderator, and he says hello and a bunch of our listeners say hello to it was also giving. I just want to say, when Louis and I went to Boston, we got a lot of, I can’t believe you came to Boston from people. And I got a lot of that in DC, too. Like, oh my God, thank you for coming to DC. I’m like, girl, it’s like three hours away on a train.

 

Louis Virtel And also DC is such a pleasure. I go there all the time. I want to go there for world pride. We’ll see if I make it.

 

Ira Madison III It’s not like I was going to, you know, meet somebody at the Trump. Ivanka.

 

Louis Virtel Trump, Ivanka. Pull up in the Trump. Ivanka.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, the city’s perfectly lovely, but DC guys scare me.

 

Louis Virtel Okay.

 

Ira Madison III They drink a lot.

 

Louis Virtel There are khaki oriented people.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Anyway, that’s the Oscars.

 

Louis Virtel Well, I think we covered most of it. Yeah. And by the way, I’ll just keep talking about these ceremonies for the rest of my life. So this isn’t the last of it.

 

Ira Madison III Are you okay? Worst season’s over.

 

Louis Virtel I am a cactus flower who hits full bloom on this Sunday. And now I fold and wither. And I don’t see another movie for, like, five months.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, you you you’re going to crawl back into, like, your crypt or something.

 

Louis Virtel Just game shows for the next three months or so, including the floor which you’re on, which I need to catch up on.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. Airs Wednesday nights on Fox and next day on Hulu. Okay. And I’m still in the competition.

 

Louis Virtel You’re. You’re still flooring.

 

Ira Madison III Them? Yeah. You’re still shuffling along. Still throwing out sassy one liners.

 

Louis Virtel Of course. Oh, yeah. Right. Once an episode. That’s nice that they give a queer community a chance to play around a little.

 

Ira Madison III All right, when we’re back, we’re joined by the fantastic Brenda Song.

 

[AD]

 

Ira Madison III This week’s guest has been acting for if you can believe for 30 years. But please believe she is just getting started. While we first fell in love with her as London Tipton in The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, her latest projects like The Last Showgirl and Netflix’s upcoming series Running Point have shown that her best work is yet to come. Please welcome to Keep It. It’s Brenda Song.

 

Brenda Song Hi guys. Thank you so much for having me. That’s great.

 

Ira Madison III Being here. I mean, you’ve earned it. Okay. I was like, I was telling Louis before we started, I was like, I am OG. Suite Life of Zack and Cody fan. I was Disney down.

 

Brenda Song I want to say thank you. And also I’m sorry.

 

Louis Virtel All right.

 

Brenda Song I always feel the need to apologize to everyone’s parents because I’m like, I being a parent myself, I understand the constant loop that these shows stay out. So my deepest apologies to you and your parents.

 

Ira Madison III I’ve actually said this with Louis on the show. I feel like I’ve revisited, you know that or Wizards of Waverly Place or, you know, like Nickelodeon shows like All That, right? And I didn’t realize how much in kids show. It’s just a lot of yelling all the time. I think my mom commented on that once when I was younger, and now I’m like, oh, we were just laughing at kids, you know, yelling at each other. What was it like, I guess your acting when you were on a show like that versus then stepping into, you know, adult projects?

 

Brenda Song Well, you know, there’s something really fun about the innocence of being a child actor. You just don’t know any different. And being on a show like the Street Life was so fun because I always say, I got to literally step into my dream character’s shoes every single day and do like the most wild, crazy things. And so we think as a kid, you’re just like a kid on a playground. You’re just having fun. And especially with kids shows, everything’s so broad and crazy. And I think transitioning into an adult while also trying to transition into an adult actor. It’s hard because you’re still trying to figure out who you are as a human being, as, you know, a young adult navigating your way and then doing that also in your work when you haven’t quite lived or had enough life experience to actually feel these emotions and not just emulate them and pretend this is what falling in love is when you haven’t actually done that before. So I think, you know, the same way that it sort of trained me transitioning from, you know, a kid to an adult. I feel like doing that. I kind of did that on camera as well, which is kind of crazy. But yeah, I know it’s it’s it’s been really fun. Like especially I think in my 20s, I would say like art imitates life. Life imitates art. One of my first like jobs coming out of Suite Life was like the social network where I was a college student. And then I was on scandal, where I played an assistant. I was like, that’s what I would sort of be doing in my normal life. But yeah, so I think it was just fun, kind of like the more life experience I had, I feel like I obviously became a better actor because I started to understand what it actually was to feel and go through these things. So I think the difference is, like I always say, like acting on Disney was like very up here. And as I’ve grown older, I realize that everything comes from the gut. Like just being more grounded. So yeah.

 

Louis Virtel I just want to say that Jane Fonda has had something similar about going from like, romcoms in the 60s to grittier projects in the 70s. So I think you’re right on track if you want, like you want a 90 year long career, get ready.

 

Brenda Song I mean, please.

 

Louis Virtel I just want to say you are so good in The Social Network. I hope you look back on that performance and think, oh, that was like a kind of a milestone moment. You and Rooney Mara, I think, are like two of the most memorable parts of that movie.

 

Brenda Song Oh thank you, I, I that project changed my life on screen, off screen. Like it was the most incredible project for me to, like, kind of come to at that point in my life and career. So I always have a such a special place in my heart for that, for that movie.

 

Ira Madison III I mean, I remember seeing that movie come out and then just being like, that is Brenda Song. I’m singing Brenda song for a minute. And now jumping to running point. You are working with such a amazing cast of people. You know, Kate Hudson, you know, and you’ve got Chad Hayes as well, which is so I.

 

Brenda Song Can I tell you something. I love Chet so much. He is like, I didn’t know what to expect. And he, I have to say is one of just, like, the sweetest, I think, misunderstood humans out there. He has a really funny sense of humor and can really, he, like, pokes fun at himself. I, I absolutely have a very special place in my heart for for Chet.

 

Louis Virtel When we saw that interview he did with Zoé, I thought, oh, wait a minute, this is a really funny person. Like it’s not, oh, I’m you know, I’m actually crazy. It’s like he he, like, outwitted her a couple of times, which never happens on that show.

 

Brenda Song And he sort of steers into, I think, you know, what people expect of him. But he’s and he’s so funny on this show. Like, I think more than anything. I was so incredibly impressed by how prepared he was, how funny he was on this show, and how seriously he took this role. I was like, it was really funny. Like, you know, from him freestyling to, you know, finding bits when there wasn’t anything there. Like it was really quite impressive. And to be honest, working on this project was kind of crazy because there would be times when I would be in a scene and I’m like, and I can’t believe I’m in a scene with Kate Hudson right now. Like, I’m, I’m watching Justin throw. Just go off on a I’m like, this is crazy. And it’s I feel incredibly grateful to just be surrounded by such not just incredibly talented people, but like, kind, generous, like human beings. It’s been quite an experience and I feel just very, very lucky.

 

Louis Virtel Well, I want to say on that front, though, I mean, you talk about them being great actors. You actually, I think, actually have a longer career than some of these people like, than even Kate Hudson or just Justin Throw is kind of up there too, but do you feel like a bunch of kind of like acting veterans up there, like you’re all relatively young people and yet you some of you been in this business like 30 years, 25 years.

 

Brenda Song We must be psychotic that we’ve been doing it so long and still love it so much. But that’s what something that was beautiful about working on something like this, where I think we all come to the table with so much different kinds of experiences and stories, but all still had the same goal and the same sort of work ethic, which is really, really hard to do. But I think that says a lot to Mindy Kaling and Dave Stassen. Ike Barinholtz, our creators who put this team together are very like minded actors and crew and cast. It was really lovely, but also really sort of fun to be on a set where, you know, you have Justin throw and Kate has you, who rarely do TV. And then you have, you know, Scotty MacArthur and Duke Tarver, who like, you know, Scotty is such a profound writer. Drew is an improv like actor. Like, it was such a fun set to be on. It felt like a masterclass in comedy because you had so just different array of actors coming to the table. I felt like every day I was trying to soak everything in because it was so much fun, because they obviously have so much experience.

 

Ira Madison III I mean, in speaking of people who’ve been in the industry for so long, my friend Hunter Harris interviewed here for Cosmo with Macaulay and what is it like, I guess, you know, doing a joint interview together. Like, what was even the conversation with you both before you were like, I guess we’re doing a cover together for cosmopolitan.

 

Brenda Song You know, honestly, it was really scary because, you know, being in the public eye, you try to keep as many personal things you can personal, but at a certain point, like I was funny, I was actually more hesitant to do the cover. The mark was he’s like, yes, let’s do it. And I was kind of like, you know, there’s so few things that we keep private. But at the same time it’s like, you know, he’s my person. We have a family. It’s like nothing that we want to hide or anything like that. And if we’re going to tell our love story, you know what better way than for us to tell it? And Hunter did such a beautiful job. We had such a great lunch together, and we sort of had a convo that if we were going to do this, we wanted to be as open as possible and do this. You know, we didn’t want to go into not wanting to answer anything and keeping it. So it’s like, if we’re going to do this, let’s embrace where we are. We’re in such a wonderful, happy, joyous place. Like we just want to spread the love and spread the joy and, you know, tell the world that in this crazy time, like, you know, you can find your person and you know, life is all about ups and downs and you have to celebrate every. Yes. And, you know, because there are so many no’s. And so for us, I think it was us celebrating this. Yes, we always joke that, you know, we never we we don’t post about our kids or anything like that. And they’re like, oh, weren’t you on social media more? I’m like, because my phone is just filled with my kids because that’s my happy place. And so to be able to share a little bit of that has been really scary to be honest, but also really liberating and fun because this is like this new phase and chapter in my life, and I feel like I’ve never been so fulfilled in my personal life. And I think that’s the reason why I feel so fulfilled in my professional life. And just wanting to sort of share that with the world is sort of what kind of pushed us to say yes.

 

Louis Virtel Well, the Cosmo spread is almost chronically adorable. I mean, the pictures that are it’s like the old I clutch the table looking at these pictures.

 

Ira Madison III You’re so kind.

 

Louis Virtel But also something about your relationship that’s fascinated me recently is that Mac was just a contestant on Celebrity Jeopardy! Where I believe he cited you as like helping helping him prepare for this. And I want to know what kind of it seems like he must be a fan of jeopardy if you went on that show.

 

Brenda Song Oh, huge fan of jeopardy! He grew up watching. His mom watches it religiously, and me being the Tiger helicopter mom I am when he was, I was like, oh, we’re getting all of the trivia games. I was literally quizzing him with, just like random, like trivia like crazy. I couldn’t help myself and I’m very, very proud of him. And funnily enough, Ike Barinholtz, one of our creators on the show and writers, he actually won the first season of Celebrity Jeopardy! So it’s we are a jeopardy! Celebrity jeopardy household, apparently. But yeah, it was so much fun. I was so nervous for him. It was like, yeah.

 

Louis Virtel The most nervous I’ve ever been for another person is watching them on jeopardy! It’s unlike anything like watching somebody act as not as heartbreaking.

 

Brenda Song No, not at all. And the funny the funny thing is there was like a couple questions where I was literally like mouthing the answer. I was like, am I that person? I had become that person. I was like, hey, it’s Peaky Blinders cause she’s never watched the show and so, so little things. But I was yeah, I was totally helicopter mom, like so nervous and excited. But I’m really proud of him. He did a really good job. But he got Dratch.

 

Louis Virtel Yes. Rachel Dratch also, but also smart. Like, I’m not surprised. She’s great.

 

Brenda Song Iconic, Yes.

 

Ira Madison III Another thing that I love to, you know, it’s just like you’re talking about your love in that relationship. And I feel like one thing that he and like his brother really share is like, they like they love their wives. Like, I just love seeing hear it, you know, talk about his wife, you know, like when he’s going through this whole awards circuit, you know, we’re talking right before the Oscars. So how is it been following Kieran’s journey through awards season as a family?

 

Brenda Song You know, as with any familial relationship, it’s like, how can you not support one another, especially when you see someone doing what they love and getting the accolades and the flowers for doing what they what they love to do? I think there’s no I think, you know, it’s it’s very symbiotic. And yeah, I feel like, you know, people always ask like, what’s it like? And I was like, honestly, it’s just it’s family. It’s just what we know. And, you know, we’re crazy, you know, crazy bunch that all love this industry. So yeah, I think it’s just about enjoying like again, celebrating all the yeses and all the, the accolades because, you know, life as an actor is pretty crazy. There’s so many ups and downs, so. And I don’t think it necessarily. Let me answer your question.

 

Ira Madison III I don’t know.

 

Brenda Song If it, like, shapes it, but I think it’s definitely like, it just it is what it is like. It’s, you know, that’s how they are off camera. So it doesn’t feel like anything different or out of the, you know, out of the ordinary.

 

Ira Madison III I mean, you have the benefit too, of being just, you know, having been in the industry since you were a kid too, you know? So I feel like you all share that.

 

Brenda Song I with thousand percent. It’s kind of this unspoken sort of just understanding being a child actor because you, you know, you don’t realize that you’ve been living the work life of a 30 year old person since you were very, very young. And so I think there’s certain I feel like there’s just something you can see another child actor from across the room and just know and just there’s like an you’re like, you get it, you get it. We’ve been through it all. But yeah. No, of course it’s always so nice when you have that sort of because it’s such a unique experience being a child actor and then a child actor who continuously acts into an into their adulthood is very unique. And so to have, you know, a group of people that sort of had that understanding, it’s really nice.

 

Louis Virtel Well, speaking of child actors in the last show, girl, it’s a bunch of people. Kiernan Shipka, even Jamie Lee Curtis to a certain extent as like a former child actor. And then but all of you, including Pam Anderson, are doing things I’ve never seen you do on the silver screen before. And I was wondering what kind of bonding experience that was, being with people who seem to all be doing something brand new for them.

 

Brenda Song In that project was so incredibly special, because I think it just it was such a small cast and crew and everyone who worked in that project, truly, from the bottom of their heart, wanted to be there. And the beautiful thing is Jacobs, our director, she really took a risk. I feel like in casting all of us in, you know, that’s really on her putting us in roles that people didn’t expect us to be in. And she really kind of, like created such a beautiful, safe place for us to take risks that we wouldn’t normally take. And she really prepped us as actors at least. I can only speak for myself, as she really prepped me to sort of be in a place where I was able to be vulnerable and scared every single day and trust my instincts. And, you know, shooting on film was really scary because knowing we only had like a couple of takes for something, it kind of brought back this like old school feeling that I had on a really long time. And, you know, and to be honest, I think Pamela set the precedent. So she set the standard so high every day because she came to set with literally the entire script memorized. She came out every day and was like vulnerable, scared and like, put her heart on her sleeve every single day. And you could tell that there were times where she was really nervous and scared, but did it anyway. And so when you’re working with that sort of leader and you’re working in that environment, you can’t help but also dive in headfirst as well. And I feel like that’s we all were in that place and just willing to do whatever it needed to take to get this done. And I feel like that’s why it was such a magical process. But also, I think that’s also why we all became so close so quickly, because we were in this, like, kind of crazy environment where all of us were like nervous, like we had it really. I’ve never been, I would say, never get cast in films like this. And we were all doing something that we hadn’t done. Jamie is coming off her Oscar win like it was just it was it was chaotic and harmonious all at the same time. And so I think we was all really having each other support that kind of pulled us through this kind of really intense but beautiful shoot that we had.

 

Louis Virtel I also want to give props to Dave Bautista in that movie, gives a really good performance and like, nobody’s really talked about that. It’s definitely like my favorite performance of his today.

 

Brenda Song Oh, he is the most kind and incredible like human being. I got to do a scene that it didn’t make the movie, but I got to do this really intense scene with him and he is such like the biggest teddy bear, like this most sensitive, kind, hard working person working on this scene like he is so talented and willing to do whatever it takes and willing to go there. Like there was a what he said where I was like hitting. And he’s like, no, just give it to me. And I was like, this is amazing. And all you asked for as another as an actor is to have someone who’s willing to go there with you, to willing to take those risks, willing to sort of like jump in the deep end together. And it was incredible. He’s so great in this movie, and I’m so excited to see, like, what’s to come for him because he really is so good. And also, funnily enough, his he came in with that character, like the wig and everything. I thought that he grew out his hair like he built this character. He did that and showed up like he kind of told Gere, like, I and I don’t wanna speak for Gia, but I remember him saying that like she’s like, oh, I’m going to do a wig. And she’s like, okay, let’s see how it goes. And he came and he came in with the full getup. He’s he built this character. He did all of this work and it’s really incredible. And I and I really hope that people get to see more in depth what kind of actor he really is because he’s really very, very talented.

 

Ira Madison III And Lewis brought this up earlier. But you know, I mean you worked with Gia Coppola on this and then like your first film was with David Fincher, you know. So I guess, like, what was it like working with Fincher and then also being with current, like, acting powerhouses like Andrew Garfield and Jesse Eisenberg, but like, they were really sort of blowing up with that movie. You know.

 

Brenda Song The experience was the most probably one of the most impactful experiences of my life, just coming out of Disney, like figuring out who I was as an actor and then diving in and working with like I have. David is one of my favorite directors. Fight club is one of my favorite books, one of my favorite movies of all time. I’ve been such a fan and to work with him was such a dream come true. And he was so incredibly generous with his time, and I feel like I wouldn’t be the actor I am today if it was not for that experience and to work with with Andrew and Jesse, who at that time were still on the way up. And even in that moment you knew they were special. They were so talented and so, like, just just such like it was such an a, you just knew you were working with incredible actors. And so that was like such a masterclass in acting for me, coming off a Disney show and just feeling like out of, you know, figuring out what I wanted to do and jumping into that was literally such a dream. And Andrew Jesse were the best. Like, they were, you know, we were all so young and like crazy crossroads in our lives. And just I look back, that experience, I was like, we were just like young kids, like kind of be like, oh, I guess we’re making this thing like, it was just so much fun. I only spent like ten days on that set, but it was so life changing for me. And it’s hard because that was my first like, I think real feature film, and it set the bar so high that I’ve always been so nervous as like, that experience was so incredible. But again, I would not be where I am without that. So I’m just grateful of that experience. I’m like, who gets to? You know, I get to say I was in a Fincher movie. Like, that’s crazy.

 

Louis Virtel And if David Fincher would directed me the entire time, I’d be thinking, this is the man who directed the Vogue video. I mean, like, in his 20s.

 

Brenda Song Oh, I thought of that too, don’t you? Do you think twice? I’m like, this is the man that did like the most iconic Madonna videos. Like, are you kidding me?

 

Louis Virtel Express yourself like, the best ones. Yeah.

 

Brenda Song Like on the beach. I see the fire. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that was the first. That.

 

Ira Madison III Was there anything that you said he, like, gave so much time to you and care when like directing you was. Is there anything that you like specifically remember him saying or just like a moment on set that like, sort of like switched a gear in your head where you were like, okay, now I feel like a real actor, like I’m off the Disney set?

 

Brenda Song Well, you know, the thing about David is he loves a real reaction. So, you know, I remember, like, doing that scene where I confront Andrew and I burn the scar. First of all, funny story. I didn’t know how to use a lighter because I was just like, you know, I not. And David had to take me outside to teach me how to use a lighter. So every time I use a lighter, I always think of Fincher taking me outside the lot, like teaching me how to, like, use a lighter. But, you know, he loves like, I remember him telling me, like, he put certain things in the room. And for me to really just take a second and look at, you know, crunched up McDonnell with, like, things that the audience doesn’t, would never see, like quenched like McDonnell bags and a happy meal about like and he goes, just take all that in. And because he wants your natural reaction but he doesn’t tell you this, he just says, take a second look at the room. And I just remember, like, it made me really understand what being in the moment was and not just worrying about your lines or hitting your mark, but remembering that this is an experience. Like, what is this person going through? And kind of, again, grounding this character like, if I was a girl, a girlfriend who has been texting, calling my boyfriend, if I saw him, what was the first thing I do? I’d be looking around, figuring out like it being a crazy pie right away and just sort of set in. He does that, like in this sort of gentle way that like, you don’t overthink it, because I also feel like that’s why he does so many takes. He wants to break you out of your habit. Like, you know, he may do 20 takes in that there’s three takes. But he’s like, I remember him. Just like, trust your instincts. You know what you’re doing. Just go and do it. And for me, it was so incredibly helpful because I feel like, you know, I’m like, oh, I’m doing this this, like huge film with these incredible actors, this. But you just start getting in your head. And when he starts telling you to do it again and again, you have to stop thinking. You have to you have to kind of default to your instincts. And that experience reminded me that I was like, oh no, I know my character. I if I’ve done the work, I should walk in and not I should be in this moment. And that’s what it really taught me. I was like, oh, is this what like, acting really is? It’s it’s not just about lines and all this stuff. And so I think that’s what that experience really showed me. And that scene specifically was just being in the moment and like reacting as naturally and like organically as I would, which is still helpful. And I bring myself. I use that for myself all the time, even now.

 

Louis Virtel Well, running point, by the way, is addictive. I watch three episodes like not even thinking about it like it went down. Thank you. It worked out in a way that only things like Emily in Paris have gone down. Historically.

 

Brenda Song Iconic. Thank you sir.

 

Louis Virtel It did something to my brain, is what I’m saying. So congrats on the show and congrats on your rad marriage and this photoshoot, which again, I’m peering at like, just like hearts. Hearts in my pupils.

 

Brenda Song Oh, you’re so sweet. Thank you.

 

Ira Madison III I hope you got it framed like it’s such a blessing. Such a beautiful. Yes.

 

Brenda Song Oh, no. And it’s one of the reasons why we did it. Mack, likes to joke we have a mantle, and he’s like, we have to do it for the mantle. It’s for me. It’s like. So yes. No, no, no, we’re going to get a frame. It’ll go on the mantle.

 

Ira Madison III Great, great. Wow. Thank you for being here Brenda. And Running Point is on Netflix now so we will be right back with more, Keep it.

 

Brenda Song Thank you.

 

Ira Madison III And we are back with. Our favorite segment of the episode is Keep It. Louis.

 

Louis Virtel Yes.

 

Ira Madison III What’s poppin?

 

Louis Virtel I can’t decide if this is a tradition or not. I think it is I because it’s the Oscars episode. I’m choosing a historical Oscars moment to say keep it to. And who knows, maybe I’ve even picked this exact moment before, but I decided I wanted to do a category where the fifth best thing won and for other worthier things lost. And I’m so sorry because I love her and nobody has better hair or eyebrows. But today’s Keep It goes to Jennifer Connelly in A Beautiful Mind. Absolutely not sweetheart. Yeah. Love you. Labyrinth loved you on that Snowpiercer show, but she was up against Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith in Gosford Park, Queens. You should already have your fists up already. You should be throwing down Marisa Tomei. And in the bedroom. Woof! Drama mr. Todd Field, Kate Winslet and Iris. I rest my case. I mean, do you need me to fight? I mean, what was she doing in a Beautiful Mind? John? Don’t be crazy. Stop it. Gotta get back to the math. Go in a Nobel Prize or whatever. Doesn’t that movie just not an important performance. And it’s also a classic case of the one woman in the movie. You know, Isabella Rossellini syndrome. Was it really good? Or was she just the one woman? And you remember the one woman and you wrote down the one woman because you liked the movie about the man? T yeah. By the way, Isabella Rossellini at the Oscars wearing a blue velvet gown. Come on. She put it together for us.

 

Ira Madison III Laura Dern holding on to her for dear life.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, yeah, just standing there. Kind of just like looking off to the side. She’s like, yeah, I have an Oscar or whatever.

 

Ira Madison III It was sort of like, okay, are we getting a Lynch tribute?

 

Louis Virtel And you would think we would. What happened there?

 

Ira Madison III But it was really just them together.

 

Louis Virtel No. Get Mr. Kyle McLaughlin out there. I guess he just did the SAG Awards, so maybe they didn’t want to do that twice, but nobody would have complained. We love seeing them all out there.

 

Ira Madison III Let me follow suit with you. Actually, let’s talk about a well monkey bit goes to I’m going to talk about some classic Oscar as well. But I’m going to talk about the men I know don’t really care about the men. Right.

 

Louis Virtel I know I was shocked to realize that they act recently.

 

Ira Madison III But I feel like when you look at Academy Award for, you know, Best Actor, you’re usually going to get a win from an actor who’s in a film that is like, we remember this film, you know, like that. Like at least this film was like one of the most important films of the year. You know, we can think of Daniel Day-Lewis, there Will Be Blood. You know, he was up against George Clooney. But like, no one is denying that there Will be blood like that. Is that is like a movie.

 

Louis Virtel And a towering acting moment.

 

Ira Madison III Yes. You know, next you have Sean Penn in milk. And, you know, whatever we think about Sean Penn like, that is his definitive role for me.

 

Louis Virtel I have to agree. It’s a shocking performance. It’s an amazing.

 

Ira Madison III Performance. Now, the next year.

 

Louis Virtel Mr. Jeff Bridges, crazy heart.

 

Ira Madison III Crazy horse all the.

 

Louis Virtel Way. His heart wasn’t that crazy.

 

Ira Madison III I’ll see it right here.

 

Louis Virtel If you’re hanging out with Maggie Gyllenhaal. You seem pretty saying to me.

 

Ira Madison III Does anyone remember the movie Crazy Heart?

 

Louis Virtel I only remember the song The Weary Kind, which won the Oscar that year. T-Bone Burnett But no, it is a very low key film and a fine performance. But you’re right. I probably wouldn’t put it in Jeff Bridges top five. I would still put The Last Picture Show in his top five, you know, so that I would just. But that’s just one of the greatest movies, period.

 

Ira Madison III But you’ve got George Clooney in up in the air against him.

 

Louis Virtel You know my problem with that movie? It wants you to think his job is bad, and I think somebody’s got to fire people. Sorry, I know that seems corporate or whatever, but if you’re good at it, why not?

 

Ira Madison III Also, a movie that could not exist now because he’d just be firing people on zoom.

 

Louis Virtel Precisely. Oh, no. No, no. Excuse me. It would be fully like a Roomba firing these people. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III They find out they’re fired on Twitter.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, Carla tells them. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Colin Firth in A single man.

 

Louis Virtel Wonderful performance. And also definitely the best of. But that’s Tom Ford, right?

 

Ira Madison III Tom Ford. Yeah.

 

Louis Virtel What a shocking film for him to come out with. Julianne Moore is also really good in that movie.

 

Ira Madison III You have Morgan Freeman in Invictus, which is fine, but at least that’s better.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, that movie’s only okay. Right. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III And then you have Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker. And honestly, I fucking love The Hurt Locker. And I think he’s great in that movie.

 

Louis Virtel It was a worthy best picture, I think. No one that won Best picture of him was like, oh, phew. Thank God he didn’t just give it to avatar for costing $1 trillion and making $3 trillion.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Anyway, Jeff Bridges keep it.

 

Louis Virtel Just in general. Also, he was so awesome later in Hell or High Water and in the True Grit reboot. I really loved him. And that’s one of the great teenager nominations Hailee Steinfeld. And then I saw her recently and I’m like, wow, you’re just like a grown up supermodel now.

 

Ira Madison III Thank God. Yeah, I mean, listen, I fucking love Jeff Bridges. You know, I think that it’s just if I’m looking back at nominations, that it’s just such a weird anomaly to me because, like you said, it’s not even in his top five best performances.

 

Louis Virtel It’s sort of like this is a good performance, but Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour, there are just certain movies where I guarantee we’ll never revisit them, even if the skill level is there. You know, a movie can’t be that Lily James heavy and be so important, you know what I’m saying? I like the girl.

 

Ira Madison III All right, well, that’s our episode this week.

 

Louis Virtel Yeah, I think we covered everything. Unless, you know, I’m still alive. Sing Best actress 2014 and I forgot and stuff.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, well, I mean, you know, I, I did not repeat a keep it from before because I think, you know, I think, you know, the bitch I’m still mad at for winning an Oscar.

 

Louis Virtel Wait, who.

 

Ira Madison III Who took my girls? Oscar.

 

Louis Virtel Oh, I see you’re mad at Holly Hunter.

 

Ira Madison III I’m mad at how hunt you’re still. And I love Holly Hunter.

 

Louis Virtel And she played that piano. So good and kind of weird.

 

Ira Madison III But we need a match up again. I need Holly Hunter up against Angela Bassett again. And for Angela’s to take it.

 

Louis Virtel You know how that quote is circulating of Angela Bassett saying she was worthy of the year she lost to Jamie Lee Curtis, and she was up for Black Panther Wakanda Forever. I just want to say on Angela Bassett’s behalf, her being worthy enough is only half the story. Jamie Lee Curtis was unworthy. That is what should also be said. It was a poor vote by the Oscars community that year.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. We need Angela Bassett back in some cinema. By the way, that’s my other. Keep it.

 

Louis Virtel That’s where she belongs. Yeah.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah. Get her out of 911.

 

Louis Virtel Where? I’m sure she’s being hit with a helicopter right now.

 

Ira Madison III Okay, Holly, Barry can put the wig back on and go answer those calls, okay?

 

Louis Virtel By the way, Ali Berry and Adrien Brody making out on the red carpet happens to that old moment.

 

Ira Madison III Just like I want it.

 

Louis Virtel I guess it’s a lie.

 

Ira Madison III I predicted that, but I needed to have it on the ceremony.

 

Louis Virtel Yes, right. There could have been a little plan bit there or something.

 

Ira Madison III Yeah, yeah. Anyway, directors, directors call Angela Bassett, Shawn Baker. Get Angela Bassett, please. Yeah. Some. Right.

 

Louis Virtel Good call, good call.

 

Ira Madison III All right. That’s our show this week. Thank you to Brenda Song for joining us. And we’ll see you next week. Hooray for us. Don’t forget to follow Crooked Media on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. You can also subscribe to Keep It on YouTube for access to full episodes and other exclusive content. And if you’re as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review or leaving comments on the YouTube page.

 

Louis Virtel Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our producer is Bill McGrath. Our associate producer is Kennedy Hill and our executive producers are Ira Madison, the third, Louis Virtel, and Kendra James. Our digital team is Meagan Patsel, Claudia Sheng, and Rachel Gaieski.

 

Ira Madison III This episode was recorded and mixed by Vasilis Fotopoulos. Thank you to Matt DeGroot, David Toles, Kyle Seglin and Charlotte Landes for production support every week. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East. And as always, Keep It is filmed in front of a live studio audience.