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A Life In Movies: Michael Rapaport · All The Right Movies

0:04
All the rent movies. Hi everyone, welcome to the
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first episode of ATR Meets the movie interview show brought to
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you by All the Right Movies. My name is Luke.
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In this brand new show, we talk to actresses, actors, people in
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the movie world about their best love films.
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Our regular podcast on classic and hit films that comes out
0:53
every two weeks. But we'll put these interviews
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out as and when we get them in between our classic pod.
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So let's get into it. Here's my conversation with our
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first guest of honour, Mr. Michael Rapaport.
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You got a hell of a lot of cocaine here man.
1:15
I don't have a pot to piss in or a window to throw it out.
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All I got is. Fucking Floyd need your help
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trying to kill me. There's a female scumbag behind
1:35
me with a gun tucked away in a shirt, trying to pass herself
1:38
off as a hostage. And there's a special on toilet
1:40
paper 4 for $1.29. It's a lot of toilet paper.
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Look, I already told the doc I locked the pen like I do every
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other night. The fish got out some other way.
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It's sexier up on stage, but other than that, you got no kind
2:02
of face at all. And you're fat but me.
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I've always been attracted to it.
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Louie, do you understand? I can't lose my gun.
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I'm going to build you the best damn Ingle you've ever seen.
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It's always been you and Sam, you know.
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He started talking to me and no, I I didn't want to lose that.
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I'm an actor. So here we are, first episode of
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All the Right Movies meets and I'm speaking to TV movie star,
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award-winning documentary film maker, stand up comic and of
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course podcaster Mr. New York himself.
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It is Michael Rappaport. How are you doing, Mike?
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I'm good, I'm good. Thanks for having me.
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Great to have you on the show. Big fan.
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Big fan. Thank you.
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Thank you. So what we're going to do is
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just take a look back at some of your films, and I've got a few
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questions about a few of them. All right, let's do it.
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We're going to jump off with True Romance.
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It's a film that we love, personal favorite.
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We've covered it on the show as well.
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So in that, it's a Tarantino script, obviously directed by
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Tony Scott. Tarantino said in the past that
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when he writes a character, he writes each of them as if
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they're going to be the main character.
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Did you get a sense of that with your character, Dick Ritchie?
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Well, I think every actor thinks they're the main character in
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any film. But I mean, obviously, you know,
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I didn't, I wasn't aware of him saying that at the time, you
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know, and and he, he, he, you know, he didn't have as many
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quotable things as he he does now, although he was everybody
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was excited about working with him.
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But it makes a lot of sense. I mean, it makes a lot of sense
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that he says that and and he applies it.
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You know, I mean, I think Quentin is like a modern day,
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sort of like, you know, he's like a spokesperson for film and
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loving film and loving actors and loving writing and loving
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the process. And I'll just kind of tell you,
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I mean, you know, working on that movie, you know, was the
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only movie that I ever did that I knew was going to be good.
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Everybody knew it was going to be good.
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It just, you had a feeling with the the late, great Tony Scott,
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his enthusiasm, his energy, his leadership, his command of a
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set, his respect for actors. You know, he was very, very
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instrumental for me because, you know, I'm a young actor and, you
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know, you, you want to try things and, you know, you want
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to have a voice. And I would ask him, can I try
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this? Can I try that?
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And sometimes you would say, yeah, sometimes you would say
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nay. But he always said keep asking.
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Keep, you know, he, he encouraged me to have a voice.
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And at the time, I think I was 23 or 24 years old.
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It meant a lot to me that he was doing that and that I knew that
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you were allowed to do that because I was kind of feeling
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out the rules of what it is to be on a film set and to work
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with a big director. And, you know, you hear all
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these stories and all that stuff.
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And he, he, that'll be something that I'll always remember and
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appreciate about working with him, along with the fact that he
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was just so generous with everybody and just so
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encouraging. You know, the script, this is at
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a time where there was no e-mail.
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You know, you physically read the script and the script was
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being passed around and everybody was excited about it.
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Off the the heels of Reservoir Dogs and Natural Born Killers
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had been made. I think Natural Born Killers
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have been made. And you heard about that,
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although it didn't come out. I think that movie actually
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premiered. I don't remember when that movie
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premiered, but I know I've heard about that.
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So the juice, there's a lot of excitement about Quentin
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Tarantino and, you know, and then the cast came together and
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it was working with all these people that I had grown up
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watching, you know, from Christian Slater to obviously
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Gary Oldman and Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper and
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everybody else that was in the in the film.
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You know, the transition from really being a professional
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actor and a fan. I hadn't made that.
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I mean, I still very much of AA fan, but at the time I was still
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more of a fan than I was a professional working actor.
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So that excitement was it was exciting going to the set with
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Tom Sizemore and Chris Penn and, you know, everybody that showed
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up on that said it was just very exciting to be a part of it.
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You know, you're young, you know, it's like, you know, your
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first loves. It's like your first affairs.
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It's like your first dates. You know, it's it's it's your
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first time smelling, you know, this kind of success.
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So it was. It was really cool.
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Awesome. You tend to forget that there
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are that many people because I suppose like Hopper walk and and
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all the big boys are in there. You forget about Chris Payne,
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Tom Sizemore in the scenes that kind of you're not necessarily
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with those guys. So maybe at the end, the final
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scene, they show up. So the cast that you didn't
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necessarily see during the scenes of the film, did you
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mingle? Did you talk to them?
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Oh yeah. I mean, I would go to the set
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when I wasn't working just to be around, you know, I'd find
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excuses to go to the set or if I had to do wardrobe or something
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like that, I would stay and, you know, just lurk around, you
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know, like I remember just lurking around, you know, me and
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the actor Kevin Cork. And we were so excited to, you
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know, meet Christopher Walken. And, you know, I was there on
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set with the famous Dennis Hopper, you know, Italian
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American history scene with Christopher Walken.
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And of course, James Gandolfini. He was, he was very, very, very
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young actor too. He hadn't done anything.
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And Patricia Arquette, who I had just seen in Indian Runner,
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which is a film I really like by Sean Penn.
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I mean, so I was just around and I was extremely excited.
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And, you know, there was a bigger part of me that was a fan
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than was a professional actor, you know.
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So of course it was, it was cool and it was exciting to, to and
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of course Brad Pitt. I mean, it was, you know, it
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was, it was a dope, dope thing to be a part of.
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Was there any any in the cast or crew, anybody that you took
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particular inspiration from? Was anybody one that stood out?
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Well, Kevin Corrigan and I were friends, so we were really
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excited. I wouldn't say I took
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inspiration while making the movie or in general.
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Just in general. Well, I mean, obviously
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Christopher Walken has inspired all actors.
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Gary Oldman has inspired all actors.
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Dennis Hopper has inspired all actors.
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You know, those guys are staples of particularly, you know,
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testosterone driven actors, male actors, you know, who were
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inspired by the 60s, seventies, 80s, you know, those films,
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those performances, you know, they, they, they've inspired all
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of us, everybody. There's not any, there's not an
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actor who will not bring up those people and and light up,
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you know, like I said, you know, just did little exchanges with
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them on the set, you know, you know, at the craft service, you
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know, they're treating me like I'm one of them, you know, and
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I'm like, what the fuck? You know, Val Kilmer.
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Val Kilmer was, you know, in it. Samuel Jackson, you know, was in
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it. I mean, this is like a exciting
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time for for a young actor who's a a real fan too.
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So, you know, there there wasn't any, you know, I didn't get any
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any, you know, sort of interviews are, are with them.
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But, you know, I mean, these are all people that I, I've, I've,
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I've looked up to and been inspired from and, you know,
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watch their movies, you know, at the time over on VCR, rewinding
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them on VCR, rewinding the scenes of, you know, Samuel
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Jackson in school days. And then of course, Jungle
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Fever. These were movies that I had
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seen beforehand and you know, and all the Dennis Hopper stuff
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and Apocalypse Now and all the, the, the Christopher Walken.
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I mean, that was like fucking dope.
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And Chris Penn and you know, I mean, you know, I grew up
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watching Chris Penn and you know, we weren't that much
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different in age, you know, like, you know, I grew up
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watching those, those movies at close range and all that stuff.
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So it was cool to to be a part of.
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It awesome. Well, I, I want to talk
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specifically about that roller coaster scene, if you don't
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mind. I've read reports that you
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weren't like a massive fan of roller coasters, so could you
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talk about your experience of of filming that scene?
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Yeah, I mean, I had a tough time doing the roller coaster scene.
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I was not still, I'm not. I think that was the one and
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only time I went on a roller coaster.
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I haven't been on one since. But I had a really, really,
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really hard time, you know, on a loop, you know, I was, I was
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scared shit, you know, and I was, you know, nervous and I
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didn't want to do it. And Tony Scott was like begging
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me to do it. And then the more scared and
10:40
more freaked out I got, the more he thought it was fucking
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hilarious. But I remember being in the van
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back to LA because it was at Magic Mountain.
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I remember being back in, in the van after I had thrown up and
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all that stuff. And, you know, I, I, I was in
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the van with Patricia Arquette. And I remember, you know, like
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her saying, it's OK, it's OK. And I was like, I thought I, you
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know, it was, it had induced such fear and anxiety in me that
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I thought I was going to die. I remember being in the van
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after thinking I was going to die.
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And The funny thing is, is the only scenes that they reshot
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into romance are the roller coaster scenes, the footage, I
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think the camera was vibrating too, too much.
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But if you watch it really closely, you know, I'm in the
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background. You could see some of the
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footage from the first day of shooting it and then when we had
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to come back and shoot it again. So, you know, it's fun.
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It's something I always remember.
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And Tony Scott just thought it was hilarious because he was
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like a man's man, you know, like he was like, you know, he just
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was like, you're a pussy, you know, and, but very sweet, you
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know, like very, very sweet and encouraging.
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Like he was dope. He's from, from Mike, part of
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the world. Tony Scott, I think he was.
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He was born around about 2020 miles from where I am.
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Oh, that's cool. Yeah, I I think Pinchot didn't
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like the the roller coaster either.
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I think he had a terrible time with it as well.
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He had a terrible time with it. Christian Slater, I remember,
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was fine with it. I know I was not happy with it.
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Yeah, no, I mean, I forget about it.
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I I was OK when I was a kid, but right now there's no way I would
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go on one. But you you're good at pulling
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clips. If you pull the clips of the
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roller coaster, you'll see. Like when I'm smiling.
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That was the second day, the second that was the reshoots.
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And then you'll see like there's one where I'm like all freaked
12:17
out. There was no acting like I like,
12:19
because they had given me like, I don't know, a Xanax or some
12:22
shit the second time around because I was and I was like
12:24
smiling and like, you know, I, I remember just being horrified
12:29
because it loop, you know, like those roller coaster loops are
12:32
they're terrible. Yeah, So what Xanax?
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What is that? Like sedation or?
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Some sort of sedation or, you know, they gave me some sort of
12:39
pill. I mean, it's worth it.
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It's a great scene. Yeah, it was definitely worth
12:43
it. So Fast forward four years, I'm
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going to talk about Copland. You played Superboy in that one,
12:50
Murray Babbage. And at this point in your
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career, you're living in LA. Is that right?
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At that point, actually I was living in New York, but I mean I
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had lived in LAII had a place in LA, but it when we were doing
13:02
Copland, I actually was living in New York.
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OK, cool. I mean like on the streets of
13:07
New York. What was it like kind of being
13:09
being back shooting in your own backyard?
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Shooting Copland in New York City was a dream come true.
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You know, the energy of shooting in New York City is, is always
13:21
great. Yeah.
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Now, then and, and, and every day before or after, you know,
13:27
New York is just, it's like its own personal sound stage.
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And, you know, it was again, you know, the first day of work was
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the last scene of the movie. And, you know, I got to show up
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on set. I had rehearsed with Sylvester
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Stallone, who's truly the first person whoever made me think
13:48
about I I actually didn't make me want to think about being an
13:51
actor, but that Rocky was the first movie that like hit me.
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You know, it came out in 1976. I was six years old.
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And it hit me. I understood it on an emotional
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level, although I couldn't articulate it, I understood it
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on the on every level. And I saw it over and over and
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over and over and over and over and over again and all the other
14:09
films. But, you know, I got to rehearse
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with him and then the, you know, and then that was that was, you
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know, crazy. You have to like, you know, be
14:17
professional and you know, it's. Your idol as well.
14:22
As Idol, Idol. And then, you know, but the
14:25
first day it was it was Stallone, it was Robert De Niro,
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Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta. Holy shit.
14:33
And you know, and like, you know, we, we, we just like any
14:36
other scene, you know, there was a lot of people around 'cause we
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were at One Police Plaza, which is a busy area in New York.
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And you know, we, we, we sort of met on the set real quick.
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And, you know, during the day it was busy area and, you know, we
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ran lines and we talked about the scene with James Mangold
14:52
and, and then we started shooting, but I was just like,
14:54
oh, shit, like this is fucking crazy.
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Like I was like, this is crazy. And, you know, to be with all of
15:00
those guys in one day was a lot to take in.
15:02
But I was also like, you know, I was very aware, like, you know,
15:06
I wasn't fading out like I, I, I know that those kinds of actors,
15:10
they'll only respect you if you bring your fucking best, like,
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you know, So yeah, I wasn't like they, they didn't know how
15:18
exciting it was for me, but I was very excited.
15:20
But I also was like, I want to, you know, I'm here to kick ass.
15:23
Also, you know, it's not like sports.
15:25
You know, I'm fascinated with sports when I ask of players,
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like when they played against their idols and the reference
15:31
talk, playing against, you know, Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant or
15:36
Michael Jordan, I've done that on my pockets.
15:38
This is different because you're not competing with them, you're
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performing with them. Whether you're antagonist or a
15:46
protagonist. With them, you're in a jazz
15:49
ensemble for the day. So that jazz ensemble was an
15:54
exciting group of people to be around.
15:56
I was doing my thing, but I was, you know, very well aware of who
16:00
I was with. And you know, what my goals were
16:03
for the scene and, and I was focused and excited.
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But, you know, shooting down there and the energy of shooting
16:09
in New York, particularly that movie, and there was such an
16:11
excitement on that movie. And there was such an excitement
16:14
for me to be in the movie was, you know, I still have that kind
16:18
of excitement when I go to work, especially in New York.
16:21
You know, I still have that, you know, I'm doing something now.
16:25
And we were shooting on, you know, in Riverside Park the
16:27
other day. And, and I, I, I still have
16:30
that. I don't take it for granted.
16:31
And I still get up for it. And I still am very much aware
16:36
of the honour of being an actor and the appreciation for it.
16:43
And there's a big part of me that's still a a a real fan of
16:46
it. Yeah, I mean, it's such an
16:49
amazing place to to shoot. I've been in New York a few
16:51
times and it's just like every corner is is iconic.
16:55
Right, every corner is that. I mean, I just found a place
16:58
this morning in the neighborhood that I've grown up in, like a
17:02
little dead end St. I never saw in my life. 51
17:06
years. I've I've I'm, I'm born and
17:08
raised in New York City and I just found a like a new street
17:11
today and I was like, oh shit, you know, so, you know, I, I I
17:15
love New York and, and you know, like I said, it's, it's the best
17:17
place to shoot a movie or or a show, whatever.
17:20
It's the best place to shoot a video, an Instagram video,
17:23
whatever. Is that the thing that you're
17:25
doing with Amy Schumer that you've?
17:26
Been shooting? Yeah, that's how I was talking
17:28
about. Yup.
17:28
How's it going? It's going good.
17:30
She's great. She's, you know, not just a
17:32
great performer, but, you know, I've been very impressed with
17:35
Amy Schumer as the showrunner. You know, there's a few
17:40
directors directing, you know, the episodes and, you know, and
17:43
I know she didn't write, you know, she's had writers.
17:46
But everything goes through her. And it's not an easy thing to
17:52
have to answer everybody's questions about everything.
17:56
She's very impressive. She's she's very talented, very
17:59
impressive and has a very cool, very good disposition as being
18:04
the, the boss on the set. And, and not everybody, like I
18:08
told her, I said, yeah, I wouldn't be able to be as chill
18:11
as you are on a set. Like you're fucking chill, you
18:14
know, and, and, and, but in control.
18:16
So I, I have seen she's, she's dope.
18:20
She's she's, she's, she's dope. I mean, it must be tough as
18:23
well, on top of everything, having to deal with the pandemic
18:27
and extra restrictions and extra things that you've got to put in
18:31
place because of that as well. Yeah, yeah, all of it.
18:34
The the testing and the masks and the mask police, because
18:37
every set we have our mask police, which you know, they're,
18:40
they're good. We need them.
18:41
And and you know, they're, they're, I know it's a thankless
18:43
job, but you know, they have to remind everybody you know, of of
18:48
you know where we've come from because it's easy to forget,
18:50
because we all want to forget what we've dealt with.
18:53
But yeah, but but it, it, you know, it's going well and I'm
18:55
looking forward to, I have no idea when it's coming out, but
18:57
I'm sure it won't. It, it'll be out soon.
18:59
And it's called life and Beth. And you know, it's, it's a dope
19:04
cast. And like I said, she's she's,
19:06
she's, she's dope. Awesome.
19:09
I'll look out for it. Sounds great.
19:11
Just going to come back to Copland, Mike.
19:14
I remember when the film came out actually, and and I remember
19:17
there was a lot of hype surrounding it.
19:19
It was like Stallone's come back and he was putting on weird.
19:22
And that cast is like it's out of control.
19:25
Not just the big boys like De Niro and Stallone, Keitel
19:29
Liotta, but like the supporting cast, Jeanine Garofalo,
19:32
Annabelle Shiora, Peter Berg. Ronnie, I mean.
19:35
It's just unbelievable. Unbelievable.
19:38
I think there's about 5 future Sopranos cast in there as well.
19:42
Frank Vincent's in there. Right, right, right, right.
19:45
So did it feel like you were part of something special?
19:47
No one. You had that cat because maybe
19:49
some of them weren't as big names as they are now, but the
19:53
talent was there. So. 100.
19:54
Percent You were part of something.
19:55
Special 100%. It felt like it was part of
19:57
something special. And you know, it was the the
19:59
golden era of the Miramax run and the Weinsteins were
20:04
incredibly good at marketing and, and building excitement and
20:08
branding their films. And it was fun being on the set.
20:12
There was a bunch of Sopranos people, a bunch of Goodfellas
20:14
people, Frank Vincent, the late, great Frank Vincent, my friend
20:18
Edie Falco, who I've known for a, a a long time.
20:22
This is before Carmella. And, you know, sometimes, you
20:26
know, everybody knows Carl. I don't even have to say.
20:28
Carmela Soprano I, I feel like, you know, people that are
20:30
listening to your podcast, they, they know what's up.
20:33
Yeah. It was, it was, you know, like I
20:35
said, it was, it was just like, you know, there's been a few
20:38
films that I've got to work with, like True Romance and
20:40
Copland Beautiful Girls, where I got to work with people that,
20:43
that I just just have the utmost respect for.
20:46
And, and I get excited about working with them, you know,
20:49
and, and performing with them and getting to know them and,
20:53
you know, maybe even asking a question or two, you know,
20:55
because I'm curious, you know, like, you know, like Matt Dillon
21:00
and, and beautiful girls, like that's my fucking dude.
21:02
Matt Dillon was my fucking dude, you know, so to work with him
21:06
and then like we're friends and shit like that.
21:09
That was, that was cool. So, you know, same thing with
21:11
the with Copland and Peter Berg and you know, and this is before
21:15
he directed his first film and that whole crew of people,
21:18
Jeanne Garofalo, who I had known because I did stand up comedy
21:21
with her when I first started doing stand up comedy in in in
21:26
like 1990. She was very, very supportive of
21:30
me as a comic. It was fun.
21:32
You know, Arthur Noscarelli was in it.
21:34
I mean, it was, it was dope being in their film.
21:37
Like every scene there's somebody knew a different face
21:39
and think oh shit, that person or that's this guy or that girl.
21:42
It's it's amazing. Yeah it was cool and it's a
21:44
great film as well, really stands the test of time.
21:47
But it feels to me like it was like 1/2 back to the 70s.
21:51
Like drama thrillers set in New York, like the Sydney Lou Met
21:54
films and stuff. As soon as I started re watching
21:56
it, it felt just like. That definitely, definitely it
21:59
was, it was like a New York film and, you know, and, and, and
22:02
Carvey Kaitel, I mean, all those people were just, they were
22:04
really cool, you know, I mean, Stallone, you know, gave me
22:09
every inch of Rocky information, trivia questions, you know, I
22:15
got to ask him, you know, everything about Rocky films.
22:18
We would do Rocky lines with each other.
22:21
I would do his lines and he would do Burgess Meredith lines.
22:24
It was it was dope. It was cool doing.
22:26
It have you seen the the new ones?
22:28
Have you seen Creed? Creed 2.
22:30
I see them all. The only one that I won't watch
22:33
again is Rocky Balboa. Yeah, it was a tough watch.
22:37
It was a tough watch, but every other one, I mean, Rocky 1,
22:41
Rocky 2, Rocky 3, Rocky 4 numerous times.
22:44
Creed and Creed two I really, really, really liked, especially
22:49
Creed, but I mean Rocky I, I, I can't say enough about that film
22:55
and, and, and what it means to me.
22:56
I really cannot say enough about it.
23:00
Oh yeah. I mean, I mean, it's amazing.
23:02
It came from Norway and it's, I mean, it's a, it's a pillar of
23:05
70 cinema, isn't it? It's amazing.
23:07
Yeah, I don't even think it's a pillar.
23:09
I think it's its own building of 77 Cinema.
23:13
OK, Mike, so I'm going to move over to Deep Blue Sea.
23:17
It's a different kind of film for you, this one.
23:19
It's a couple of years on from Copland, and CGI plays a big
23:22
part. How did that affect your
23:25
performance, if at all? Well, working on Deep Blue Sea,
23:28
we were in Mexico. We were shooting at the studio
23:30
that they had built for Titanic. Every day we were in fucking
23:35
water. And when we weren't actually in
23:38
the water, we were wet. It was not an easy shoot.
23:41
I mean, we were in these tanks filled with water, you know, and
23:45
you're making a movie. So, you know, things go wrong
23:47
with performance, things go wrong with camera, things go
23:50
wrong with lighting. You know, you have to shoot it
23:53
from this angle that, I mean, you're just in the fucking water
23:55
all day long. CGI was just sort of coming
23:59
about and being developed. So we never saw any sharks.
24:04
You know, you use your imagination.
24:06
You know, that was a fun shoot, just being down in Mexico, fun
24:10
and also a pain in the ass 'cause every time we had to
24:13
cross the border, that was like a big discussion, you know, how
24:15
long did it get? Did it take you to cross the
24:17
border? Oh, I had to wait there three
24:19
hours. Oh, well, if you leave at 6:00
24:21
in the morning, you only have to wait like 2 hours.
24:22
And you know, everybody wanted to like, you know, go to San
24:25
Diego to get this or that, but you know, it was cool.
24:29
Samuel Jackson, obviously, you know, at this point he was a big
24:32
fucking star and, and he, you know, he's just one of the, one
24:37
of the best, you know, so that was cool LL Cool J was, was cool
24:41
to work with because you know, he's LL Cool J like as a kid,
24:44
you know, like LL Cool J is literally part of my life,
24:47
whether he knew it or not since 1984, 1985, you know.
24:52
Radio that that is that his first album.
24:54
Yeah, I mean like that shit. Like, you know, him with the
24:57
when he's 15 years old with the kango and and he's chest naked
25:01
like that was, you know, I've known LL Cool J, you know, in on
25:06
my radio and on my Video Music box since I was a kid.
25:09
So he was cool. You know, we had fun.
25:12
It was fun, but it was a fucking pain in the ass, to be honest
25:14
with you. Shooting in that water every day
25:16
was a motherfucker. Yeah.
25:19
Well, that was. Actually, what I was going to
25:20
ask you about, I mean your death scene, it's quite a memorable 1
25:23
and it is underwater. And I was looking, I was
25:25
thinking, is there any double s in there?
25:27
But it looks as though that's you for real.
25:29
No, it was me for real. But they had double s.
25:31
But they had, you know, that was like a, an entire stage filled
25:35
up with water. So it was like a very, very deep
25:38
pool and there's, you know, electrical shit and there's
25:41
poles. Obviously they had safety divers
25:44
because it, it's dangerous. You know, like a lot of things
25:46
could go wrong and you're in water.
25:48
So you have to be very careful. They there was a lot of safety
25:51
stuff on the set. It was one time they had to pull
25:54
me back up because I had lost my breath or I breathe.
25:56
You know, there was like, you have to hold your breath, like
25:58
to do the thing for the cameras, quick takes, but you're
26:00
underwater. So you know, things could go
26:03
wrong. But most of it was me.
26:05
There was definitely divers, but like I said, it was, it was a
26:08
fucking like I was like, get me the fuck out of this fucking
26:11
water tank. Get me the fuck out of these wet
26:13
suits. Get me the fuck out of Tijuana.
26:15
No disrespect to Tijuana, but I was down there for four months.
26:18
I was just like, at the end, we were all like, I just want to
26:20
dry out. I want to fall out.
26:23
But you, you're becoming quite a bit of a, an action star at this
26:26
point. You had at this point had you
26:28
been in Metro. Yeah, I had done Metro.
26:30
I had done Metro. Yes, that I was a budding action
26:34
*. Well, that's great.
26:36
I mean, that's that's that's it doesn't get talked about as much
26:39
as it should. That's a cool action film.
26:40
It's got a great a great chase scene.
26:43
Yeah, that was fun. That was fun.
26:45
You know, I was disappointed with the way that movie turned
26:47
out just because, you know, I didn't think the director let me
26:50
and Eddie Murphy be as funny as we possibly could be.
26:53
And he's, you know, again, somebody that like, means the
26:56
world to me. Like that guy, you know,
26:58
inspired me to, you know, he's the person that really inspired
27:02
me to want to do something in show business.
27:05
You know, like I said, Sylvester Stallone, I didn't even want to
27:08
be an actor. I wanted to actually be the
27:10
character. But Eddie Murphy, I was like,
27:12
you know, I had this calendar that I had made in like 1988.
27:17
I was 18. It said the next Eddie Murphy.
27:19
And it was a picture of me like that was my dude.
27:21
So to be working with him, you know, and living through the
27:24
whole Saturday Night Live and the whole delirious red suit
27:26
thing, like I was ready. Like I knew all his moves and I
27:29
was feeding him the ball. But the director wanted to make
27:31
a different kind of film. So you know it it, you know it
27:35
is it is what it is. Well, Eddie was.
27:38
I mean, in the 80s, he was one of the biggest stars on the
27:40
planet, not just film, but generally.
27:42
I mean, it was huge, huge. And it must have been.
27:44
I mean, that's incredible to be able to work with somebody who
27:47
you've idolized like that. As well.
27:49
That's my guy. So it was disappointing, but you
27:52
know, shit happens. No, it's, it's a good film.
27:54
It's I I really enjoy it. Thank you.
27:56
Thank you. So you've worked with quite a
27:58
few big time directors just in those kind of three films that
28:01
we've talked about Tony Scott, James Mangold, Renee Harlan as
28:04
well. So is there any that you've
28:06
taken particularly influence from or or, I know that you've
28:09
talked very eloquently about Tony Scott and highly about him,
28:12
but is there any that you took particular influence from or or
28:15
loved working with the most? I mean, you know, Renee Harlan
28:18
was very great. He had a lot of energy.
28:21
You know, James Mangold, I think, you know, he came into
28:24
his own with the films later on. You know, he was good to work
28:28
with. He loved actors.
28:31
You know, working with Woody Allen was a treat and a
28:35
pleasure. Working with Spike Lee, same
28:37
thing. They have very similar style.
28:38
It's kind of a hands off but hands on approach.
28:41
They're very encouraging of the actors.
28:44
Ted Demi was cool working with the late great Ted Demi on
28:48
Beautiful Girls. Very enthusiastic, very
28:51
passionate, very fun leader of the set.
28:55
So you know, you take the Nora Ephron was really good.
28:58
The thing I learned from Nora Ephron in this movie Lucky
29:01
Numbers, which is a great script, not a great movie, but a
29:04
fun movie, was to it's OK to say no, I don't know.
29:08
It's OK to say I don't know. Like I remember asking her
29:10
something and she said a couple times, I don't know, but we'll
29:14
figure it out. And that's not just a lesson
29:16
that I learned on film scripts. That's a good lesson in life.
29:20
It's OK to say I don't know. I feel like people always want
29:23
to have the answers to questions and, you know, even as a parent,
29:26
you could say, I don't know, but let's figure it out or I don't
29:28
know, let me think about it. It's, and I remember her saying
29:32
that to me a couple of times and I thought it was really cool
29:35
because directors sometimes feel the need why I understand why
29:39
they would, they want to answer all the questions and sometimes
29:42
they'll bullshit you and give you a quick answer, But that was
29:45
something I, I took away from work with her.
29:47
So you know, the, the everybody has different styles and
29:50
different temperaments as directors and, and I've gotten
29:53
to work with some good ones. I.
29:55
Mean you worked with Woody twice, didn't you?
29:57
Worked Mighty Aphrodite. And small time crooks, yeah.
30:01
Love small time crooks? Yeah, it's a good movie.
30:04
So outside of acting, you have kept yourself very busy.
30:07
You've done a couple of documentaries as well when the
30:10
Garden was eating about the New York Knicks in the 70s, and
30:12
you've done Beat Rhymes in Life, The Tribe Called Quest, Dock,
30:16
and The Beat Rhymes in Life. I mean, it's an amazing
30:18
documentary and it must have been a big undertaken because it
30:21
covers a lot of ground over a long period of time.
30:24
As well. Yeah, making B charms in life
30:27
the the the documentary about a tribe called quest was a was a
30:29
fucking arduous challenge. You know, making a documentary,
30:34
I don't care if you can make a 3 minute documentary, an hour long
30:36
documentary. They're not easy.
30:38
I'm sure they get easier as you continue to do them.
30:41
But the tribe doc was it spanned a long period of time.
30:45
It was essentially 3-4 guys perspective on this long period
30:50
of time. A lot of things happened.
30:53
They grew up together, you know, and not just from their
30:56
perspectives. You know, the group is so
30:58
influential and I wanted to do a good job.
31:00
Like I felt such a responsibility to do a good job.
31:03
And I was learning as I was doing it.
31:06
So it was, it was extremely challenging.
31:09
It was fun. Inevitably, I'm very proud of
31:12
the movie. I think it inspired a bunch of
31:13
other documentaries to be made about hip hop groups.
31:17
So I'm proud of that and I'm proud that other other films
31:20
have been made. And in in a way, it was the
31:22
first of its kind. I love, I'm a fan of
31:25
documentaries and and I'm a fan, obviously of a Tribe Called
31:29
Quest. So I wanted to make it from a
31:31
fan's perspective for the most part.
31:34
But then, you know, a documentary when you're doing it
31:36
in real time about real people that you know, are, are alive.
31:40
You know, the, the, the great fight dog has passed on since
31:44
since that. You know, you want to do justice
31:46
for them and for their stories. So it was, it was a lot.
31:50
It was a lot. I wish I had made a documentary
31:52
about the making of the documentary because I think it
31:54
would been, it would have been an incredible tool for young
31:59
film makers because I learned a lot.
32:01
Yeah, it must have been because that's something that's in your
32:04
DNA, that kind of music and that band to be able to, I mean, that
32:08
must have been dream kind of stuff.
32:10
It was, it was, it was a dream come true.
32:12
It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of Goosebumps
32:15
moments. I would call them goosebump
32:18
moments while I was making it, like where I would know where
32:20
you're shooting a scene and you're like, this is going to be
32:22
in the movie. There was a handful of scenes.
32:24
I was like, this is going to be in the movie.
32:25
This is what I had imagined in my head.
32:28
But it's not like a movie where you plan that.
32:30
Sometimes shit just happens and sometimes people say things that
32:35
you imagine and sometimes people say things that you you never
32:39
expected when you're when you're making a documentary.
32:42
And that's the fun and the the struggle of it.
32:45
It, it ain't for the the meek making documentaries.
32:48
You have to be all in to do it. So staying on hip hop for a
32:52
moment, I got a bit of an out there question for you.
32:55
If you had to rescore The Godfather with a hip hop album,
33:00
which would you choose? Damn that's a good question if I
33:02
had to rescore. Or or any of you any, any film
33:06
like the Searches or Real Bravo or whatever.
33:09
With a hip hop album? Damn, that's a good question.
33:12
If I had to rescore, that's a good fucking question.
33:15
I mean, I think shit, Nas, Illmatic could, could could be a
33:20
movie score 'cause it's so sort of dark and cinematic.
33:25
If it's not the Godfather, it could be like Scarface or some
33:28
shit like that. You know, it really is sort of
33:30
the same thing. That one would be good.
33:32
I mean, damn, that's a really, that's a good question.
33:36
You know, I think that some, some gang star shit would
33:38
definitely work. Obviously some Wu Tang, you
33:41
know, midnight Marauders could be something, you know, that
33:44
would be definitely, you know, because it has that, that
33:46
texture and that sound and that that energy and that emotion.
33:50
I think all those films have emotion and the, the, the, the
33:54
records I just mentioned have have emotion.
33:56
But that's a good question. I never got that question
33:58
before. Well, I'll, I'll give a shout
34:00
out to one of the one of the lads on all the right movies,
34:03
Westie. That was his question.
34:04
So. Oh, so he's the fucking.
34:06
He's the guy. What the fuck am I?
34:07
What am I? Yeah, yeah, I'm just the puppet.
34:15
Any plans to move into features? Mike, would you direct a
34:18
feature? I would love to direct a movie.
34:20
I would love to direct a feature.
34:22
You know, it would have to be the right thing.
34:24
I'd have to find something that I just was totally in love with
34:28
and I would love to do it. I would love to do it and it,
34:31
and it would be something that if I didn't do, I would probably
34:35
regret when I was older. So if, if everything comes
34:38
together, I, I, I would want to do it because it's something
34:40
that I've always wanted to do, but I don't do it.
34:43
You know, I wouldn't want to go into it just to do it just to,
34:46
to, to write it off a bucket list, a bucket list.
34:48
But it's definitely something I I, I want to do.
34:51
But you've got, obviously you've got your podcast as well.
34:53
And I mean, just speaking from experience, but you put out two
34:57
episodes at least a week. Yeah.
34:59
So I mean, that's a, that's a fucking huge commitment.
35:02
Yeah. I mean just straight.
35:03
Off podcasts are you know, they're the professional
35:05
podcasting is is it's challenging.
35:08
I love doing it. You know, I love being busy.
35:10
You know, my podcast and the way we, we do the podcast, it's sort
35:14
of like performance art to me. But I, I really, you know, I, I
35:19
get off on doing it and I appreciate, you know, the, the,
35:22
the success is obviously it's all based on the fans and all
35:25
that stuff, but it's definitely like a performance for me.
35:28
And I and I, I, I really like doing it.
35:30
Yeah. So would you be able to find
35:32
time to to because it seems as though like you're the busiest
35:34
person in the world. Oh, oh, if I directed a movie
35:37
and I have to figure something out, I might have to I might
35:40
have to cut it down to one, but I'd have a lot to.
35:42
I mean, shit, if I was doing a podcast during the during the
35:45
Tribe Called Quest movie, Fuck, man, I'm telling you that
35:48
motherfucker was hard to do. But movies are hard to make.
35:51
You know, people think people don't understand how hard movies
35:54
are to make unless you've made one or been a part of they're
35:57
not easy. You know, they're not easy when
35:59
you see the great movies like you guys feature on your page,
36:04
you know, like there's fucking. It takes a toll on people.
36:08
You know, it takes a toll on the film makers.
36:09
You know, the Francis Ford Coppola's articulated it very
36:12
well, You know, a Raging Bull, you know, Martin Scorsese, you
36:16
know, it can take a toll on you. But if you do it correctly, you
36:19
know, it could sort of be cathartic, which is, you know,
36:22
one of the things that comes up a lot in the making of Raging
36:24
Bull, which I know you guys love.
36:28
I have such a reverence for it that if I did it, I would be
36:31
shooting for the stars. I would be going shooting for
36:34
the stars, so I would definitely have to cut down the amount of
36:37
podcasts I did while in production, but it might be good
36:40
to do it so it didn't. I didn't go totally insane.
36:42
Yeah, it'd be an outlet for you. Exactly.
36:46
And you've had loads of really like, really memorable roles on
36:50
TV as well. Personal favorite of mine is
36:52
your guest spot on the 5th season of Louis.
36:55
Yeah, that was done. Fucking amazing.
36:58
I love that. And it's what, like a 22 minute
37:00
episode or something like that, But there's a, there's a
37:02
character arc in there for you. Great episode, you should post
37:06
something for that if you could find it because I can't find the
37:09
Louis stuff but working with Louis CK on the show, Louis was
37:11
dope, the part was dope, the writing was great.
37:15
He's very very talented. I hope he comes back and does
37:19
some stuff soon. I think he's been served his
37:23
time and I think people should be able to learn from their
37:26
mistakes. You know, there's people that
37:28
have gotten away with violent crimes that went to prison for
37:31
the same amount of time we've put him in, you know, sort of
37:36
behavioral jail and, and, and obviously, you know, he has to
37:40
reckon with that. But but I think, you know, there
37:42
has to be forgiveness for people and and reconciliation for
37:46
people. But working with him was
37:48
awesome. It was freezing cold when we're
37:50
shooting outside. I didn't meet him beforehand.
37:54
I haven't seen him since he was so trusting of, of me doing the
37:58
part. And it was literally that was
38:01
cathartic for me because what I was going through in my life
38:04
personally at the time, to be able to have that outlet as it,
38:07
as an actor, it meant a lot to me.
38:10
And it was an expression of my emotions.
38:15
And I think that's why it resonated and, and, and people
38:18
fortunately still bring it up because it was a personal, the
38:22
emotions that I was relating to that character were very
38:25
personal. And and you don't always get to
38:27
do that. Yeah, I mean, it's outstanding.
38:30
There's that credit rule scene right at the end when you're
38:33
doing the the Nitton, which has been set up when you're tearing
38:36
the apartment up looking for the gun.
38:38
Oh, that's just so good. So.
38:41
Thank you. I appreciate that.
38:42
Thank you. What I wanted to talk to you
38:44
about is your current show on Netflix.
38:46
That's Atypical. Yeah, a great show and it's
38:50
dealing with real world problems that don't necessarily bleed
38:53
into popular culture. Has how or has or how has that
38:56
show had an impact or influence on you as an actor or or a
39:01
person even? Well, working on Atypical has
39:04
certainly raised my awareness and understanding of autism, how
39:09
it affects the, for me, it's really, you know, raised my
39:14
awareness of how it affects people, the people around
39:17
somebody who, who has the family, the friends, the people
39:22
around the, the man or the woman or the kid, really who, who is
39:26
suffering from autism 'cause that's, you know, the character
39:29
I play. So I'll say that it's made me
39:31
more aware and educated about the autistic community and what
39:35
it means to be autistic. It's been a great time doing it.
39:40
A Season 4 premieres on Netflix July 9th.
39:43
It's our last season. A lot of fans are disappointed
39:46
it's our last season. I'm disappointed it's our last
39:48
season. But it's the first time I was
39:49
able to do a show where we get to go out knowing and going into
39:53
the last season that it's get gets to wrap up.
39:56
So you sure you want things to go on forever, But I rather do
40:00
that then have to wait to find out whether or not we're going
40:04
to be able to go forward. So, you know, it was great
40:08
working with the cast. Jennifer Jason Lee is one of my
40:11
favorite. She was one of my favorite.
40:13
She's another one who I just she's I've always considered one
40:16
of my favorite actors actresses. And, you know, get to get to
40:20
work with her has been great. You know, I have so much respect
40:23
for her and it's been cool to watch her and learn how she does
40:26
her thing and watch her process. I really can't figure out her
40:29
tricks. You know, she just is good.
40:31
You know, it's like I stare at her when we're working together
40:34
and like, I'm like, what the fuck is she doing?
40:36
And she's just a good actor, a really good actor.
40:40
And, you know, when she hits you like, you know, you, you, you
40:42
feel it. So she's been just cool.
40:45
And she's this very funny person.
40:47
Like, you know, I want to get her on my podcast because she's
40:50
a lot funnier than I think she's certainly funnier than her
40:53
characters. And she's kind of shy.
40:55
You know, when, when, when she's presented on doing publicity
40:58
stuff, she's shy, but she's funny and she got a lot of
41:00
stories and history in show business.
41:03
So she's, she's cool when and, and working on Atypical has been
41:07
something that I'm very proud of.
41:09
Yeah, I mean, it's great and like a real eye opener as well.
41:12
And I'm sure that a majority of people watching have got the
41:15
same experiences as me. It makes you think about things
41:18
from a different perspective. And there's a lot of emotion in
41:21
that show as well, and some really funny, really funny
41:24
moments. Very funny.
41:25
And the actors, the young actors, Kieran, Bridget, who
41:27
play the kids, they're, they're really talented.
41:29
So I I I enjoy doing it. Cool.
41:31
OK, so finally Mike got to ask you, what are your all time top
41:36
five favorite films? My all time top five favorite
41:40
films, in no particular order are Raging Bull, Rocky, Saturday
41:45
Night Fever, Raging Bull, Rocky, Saturday Fever, All time
41:49
Favorite top five films of all time, The Shining, and it's hard
41:55
to pick another one. I have to say The Godfather 1:00
41:59
and 2:00. That's one film.
42:00
Not, not The Godfather. Yeah, not the Godfather.
42:04
Like, you know, when it's out of sync, but the one and two, you
42:06
know, not the Godfather. What's in order.
42:08
That's dope. They could still always, you
42:10
know, I never can fully appreciate Godfather three.
42:14
It just doesn't work for me all the way.
42:16
Although there's some good things.
42:17
But one and two, I say those are my 5.
42:21
All of them, coincidentally, except for The Shining, starring
42:26
Italian Americans. Don't know why but but but
42:30
that's who I I gravitate to with with my acting.
42:32
So those are those are my top five today and it's
42:35
interchangeable, just like if you asked for my top five hip
42:38
hop albums. Well, I'm I'm surprised they're
42:41
shining. I'm really surprised that didn't
42:42
strike me as your kind of film. Oh fuck yeah, that's my shit.
42:45
Jack is my fucking dude. Oh, it's amazing.
42:48
So you got a big month coming up in July.
42:50
You mentioned July 9th for season of Atypical and you've
42:53
got some stand up dates coming up in July, August as well.
42:56
Is that? Right, stand up dates coming up
42:57
in July. I'm I'm on the East Coast and
43:01
hopefully one day I'll get to make it abroad.
43:03
But all the tickets are available at
43:04
michaelrapaportcomedy.com. And you know, I love doing stand
43:08
up. It's the ultimate unedited
43:11
performance. You're the actor, the director,
43:13
the, you're the, the production designer, the sound engineer,
43:17
the sound mixer, the boom operator, But ultimately, you
43:22
know, everything falls on you. So it's a lot of fun and, and,
43:25
and I'm I'm really, really, really, really enjoying being
43:28
back doing stand up. I love it.
43:29
I love touring and I'm looking forward to getting back on the
43:33
road in in July, you know? If anybody's interested on
43:35
michaelrappaportcomedy.com I'll be coming to a city to talk shit
43:40
near you. Awesome, cool.
43:42
And of course your podcasts, I am Rappaport podcast that drops
43:45
a couple of times a week that's exclusively on Luminary and you
43:49
covered a lot on that show. You got sports, music, films,
43:52
politics, it's all in there. And I've listened from the Star
43:55
Mike and and I absolutely love it.
43:57
Thank you dope man, I appreciate it.
44:00
So check that out for sure. Mike, it's been amazing talk to
44:03
you. Thanks so much for coming on the
44:04
show and good luck with everything in the future.
44:06
Really appreciate it. Anytime, anytime free all the
44:09
right movies, Twitter free all the right movies.
44:12
It's a great site and I appreciate what you guys do and,
44:16
and, and you know, let me know when this is up and you know,
44:18
I'll post repost and all that shit.
44:20
And I appreciate you know you guys, your you know, your
44:23
enthusiasm for me and and all things movies.
44:26
Mike, you're a gent. Thank you so much.
44:29
Thank you man. Stay in touch.
44:30
I'll talk to you soon. Take care.
44:31
All right, bye, bye, bye. So there you have it.
44:40
Fan of all the right movies. Michael Rappaport in the flesh.
44:44
Great guy. And at the end there, Mike was
44:46
referring to our current spot with Twitter when he said free
44:49
all the right movies. Some of you might know that our
44:51
account's been suspended at the moment.
44:53
We posted a movie clip with some music in it and we've been
44:56
suspended on copyright claims. That battle's ongoing and we'll
45:00
let you know when we've got an update.
45:02
Check out Mike stand up, his Netflix show, a typical new
45:05
season coming out July 9th and his podcast, the I am Report
45:09
Stereo Podcast live and exclusively on Luminary.
45:12
As for us, our latest podcast on classic and hit films, His
45:15
Midnight Run that came out last week and is available
45:18
everywhere, as are our most recent 20 episodes.
45:21
The rest, along with a whole host of exclusive shows, are
45:24
available only on Patreon. So go to patreon.com/all the
45:28
Right Movies to support us and get access to hours and hours of
45:31
great All the Right Movies content.
45:34
Release Today actually is our Patreon exclusive double feature
45:37
podcast where we're talking about The Hunt for Red October
45:40
and Crimson Tide 2 blockbusters. Next week on our classic
45:43
podcast, John, Westie and Pi are bringing you the behind the
45:46
scenes making of story of Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War
45:49
classic Full Metal Jacket. And in the meantime, we're on
45:53
Instagram at all the under score right movies.
45:56
No Twitter at the moment, of course, but we do have a
45:57
Facebook group search all the right movies there.
46:00
Look for the logo and sign up. Our website is all the right
46:03
movies.com. You can contact us there.
46:05
Say hi or whatever. Keep it clean though.
46:08
Thanks for tuning in the first episode of ATR meets.
46:10
We hope you enjoyed it, Look out for the next episode and we'll
46:13
let you know when that's available.
46:14
Thanks everyone, stay safe, see you soon.