Ned Luke (Michael De Santa, Grand Theft Auto V)

Hey, I'm Ned Luke aka Michael Desantha from Grand Theft Auto five and you
are watching Tuned In with the Legend. Jim Cummings. Oh my god,
how you doing out there? It's me Tiggert, I am Duc Wayne Duck.
It's me Bunkers Deep Bobcat. All right, y'all, did it ring
your favorite firefly you desire? Hold the old knock guy. My name is
Jim Cummings and welcome to tuned In. All right, welcome back everybody to
another episode of Tuned In with Jim Cummings. Today we have Ned Luke,
you know him as Michael Desanta from Grand Theft Auto five. Thank you so
much for joining us. Hey, thanks for having us. Indeed, thanks
for being here. Man, I'm in the presence of the legend. Oh
are you gonna do? That was my line? Damn it? Now what
am I gonna say? Oh? Well, it's good to see, good
to have you. Thanks. We've running through each other at these conventions,
and here are we at the world famous Indianapolis. Yes, not the five
hundred one, but it's a pretty world famous. Yeah. I think of
that one commercial from the Final four one year when when Charles Barkley. Those
guys went to Annapolis and they said, it's supposed to be Indianapolis. Oh
yeah, we're Indianapolis instead of Indianapolis. So here we are. How are
things Indianapolis Indianapolis. Everything's good. This is like being home. Man,
is being home because I grew up hour and a half from here. Oh
that's in Illinois. Yeah, right across the border. Yeah, so whereabouts?
What was his name? Danville, Illinois. Shout out to Danville,
Donville, Danville Kidd hashtag Danville Kid. Yeah, there you go. We
we have some big shots come from my little town. Yeah. Oh,
Nick Van Dyke, Jerry van Dyke, Dick van Dyke. O, yeah,
yeah, Jerry van Dyke, Dick van Dyke, Gene Hackman, Oh,
Bobby Short, Donald O'Connor, Oh damn yeah, little town in the
Midwest. Well, I'm from Youkstown. It was okay, half me and
Boom boom man scene and Eddie O'Neill. That's it. That's it's Joe Bazulo.
He was. He's a pretty incredible singer. Yeah, I do o'
kneel though. That's a good one. Yeah, that's not bad. That's
a good one. I can tell you when I was in the sixth grade.
Uh, he was, he was in it was a senior in high
school and they came up with the show. Not that anybody asked, but
I'm telling you' all anyway. Uh, they came up with the show called
The Catholic School Story. Mother Rosemary wrote it and he played father O'Neill.
Oh did he? And uh it was on so perfect? Yeah, perfect,
And I was the cute little kid, which the cute stuff has since
backfired something fierst but cute. But yeah, well I'm the chicks dick old
fart now, but you know, but it works. But that's my claim
to fame with ed. Yeah, and then boom boom the lights. Yeah
he could fight, He could fight, Yes, he can. Yeah,
he's a good boy. In fact, we'll have to get him on that
podcast to one of these days. But for now, did you did he
take on acting for a little Yeah, for something he did so, yeah,
I'm afraid he did. Yeah. And well, since he's not here,
I can tell you he probably couldn't act well if you shoved him in
the pool. Hey, hi, doing al ray, I'm kidding with your
buddy. It's just a joke. Remember, funny jokes. Oh come down,
come down, and your throat out. Yeah yeah, yeah, we
don't we don't know Youngstown, Ohio. Yeah, well I don't know about
Danville, but Youngstown. I always joke about it. It's great to be
from there, but in order to be from there, you gotta leave.
Yeah. Yeah, so I'm just saying, great place to be from.
Don't nobody, don't know, anybody want to go there? Yeah, yeah,
that's right, something like that. You always say. I always say,
yeah, Danville, Illinois is not the end of the world, but
you can see it from there. Okay, I'm stealing that. Yeah,
it will be my new line. I think I probably stole it from somebody
anyway. So yeah, that's good. Yeah. So what what keeps you
the busiest these days? Because there's a lot of conventions out there? Many
there are you know those guys just like on the road. No, no,
not at all, not at all. Actually, we just we're kind
of picking. I don't know if pick and chooses it or or or what,
but you know, we go. You know, like this year has
been pretty good as far as because it's the tenth anniversary of the game nice.
So uh, you know, I started doing live streaming, and I
started live streaming the game, and I think that that helped because it made
people want to you know, like like like see us, you know,
because of the live streaming, and so I think that helped. And Solos
lives know what that means? Could you on YouTube on the game? So
I'm actually playing the game, Oh, you're online and commenting and and you
know it's crazy that's above my pay grade. Yeah, well, you know
your pay grade is pretty high. Well I'm probably qualified to watch. Yeah,
yeah, so right, I mean, you know me know yeah,
I mean I do that on I do that on YouTube. So I think
that's that's kind of given. And then the tent anniversary has given us like
a little reawakening of the of the deal. Wow. And then with GTA
six in the offing about probably maybe a year or so away, it's kind
of you know, they dropped the first trailer, so it's like, oh,
okay, everybody, he's like, oh my god, when's g six?
I could tell you, but I'd have to kill you, you know
that guy. Yeah that's true. You know, well that's a good way
to keep it secret. Yeah, yeah, never mind, Yeah, yeah,
And that trailer got leaked, right, Yeah, yeah, he got
leaked. Uh. You know it was funny because I was young. I
was live streaming a reaction video to it, and I was it was supposed
to it was supposed to come out on you know, nine o'clock in the
morning or whatever whatever the day was, and somebody leaked it. They got
hacked, hacked, and they leaked it and it came out and they put
it out there that night. I went, wait a minute, I'm looking
at at like my page and it's like says that the trailer's out, and
I'm going, wait a minute, what the hell is this? So I
called somebody would know and they said, yeah, they leaked it, so
we had to launch it. And I went, great, I'm live streaming
the I'm live streaming you're almost that thing. Yeah, yeah, live streaming
a rerun. Yes. I ran out to my little studio I am,
and I said, let's go. Here we go. You guys see the
trailer. It's like, oh, it was pretty great, you know,
tucking a shotgun there because it could have been Yeah, well, you know
it's funny because you say that, but like during my live stream something,
I've been swatted like nine times, really yeah. Really, I've been swatted
like nine times. These these clowns think it's cute. Do you know what
swatting is, Jim. It doesn't sound like fun. No, it's not
what happens if somebody calls Okay, So this was one of them. This
was This was a real cute one. Uh. Guy calls in and says,
yeah, there's a naked man on the front porch with a shotgun threatening
to do harm. Cops gotta come out. Yeah. So the cops come
out with their shields and their guns drawn and all that kind of stuff.
I was sitting that was me, but I don't remember the cors. Well,
I rushed you and I didn't want you to get your boss shot.
Thank you. It's always again. Yeah, so but that's happened to me
times. Happened on Thanksgiving Day when I was live streaming, you know and
stuff. So it's kind of coming an end because I got the FBI on
it. Wow, that's crazy. I had an FBI agent reached out to
me and said, hey, I see all the stuff that's going on,
you know, and I thought it was bullshit. You know, can I
say bullshit? Yeah? Yeah, I thought I was bullshit. I just
said, because you know, you had all the prank phone calls and pizzas
and all that kind of er. So I called a friend of mine.
I knew it was a FED, and he gave me the number to call
to verify that this guy was legit. And I got to think, and
I was thinking, you know, I probably have fans in the FBI,
right, some YOUNGBI agent who was almost guaranteed, who was like twenty when
the game came out, and now he's thirty and responsible, you know,
absolutely responsible. Yeah, So I called. I called, and they said,
yeah, we have that agent and hold on just a second. And
they passed me through to him and he was like, yeah, I see
all the stuff going on. He goes, I'm a big and I was
so so him. And then this this other actor that I know who's who's
working on some stuff with us, and uh uh he's his side Gig is
a private investigator. So we started investigating this stuff. Man, We're like
I was like, you know, it was I was like a detective.
Man, we're finding who people are. Oh yeah, and and I'm telling
him out there, yeah, keep them coming, keep them coming, said,
we're on we got one of you we're gonna get more, you know,
and I called out by their handles like they using social media and stuff,
and that's enough. Sure enough, started calling. Hopefully it's stopped for
good. Once this goes out, you know, it'll probably be it'll probably
start all over again. Yeah yeah, yeah, don't do it. Sorry,
well it's too like we already started to right, Okay, now,
Nett, you might not know this, but Jim actually voiced most of the
AMU Nation clerks in GTA. Yeah yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah,
yeah, well what hasn't e bore? I think he did Michael too,
that way take it. I'm pretty sure he did my voice in the
game. I hope not. No, maybe when I was suspended. All
right, you're fired for a week. We're gonna get Jim to come in.
No, no way, no way, man. That's that's crazy though.
Yeah. In fact, we just looked at it and it's it's one
of those things that's uh, it's just so funny. Just poke sticks out
of my memory. You know, I've got huge family and niece's nephews and
and years ago I'm sitting there in the phone rings. Yeah, it's my
nephew, Boris my brother Terry Spore goes, okay, Jim, Yeah,
did I just buy a rocket launcher from you? And then some crappy gas
station over there, and I go, wait, are you playing? He
goes, I go, yeah, I think he did. Yeah, yeah,
so yeah, and he didn't care about poo or taking dark Man.
There we go. You were you were selling illegal arms. That's see,
that's because that gives you street credit. It gives me street credit. We
need to put on and give you a last street credit. No sess to
me street credit. Yeah, yeah, the wrong street Yeah. Oh man,
that's crazy. But you you do. You're on the road then.
So that's a good thing that you were like me. I'm sure you were
the same like during the when everybody had the flu or or didn't you know,
we're all right whatever, hiding hiding behind you know, little masks and
everything. But we're back. Yeah, yeah, it's back, and it's
it's fun, you know. And that's that's another thing that that a lot
of people don't don't understand, Like like with like you'll hear people talking about,
you know, how long it's taken for the next game to get out,
and you don't realize that we were shut down for a year and a
half. Sure, you know, and so you're not making any games or
anything. And then and then we had a Stride, which was another what
six weeks or so where nobody and so, yeah, you got a two
year period there where there's nothing really happening. Yeah. Yeah, it's great
to be Uh. I love doing this stuff. This stuff's fun me too.
Yeah, it's fun. You know. You get all your fans,
they come up and they're like, you know, yeah, don't worry,
I'm not gonna shoot. And I'm like, oh, dude, you're vibrating.
Yeah, it's okay. We're just dudes, man, We're just like
this regular guys here. We're not like we're just yeah, yeah, I
went over, give me your phone. You're gonna you're gonna break your phone?
Yeah right, all right, I get me fifty bucks. All right
there you go. Yeah, yeah, well there's that too. Okay,
fine, yeah, I mean maybe I couldn't help. But notice you were
saying we were shut down, you know, over the pandemic, and yeah,
no, me meaning the industry. Okay, okay, but I still
try. Was a good try. Dude. That was just so smooth.
They always see that's what I'm talking about. All they wanted to do is
when's six coming? That's where you was going right now. I wanted to
ask, are you involved in any capacity in six? Can you tell you?
But I have to kill you. That's all right, all right,
I mean it would be. It would be. I mean, who wouldn't
want to be right? No kidding, jeez, it's going to be.
It's got to be the well, we were the biggest game ever, right
yeah, and that's going to be the biggest game ever. I mean,
we did I remember, I just remember you blown away when when I saw
the little thing you know on social media whatever it said, we did eight
hundred million dollars the first day. They're going to blow that away. They're
going to probly do one point two billion the first day, who knows,
or one point five or something like that. It's going to be. And
looking at the trailer, oh my god, the the it's going to be
so good man. The graphics and stuff are crazy. You know, uh,
the asses are huge. You know, it's like it's there. You
go, well it's spy City, okay city, which is Miami, So
you know, oh well okay, by react video, I said, yeah,
somebody asked me to go away. What's up there? Yeah? What
was the thing that surprised you most about the trailer? You know? And
I said the asses clearly, they're big, you know. I was like,
there's an again, Miami basses go hand in hand or hand in two
hands handed? Yeah, per cheeker. Yeah. I was gonna say times
too. There's been a lot more BBL since twenty thirteen. Yeah, yeah,
so it's gonna be it's going to be interesting to see how that how
that is. I was just about I can't say when was the last release.
There's us twenty thirteen. We're yeah, we're our ten year anniversary.
Yeah, it's been going for a tent anniversary tour. Yeah, so you
know doing the comic cons and everything, which is a lot of fun.
Yeah yeah. And Jim, are you going to reprise your role because you've
been involved in most of the Grand Theft autos as some voice or another.
I was just going to say that, no, honestly, I you know,
that's the weird thing he could, but he had to freaking kill you.
Yeah yeah, yeah, but you know, you do these things and
I'm sure it's similar to yourself. You know, you're doing them and you're
in a vacuum. You're in a void. You're not seeing what everybody ultimately
sees on any given screen. And so it's just you and some papers and
a recording engineer and a director. Yeah, and you know you don't get
the visual and you don't get any visual. Well, but see that's the
thing that's great about the motion capture. Yeah, like, like what we
did. You know, it was like three and a half years of motion
capture, so so it was you know, like and and you know,
it's funny. None of my characters are important enough to give a damn what
they're doing, right, Okay recording okay, and I get your ass.
They don't have a motion capture suit. You should. You should see what
his dad goes through Christ with God of War. Yeah yeah, I mean
crazy, he's digging foxholes. Yeah, it's the same thing around. Yeah,
he knows how it is because he because you know, you're sitting there
and and people go, oh, yeah, you're the voice actor. And
some actors will get pissed off when you say that, because you know,
no, no, no, I'm a performance capture I you know, however,
I mean, I don't you call me whatever you want a lot of
the actors attached to it. That's the first time I've done video game in
my career. You know. I was always on camera, you know,
So that was and an the audition. Was it on camera audition? Oh?
Really? Yeah? I went to Bernie Telsey's office in New York and
it was like it was like, you know, regular audition, camera here
taking the thing, and I did the audition and well that's cool. Yeah,
And so I thought that was weird that it was for a video game.
And then that was the audition because I had no idea that they do.
Do they do a likeness of you for this character? I did,
Yeah, it's my you know, I mean everything you see it's my My
face, is my body that I put on twenty five pounds to do the
role. It was like yeah, yeah, they didn't tell me I had
to, but it was a good excuse to like, yeah, no,
but it was I you know, they in the in the little bits of
script that I have, I was being called like I was called sugar tits
and fat boy, you know, and stuff like that. So I was
weighing about I was probably waghing about one eighty five, you know. At
the times. So I said, I had like a couple of months after
I booked it before we were starting. So I started picking out and I
said, because I wanted that physicality, like the Robert de Niro of the
emotions. I kind of like that. But I haven't been able to get
it off though, because you know, I was it was kind of dumb,
like pretty good, and they were like and they were like, you
don't have to do that, and I said, yeah, but I want
the physicality, you know, like if I'm I'm this like aging criminal and
I want to feel that, like you know, I don't even be too
light on my feet, you know. And besides, if I throw all
this hotness out there, you know the girls are going to go crazy.
Yeah see, it's like you too. Yeah. Hazard, it's a freaking
hazard. That's like that story with the Marathon Man Dustin Hoffmann and the Sir
Lawrence Olivier. And there was a scene where in Marathon Man where Laurence Olivier
was like a Nazi dentist, Like, right, right, is that the
most frightening thing you've ever heard of? Where you're going, I'm going to
see a Nazi dentist And apparently to look completely haggard, completely shagged out,
completely like crap. Dustin Hoffman stayed up for like forty eight hours straight and
drank coffee and had a pinch alarm and he wouldn't let himself and he comes
dragging his ass in there and he and Olivia says, what is the matter,
my boy? What is he? Oh, I've been up for forty
eight hours and I haven't pinched myself on drinking coffee to stay awake. And
he goes, oh, my son, you should try acting, telling Dustin
Hoffman he should try acting. Yeah, yeah, he's probably got a point.
The method, the method actor. Yeah, that's the Uh, that's
like Daniel day Lewis is like that. Oh yeah, like he was doing
something. He didn't shower for like a month or something or whatever. But
yeah, I don't know. We had always joke on our set because we
were pretty loose on the set and uh yeah yeah. And Steven, the
guy who plays Trevor in the game, he was one of these hippie lunch
guys, you know, the Lentel's and all that, and he's part all
the time. Oh so he's one of the guys I call. Everybody goes
to Stephen a method actor because you know he's kind of like that. You
know, I'm always no, no, no, no, just yeah.
I Steve is a methane actor. Back away from the fireplace, he would
just crop dust. The he would crop dust the whole freaking stage you come
out there, you know, he's to be like god dang. Solo especially
was like Solo would go crazy because you know he's like, man, you
don't do that ship where I come from? What you? Oh? Man?
But yeah, it was fun. We had a we had a blast
on the set. That's years you know, Yeah, it's a half years.
Yeah. And and and that was on a project. Yeah, that
was on GT five. That was just like it was you know, like
Red Dead Reddad took like five years to make motion capture. Geez, like
five years. You know they were shootings. Well that that just boggles my
mind. I mean because you know big motion pictures. Well, I mean,
I guess it's commensurate with proportionate with it because now that video games have
taken over the they you make more money than the top gun. It's crazy,
like, yeah, that's what they say. Our game was the single
biggest piece of entertainment in history, adjusted for inflation. Wow, Like yeah,
you're like going, holy crap. You know, you see a blockbuster,
blockbuster movie will make you know, if it makes five hundred million dollars
or a billion or something like that, they go not bad. You know,
got a bonus of the size of Las Vegas. H I think we
made like nine billion or something like that. I mean, it's insane.
It's insane the money that it makes, and the industry is so huge.
But the sad part of it is that I find not not so much in
my own experience or whatever, is that it's still you're still not as an
actor. You know, you're still a little disregarded. I know, you're
a video game actor, you know, and a lot of people don't understand
that that. You know, you and I are doing a cinemat man,
we're doing a mat right now, that's right, Yeah, because you know,
you got your motion capture suit on and it's capturing all your motion and
this I just did gets captured and and that's going to be in the game,
you know, whatever it is you're doing. So it's it's like I
think Andy Serkus is going to be here this weekend, the guy who played
Gollum and oh yes, yes, yes, this is like the motion capture
King of the World. Oh you're not kidding, right, and and and
this dude is is you know, I think if he hasn't won Oscar,
yeah, he's sure. Hell probably it's unbelievable. Weren't they. There was
a rumor floating around that he was gonna get nominated or I think supposedly was
that for for I don't know if it was for Planet of the Apes or
a different one, but yeah, I mean, he's unbelievable. This guy,
what he does is just physicality is incredible. Yeah, it's free,
h I mean incredible. Yeah. His column from Lord of the Rings is
like yeah, and I mean his he plays Caesar, right, yes,
yes, Caesar, it really is. It's insane. Yeah. You know
for us it was like, okay, you're just making a guy. Yeah.
And then he's a great actor in his own right as well. I
mean he was he was what the Villain and Black Panther. Yeah. Yeah,
I saw him in something and I'm going I saw him in something and
I don't remember what it was, but I remember sitting there going, damn,
man, this guy's good, really really really I had no clue who
it was, because I've never seen him without a yeah you know, yeah,
exactly, well that you know, from the Planet of the Apes one.
It's just oh, that's that's crazy, man. I swear. I've
said this before, like with my kids. And if you if you could
take one of these different movies, I mean, Lord of the Rings out
of the Apps and shoot it back in time like maybe twenty five thirty years,
people think it's magic. Oh yeah, because they go, oh my
god, that apeist you know talk because it doesn't. It doesn't because it
used to be. I don't think about the old Planet of the Apes.
Oh yeah, that was right, That was good, Kim Kim Hunter.
Yeah, you could still see I am hold on, you know, you
got that face looked at that and you're like going, I mean even back
then having Halloween amazed, but that was boggles. That killed kicked my ass.
Yeah, just that. But now it's like it might as well be
magic. And with the c g I and that now the game the AI,
yeah, devil conversations about that. Yeah, AI is a little bit
he's in cares a little scary. If you're digging that. I want to
bring the conversation back to what you said about kind of not getting necessarily the
recognition of being, you know, like a a motion capture performer. Jim,
do you feel a little bit of that as a voice actor compared to
you know, acting on camera. How does that compare? It resonate when
every a couple of years somebody will say, and I always enjoy this one,
So have you ever done any acting? And I go, oh,
gee, I don't know. Yeah, you went to sleep. Sorry,
you know, uh, but the fact is, you know, if you're
not if you're not putting across a good acting performance, and nobody cares,
well, yeah, I mean go back to the puppet Show. Yeah,
yeah, you know. The thing is is that you know, people don't
ye the layman or whatever. They don't understand necessarily how the business works and
everything, and once you explain it to them, they're like, going,
then they really don't. Are you freaking kidding me? Yeah? Yeah,
all that's that's you did all that. You know. It's like, yeah,
you know, but I don't worry about the fans because the fans,
you know, the bottom line, the fans are the game. You know,
at the end of the day, the fans are the game. You
call me whatever you want to call me. I don't care, you know,
as long as you're calling me. But the thing is is that what
what is defeating to a lot of actors. And I mean I guess occasionally
I would include myself in that as well as being that like, where's the
you know, where's the you know, Rodney do Rodney? You know what
I got? No, I'll tell you. Yeah. Respect you don't respect
it all, you know? And uh uh, that's what it is.
I think a lot of times video game actors, you know, don't get
that, and so they become very you know, I should say, we
become very defensive when well you're not recognized for the performance just the voice,
you know. And I mean I've only done one voice acting job in my
life, and that was with Rodney by the way, no way, Yeah,
a little movie called Rover Danger Fields. Right at that end the day,
I played a Raffles sheep dog. Oh yeah, it was funny.
That was somebody did you work? Yeah with with Rodney? Yeah it was.
It was. It was crazy because I guess they were searching for this
character forever and they couldn't find the voice that they wanted, right, So
I got the I got the gig. I did the audition, I got
the gig, and I went into this studio out in LA to record,
you know, and Rodney shows up right and he's like, hey, so
you're a guy with the voice, and I said, yeah, I said,
I said, and of course I'm I'm a fan. I love Rodney,
you know, and Caddy Shack is like one of my favorite movies of
all time. So I immediately I didn't to skip a beat, man.
I just went, Yeah, a nice studio you got here? What yeah?
Rent this place? You get a free bowl of soup. He goes.
He goes, oh, yeah, you're funny too. Do your part
and get the funk out of here. See. I was like, you
can't beat that, sorry, man, Yeah, I'm a sheep dog.
Yeah, you can't beat that. You've been personally dissed by Rodney Dangel.
Yeah. It was awesome, man. Man, I floated out of that
place. It was like I was you first, like first basically the first
job really I ever got. And it was like I floated out of that
room. Man. I was like, yeah, I met Rodney. Man,
he's only about this tall, but he was. It was yeah,
you know, I have a slight mini philosophy based on that, I was
in the elevator once with h Well, I'll go back all the way,
uh to the first George Bush presidency. Barbara Bush had a thing called Children's
Literacy, and she had Wenny the Pooh and Tigger do a read along with
her, and it was to encourage kids to get the book from the library
read it along with Pooh and Tigger. And so we ended up get invited
to the White House and and I thought that was that was incredible, you
know. Uh. And so I brought back then in the day that you
had a fifty pound camera and a twenty five pound video. Kay, yeah,
I'm trucking it around there because they stuck our ass out on the lawn
and said, okay, that was real good, you know this and that
and and George Bush, the President, was standing up there and he was
about twenty thirty yards away, and and I thought, oh god, he's
looking over here. So I got the camera and I went over there and
I went, you know, and I'm waiting for the president to do some
acknowledge I'm a figer. And he looks at which camera should look at anyone?
And I'll look at this one, and he goes, and I just
got this by the president. It brushed you off. Yeah, I was,
please give me the finger. Yeah. I didn't quite get the finger,
but I was definitely like, you know, I probably would have gone,
I would have gone, hey, who are you telling the move?
Yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you know think youah,
oh, never mind who you think? You are the leader of the free
world. Yeah yeah. So yeah, Well we have those little moments,
those little moments. Did you ever work with Rodney Dangerfield? No, no,
I I I knew that he was recording Rover Dangerfield. I knew that
he was in there, and and uh, and people were telling me about
it, and uh, and he they wouldn't let because usually if somebody was
doing something like I used to do this with Tim Curry or whoever. And
uh, of course Tim was a good guy. He's he's still a good
guy. I actually do know him. But but I was kind of snuck
in to look and and you know, and and he wasn't there yet,
and and I said, so, could I come back? Rodney's here?
And they go, no, he might be okay, But apparently what he
would do is he would come in and they had a raised stage. I
have no idea why to do voiceover. And there was a night stand there
or whatever and a little hangar rack and he would disrobe almost he would get
down to his T shirt and his socks and he had his knee socks held
up with garters and he would take off his pants and everything anyway, hang
him up. Then he would put on his smoke and jacket and you go,
okay, I think I could record no all right, you know,
And so he would do that. Then at the end of the day he'd
get up, put it all back on. All That's how you do it.
Yeah, that's how you're done. That's how you do it, you
know. I don't that that movie didn't get the release it should have.
You know. It's funny, like I get all the time. I'll have
people go your raffles, I didn't know you raffles, you know, yeah,
and like they'll see it on the internet. I remember somewhere, I'll
do that and they'll go, I watched that all the time when I was
a kid. That was like one of my favorite movies like I was kid.
But it didn't get a big release. And I guess that Rodney.
The secret behind that from what I heard was that Rodney pissed off Warner Brothers.
No, yeah, I can't imagine. How did that come put out?
Rodney pissed somebody off? And that's what I heard anyway, is that
that is that that's why, And they said because, I mean, I
went to the premiere of it, and it was just that it was that
one of those little theaters in La I was going to ask you where it
was. I can't remember. I can't remember which one. It was,
Lenny's Theater, I think it was. I think it was. I think
it was in Lenny's basement. Oh yeah, exactly. But ice man,
I went to that and I was thinking, God, how come we don't
have like red carpets and stuff, you know, you would think, yeah,
And that was that's when somebody told me that Rodney, you know,
they and that's what they did. They put it in the theater for like
two days and then they pulled it. You know, probably went like the
weekend video. Yeah and yeah, and then that was that was all.
She wrote. Well, I remember that they would do that. Disney would
do something similar to that. They were trying to do well. They would
do direct to video releases. But then somewhere along the line somebody said,
well, you know, we own was l Capatan on Hollywood Boulevard. So
apparently if you put it in to a movie theater for I think two weekends,
yeah, you then you could put it. Then it was a movie.
Yeah, Then it was for awards and stuff. Then it was eligible
for awards exactly, and then they put it right back, put it right
onto video anyway. Yeah, so they had their cake and eat it too.
So you know, the odds of something went straight the video getting the
awards pretty slim. Yeah, that's faire not now, but back then,
yeah, I don't. I can't even think of the last one I did
that was in that in that category. You know, certain things end up
compilations go to video. But yeah, yeah, well is there everything does
that now? I mean the movie theater is pretty much died. Yeah.
Really it's a slow groove, which is yeah, which is we got to
stop that. Yeah, because I like the idea of going out and smelling
popcorn. I you know, I remember being when I first started acting in
La We went, you know, all my buddies and we had our acting
classes and stuff, and you go out afterwards and you you know, you
go to Canters and you're talking about your you know, and and we hit
to Cinerama Dome. Remember we'd go to the Yeah, yeah, and we
would watch We went to every single movie that came out, right, We'd
all go and we'd sit in the theater. We watch these movies, and
I love them or hate them. And I remember when they re released Gone
with the Wind, we all went and watched at Cinerama Do It was like
awesome, you know. And I can't remember the last time I went to
movie theater. Now. Yeah, I'm at home. I got my eighty
inch TV up over you know thing, and I'm sitting back and I got
my surround sound and stuff going on, and and you know, I'm in
my freaking smoking jacket. Rodney, what is this movie? Now? Play?
All right? Hey honey, hey honey, can you get me a
Can you get me a chocolate something or something? Chocolate? Oh? Yeah,
well those are the good old days. Yeah, yeah, I missed
that stuff. Yeah, we were just talking about that not too long.
I remember there was a subscription service when I was in college, and it
was called Movie Pass and you'd pay like an annual fee and then you could
see x amount of movies a year and I went like almost every weekend with
that thing. It was great. It was great. But the death of
that I think started like with HBO. When I was in college, HBO
hit. We used to call it homework blowoff, you know. And uh
I remember. I remember one of the dudes in where I lived in my
in my fraternity where I lived had had it had HBO, And uh I
remember watching Richard Pryor live on the sunsets Drip. That was me to introduction
to HBO to you know where he's going. Uh he's going. He goes,
Yeah, when you on fire, don't nobody want to fire? He
said, drunk dude on the corner and say, hey man, you right,
yeah, oh man, you get some up your sleeve right there.
God, I remember that so well. The reason I happened to remember it
so well is besides, I'm the biggest Richard Pryor fan in the world.
Your second thing. There you go, well, I think he's the best
comedian has ever lived. That's it brilliant, you know from Peory, Illinois,
by the way. There you go, well, you know, but
the thing about it was he he he does a bit in that about my
hometown, Youngstown, Ohio. And he talks about it, and I'll never
do it as justice. But I remember he were talking about the mafia being
paid off for doing something to do. And he was opening with opening for
a stripper name so doll Oh and she was an old stripper and she was
like eighty years old. Sister was still fine, you know, And he
says, the only time I ever heard anything about the mafia Island Youngstown,
Ohio. And everybody we all went, oh my god, here we go.
And he starts talking about this and that, and I'm going, oh,
man, I know exactly who he's talking to. And then then he
does this bit where they said, you know, he's talking with the satin
dolls. He said, why are you crying? Why? They said they're
not going to pay us. Then I could pay us for tonight, and
I gotta pay. Well, they're gonna pay me, and he went back
and he said, and my dumb ass, I go waltz and then none,
I got me a starter pistol. Yes, yes, yes, yes
yes, and I want my money. He said. Now most white people,
well ship they pants and my brother walk in there with a gun.
So this guy going and he starts laughing like now and he goes, that's
good, that's good. Call I come in and do the gun. Do
the gun again, come on the gun. And he's telling them to do
the gun again. And he goes and he's just this ain't working. He
had he didn't get paid. That was but that that was one of my
I love it. I thought he was. He was. He was the
Beatles and everybody else was yeah, yeah, shooting for second place. He
was. He was just like and and he inspired so many, you know,
like like you know any those guys all the I think rescued stand up
comedy to how about that to well, he's the first guy I ever saw
that. Uh. I mean he had two two or three uh stand up
specials, HBO specials. Yeah, you know, I remember. The thing
that got me about him was I remember he did a bit where he was
doing the drunk kind of like a bomb. Yeah yeah, I know,
and he and he and he just got that care and it was heartbreaking.
Like watching it, I'm like going, this guy is a freaking phenomenal actor.
Yeah, because that that's what got you. And yeah, and then
he would turn it and it would be like and he would get to the
thing next thing. You're laughing a funny thing. Yeah, you're laughing at
all that. He was brilliant. He did that better than anybody. Yeah,
he did that better than anybody. Yeah. I love that guy.
Yeah, God bless him. We were talking about comedy last night over at
the hotel. We were talking about guys, that's a comedy, serious stuff.
Oh yeah it is. I actually when I first went to l A,
I did. I tried to do stand up. Oh, you know,
you'd go and and because you want to get discovered, you know,
so you go like the open mic nights, you know and everything and uh
you know you had your stock humor. That was you know, not going
to get Young Car Center or anything like that. You know it's gonna be.
But it was good because you get you know, I had a nice,
little strong six minute thing, and I guess, oh that's good.
Yeah. And you're and you know you've made it when you an unpaid regular
at like comedy store, you know, that's that's big. Yeah. Yeah.
And I used to bring on good money. Yeah yeah, yeah,
great money. Man. They didn't even give you your drinks for free.
But there was two times that were well more than two with Sam, but
the the I used to go on right before Sam Kennisey when they had when
they had the Westwood Comedy Store. Uh huh, I know, yeah.
And you know, he was like brilliant man. He was so good.
And I asked him one time ago, dude, do it I know you
from somewhere, you know, and he, you know, he do his
his bid. I said, I said, were you a were you a
preacher? He goes. He goes, yeah, I used to preach that
gospel, right And I said, did you used to preach on the quad
at University of Illinois And he goes, oh, yeah, I go I
said, I used to stand there and watch you going. This dude is
crazy, man, he goes. They shrieked that too. Yeah, he
goes. He goes, oh, man, he said, I used to
preach that gospel, he said, but they wouldn't let me do what I
want to do. I say, I will never preach that. And he
was. He was. He was a fire in brimstone soapbox. Yeah.
And he would stand out in front of the union at the University of Illinois
because he was from Peoria and he would he would go and he was staying
on on that soapbox, and he would just go in and talk about the
holy fire. They would yell that fire and that's yeah. And that's what
reminded me of him, you know, when I was see him do his
bed and and I just had to ask him and he goes, oh yeah,
yeah. Yeah. They tried to go, hey, I might remember
you. I said, you don't remember, yeah, but he was.
He was great. And then the other thing that was weird was one time
I was going up. I was supposed to go up, and they can't
say that you're not going up today. They go, yeah, Robin Williams
is here. He wants to work out his material for his HBO special.
Well there you go. Yeah. So he came on and he did it,
and then I had to wait around and I went up after him,
and I thought, how did I follow this? You know, because his
first HBO special, I mean it was like crazy good and he was doing
that material the best said I ever had in my life. Because he had
the audience, so they were I don't think they were listening to anything I
said. I think they were just still laughing at jokes. Yeah, take
it. Yeah, that's a brutal business. You couldn't. You could pay
me to do it, but you couldn't pay me to do it. It's
so lonely man when you're when you bomb, Yeah, that's gotta be rough.
How those guys do it? And and yeah you have to have Yeah
yeah you really do? You really do like kevlar over your soul? Yeah?
Yeah, Well you know that's interesting because you got bumped by Robin Williams.
And I got dissed by Robin Williams and and Aladdin three my guy,
I was the guard and he conjured up a courtroom and I've told this before.
I don't want to be too long, but and and was all of
a sudden in the witness standing, he goes, well what about this?
And then have pop it up in it and I and I had lived and
I gave something and they kept it. So that happened. What that happened
was that it made Robin have to come back and pick up a couple of
his lines because his line didn't work, because they said, oh, that's
pretty good, so they kept that. And then his line didn't work and
he goes and during the thing he went in did that scene And then he
goes, and I've heard that would be all the questions for today. And
he reached over as the genie and grabbed my feet and rolled me up like
a blind and I will not be upstage by a secondary character. Now where
was I? So we both have yet another thing in common. We both
personally got the finger from Robin William. Good night everybody that's been our podcast.
Back then. I looked a lot like him because it was like had
Swayze hair, you know, yeah, the oh and stuff, and I
was very manic, you know and everything. And as he was walking out,
what was really funny. He's walking out to go on and I'm standing
there like, you know, fuck man. I was like, you know,
and he walks by and he goes, he's just walked bay. He
goes, you look like me. Oh that's yeah, I that's it.
And I said, I wanted to go. I want to go. Actually,
I'm way better looking at you. And let's Harry Yeah yeah, yeah
he was, he was, yeah, but then you never then he'll just
you're giving him an opportunity to to come back. I was trying to get
the last thing, man, last thing killed me. Probably you don't you
don't want that guy riffing on you. Yeah, twenty minutes later, he's
still going on your mom. Yeah you know, yeah, he hadn't even
made it to you yet. Yeah, yeah, that's right. Oh man,
man, that's good stuff. Yeah, sure is sure. Old stories,
man, old stories when you get old. He made it, got
old stories. I wanted to ask you when did When did you know that
you wanted to be an actor? How old were you? Oh? Man,
you know what, I was an athlete like I played you know,
in high school, I played football and I was a pole vaulter and whoa
yeah, and I was going to be you know, I went to college
ageat now for a while. Hey, I went to college. Hey,
girls like that big pole. Hey, but they that's actually why I did
it. You know, I wanted My brother was a pole vaulter, and
I said, well, I got booted from the baseball team, so I
went up. I was gonna get killed by my dad. So I told
my brothers. You know, he goes, were you guys bamboo by the
way? So no, no, we were little more. I remember,
I'm not quite that old. Yeah, but the uh the uh my brother
goes, yes, the coach he goes, hey, you can did pole
vaulted? And said, he goes, yeah, okay, you know,
so I started pull vaulting. So in between football and track, I took
a drama class and at high school. In high school, Dale Farrell was
my drama teacher. Dale Farrell, What a dude. And anyway, I
took it because there's girls in the class, right you too, huh oh
yeah, yeah, I mean why does that? Yeah, the same reason
I wanted to be pullballter young girls. You're carrying that big bowl, you
know. But uh so we did these skits for the high school and they
would come our our auditoriums, like were singing in March, fifteen hundred people
seats, you know, I mean like a real theater. So that was
you were President day, that kind of thing. And so they'd fill that
thing up and we do stupid skits from like Carol Burnett and Carol Burnette stories
and everything. I fell in love with it. It was great. And
then in between football season and track season, Dale Farrel came up to and
he says, hey, he goes, I want I want to I want
you to a play. I want to do a play with you. I
want to do this thing, you know, And and I go I got
I got track start and he goes, when I go, like four weeks,
there's plenty of time. Because so I had just seen Wizard of Oz.
Oh okay, right, it was like that for the first time,
or no, no, for the hundredth time. It's just on that night,
you don't we always watched it, you know. I thought I was
being a wise guy, right, I say, okay, yeah, great,
let's do Wizard of Oz. I'll be Scarecrow. That's a great idea.
Right. I'm not a singer, not, I mean I can sing,
but yeah, you know, and so yeah, yeah, so so
we did that and that was and then after that that show, right,
it was like you know, pack house and standing O's and all that kind
of stuff, little kids coming up scare Scar, you know, and I
just fell in love with it. Man, it was it was crazy what
I wanted to do. So when I graduated, you know, high school,
I did a couple of plays, you know, and stuff. I
did, you know, Oklahoma in the in the park that you know,
outside I could drive horses like I was a horseman. So I actually had
the horses like four horse right or man, no, I was I was.
I forget my curly not curly curly. I was, uh. I
can't remember what the guy's name was. But anyway, I got a solo
dance and everything. Because I was athletic, you know, I could do
flips and stuff, so they gave me a solo. They gave a solo
dance, and I was like, this stuff's awesome. Yeah, I want
to do this. So when I was going to college, I go I
told my dad, I go, yeah, they wanna be a theater major
quote unquote, Oh boy, ready, you're not running around on a stage
in a tutu and a bunch of HomeOS. Yeah. Right. And then
he said, well there's not a bunch of them. I said, okay,
well business major. Yes. So that's what I did. I went
to University Illinois became a business major. And and you know, once I
stopped pole vaulting because I shattered my leg. I couldn't pull vault anymore.
I just I stopped going to class. I was a straight a student.
I stopped going class and I started just goofing off and I did a couple
of plays in college. And you know, but I knew that's when I
knew, man, I knew. I knew right away that I wanted to
do it, you know, but it was scary for my mom because my
her dad was an actor, singer, actor guy, and he left them
at twelve and went off to be a star, you know things. Yeah,
and so I think there was that and then yeah, they had a
built in animosity towards yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I just
said, finally, when I was like twenty eight years old, I said,
I'm shoveling stalls, literally shoveling shit installs. And I told Jeanett Durant,
who was like a second mom to me, I said, I can't
do the same Moore, I'm an actor. She's like, well, it's
about damn time. All right, Oh that's cool. Yeah. And I
went into Chicago and yeah, you know, yeah doing were you? Was
it like the improv people the Second City? And no, no, I
never did that. I never did any improv like classes or anything like that.
I studied with Milton Cassella's out in La Uh. Yeah, did you
have much formal training? A scene study? Yeah? Okay, scene study
class, which to me is better than then That's yeah, that's pretty good.
Like like I always always tell people that when they ask, you know,
you get people always ask, you know, hey, my kid wants
to be an actor. What do you want? You know, what do
you get any advice? Yeah? Don't. Yeah, that is the advice
is can you do anything else and be happy doing it? Do that?
If not, then I got advice for you. You better study. Yeah,
you get into that good scene study class with a bunch of guys that
are working. Yeah, and learn how to and learn how to uh,
you know, administer your career. It's not you got to learn the business
of the business. Otherwise you can get Oh yeah, try that's right.
Well, people ask me that, you know, how do I break into
the head. But the first thing I say is you have to want that
before everything. Yeah, more than you, more than any any any any
any anything. Because newbody is sitting around waiting for you to come audition.
I don't care who you are. Robert de Niro, they weren't waiting on
him. He just had to want it that much, you know, And
that's it. And especially I mean, you know, if you're from Brooklyn
or New York or London or Chicago, LA, which I wasn't Youngstown,
Ohio. Tried telling that to people in Youngstown. They go, what are
you gonna do okay, but how are you gonna eat though? I go
no, no, I'll do it well enough to eat, and they go,
no, you're not. Yeah. So and for some people like me,
negative encouragement is the best encouragement. Yeahbody tells you, are you like
that because somebody said, you know what you're never gonna do? You're never
You don't tell me I can't do so, And then it's like, oh
it's coming now. Yeah, I don't tell me I can't do something,
yeah, because then you're guaranteeing I'm gonna do the hell out of it.
Yeah, which, yeah, I remember. I remember sitting there at It
was in one of my periods where I was not a student or an actor
or anything. You know. It was like it's called unemployed. Yeah yeah,
I was working with the horses, you know and stuff whatever. And
I remember being in a tavern like old bar and grill thing in my hometown
and one of my brother's good friends goes, you sit here, he goes
talking, you know, in the table at the table in front of me
goes, okay, smartest guy, know, smartest guy, I know he
wants to be an actor. Well, yeah, okay, what are you
doing you can be such a great lawyer or whatever anything. You know,
you're gonna be an actor? What do you are? You stupid? Yeah?
Have you ever eaten with them? Yeah? Because you know it's like
we just do. We would do stuff like to survive. You know.
It's and people don't understand that. They see the glamour of the actor,
like the fame and the this and that show. And I mean I don't
pretend to be like, like, you know, world famous or anything like
these guys Brad Pitt and you know whatever. I mean, even though I
am world famous. But that's right, that's right. But the speaks well
of you. Yes, yes, yeah, you know they don't understand like
like, okay, so this game came out in twenty thirteen, and you
kind of become like an overnight sensation, right because it's like this huge game.
Oh yeah, so you're an overnight sensation, right. No, you're
not. Man, I've been grinding for twenty five years before, you know,
twenty eight years before the game came out. You know, doing commercials,
doing this, waiting tables, tending bar, shoveling shit, you know,
selling cars, doing whatever you can. You know, I remember I
was I used to clean the theater. You know, I'd get up at
six in the morning were because you know, said I could take the class.
You know, that was how I paid for the class, cleaning the
theater and do the lights for the scenes. Yea, that's the old joke.
The guy at the circus, you know, the elephant act is over
and he's and he's over there going like this and his friend says, man,
I you said you word. I didn't know you did this for a
living. He goes, But the how does it matter with you doing this?
He goes, what give up show business? Exactly? Man? And
it is you know you don't. You don't realize that. And that's what
people don't see, you know, they thin gets Oh man, it's really
cool and everything. Yeah, and that's why I tell people, look,
you better you better want it. Yeah, you know, you better want
it. Because if you think you're just going to go out there and and
you know, get discovered at the at the diner like like whoever that was
as Yeah, and that's it ain't happen. And you got to grind and
you got to be able to handle rejection and you know, which you know,
which is great, and you know I always tell everybody, you know,
you look, you gotta handle rejection, and it's good two ways because
you you know you're going to be out at the bars and you're going to
get rejected a million times by women. So it's the same thing. Yeah,
you know, you're mostly it won't go and just nust that off and
on to the next one. Yeah. Yeah, well that's what I tell
people. I said, well, you have to first of all, you
have to get ready to audition in an audition, audition, audition, and
get used to not getting most of the jobs you because it's just not gonna
be. Yeah. They say that that you book one out of every fifty
two auditions. Oh supposedly was a number somebody threw at me one time.
So I always I always think of it like, if I have an audition,
I don't get it. It's just one of the fifty two. Yeah,
it's one of the fifty. Hopefully it was number fifty one. Yeah.
Yeah, no, show that you don't have to wait too. I've
ever waited fifty two. But but I just remember I was young starting out.
I was in Chicago and it's tend and bar working restaurants, and I
was walking up. I was walking down uh, you know, Russian Division.
I lived right on the corner of Russian Division in Chicago, which is
like, you know, Rush Street is Harry Carey, you were the And
so I was walking down the street and I saw this dude on the other
side of the street parking himself, right. And I used to go to
audition and I would I would come home and I would lay on the floor
and go kind of man, I hope I get this thing. That's great.
Man, I gotta get this. I gotta get this, right,
would I would just make myself crazy. So I see this dude walking on
the street. He's like talking to going around, he's talking. Yeah,
I gets wrong with crazy. I looked a little closer, you know.
It was Robert Duvall, right, who's like, like, you know Robert
Duvall. He's you know, it's as if he were Robert Duvall. Yeah.
And so I look at I go, I go, I don't wt
to go talk to that guy. Right, So I walked across the street.
Hey, you know you're young and you're stupid, and you go,
h hey, I don't I don't do this. You know, I'm too
cool to do this. But you know, but I can tell you man,
you're you're like you and Gene Hackman, You're you're, you're my guys.
You're my favorite actress. And he goes, he goes, oh,
he thanks man. He goes, what are you doing here? And he
goes, hees, I'm here to see my friend in a play. And
I go, Who's say? He goes, Wilford Brimley. Oh boy,
right, So Wilford Brimley was doing a play at at the Goodman Theater in
Chicago. I guess, and uh uh Robert Duvall is there to see him
and I run into him on the street. It was like, I just
live over here. I had an audition tomorrow and I was just like really
worried about it. There he goes, fuck that, you gotta not do
a ship And that was that was the thing that started with me. He
goes, walk with me. You know. We started walking and talking to
the coolest guy and and we're walking and we're talking and I'm like going,
Jesus, this is awesome. This is where I get off. Went up.
There's a light pointing. I lived above a bar. There was a
light pointing, a neon light with into my room that said that said open
till three a m. Or whatever. Oh perfect. I'm like going,
Okay, I'm gonna go in. That sounds like a scene from a movie
right there, but it was cool. And he goes, let's get a
beer. So I walked into this bar above where I lived with freaking Duvall
Way. Yeah. So there I was getting a beer with my friend Robert
Duvall. Yeah. Yeah, right now, so I got get it.
He goes, yeah, I gotta go. I gotta go. And that
was like one of the coolest stories. That was really the thing that I
took away from it was you can give a ship. Yeah that's true.
You know, it's like you can't worry about it. You do it,
got an audition, You do the audition, and you're done. Don't worry
about it. Forget them. Yeah it's over. Yeah, yeah, there's
and then you know another thing that uh, what is it practice on your
own time, perform on ours, get get all those trepidations out of your
head before and then uh and then you know what I always say is just
instincts are the best stinks, which you know, you know, try give
them a methane actor. Yeah, a methane actor. Yes, yes,
exactly, because you know, you got to give them everything that they want,
everything that Okay, I wanted this. I wanted to sound like a
blah blah blah librarian, you know, a truck driver whatever. And then
then my next thing is like, okay, and then do the right one.
So you give them what they asked for. That way, you got
that out of the way, and then do your own take on it.
And every now and then they go for that. That's that's you know what
that's like like preaching right there, because you you, if you're lucky,
right, you'll have a great script or a good scripture, and then if
you're extra lucky, you'll have a really good director right and with and if
you're unbelievably lucky, the director will let you play with the script because it
might take you somewhere else than what you think what his idea of where you
were going to where you wanted it to go, and it might turn it
another way. And that's when the magic happens is we let everybody have some
kind of creative input into it, you know. And that was what was
great about the game was that that they were like that, you know,
one thing about the guys at Rockstar who wrote the game. You know,
they were brilliant writers, great writers. There's a lot of funny stuff in
there, but they also didn't have the ego to go it's not what I
wrote, man, because they will give you the freedom to create and see
if that goes. Oh hey yeah, okay, we're not gonna do that.
But this I just thought of something, you know what I mean.
And then that I just thought of something. Is the thing where they go,
you know, where everybody just signing autographs and they come up down there
and they go, hey, can you write this on there? That's really
cool because it's the thing that that fresh spark. Yeah, we just thought
of the iconic line from that game, you know, is and you forget
a thousand things every day, how but you make sure this is one of
them. I hated that line, right, I'm changing all kinds of stuff.
I'm improvising, I'm doing all this stuff, and when that I was
supposed to do that line, I'm not going just the most corny, freaking
line in the history of man. Kind of hate this ship. This sounds
like some kind of old stupid botgart movie or something like they would say like
this bank Robbert would say every time, and I was trying to change it.
I was trying to make it bad ass, you know, like I
couldn't figure out how to do it. I couldn't get a rhythm, you
know his voice cut you gotta you know, you got to have that rhythm.
Yeah, yeah, So I go. I finally the director comes up
to me, and I was trying everything, and and the director comes up
and goes, ned, they want you to say the line exactly is written.
Well, that's one option I suppose I go, and I go,
the line sucks man, right, and he goes, trust me, he
goes, this is the line, right, and that's why they're rockstar and
I'm not, because that is the line, you know, like like it's
the one everybody wants. So I figured out a way. I snunck a
little pale in there for me that made it work, you know. So
I got the rhythm and I felt badass, and now it was often sailing,
and now it is the line, and so give us the line as
your new and improved version, the one that everyone's gonna know. Well that's
that's where they go, like this, You go, hey, you forget
a thousand things every day? Pal, how about you make sure this is
one of them. That's the thing, and when I was originally doing it,
Yeah, it's badass strike just like it. Let's hear that is poop?
Can we hear that? Can we hear that in Po's voice? Oh?
Here we go. You're gonna hear a thousand things every day, you
forget a thousand. Make sure this is one of them. You're going to
forget a thousand things every day. Let's make sure this is one of them.
That's man, why did I think of doing it like that? Yeah,
you're gonna have a thousand bounces every day. Make sure you bounced this
one too. That's incredible. Oh man, and that Oh my god,
the man we do freaking incredible. Man. Just came up with a great
idea and it's a line swap voice swap. Yeah, we do this voice
swap like every episode with different voice actors. Since we've already done yours,
how about Jim, you give him a character line of yours and then let's
hear it as Michael. Yeah, what do you think of that? I'm
good. I'm good to go, man, I'm game for anything. Okay,
Well, let's see I am the terror. I am the terror that
flaps in the night. I'm the terror that flaps. I am the winged
scourge that pecks it your nightmarrees. I am dark wing duck tear, the
flaps in the night, winged skirts pecks night. As as Michael saying,
if I can remember the words, that's gez sorry. I'm the terror that
what is it flaps in the night. I'm the terror that flaps in the
night. Pal, I'm the the wings that that that whatever it does that
get your nightmares. Yeah, that makes your nightmares. I'm your worst fucking
pal. I am dark wing Oh yeah, I am dark winged duck.
Motherfucker. Everybody. That's the second good night everybody. Way, we usually
only get one of those. Oh yeah, some Oh my god, I
have a lot of peeping going on on this. Disney's gonna love that,
I think. No, they're not, probably not, Yeah, Disney,
Yeah, yeah, there's a slim chance they won't. Disney's gonna be you'll
never work in this town again. Yeah, as well as they're talking to
you and not me. Hey, hey, I tell you, Okay,
I want to I just please Disney call me. Yeah. Sure, that's
the thing. That's crazy. You only to go, you mus it must
be great being a voice actor. And I'm like going, I don't know,
I guess it could be, you know, it would it would be
cool to voice acting is awesome, Right, you get to going. You
can have your own booth at your house. They send you to material,
yes, and you go. You know, you just do your thing.
Yeah, you know you're the little dog that goes that goes. Yeah.
No, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna witch. You cut my bulls left,
don't take me to the don't you take me to the ved mom,
I'm not gonna. I WI like my balls, like waking them. Wow.
You know see I never did that. I never had that line.
Never had that line. Just doesn't bring any bells, balls or bell It's
like the only voice work I get is like it's like, you know,
but that's pretty weren't good doing my dogs? Yeah? Doing it? Doing
that cappy, cute little dog. Yeah, if you had a Mexican accent,
that could have been a chihuahua. You know. You know what's funny
is is you do that now? Is that was the other thing like when
my when my son was little, you know, you they do story time
like in class and stuff. And there was one there was one figure what
was it called? Uh damn, I wish I could remember what's called.
But there was a chihuahua that thought he was a thing. And I and
I went and I read it. I did all that one. Oh god,
yeah, I remember that book. It was a little illustrated book.
Yeah. And that Armadillo Rodeo. I did that one too, But there
was it was it was uh oh wow, boy, I can't remember what
it was now, but I and And it's funny because it was like like
he's third grade and I going, I read the book, and I saw
one of the kids he's now twenty two, my son. And you see
one of the kids and they're like, I remember when you came and you
and you read that in our class. It was so awesome. Well that's
so cool. Yeah yeah yeah, so it's but that's what you do people,
Oh, yess what you do people. I mean you you think about
it in all the voices, all the different voices and everything that are in
everybody's lives, you know, and it's like you just go, damn,
that's pretty cool. Yeah. Well, you know kids who were like fifteen
and ten whatever years that will come up to me at conventions and the mom
will be standing there and they go, well, you signed my stuff when
he was you know, and I go, really was that? No?
I mean it was like an autograph. And and every now and then one
of them will show you a tattoo and I go, you tattooed my name?
I would I would have had don't do that. I don't have that.
Yeah, yeah, that's well, that's the whole fame thing. Yeah.
I don't know that. You're either signing, either signing bellies, or
you're getting swatted. Yeah, where did that come from? Okay? Can
we edit that out? That was a stupid remembering painful pay that's great stuff.
Yeah yeah. So what's what's next for you? Brother? Where are
you at? Ofteneering? I hope I got a I got a small film
coming out, short film that I did. I don't I've never done really
short films, you know, but this one was kind of kind of wild.
My agent called me and said, hey, do you want to do
this? And it's playing like a trans Dad, Oh, this will be
that will be very believable. Yeah no, no, I'm not the tran
I'm not. I'm the dad of it of it met too. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, that would be yeah watching that now look at it,
look at him what I could do it. But anyway, the uh,
it's it's called order for Ben. I think they they actually just fin They
got color left to do on it. But it's uh, I think it's
going to do really well like on the film festival circuit. Cool. And
I did it because I thought it would be really it was a cool part,
you know, like because it's ah the the it's actual true like kind
of based on true life. The kid who plays my now son was my
daughter who went through the whole thing, right and has become a boy or
a guy. Yeah, and we haven't spoken in seven years, so it's
a reconciliation thing, you know. And it's pretty. It's got some good
stuff in it. So if they if it turns out the way it should,
I think it's going to do really well in the film circuit. Anyway.
That's that And I just tell you I would think right it's of the
Yeah, that's the thing. That's reason why I did it. I did
it for I mean, it was a good script, you know stuff,
But I kind of did it because I went, yeah, this might be
good because I'm micro Santa. This is a whole different kind of thing,
you know than the Probert guy. But there's that. And then I did
a I just did an episode of a show called Reasonable Doubt that's on Hulu
that's coming out, and uh, that booked a worldwide campaign for a product
I can't talk about, but it's gonna be cool. I get to go
to Amsterdam for that, and uh, you know, it's just you just
keep plugging. Man. That's the stream I'm on YouTube ned Luke, YouTube
slash ned Luke or wherever it works on that and uh, we'll put that
in a description. Yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty it's pretty fun.
It's it's crazy. It's crazy. My live streams are off the off the
hook I would have, Yeah, they're they're yeah there, especially if I'm
playing GT online. I played g T online. It's it's unhitled. Oh
yeah, it's like, you know, because everybody wants to kill me.
Everybody gets a seatbelt, right, yeah, yeah, everybody. Yeah,
everybody wants to kill me or protect me. So it's like the guys that
are protecting me inevitably get killed by me. Because I go to shoot the
guy who's wanting to kill me, the griefer and my protectors get so they
get shot and I'm like, oh sorry, man, a boom, I
get blown up. It's just like could have happened. Oh it's insane,
man, It's insane. But it's so much fun. Wow, And the
fans love it, you know. That's why I do it. And then
I have a discord channel. I call it Big Daddy's Playground, Yeah,
because I'm kind of like like in the game, I'm like Big Daddy,
you know. I come in the door Big Daddy's home, baby, you
know, if anyone cares, you know, and and uh so I call
it Big Daddy's Playground. And after I stream, I'll go on that and
just chop it up with the fants, you know. I'll go on camera
and we just they come in and let them come in and talk, you
know, and all that kind of stuff. So it's a lot of fun.
That's great. Yeah. I think it's important, you know, to
CHOP's going well. I think it's important to be accessible to your fans,
you know, rather than be in a loof douchebag, you know. I
think it's it's good to You don't want to get to the extreme where you
know, they're like stalking or whatever. But but it's it's good because you
have to appreciate them. It's like I said, you know, the fans
are. The fans are the game. Fans are the are the movie.
The fans are you know. If you don't have those guys, you got
nothing. That's right. It's not rock Star, it's not us. It's
the fans. And you know, so I genuinely appreciate them. And yeah,
that's why I do these things. I was going to say the same.
I was just going to say that, I mean, that's the best
part of this. You know, we knock a few bucks here and there,
but it's nice. You know, you you meet people who have people
stories that put you on your knees. Oh my god, you know,
you know, Pooh Bear was got me through this time of blah blah blah
blah blah and it's this horrible thing. And they said, but I'd go
home and watch Christopher Robin or or yes, you know, wonderful world of
this, you know, and it's like, wow, I really meant that
much to you. And then then it and then it kind of takes away
from the feeling that you're just sitting in a room alone with a microphone.
Yeah, and you know, and you realize that you are. It does
leak out and it does actually mean people lives, you know, in our
hearts and stuff, and it's very sweet, very nice. It's yeah,
I love that part. I take it very seriously. I don't take myself
seriously, right, yeah, I can't, but you have to take the
work seriously because yeah, I love that when someone, you know, you
guys have come up to me you were in my childhood. Yeah, and
I'm like, don't blame me. Yeah, I get that a lot.
And I look at the guys like sixty eight and I'm going, right,
really, yeah, damn man. Thanks. I think you're older than I,
you know, so uh oh man, that's that's awesome though, And
I think that's that's to me what it's you know a lot of what it's
all about, you know, and it sounds stupid and corny and contrived,
but you know, if you if you're actually, if you actually are,
that it's not you know, you you appreciate it. And the fans know,
the fans know, they could smell the bullshit. Oh yeah, you
know, we're good. No, I smell nothing right now, but way
I can't smell anything. I had cold, so all my smelling is distorted.
Anyway, I can fart with impunity now. Oh see, unlike who
you were just talking about somebody to oh yeah yeah ogg yeah yeah yeah he
was not you know, yeah, well thanks, I appreciate it. Hey,
thank you, this is this is awesome. And and coming to another
con near us and down and downstreats trying to think when the next one is.
I don't know. Well, you know, it doesn't matter because we'll
probably air this and it'll be out of sync with the calendar. We made
this in the late seventies, by the way, in case anybody so all
the stuff that we would talk Illinois next week as a freshman, Yeah,
that's right. I'm going to be an actor. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
anything you want to leave it people with here, Thanks, seriously,
I mean, that's that's about it, you know, I mean, I
just I love doing this a man, you know, I love doing this
stuff. It's a lot of fun, and you know, just just I
mean thanks, I mean, that's really that's really all you can say to
the fans. You know, Well, you know, I always say I
ended up making a living doing the stuff that used to get me kicked out
of class. Yeah, right, right, it's true. I'll take it.
It's absolutely true. I'll take it. Yeah, me too, mean
Robin Banks and got me kicked out of class. That was great, it
was it was good. Christian wand to take us home. I'll take us
out all right. Thank you everybody for watching. That was another episode of
Tuned In with Jim Commings. Today we had Ned Luke. Thanks again for
joining us, Thanks for having me. Don't forget to drop a like and
subscribe, and don't forget. Also, we have bonus content on Patreon.
Thank you to all our subscribers out there. You get bonus interviews, bonus
content, and plenty more. And of course you can find the podcast on
anything you listen to podcasts on all that good Stuff, Spotify, Apple,
all that good stuff. Thank you so much for watching. Once again,
this was Ned Luke on another episode of Tune In with Jim Cummings. We'll
see you next time. Hey, thanks man, that was great. Yea,
that was you were awesome. Oh thanks man,