Kelly has on Jessie Jolles @jessiejolles to discuss her hysterical YouTube series, how her cat is depressed, how impossible it is to date, and a few ghost stories. We also HAD to touch upon this season of The Bachelorette, of course. Make sure to tune into Instagram Live for Bachelorette recaps at 10pm every Monday! @kelly.keegs FOLLOW @kellykeegs @whinewithkelly www.whinewithkelly.com
Go to episode six of the first three rules on Josh Horowitz. Now, Ben Lyons, thank you so much for downloading, for listening, subscribing. We've had a wonderful few days here in the valley and seen some movies and getting to talk with some great filmmakers. But our hearts are heavy as we process the news that Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi, as well as seven other passengers, crashed in a helicopter in Calabasas in California. And it just has broken my spirit out here, and a lot of people have heavy hearts in Park City and around the world. Yeah, it was, you know, we were just talking. It definitely can sometimes feel like you're in a bubble here in Park City, a beautiful kind of creative bubble where everybody's obsessed and and bonded over film and art. And this was one of those moments where it didn't matter for a second or a day or two days, and it's not going to matter for a while because. This this life shattering event, this this man and this and tragically, his daughter have passed in an incomprehensible incident, and Kobe, you know, changed culture, changed the world and suddenly Park City could talk about nothing. But and I'm sure wherever you guys are listening, it's the same way. Hugh, he was a transformative figure. And certainly Ben and I have been talking and been you more than me have been like involved in Kirby's world as as such a sports enthusiast. Talk to me about like your first, I don't know, feelings when you think about Kobe Bryant's. Well, I'm not going to find the words. I'm not going to have the the Mamba mentality right now and trying to express how I feel in this moment. Honestly, Josh, it's been it's been a lots of process, lots of process here. Kobe, Kobe is L.A.. When I think of Los Angeles, he moved out there at the age of 17 in 1996, Jerry West was drafted into the practice and he grew up in front of in front of us. It's like in your world as a child star way. He took brainy to his prom. He was an icon from the start. And I was so into basketball in high school. And here comes this guy who comes out of high school. And I didn't get it till I moved to L.A. About 10 years later, I moved to Los Angeles, and Kobe had won three championships there, but Shaq had won the MVP. And so there's always the Shaq and Kobe storyline and beef, and I love Shaq. But then when you when I moved to Los Angeles to feel the the love in the city for Kobe Bryant, it's I'm scared, Josh, to go home. I don't want to go back to L.A. and not have that love and energy. It's crazy. It's it's a as a hooper, as a storyteller, as just someone who wants to be a father someday. It's it's it's a lot out here, and he would have loved it here, that's what I think about when I when I walk up and down Main Street and see people in Kobe jerseys, I'm like, Man, he would have come out here with movies and he would have loved it here. He I mean, I think part of why he was. More than just a one of the greats in his sport and why he he transcends it is, he reiterated and lived a few different lives and clearly we saw him on this path of creativity. I mean, for God's sakes, he won an Oscar two years ago for a short film. God, I remember him that night, too. He turned into the wide eyed kid that everybody turns into when they see him. Yeah, it was an incredible, incredible thing. To see firsthand was that he was so appreciative in that moment, and he and so many times we're so thankful for him for giving us so much joy and know he was thrilled to hear what John Williams do. The score, like he was, just seemed like he was a film geek, like an interested artist, like all of us. And you're totally right. I don't think he ever, as you were saying, obviously, the NBA season coincides with Sundance, but I'm sure in his later years he would have found a place here with some project. And it's and, you know, obviously when someone has taken so young, that's that's part of what is so shattering is just like all the work that was to come in and and we couldn't chart what he was going to be. I mean, he he had he had done so much in his in his 40 plus years, but clearly there was a lot more to come. That's and that's how I feel about little guy, too, because she was starting to just come into her own as a Hooper and and Kobe did to support women's basketball. It cannot go on understated. I mean, it's just it's just remarkable how he's able to show so much support and help grow the game for women who are often are so often marginalized. And there's so many issues of pay equity and TV deals, and we could go down the rabbit hole and why women's basketball, you know, needed someone like Gigi. And I'm trying to find meaning. I think as all of us are in this kind of senseless stuff happens and my my takeaway has been he the Bryant family in particular, gave so much to the game of basketball. He missed all of his daughter's recitals and homework sessions and school, you know, school plays and stuff because he was in Milwaukee and he was in Orlando and he was in Phoenix and and and they gave so much to the game. So now and not only is basketball fans, but also out here as storytellers, because Kobe was a storyteller and the ultimate artists on the basketball floor. It's our responsibility to give back to to now to give to the game. Now we got to give to cinema, now we've got to give to championing the arts, and that's how I'm kind of processing it. It's been helpful talking to people. It's been helpful talking to you. I really appreciate you as a friend in this moment. And yeah, it's um, it's weird being here at Sundance. It took me right back to Heath Ledger. Yeah. And in the way the news spread across Main Street, totally. I mean, I remember it. Yeah, I think I've said this before, and I remember walking out of a screening of The Dark and suddenly everybody's phones lit up and it was the only thing everybody was talking about. And you know, we were together when we heard the news about Kobe and and even just like where we were sitting, like it was spreading through a restaurant and and in a beautiful way, like bonding between tables and joining other conversations and just starting to commiserate, even in those initial moments about what he meant to each of you guys was kind of beautiful to see. And that's since in the in the hours since, that's definitely the feeling on the streets of Park City, where people are, you know, some people are still are wearing jerseys or have stuff out, but you could just hear it. It's just in the air. It's as much as what's the last film you saw? What's the best film you saw? As much of that is the conversation. As always at Park City, it's it's Kobe. It's whispers of Kobe, Kobe, Kobe, and it's just it's it's tragic. It's also kind of beautiful in a weird, profound way. And then we and then just it's strange. I'll never understand how the universe had this happen or. But in such tragedy, you turn to the arts and you turn to your friends, and two hours after this news broke and we're still trying to figure out what was going on. I sat down with a friend of mine who I played basketball with Nick Braun, who's out here for Zola. And we did an interview in his hotel room in a state of shock and confusion and grief. But we're looking for healing and comfort, and I know it helped Nick because he's a lifelong Laker fan and told stories of going against his dad. And it helped me, I know, just try to begin to ground in and process everything. And I'm really grateful that Nick took the time and we were able to kind of go through, go through those moments together. And switching gears in a little way just to give you guys some context. Ben and I both got a chance to see Zola, which was a very much anticipated film here. It's already got distribution from A24, which is, of course, one of the premiere destinations for independent film now. And this is kind of like an only in 2020 story of a film that's based on a series of tweets, actually. And it's it's a wild story. It's been compared to spring breakers. I've heard people talk about that. And yeah, it's got a really cool ensemble of actors in it. Taylor page is the lead. Is having a moment right now. Yeah, we were just talking. She's going to be seen in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom with Chadwick Boseman later this year. Riley Keough also having very much a moment. She's great in this film. It's funny. I think you said to me the other night at one of the screenings, you said it seems like Sundance has shifted from discovering specific films and really gravitating towards talent and having moments for them to shine and to be discovered and to show different sides of their skill sets. Totally. And that definitely feels like a moment for Taylor Page's AZO in this film and to be surrounded by Braun and Riley and Colman Domingo, who's been killing it lately. Bingo and this movie is a great yeah. I kind of like this crazy pimp, basically kind of like a crazy, yeah, crazy s**t of it. Bats**t crazy. Yeah. And it's one of those films that's like, very, very engaging. I mean, Mitchell pops up. That's right. Yeah, there's a lot to unpack in a film like that. And Nick, by the way, Nick, that scene stealer in this one. You know, what's great about Nick, we get into in the interview a little bit is that, you know, he's no Sundance stranger, but I think it's the first, you know, he's a stranger to being at. Sundance has a big star, right? So he shares some of his experiences now that his life has changed a little bit from his work on succession. Excellent. I'm glad you had the opportunity to talk to him. Yeah, yeah. And you know, for all the Hooper's out there and storytellers out there who are hurting right now, time doesn't heal the wounds. It's time and work. Just like Kobe, Kobe's documentary doing work like put in the work, talk to people. If you're hurting, seek help. It's OK. And oftentimes I turn to the arts for moments of healing, and that's why I feel once again Josh very blessed to be out here at the Sundance Film Festival. All right, excellent. Let's take a listen to your chat with Nicholas Braun. It's a strange way the universe works that today I'm sitting opposite somebody I played basketball with in Los Angeles, Nick Braun, who grew up a Laker fan and is just reacting to the news about the passing of Kobe Bryant. We're all in a kind of state of shock here as we try to find meaning in the meaningless. So how are you feeling today, man? I mean, it's it was one of those moments where it just reverberated through the room and it just kind of like took over everybody's energy. And I I think it's because Kobe is just an indestructible. He feels like an indestructible guy like he he felt like an infallible, like a heroic person. So when you hear about something like this, it just feels like it can. Actually, that can't actually happen to that guy. Like, that guy is going to be around forever. Yeah, and he's been I feel like he's been more in our in our world recently to like you step back into, you know, being like an NBA proponent again and like brings me a lot of comfort to be able to sit here and talk with you on a day like today, where as Hooper's, we're kind of just trying to find meaning. Totally. I mean, the amount of time, like the amount of games I watched of his like, you know, I used to go to some of his games when I was living in L.A. with my dad out of bed and my brother like. We were clearing out our house in Connecticut recently, and we have Kobe autographs all over the place balls with Kobe's signature on it. I mean, Kobe was like he was our idol growing up Los Angeles for 20 years. You know, I obviously was, you know, as a Knicks fan, someone he would come into the garden and give us 60, right? So my relationship with Kobe, the player, it's a little different. But then moving to Los Angeles, you realize, oh, his presence in the city was so palpable. He is Los Angeles and new, a new respect developed for me, for Kobe when I moved to L.A.. Yeah. As opposed to growing up in New York. But it does remind you of of of the fact that life is fragile and that we do appreciate the moments you have in Sundance always does that to me. You know, even without something as horrific and terrible as this happening, I'm reminded of, Oh, we only have a short amount of time here and we should be present. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's it's hard here, though, because it's such a it's it's it's such chaos like it's so it's madness, you know, for anybody who hasn't been here. It's like it's constant and you're you're moving all the time and you're seeing people you haven't seen in a long time. And the energy is like palpable and people are excited, and it feels like everyone's inspired and like they're seeing movies and they're liking things and they're talking about. I mean, the energy is just so dope, but it's hard. You want to settle down if you want to find your moments and be like, OK, I'm actually in the middle of f**king Utah and I'm actually like on a mountain. And you know, so and you're premiering your movie for the first time at Echols in a theater, a thousand people who love cinema and are dying to see it. Yeah, yeah. This time around, you're here for a movie called Zola, which was inspired by a series of tweets for the audience. Listening to this explain how this whole project came together and how you got involved. Yeah, this girl Asia. But she goes by. Zola wrote a bunch of tweets about this crazy experience that she had, and she she kind of got picked up by this girl in Detroit, and they had this sort of girl romance, you know, friendship, romance thing where they got infatuation, infatuation. Yeah, where they they sort of realized like, Oh, we're both sexy, we could go dance together. We can make money together. And the other girl heard it in the movie. Her name is Stephanie, but she's she's a white girl, and she's Riley Keough in the movie. Riley Keough, right? Yeah, yeah. She's a very special character. You've never seen her in film, I don't think. And she kind of ropes her in and and they have this really, you know, cool chemistry right away. And and she takes her to this. Riley's character takes Zola on this road trip to Tampa with her boyfriend and this mysterious roommate of hers named X. And it becomes way more than just like a stripper, you know, friendship or whatever. It's like an odyssey into Tampa and the grimy parts of prostitution and sex trafficking, and it's violent and it's very uneasy. But it's also the movie has come out, I think, tonally, like, really funny and bizarre. It's so great just to feel in that Eccles theater for the premiere of Zola. When your character walks into the movie, there's an excitement that you can feel in the theater because audiences just know this guy's crazy. He's so wobbly right away, right away. How did you jump into what's his name? Even I forget what's his name? Derek? Yeah, Derek Jeter. But it's Dietrich. Just so we get that clear. But but this dude is like, it feels like a Florida bro I've seen before met before, but I clearly am not friends with. He's so excited to go on this road trip like he's 20 hour road trip, the day of for 20 hour road trip, like, you know, they live in Detroit. He's he's, you know, head over heels, deeply in love with with Riley Coe's character, Stephanie just is just a bad life choice, just like she's his queen. She says, like a perfect girl, and I don't know what it is, but but. But he loves her, and I guess she needs him. They need each other in some weird, dysfunctional way. And but I think my take on it was that this relationship is eating him alive, and it's just like kind of corroding him from the inside out. And so I kind of wanted to feel sick and feel kind of like infected. But you know, he doesn't drink in the movie, doesn't smoke cigarettes, is like drinking Red Bulls and eating candy and like, like not drinking water. And, you know, I painted like little lesions on my skin and little things to like like that. He's got sores like coming up and. And I lost a bunch of weight to play the part and and and so I just wanted him to be like, kind of barely alive through this relationship is hanging on by a thread. Totally. And it adds just a really wild dynamic and energy to the movie. And it's great to see you in this role. And the one thing I have to say, though, about being here at Sundance this year, and you get a sense from walking around Main Street, you know who people are excited to see in my life. Everyone, I'm telling you, everyone is hype that you're here. Wow. I'm like, He's been here. Where have you guys been this whole? Like, he's just like a new guy in the scene. I kind of see people. I'm like, f**k you, right? This kid has been working hard for a long time. He's in a movie called Get a Job. It didn't even f**king come out. That's when I met you. Yeah, yeah. I guess what the hell? So how do you balance? I don't. I don't handle it well, and it's not my life. How do you handle it when you're not handling this for me? Yes, I'm not handling this whole. Like, Oh, Nick's new on the scene bulls**t. Yeah, because you've been putting in work. So how does it feel to now finally be seen and have people kind of feel like you just kind of came out of nowhere? s**t, I don't know. Yeah, I mean, you're probably like the true voice inside of my head. That's like, you don't know. I started when I was six years old. Like, I made my first movie when I was 11, so it's not new. But I think at a certain point, you you realize this career is just a long road and that certain certain things pop for people. You know, certain people have watched Red State or certain people watch Stanford Prison Experiment or, you know, sky high, like was a big thing for a certain group of people. And you know, you just people. Sometimes, you know, one thing can just make people understand you for the first time. So that's what succession has been for me. But a lot of people might not know that you're very good friends with Chris Mintz-Plasse. Yeah, and Chris has a similar thing, and then he's so identify with the character. People see Chris and they're like Mick, loving people see you now and they go cousin Greg. So have you talked to him at all about that? Because I know he's worked very hard now to build a great career after Superbad, where he's played all these other roles and has always. But he's a movie here at Sundance Promising Young Woman when he comes on screen and that people get really excited. So that idea of being so connected with the character, which is great, but then you are a move away from it to in some in some capacity. Yeah, I actually talked to talk to him about it recently. I was like, Do you realize that we were both like, call the thing like in the streets? I think that's that's pretty, pretty f**king bizarre. Like knowing the two of you, you guys have probably been called some other things in the streets. But like Henry, things said, Yeah, they called, you know, you were called by these characters, you know? And yeah, it is weird. That's cool that you have that friendship with him to be able to confide in him about that because it's a unique experience for an actor. Yeah, I feel like you can't. You can't talk to every actor about this stuff like and I don't like to talk about it that much, honestly. But with my close friends and he's one of my best friends, you can kind of go through the ins and outs of this, all this stuff. And and he went through it as a 19 year old, 10 year old kid. So he was so different for him and he he's been through it. I feel like I'm on a similar track, so I kind of check in with him about what this is. So what happens to a show like succession when it comes out? People love it. Now you guys all go back to work and you know that, oh, everyone kind of feels our show. Do you have that feeling on the first season of making it? Yeah, I feel like the first season it was, we're really inside. It was like ours and it was intimate and felt like we were just making like a long movie. And and now it's just, I don't know, it's going to be interesting going back. I feel like we're all. I feel like we're all really smart, we know what what these characters are, we know what the tone of the show is. I think the writers are writers are very smart and I think we'll just be able to go back into it. But we've definitely obviously been like penetrated by the public and and you don't want. No, no pun intended. Truly, no one's getting penetrated by my next publicist in the corner. It's just it's just melting. How many times she's done that this weekend in your head, in her hands? Like, Oh no. Here he goes. I always have to drop the word penetrate into, you know, every it's just an important thing for me. Yeah. Thank you for giving me that. I appreciate it. Yeah, one of my favorite words. So, yeah, I don't know. It's going to be. It's going to be different, but I don't know. When did you know that it popped? When did you know that it hit and wasn't just another good show that you were on? I guess when people just you just start to see internet stuff happen, like people making memes, I don't even know how to screenshot s**t on my computer. And people are making memes and like, you know, like, you felt it? Yeah, you just feel it. Yeah. You know, people are sending me stuff once or twice a day. And I don't know. They're picking up on things that are details that I thought were great in the script, but that I didn't think anybody would notice. And all of a sudden, they're they're seeing these little moments or little like eye twitches or little thumbs up to Tom or whatever. These little thing, these little moments. And then you realize, Oh, people are paying attention to this. People really care like they care about correct. They care about these characters and they're using their their whatever amount of time. We have to take a screenshot and put things together and put them on the internet. That's it's crazy. We were talking with the filmmaker during this festival about almost it's like remix artists. Someone takes the art that you make and then kind of remixes it in a way for a different kind of meaning behind it. Like you said, yeah, an innocuous glance at a dinner scene on succession could turn into a meme that you use when you break up with your girlfriend. I like what I get. Yeah, yeah, it's like I do a wave, and all of a sudden it's like a thing on Instagram. You can like I pin, you know, like it's it's so crazy. I don't agree. And it couldn't happen to someone who deserves it more than you do like you. Thanks work. And to have people making beams of you waving is the reward, I suppose. I guess so. Yeah. You've been to Sundance a few times. This is called the Festival Rules podcast, so we're asking people to share some rules for navigating a festival like Sundance. Oh, I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is like, it's the altitude is the real. It's a real thing. Yeah. So I think drinking a lot of water people are listening to this series are going to think all of us, L.A. people are so soft because every single person has started with hydration like you bring your inhaler pacing yourself. Yeah, totally. Your blood thinners are rationing like we're actually in 1917. It's ridiculous. Yeah, just a bunch of out-of-state people coming up here like, yeah, yeah. I mean, that's part of it. Yeah, you get drunk a little bit easier, I would say. I don't know, probably didn't get a chance to see other stuff this year. You were busy with Zola, but you've gone to other films when you've been here, just as a fan or just the experience of kind of being here. Yeah. What is that like? How do you why? What makes Sundance special, you think? I think I haven't been around to a group of people this excited to to talk about movies, be around movies. You know, you're just in this, this place where people just really care like they want to talk about stuff. They want to talk about the nuances of film. And I feel like those conversations just don't happen for me, mostly in life. So that's it. That's a nice thing. I feel like I have those conversations in my head afterwards. But like after the show, the main man band's not sitting around talking about Martha Marcy May Marlene you. Yeah, they're not really there. No, those are the main discussions we're having. But it's nice to like everyone's a film geek here. Yeah, and that's that's a that's a cool thing to to be in. How do you handle yourself as a big film fan and, you know, TV fan when you're now going to all these awards shows and you're like, Oh man, I go to the bathroom next? I don't know. Martin Scorsese, you're like, How do you control yourself? How do you how was the how were the Globes the other night the Globes were? Were that it just it was the urinal with Martin Scorsese? Yeah, he and I like we crossed swords is crazy. He was. He has a super strong stream. No, he was. It was really. It was surreal. You know, I, you know, I kind of I'm like, How when am I ever going to meet Meryl Streep? Maybe so I'm going up to Meryl Streep tapping her on the shoulder. You're tapping Meryl Streep on the shoulder. Yeah, yeah. I tapped a couple of shoulders. It was sort of that HBO film with. So yeah, yeah, hopefully we don't beat you, except we did know. But but she actually said she I can say that because she said to me when she met me, which was crazy to me, I was like, Hey, Meryl. And she turned around. She goes, Oh my God, it's you. And I was like. Cool, yeah, I'm such a fan of you. You know, it's so great to meet you and she's like, I love you on the show. I love your show. You guys are going to win tonight. And so it was sort of like this moment of like, OK with Meryl says that she's been to a lot of these. She's probably got a good feeling, tells me she's like the Globe Whisperer or the Oracle of the Globes, totally like a couple of special winks from some of the HFP members. And then. But yeah, it was. It was. So it was so much fun. I met a lot of people that I really revere. Elton John was like once we got off stage from collecting our award, being on stage in front, accepting the award, walking off the ramp. Elton John was the first person to be like, I love your show and like, hugged and, you know, shook and kissed each of us as we walked off stage. It was like an Elton John meet and greet and and that was crazy to me. So a lot of moments like that that you just kind of can't believe it's crazy when you kind of get past the row for the curtain and you're like, you get to see these different pockets of Hollywood that you always admired from afar. Yeah. And if you get to win a Bjork globe and have a kiss from Elton John's like, Well, this is what it is. This is nuts. Yeah, yeah, it's weird. It's weird when they call your show's name or they call Brian Cox's name because you just can't believe the person that you know and spend time with and are rooting for actually got. They got it. They want they did it, you know, and it feels to me like such a mountain to to to win these major things, to be able to get these major things. So when they say succession, it's like, OK, I guess we're getting out of our seats and we're the ones going to we're going to walk forward now. Nobody's guiding you there, by the way. There's not like someone who says, like, OK, now you're just sort of like, OK. They said our names. So we walk to the thing. It's I don't know. It's maybe I'm not describing it correctly. Exactly, but you're right. There's there's nobody telling you to get up there and to do it, but you've seen it. So many, some person said, your name feels like that's who you're supposed to, I guess. Or, Yeah, yeah, you're like, OK, well, we've got to go now. I was so happy for you. It's so great and it's it's wonderful to see you back here at Sundance. This movie, so it has its energy and it's so different from anything you're doing on succession. So people love you on that show. They're going to be like, What the f**k is this? Yeah, some girl at the Q&A. We did a Q&A last night at a midnight screening, so we were there at 1:30 doing the Q&A and this girl in the audience said, We're so I can't believe you're here because where did they get you? It seemed like you were like a local like Tampa higher, you know? And she yeah, she was. She was like, You're so gaunt in the movie. You know, she said something about like the way I looked like. Thanks. Yeah. I honestly think that that's a success for me. And and I know I'll chalk it up to the chinstrap beard mainly. Yeah, it's like a Fred Durst kind of fear to action happening. Exactly. Yeah. It's a wonderful role for you, and it's a great time in moment for you. So I'm happy I get to share it with you at Sundance, and I wish you nothing but success and all love it. Thank you so much. Yeah, it's great to see you out here. Yeah. Nick Braun, the star of Zola. It's a crazy, crazy movie that you should check out if you're here in Park City or when it comes out later this year. Thanks, man. All right, thanks. That was Ben's great conversation with Nicholas Braun. I love that, dude, I'm so happy for him, Josh. He's having such a moment right now and it's great to see. As we said earlier, Zola, you'll all get a chance to see this one, this crazy story later this year in cinemas from A24. And if you're sitting overseas, you'll hear it from Sony as they just sold their international rights. That's nice. Yeah, a much talked about film that will continue to get a lot of conversation around it. That about wraps up episode six. Sadly, obviously a somber one. But I mean, look, real life necessitated this kind of conversation, and I hope you guys got some kind of catharsis out of our own conversation and Ben's great conversation with Nick today. One last COVI stories that warms my heart when I think about him interviewed him at the 2010 All-Star Game. It's a famous moment. As everyone knows, I'm in New York. Knick fan when Chris Childs back in the day punch Kobe Bryant and I ask Kobe about that and he said, Who won the game? Lakers did. That's that's Kobe Bryant. Thanks for listening, guys. We'll see you in the next one.
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