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Turkey Sandwich Arrest Story

59:41 recording · EN · 4 speakers

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Brief overview

Tim Olyphant joins SmartLess to trade arrest stories and explain why commitment, not genre, makes acting work.

  1. Commitment is the through line, comedy or dramaOlyphant argues the best comedic performances are really dramatic and you can never wink.
  2. One lunchtime conversation can rewrite a whole seasonMilch's 'we're going to kill the kid' turned a set problem into Deadwood's epic storyline.
  3. Thirty takes exist to stop the actor actingRepetition wears out the ideas until the performer just says the lines.
Executive Summary AI
  • The hosts open by confessing their crimes: Sean was arrested in college for stealing a turkey sandwich from a White Hen while drunk and sat at the station until someone he didn't know paid 100 bucks, Jason was picked up in Monaco for being drunk and disorderly, and Will once took a 25-cent bag of chips at about 10 or 11 and put a quarter on the counter the next day.2:53
  • The guest is introduced as a multi-Emmy-nominated actor from Deadwood, Justified, FX's Alien Earth, Apple TV's Stick and the upcoming Apple TV thriller Lucky with Anya Taylor-Joy and Annette Bening: Tim Olyphant.6:07
  • Olyphant shot Alien Earth's first season in Bangkok, which he calls hot but magical, and season two moves to London rather than Budapest, which sets off a conversation about uprooting a family, his 35 years of marriage and being empty nesters.10:35
  • He traces his path from growing up in Modesto to a fine art degree at USC, which he only finished decades later during a strike or COVID with his old professor Ruth Weisberg before speaking at the graduation ceremony.24:40
  • On sets, he recalls David Milch knocking on his Deadwood trailer at lunch to say they were going to kill the kid, an entire season born that morning, and contrasts Soderbergh's three months without a single note with Fincher's 30-take days.41:59
Key Quote
“I was arrested for that turkey sandwich.”
— Sean2:49
Key Quote
“I think the through line is always it's commitment.”
— Tim Olyphant19:10
Key Quote
“I don't listen, but I read the transcripts.”
— Tim Olyphant33:44