Matt Walsh sat down with The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk in the latest episode of “At Home With The Creative Coalition,” a podcast featuring unplugged and uncensored conversations with today’s biggest stars. In the newest episode, Walsh talks about the surprising wardrobe piece he wore to sleep the night before his final “Veep” audition, the real reason he and the cast took Congressional aides to drinks, his favorite memory from “The Hangover,” and more. Highlights below.
“At Home With The Creative Coalition” is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio and more…
Listen now at:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-upright-citizens-brigade-to-veep-with-guest-matt-walsh/id1521900273?i=1000542818188
For planned coverage, please link to:
http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast
Highlights from “At Home With The Creative Coalition” featuring Matt Walsh —
On why he wore his suit to sleep the night before his final “Veep” audition:
“‘Veep’ was an audition that came my way nine years ago, eight years ago, through my agent. I recognized [series creator] Armando Iannucci because he had created Alan Partridge and ‘The Thick of It’ and ‘In the Loop’ […] Never met Julia. I met her in my second audition and sat across from her. And in the audition process, thank God, we were encouraged to improvise, which I felt very comfortable and strong about. And that, again, is that collaborative element that I love. And so playing with her in my second audition got me a third audition. And that third audition got me a fourth audition. And I remember, like, sleeping in my suit the night before my final audition. My wife’s like, ‘What’re you doing?’ I said, ‘Well, the script says: it looks like he’s been up all night in the same clothes and I figured I might as well do that.’ So I really wanted it. Also, it was improv friendly. So it was kind of good fortune.”
On the real reason why he and the cast of “Veep” took Congressional aides to drinks:
“When we even shot the pilot, we had several trips to D.C. [Washington insider Tammy Haddad], God bless her, walked us into every room and we met so many senators and their press secretaries and their chiefs of staff. We saw all the environments that senators might meet, whether it’s beneath the Capitol or get on the train, we got access to everything […] But we had a lot of late-night drinks, too. I had friends who were in politics in Chicago, and they called their friends. So we would take some of the aides out after work, get a couple drinks in ‘em and you’d get the real stories and the personalities of these people that, obviously, isn’t on camera. And that’s the kind of stuff you really want. I had another friend. She was press secretary to an Illinois congressman. We were having drinks and one thing she revealed, she said at times in her career, ‘You’re preserving your relationship with the media more than you’re preserving your relationship with the congressman because you don’t think he’s going to get re-elected. So you want to make sure you have somewhere to go.’”
On the chaos of “Veep” production and the “perfect” way his last scene ended:
“‘Veep’ was never a predictable show. It was always chaotic, even in L.A. We did four seasons in Baltimore, where we were away from our families like a tour of duty, living in the same hotel, always on call. Sometimes we would fly out to a table-read in Baltimore, the writers would go away, Armando [Iannucci] would come back and say, ‘It’s not ready. Go home.’ We would fly back home and the schedule would just be blown up and everything would be pushed. And then as it came to L.A., it got a little more organized. But still, in classic ‘Veep’ fashion, my last scene — very momentous, a character that I loved playing — my last scene, I’m like ‘Oh my God, I think I’ll probably cry my eyes out. The last scene I do on ‘Veep.’ And then I was there on set, I got there at five and they were supposed to film me at ten. I wait there until midnight and they’re like, ‘No, we’re going to shoot it tomorrow.’ It’s, like, perfect. That’s what ‘Veep’s’ about.”
On his favorite memory from “The Hangover”:
“I remember being in ‘The Hangover’ and it was the night that Obama got elected […] That’s one of my favorite memories of being on set: of them saying ‘cut’ and then everyone running over to the monitor to see the election results.”
On something he’s never done that he’d like to try:
“I think I haven’t done, which is scary, like a heavy duty play. Like a big part in a live theater piece. I saw Tony Hale did a play up in San Francisco, and I saw him. He’s basically — I forget the name of it, he was very good — but he was kind of on stage by himself for most of the play. I don’t know that I need that. But I admired his, like, you know, he’s taking a chance to do that. And I often think, like in the way you think, ‘I should probably run a marathon before I die.’ I should probably do some good theater before I hang it up. And I haven’t really done that.”
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More about “At Home With The Creative Coalition”
Hosted by The Creative Coalition CEO Robin Bronk, “At Home With The Creative Coalition” brings listeners intimate portraits, key moments of discovery, and “art and soul” conversations with iconic entertainment industry personalities from the big screen to the boardroom, from L.A. to D.C. Listen now at http://thecreativecoalition.org/podcast.
Upcoming guests include Justin Bartha (“The Hangover,” “National Treasure”), Kerry Ehrin (“The Morning Show”), Evan Handler (“And Just Like That…,” “Californication”), Michael Imperioli (“The Many Saints of Newark,” “The Sopranos”), New York Times Bestselling Author Susan Isaacs (“Compromising Positions”), Aasif Mandvi (“Evil”), Rachel Mason (“Circus of Books”), International Bestselling Author Patrick McGinnis (“The 10% Entrepreneur,” “Fear of Missing Out”), Yolonda Ross (“The Chi”), Steve Schirripa (“Blue Bloods,” “The Sopranos”), Reid Scott (“Echo”), and Alena Smith (“Dickinson”).
Previous guests include Jason Alexander (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Mädchen Amick (“Riverdale”), Shiri Appleby (“UnREAL”), David Alan Basche (“The Exes”), Asante Blackk (“This Is Us”), Carly Chaikin (“Mr. Robot”), Wilson Cruz (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Alan Cumming (“Briarpatch”), Ethan Cutkosky (“Shameless”), The Creative Coalition President and actor Tim Daly (“Madam Secretary”), Lea DeLaria (“Orange Is the New Black”), Griffin Dunne (“This Is Us”), Michael Fishman (“Roseanne,” “The Conners”), Jim Gaffigan (“The Jim Gaffigan Show”), Willie Garson (“Just Like That”), Judy Gold (“The Other F Word”), Nicholas Gonzalez (“The Good Doctor”), Clark Gregg (“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”), Tony Hale (“Veep,” “Arrested Development”), Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond,” “The Middle”), Jon Huertas (“This Is Us,” “Castle”), Jason Isaacs (“Star Trek: Discovery”), Richard Kind (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), Chad Lowe (“Supergirl”), Marlee Matlin (“CODA,” “The West Wing”), AnnaLynne McCord (“Let’s Get Physical”), Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”), Wendi McLendon-Covey (“The Goldbergs”), Katherine McNamara (“Shadowhunters”), Marta Milans (“Shazam!”), Rob Morrow (“Billions”), Kathy Najimy (“Duncanville”), Haley Joel Osment (“Future Man,” “Entourage”), Bill Prady (“The Big Bang Theory”), Jessica Queller (“Supergirl”), Anthony Rapp (“Rent”), Mona Scott-Young (“Love & Hip Hop”), Julie Taymor (“The Lion King”), Krista Vernoff (“Grey’s Anatomy”), Alfre Woodard (“Clemency,” “Luke Cage”), Constance Zimmer (“Good Trouble”), and David Zucker (“Airplane!,” “Scary Movie”).
More about The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition is the premier nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating its members on issues of public importance. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President. The Creative Coalition also creates award-winning public service campaigns including #RightToBearArts to promote the efficacy of the arts. For more information, visit https://thecreativecoalition.org.
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