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Speaker 1: Welcome to Season two of The Good Stuff.
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Speaker 2: I'm Ashley Shick, and I'm joined by my husband and co host, Jacob Shick, a third generation combat marine and CEO of One Tribe Foundation.
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Speaker 3: Actually also comes from a family rich in military history, and we've dedicated our lives to One Tribe's mission serving veterans, first responders, and their families. We're coming to you from Dallas, so welcome to Texas.
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Speaker 2: And joining us all season long from Los Angeles, California, is our West Coast long haired friend and producer of the Good Stuff, Nick Cassolini.
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Speaker 4: So today, not only are we actually recording this episode in Los Angeles, Welcome to the town, baby, but we have a very very special guest.
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Speaker 2: We are so thrilled to have our dear friend, celebrated actor, director, and producer Bradley Cooper on The Good Stuff today.
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Speaker 3: Not only do I consider him a brother, but his company, Leah Pictures, is responsible for executive producing The Good Stuff.
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Speaker 4: Just a quick heads up, this is a very fun, loving conversation between good friends, but this show can explore some heavy subject matter from time to time, including suicide, so listener discretion is advised.
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Speaker 2: We are so glad you're joining us again.
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Speaker 5: Welcome to the good Stuff.
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Speaker 3: All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're here with my dear friend and.
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Speaker 5: Brother, Raley Cooper.
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Speaker 6: How are you doing, bro, honor to be here. We appreciate you.
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Speaker 1: Thanks for coming on. Excited to have you on the good Stuff.
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Speaker 4: Yes, sir, wonderful to have you, mister Cooper. I wanted to ask you. I've heard the story from Jake's point of view, but I'd love to know from your perspective how you two first met on the set of American Sniper, where you were playing Chris Kyle and Jake was playing himself, and what those early moments of connection felt like.
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Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, Jacob was like the key in me believing that I was Chris Kyle because I could really tell that he didn't as I was approaching him.
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Speaker 6: There it is. We don't have to we don't have to say exactly what.
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Speaker 8: You tell me, if my recollection is correct.
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Speaker 7: So we we we were on enough to cast Jake in the movie American Sniper, which we were making, and we were that was towards the end of the shoot or midway through the shoot, and there were he was in two scenes, one at the rehabilitation center and then one. And the next scene which we shot after that was when Chris takes he and a couple of guns and another fella to the shooting range. We're out outside and shoot with the target using the rifle, the three thirty eight, I think it was, and we were by the trailers.
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Speaker 8: And I was walking up to him. I think, right, that was how we first met, or wasn't on the couch. I think I met you with the trailers.
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Speaker 6: First, Yeah, the trailers first.
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Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah, outside the trailers. And and this guy Dauber, who was incredible. He was in Sealed Team three with Chris, played himself with the movie, which was invaluable, and he also was part of the training for all the guys that played the Sealed Team three and then he, along with another guy, was key for me learning to be just comfortable with the three weapons Chris used. And so I already felt that comfortable enough, I'd done the work. But then I'm now this today, We're meeting real vets and some guys a new Chris, and Jacob.
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Speaker 8: Was one of them.
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Speaker 7: So I remember like approaching them and sort of the energy of disdain on.
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Speaker 8: His face as I like who this, you know, And I was like, Okay, here we go.
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Speaker 7: And I just kept breathing, and then we kept talking and then and then we and then we and when then we sort of segued into the couch where there's a there's a movie playing and everybody's just bsing around and that's how Clinton wanted it, just to be real. And I was just sitting there and I at that point I felt really comfortable. I felt like Chris was there with us in the movie and like I wasn't really even thinking.
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Speaker 8: About sorry, my phone.
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Speaker 7: I have one of those suction things that like all like twelve year olds have, but it's amazing and you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, and and and then I remember just sitting there feeling really comfortable, and then all of a sudden, like I felt his energy start to shift and start to be like, Okay, this guy.
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Speaker 8: Maybe is uh not horrible.
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Speaker 7: And then and then it like it just and it just like a slow build, and there was one moment where you said something to me which was affirming that like this is this is a good thing we're doing.
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Speaker 8: I'm glad I did this.
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Speaker 7: This is real and like and it was and it just like I remember feeling so happy and almost emotional.
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Speaker 8: Uh.
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Speaker 7: Also, you know, he and the other guy they had been seriously damaged in the war and they're talking about it and they're sitting there. It was a very it was a very emotional scene for everybody else. Probably not them as much, but everybody in the crew. It's like, oh, yeah, we're trying to do something. We're really trying to do something with this movie, and that scene was a huge part of it.
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Speaker 8: It's like, it's just no be us, this is just the real deal.
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Speaker 7: And the fact that he then respected me as a arbiter of this or as someone who's trying to tell this story meant everything.
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Speaker 8: And then and then from there it just skyrocketed from there.
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Speaker 7: We just by the time we got to the next scene, we're improvising and razzing each other and it was like it was like it was like it was like night and day by the time we got there. And then we just stayed in touch. And then you know life, how you know, if you put a little effort in. We both put effort in. Even though we lived, you know, many states away from each other. We became friends then like dear friends, and then like you know, We're gonna be friends till we die, that's it. And we made two movies together, and and you know, he was there for all the major moments of my life. We've seen each other at our lowest moments. I got to meet his beautiful wife and watched that whole thing happen, and he got to see my life flourish. And you know, it's what the it's the real deal.
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Speaker 4: Would you mind speaking a little bit about maybe some of those connections you guys had at that lowest moments?
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Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, pick one?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, well not, I mean, text me the one you're thinking about before we improved questions.
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Speaker 7: Gosh, you know, just I'd say, like with it, you know, in a general way. Well, I mean he was there when I found out that I was gonna have a baby, which was incredible. He was the first person I told. That was like, very very emotional moment. And to be there with a brother was really incredible. We were in the back of a car.
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Speaker 6: Yeah, we were.
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Speaker 3: I remember that you showed need the picture. You're like, what's that mean? And I was like, oh my god.
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Speaker 7: And then and then, uh, you know, I've been lucky enough to have dealt with some issues early on, you know, relatively early on in my life, and I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
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Speaker 3: Yeah, next one month, I'll be eight years clean and sober. And you definitely you know this. But for our listeners, you were a big time, a big, big, big part of that and that success and it coming to fruition and still being a thing.
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Speaker 5: I leaned on you real heavy.
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Speaker 3: I think times that you knew and times you didn't know, but the fact that you've you've been a pivotal, pivotal part of that.
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Speaker 5: So thank you for that.
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Speaker 7: I mean, I think the greatest thing about one of the greatest things about our relationship for whatever reason, by the grace of God, Like there's just no bullshit ever, Like you know, he would call me sometimes not not in the States and now, and I.
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Speaker 8: Never really placated him, you know, and I've.
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Speaker 7: Come to him with sort of issues or insecurities and I just get the real And when you know there's somebody out there who is actually going to set you straight, but you know it's coming from a place of love. You know there's no need to put you down. It's actually even though it's hard to hear that, then you can hear the hard stuff, and if you feel any sort of antagonism, you know right away it's coming from you, because you know deep down that person only has your best interests, you know, because those are hard conversations to have with your friends, let alone anybody. But we've always had those always, like you know, half a dozen times in the last eight years, you know, which is a lot, given the fact that we don't see each other much and we don't live in the same place. But for whatever reason we've been we find ourselves communicating at these vital crossroads in our lives.
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Speaker 3: Deep deep conversations like the kind that you get done with the conversation you feel like you're in a marathon, yeah, type of conversation.
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Speaker 2: And I think it's so important to have friends like that in your life, like I think just like your job or just like your living space. Because you actually gave Jake a piece of advice that we hold very dear to our hearts, and we've given this, we've passed this advice on to so many people. At one point in his journey, you told him environment is everything m and we really it is, and.
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Speaker 8: We keep that. I remind myself of that exactly.
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Speaker 1: Well, there you go. It came full circle.
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Speaker 3: I'll tell you when it happened. It was about a year, not even maybe into my living a life for recovery. And I was just I was it was bad. I was in a bad place. And I texted you and said can you talk? And you said, on a plane about the land and call you as soon as I land. And you knew that I had started this journey and you'd warn me like, hey, bro, it's like bear down, you know, like stay focused. And I could tell you had called me, no ship as soon as you're like touch the runway. And I asked you. I was like, hey, what is stopping me from trying to drink all the vodka in Texas? And then I remember you saying, you know, well, are you doing your therapy, are you doing your meditation? Are you doing You're going to trip? Are you doing? And then it is known all of it, and you said, you know you're one of the toughest dudes I know, but at some point you'll even you will.
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Speaker 6: Lose your grip.
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Speaker 3: You're not getting able to white knuckle it the whole time. And you said, you know, think about your environment. Because of my living situation at the time.
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Speaker 6: Which we ride into.
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Speaker 8: Yes, and you said, how could you not?
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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you said, brother, you got to remember your environment as everything. And that was like I changed the environment and it changed everything.
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Speaker 2: But I think, I think it's so important that we that we constantly evaluate these aspects of our lives, and one of them is our friendships, right because our time and our energy are the most precious things that we have, and so to make sure that we are really vested in good, solid relationships, like what the two of you have done for each other, it's beautiful. As Jake's spouse, it has been a beautiful friendship for me to watch and one that you know, I even hold my own friendships to the standard to at times that hey, I need to be able to have those hard conversations even when it's uncommon, even when you know, I just want to stay surface level. We've got to do the deep dives. And so it's it's beautiful to watch the two of you and how you communicate with one another.
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Speaker 7: But you know what's interesting about us though, is like normally you need to keep watering it, you know, And I don't know many friends of mine that I'm as close to like I don't even think about it, like I don't think about my level of closest.
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Speaker 8: It just it is like it just got cemented.
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Speaker 7: I think honestly, going through that experience of American Sniper together was a massive thing, you know, for where we both were. I was so vulnerable and he was so vulnerable in very different ways. And for whatever reason, I don't know, something happened where that's it. It's done, you know, and then we were able whether you know all the times we went to the hospital and saw the vets, the times we've been there for the low moments, the times we've been there for you know, artistically creating together, you know, all these things. There's something that normally you you have to keep, you know, nurturing it. And we're just lucky, you know, like we just we pick up where we left off, like it might be six months and it's like it's as if I just you know, got coffee with him this morning. You know, it's very We're lucky, man, We're we're actually very lucky, but in general blessed. But in general, yes, you're one hundred percent right, Like we are creatures that I mean, we mimic as children right, You mimic what you see.
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Speaker 8: What you see, you start to emulate. I mean, that's just what we do all the time.
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Speaker 7: So I mean, I'm certainly and I was always looking for sort of male figures in my life as I was growing up, and like putting people on a pedestal, which isn't fair to do that anyway, because no one could live up to that projection, and then always being disappointed and then, you know, but constantly looking for that outside guidance. And that's an innate part I think of human nature. And even when you get comfortable with yourself, you still want to be an environment that's going to nurture and facilitate that growth. I mean, yeah, I look at my life today, and I mean I live the way you're saying, Yeah, my life doesn't even resemble the way it looked three years ago, not even like like ostensibly like I'm a New Hope, Pennsylvania, you know, you.
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Speaker 6: Know what I mean.
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Speaker 8: I was just like, you know, digging a.
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Speaker 4: Ditch, you know, five minutes ago. Okay, we got to take a very quick commercial break.
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Speaker 6: Stick around.
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Speaker 4: We'll be right back with more Bradley Cooper. All right, here we go. The good stuff is back and we're gonna jump directly back in with Bradley Cooper.
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Speaker 8: That's something that comes with age too.
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Speaker 7: It's just it's just hard to like bs your way through life as you keep going through it isn't it.
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Speaker 8: It's just harder.
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Speaker 5: It's not worth it, it's too short, and you just.
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Speaker 8: Get more comfortable with your your in quote shortcomings.
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Speaker 7: It's like, well this is it, you know, or you tell yourself a narrative that you keep telling and perpetually. It just takes a lot more energy to try to keep that myth or illusion alive.
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Speaker 4: Yeah, it's way harder to be fake, it is.
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Speaker 7: It's way harder to hate ye and hate also. Hate takes a tremendous amount of energy. I was watching Joe Rogan head on that guy Darryl the other day, who incredible musician who goes and he's converted like over two hundred people who were in Nazi or Nazi or like white supremacist groups. It's really incredibly incredible guy. And he was talking about how, like, you know, it just takes so much energy to keep hating constantly. I mean, think about somebody you had like a bad experience with a couple of years ago. I was talking about this this morning, and then like when you see them, you're like, what was it even?
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Speaker 8: What was it that? Right? You know? And if you hold on to it, if you're still holding on to it, holy holy shit, man.
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Speaker 1: Yeah, you're stealing yourself of today's joy.
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Speaker 8: Yeah.
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Speaker 4: I'm curious to know if your experience on American Sniper was the first time you had really been around veterans.
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Speaker 7: No, No, I think I had that gave me an upper hand.
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Speaker 8: Well. First of all, a guy that I idolized in high.
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Speaker 7: School was a guy named Bill Kalm who was a Marine VET from Vietnam.
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Speaker 8: I think he was in the medical He was part of this crew platoon.
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Speaker 7: They had spiders and actually, like Magazine did this photo book on Vietnam and he was one of them. And I just love that gun and I would hang out with them all the time, and I was obsessed with the Vietnam. There's this great book called Guns Up about a machine gunner in Vietnam. And then there was another guy whose father was a VET who came and talked to us.
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Speaker 8: So I was always taking myself in those situations.
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Speaker 7: And then once I had the ability, I would do USO tours starting in like two thousand and eight all the way through twenty twelve and went to like you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. So I did have that experience before doing American Sniper.
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Speaker 4: What were some of the memories from your USO tours that you hold dear.
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Speaker 8: That nobody knew who I was and they were like, why do we have to say a load of this guy?
00:16:02
Speaker 7: Where we walked into and they're like Spire officers like guys, guys, uh, Bradley Cooper's.
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Speaker 8: Here and they're like playing video games.
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Speaker 7: They're like hey man, They're like and then they like they hear that they have to then say hello.
00:16:14
Speaker 8: This was like I had only done like wedding crashers. I remember we were we were at we were.
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Speaker 7: In Bontanamo Bay actually, and I had like a desk set up and they gave you like little cards to fill out like with your like a headshot, and I remember it was really windy.
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Speaker 8: I told you the story, David, that it was really windy and I'm sitting there with my buddy David.
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Speaker 7: I went and and there were like a stack and like just when people come out of the lunch all you say hello and maybe given that talk about whatever they want to talk about.
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Speaker 8: And no one was stopping.
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Speaker 7: And it was when it was windy, and it blew all of the cards and they're all over the ground as people are walking out of the lunch and they're like picking it up to hand it back to me.
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Speaker 8: And I was like, oh wow. It was very humbling.
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Speaker 7: But then you know, fast forward passed the hangover and we went to Afghanistan to enemy territory. I remember we went to a Ford operating base where guys hadn't seen anybody but themselves for the last six weeks, seven weeks, and we went in there and like meeting those and they looked at you like they're like.
00:17:12
Speaker 8: What's happening right now?
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Speaker 7: And then you're sitting there talking to these kids, you know, and they're eighteen eighteen, eighteen years old kids, kids with a big old piece of artillery, you know, And that was incredible.
00:17:26
Speaker 8: It was all incredible.
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Speaker 5: You'd never know what that does for the morale, right, it does for.
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Speaker 4: Me, you know.
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Speaker 8: My cousin and I went. I remember we landed on the.
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Speaker 7: USS Reagan and a Chinook helicopter and he's throwing up. We also we laughed a lot.
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Speaker 8: We laughed a lot, and I'm meeting.
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Speaker 7: His other like the cheese sandwich as we're landing and he's throwing up at the bag.
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Speaker 3: I remember on this will give you I did too, of how like witty Bradley is. We're sitting there and we did this dress rehearsal before we went live on SNY and it was when we were at the range and.
00:18:05
Speaker 5: You know, I'm I was hungover.
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Speaker 3: I'm sure Bradley could tell too, because I went out with someone Buddy's smell a the night before and I looked at Bradley. I was like, god, dude, I don't you know I've done this. I don't really like, I don't really know what I'm doing. And he looked dead ass right in my eyes and said, bro, you're playing a severely wounded marine.
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Speaker 6: Just be yourself.
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Speaker 5: I was like, cool, all right, yeah, I got I can do that.
00:18:35
Speaker 8: And talk about the comfort level.
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Speaker 7: So we go from like, you know, you're dealing with the vet, he's been heavily injured.
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Speaker 8: You're like finding out how to talk and be comfortable.
00:18:43
Speaker 7: Fast forward to her shooting a stars ward and I'm like, no, I love the walk.
00:18:46
Speaker 8: I want the limp.
00:18:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, play it up even more.
00:18:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, as you're walking past her, dude.
00:18:55
Speaker 5: That was uh.
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Speaker 3: I felt like such Madonna doing Stars war Makers. We were in that commercial kitchen and in between every take, this person would come up to me with like this manual fan and hold it in front of my face.
00:19:11
Speaker 1: So I'm not the only one that does that, shut up and so.
00:19:15
Speaker 3: And I just remember thinking to myself, like, I used to climb mountains just because they were there, and now you have a person holding a fan in front of your face in between takes because you can't get too heated.
00:19:29
Speaker 7: Like I remember, I was like when we were talking about it, we were in that scene.
00:19:34
Speaker 8: I just heard him yelling.
00:19:35
Speaker 4: Alley, yeah, right, that's where Jake is playing Lady Gaga's boss and he like screams at her.
00:19:40
Speaker 6: Right. Yeah.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: I remember the first time I did it too, and it was there was clearly no brief that I was gonna do the guttural yell that I did because a few people there were I guarantee you there was some p not talked.
00:19:55
Speaker 7: About it because they were like because there were like forty people and then that was a huge packa.
00:20:00
Speaker 3: In that first take, it was like, yeah, like everybody.
00:20:04
Speaker 5: Did this jump.
00:20:05
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was amazing.
00:20:06
Speaker 3: The only person cracking up after it happened was him.
00:20:15
Speaker 8: I was just so happy because I was right, Yeah, you.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: Knew how intense Jake could get. Nobody else had been privy to that information.
00:20:22
Speaker 8: Yeah, that was We've had some incredible stories. Yeah, and then and then we did The Mule together. And did you ever tell the Clint Eastwood story on this? No, man's that's the best.
00:20:34
Speaker 6: Which one did the handcuff dude?
00:20:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I had one job and it was to literally handcuff Clint Eastwood.
00:20:46
Speaker 8: And so we're shooting this movie. Yeah, We're shooting a movie called The Mule.
00:20:49
Speaker 7: And he gets arrested and and then I was talking to Clint about remember Jacob because Clint directed American Stiper. He's like yeah, okay, And so Jacob came made fun of the shorts I was wearing. And when I got there remember that.
00:21:01
Speaker 9: Of course I remember that, dude, because you were okay, we're gonna go eat with Clinton, We're going with the with the Day and you walked out and I was like, and I thought he was joking.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: He walks out and I was like, probably what And I started laughing because I was like, that's hilarious. You're hilarious, bro, you're a riot. And he was like and he looked at he goes, what what Why are you laughing? And I was like, oh shit, he's serious.
00:21:27
Speaker 10: That's what he had, like these tiny little like Darryl Duke shorts on and then and then he had just like thrown back nineteen eighty two Philly's cap on backwards in a white V neck T shirt right, look an extra in some like nineteen eighty five Jordan's.
00:21:48
Speaker 5: And I was like, dude, seriously.
00:21:51
Speaker 6: We're about to go on the twelve old that's what you're wearing. And then he goes, oh, yeah, she just changed my shoes.
00:22:02
Speaker 5: To you. You went just like that, and you rolled.
00:22:05
Speaker 6: Hey, man, it's harder to be fake.
00:22:06
Speaker 8: You know.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: Sometimes nobody was more comfortable at that dinner than than Coop, that's for sure. But that's when we found out. He was like, oh yeah, yo, Jake will do it and then show up the night.
00:22:20
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:22:20
Speaker 3: He pointed across the tables like it. And then of course you don't say no like not. And I remember I leaned over to you and I whispered in.
00:22:29
Speaker 6: Your ear because you were coming just to hang out, just to hang out.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: I had meetings in Atlanta, and you're like, bro, just come stay, We'll get some FaceTime. I don't have to start shooting for a couple of days, which is great, and it worked out great.
00:22:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I showed you an early cut of Stars remember, yes, right, Yeah, we watched it.
00:22:46
Speaker 3: Never I'll never forget it. I'll never forget that. Yeah, you held the iPad the whole time like this.
00:22:52
Speaker 5: And I was like, and I'm not even gonna go into what happened.
00:22:57
Speaker 3: After that, because that that's personal. But it was like I knew then. I was like, you did it. You freaking did it.
00:23:04
Speaker 6: Like it was.
00:23:05
Speaker 5: Awesome anyway, the Clint.
00:23:08
Speaker 3: I was having a handcuff Clint, and of course, because if there were no such thing as horrible luck, I would have none. The prop cuffs aren't working, and you know, it, being Hollywood and is so squared away and everything so well planned, there were no backup prop cuffs. There were, however, real handcuffs from the real bailiff, from the real courtroom that we were in. And he walks up to me and he was like, Hey, this is all you got to do you know you open them like this and then you just slap him on the wrists and the lock on and I said, hey, man, turn around, you see that guy right there? And he turned around because Clint at this time was like eighty seven, yeah yeah, And I said you see that guy right there?
00:23:56
Speaker 6: And he goes, yeah yeah, And.
00:23:57
Speaker 5: I said, I'm not slapping shit on his body.
00:24:01
Speaker 6: He goes, okay, yeah, well you.
00:24:02
Speaker 3: Just you know, then you just put them on there, lock them up. And this was the part where I messed up. And he said, make sure you can see the keyhole. If you can't see the keyhole, they're on upside down. And I was like, yeah, I got it, dude, I got it. So second take put the handcuffs on, which already felt dirty and wrong. You're putting on real handcuffs on the Clint Eastwood and I look down and I don't see the key hole, and I was like, I can't say anything yet until that holding cell door shuts, and then I'm gonna have to tell this living legend that I have handcuffed right now with real handcuffs.
00:24:41
Speaker 5: Hey, Clint, Sorry, I messed up.
00:24:43
Speaker 3: So the door shuts and I was like, hey, hey, Clint, I'm sorry. I put the handcuffs on upside down. Oh it's okay, Jake, don't worry about it.
00:24:54
Speaker 5: It's it's fine. And I said, well, here's the thing.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: You know, you're about to have to bend over and I don't kneel what so this is gonna be interesting.
00:25:02
Speaker 5: And he's like, just take your time.
00:25:04
Speaker 3: I had him bent over in the holding soul room with his hands up behind his back, with me bent down right behind him.
00:25:11
Speaker 5: Good thing he didn't need Brussels sprouts that morning.
00:25:15
Speaker 3: Trying to get the key in there, and we finally did it, and I just remember I remember telling Bradley later that day, I was like, whoever the audio guy is, Yeah, he's gonna like he's got gold gold.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: All right, here we go our final commercial break of the episode. Sit Tight will be right back. Thank you so much for sticking around. Here we go, let's get back to it with Bradley Cooper.
00:25:45
Speaker 7: As you were talking, I was remembering, like we just just in terms of our friendship, about knowing somebody that would get on a plane in two seconds if something there was a problem, no doubt that that that that's something that like you know, count on my hand maybe and I take two fingers away.
00:25:59
Speaker 8: That's how many people.
00:26:00
Speaker 7: And I know, like no question, like if I called him, was like, I'm in trouble. I'm going to see him in a couple hours. I have no doubt.
00:26:08
Speaker 8: That's that's pretty incredible.
00:26:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean most people live in an entire lifetime and have zero of those.
00:26:15
Speaker 7: And I remember there was this, uh, this this thing in Hollywood called like the Cinema Text Honor and they uh and and I was grateful enough to be honored one year.
00:26:25
Speaker 8: This was like god, seven years ago.
00:26:28
Speaker 7: And they were like, who do you want to uh, you know, to to talk and they usually and I was like Jacob.
00:26:37
Speaker 3: And then and then I had a moment like he had in this first USO tour.
00:26:42
Speaker 6: Everybody was like wait.
00:26:46
Speaker 7: Because normally they don't be a matter of fact, I'm going to go give it to a buddy of mine at the end of the bus. And I remember I was asking them who who the other people were, and they're all like, you know, famous people. And I was thinking about like when we did because remember Plugman, it was you Plugman. But so so Jacob talked and I'll never get it, which where they do the Golden Globes, that same space, there's all they pay tables and you know, it's all the studios and everything, and he got up there. Man, it was like he spoke and you could just everybody there was like utter silence and everybody was so laser focused.
00:27:17
Speaker 8: Do you remember that man that was on?
00:27:18
Speaker 3: Of course, yeah, dude, it was because I remember the producer of it. I kept hitting me up and he's like, I need your script, I need your script. I I was like, dude, I don't do scripts at all. And then I finally had to call you and I was like, bro, like there's a problem. And I told you, like, oh no, there's no problem. You don't do scripts. I was like, could you tell.
00:27:38
Speaker 5: This guy that I don't do scripts?
00:27:41
Speaker 3: And uh yeah no, I absolutely. I was an honorable lifetime of course I remember that. And then I remember him telling me the lineup. I was like, okay, yeah, so who else is speaking? And he's like, uh, Jennifer Garner, Zach alfanakaz blah blah blah bluh, and then you it's gonna be great.
00:28:02
Speaker 5: It's like perfect, Yeah, I got it.
00:28:05
Speaker 8: The problem but it was something about that, you know.
00:28:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, dude, it's been amazing. Man, it's been.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: It's been such a blessing, Like it's uh in something that I never thought in a million years, right, especially because I showed up with one mindset that day, set of American cyper of course, and uh left with a completely different one.
00:28:28
Speaker 5: And it's been.
00:28:31
Speaker 3: That was invaluable for me, an invaluable experience for me to be way more open minded, not so narrow minded, not so stuck in how I was raised there, you know what I was grew up around to understand that you don't know what you don't know and be impressed with that, you know.
00:28:51
Speaker 7: Key to life, man, especially now we're so tribal now, and it's like once you get two humans interact with each other, Yeah, I don't know how you don't see the similarities more than differences.
00:29:00
Speaker 8: I just don't know how.
00:29:02
Speaker 2: And one of the things that I really just feel is so special about the two of you as well, with you having done the cloth of the nation, babe, and you know, done the damn thing sacrifice, left body parts on the battlefield, and with you, Bradley, in the career that you've got, in the path and trajectory that you've taken, the two of you still take so much time to.
00:29:20
Speaker 1: Give back to others. You really do spend so much time.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: I've seen you done it collectively and individually, and that, to me is truly.
00:29:28
Speaker 1: What life is all about. It's you.
00:29:30
Speaker 2: You aim for that that peak and that success, but you do that so that you can then turn around and give back to others who are in need, who need a hand up, and you both have done that so gracefully and so beautifully. So I just that's where're celebrating as well.
00:29:47
Speaker 8: Yeah, and I can't. I think that's a innate thing.
00:29:50
Speaker 7: I mean, I'd like to say it's something that I had to work on, but I think it's just how I was raised and like something.
00:29:57
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's just like a daily part of life, you know. Yeah, it's yea.
00:30:02
Speaker 3: To me, it's the old adage, you know, too much as given, much as expected.
00:30:06
Speaker 5: You know.
00:30:06
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, I think it's a I'm very in tune with my God given gifts and I I try to utilize those lacking complete with the complete devoid of self interest self gain, right, Like, it's.
00:30:25
Speaker 8: That's the key.
00:30:26
Speaker 5: I want to help.
00:30:27
Speaker 6: People in order to help people.
00:30:29
Speaker 8: Period, period. Because it feels good. Yeah, it does feel good.
00:30:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's soul food.
00:30:35
Speaker 4: So I wanted to ask specifically about one tribe's mission and how you relate to it personally. I mean, I jumped into their world a couple of years ago, and what really brought me into them was not so much the past or what Jake and Ashley have done, but what they were doing in the present, the way they were helping people in crisis right here, right now. And I'm just curious to know how you relate to their mission.
00:30:58
Speaker 7: Well, I mean at Piggybacks and what we just saying, it's just sort of a consolidated effort to focus in on one group of people in the same way that you try to live your daily life. But for me personally, I was completely indocunated by Jacob. You know, I was informed and educated to the suffering in a way that I didn't know that just the that the sheer numbers and what is going on. And then then through through his education really was how I became involved. Like most things, it's like it's like if you find a human person that can shed light on something and educate you, then you get then the whole world opens up to you. So it's really just through him and that and talk about your gifts. I mean, and I saw that. I mean I think I think we hired you off of the Gandolfini documentary, if I recall. And I just saw and I was like Clinton and I were looking at this guy is magnetic. Man, this guy's like whoa, And you know, he just has a gift. I've been saying this to him forever, you know, and so many other people.
00:31:57
Speaker 8: But like there's just.
00:31:58
Speaker 7: Jacob has like the gift of his tongue. You know, like he's a wordsmith. He can't help but for whatever, whatever the sound that comes out of his mouth, you believe it, you know, which which also is something that he's had to deal with because you can know the dark side is that you could be a crazy manipulator.
00:32:15
Speaker 8: Yeah right, you know.
00:32:16
Speaker 7: So it's like, you know, so it's like but he's really has such a gift and like you know, it's boundless. So to be a part of that, to to help help him foster that gift that he has, and then it's through the funnel of one tribe has been an incredible thing to see.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: One of the things that's that's so great too, because your foundation, One Family Foundation who takes care of caregivers of those.
00:32:40
Speaker 1: Who are battling cancer.
00:32:41
Speaker 2: We've actually started working very closely with Annalise Sparron and we're actually credible.
00:32:46
Speaker 1: She's phenomenal.
00:32:47
Speaker 2: I've got a call with her this week, and she is just an angel on earth and and we're just so thrilled that One Tribe Foundation in One Family have actually started partnering and doing some different studies and pilot projects together, so that that's been really really exciting too.
00:33:02
Speaker 7: Well, we're at a place where you know, it's like, how can we help on a societal level address these issues, you know, and it's it almost it often to me like I'm sure some people seems like a hill that isn't isn't even climbable. So to be able to work with people that can also give that kind of energy and start to put your brain together as one common brain and figure this thing out, that that's when things start start.
00:33:28
Speaker 8: Feeling like they're achievable for sure.
00:33:30
Speaker 7: So otherwise alone you just feel like, well it's impossible.
00:33:34
Speaker 2: Right, one tribe, one family, And that truly is the good stuff. That's what the show is all about. I do have a quick, one quick glass question for you. Yeah, what what lights your path right now?
00:33:47
Speaker 1: What is the good stuff to you?
00:33:52
Speaker 7: I mean, of course it's my daughter, you know, But but my my brain went to like the fact that when I eyes, I'm alive.
00:34:03
Speaker 1: Good one good start kidding, Yeah.
00:34:05
Speaker 8: That's what I've been thinking about lately, Like, but oh I got another day. Yes, I'm not kidding.
00:34:11
Speaker 7: Like this morning I woke up and I was like, oh I got another day.
00:34:16
Speaker 1: The phone call.
00:34:18
Speaker 7: I mean really, it's like it's there's something that happens as you get older.
00:34:20
Speaker 2: You're like, well more, okay, here we go, right, all right, all right, I got you, I got you.
00:34:28
Speaker 4: Okay, Hey, we got to get you out of here. Thank you so much for joining the show, and on a personal level, thank you and everyone at Leah Pictures for making the Good Stuff happen. It's been an absolute pleasure and.
00:34:39
Speaker 8: That's one of our those our most proud things.
00:34:42
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you, Love you, dud, keep crushing it. We'll see you soon, all right, Love you guys.
00:34:49
Speaker 5: Thank you so much for listening.
00:34:50
Speaker 6: To the Good Stuff.
00:34:51
Speaker 2: If you appreciate this show, please subscribe, like, and review The Good Stuff Podcast. And connect with us on social media.
00:34:58
Speaker 3: We love hearing from you, so please reach out through our website. Our links and contact information is in the show.
00:35:04
Speaker 5: Notes of this episode.
00:35:06
Speaker 4: And it would mean the world to us if you shared this episode with the people in your life who might also enjoy it.
00:35:11
Speaker 3: Put on your bad ass capes and you'll be great today. And remember you can't do epic things without epic people.
00:35:17
Speaker 2: Again, thank you for listening to the good Stuff.
00:35:21
Speaker 4: The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick, and Leah Pictures posted by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick, and Nick Cassolini, Produced by Nick Cassiline, engineering, editing and post production supervision by Nick Casselini. Music by Will Tendy.
Speaker 1: Welcome to Season two of The Good Stuff.
00:00:03
Speaker 2: I'm Ashley Shick, and I'm joined by my husband and co host, Jacob Shick, a third generation combat marine and CEO of One Tribe Foundation.
00:00:11
Speaker 3: Actually also comes from a family rich in military history, and we've dedicated our lives to One Tribe's mission serving veterans, first responders, and their families. We're coming to you from Dallas, so welcome to Texas.
00:00:23
Speaker 2: And joining us all season long from Los Angeles, California, is our West Coast long haired friend and producer of the Good Stuff, Nick Cassolini.
00:00:31
Speaker 4: So today, not only are we actually recording this episode in Los Angeles, Welcome to the town, baby, but we have a very very special guest.
00:00:39
Speaker 2: We are so thrilled to have our dear friend, celebrated actor, director, and producer Bradley Cooper on The Good Stuff today.
00:00:46
Speaker 3: Not only do I consider him a brother, but his company, Leah Pictures, is responsible for executive producing The Good Stuff.
00:00:53
Speaker 4: Just a quick heads up, this is a very fun, loving conversation between good friends, but this show can explore some heavy subject matter from time to time, including suicide, so listener discretion is advised.
00:01:03
Speaker 2: We are so glad you're joining us again.
00:01:06
Speaker 5: Welcome to the good Stuff.
00:01:16
Speaker 3: All right, ladies and gentlemen, we're here with my dear friend and.
00:01:21
Speaker 5: Brother, Raley Cooper.
00:01:24
Speaker 6: How are you doing, bro, honor to be here. We appreciate you.
00:01:27
Speaker 1: Thanks for coming on. Excited to have you on the good Stuff.
00:01:31
Speaker 4: Yes, sir, wonderful to have you, mister Cooper. I wanted to ask you. I've heard the story from Jake's point of view, but I'd love to know from your perspective how you two first met on the set of American Sniper, where you were playing Chris Kyle and Jake was playing himself, and what those early moments of connection felt like.
00:01:47
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, Jacob was like the key in me believing that I was Chris Kyle because I could really tell that he didn't as I was approaching him.
00:01:57
Speaker 6: There it is. We don't have to we don't have to say exactly what.
00:02:07
Speaker 8: You tell me, if my recollection is correct.
00:02:09
Speaker 7: So we we we were on enough to cast Jake in the movie American Sniper, which we were making, and we were that was towards the end of the shoot or midway through the shoot, and there were he was in two scenes, one at the rehabilitation center and then one. And the next scene which we shot after that was when Chris takes he and a couple of guns and another fella to the shooting range. We're out outside and shoot with the target using the rifle, the three thirty eight, I think it was, and we were by the trailers.
00:02:39
Speaker 8: And I was walking up to him. I think, right, that was how we first met, or wasn't on the couch. I think I met you with the trailers.
00:02:45
Speaker 6: First, Yeah, the trailers first.
00:02:47
Speaker 7: Yeah, yeah, yeah, outside the trailers. And and this guy Dauber, who was incredible. He was in Sealed Team three with Chris, played himself with the movie, which was invaluable, and he also was part of the training for all the guys that played the Sealed Team three and then he, along with another guy, was key for me learning to be just comfortable with the three weapons Chris used. And so I already felt that comfortable enough, I'd done the work. But then I'm now this today, We're meeting real vets and some guys a new Chris, and Jacob.
00:03:19
Speaker 8: Was one of them.
00:03:19
Speaker 7: So I remember like approaching them and sort of the energy of disdain on.
00:03:26
Speaker 8: His face as I like who this, you know, And I was like, Okay, here we go.
00:03:32
Speaker 7: And I just kept breathing, and then we kept talking and then and then we and then we and when then we sort of segued into the couch where there's a there's a movie playing and everybody's just bsing around and that's how Clinton wanted it, just to be real. And I was just sitting there and I at that point I felt really comfortable. I felt like Chris was there with us in the movie and like I wasn't really even thinking.
00:03:53
Speaker 8: About sorry, my phone.
00:03:55
Speaker 7: I have one of those suction things that like all like twelve year olds have, but it's amazing and you know, yeah, yeah, yeah, and and and then I remember just sitting there feeling really comfortable, and then all of a sudden, like I felt his energy start to shift and start to be like, Okay, this guy.
00:04:16
Speaker 8: Maybe is uh not horrible.
00:04:18
Speaker 7: And then and then it like it just and it just like a slow build, and there was one moment where you said something to me which was affirming that like this is this is a good thing we're doing.
00:04:27
Speaker 8: I'm glad I did this.
00:04:28
Speaker 7: This is real and like and it was and it just like I remember feeling so happy and almost emotional.
00:04:37
Speaker 8: Uh.
00:04:37
Speaker 7: Also, you know, he and the other guy they had been seriously damaged in the war and they're talking about it and they're sitting there. It was a very it was a very emotional scene for everybody else. Probably not them as much, but everybody in the crew. It's like, oh, yeah, we're trying to do something. We're really trying to do something with this movie, and that scene was a huge part of it.
00:04:59
Speaker 8: It's like, it's just no be us, this is just the real deal.
00:05:03
Speaker 7: And the fact that he then respected me as a arbiter of this or as someone who's trying to tell this story meant everything.
00:05:10
Speaker 8: And then and then from there it just skyrocketed from there.
00:05:14
Speaker 7: We just by the time we got to the next scene, we're improvising and razzing each other and it was like it was like it was like it was like night and day by the time we got there. And then we just stayed in touch. And then you know life, how you know, if you put a little effort in. We both put effort in. Even though we lived, you know, many states away from each other. We became friends then like dear friends, and then like you know, We're gonna be friends till we die, that's it. And we made two movies together, and and you know, he was there for all the major moments of my life. We've seen each other at our lowest moments. I got to meet his beautiful wife and watched that whole thing happen, and he got to see my life flourish. And you know, it's what the it's the real deal.
00:05:56
Speaker 4: Would you mind speaking a little bit about maybe some of those connections you guys had at that lowest moments?
00:06:02
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, pick one?
00:06:05
Speaker 3: Yeah, well not, I mean, text me the one you're thinking about before we improved questions.
00:06:12
Speaker 7: Gosh, you know, just I'd say, like with it, you know, in a general way. Well, I mean he was there when I found out that I was gonna have a baby, which was incredible. He was the first person I told. That was like, very very emotional moment. And to be there with a brother was really incredible. We were in the back of a car.
00:06:33
Speaker 6: Yeah, we were.
00:06:35
Speaker 3: I remember that you showed need the picture. You're like, what's that mean? And I was like, oh my god.
00:06:45
Speaker 7: And then and then, uh, you know, I've been lucky enough to have dealt with some issues early on, you know, relatively early on in my life, and I was able to sort of walk Jacob through some stuff.
00:06:56
Speaker 3: Yeah, next one month, I'll be eight years clean and sober. And you definitely you know this. But for our listeners, you were a big time, a big, big, big part of that and that success and it coming to fruition and still being a thing.
00:07:15
Speaker 5: I leaned on you real heavy.
00:07:17
Speaker 3: I think times that you knew and times you didn't know, but the fact that you've you've been a pivotal, pivotal part of that.
00:07:26
Speaker 5: So thank you for that.
00:07:27
Speaker 7: I mean, I think the greatest thing about one of the greatest things about our relationship for whatever reason, by the grace of God, Like there's just no bullshit ever, Like you know, he would call me sometimes not not in the States and now, and I.
00:07:40
Speaker 8: Never really placated him, you know, and I've.
00:07:44
Speaker 7: Come to him with sort of issues or insecurities and I just get the real And when you know there's somebody out there who is actually going to set you straight, but you know it's coming from a place of love. You know there's no need to put you down. It's actually even though it's hard to hear that, then you can hear the hard stuff, and if you feel any sort of antagonism, you know right away it's coming from you, because you know deep down that person only has your best interests, you know, because those are hard conversations to have with your friends, let alone anybody. But we've always had those always, like you know, half a dozen times in the last eight years, you know, which is a lot, given the fact that we don't see each other much and we don't live in the same place. But for whatever reason we've been we find ourselves communicating at these vital crossroads in our lives.
00:08:33
Speaker 3: Deep deep conversations like the kind that you get done with the conversation you feel like you're in a marathon, yeah, type of conversation.
00:08:40
Speaker 2: And I think it's so important to have friends like that in your life, like I think just like your job or just like your living space. Because you actually gave Jake a piece of advice that we hold very dear to our hearts, and we've given this, we've passed this advice on to so many people. At one point in his journey, you told him environment is everything m and we really it is, and.
00:09:03
Speaker 8: We keep that. I remind myself of that exactly.
00:09:06
Speaker 1: Well, there you go. It came full circle.
00:09:08
Speaker 3: I'll tell you when it happened. It was about a year, not even maybe into my living a life for recovery. And I was just I was it was bad. I was in a bad place. And I texted you and said can you talk? And you said, on a plane about the land and call you as soon as I land. And you knew that I had started this journey and you'd warn me like, hey, bro, it's like bear down, you know, like stay focused. And I could tell you had called me, no ship as soon as you're like touch the runway. And I asked you. I was like, hey, what is stopping me from trying to drink all the vodka in Texas? And then I remember you saying, you know, well, are you doing your therapy, are you doing your meditation? Are you doing You're going to trip? Are you doing? And then it is known all of it, and you said, you know you're one of the toughest dudes I know, but at some point you'll even you will.
00:10:06
Speaker 6: Lose your grip.
00:10:07
Speaker 3: You're not getting able to white knuckle it the whole time. And you said, you know, think about your environment. Because of my living situation at the time.
00:10:15
Speaker 6: Which we ride into.
00:10:16
Speaker 8: Yes, and you said, how could you not?
00:10:18
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you said, brother, you got to remember your environment as everything. And that was like I changed the environment and it changed everything.
00:10:27
Speaker 2: But I think, I think it's so important that we that we constantly evaluate these aspects of our lives, and one of them is our friendships, right because our time and our energy are the most precious things that we have, and so to make sure that we are really vested in good, solid relationships, like what the two of you have done for each other, it's beautiful. As Jake's spouse, it has been a beautiful friendship for me to watch and one that you know, I even hold my own friendships to the standard to at times that hey, I need to be able to have those hard conversations even when it's uncommon, even when you know, I just want to stay surface level. We've got to do the deep dives. And so it's it's beautiful to watch the two of you and how you communicate with one another.
00:11:10
Speaker 7: But you know what's interesting about us though, is like normally you need to keep watering it, you know, And I don't know many friends of mine that I'm as close to like I don't even think about it, like I don't think about my level of closest.
00:11:23
Speaker 8: It just it is like it just got cemented.
00:11:26
Speaker 7: I think honestly, going through that experience of American Sniper together was a massive thing, you know, for where we both were. I was so vulnerable and he was so vulnerable in very different ways. And for whatever reason, I don't know, something happened where that's it. It's done, you know, and then we were able whether you know all the times we went to the hospital and saw the vets, the times we've been there for the low moments, the times we've been there for you know, artistically creating together, you know, all these things. There's something that normally you you have to keep, you know, nurturing it. And we're just lucky, you know, like we just we pick up where we left off, like it might be six months and it's like it's as if I just you know, got coffee with him this morning. You know, it's very We're lucky, man, We're we're actually very lucky, but in general blessed. But in general, yes, you're one hundred percent right, Like we are creatures that I mean, we mimic as children right, You mimic what you see.
00:12:28
Speaker 8: What you see, you start to emulate. I mean, that's just what we do all the time.
00:12:31
Speaker 7: So I mean, I'm certainly and I was always looking for sort of male figures in my life as I was growing up, and like putting people on a pedestal, which isn't fair to do that anyway, because no one could live up to that projection, and then always being disappointed and then, you know, but constantly looking for that outside guidance. And that's an innate part I think of human nature. And even when you get comfortable with yourself, you still want to be an environment that's going to nurture and facilitate that growth. I mean, yeah, I look at my life today, and I mean I live the way you're saying, Yeah, my life doesn't even resemble the way it looked three years ago, not even like like ostensibly like I'm a New Hope, Pennsylvania, you know, you.
00:13:12
Speaker 6: Know what I mean.
00:13:14
Speaker 8: I was just like, you know, digging a.
00:13:16
Speaker 4: Ditch, you know, five minutes ago. Okay, we got to take a very quick commercial break.
00:13:22
Speaker 6: Stick around.
00:13:23
Speaker 4: We'll be right back with more Bradley Cooper. All right, here we go. The good stuff is back and we're gonna jump directly back in with Bradley Cooper.
00:13:37
Speaker 8: That's something that comes with age too.
00:13:39
Speaker 7: It's just it's just hard to like bs your way through life as you keep going through it isn't it.
00:13:45
Speaker 8: It's just harder.
00:13:46
Speaker 5: It's not worth it, it's too short, and you just.
00:13:48
Speaker 8: Get more comfortable with your your in quote shortcomings.
00:13:53
Speaker 7: It's like, well this is it, you know, or you tell yourself a narrative that you keep telling and perpetually. It just takes a lot more energy to try to keep that myth or illusion alive.
00:14:03
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's way harder to be fake, it is.
00:14:05
Speaker 7: It's way harder to hate ye and hate also. Hate takes a tremendous amount of energy. I was watching Joe Rogan head on that guy Darryl the other day, who incredible musician who goes and he's converted like over two hundred people who were in Nazi or Nazi or like white supremacist groups. It's really incredibly incredible guy. And he was talking about how, like, you know, it just takes so much energy to keep hating constantly. I mean, think about somebody you had like a bad experience with a couple of years ago. I was talking about this this morning, and then like when you see them, you're like, what was it even?
00:14:43
Speaker 8: What was it that? Right? You know? And if you hold on to it, if you're still holding on to it, holy holy shit, man.
00:14:49
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're stealing yourself of today's joy.
00:14:52
Speaker 8: Yeah.
00:14:52
Speaker 4: I'm curious to know if your experience on American Sniper was the first time you had really been around veterans.
00:14:59
Speaker 7: No, No, I think I had that gave me an upper hand.
00:15:03
Speaker 8: Well. First of all, a guy that I idolized in high.
00:15:06
Speaker 7: School was a guy named Bill Kalm who was a Marine VET from Vietnam.
00:15:11
Speaker 8: I think he was in the medical He was part of this crew platoon.
00:15:15
Speaker 7: They had spiders and actually, like Magazine did this photo book on Vietnam and he was one of them. And I just love that gun and I would hang out with them all the time, and I was obsessed with the Vietnam. There's this great book called Guns Up about a machine gunner in Vietnam. And then there was another guy whose father was a VET who came and talked to us.
00:15:36
Speaker 8: So I was always taking myself in those situations.
00:15:40
Speaker 7: And then once I had the ability, I would do USO tours starting in like two thousand and eight all the way through twenty twelve and went to like you know, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kuwait. So I did have that experience before doing American Sniper.
00:15:53
Speaker 4: What were some of the memories from your USO tours that you hold dear.
00:15:57
Speaker 8: That nobody knew who I was and they were like, why do we have to say a load of this guy?
00:16:02
Speaker 7: Where we walked into and they're like Spire officers like guys, guys, uh, Bradley Cooper's.
00:16:08
Speaker 8: Here and they're like playing video games.
00:16:10
Speaker 7: They're like hey man, They're like and then they like they hear that they have to then say hello.
00:16:14
Speaker 8: This was like I had only done like wedding crashers. I remember we were we were at we were.
00:16:19
Speaker 7: In Bontanamo Bay actually, and I had like a desk set up and they gave you like little cards to fill out like with your like a headshot, and I remember it was really windy.
00:16:29
Speaker 8: I told you the story, David, that it was really windy and I'm sitting there with my buddy David.
00:16:33
Speaker 7: I went and and there were like a stack and like just when people come out of the lunch all you say hello and maybe given that talk about whatever they want to talk about.
00:16:40
Speaker 8: And no one was stopping.
00:16:41
Speaker 7: And it was when it was windy, and it blew all of the cards and they're all over the ground as people are walking out of the lunch and they're like picking it up to hand it back to me.
00:16:52
Speaker 8: And I was like, oh wow. It was very humbling.
00:16:56
Speaker 7: But then you know, fast forward passed the hangover and we went to Afghanistan to enemy territory. I remember we went to a Ford operating base where guys hadn't seen anybody but themselves for the last six weeks, seven weeks, and we went in there and like meeting those and they looked at you like they're like.
00:17:12
Speaker 8: What's happening right now?
00:17:14
Speaker 7: And then you're sitting there talking to these kids, you know, and they're eighteen eighteen, eighteen years old kids, kids with a big old piece of artillery, you know, And that was incredible.
00:17:26
Speaker 8: It was all incredible.
00:17:27
Speaker 5: You'd never know what that does for the morale, right, it does for.
00:17:32
Speaker 4: Me, you know.
00:17:32
Speaker 8: My cousin and I went. I remember we landed on the.
00:17:34
Speaker 7: USS Reagan and a Chinook helicopter and he's throwing up. We also we laughed a lot.
00:17:40
Speaker 8: We laughed a lot, and I'm meeting.
00:17:41
Speaker 7: His other like the cheese sandwich as we're landing and he's throwing up at the bag.
00:17:46
Speaker 3: I remember on this will give you I did too, of how like witty Bradley is. We're sitting there and we did this dress rehearsal before we went live on SNY and it was when we were at the range and.
00:18:05
Speaker 5: You know, I'm I was hungover.
00:18:06
Speaker 3: I'm sure Bradley could tell too, because I went out with someone Buddy's smell a the night before and I looked at Bradley. I was like, god, dude, I don't you know I've done this. I don't really like, I don't really know what I'm doing. And he looked dead ass right in my eyes and said, bro, you're playing a severely wounded marine.
00:18:30
Speaker 6: Just be yourself.
00:18:31
Speaker 5: I was like, cool, all right, yeah, I got I can do that.
00:18:35
Speaker 8: And talk about the comfort level.
00:18:36
Speaker 7: So we go from like, you know, you're dealing with the vet, he's been heavily injured.
00:18:40
Speaker 8: You're like finding out how to talk and be comfortable.
00:18:43
Speaker 7: Fast forward to her shooting a stars ward and I'm like, no, I love the walk.
00:18:46
Speaker 8: I want the limp.
00:18:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, play it up even more.
00:18:51
Speaker 7: Yeah, as you're walking past her, dude.
00:18:55
Speaker 5: That was uh.
00:18:57
Speaker 3: I felt like such Madonna doing Stars war Makers. We were in that commercial kitchen and in between every take, this person would come up to me with like this manual fan and hold it in front of my face.
00:19:11
Speaker 1: So I'm not the only one that does that, shut up and so.
00:19:15
Speaker 3: And I just remember thinking to myself, like, I used to climb mountains just because they were there, and now you have a person holding a fan in front of your face in between takes because you can't get too heated.
00:19:29
Speaker 7: Like I remember, I was like when we were talking about it, we were in that scene.
00:19:34
Speaker 8: I just heard him yelling.
00:19:35
Speaker 4: Alley, yeah, right, that's where Jake is playing Lady Gaga's boss and he like screams at her.
00:19:40
Speaker 6: Right. Yeah.
00:19:41
Speaker 3: I remember the first time I did it too, and it was there was clearly no brief that I was gonna do the guttural yell that I did because a few people there were I guarantee you there was some p not talked.
00:19:55
Speaker 7: About it because they were like because there were like forty people and then that was a huge packa.
00:20:00
Speaker 3: In that first take, it was like, yeah, like everybody.
00:20:04
Speaker 5: Did this jump.
00:20:05
Speaker 8: Yeah, it was amazing.
00:20:06
Speaker 3: The only person cracking up after it happened was him.
00:20:15
Speaker 8: I was just so happy because I was right, Yeah, you.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: Knew how intense Jake could get. Nobody else had been privy to that information.
00:20:22
Speaker 8: Yeah, that was We've had some incredible stories. Yeah, and then and then we did The Mule together. And did you ever tell the Clint Eastwood story on this? No, man's that's the best.
00:20:34
Speaker 6: Which one did the handcuff dude?
00:20:39
Speaker 3: Yeah, So I had one job and it was to literally handcuff Clint Eastwood.
00:20:46
Speaker 8: And so we're shooting this movie. Yeah, We're shooting a movie called The Mule.
00:20:49
Speaker 7: And he gets arrested and and then I was talking to Clint about remember Jacob because Clint directed American Stiper. He's like yeah, okay, And so Jacob came made fun of the shorts I was wearing. And when I got there remember that.
00:21:01
Speaker 9: Of course I remember that, dude, because you were okay, we're gonna go eat with Clinton, We're going with the with the Day and you walked out and I was like, and I thought he was joking.
00:21:12
Speaker 3: He walks out and I was like, probably what And I started laughing because I was like, that's hilarious. You're hilarious, bro, you're a riot. And he was like and he looked at he goes, what what Why are you laughing? And I was like, oh shit, he's serious.
00:21:27
Speaker 10: That's what he had, like these tiny little like Darryl Duke shorts on and then and then he had just like thrown back nineteen eighty two Philly's cap on backwards in a white V neck T shirt right, look an extra in some like nineteen eighty five Jordan's.
00:21:48
Speaker 5: And I was like, dude, seriously.
00:21:51
Speaker 6: We're about to go on the twelve old that's what you're wearing. And then he goes, oh, yeah, she just changed my shoes.
00:22:02
Speaker 5: To you. You went just like that, and you rolled.
00:22:05
Speaker 6: Hey, man, it's harder to be fake.
00:22:06
Speaker 8: You know.
00:22:07
Speaker 3: Sometimes nobody was more comfortable at that dinner than than Coop, that's for sure. But that's when we found out. He was like, oh yeah, yo, Jake will do it and then show up the night.
00:22:20
Speaker 5: Yeah.
00:22:20
Speaker 3: He pointed across the tables like it. And then of course you don't say no like not. And I remember I leaned over to you and I whispered in.
00:22:29
Speaker 6: Your ear because you were coming just to hang out, just to hang out.
00:22:31
Speaker 3: I had meetings in Atlanta, and you're like, bro, just come stay, We'll get some FaceTime. I don't have to start shooting for a couple of days, which is great, and it worked out great.
00:22:42
Speaker 7: Yeah, and I showed you an early cut of Stars remember, yes, right, Yeah, we watched it.
00:22:46
Speaker 3: Never I'll never forget it. I'll never forget that. Yeah, you held the iPad the whole time like this.
00:22:52
Speaker 5: And I was like, and I'm not even gonna go into what happened.
00:22:57
Speaker 3: After that, because that that's personal. But it was like I knew then. I was like, you did it. You freaking did it.
00:23:04
Speaker 6: Like it was.
00:23:05
Speaker 5: Awesome anyway, the Clint.
00:23:08
Speaker 3: I was having a handcuff Clint, and of course, because if there were no such thing as horrible luck, I would have none. The prop cuffs aren't working, and you know, it, being Hollywood and is so squared away and everything so well planned, there were no backup prop cuffs. There were, however, real handcuffs from the real bailiff, from the real courtroom that we were in. And he walks up to me and he was like, Hey, this is all you got to do you know you open them like this and then you just slap him on the wrists and the lock on and I said, hey, man, turn around, you see that guy right there? And he turned around because Clint at this time was like eighty seven, yeah yeah, And I said you see that guy right there?
00:23:56
Speaker 6: And he goes, yeah yeah, And.
00:23:57
Speaker 5: I said, I'm not slapping shit on his body.
00:24:01
Speaker 6: He goes, okay, yeah, well you.
00:24:02
Speaker 3: Just you know, then you just put them on there, lock them up. And this was the part where I messed up. And he said, make sure you can see the keyhole. If you can't see the keyhole, they're on upside down. And I was like, yeah, I got it, dude, I got it. So second take put the handcuffs on, which already felt dirty and wrong. You're putting on real handcuffs on the Clint Eastwood and I look down and I don't see the key hole, and I was like, I can't say anything yet until that holding cell door shuts, and then I'm gonna have to tell this living legend that I have handcuffed right now with real handcuffs.
00:24:41
Speaker 5: Hey, Clint, Sorry, I messed up.
00:24:43
Speaker 3: So the door shuts and I was like, hey, hey, Clint, I'm sorry. I put the handcuffs on upside down. Oh it's okay, Jake, don't worry about it.
00:24:54
Speaker 5: It's it's fine. And I said, well, here's the thing.
00:24:56
Speaker 3: You know, you're about to have to bend over and I don't kneel what so this is gonna be interesting.
00:25:02
Speaker 5: And he's like, just take your time.
00:25:04
Speaker 3: I had him bent over in the holding soul room with his hands up behind his back, with me bent down right behind him.
00:25:11
Speaker 5: Good thing he didn't need Brussels sprouts that morning.
00:25:15
Speaker 3: Trying to get the key in there, and we finally did it, and I just remember I remember telling Bradley later that day, I was like, whoever the audio guy is, Yeah, he's gonna like he's got gold gold.
00:25:28
Speaker 4: All right, here we go our final commercial break of the episode. Sit Tight will be right back. Thank you so much for sticking around. Here we go, let's get back to it with Bradley Cooper.
00:25:45
Speaker 7: As you were talking, I was remembering, like we just just in terms of our friendship, about knowing somebody that would get on a plane in two seconds if something there was a problem, no doubt that that that that's something that like you know, count on my hand maybe and I take two fingers away.
00:25:59
Speaker 8: That's how many people.
00:26:00
Speaker 7: And I know, like no question, like if I called him, was like, I'm in trouble. I'm going to see him in a couple hours. I have no doubt.
00:26:08
Speaker 8: That's that's pretty incredible.
00:26:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean most people live in an entire lifetime and have zero of those.
00:26:15
Speaker 7: And I remember there was this, uh, this this thing in Hollywood called like the Cinema Text Honor and they uh and and I was grateful enough to be honored one year.
00:26:25
Speaker 8: This was like god, seven years ago.
00:26:28
Speaker 7: And they were like, who do you want to uh, you know, to to talk and they usually and I was like Jacob.
00:26:37
Speaker 3: And then and then I had a moment like he had in this first USO tour.
00:26:42
Speaker 6: Everybody was like wait.
00:26:46
Speaker 7: Because normally they don't be a matter of fact, I'm going to go give it to a buddy of mine at the end of the bus. And I remember I was asking them who who the other people were, and they're all like, you know, famous people. And I was thinking about like when we did because remember Plugman, it was you Plugman. But so so Jacob talked and I'll never get it, which where they do the Golden Globes, that same space, there's all they pay tables and you know, it's all the studios and everything, and he got up there. Man, it was like he spoke and you could just everybody there was like utter silence and everybody was so laser focused.
00:27:17
Speaker 8: Do you remember that man that was on?
00:27:18
Speaker 3: Of course, yeah, dude, it was because I remember the producer of it. I kept hitting me up and he's like, I need your script, I need your script. I I was like, dude, I don't do scripts at all. And then I finally had to call you and I was like, bro, like there's a problem. And I told you, like, oh no, there's no problem. You don't do scripts. I was like, could you tell.
00:27:38
Speaker 5: This guy that I don't do scripts?
00:27:41
Speaker 3: And uh yeah no, I absolutely. I was an honorable lifetime of course I remember that. And then I remember him telling me the lineup. I was like, okay, yeah, so who else is speaking? And he's like, uh, Jennifer Garner, Zach alfanakaz blah blah blah bluh, and then you it's gonna be great.
00:28:02
Speaker 5: It's like perfect, Yeah, I got it.
00:28:05
Speaker 8: The problem but it was something about that, you know.
00:28:10
Speaker 5: Yeah, dude, it's been amazing. Man, it's been.
00:28:13
Speaker 3: It's been such a blessing, Like it's uh in something that I never thought in a million years, right, especially because I showed up with one mindset that day, set of American cyper of course, and uh left with a completely different one.
00:28:28
Speaker 5: And it's been.
00:28:31
Speaker 3: That was invaluable for me, an invaluable experience for me to be way more open minded, not so narrow minded, not so stuck in how I was raised there, you know what I was grew up around to understand that you don't know what you don't know and be impressed with that, you know.
00:28:51
Speaker 7: Key to life, man, especially now we're so tribal now, and it's like once you get two humans interact with each other, Yeah, I don't know how you don't see the similarities more than differences.
00:29:00
Speaker 8: I just don't know how.
00:29:02
Speaker 2: And one of the things that I really just feel is so special about the two of you as well, with you having done the cloth of the nation, babe, and you know, done the damn thing sacrifice, left body parts on the battlefield, and with you, Bradley, in the career that you've got, in the path and trajectory that you've taken, the two of you still take so much time to.
00:29:20
Speaker 1: Give back to others. You really do spend so much time.
00:29:24
Speaker 2: I've seen you done it collectively and individually, and that, to me is truly.
00:29:28
Speaker 1: What life is all about. It's you.
00:29:30
Speaker 2: You aim for that that peak and that success, but you do that so that you can then turn around and give back to others who are in need, who need a hand up, and you both have done that so gracefully and so beautifully. So I just that's where're celebrating as well.
00:29:47
Speaker 8: Yeah, and I can't. I think that's a innate thing.
00:29:50
Speaker 7: I mean, I'd like to say it's something that I had to work on, but I think it's just how I was raised and like something.
00:29:57
Speaker 8: Yeah, it's just like a daily part of life, you know. Yeah, it's yea.
00:30:02
Speaker 3: To me, it's the old adage, you know, too much as given, much as expected.
00:30:06
Speaker 5: You know.
00:30:06
Speaker 3: And I think, you know, I think it's a I'm very in tune with my God given gifts and I I try to utilize those lacking complete with the complete devoid of self interest self gain, right, Like, it's.
00:30:25
Speaker 8: That's the key.
00:30:26
Speaker 5: I want to help.
00:30:27
Speaker 6: People in order to help people.
00:30:29
Speaker 8: Period, period. Because it feels good. Yeah, it does feel good.
00:30:34
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's soul food.
00:30:35
Speaker 4: So I wanted to ask specifically about one tribe's mission and how you relate to it personally. I mean, I jumped into their world a couple of years ago, and what really brought me into them was not so much the past or what Jake and Ashley have done, but what they were doing in the present, the way they were helping people in crisis right here, right now. And I'm just curious to know how you relate to their mission.
00:30:58
Speaker 7: Well, I mean at Piggybacks and what we just saying, it's just sort of a consolidated effort to focus in on one group of people in the same way that you try to live your daily life. But for me personally, I was completely indocunated by Jacob. You know, I was informed and educated to the suffering in a way that I didn't know that just the that the sheer numbers and what is going on. And then then through through his education really was how I became involved. Like most things, it's like it's like if you find a human person that can shed light on something and educate you, then you get then the whole world opens up to you. So it's really just through him and that and talk about your gifts. I mean, and I saw that. I mean I think I think we hired you off of the Gandolfini documentary, if I recall. And I just saw and I was like Clinton and I were looking at this guy is magnetic. Man, this guy's like whoa, And you know, he just has a gift. I've been saying this to him forever, you know, and so many other people.
00:31:57
Speaker 8: But like there's just.
00:31:58
Speaker 7: Jacob has like the gift of his tongue. You know, like he's a wordsmith. He can't help but for whatever, whatever the sound that comes out of his mouth, you believe it, you know, which which also is something that he's had to deal with because you can know the dark side is that you could be a crazy manipulator.
00:32:15
Speaker 8: Yeah right, you know.
00:32:16
Speaker 7: So it's like, you know, so it's like but he's really has such a gift and like you know, it's boundless. So to be a part of that, to to help help him foster that gift that he has, and then it's through the funnel of one tribe has been an incredible thing to see.
00:32:32
Speaker 2: One of the things that's that's so great too, because your foundation, One Family Foundation who takes care of caregivers of those.
00:32:40
Speaker 1: Who are battling cancer.
00:32:41
Speaker 2: We've actually started working very closely with Annalise Sparron and we're actually credible.
00:32:46
Speaker 1: She's phenomenal.
00:32:47
Speaker 2: I've got a call with her this week, and she is just an angel on earth and and we're just so thrilled that One Tribe Foundation in One Family have actually started partnering and doing some different studies and pilot projects together, so that that's been really really exciting too.
00:33:02
Speaker 7: Well, we're at a place where you know, it's like, how can we help on a societal level address these issues, you know, and it's it almost it often to me like I'm sure some people seems like a hill that isn't isn't even climbable. So to be able to work with people that can also give that kind of energy and start to put your brain together as one common brain and figure this thing out, that that's when things start start.
00:33:28
Speaker 8: Feeling like they're achievable for sure.
00:33:30
Speaker 7: So otherwise alone you just feel like, well it's impossible.
00:33:34
Speaker 2: Right, one tribe, one family, And that truly is the good stuff. That's what the show is all about. I do have a quick, one quick glass question for you. Yeah, what what lights your path right now?
00:33:47
Speaker 1: What is the good stuff to you?
00:33:52
Speaker 7: I mean, of course it's my daughter, you know, But but my my brain went to like the fact that when I eyes, I'm alive.
00:34:03
Speaker 1: Good one good start kidding, Yeah.
00:34:05
Speaker 8: That's what I've been thinking about lately, Like, but oh I got another day. Yes, I'm not kidding.
00:34:11
Speaker 7: Like this morning I woke up and I was like, oh I got another day.
00:34:16
Speaker 1: The phone call.
00:34:18
Speaker 7: I mean really, it's like it's there's something that happens as you get older.
00:34:20
Speaker 2: You're like, well more, okay, here we go, right, all right, all right, I got you, I got you.
00:34:28
Speaker 4: Okay, Hey, we got to get you out of here. Thank you so much for joining the show, and on a personal level, thank you and everyone at Leah Pictures for making the Good Stuff happen. It's been an absolute pleasure and.
00:34:39
Speaker 8: That's one of our those our most proud things.
00:34:42
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Thank you, Love you, dud, keep crushing it. We'll see you soon, all right, Love you guys.
00:34:49
Speaker 5: Thank you so much for listening.
00:34:50
Speaker 6: To the Good Stuff.
00:34:51
Speaker 2: If you appreciate this show, please subscribe, like, and review The Good Stuff Podcast. And connect with us on social media.
00:34:58
Speaker 3: We love hearing from you, so please reach out through our website. Our links and contact information is in the show.
00:35:04
Speaker 5: Notes of this episode.
00:35:06
Speaker 4: And it would mean the world to us if you shared this episode with the people in your life who might also enjoy it.
00:35:11
Speaker 3: Put on your bad ass capes and you'll be great today. And remember you can't do epic things without epic people.
00:35:17
Speaker 2: Again, thank you for listening to the good Stuff.
00:35:21
Speaker 4: The Good Stuff is executive produced by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick, and Leah Pictures posted by Ashley Shick, Jacob Shick, and Nick Cassolini, Produced by Nick Cassiline, engineering, editing and post production supervision by Nick Casselini. Music by Will Tendy.
