Uzo Aduba

WEBVTT
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Thank you.
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Good nights are about the people, the laughs, the real
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moments you don't want to miss. So why step outside?
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Velo tobacco-free nicotine pouches fits seamlessly into your night. Convenient
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and full of flavor. No breaks, no interruptions. Velo anytime,
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anywhere nicotine pouches. 18 and over contains tobacco-free nicotine and
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addictive substance. If you're new to Velo, start with Mellow.
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You should not use this product if you do not
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already use nicotine.
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Due to the leaves falling in autumn and the challenges
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this brings, Eireann Road Air in wishes to advise customers
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that a revised timetable will take effect on Dart and
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Dublin commuter routes from Monday, September 21st until December 12th.
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Morning and evening peak services will be affected with some
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earlier departure times. Please check travel times on the Eireann
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Road Air in app or irishrail.ie. Eireann Road Air in
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is part of the Transport for Ireland network.
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Hi, my name is Uzo Aduba.
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And I feel interested in being Conan O'Brien's friend.
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Huh.
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Fall is here, hear the yell.
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Hey there, and welcome to Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend,
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a podcast where I'm.
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Joined, as always, by my bosom buddies, Sonam Obsessian, Matt Corley.
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Nice to see you both.
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It's nice to see you too. Yeah. Let me ask
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you guys a quick question.
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Why did you laugh?
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When you travel, do you do things to make sure
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you don't get sick?
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No.
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You don't really do anything, right?
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What do you mean?
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Do I wear a mask and stuff or do I
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take vitamin C?
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Do you take sanitizer? Do you wipe down the seat?
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No.
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Do you do all that kind of stuff? No, I don't.
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Because when I see people do that now, I think
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I should probably be doing that too, but I don't
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do it.
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And then I go a step further. I put my
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mouth and my tongue on the seat.
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Oh, no.
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Yeah.
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Just because if it's on the aisle seat, it tastes good.
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I don't know why it has a cool. What?
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It's just an aisle seat. The armrest, it has like
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a minty, but also is a little bit of what
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is that?
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Is that pork? Oh, minty pork.
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Are you a seat sniffer?
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No, no, it's not sniffer. I won't stand for that.
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You're a seat licker. I think those people are sick.
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I lick and slobber the armrest.
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Do you ever soil the seat, or you just.
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No, what are you talking about?
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Oh, I'm sorry to insult you.
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No, that's disgusting. No, I think what I do is very,
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in its own way, kind of classy.
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I've heard of a seat sniffer through a friend of mine.
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I asked this for a reason, which is that... She, like,
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knew someone who did it. Who did what?
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He sniffed seats.
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How did she find out?
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Did she catch that person or did they confide?
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They had a camera set up.
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What?
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I know.
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This is not.
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This is.
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What? Off.
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No, it's not off.
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No, this is.
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Yeah. They like noticed something was off. This was at
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their house. And then they like left the room and
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they left a camera rolling and And the guy just
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like sniffed seats when.
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They left the room.
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I have like 15 questions in a row.
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And it's not even like a, he like dug his
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nose in.
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What?
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Okay.
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It was just like, ugh.
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Okay, hold on a second. A lot of questions.
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When they said they noticed something was off, did they
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notice that he had like a cushion from the couch
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hanging out of his nose?
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And he's like, yeah, so you guys might want to
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leave the room now.
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Oh, my God.
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Why is that bolster cushion hanging out your nostril? Seriously,
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they noticed something was up. You don't know what they noticed?
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I don't know.
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He was like a weird friend. And I think he
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was like a friend of a friend.
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So when they set the camera up, they didn't know
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what they would find.
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They had no idea. But like things like chairs were like.
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Weirdly placed, things were weird.
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And they were like, this guy's a little off. Maybe
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the imprint of his face was in the couch cushion.
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Do you know what I mean? Every cushion was like
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the Shroud of Turin. I was going to say, it's
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like a Roman death mask.
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Yeah.
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They just saw this face, this death mask, perfectly imprinted
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on their couch.
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Seat sniffing, I never even think about that.
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Yeah.
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But now that you hear about it.
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Well, now I'm like, what was I doing?
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Why am I licking the armrest on the aisle seats
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when I could.
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Be sniffing the seats?
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Yeah.
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No, none of that appeals to me. No, the reason
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I did ask- Braved stance.
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The reason I did ask is that one of our
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guests recently- Rashida Jones.
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Right.
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I was chatting with her and she was talking to
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me about we were talking about travel. And I said,
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you know, I travel a lot for these max travel
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shows and I'm always catching a bug. Yeah, I just
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I get run down. The hours we shoot are really long.
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I'm on all these planes. I shake a lot of hands.
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And she gave me a list of things that I
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should bring with me. When I travel and it's the
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most comprehensive, it's a very long list of all kinds
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of stuff, including like a copper, a piece of copper
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that you put in your nose that I think kills bacteria.
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I don't know.
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And the reason I bring it up is that my
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wife is really into this too. Liza's really into, she
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reads up about home remedies and ways that you can
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you know, keep bacteria at bay or boost your immune system.
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She's always drinking various special herbal teas at night.
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I don't do that.
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But does, like, when you go to a hotel, because
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I've heard the remote control is the dirtiest part of
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the hotel.
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Right.
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Does she, like, wipe that down before.
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You guys use it?
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I use the remote control to stir my cocoa. I'm like,
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I'm going to stir this up. I guess I'll use
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the old remote. They'll say there's a spoon right there.
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I like the remote better.
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Are you a remote sniffer?
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I'm a remote sniffer.
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I don't think there's enough immunity stuff in the world
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to stop you from getting sick.
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Because you've traveled with me all over. I always get
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a cold or something.
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Nothing that bad. Nothing that bad. I just get.
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But it's not because if your immune system, because I
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actually think you have a pretty good immune system. It's
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because you're talking to everybody. You're like close and everyone's
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like breathing on each other. And then you just shoot
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for hours. And then you like are.
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I push it a little bit. You push it so much.
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I don't think there's any homeopathic.
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Cure for that kind of thing. You're just too much
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in contact.
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Well, it's called, if I had self-esteem, I think what
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Rashida should have done is said, oh, they also make
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self-esteem in a pill.
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You could have that.
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Yeah.
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But no, I appreciated a lot of her stuff looked
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really good. I just think you're right. I'm, I will
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talk to everybody. I'll get like two hours of sleep
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the whole time. I'm not licking the, the aisle armrest, but.
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I, I'm talking to people very close.
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I'm just hugging when the like apocalyptic plague finally comes.
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You're going to bring it to the States. I think
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it's going to be you.
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Oh, you're patient zero. I'll be patient zero.
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You're Patrick Dempsey in Contagion or whatever that was.
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Wait, what a weird reference.
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I know.
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No one really knows.
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Outbreak.
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Outbreak.
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Yeah.
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What a weird reference.
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Yeah, Sona.
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Sona, what'd you just.
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What, I just corrected you. Wasn't that, wasn't it Outbreak?
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You're right, but how weird of you to bring it up.
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Who else is in that? So he's patient zero?
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Yeah, he just says.
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And then Dustin Hoffman was in it, Rene Russo.
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Kevin Spacey.
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That movie, like, traumatized me a little bit.
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Yeah, yeah. Morgan Freeman. Yeah.
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Donald Sutherland.
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Yeah, a movie that prophesies a worldwide outbreak. Good thing
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that never happened. Happened, happened, happened, happened, happened, happened, happened, happened, happened.
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It's the beginning of a rock song.
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Yeah.
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That's a good idea.
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Well, I think what we learned is that nothing I
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do will help me when I travel.
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Nothing will help you.
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Sona runs in a circle of seat sniffers.
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Yeah, that I want to know. I love people.
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That's what I want to hear more about. I've never
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done that. I've never set up. you know, a camera
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in a room because I suspected something. I should start
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doing that. God forbid someone does it to me.
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Here are some four cameras in this room right now.
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Wait, there are cameras in here?
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Yes.
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Oh, no. I come in here at night a lot.
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I mean, just the idea that like he's like, everyone's gone.
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It's time to sniff some seats.
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And did you guys just step out of the room?
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I wasn't there. This is like something I heard.
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But yeah, yeah, yeah.
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They they like.
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Strategically left him alone in the room and.
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Then what are they doing they're just waiting while he
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sniffs seats I.
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Think they're just like giving it a minute and then
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they went back and like you know he was like everything's.
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Cool I wasn't doing anything get back in position and
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then no sneet sniffing here later when they did I
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say sneet sniffing yeah no no sneet sniffing here that's
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how nervous he is no sneet sniffing here.
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I was gonna say it makes you seem a little
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guilty no no no no sneet sniffing no no no
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no sneet sniffing here.
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You never know.
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Someone can be sniffing these seats.
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You don't know. Good luck to them.
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Why good luck?
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No, not good luck to them. Why is that?
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Good luck to them.
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We two are always in the same seat.
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I move between these two seats.
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Yeah, you move between seats. But this seat right here,
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that's pure Conan. That territory is marked.
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Oh, come on. Come on. Fully sprayed. You know what?
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Honestly, if I was going to sniff a seed, I'd
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sniff whichever one Ted Danson always sits in.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Is it Conan's?
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Oh, never mind.
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I don't want to.
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Sit in a Conan seed.
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Whatever cool, beautiful, amazing aura scent that he has, I've
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ruined it with my old potato scent.
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Is it weird I just said that?
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No, not at all.
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No, not at all. I mean, if it was genders
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were reversed, you'd be a creep.
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It's true.
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But you'll get away with murder. All right.
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My guest today is an Emmy Award winning actress who
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starred as Crazy Eyes on the hit Netflix series Orange
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is the New Black. She now has a new memoir
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titled The Road is Good. How a mother's strength became
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a daughter's purpose. I am thrilled she's here today. Uzo Aduba, welcome.
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Can I just tell, like, a really quick story? Sure. Okay,
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the reason why I'm interested in being a friend is
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because the first time I did your show, it was
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the first time someone made me feel completely comfortable. I
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had always been so nervous.
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Wow.
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Yeah, I had always been so nervous on, like, television and, like,
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I don't know, just nervous. Like, it was so new
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to me, generally. And I just felt like, I felt
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like you were really listening and generally interested in what
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was going on. And I just felt like myself. So
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I'm interested in being Conan O'Brien. That's really nice.
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That's what I mean.
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I like that.
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No, I mean, I'm glad you had that experience. And
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that was always what I was aiming for, was to
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just tell people, it's just me. This isn't a big deal.
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We're hanging out. And then there happens to be some
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lights and cameras here. But I'm glad you felt comfortable.
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And I.
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You told me just now in the green room that
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there was a strange series of events because it was
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your first time doing my show on late night. And
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you had to leave and go directly from there to
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the White House.
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Is that right?
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Yes, correct.
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So it was like this crazy mix of events coming
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into place. And one of them was I had the
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exciting experience of getting to be on a Conan show.
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And then the next day, I'd been invited to the
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White House for the African Summit dinner. There'd been a
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summit all week there in D.C. at the White House
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by President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama, which was
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like massive, like mind-blowing. And both was like, and I was,
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I'm such a fan of your show too. I was like,
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oh my God, this is so wild. We're going to
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be on the Conan O'Brien.
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No, it really is. No, it really is two events
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of equal importance. No, seriously.
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I mean, it's like.
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Late night appearance with Conan and that, you know, is here.
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And then right there on the.
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Same level, the African conference, which by the way, I
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was not invited to.
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Again.
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Unbelievable.
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Unbelievable. Yes.
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Anyway, it was uncomfortable.
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Everyone there was like, why isn't Conan here?
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This isn't right.
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You know, it's so crazy, which is I'm just curious
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what your feeling was going in and meeting the Obamas
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at the White House, because it's they are very good
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at making people feel comfortable.
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Do you know what I mean? They'll they'll.
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Uh, and especially, uh, first lady Obama was, and, and
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since then, in the few, in the interactions that we've.
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Had, she just, she calls it as she sees it.
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She's just very easy to talk to.
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A thousand percent. Like, I don't know how somebody can
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simultaneously match the level of the office and the esteem
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and the elegance and the sophistication and importance of an
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office while simultaneously making you feel like you're just coming
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in to their, you know, den or something, you know,
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and just coming to pay a quick little visit. You
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came from around the corner, which I absolutely did not.
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But it was amazing. And honestly, I think I can
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count it, you know, now, you know, I've had a
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baby and since gotten married. So those are incredible days.
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00:14:05.210 --> 00:14:09.289
But I guess tied with that was... like, the best
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day of my life because I brought my mom with me.
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And that was, like, the first question. I was like,
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can I bring my mom? You know, and they're like, yes,
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you can bring it. I was like, that's happening. And
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00:14:20.110 --> 00:14:23.029
my mom, who was just, that was her president. She
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00:14:23.070 --> 00:14:26.190
could always be like, my president, my President Obama. That's
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how she would always say it, you know. And she
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loved them, and I did, too. And that was the
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00:14:29.970 --> 00:14:32.629
first president that I'd ever, like, stumped for and canvassed
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for and gave, like, the $ 10 I had, you know, like,
349
00:14:36.789 --> 00:14:41.570
struggling actor, you know, whatever. And I just remember walking
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up to meet them And I'm going to do a
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terrible President Obama, but he's like, hello. And I was like, hi,
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how are you? I was like, my name's Uzo.
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He's like, I know who you are.
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And I was like, uh, what? And then he's like,
355
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who's this?
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You owe the federal government.
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$ 30, 000 in back taxes.
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That's why you're here today.
359
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That's why he's focused on. Exactly.
360
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And then he was like, who's this?
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It was my mom.
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And it was just wild because I was like, my
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mom shaking his hand. And honestly, you guys, I was like,
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00:15:14.570 --> 00:15:17.970
My family's from Nigeria. Both my parents immigrated, you know.
365
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Tough story. Some humble, humble beginnings.
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And I was just like, looking at my mom, I
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00:15:23.769 --> 00:15:29.210
was like, this woman from Obusi in Anambra State in
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the country of Nigeria is now in the White House
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00:15:33.409 --> 00:15:36.690
in a single generation of living in this country.
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And I was like, this is... This is the time.
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It doesn't, I don't think it gets better than that.
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That's what, that's the American story at its, at its best.
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00:15:46.370 --> 00:15:48.389
You know, there's, there are many American stories, but at
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its best, it's, uh, um, someone can come from Nigeria
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and in their lifetime have children and then go with
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one of those children's invited as an honored guest of
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00:16:04.039 --> 00:16:07.039
the president because of what they've made happen on their own.
378
00:16:07.940 --> 00:16:12.000
with the help of their family, whatever. But in the arts, whatever,
379
00:16:13.279 --> 00:16:17.500
that's the idea. It's funny because we are talking today
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00:16:17.620 --> 00:16:19.759
about your book, which is about to come out, and
381
00:16:19.799 --> 00:16:22.620
it's called The Road is Good. And The Road is
382
00:16:22.720 --> 00:16:28.600
Good is the translation of what your name means in Nigerian.
383
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:29.059
Is that right?
384
00:16:29.139 --> 00:16:29.399
Yes.
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00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:33.480
So my tribe, Anebo, my tribe, It means the road
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00:16:33.539 --> 00:16:38.220
is good. And what it really even more nuanced means,
387
00:16:38.340 --> 00:16:40.830
it means the journey was hard, but it was worth it.
388
00:16:40.990 --> 00:16:42.450
Yeah, that's cool. So, yeah.
389
00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:46.429
And it's like, you would say that, like, say you
390
00:16:46.450 --> 00:16:50.090
were coming to visit my house and, you know, you're
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00:16:50.110 --> 00:16:52.940
running late and then you're stopped in traffic and then
392
00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.399
there's rain all over the road and, you know, there's
393
00:16:55.440 --> 00:16:59.169
a pileup and... you know, what was snow suddenly here
394
00:16:59.210 --> 00:17:03.419
in Los Angeles, all of it. And then you get
395
00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:06.339
there like tired and wet and drained. And like, I
396
00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:09.279
opened the door and I'm like, how was the journey?
397
00:17:09.640 --> 00:17:12.289
And you'd say, you know, it was hard, but it
398
00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:13.569
was worth it because I'm here now.
399
00:17:14.170 --> 00:17:17.470
And that's beautiful that your name means that, you know,
400
00:17:17.910 --> 00:17:19.970
Conan is Gaelic for the face is wide.
401
00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:27.990
Well, both of those are very true.
402
00:17:32.170 --> 00:17:36.950
Both contain a beautiful truth. I've got a fat Irish face.
403
00:17:38.069 --> 00:17:41.750
But we both come from, you're from Medfield, Massachusetts. Yes.
404
00:17:42.170 --> 00:17:45.950
And I was telling you, I was in Massachusetts yesterday.
405
00:17:45.990 --> 00:17:49.789
I came back last night. I had a gig, a
406
00:17:49.829 --> 00:17:52.549
performance that I did in Rhode Island. And then I
407
00:17:52.609 --> 00:17:57.460
went up north to see my parents and my brothers
408
00:17:57.500 --> 00:17:58.259
and my sister.
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00:17:58.279 --> 00:18:01.779
And they're in Massachusetts.
410
00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:05.359
So I was just there. And I'm thinking, we probably
411
00:18:05.400 --> 00:18:08.460
have similarities in the way that we grew up in Massachusetts.
412
00:18:08.869 --> 00:18:14.269
And I'm also imagining big differences. And you talk about this.
413
00:18:14.190 --> 00:18:16.910
In your book. You're growing up in Medfield, Mass.
414
00:18:17.150 --> 00:18:17.250
Yes.
415
00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:21.950
And are you the only black student in your area?
416
00:18:22.089 --> 00:18:25.670
Or did you feel like you were an alien that
417
00:18:25.710 --> 00:18:26.910
had dropped onto another planet?
418
00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:28.589
Or did you feel comfortable?
419
00:18:30.450 --> 00:18:34.230
At times an alien and then at times comfortable. I mean,
420
00:18:34.410 --> 00:18:37.559
first of all, A, yes. Outside of my siblings, yes.
421
00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:40.619
I was like the only one, you know. There were
422
00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:45.980
two others in my entire school, you know. So there's
423
00:18:46.000 --> 00:18:48.920
a level of it that was comfortable because that's all
424
00:18:49.000 --> 00:18:51.009
I knew having grown up there, you know, I was
425
00:18:51.829 --> 00:18:54.829
used to it. But then there's moments that happen as
426
00:18:54.890 --> 00:18:59.269
you mature and you grow and you start to notice, like,
427
00:18:59.369 --> 00:19:04.029
the absence of you that you're wondering, why am I
428
00:19:04.069 --> 00:19:07.029
the only person here? Like, where is everybody else? You know, like,
429
00:19:07.069 --> 00:19:08.789
how come I only see them on the weekends when
430
00:19:08.829 --> 00:19:10.509
I go to these EBO meetings with my family?
431
00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:11.490
Right.
432
00:19:12.190 --> 00:19:14.470
Or just even, like, in smaller things, you know, I
433
00:19:14.490 --> 00:19:18.309
would watch, I remember there was one year Disney, you know,
434
00:19:18.329 --> 00:19:21.359
the Wonder World of Disney, like, on Sundays would do
435
00:19:21.380 --> 00:19:26.079
their movies, and they had done an adaptation of Pollyanna,
436
00:19:26.099 --> 00:19:29.759
an all-Black adaptation called Polly, and it was with Phylicia Rashad.
437
00:19:29.779 --> 00:19:31.230
It's amazing, by the way. If you've never seen it,
438
00:19:31.259 --> 00:19:33.700
I love it. I have it on DVD to this day.
439
00:19:34.059 --> 00:19:36.269
It's called Polly with Phylicia Rashad, Keisha and I pulling up,
440
00:19:36.799 --> 00:19:41.509
and Brian Adams, who was, like, my first, like, And
441
00:19:41.529 --> 00:19:44.720
I remember getting excited because my friends at school, we'd
442
00:19:44.740 --> 00:19:47.890
always watch all the like movies, whatever. And then I
443
00:19:48.450 --> 00:19:51.500
came one day ready to talk about, Polly and nobody
444
00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:55.019
had seen it. And I was like, how did you
445
00:19:55.299 --> 00:19:58.339
miss this genius work that just came out? You know,
446
00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.140
but that just wasn't on the radar. So those were
447
00:20:01.160 --> 00:20:03.940
the moments where you started to notice the gaps. I
448
00:20:04.000 --> 00:20:06.640
noticed the gaps, you know, or like talking about hair
449
00:20:06.700 --> 00:20:09.299
or braids or moments where people, you know, I'd have
450
00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:12.000
like my hair out and then have braids the next day.
451
00:20:12.019 --> 00:20:13.980
And they'd be like, how did your hair grow so fast?
452
00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:16.279
And I was like, I don't know how, you know,
453
00:20:16.329 --> 00:20:20.210
I just realized that there was a different understanding of culture.
454
00:20:20.369 --> 00:20:20.589
Sure.
455
00:20:21.029 --> 00:20:25.150
I would think because you talk in the book, which congratulations,
456
00:20:25.170 --> 00:20:26.750
by the way, it's an amazing story.
457
00:20:26.769 --> 00:20:27.230
Thank you.
458
00:20:27.349 --> 00:20:30.029
And it's a beautiful story because you're really writing this.
459
00:20:30.710 --> 00:20:32.619
It's your story, but it's also a tribute to your
460
00:20:32.650 --> 00:20:36.480
mom who passed in 2020. One of the first things
461
00:20:36.519 --> 00:20:38.339
that I clocked when I was reading the book is
462
00:20:39.700 --> 00:20:44.420
your mom, she died too early, but she got to
463
00:20:44.509 --> 00:20:47.130
see all your success.
464
00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:50.930
That's right. And to me, that's the big blessing. She
465
00:20:50.950 --> 00:20:51.430
got to.
466
00:20:51.390 --> 00:20:56.539
See your crazy success because it was a long road
467
00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:00.819
for you. And, um, but I was, I was watching
468
00:21:00.839 --> 00:21:02.759
or noticing in the early part of the book, you're
469
00:21:02.779 --> 00:21:06.180
talking about how you really didn't, you're uncomfortable with your
470
00:21:06.200 --> 00:21:09.099
name because people had a hard time pronouncing it. So
471
00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:11.299
you told your mom, you were thinking of changing it
472
00:21:11.359 --> 00:21:11.980
to Zoe.
473
00:21:12.000 --> 00:21:12.069
Zoe.
474
00:21:13.019 --> 00:21:15.380
Yeah, and your mom had this genius response.
475
00:21:15.779 --> 00:21:17.539
She had, and she was ready. You know, I was
476
00:21:17.579 --> 00:21:20.319
in the kitchen. I had a teacher and friend, you know,
477
00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:22.839
who just would never say it right. And it was
478
00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:25.420
like so, you know, tough. And you just want to
479
00:21:25.460 --> 00:21:27.009
blend in when you're a kid. You don't want to
480
00:21:27.029 --> 00:21:29.930
like stand out for anything. I didn't anyway when I
481
00:21:29.970 --> 00:21:33.269
was little. And I remember coming home and she's in
482
00:21:33.309 --> 00:21:35.710
the kitchen and I was like, Mommy, and she's like, eh?
483
00:21:36.410 --> 00:21:39.640
And I was like, can you call me Zoe? And
484
00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:43.220
she was cooking and she stopped and she's like, why?
485
00:21:43.240 --> 00:21:48.130
And I was like, because they can't say ozamaka. And
486
00:21:48.170 --> 00:21:51.789
without skipping a beat, my mother was like, if they
487
00:21:51.809 --> 00:21:57.230
can learn to say Tchaikovsky, and Dostoevsky, and Michelangelo, then
488
00:21:57.250 --> 00:21:59.900
they can learn to say ozamaka. And she just went
489
00:21:59.960 --> 00:22:03.180
back to cooking. And it was like, the end.
490
00:22:03.059 --> 00:22:05.440
Of it yeah you know mic drop.
491
00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:07.920
Mic drop a total mic drop and she had been
492
00:22:07.960 --> 00:22:10.039
through it before I have an older sibling my older
493
00:22:10.079 --> 00:22:12.759
sister she her name is Oni she wanted to be
494
00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:15.480
called Tony you know and well.
495
00:22:15.299 --> 00:22:18.759
That's just that's just confusing the same hey Tony.
496
00:22:20.339 --> 00:22:22.440
And she'd already said the same thing to her you
497
00:22:22.599 --> 00:22:25.480
know and what she was really just like establishing right
498
00:22:25.579 --> 00:22:29.380
there at the door was who you are is okay
499
00:22:29.640 --> 00:22:33.579
is enough and everybody better get used to it God bless.
500
00:22:44.660 --> 00:22:48.420
Good nights are about the people, the laughs, the real
501
00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:51.619
moments you don't want to miss. So why step outside?
502
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504
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505
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506
00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:08.839
You should not use this product if you do not
507
00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:09.740
already use nicotine.
508
00:23:12.230 --> 00:23:14.269
I would like to thank Eireann Róð Éireann for the
509
00:23:14.390 --> 00:23:17.490
opportunity to speak with you today about the work she
510
00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:20.960
has done and the work she has been doing. From
511
00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:22.759
the beginning, the work of Eireann Róð Éireann was done
512
00:23:22.779 --> 00:23:24.960
by the Dárlaur Díag Nálaig, who was the director of
513
00:23:24.980 --> 00:23:28.059
the Nílóg. It will continue on the work of Buicráin,
514
00:23:28.119 --> 00:23:31.420
Imaginá and Trinóna, and if you want to know more
515
00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:33.769
about it, don't forget to subscribe. Check out the link
516
00:23:33.789 --> 00:23:38.009
on the Eireann Róð Éireann app or on irishrail.ie. Eireann
517
00:23:38.029 --> 00:23:39.809
Róð Éireann is available on the TFA website.
518
00:23:41.569 --> 00:23:44.559
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the leaflet.
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Use only as directed.
528
00:24:19.119 --> 00:24:25.609
You were a good student, great athlete. You were very
529
00:24:25.700 --> 00:24:30.430
serious figure skater for years and years. And you were
530
00:24:30.450 --> 00:24:31.930
interested in going to the Olympics and.
531
00:24:31.869 --> 00:24:33.049
You had a lot of ability.
532
00:24:33.309 --> 00:24:37.069
And then your parents come to you and say, we
533
00:24:37.089 --> 00:24:38.089
can't afford this anymore.
534
00:24:38.490 --> 00:24:41.619
Yeah, you know, I'm one of five kids. And, you know,
535
00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:46.200
we had a pretty humble upbringing. And already there were
536
00:24:46.299 --> 00:24:50.490
two of my siblings were in college. And it was just,
537
00:24:50.730 --> 00:24:53.509
figure skating is a very, very expensive sport for people
538
00:24:53.529 --> 00:24:56.569
who don't know. You know, there's skates and ice time
539
00:24:56.630 --> 00:25:02.160
and coaches fees, choreography, costumes, travel, adds up. my parents
540
00:25:02.240 --> 00:25:04.640
were doing the best they could, you know, to keep up.
541
00:25:04.819 --> 00:25:07.039
But as the hours were growing and just in that
542
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:09.869
year when I had to stop, my coach at the
543
00:25:09.930 --> 00:25:13.730
time had said, you know, she actually needs to skate more,
544
00:25:14.009 --> 00:25:17.329
put in more hours. And, you know, we can see
545
00:25:17.349 --> 00:25:19.410
where this goes. And at that point, my parents were already,
546
00:25:19.589 --> 00:25:23.339
you know, pretty stretched thin. And they were like, my
547
00:25:23.380 --> 00:25:25.700
mom sat me down at a competition and she was like,
548
00:25:25.819 --> 00:25:28.210
this is going to be The last one. This will
549
00:25:28.230 --> 00:25:30.349
be the last one. She's like, we can't afford it anymore.
550
00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:34.430
This is like a college education. You know, we don't
551
00:25:34.470 --> 00:25:36.849
have it. And it was tough.
552
00:25:36.650 --> 00:25:37.380
At the time.
553
00:25:37.410 --> 00:25:40.019
You know, as a kid, you don't have that same understanding.
554
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:43.079
And I didn't have the level of understanding or maybe
555
00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:46.519
even the appreciation on some level of what had already
556
00:25:46.539 --> 00:25:50.579
been expensed and sacrificed for me. But when I look
557
00:25:50.819 --> 00:25:53.970
back on it now and think about it, I'm like, wow,
558
00:25:54.009 --> 00:25:57.460
you know, There was skating, there was violin, there was cello,
559
00:25:57.480 --> 00:25:59.559
there was ballet, there was hockey. There were so many
560
00:25:59.619 --> 00:26:03.869
things that my parents saw when they came to this America,
561
00:26:04.140 --> 00:26:07.250
as my mom would always say, that as opportunities and
562
00:26:07.289 --> 00:26:11.890
exposures and experiences that just did not exist, wholly did
563
00:26:11.930 --> 00:26:15.230
not exist for them as kids, that it was like, wow,
564
00:26:15.269 --> 00:26:18.089
they did everything they could. They stretched it to the
565
00:26:18.269 --> 00:26:21.190
line to try and make it happen for their kids
566
00:26:21.250 --> 00:26:24.140
and just give them a taste, even if they had
567
00:26:24.180 --> 00:26:26.609
to They couldn't serve you the whole meal. You know,
568
00:26:26.650 --> 00:26:29.170
they wanted to give you just a taste of what this,
569
00:26:29.390 --> 00:26:31.150
the possibility of America.
570
00:26:31.170 --> 00:26:33.960
Also, I have this theory that good work is never wasted.
571
00:26:33.980 --> 00:26:34.049
Yes.
572
00:26:34.619 --> 00:26:38.640
So if you, at a young age for many years,
573
00:26:38.700 --> 00:26:41.680
work very hard on figure skating and the training and
574
00:26:41.700 --> 00:26:46.009
the dedication and repetitive honing of a certain skill over
575
00:26:46.049 --> 00:26:49.509
and over and over again is an amazing thing to learn.
576
00:26:49.529 --> 00:26:49.609
Yeah.
577
00:26:50.490 --> 00:26:52.690
And that's going to be with you. Clearly, you take
578
00:26:52.730 --> 00:26:55.890
that because that doesn't work out. But then you get
579
00:26:55.930 --> 00:27:00.460
interested in theater and you apply that to acting. And
580
00:27:00.599 --> 00:27:04.940
so all hard work is preparation for something else. It
581
00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:07.269
doesn't people get too literal and think, oh, that was
582
00:27:07.309 --> 00:27:09.609
all wasted because you're not a professional, you're not an
583
00:27:09.630 --> 00:27:11.690
Olympic figure skating champion.
584
00:27:11.710 --> 00:27:12.150
No. Yes.
585
00:27:12.309 --> 00:27:13.789
That all went into something else.
586
00:27:14.269 --> 00:27:19.420
A hundred thousand percent. Like, having played, done track and
587
00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.319
field as well and figure skated, like, for so long,
588
00:27:22.359 --> 00:27:26.099
which are individual sports for the most part, you know, like,
589
00:27:27.180 --> 00:27:31.660
self-motivating is something that I've learned since I'm five, you
590
00:27:31.680 --> 00:27:34.029
know what I mean? Good head talk, being able to, like,
591
00:27:34.559 --> 00:27:37.420
Talk my head into doing something that I want to
592
00:27:37.460 --> 00:27:40.490
achieve because you have to do that for the three
593
00:27:40.509 --> 00:27:42.630
and a half, four minutes on the ice. You know,
594
00:27:42.650 --> 00:27:44.390
you have to develop a good head talk. You have
595
00:27:44.410 --> 00:27:46.190
to develop a good head talk when you're on the
596
00:27:46.230 --> 00:27:49.579
blocks running track to get your mind in the place
597
00:27:49.640 --> 00:27:51.660
it needs to be to achieve. And listen, guess what?
598
00:27:52.099 --> 00:27:53.900
If that's not true for me, I have a daughter now.
599
00:27:53.940 --> 00:28:00.579
I can shove these dreams under her. Joking, I'm joking.
600
00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:01.619
Kidding, sort of.
601
00:28:02.259 --> 00:28:08.089
Not really. You'd just be a total tiger mom.
602
00:28:08.410 --> 00:28:11.329
You know, it's crazy. And it's this part of the
603
00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:16.079
book that is hard to believe. But you're doing theater
604
00:28:16.519 --> 00:28:19.619
and you're auditioning, auditioning, auditioning, auditioning, trying to get these
605
00:28:19.640 --> 00:28:20.299
different roles.
606
00:28:20.319 --> 00:28:20.390
And.
607
00:28:21.650 --> 00:28:26.599
You're getting by, but a huge part of auditioning is disappointment, disappointment.
608
00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:33.059
So you audition for Orange is the New Black, haven't
609
00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:36.559
heard back yet, and you decide, I think I'm out.
610
00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:40.119
I think I'm done. So you decided more or less
611
00:28:40.500 --> 00:28:43.339
to quit. Yes. Then you get the phone call. Is
612
00:28:43.380 --> 00:28:43.920
that correct?
613
00:28:44.039 --> 00:28:48.049
That is 100% correct. And it was also, by the way,
614
00:28:48.430 --> 00:28:51.049
the first time I'd ever quit. I have never quit.
615
00:28:51.599 --> 00:28:55.640
anything before. And I was, and I never quit this, more.
616
00:28:55.500 --> 00:28:56.799
Specifically, acting.
617
00:28:56.819 --> 00:29:02.750
I had, you know, doubted, I have questioned, I have
618
00:29:02.809 --> 00:29:05.170
been exhausted, but I've never in my mind been like,
619
00:29:05.430 --> 00:29:10.609
I'm done. And it was a Friday, and I was
620
00:29:10.670 --> 00:29:15.240
just wasted, you know. I had been auditioning for film
621
00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:20.740
and television the whole summer, exclusively. I saw my bank account, like, Disappearing, gone,
622
00:29:20.839 --> 00:29:26.210
pretty much. And just kept hearing no after no after no.
623
00:29:26.569 --> 00:29:28.089
And I had made it up in my mind. I
624
00:29:28.089 --> 00:29:31.650
was on Monday going to call my agent and call
625
00:29:31.670 --> 00:29:34.529
my manager and tell them that I was going to
626
00:29:34.549 --> 00:29:36.390
go to law school.
627
00:29:38.710 --> 00:29:39.089
I'm good.
628
00:29:39.109 --> 00:29:44.440
The ultimate humility. And cheap.
629
00:29:47.079 --> 00:29:47.960
But I know, yeah.
630
00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:51.240
Can you imagine there are lawyers listening right now? They're like,
631
00:29:51.380 --> 00:29:57.859
damn it! I'd hung you in another day. Yeah, right?
632
00:29:58.980 --> 00:29:59.680
But I did.
633
00:29:59.740 --> 00:30:01.880
I was like, legit, that was what I was going
634
00:30:01.900 --> 00:30:04.779
to do. I called my sister, Chi Chi. I ordered
635
00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:06.619
some wine. I ordered some sushi. And we were going
636
00:30:06.640 --> 00:30:12.099
to be like an I'm out party. And then 5.45 p.m.
637
00:30:13.059 --> 00:30:13.740
On the nose.
638
00:30:14.259 --> 00:30:18.279
Oh, and my phone rang. And it was my team saying, hi,
639
00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:20.240
how are you? I was like, I'm good.
640
00:30:20.279 --> 00:30:20.539
How are you?
641
00:30:20.619 --> 00:30:23.339
And they're like, remember that audition you went on for?
642
00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:25.759
how that show Orange is the New Black. And I
643
00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:26.960
was like, yeah. And they're like, you remember the part
644
00:30:26.980 --> 00:30:28.769
you went out for? Because it was a different part.
645
00:30:28.789 --> 00:30:31.450
I was like, yeah, I remember. And they're like, well,
646
00:30:31.470 --> 00:30:34.119
you didn't get it. I was like, I'm leaving it
647
00:30:34.500 --> 00:30:36.619
the right time now that agents are calling you to
648
00:30:36.660 --> 00:30:37.779
tell you when you don't get jobs.
649
00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:42.970
This is a new part of our service. But you failed.
650
00:30:44.049 --> 00:30:46.150
And we want to talk about it for like 40 minutes.
651
00:30:47.190 --> 00:30:51.509
And I was like, okay.
652
00:30:52.269 --> 00:30:54.990
They were like, but they'd like to offer you another role.
653
00:30:55.490 --> 00:30:58.990
And I was like, wow. And it was, I'd never
654
00:30:59.130 --> 00:31:01.750
done anything on TV.
655
00:31:02.049 --> 00:31:02.670
It was wild.
656
00:31:02.869 --> 00:31:06.240
And I was just like, This is crazy. And I
657
00:31:06.779 --> 00:31:10.140
definitely did not know at all, for real, for real,
658
00:31:10.160 --> 00:31:13.440
for real, for real, for real, that that was going
659
00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:16.619
to change my life in any way. I knew that
660
00:31:16.640 --> 00:31:20.640
it kept me in, you know? But I had no
661
00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:22.980
idea that it was going to do anything.
662
00:31:23.000 --> 00:31:23.839
You talk about this in the book.
663
00:31:23.880 --> 00:31:28.920
So you get the role of Crazy Eyes, and the
664
00:31:29.000 --> 00:31:32.460
time between you getting that role, I think it's within
665
00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:37.759
a year? maybe less, between getting that role and sitting
666
00:31:38.339 --> 00:31:43.079
at the Emmys nominated when you hear your name as
667
00:31:43.119 --> 00:31:43.519
the winner.
668
00:31:44.619 --> 00:31:46.259
That's crazy.
669
00:31:46.299 --> 00:31:49.690
Yeah, that's fantastic. And who gives you the Emmy?
670
00:31:50.190 --> 00:31:53.309
Morgan Freeman.
671
00:31:53.349 --> 00:31:56.109
Morgan Freeman. It was wild.
672
00:31:56.490 --> 00:31:58.230
I was like walking up there and I was like,
673
00:31:58.809 --> 00:32:01.890
for some reason, listing, like, his resume, and I was like, glory,
674
00:32:02.589 --> 00:32:06.970
Bruce Almighty, driving this thing.
675
00:32:07.369 --> 00:32:09.410
Shawshank Redemption, a favorite.
676
00:32:10.849 --> 00:32:11.289
Going.
677
00:32:11.529 --> 00:32:11.750
Yeah.
678
00:32:12.049 --> 00:32:13.230
Like, this guy's amazing.
679
00:32:13.299 --> 00:32:13.519
Yeah.
680
00:32:13.859 --> 00:32:15.000
And he was just handing it to you. We started
681
00:32:15.019 --> 00:32:16.779
talking about the life cycle of the penguin.
682
00:32:18.700 --> 00:32:24.680
No, Morgan, no. Yeah, but I mean, it's such.
683
00:32:24.579 --> 00:32:28.089
A funny thing about this business, but talk about famine
684
00:32:28.109 --> 00:32:30.809
and then feast. It's just there are long periods or
685
00:32:30.910 --> 00:32:34.670
stretches of disappointment and misery. And then I'm always reminded
686
00:32:34.710 --> 00:32:38.230
of there's this movie that was made, I believe, in
687
00:32:38.250 --> 00:32:40.329
the in the 1950s. And it's one of the later
688
00:32:40.369 --> 00:32:43.839
Humphrey Bogart movies, Humphrey Bogart, Catherine Hepburn. It's a great
689
00:32:43.880 --> 00:32:47.819
movie called The African Queen. And it's about the there. Basically,
690
00:32:47.880 --> 00:32:50.119
it takes place in the beginning of World War One.
691
00:32:50.319 --> 00:32:53.000
And they're trying to make their way down this river
692
00:32:53.059 --> 00:32:56.980
because they have this idea that to accomplish this mission together.
693
00:32:57.460 --> 00:33:00.460
And they're in this tiny little boat and it's impossible odds.
694
00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:02.240
And they're going and they're going and they're going. And
695
00:33:02.279 --> 00:33:05.019
then finally, and John Houston directed this movie.
696
00:33:05.359 --> 00:33:06.069
It's brilliant.
697
00:33:06.269 --> 00:33:08.690
And there's this scene that just resonates with me so
698
00:33:08.710 --> 00:33:12.009
many times where the river has gotten really low. And
699
00:33:12.730 --> 00:33:15.670
so Humphrey Bogart is pulling them through the river and
700
00:33:15.690 --> 00:33:18.930
he's covered in leeches. And then finally the weeds just
701
00:33:18.950 --> 00:33:20.700
get too thick and they feel like we'll never get
702
00:33:20.740 --> 00:33:21.519
to the main river.
703
00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:22.539
We're going to die here.
704
00:33:22.559 --> 00:33:25.440
And they resign that it's over and they get back
705
00:33:25.480 --> 00:33:27.660
in the boat again. and he takes the leeches off
706
00:33:27.700 --> 00:33:29.339
of them, peels them off, and then they just cover
707
00:33:29.380 --> 00:33:32.440
under a blanket and they've lost. And the camera pans
708
00:33:32.680 --> 00:33:36.180
up and you can see that they're about 20 feet
709
00:33:36.289 --> 00:33:39.170
from the river. That always hits me. That has happened
710
00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:41.750
to me so many times in my life where I
711
00:33:41.789 --> 00:33:44.190
didn't know how close I was. And what happens is
712
00:33:44.230 --> 00:33:46.650
overnight it rains and their boat just floats onto the river.
713
00:33:47.430 --> 00:33:50.940
But I think about that, just that image a lot,
714
00:33:51.019 --> 00:33:53.779
which is you got close to saying, well, this isn't
715
00:33:53.799 --> 00:33:56.609
going to happen. And if you could pan up, it's like, no, no, no,
716
00:33:58.049 --> 00:34:01.470
you are seconds from being there.
717
00:34:02.069 --> 00:34:02.849
You just didn't know.
718
00:34:02.869 --> 00:34:09.670
I needed that message. B, thank you. Yes, I.
719
00:34:12.190 --> 00:34:12.510
Didn't.
720
00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:14.400
I really didn't.
721
00:34:15.960 --> 00:34:18.639
I felt like all the time that I had put
722
00:34:20.780 --> 00:34:23.530
into this thing that I loved and I love it,
723
00:34:23.639 --> 00:34:26.440
you know, like I really love it. I love it still,
724
00:34:27.019 --> 00:34:31.539
you know, and, um, to not feel like I could
725
00:34:32.840 --> 00:34:35.219
do like would get was getting to do it. You
726
00:34:35.260 --> 00:34:39.239
know what I mean? Was really tough to wrestle with, um,
727
00:34:39.840 --> 00:34:42.570
and make peace with. And I didn't want my, I've
728
00:34:42.610 --> 00:34:44.469
said this since the beginning. I'm like the minute. And
729
00:34:44.510 --> 00:34:46.349
I do mean the exact minute that I no longer
730
00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:49.230
enjoy this. I will go find something else to do. Um,
731
00:34:49.869 --> 00:34:57.809
And I was just feeling like this seer and this worry, really,
732
00:34:58.030 --> 00:35:01.719
that I was not going, I couldn't love this, this
733
00:35:01.820 --> 00:35:07.820
idea of just trying to make something happen that maybe God,
734
00:35:07.840 --> 00:35:12.159
the universe, energy, whatever we're calling it, was telling me
735
00:35:12.199 --> 00:35:14.639
very clearly, like, no, this is not for me. And
736
00:35:14.679 --> 00:35:17.380
then You know, when that happened, it made me think
737
00:35:17.420 --> 00:35:20.179
of that quote from The Godfather. It's like, just when
738
00:35:20.199 --> 00:35:22.719
I thought I was out, they pulled me back in,
739
00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:25.239
you know? And I tried to get out, and it
740
00:35:25.300 --> 00:35:28.780
was like, no, you're supposed to be doing this. It came, like,
741
00:35:28.900 --> 00:35:30.739
right in the minute that I needed it to happen,
742
00:35:31.780 --> 00:35:34.659
like I said. And it was not something that I
743
00:35:34.699 --> 00:35:37.550
had any expectation of other than the two to three
744
00:35:37.590 --> 00:35:39.809
episodes that I was asked to come on to do.
745
00:35:40.070 --> 00:35:43.010
And that felt like enough when I got them, too. Like,
746
00:35:43.050 --> 00:35:45.119
when I did two episodes, I was like, That was enough.
747
00:35:45.139 --> 00:35:46.380
And they're like, we're going to see you back. I
748
00:35:46.380 --> 00:35:47.500
was like, oh my gosh, I'm going to get to
749
00:35:47.539 --> 00:35:48.420
do that third episode.
750
00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:48.900
Awesome.
751
00:35:48.920 --> 00:35:51.380
You know what I mean? And I was cool with that.
752
00:35:51.800 --> 00:35:54.739
It was totally enough. And then it became more than enough.
753
00:35:55.300 --> 00:35:59.340
And I was like, wow. Like, just blown away.
754
00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:01.909
Then what really happens in the showbiz cycle is then
755
00:36:02.070 --> 00:36:03.030
nothing becomes enough.
756
00:36:05.250 --> 00:36:05.650
What?
757
00:36:05.769 --> 00:36:09.570
You call this first class?
758
00:36:11.150 --> 00:36:15.659
I can't lie down completely. It is, there is a
759
00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:19.579
sick thing. I've witnessed. God bless, and it's never happened
760
00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:29.059
to me. More tea, please.
761
00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:33.530
And then later you get to, you play Shirley Chisholm,
762
00:36:33.800 --> 00:36:36.630
just this great historic character, and you get an Emmy
763
00:36:36.650 --> 00:36:37.690
for that as well.
764
00:36:38.110 --> 00:36:38.730
Wild.
765
00:36:38.929 --> 00:36:42.070
And it's just, and like I say, it's, when it
766
00:36:42.150 --> 00:36:44.590
starts to rain, it really pours. I mean, to me,
767
00:36:44.650 --> 00:36:46.739
because so much of this book is about your mom
768
00:36:46.780 --> 00:36:48.739
and getting strength from your mom and perspective from your
769
00:36:48.780 --> 00:36:53.739
mom and reading your mom's journals and going back and
770
00:36:53.820 --> 00:36:57.219
reading after she passed her journals. And there's a part
771
00:36:57.239 --> 00:37:00.889
where you're reading her journal and she's writing in her journal.
772
00:37:00.929 --> 00:37:02.530
You didn't know this at the time, but man, I'm
773
00:37:02.570 --> 00:37:05.329
really worried about who's so, I.
774
00:37:05.289 --> 00:37:08.130
Don't know that she's going to make it. And she would,
775
00:37:08.269 --> 00:37:10.269
you know, leave food, put food in your refrigerator?
776
00:37:10.309 --> 00:37:13.239
Yeah. Like, she, after I moved, you know, I'm reading these,
777
00:37:13.610 --> 00:37:16.000
true story, like, reading these journals, and it's like, she's
778
00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:20.119
in there just, like, constantly, you know, like, this path
779
00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:22.800
that I've chosen, she's, like, praying. The thing I think
780
00:37:22.820 --> 00:37:24.880
is she's prayed every night. Like, she's like, I pray
781
00:37:25.119 --> 00:37:27.840
every night. And in your journal, it's like, that Uzo, Uzo,
782
00:37:28.179 --> 00:37:31.239
I'm worried about Uzo. She never calls me unless she
783
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:33.900
needs money. She called today, and I gave her what
784
00:37:33.920 --> 00:37:35.659
I had, you know, and it's like, she's stressed out.
785
00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:38.019
She would come up the first time she came. when
786
00:37:38.039 --> 00:37:40.110
I moved to New York, and I didn't have anything.
787
00:37:40.159 --> 00:37:41.989
I was waiting tables. I didn't have anything in my fridge.
788
00:37:42.630 --> 00:37:44.809
And she was like, where is your food?
789
00:37:44.929 --> 00:37:48.309
And I was like, you know, I just eat at work.
790
00:37:48.369 --> 00:37:48.989
It's fine.
791
00:37:49.050 --> 00:37:51.170
You know, like they give a pre-meal. I don't know
792
00:37:51.190 --> 00:37:53.309
if any of you guys waited tables, you know, like pre-meal.
793
00:37:53.329 --> 00:37:55.269
They give you pre-meal there. I was like, they give
794
00:37:55.289 --> 00:37:57.190
me pre-meal there. And so I eat that. And, you know,
795
00:37:57.210 --> 00:37:59.289
in the morning, I just have like a little oatmeal
796
00:37:59.309 --> 00:38:01.429
or like some couple of hard-boiled eggs.
797
00:38:01.489 --> 00:38:01.949
It's fine.
798
00:38:01.989 --> 00:38:06.010
And Right before she's leaving, she took me to the
799
00:38:06.090 --> 00:38:08.389
Stop and Shop. So I was in Queens. She took
800
00:38:08.409 --> 00:38:11.570
me to the Stop and Shop over there in Sunnyside,
801
00:38:11.610 --> 00:38:13.710
a store on the Astoria line, which is a big
802
00:38:13.769 --> 00:38:17.349
grocery store. And she was like, get whatever you want.
803
00:38:17.409 --> 00:38:19.280
And I was like, no, I'm fine. And she's like,
804
00:38:19.599 --> 00:38:22.719
whatever you want. And she like would come and either
805
00:38:22.820 --> 00:38:26.659
bring food from home or like help me stock up
806
00:38:26.699 --> 00:38:29.460
my fridge because she was like, I can't do much,
807
00:38:29.519 --> 00:38:32.670
but I can do this, you know, and. would just like,
808
00:38:33.409 --> 00:38:36.320
you know, contribute in that way. And I'm forever grateful.
809
00:38:36.340 --> 00:38:37.989
My mom was an amazing lady. I just need to
810
00:38:38.030 --> 00:38:39.539
go on record as having said that she was not
811
00:38:39.559 --> 00:38:41.039
a good mother. She was an excellent mother.
812
00:38:41.420 --> 00:38:44.079
Well, I mean, that's such a big part of this book,
813
00:38:44.659 --> 00:38:48.039
talking about that. You said your mom was very, not
814
00:38:48.059 --> 00:38:50.760
a tall woman. She's like five feet tall.
815
00:38:50.920 --> 00:38:53.380
Yeah. But she seemed really tall to you. Huge.
816
00:38:53.420 --> 00:38:56.329
She was a giant to me. My whole life. In
817
00:38:56.369 --> 00:38:59.699
my child memory, and probably because I'm, like, two feet,
818
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:02.860
but I'm, like, looking up.
819
00:39:02.739 --> 00:39:03.699
At her, you know what I mean?
820
00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:06.619
Like, and I don't think it was until well, well,
821
00:39:06.739 --> 00:39:10.260
well adulthood that I realized it was, like, yours. Like,
822
00:39:10.679 --> 00:39:13.039
not only are you not tall, you're actually short.
823
00:39:13.059 --> 00:39:15.320
Like, you know, like, you're small.
824
00:39:16.460 --> 00:39:20.860
She was wearing incredibly, like, high platform. She got these
825
00:39:20.949 --> 00:39:24.630
Elton John shoes. That's right. At the Elton John estate sale.
826
00:39:24.650 --> 00:39:26.369
That's right. That's right.
827
00:39:27.110 --> 00:39:29.750
She wore them to intimidate. Took them off when we
828
00:39:29.769 --> 00:39:31.869
were old. you know, like she, yeah, she was that.
829
00:39:31.949 --> 00:39:34.920
And like, but she was like spunky and.
830
00:39:34.840 --> 00:39:37.139
Like had such a big personality.
831
00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.659
And like, you know, I was trying to be, I'm
832
00:39:40.699 --> 00:39:43.460
the big, big personality too in my house. And like,
833
00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:44.420
you know, would.
834
00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:46.340
Talk and, be like, no, we need to do it
835
00:39:46.380 --> 00:39:46.699
this way.
836
00:39:46.780 --> 00:39:50.199
My mom's like number one comment to me all the
837
00:39:50.239 --> 00:39:53.800
time was, Uzo, there's only one captain on this ship.
838
00:39:56.179 --> 00:39:56.980
And you're looking at.
839
00:40:00.340 --> 00:40:00.639
Her.
840
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:02.460
Her go-to line.
841
00:40:02.860 --> 00:40:06.110
What's interesting is you talk about so much, people always
842
00:40:06.130 --> 00:40:10.809
think they need to change or mold themselves to make it.
843
00:40:11.510 --> 00:40:16.050
When sometimes, for example, you know, like the way that
844
00:40:16.090 --> 00:40:18.530
you said, I was interested in, you were interested in
845
00:40:18.550 --> 00:40:21.559
changing your name when you were younger, you were interested
846
00:40:21.579 --> 00:40:23.900
or you had people tell you early on in acting,
847
00:40:24.219 --> 00:40:26.860
you've got this gap in your teeth, you should probably
848
00:40:27.300 --> 00:40:28.260
do something about that.
849
00:40:29.500 --> 00:40:30.840
And there are.
850
00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:33.489
A lot of people who go through these cosmetic changes
851
00:40:34.150 --> 00:40:37.369
to try and fit into something that someone else thinks
852
00:40:37.409 --> 00:40:40.670
they should fit into. But now that whole idea just
853
00:40:40.690 --> 00:40:41.329
seems crazy.
854
00:40:42.489 --> 00:40:46.630
It does, and I can't imagine If I had done that,
855
00:40:46.989 --> 00:40:49.329
you know, frankly, for me, you know, there were so
856
00:40:49.349 --> 00:40:51.110
many pictures of me when I look at myself as
857
00:40:51.150 --> 00:40:53.650
a small kid. I just did not smile because I
858
00:40:53.690 --> 00:40:56.070
was so conscious of my gap. I'd do this, like,
859
00:40:56.550 --> 00:40:59.409
you know, closed mouth smile. My mom would always be like, smile, smile, smile.
860
00:41:00.110 --> 00:41:03.090
And then my senior year, I had a photographer for
861
00:41:03.130 --> 00:41:06.989
my senior yearbook portrait. You know, you get your senior pictures.
862
00:41:07.030 --> 00:41:08.210
It's like the fancy one.
863
00:41:08.230 --> 00:41:08.309
Yeah.
864
00:41:08.369 --> 00:41:08.440
Yep.
865
00:41:09.679 --> 00:41:09.900
Right.
866
00:41:09.940 --> 00:41:12.800
So we had like the outside guy come and like
867
00:41:13.440 --> 00:41:17.619
do the like yearbook picture. And, you know, like every
868
00:41:17.659 --> 00:41:20.590
time we'd be talking, I'd be smiling. And then as
869
00:41:20.659 --> 00:41:22.230
soon as he picked up the camera to shoot, I'd
870
00:41:22.250 --> 00:41:24.610
close my mouth and not smile. And he's like, why
871
00:41:24.650 --> 00:41:27.070
do you keep doing that? You know, what's that about?
872
00:41:27.090 --> 00:41:29.570
And I was like, um, I don't like my smile.
873
00:41:29.630 --> 00:41:31.710
And he was like, really? I think you have a
874
00:41:31.730 --> 00:41:32.489
beautiful smile.
875
00:41:33.469 --> 00:41:33.869
And, um.
876
00:41:34.260 --> 00:41:38.469
I didn't smile in that picture, but I did immediately
877
00:41:38.909 --> 00:41:43.090
the rest of that school year start smiling. And even
878
00:41:43.130 --> 00:41:46.150
now when I walk on carpets and I'm supposed to give,
879
00:41:46.190 --> 00:41:49.110
you know, like face or whatever, I find myself wanting
880
00:41:49.130 --> 00:41:50.869
to smile and it's because I want to like make
881
00:41:50.989 --> 00:41:54.909
up for these lost smiles, you know? And I feel
882
00:41:54.929 --> 00:41:58.809
like it's such an identifier for who I am. And,
883
00:41:58.829 --> 00:42:01.030
you know, like if I change that, you know, like
884
00:42:01.090 --> 00:42:05.329
that's so much of my ancestry in this, space between
885
00:42:05.369 --> 00:42:08.190
my teeth it's who i am it's the it's the
886
00:42:08.250 --> 00:42:10.889
smile my aunt has it's the smile my great aunt
887
00:42:10.949 --> 00:42:13.260
had you know it's it's a smile so many of
888
00:42:13.280 --> 00:42:15.679
my cousins have we call it my mother's maiden name
889
00:42:17.000 --> 00:42:18.940
you know and i would have taken a piece of
890
00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:23.059
myself away yeah you know um and now i just
891
00:42:23.139 --> 00:42:26.420
wear it proudly and when asked to take it out
892
00:42:27.260 --> 00:42:28.820
um in the beginning of my career i had a
893
00:42:28.980 --> 00:42:32.530
choice and There was an early part of my life
894
00:42:32.570 --> 00:42:37.489
when I wanted to really fit in and thought taking
895
00:42:37.550 --> 00:42:40.349
away the parts of me that made me unique would
896
00:42:40.389 --> 00:42:40.949
make me better.
897
00:42:40.969 --> 00:42:41.039
Yep.
898
00:42:42.110 --> 00:42:44.230
And at this stage of my life, when I was
899
00:42:44.610 --> 00:42:47.340
approached with this idea of closing my gap, I really
900
00:42:47.380 --> 00:42:50.659
understood that the parts of myself that made me unique
901
00:42:51.159 --> 00:42:52.820
are actually what make me better.
902
00:42:53.099 --> 00:42:54.119
Yeah. Yeah.
903
00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:56.639
And it's just, it takes a little bit of living
904
00:42:56.679 --> 00:42:59.380
to figure that out, especially when you're, um, I.
905
00:42:59.340 --> 00:43:00.829
Had this experience where.
906
00:43:01.579 --> 00:43:05.059
Mike Wallace, the great, you know, like journalist and host
907
00:43:05.139 --> 00:43:07.559
of 60, kind of the, one of the lead hosts
908
00:43:07.599 --> 00:43:11.119
of 60 minutes. He was on our show once. And, um,
909
00:43:11.579 --> 00:43:14.010
there's been much commented on. I'm not just white. I
910
00:43:14.050 --> 00:43:14.889
am translucent.
911
00:43:18.110 --> 00:43:22.090
I go beyond white. Uh, I'm a whole other thing.
912
00:43:22.909 --> 00:43:24.889
And, uh, a side effect of one of that is
913
00:43:24.909 --> 00:43:28.329
that I have this, uh, vein underneath my eye that
914
00:43:28.349 --> 00:43:32.780
you can kind of see. And, um, I remember I
915
00:43:32.800 --> 00:43:37.380
was talking to the great Mike Wallace, and we're having
916
00:43:37.400 --> 00:43:39.539
this interview. And then I said, okay, well, we'll take
917
00:43:39.579 --> 00:43:41.860
a break. We have more with Mike Wallace right after this.
918
00:43:42.409 --> 00:43:48.389
And Mike Wallace just takes his finger, and he reaches over,
919
00:43:48.409 --> 00:43:50.809
and he puts it on the vein underneath my eye.
920
00:43:50.829 --> 00:43:53.489
And he said, what are you going to do about that?
921
00:43:53.510 --> 00:44:00.079
See that? And the thing is, he wasn't being mean. Yes,
922
00:44:00.099 --> 00:44:00.480
he was.
923
00:44:01.940 --> 00:44:02.760
Well, no.
924
00:44:03.030 --> 00:44:04.829
I have a lot of respect for Mike Wallace, and
925
00:44:05.150 --> 00:44:07.190
he was very nice to me. What he was kind
926
00:44:07.210 --> 00:44:09.309
of doing was just saying, like, as a guy who'd
927
00:44:09.329 --> 00:44:14.010
been in broadcasting since the 1940s or 50s, he was
928
00:44:14.050 --> 00:44:16.349
kind of just saying, oh, yeah, that's something you're going to,
929
00:44:16.389 --> 00:44:19.269
you know, you're... Because I was early in my career,
930
00:44:19.309 --> 00:44:22.590
he was probably saying, like, oh, yeah, so what's... What
931
00:44:22.639 --> 00:44:24.019
do we do about that? Is there a kind of
932
00:44:24.059 --> 00:44:26.059
makeup you can put on or something? Or can you
933
00:44:26.619 --> 00:44:28.900
get rid of it? And I thought, well, I think
934
00:44:28.940 --> 00:44:33.239
it's supplying blood to my brain. So I could just
935
00:44:33.280 --> 00:44:35.079
see going to a surgeon and having it removed.
936
00:44:35.119 --> 00:44:38.099
And I'm just like, welcome to.
937
00:44:38.179 --> 00:44:42.199
Whole section of the speaking part of my occipital lobe
938
00:44:42.260 --> 00:44:42.949
is gone.
939
00:44:44.119 --> 00:44:46.949
But man, his eyes look good.
940
00:44:47.170 --> 00:44:49.809
But yeah, I just remember thinking, there are all these
941
00:44:49.849 --> 00:44:50.769
things about me.
942
00:44:51.650 --> 00:44:52.010
I was.
943
00:44:53.039 --> 00:44:56.179
I had a weird name growing up and looked a
944
00:44:56.219 --> 00:45:01.469
little different and wasn't sure where I fit in. I'm
945
00:45:01.489 --> 00:45:05.190
like an Irish Catholic kid, but I don't really like sports.
946
00:45:05.550 --> 00:45:09.349
And I like to read and I have a weird brain.
947
00:45:09.409 --> 00:45:11.610
And I remember just thinking like, I don't know where
948
00:45:11.630 --> 00:45:14.409
I fit into the whole thing. But then later on,
949
00:45:14.489 --> 00:45:17.460
those things become, oh, thank God. I mean, I'd still
950
00:45:17.500 --> 00:45:19.179
like to fix the vein, but.
951
00:45:19.659 --> 00:45:22.889
What are you going to do about that? I'm having
952
00:45:22.929 --> 00:45:23.650
it removed tomorrow.
953
00:45:23.690 --> 00:45:26.750
But I know it's interesting that there are many different
954
00:45:26.869 --> 00:45:29.469
forms that can take for lots of different people who
955
00:45:29.530 --> 00:45:32.469
are listening that if you can ride.
956
00:45:32.210 --> 00:45:33.090
It out, those things.
957
00:45:33.110 --> 00:45:38.579
And I think, unfortunately, you know, social media and also
958
00:45:39.400 --> 00:45:43.380
the rise of all these different cosmetic surgeries or injections
959
00:45:43.420 --> 00:45:46.750
people can get has... I see so many people that
960
00:45:46.789 --> 00:45:51.340
have clearly injected their lips, injected their faces, done things,
961
00:45:51.920 --> 00:45:53.940
and they just look like everybody else now.
962
00:45:54.719 --> 00:45:55.900
And I think, well, that's too bad.
963
00:45:57.400 --> 00:46:03.300
I love character. I really do. I love those little touches,
964
00:46:03.389 --> 00:46:08.389
whether it's in the face, in the hair, in the mouth, whatever,
965
00:46:08.409 --> 00:46:13.760
that just makes you look in a different way. And
966
00:46:13.800 --> 00:46:16.409
I actually think those things make you more interesting.
967
00:46:16.570 --> 00:46:16.949
Oh, yeah.
968
00:46:17.050 --> 00:46:20.889
In a beautiful way, you know, personally. That's my thoughts
969
00:46:20.989 --> 00:46:21.530
on it.
970
00:46:22.050 --> 00:46:26.230
Well, I disagree. I think you're out of your mind.
971
00:46:27.469 --> 00:46:30.019
In the book, you mentioned that as you, you.
972
00:46:29.940 --> 00:46:32.420
Know, as the years go by, you think more and
973
00:46:32.460 --> 00:46:36.280
more about maybe, would you visit or would you maybe
974
00:46:36.400 --> 00:46:38.570
move back to Nigeria?
975
00:46:38.590 --> 00:46:38.699
Yeah.
976
00:46:39.659 --> 00:46:40.039
Yeah.
977
00:46:40.219 --> 00:46:42.019
When I say move back to, I mean, you're not, you're,
978
00:46:42.159 --> 00:46:46.030
you're born here, but you think about maybe going back
979
00:46:46.070 --> 00:46:47.989
to that country for a while.
980
00:46:48.889 --> 00:46:52.050
I do think about that. Like repatriate there. Yeah, I
981
00:46:52.090 --> 00:46:53.150
do think I do.
982
00:46:53.170 --> 00:46:53.889
I do.
983
00:46:53.909 --> 00:46:58.119
I really do. Um, um, I do. And, and, and
984
00:46:58.300 --> 00:46:59.679
it was something I used to sort of say.
985
00:46:59.539 --> 00:47:04.079
Like back here behind the back of my head, you know, abstractly, um, um,
986
00:47:04.880 --> 00:47:06.820
that I wanted to do for, you know, like with
987
00:47:06.860 --> 00:47:10.800
my kids, you know, when I have them and now
988
00:47:10.860 --> 00:47:13.119
that my daughter is here, I do think about that
989
00:47:13.159 --> 00:47:17.199
because I think about the line of connection for me
990
00:47:17.340 --> 00:47:21.590
to the country was direct from my parents and who
991
00:47:21.699 --> 00:47:24.070
lived there their whole lives and then immigrated to the U.S.
992
00:47:24.289 --> 00:47:27.329
And then when I think about her, for just a
993
00:47:27.409 --> 00:47:29.530
section of time, I would like to because it's like
994
00:47:29.610 --> 00:47:34.269
she's now once more removed, you know, and I want her.
995
00:47:34.130 --> 00:47:35.250
To be steeped.
996
00:47:35.369 --> 00:47:37.369
I just, it's more about, like, I don't want to,
997
00:47:38.170 --> 00:47:41.800
I don't want to lose the culture for her, but
998
00:47:41.860 --> 00:47:44.780
then I also don't want to lose it for me. Like,
999
00:47:45.340 --> 00:47:48.280
and I think especially now that both my parents are gone,
1000
00:47:48.900 --> 00:47:51.340
it's a way, like, almost like a socket of, like,
1001
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:54.909
plugging in for a little bit and getting a charge
1002
00:47:55.409 --> 00:47:57.449
that maybe will be enough to last me the rest
1003
00:47:57.510 --> 00:48:00.889
of my life. But I also do know in having
1004
00:48:01.929 --> 00:48:04.260
something that I'm learning right now in real time, especially
1005
00:48:04.300 --> 00:48:10.539
with motherhood, is that they're with me still. Like, my mom,
1006
00:48:10.559 --> 00:48:14.559
I was so nervous, you know, when I was pregnant.
1007
00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:17.300
There were times where I was wondering, you know, how
1008
00:48:17.320 --> 00:48:18.500
am I going to do this? Like, am I going
1009
00:48:18.519 --> 00:48:20.570
to know what to do? My mom's not here. Like,
1010
00:48:20.780 --> 00:48:23.289
who's going to show me how to do this? And
1011
00:48:23.329 --> 00:48:26.170
the reality is that I've come to learn is that
1012
00:48:26.469 --> 00:48:32.590
she soaked me in who she is and put so
1013
00:48:32.730 --> 00:48:35.920
deeply into each of us, my siblings and I, so
1014
00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:40.920
much of her belief system, her values, foundation, how to mother,
1015
00:48:41.480 --> 00:48:45.460
that a lot of it does come out, even if
1016
00:48:45.500 --> 00:48:49.179
she's not here. So yes, I want to go back.
1017
00:48:49.199 --> 00:48:51.300
This is like a super long answer, but it's like, yes,
1018
00:48:51.360 --> 00:48:54.130
I want to go back. But if I don't, I
1019
00:48:54.190 --> 00:49:00.730
also do simultaneously know that I'm like soaked in it still,
1020
00:49:01.349 --> 00:49:01.650
you know?
1021
00:49:02.010 --> 00:49:02.179
Yeah.
1022
00:49:02.679 --> 00:49:05.409
I had a experience not too long ago where I
1023
00:49:05.449 --> 00:49:07.909
was shooting this travel show for Max and we went
1024
00:49:07.949 --> 00:49:11.010
back to Ireland and my brother, through the help of
1025
00:49:11.070 --> 00:49:15.730
my brother Justin, and we also used this really good
1026
00:49:16.909 --> 00:49:21.429
genealogist in Ireland. And between the two of them, they
1027
00:49:21.469 --> 00:49:26.900
figured out exactly where my town was that my great-grandfather
1028
00:49:27.219 --> 00:49:32.280
came from. And I was thinking, you know, I'm not
1029
00:49:32.300 --> 00:49:34.900
going to feel, you know, much. We're going to go
1030
00:49:34.920 --> 00:49:36.880
and we're going to see a field where, you know,
1031
00:49:36.900 --> 00:49:40.710
and my people... you know, had no money and they
1032
00:49:40.730 --> 00:49:43.829
were tenant farmers and they, they worked on this tenant
1033
00:49:43.909 --> 00:49:47.869
farm in Galbally. And so I was just not expecting
1034
00:49:47.969 --> 00:49:51.050
to feel anything. And I've been to Ireland a bunch
1035
00:49:51.070 --> 00:49:52.369
of times, but I thought, okay, I'm just going to
1036
00:49:52.429 --> 00:49:54.170
see a piece of land that I don't really have
1037
00:49:54.230 --> 00:49:56.570
any connection to. And I, they took me there and
1038
00:49:56.590 --> 00:50:00.869
we have it on camera, but I, I was blown
1039
00:50:00.909 --> 00:50:03.789
away by how powerful it was to stand and.
1040
00:50:04.710 --> 00:50:06.349
Think, oh, they were here.
1041
00:50:06.550 --> 00:50:12.940
And then in one day, this, uh, this Thomas O'Brien,
1042
00:50:13.159 --> 00:50:15.059
I think, just looked out and said.
1043
00:50:15.079 --> 00:50:16.000
We got to get out of here.
1044
00:50:16.800 --> 00:50:18.659
And like an idiot, I was looking at the gorgeous
1045
00:50:18.719 --> 00:50:21.360
mountains and everything saying, why did they leave? And this
1046
00:50:21.400 --> 00:50:23.059
woman said, you can't eat the view.
1047
00:50:24.260 --> 00:50:26.260
They didn't have any food. They had to go.
1048
00:50:27.449 --> 00:50:30.869
And so he just struck out. And so that's the reason.
1049
00:50:30.909 --> 00:50:36.269
And now I'm back and I've got a camera crew, drones,
1050
00:50:36.869 --> 00:50:40.389
producers standing around. I flew here on a, you know,
1051
00:50:41.130 --> 00:50:43.710
it's insane that I'm coming back in this way.
1052
00:50:43.869 --> 00:50:44.880
Yes.
1053
00:50:45.159 --> 00:50:50.480
And I was surprised because I'm, I was, the sentimentality
1054
00:50:50.539 --> 00:50:51.719
of it and the power of it.
1055
00:50:53.159 --> 00:50:55.300
Was a bit of a shock to me. I didn't
1056
00:50:55.320 --> 00:50:57.920
think that was going to happen. And it does, so.
1057
00:50:58.440 --> 00:50:59.320
See, and I believe that.
1058
00:50:59.460 --> 00:51:01.260
And I think you're going to feel that way when
1059
00:51:01.280 --> 00:51:04.579
you come with me to Ireland and.
1060
00:51:04.500 --> 00:51:05.519
Look at that piece of dirt.
1061
00:51:05.539 --> 00:51:05.699
Okay.
1062
00:51:05.739 --> 00:51:08.179
It's going to be very powerful for you.
1063
00:51:08.300 --> 00:51:09.659
Almost like the African summit.
1064
00:51:13.199 --> 00:51:16.539
I love a special where I take Uzo to my
1065
00:51:16.619 --> 00:51:19.420
town in Ireland and try and, like a lot of probing, like,
1066
00:51:19.460 --> 00:51:20.159
how do you feel?
1067
00:51:20.219 --> 00:51:21.039
Is it hitting you?
1068
00:51:21.099 --> 00:51:21.659
Yeah.
1069
00:51:21.760 --> 00:51:21.980
No!
1070
00:51:23.599 --> 00:51:28.769
I mean, it's a feel, but no, this isn't Nigeria. Yeah,
1071
00:51:28.789 --> 00:51:29.809
but isn't it kind of the same?
1072
00:51:29.889 --> 00:51:30.349
No!
1073
00:51:32.010 --> 00:51:35.210
Not at all. Couldn't you just eat the view? Wouldn't
1074
00:51:35.230 --> 00:51:38.809
your mom be proud that you came back to Galbally, Ireland?
1075
00:51:40.510 --> 00:51:40.969
No!
1076
00:51:43.059 --> 00:51:44.340
Who is this idiot, Conan?
1077
00:51:44.400 --> 00:51:44.579
No.
1078
00:51:44.739 --> 00:51:49.659
Galbally. Yeah.
1079
00:51:49.860 --> 00:51:52.960
Well, I'm, first of all, blown away that You wrote
1080
00:51:53.000 --> 00:51:58.039
this beautiful book and shared because it's a gift to people.
1081
00:51:58.559 --> 00:52:02.239
There are a lot of people out there who don't understand.
1082
00:52:02.280 --> 00:52:06.329
They look at what you've accomplished and they think, well,
1083
00:52:06.889 --> 00:52:10.869
she caught her break or they don't see the whole arc.
1084
00:52:11.269 --> 00:52:13.329
And I think it's really a big part of this
1085
00:52:13.369 --> 00:52:17.349
podcast is I want people to understand how much all
1086
00:52:17.369 --> 00:52:21.019
of us have in common and that it's just, there's
1087
00:52:21.039 --> 00:52:25.460
a lot of insecurity, a lot of frustration. There's a
1088
00:52:25.480 --> 00:52:29.340
lot of ups. There's a lot of downs. And your
1089
00:52:29.440 --> 00:52:32.570
book chronicles so much of that. And I think it's
1090
00:52:32.590 --> 00:52:35.150
going to be a tonic for a lot of people
1091
00:52:35.590 --> 00:52:37.769
out there. So good for you.
1092
00:52:38.269 --> 00:52:40.429
Thank you very much. Thank you very much for that.
1093
00:52:41.150 --> 00:52:42.670
Thank you for having me today, too.
1094
00:52:42.989 --> 00:52:45.269
Well, I just thought I'd probably get a free book.
1095
00:52:45.989 --> 00:52:47.550
That's why you did this?
1096
00:52:47.570 --> 00:52:49.309
That's the only reason I.
1097
00:52:51.110 --> 00:52:51.349
Did it.
1098
00:52:51.349 --> 00:52:53.190
I only book people if they're gonna bring me free,
1099
00:52:53.269 --> 00:52:56.190
you took your watch off. I could take that watch.
1100
00:52:57.070 --> 00:52:59.300
She gave us books. What's that? She gave Sona and
1101
00:52:59.380 --> 00:53:02.920
I free books. Yeah, we have books. Yeah. Plus beautiful
1102
00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:04.219
jewelry and watches.
1103
00:53:04.239 --> 00:53:08.239
So much jewelry. Free trips to places. We're going to
1104
00:53:08.260 --> 00:53:09.269
Nigeria with you.
1105
00:53:09.349 --> 00:53:11.349
Yeah, exactly. You're going from here to visit the Obamas.
1106
00:53:11.369 --> 00:53:12.090
Don't tell Conan.
1107
00:53:12.809 --> 00:53:14.690
Actually, the three of us are going to Ireland without you.
1108
00:53:15.469 --> 00:53:16.230
We're going to Kabul.
1109
00:53:16.250 --> 00:53:19.659
They're going to Hawaii to visit the Obamas. The Obamas just...
1110
00:53:19.860 --> 00:53:22.420
But Kona's not coming, right? No, he's not coming. Okay, fine.
1111
00:53:23.780 --> 00:53:26.380
Um, well, Uzo, thank you so much for being here.
1112
00:53:26.400 --> 00:53:29.869
The book is The Road is Good and, uh, it's
1113
00:53:30.110 --> 00:53:33.269
fantastic and it's out in just a few days and
1114
00:53:33.289 --> 00:53:37.190
do yourself a favor and, uh, and grab it because, um,
1115
00:53:37.880 --> 00:53:40.440
It's a terrific story, and.
1116
00:53:41.840 --> 00:53:44.340
It made me feel really good reading it. And thanks
1117
00:53:44.360 --> 00:53:44.900
for being here.
1118
00:53:45.079 --> 00:53:45.519
Thank you.
1119
00:53:45.559 --> 00:53:46.179
This was awesome.
1120
00:53:46.280 --> 00:53:48.760
It's only awesome when an awesome person comes. That's true.
1121
00:53:48.940 --> 00:53:49.420
It is true.
1122
00:53:49.539 --> 00:53:49.960
Thank you.
1123
00:53:50.460 --> 00:53:53.219
I can't take non-awesome and get it to awesome.
1124
00:53:53.280 --> 00:53:53.599
I just can't.
1125
00:53:53.699 --> 00:53:56.909
I can't. I don't have that power. I do not
1126
00:53:56.969 --> 00:53:57.670
have that power.
1127
00:54:09.630 --> 00:54:11.190
Good nights are about the people.
1128
00:54:12.030 --> 00:54:12.489
The laughs.
1129
00:54:13.010 --> 00:54:15.769
The real moments you don't want to miss. So why
1130
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1131
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1136
00:54:33.909 --> 00:54:34.710
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1137
00:54:37.139 --> 00:54:39.119
You can find the Irish language at the bottom of
1138
00:54:39.159 --> 00:54:40.639
the page where you can find a list of all
1139
00:54:40.699 --> 00:54:42.960
the information you need to know about the DART and
1140
00:54:42.980 --> 00:54:45.920
the committee you want to work with. You can also
1141
00:54:45.960 --> 00:54:48.530
find a list of all the information you need to
1142
00:54:48.590 --> 00:54:50.269
know about the DART and the committee you want to
1143
00:54:50.289 --> 00:54:52.550
work with. You can also find a list of all
1144
00:54:52.570 --> 00:54:54.630
the information you need to know about the DART and
1145
00:54:54.650 --> 00:54:56.570
the committee you want to work with. You can also
1146
00:54:56.590 --> 00:54:58.989
find a list of all the information you need to
1147
00:54:59.010 --> 00:55:00.929
know about the DART and the committee you want to
1148
00:55:00.949 --> 00:55:02.710
work with. You can also find a list of all
1149
00:55:02.730 --> 00:55:04.030
the information you need to know about the DART and
1150
00:55:04.050 --> 00:55:04.840
the committee you want to work with.
1151
00:55:06.500 --> 00:55:09.519
Every month at AIB, we help hundreds of house hunters
1152
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1154
00:55:17.199 --> 00:55:21.559
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1155
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1156
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1157
00:55:29.780 --> 00:55:32.969
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1158
00:55:33.010 --> 00:55:35.570
and AIB Mortgage Bank UC are regulated by the Central
1159
00:55:35.610 --> 00:55:36.230
Bank of Ireland.
1160
00:55:42.190 --> 00:55:44.469
Okay, it's time to do a segment here on the podcast.
1161
00:55:45.380 --> 00:55:47.639
Do you know what a segment is?
1162
00:55:47.820 --> 00:55:49.639
Usually we have an idea of what it's going to be.
1163
00:55:49.699 --> 00:55:53.559
It's like, oh, let's review the reviewers or, you know. Yeah,
1164
00:55:53.960 --> 00:55:59.019
one of your little trickaroos, one of your, some category,
1165
00:55:59.059 --> 00:56:01.519
if you will. But today we really don't have an idea.
1166
00:56:01.880 --> 00:56:04.460
There was nothing loaded up. And so Sona had the idea,
1167
00:56:04.480 --> 00:56:05.079
let's just do.
1168
00:56:04.960 --> 00:56:10.309
Some verbal jazz. Let's just start riffing, talking. And the
1169
00:56:10.809 --> 00:56:15.610
three of us, because we're such great verbal tacticians, musicians,
1170
00:56:16.090 --> 00:56:19.349
we'll find it just in the groove. So this is
1171
00:56:19.489 --> 00:56:23.190
verbal jazz with Conan, Sona, and Matt. And we're just
1172
00:56:23.210 --> 00:56:28.730
going to start talking about things. And we're going to
1173
00:56:28.769 --> 00:56:29.170
find it.
1174
00:56:29.170 --> 00:56:30.730
And we're going to find a great rhythm. And people
1175
00:56:30.750 --> 00:56:32.849
are going to say, hey, I love that. These guys
1176
00:56:32.889 --> 00:56:33.489
can take.
1177
00:56:33.690 --> 00:56:39.449
Empty air and turn it into atonal jazz. As you
1178
00:56:39.469 --> 00:56:43.690
can tell, I don't love jazz. But we're just talking here.
1179
00:56:43.710 --> 00:56:45.429
We're just talking about what's going on in our lives. Sona,
1180
00:56:45.449 --> 00:56:45.909
how are you?
1181
00:56:46.150 --> 00:56:47.250
Yeah, I'm cool, man.
1182
00:56:47.289 --> 00:56:49.679
You wearing the same old corduroy shirt you wear all
1183
00:56:49.699 --> 00:56:52.300
the time? Well, it's denim. Close to corduroy.
1184
00:56:52.320 --> 00:56:54.260
Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about.
1185
00:56:54.280 --> 00:56:56.760
I just said something. It's verbal jazz.
1186
00:56:56.820 --> 00:56:58.679
It's chilly in this studio.
1187
00:56:58.699 --> 00:57:01.260
Very cold. It's very hot outside. It's hot as balls outside.
1188
00:57:01.320 --> 00:57:03.280
But I think they overdid it on the air conditioning
1189
00:57:03.320 --> 00:57:04.019
in here. I disagree.
1190
00:57:04.039 --> 00:57:06.869
It's so hot that I'm still burning from having been
1191
00:57:06.909 --> 00:57:07.829
out there an hour ago.
1192
00:57:07.949 --> 00:57:09.329
It's so nice and cool in here.
1193
00:57:09.389 --> 00:57:11.309
Well, it's really hot where you live, I have to say,
1194
00:57:11.329 --> 00:57:11.889
in Pasadena.
1195
00:57:11.909 --> 00:57:12.070
Yeah.
1196
00:57:12.780 --> 00:57:15.239
And you, of course, you live in Altadena, and you're
1197
00:57:15.260 --> 00:57:17.079
at a higher altitude. It might be a little cooler
1198
00:57:17.099 --> 00:57:18.940
for you, but Pasadena, ooh, that's.
1199
00:57:18.800 --> 00:57:19.840
A frying pan.
1200
00:57:19.860 --> 00:57:20.559
Are you not kidding?
1201
00:57:20.820 --> 00:57:21.440
No, I'm not kidding.
1202
00:57:21.460 --> 00:57:24.260
This isn't a joke. This is just verbal jazz. We're serious.
1203
00:57:24.699 --> 00:57:27.849
We're just... Really hot out there.
1204
00:57:27.989 --> 00:57:30.510
If you cracked an egg on the sidewalk right now,
1205
00:57:30.550 --> 00:57:31.690
it would scream.
1206
00:57:33.530 --> 00:57:36.349
Oh, that's it. I see what you did. That's an egg? Yeah,
1207
00:57:36.369 --> 00:57:37.170
it was verbal jazz.
1208
00:57:37.570 --> 00:57:38.389
Fizzling.
1209
00:57:38.630 --> 00:57:40.769
Okay. Yeah. How come you didn't get it?
1210
00:57:40.769 --> 00:57:41.449
I don't know.
1211
00:57:41.489 --> 00:57:42.909
I did. What's this?
1212
00:57:44.110 --> 00:57:46.239
The bass.
1213
00:57:46.460 --> 00:57:50.239
Here, I'll do a transition from Seinfeld.
1214
00:57:50.940 --> 00:57:57.820
Who are these people?
1215
00:57:57.980 --> 00:57:58.920
This is terrible.
1216
00:57:59.000 --> 00:58:01.679
I was going to say, we're doing so well so far.
1217
00:58:01.699 --> 00:58:04.880
Can I say something? I think the minute I misidentified,
1218
00:58:05.079 --> 00:58:07.019
misgendered your shirt and said.
1219
00:58:07.590 --> 00:58:11.570
Which is male? I said corduroy instead of denim. And
1220
00:58:12.010 --> 00:58:14.789
they're just, I don't know my cheap materials that well.
1221
00:58:14.849 --> 00:58:18.070
Wow. And so, you know, I know all my silks.
1222
00:58:18.110 --> 00:58:20.159
In a threadbare t-shirt. Oh, please.
1223
00:58:20.179 --> 00:58:21.840
I know, wear your cotton shirt.
1224
00:58:21.920 --> 00:58:24.820
This isn't a t-shirt. I just painted my bare chest.
1225
00:58:28.300 --> 00:58:28.760
Jazz.
1226
00:58:28.780 --> 00:58:29.400
Jazz.
1227
00:58:29.800 --> 00:58:32.920
Verbal jazz. Not as good as having something worked out
1228
00:58:33.059 --> 00:58:34.039
ahead of time.
1229
00:58:34.440 --> 00:58:37.139
Were you doing a boom, boom, boom bass? But isn't
1230
00:58:37.179 --> 00:58:38.789
it a boom, boom, boom, boom, boom bass?
1231
00:58:39.369 --> 00:58:40.610
Yeah. Depends, man.
1232
00:58:40.650 --> 00:58:42.690
Not if you're Jaco Pastores.
1233
00:58:42.710 --> 00:58:48.480
Yeah, that's right. Oscar Pastores? No. Oscar Pastores? What about
1234
00:58:48.519 --> 00:58:49.139
the Olympia?
1235
00:58:49.179 --> 00:58:49.619
The former.
1236
00:58:49.780 --> 00:58:51.139
Yeah, the Blade Runner.
1237
00:58:51.679 --> 00:58:51.960
Killed us.
1238
00:58:51.960 --> 00:58:53.329
Went to prison for... Killed us.
1239
00:58:54.070 --> 00:58:54.440
Murder.
1240
00:58:54.480 --> 00:58:55.099
Jazz.
1241
00:58:55.300 --> 00:58:55.679
Jazz.
1242
00:58:55.699 --> 00:58:56.159
Jazz.
1243
00:58:56.179 --> 00:58:59.699
Verbal jazz. Hey, you don't know what? Hey, we're on
1244
00:58:59.719 --> 00:59:02.820
the weather one minute, then it's Oscar Pistorius. You never know, man.
1245
00:59:02.820 --> 00:59:05.500
Who's thinking about that guy? Let's get back to Patrick
1246
00:59:05.500 --> 00:59:08.420
Dempsey and Outbreak. That was, wasn't that in the intro? Yeah,
1247
00:59:08.420 --> 00:59:11.139
that was in a different intro. I know, but same episode, bitches.
1248
00:59:11.159 --> 00:59:12.599
You know what is the same episode?
1249
00:59:12.840 --> 00:59:15.219
I don't know. Oh, I just called back a riff
1250
00:59:15.260 --> 00:59:17.639
from the beginning of the show. You know what I realized?
1251
00:59:18.139 --> 00:59:21.760
He's really the only professional. He was working in podcasts
1252
00:59:21.800 --> 00:59:23.989
for a long time before us. He's the guy that
1253
00:59:24.090 --> 00:59:27.030
puts all these things together. You're constantly fucking up.
1254
00:59:27.070 --> 00:59:27.389
Yeah.
1255
00:59:28.119 --> 00:59:30.599
Calling back references that are from an episode that we
1256
00:59:30.619 --> 00:59:32.159
take from the same day from a different time.
1257
00:59:32.179 --> 00:59:35.619
Are you saying this segment got fucked up somehow?
1258
00:59:36.019 --> 00:59:40.190
Also, he's not the only professional. You were in broadcasting
1259
00:59:40.329 --> 00:59:40.690
for 30 years.
1260
00:59:40.710 --> 00:59:43.650
Have you seen what I did? Does anyone think I
1261
00:59:43.690 --> 00:59:44.510
was a professional?
1262
00:59:44.530 --> 00:59:48.570
No, not once has anyone said, hey, you're that professional
1263
00:59:48.639 --> 00:59:49.800
from the television.
1264
00:59:49.840 --> 00:59:53.460
That's never happened. Everyone, I just, I look like someone.
1265
00:59:53.480 --> 00:59:55.860
You're a professional amateur. Exactly. I kind of am.
1266
00:59:55.900 --> 00:59:56.179
You are.
1267
00:59:56.320 --> 00:59:58.719
Yeah. I refuse. I refuse to be a professional.
1268
00:59:59.710 --> 01:00:01.150
Jazz, verbal jazz.
1269
01:00:01.530 --> 01:00:04.630
I think, you know, I'm, look, like jazz itself, I
1270
01:00:04.670 --> 01:00:06.590
don't know if this is good or bad, what we're doing.
1271
01:00:07.210 --> 01:00:09.909
I know that I've been charged a cover fee to
1272
01:00:09.929 --> 01:00:13.389
be in here. I'm having a drink. I don't understand it,
1273
01:00:13.449 --> 01:00:15.130
but I see a lot of people around me snapping
1274
01:00:15.170 --> 01:00:15.670
their fingers.
1275
01:00:16.010 --> 01:00:18.090
So maybe it's good. Blay, how do you feel this
1276
01:00:18.179 --> 01:00:20.519
is going so far? Well, you know what?
1277
01:00:20.579 --> 01:00:24.460
I think Miles Davis once said, there's no wrong notes. It's,
1278
01:00:24.519 --> 01:00:26.699
you know, like there's no wrong notes in jazz. It's
1279
01:00:26.780 --> 01:00:28.360
more what comes after it.
1280
01:00:28.360 --> 01:00:29.260
It's context, man.
1281
01:00:29.960 --> 01:00:31.619
Yeah, I guess it's kind of, I mean, do you
1282
01:00:31.969 --> 01:00:35.929
want my honest opinion? Yeah, no. This is unusable. It's terrible.
1283
01:00:35.949 --> 01:00:37.530
It is terrible. It's terrible.
1284
01:00:37.769 --> 01:00:40.909
But you do have the riff going of you say,
1285
01:00:41.400 --> 01:00:43.920
then it's jazz. So it's kind of on life support.
1286
01:00:44.039 --> 01:00:45.929
I don't think we've really hit the point of which
1287
01:00:45.989 --> 01:00:46.969
it's a real segment yet.
1288
01:00:47.070 --> 01:00:47.730
Are you serious?
1289
01:00:47.769 --> 01:00:49.409
This feels all like prologue.
1290
01:00:49.630 --> 01:00:53.070
I agree. That's the thing about jazz. There's not a hook.
1291
01:00:53.329 --> 01:00:55.210
There's not a melody per se.
1292
01:00:55.230 --> 01:00:58.699
There's nothing that would make you want to listen to it. Yeah. No,
1293
01:00:58.719 --> 01:01:00.280
there's hooks in jazz.
1294
01:01:00.300 --> 01:01:03.340
Eduardo's upset because he actually likes jazz.
1295
01:01:03.380 --> 01:01:05.099
And you're shitting on jazz.
1296
01:01:05.119 --> 01:01:05.260
Yeah.
1297
01:01:05.559 --> 01:01:07.460
I cannot take this slander anymore.
1298
01:01:07.519 --> 01:01:08.880
I can't either.
1299
01:01:08.920 --> 01:01:10.880
Wait a minute. I'm talking about the basketball team.
1300
01:01:12.139 --> 01:01:12.639
Oh, Utah Jazz.
1301
01:01:12.659 --> 01:01:14.230
Okay, okay. Yeah, I just am not a fan. That's
1302
01:01:14.250 --> 01:01:14.849
what we're doing?
1303
01:01:14.869 --> 01:01:15.289
All right.
1304
01:01:15.369 --> 01:01:18.309
Yeah, that's what I've been meaning the whole time. As
1305
01:01:18.429 --> 01:01:21.329
a music form, jazz, fantastic. Okay, good.
1306
01:01:21.349 --> 01:01:22.309
My favorite. Okay, good.
1307
01:01:22.730 --> 01:01:25.530
You can't name a jazz song or performer I don't love.
1308
01:01:25.869 --> 01:01:28.090
Utah Jazz, don't get me started.
1309
01:01:28.889 --> 01:01:29.239
Okay.
1310
01:01:29.280 --> 01:01:32.860
They're atonal, arrhythmic, and hard to listen to.
1311
01:01:32.940 --> 01:01:33.340
Okay, fair.
1312
01:01:33.519 --> 01:01:34.000
Jazz.
1313
01:01:34.119 --> 01:01:36.559
Jazz. We'll be right back. Wow, unusable.
1314
01:01:38.800 --> 01:01:42.559
Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend, with Conan O'Brien, Sonam Ovsessian,
1315
01:01:42.820 --> 01:01:46.949
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1316
01:01:47.010 --> 01:01:50.710
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01:01:50.750 --> 01:01:54.030
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1318
01:01:54.610 --> 01:01:55.340
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01:01:55.360 --> 01:01:55.610
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01:01:59.119 --> 01:02:02.280
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01:02:02.320 --> 01:02:06.019
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01:02:06.099 --> 01:02:10.070
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1324
01:02:13.309 --> 01:02:15.869
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01:02:15.909 --> 01:02:18.449
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01:02:18.829 --> 01:02:21.559
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1327
01:02:21.599 --> 01:02:25.320
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01:02:25.639 --> 01:02:27.599
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01:02:27.840 --> 01:02:30.519
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01:02:34.510 --> 01:02:37.570
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01:02:55.469 --> 01:02:57.949
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1336
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