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What Now? With Trevor NoahWelcome To The Julia Louis-Dreyfus Brain Museum | What Now? with Trevor Noah Podcast
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Chapter summaries
Warm-Up Banter About Directing and "And Action"
Trevor Noah and Julia Louis-Dreyfus joke about whether saying "and action" differs from "action" and how a director's cue can shape a scene. Trevor then introduces her career and the film Tuesday.
- •Julia explains "and" gives a half-beat before the cue, like "one, two, three, go"
- •A director's cue can throw a scene off
- •Trevor introduces her from Seinfeld, Veep and film work
- •Tuesday is about a mother and daughter facing death, which arrives as a macaw
Evolving a Career: Luck, Ambition and Bouncing Back
Trevor asks how she stays ahead of what's next. Julia says she's been lucky but also ambitious, has no regrets, and walks away from failures like SNL after learning from them.
- •She calls herself lucky and incredibly ambitious, and has failed too
- •She has no regrets, and says she learned a great deal at SNL the hard way
- •She bounces back by walking away and focusing on something else
- •Trevor cites Denzel Washington's view that acting is a fun, silly thing to do
Why She Works: Fishing, Teamwork and Play
Julia recalls noticing at eight how real conversation sounds, and says she chases work that excites her, like fishing. She likes being part of a team and the playfulness of acting.
- •As a child in the car she noticed that people talking sounded real, not acted
- •She has always wanted to be in a show and play a part
- •She looks for work that gets her going, and compares it to fishing
- •She likes teamwork toward a common goal and the play of acting
The Real Julia vs. Her Public Persona
Trevor says he sees her underlying self in her characters but not in Tuesday. Julia says people expect her to be funny, and describes herself as an observer, which Trevor ties to absorbing before performing.
- •Trevor recalls partying with her at a club
- •He sees an underlying current of her in her characters
- •She says people always expect her to be funny
- •She describes herself as an observer, and Trevor says you must absorb in order to perform
Tuesday: Genre, Animation and Denial
Trevor says he watched Tuesday cold and couldn't tell if it was a comedy. Julia calls it a magical-realist fairy tale that's more dramatic than comic, and explains how the animated macaw was done and how her character copes through denial.
- •Trevor values stories where you can't tell if they're funny or sad
- •Julia says the film is more dramatic than comedic
- •The macaw was played on set by actor Arinzé Kene and animated over
- •Her character begins in denial about her daughter's illness
Death, Denial and Not Believing We'll Die
They discuss the film as a conversation starter about death. Trevor shares a friend's theory that nobody really knows they will die, and Julia pushes back and jokes about it.
- •Julia calls the film a conversation starter about death and afterlife
- •Trevor says her character embodies who we think should or shouldn't die
- •Julia says she's negotiating with death
- •Trevor's friend argues nobody truly believes they'll die
Physical Comedy, Falling and the Veep Almonds Scene
Trevor says he finds physical comedy both the lowest and highest form. Julia distinguishes it from the strange physical moments in Tuesday and recounts a Veep scene where her scream knocked Tony Hale out of frame.
- •Julia says physical comedy uses the body to enhance a joke, unlike the physical moments in Tuesday
- •Trevor says falling is the best physical comedy because nobody intends it as a joke
- •The Veep six almonds scene was planned in rehearsal and made the scream send Tony Hale falling
- •Trevor finds her mid-chew pause on a charred creature's head funny
Grief, Loss and Relationships That Shift
Trevor asks how much of her own life she drew on for Tuesday. Julia says she tapped into her losses and her ferocity as a mother, and says her bond with her late father has shifted, not ended. Trevor shares his experience of grief after losing his grandmother.
- •Julia drew on loss and her fierce bond with her children
- •She says a relationship with someone lost shifts, not ends
- •Trevor describes grief for his grandmother as crying while smiling
- •He says we try to keep what the other person holds of us
Wiser Than Me Podcast and Advice to Her Younger Self
Julia explains her podcast grew from curiosity about older women who become invisible, sparked by a Jane Fonda documentary. Asked what she'd tell her younger self, she says to wear sunscreen and trust her instincts, and describes how experience gave her confidence.
- •The podcast was driven by curiosity and by older women's invisibility
- •A Jane Fonda documentary inspired it
- •She finds the conversations spiritual, exhausting and often tearful
- •She'd tell her younger self to wear sunscreen and trust her instincts
- •Experience made her confident about producing
Evolving Comedy and Balancing Audience and Authenticity
Discussing a question she was asked about whether comedy can still be told, they agree sensitivity is fine and comedy keeps evolving. Julia says caring too much about reception paralyzes you, so create from within.
- •Julia says there's nothing wrong with sensitivity and jokes are still being made
- •Both favor evolving without assuming the past was all bad
- •Caring too much how work is received can paralyze you
- •Create from what appeals to you and stay true to yourself
Driving Metaphor, Politics and Laughing Together
Trevor compares doing comedy to driving and acknowledging other people on the road. Julia applies it to politics, and Trevor says people are insulated and see politics as zero-sum. Julia shares a story of Justices Kagan and Scalia laughing about Veep.
- •Trevor likens comedy to driving while acknowledging others on the road
- •Julia wishes politics worked with built-in respect like drivers
- •Trevor says people no longer assume others are heading somewhere similar
- •Julia recalls Elena Kagan saying she and Scalia talked about Veep weekly
What Now: A Musical, Marvel and the Brain Museum
Trevor asks his closing question, and Julia says she feels she's just starting and wants a musical on film. They joke about a Marvel role, her brain and a Julia Louis-Dreyfus museum, and Trevor urges people to see Tuesday.
- •Julia feels she has much more to chew on and would like to do a musical on film
- •She has just wrapped a Marvel movie
- •Trevor says he'd love to understand her brain, leading to the brain museum joke
- •Trevor urges viewers to see Tuesday
