Matthew McConaughey & Woody Harrelson

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend

Conan O'Brien hosts Hollywood legends Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson to discuss their new Apple TV+ comedy series, Brothers. The co

Key takeaways

• Matthew McConaughey describes a pivotal moment in 1995 when being unprepared for a Spanish-language role led him to become a hyper-prepared actor.
• Woody Harrelson discusses his more relaxed, intuitive approach to acting and his tendency to 'wing it'.

Main topics

• Acting philosophies
• The Apple TV+ series Brothers

Notable quotes

I feel very Irish about being a Kona Nobile friend.

Conclusion

An entertaining deep dive into the chemistry and shared history of two

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore. Because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began. Turning dreams into direction. Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So, where will your journey take you? Etihad. Beyond Borders. Speaker 4 (0:32) Hey, my name is Matthew McConaughey, and I feel very Irish about being a Kona Nobile friend. That's an insult, but I'll take it. Speaker 6 (0:44) Hi, my name is Woody Harrelson, and I feel like a true American about being on Kona Nobile. You are a true American. Speaker 5 (0:51) I know you and I align in many of our views. One of our great patriots. Speaker 3 (0:57) Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell. Brand new shoes, walking blues, climb the fence, books and pens. I can tell that we are gonna be friends. We are gonna be friends. Speaker 5 (1:17) Hey there, it's Conor O'Brien. This is Conor O'Brien Needs a Friend, the podcast that I think brings joy and beauty Speaker 6 (1:24) to every single person on the planet Earth. Speaker 5 (1:27) This podcast brings Speaker 3 (1:27) beauty? Speaker 2 (1:28) I know, beauty is the one I got. I also said to every Speaker 5 (1:31) single person on Earth, which is maybe a slight exaggeration. I'm joined by my good chum, Sona Masesian. Hey, Sona. Hi. Matt Gorley. Hi. Dr. Gorley, good to see you. And I'm told that our techno whiz, our audiophile extraordinaire. Eduardo has a little something he wants to say. Eduardo, what's going on? Speaker 7 (1:49) I do. I have a gift for you, actually. I don't know if you're Speaker 5 (1:52) going Speaker 7 (1:52) to Speaker 5 (1:52) like it Speaker 3 (1:52) or not, Speaker 7 (1:52) but just to give you context, when we first built the studio and we were, you know, we were debating on what mics to have, the table, everything, the walls, what it would look like. One of the things I had thought about at that time was getting you a microphone that you had for your TBS show, Conan. Do you remember that mic? Yeah, beautiful Speaker 5 (2:09) mic. I think it was, what was it? It has certain kind of, was it red? Yes. Yeah, beautiful red microphone. Oh, there it is. There I am with Seth Rogen. Oh, Speaker 7 (2:18) is that a ribbon mic? That's a condenser mic. I knew it. Yes, it's a 414. And anyhow, so it's a very cool looking mic. I always love the look of that mic. And I just Speaker 5 (2:30) love, and I love that. little shot of dark, dark red. It was so cool. But like, Speaker 2 (2:35) it was also kind of unnecessary, right? Yeah, I always Speaker 3 (2:38) wondered about that too. How much of that is for show? No, Speaker 5 (2:41) we've discussed that before that I would always say, why do we have a mic on the desk? Now, a lot of it's just an aesthetic nod to the early days of television, the early shows, talk shows. They were really invented in America. Steve Allen, Jack Parr, Johnny Carson, David Letterman. I think I've named all the hosts. They all have a microphone on the desk because that's Speaker 4 (3:08) what Speaker 5 (3:08) you had to do then. Subsequently, you've got all these boom mics hanging. Everyone's got a lavalier clipped to them with a mic pack. And the thought was, sometimes I'd say, why do we have this? I get that it's an aesthetic nod to the past, but is it unnecessary? Turns out they would always tell me sometimes the mics go out and we need to switch over to that mic that's on your desk, which they did a couple of times. So they have a use. Yeah. Speaker 7 (3:35) So and they look cool. And that one specifically look cool because of the red grill that you were talking about. That was custom made. So I. I thought, oh, it'd be cool to use that one for you here. And I tried to track it down. I went to Skills, one of your longtime. Yeah, Skills Speaker 5 (3:48) is my guitar tech for many, many years. Worked on the show. It took me Speaker 7 (3:53) a Speaker 5 (3:53) while Speaker 3 (3:53) to wrap my head around the fact that you have people working for you named Skills and Chills. Yeah, yeah, exactly. But anyhow, so the- I'm going by Thrills. Speaker 7 (4:04) Hey, Thrills. Nobody could locate the mic. So even to this day, I don't know. I don't know where it is either. So what I did was I was able to get it recreated. Speaker 2 (4:13) What? Whoa! That's what I got here. Speaker 7 (4:16) Wait a minute. This is huge. You can open it if you'd Speaker 5 (4:20) like. Wait a minute. This is from all of us, by the way. Oh, that old move. Wait a minute. Are you, is this for real? Oh my God. This is beautiful. Look at that. How did you do Speaker 7 (4:36) that? How'd you get it? Shout out to Dave Ozinga, Mike Tech. in Glendale. Dave Ozinga. Speaker 5 (4:43) So did Dave Ozinga, is this the same technology? Same Speaker 7 (4:47) model, similar model rather. And yeah, he custom painted it for us, put it back together for us and it's usable. So the idea is that I think beginning today. We Speaker 5 (4:58) can use this. Yes, Speaker 7 (4:59) and it would be your mic. Oh, but that Speaker 5 (5:02) means when I leave the room and some other big wig comes in here to do. Speaker 6 (5:07) another podcast like Speaker 5 (5:09) say Speaker 6 (5:09) ted danson i Speaker 5 (5:10) never want to see ted danson's face within six miles of this microphone it's mine it won't be Speaker 7 (5:19) it won't be shout out to ted we love ted but yes i love Speaker 5 (5:22) you and you're a better man than me in every single way Speaker 7 (5:25) But if you ever Speaker 6 (5:26) talk into this mic, Speaker 3 (5:27) I will Speaker 5 (5:28) find you and I will have someone with me who's strong enough to Speaker 6 (5:32) fight you. Speaker 7 (5:32) So if you give me two minutes, obviously we'll cut around this. Give me two minutes? What is this, Speaker 5 (5:37) my wedding Speaker 7 (5:38) night? Swap it now. Oh, come Speaker 2 (5:39) on. Wait, do we get special microphones too? Speaker 5 (5:42) Yeah. No. Okay, that's okay. That Speaker 2 (5:45) makes sense. That makes sense. This is amazing. Speaker 5 (5:48) Hey, let's hear it for Eduardo. Yay! Speaker 2 (5:51) Sure is. Thank you so much. Sorry it took me so long. Is he going to sound? Sorry it took Speaker 5 (5:56) me so long to buy you that giant diamond. Okay, Speaker 6 (5:59) give me something. Test, test, test. Testing, testing, Speaker 5 (6:02) one, two, three. Testing, testing, bumblebee. Testing, testing, all day long. We sing the testing, testing Speaker 6 (6:07) song. Speaker 5 (6:08) Great. And Speaker 7 (6:08) now let me just make sure the setting Speaker 5 (6:09) on it is correct. Okay, we're making sure. I mean, this is incredible. For those of you just tuning in, it doesn't make sense. Eduardo has replaced my iconic. TBS microphone that was this beautiful mic. Again, can you give me the specifics on what this is? Speaker 7 (6:25) This is a AKG 414. AKG 414. 414. Yes. Oh, Speaker 5 (6:30) yes. That's remember. I remember it was the model. It was the 414s. Those are very good. And who makes this? Speaker 7 (6:35) AKG is the brand. It was originally manufactured in Austria or Vienna. Yeah. Speaker 5 (6:40) Originally, these were made out of a dark chocolate. And Speaker 7 (6:43) they realized Speaker 5 (6:44) it by the Vermacht. Yeah. Nice. Nice to always add that in there. Speaker 3 (6:48) I didn't say Nazis, just Speaker 5 (6:50) the Speaker 3 (6:50) German army. Speaker 5 (6:51) So, and you know what's great? It was, the microphone was in a case that was packed with this. I pulled it out and then realized I can do my greatest prompt bit. Hey folks, it's asymmetrical Abe Lincoln. Speaker 2 (7:02) Oh no. Speaker 5 (7:04) Using his electric razor. Oh no. The mic. Oh yeah, that's right. This is, Eduardo, this is so thoughtful of you. That is really nice. At Speaker 7 (7:16) least I could do. Remember, point it up so that the capsule is facing you. Okay, the capsule facing me. Yeah, there you go. I think I Speaker 5 (7:21) just hit a button. There's two lights on it right now. Should there be two lights going? Green lights? I just literally touched it. I know. And I Speaker 7 (7:28) think I hit a button. That's a good tutorial. You sound good, so I'm not worried. Okay. Speaker 5 (7:32) Will it... The other thing that... Matt, you were saying while Eduardo was switching us over to this mic, you said, what if it looks cool as it does? It looks amazing. But what if it has like really old fashioned bad sound quality? And I was thinking it's like the guy who narrated the Hindenburg explosion. Speaker 2 (7:50) Oh, the humanity, the humanity. Speaker 5 (7:54) And I'll be talking to like some hip, young, cool person here, you know. And I'll totally just go off the rails. Speaker 2 (8:01) Why are you changing your voice? That's Speaker 5 (8:05) the microphone does that. Because it's an old style microphone, I'm speaking normally. Yeah. In fact, Speaker 3 (8:11) as we go into intro our guest, why don't you take us out with some classic little mic moment? What? Speaker 2 (8:18) I've been up all night. What? I've been up all night. Classic mic Speaker 3 (8:22) moment? Speaker 2 (8:22) Why are you up all Speaker 5 (8:22) night? My daughter's teething. Oh, so it's not the drugs. Speaker 2 (8:25) What would be a classic mic moment? Speaker 3 (8:28) Well, that's. a good question and I'm glad you asked it and let me see if I can find out what that would be. Is Speaker 2 (8:33) it a moment that involves a mic? Just like a speech, you know? A Speaker 3 (8:38) little soliloquy. Yeah. We Speaker 5 (8:39) have nothing to fear Speaker 2 (8:40) but fear itself. Speaker 5 (8:42) There we go. I Speaker 3 (8:43) was Speaker 2 (8:44) thinking about when John Travolta mispronounced Idina Menzel's name. He Speaker 5 (8:48) said a classic moment from history. I go with... I go with Franklin Roosevelt's first inaugural. And Speaker 3 (8:58) you go Speaker 5 (8:59) with the John Travolta mispronunciation. Speaker 3 (9:02) Adele Dazeem. Speaker 4 (9:04) Adele Dazeem. I will Speaker 3 (9:05) never forget that. That will be my last thought the day I die. Speaker 5 (9:09) To be fair, Franklin Roosevelt in his second inaugural wanted to bring up Idina Menzel and went, Adele Dazeem will be joining me to help us. In a war against poverty. Fantastic. Speaker 5 (9:26) Nice work, Speaker 6 (9:27) Eduardo. Speaker 5 (9:27) Eduardo, you're a really good man. Thank you so much. This is beautiful. And I think this gives us a little pizzazz. It gives us Speaker 3 (9:35) an edge, too, you know? It Speaker 5 (9:36) definitely gives us an edge. An edge? Uh-huh. Well, Speaker 3 (9:38) don't follow through on any of my things. They're not going to make Speaker 5 (9:41) sense. He was up all Speaker 2 (9:42) night. I'm Speaker 3 (9:42) just Speaker 2 (9:42) trying to follow up and figure out what's going on. All right, Speaker 5 (9:45) let's do it. Hey, I'm excited. Me, too. Speaker 2 (9:47) My Speaker 5 (9:47) guests today are two Hollywood legends who now star in the new Apple TV Plus comedy series, Brothers. I think everyone loves these guys. I Speaker 2 (9:55) love them so much. And they Speaker 5 (9:57) have such great chemistry together. And I'm just thrilled to have both of these. I'm going to say gentlemen in the room. Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, welcome. Gentlemen, I watched your show. I really enjoyed it. They let me watch the first episode. And getting to see that first episode was like getting a hold of the nuclear codes. Apple doesn't mess around. They said Conan. It's a four-hour process to watch this TV show that will be available within hours everywhere. But the amount of codes and verifications, and I had to do a cheek swab, but I saw the show and I really enjoyed it. Speaker 6 (10:41) It was a lot of Speaker 5 (10:42) fun. And what I love about it is you guys, I mean, if people want to know what is this show about, it's you guys being you. I know you're fictionalized versions of yourselves, but I do not think you are. I think it's basically you guys being you. Is that a fair thing to say? Speaker 6 (10:57) It's Speaker 5 (10:58) a Speaker 6 (10:58) somewhat, shall we say, exalted version. It's the baseline. I mean, Speaker 4 (11:04) you know, I'm a little more orderly than Captain Chaos here. But we set that up. Well, let's really lean into that and make me Texas rancher, gonna run for governor, everything. Don't Speaker 6 (11:17) you Speaker 4 (11:17) mess with my plan and let Captain Chaos Woody come in. Honk, honk and blow it all up. Right. And how does that work? No, a fire at Speaker 5 (11:25) a Speaker 4 (11:25) tire Speaker 5 (11:25) factory Speaker 6 (11:26) is orderly compared to Speaker 5 (11:27) Woody. You are. And Speaker 4 (11:29) I'm telling Speaker 5 (11:30) you, the last time I talked to Speaker 4 (11:31) him Speaker 5 (11:31) in this space, he showed up fresh from a, he was late because he crashed his motorcycle getting here. And Ted Danson had to put bandages on him as we were doing Speaker 4 (11:45) the podcast. Why do you, this happened? This is the only reason. Woody's gotten so much better on showing up on time to sets than he used to be in the past. And the only reason you were ever later, the only problem, the only kind of problem to production you ever were on the set were on Monday, you'd show up with a fresh new big scar on your head or something. And one of the times it was from you had a motorcycle accident riding through two acres of an open parking lot that had one rock sitting in the middle that he hit. Speaker 6 (12:13) And he managed to hit that one rock. That's sadly true. But, you know, that one was not so much my fault. I was going around the left and the guy didn't have his blinker on. Yeah. And he Speaker 5 (12:24) hit me. Here's what was your fault. The first thing you said to me when you came in is. I think I lost one of my flip-flops. Speaker 2 (12:32) And Speaker 5 (12:32) then I was thinking, that's funny. I ride a motorcycle. I've never worn a flip-flop when I'm riding a motorcycle. I wear like an armored boot. Speaker 6 (12:43) It's sub-op. Speaker 5 (12:46) I'm Speaker 6 (12:46) going Speaker 5 (12:46) to finish that. It's suboptimal. Because Woody is so time pressured that he can't say optimal. Speaker 6 (12:54) It's suboptimal. It's the economy Speaker 4 (12:57) of Speaker 5 (12:57) motion. Economy of motion? Speaker 4 (12:59) Economy of words? I respect that. No, Woody's not yet. A helmet sounds like a mandate to him. Not a good idea. Speaker 5 (13:08) A Speaker 4 (13:08) pair of shoes? Don't Speaker 5 (13:10) you Speaker 4 (13:10) tell me what to do. Speaker 4 (13:12) Flip-flopping a beret. That's how I'm going to ride around. I like to say this. I'm going to say this line again. I said it in the news that I put out today. But if you're going to the Oscars or to a J.P. Morgan board of directors meeting with Woody, it's best to bring your swimsuit. Yes. Speaker 5 (13:29) You put you. I get relaxed. I get relaxed looking at you, Woody. The opening shot of the pilot episode of your show is you. Speaker 5 (13:41) with inhaling some herbs, looking out at the sea. You look like the happiest guy in the world. You got your surfboard, you're in Malibu. There's this thing, don't sweat the small stuff and you don't sweat the big stuff either. I don't think you sweat anything. It's fantastic. Speaker 4 (14:00) Yeah, I sweat. He has this, I know this, go ahead. Now I know his secret on this. This is like a marriage counseling session. Go ahead. What were you Speaker 6 (14:06) gonna say? Speaker 4 (14:07) Well, you do sweat. You do sweat. But he does water off a duck's back most things you cannot tell. Right. Go ahead. You know what story I'm going to tell. I love this story. I don't think Woody has to be here for this. Why don't you go out? He knows this story. It's a beautiful story. But it is the key to what I think you're talking about with one of Woody's geniuses. One day on True Detective, he's walking around and I can tell the guy's got a black cloud on his shoulders. My buddy's just, he's hunched. And I'm like, man. Speaker 5 (14:35) It Speaker 4 (14:36) must be really big because you can't ever tell if what he's got a problem. Not until they want to have lunch comes by the tray. We have lunch talking to him. He tells me what the problem is. It's worth the black cloud, meaning I'm going, holy shit, man. If that happened to me, if I was in this situation, I wouldn't be able to show up to work. You're here. And I only as your good friend could notice you were in a funk. And I'm like, dude, you have things that go on in your life that are problems and all this stuff. And we deal with it. It's like water off the duck's back. How do you deal with? Speaker 4 (15:04) problems in your life. Yeah. And he's crying and sobbing and snot's running out of his nose and I'm crying as his buddy, man. And he was sitting there and he takes a minute and he thinks about it. He wipes his eyes and he looks at me and goes, man. Speaker 4 (15:18) I just forget about it. Speaker 5 (15:23) So all these years that I've been in therapy has been a waste of time. Yeah. You got to