"Tim Robbins"

SmartLess

In this episode of SmartLess, hosts Sean, JB, and Will welcome acclaimed actor and director Tim Robbins to discuss his iconic roles in films like 'Bull

Key takeaways

• Tim Robbins reflects on how choosing 'Bull Durham' over another baseball film significantly impacted his career trajectory.

Main topics

• Tim Robbins' career in film
• Bull Durham and his role as Nuke Lelouch

Notable quotes

"You know, the weird thing was that I got cast in another baseball movie the same time... And I'm glad I made the one I did because it kind of shifted everything for me in life."

"It's Dead Dog Walking."

Conclusion

The episode closes on a heartfelt note, blending professional admiration for Tim Robbins with

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:06) Guys, it's so hot outside. Is anybody else hot? I'm so hot. I need a glass of water or something. I need something to cool off. You know what's going to make me cool off? Speaker 2 (0:15) A Speaker 1 (0:15) new episode of Smartless. Speaker 1 (0:35) Hey guys. Speaker 4 (0:37) Hey. Speaker 1 (0:37) Hey. Speaker 4 (0:38) Hey. Speaker 1 (0:39) Hey. Will's in Italy. Oh my gosh, Will, what time is it in Italy? Speaker 2 (0:43) Nobody Speaker 1 (0:44) knows. Speaker 2 (0:45) It's time for a campari. Cue the music. It's a problem for tomorrow, no? Speaker 4 (0:50) So, Will, have you run into our back of the theater critic? Speaker 2 (0:54) Oh, everybody here. What a podcast. Look at this guy. This Speaker 4 (0:58) guy, what a body on him. Nobody knew. I see him on the Italian beaches now. Speaker 2 (1:04) No way. At Feast 56, I'll eat my hat. Speaker 1 (1:11) What part of Italy? We did Speaker 2 (1:12) have, we had, we're up in, we're on the Italian Riviera right now. Let me tell you something. It's fantastic. Speaker 4 (1:19) That's a Portofino. Portofino just drove Speaker 2 (1:22) up here today. Just drove up. We was at a wedding in Tuscany. Sure. But I did have a guy the other day came into the room to. to look at something with the AC and couldn't, with the light and couldn't fix it and it wouldn't go out. And he said, Speaker 3 (1:36) that's a problem for tomorrow. No. Speaker 4 (1:44) With a little smile like that too? It's too hot to fix today. Speaker 1 (1:50) You know what? And it was. It was a problem for tomorrow. Isn't that so different? It's so different than us. I know. What Speaker 4 (1:56) do you mean you can't fix it? Yeah, they take all of August off. Speaker 2 (1:59) Europe does. It's so good. It's so, so good. What about you, JB? How's the city treating you right now? Speaker 4 (2:06) The city is all right. The heat has gone down to 85 and 90 % humidity as opposed to 95 and 90 % humidity. Are you shooting outside? Yeah, yeah, on a farm. Not a lot of shade. But it's okay. It's great. I'm losing water weight, you guys. You know how I love that. And, Shawnee, how are things for you? Speaker 2 (2:30) And, Sean, what's Speaker 4 (2:30) it Speaker 2 (2:30) going? Just going from the bedroom to the office and back up to Speaker 4 (2:34) the Speaker 2 (2:34) bedroom? Yeah, Speaker 4 (2:34) that's it. Speaker 2 (2:34) Back up. Try Speaker 4 (2:35) not to sprain your ankle going in and out of the kitchen? Speaker 2 (2:37) No. Have you had any more s'mores dates with yourself? Speaker 1 (2:44) I Speaker 2 (2:44) had a couple s'more of them. Oh, Speaker 1 (2:47) Sean has been up early. I was up early. Speaker 4 (2:51) Anything to update us on in your life, Sean? Speaker 1 (2:54) Yeah, I did. Oh, yeah. I did a, just last night, I did a, with my friend Todd Stashwick, who was an actor. I went to college with him. And he hosted a D &D night, a Dungeons & Dragons night. But I haven't played Dungeons & Dragons since I was like 10 years old. Since Speaker 2 (3:11) you Speaker 1 (3:11) lost your virginity. Yeah, because you're 56. Speaker 2 (3:13) I mean, it adds up. If you think about it, if Speaker 4 (3:18) you Speaker 2 (3:18) look at it, the math adds up. Speaker 4 (3:20) Wasn't it kind of him to throw in the surprise in that sentence? Like, I haven't played since I was 10. Can you believe it? Nor has anyone else. No, man. Speaker 1 (3:29) No, we really did. It was so fun. I mean, it was, I think Stranger Things really brought that game back. So what is Speaker 4 (3:36) it with that? I never did play it when I was 10. It's a role-playing thing, right? Yeah, it's all Speaker 1 (3:41) improvised. Yeah. Speaker 4 (3:43) So, but do you roll dice to find out who gets the shield, who gets the sword? Well, and like who Speaker 1 (3:51) gets, and like damage and like how much damage you did. Like, did you survive their hit or did you? Is that just based on how hard you roll? Yeah, no, it was really fun. Are Speaker 4 (4:03) higher numbers more damage? Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Speaker 2 (4:06) yeah, it is. Okay. Speaker 1 (4:07) But Speaker 4 (4:07) you know Speaker 1 (4:07) what? It's like playing a video game, but with your mind. Speaker 2 (4:12) Oh. Oh. Okay. So you really get carried. You really just get taken away into a different place. Speaker 1 (4:18) Wait, I heard this joke. You get carried away. Speaker 4 (4:26) So fun. Do you want to hear a good joke? Speaker 1 (4:28) A new pun joke? A dad joke? Speaker 4 (4:30) Yeah, I've been getting my money's worth out of what did the sushi say to the bumblebee? Wasabi. Speaker 4 (4:40) Everyone's Speaker 2 (4:40) been Speaker 4 (4:40) enjoying that around set. Have they been Speaker 2 (4:42) telling you they enjoyed it when you're the boss? Well, I see it Speaker 4 (4:45) on their faces. Speaker 2 (4:47) Yeah, sure. Oh, that's a good one, boss. Hey, has Jason hit you with that four fucking times too? Yeah. He thinks I'm a PA. I'm a fucking driver. Over Speaker 1 (4:58) and over again. You got a Speaker 4 (5:00) freshie for me? All right, Sean, let's hear it. Speaker 1 (5:02) You guys, oh, God, this is awful. The new... Speaker 1 (5:06) The guy who invented cough drops died yesterday. Speaker 4 (5:09) Oh, no. Yeah, Speaker 1 (5:10) there's not going to be any coughing at his funeral. Speaker 4 (5:14) All right. I'll take that. I'll take that. Speaker 2 (5:17) Yeah. They'll love that. The only, the only, yeah, the only, and this is not a criticism, Sean. Come on, that's funny. You know what it is? It's just that you say cough and cough and you say cough in the setup. Speaker 1 (5:28) Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:29) You know what I mean? Speaker 1 (5:30) Yeah, but the cough, right, cough drop. Well, the guy invented throat lozenges. Maybe that's better. I don't know. Speaker 2 (5:36) Listen, let's open up a suggestion line for peeps if they want to do like a punch-up line on SmartLens. And we can punch up our jokes. We got a table together. Punch Speaker 1 (5:47) up Speaker 2 (5:47) line, please hold. Punch up line, please hold. Tell you who doesn't need a punch up. Here we go. Here we go. This is a segue. I can tell you it's Speaker 4 (5:53) a female. I heard whispering earlier. She sounds like she's got a pretty whisper voice. Speaker 2 (5:58) Okay. Well, aren't you going to be surprised? No. He's going to get a great chuckle out of this. Speaker 4 (6:04) Oh, Speaker 2 (6:04) man. Because he's an Academy Award-winning actor. God, Speaker 3 (6:08) he is. Speaker 2 (6:08) Academy-nominated director, JB. Jesus. He's made some great films, and I don't use that term lightly. David Lean. He's done iconic roles. And I'm going to go backwards on the— Kenneth Branagh. As an actor? I'm going to go backwards. I'm not going to lead with some of his most famous roles because you're just going to know immediately because he's just done some of the most iconic films of all time. But I'm going to say things like Jacob's Ladder, The Incredible Bull Durham. I'm going to say The Player, Mystic River, and Shawshank Redemption. Guys, it's Tim Robbins. Speaker 4 (6:41) Tim. Oh, Speaker 1 (6:42) my Speaker 4 (6:42) God, Tim Robbins. Welcome, Tim Speaker 1 (6:44) Robbins. This is really exciting. So Speaker 4 (6:47) who was the female whisperer? Was there any? Speaker 3 (6:52) She's just off camera. No, it's basically someone, because I'm an idiot with technology, someone that they sent from Apple to help me set up Speaker 4 (7:03) the Speaker 3 (7:04) microphone. Us Speaker 4 (7:05) granddads have trouble with Speaker 3 (7:07) it. Speaker 4 (7:07) You have a smartphone, don't you? You're not still using like a flip phone, are you? No, rotary. Oh, no. Speaker 3 (7:15) Portable rotary. Under the long cable. Speaker 1 (7:19) Right. How do you carry that with you everywhere you go? Yeah, I Speaker 3 (7:22) know. And you have to find fewer and fewer places to plug in. Yeah. Speaker 2 (7:27) Tim, it's so overdue having you here. First of all, let me just say that. Thank you. It is so overdue. It's great to have you, man. It's great to see Speaker 4 (7:35) you. Speaker 2 (7:35) Such a big fan of yours. Yeah. JB says, where are you? What part of the world are you in? East, West Coast? Speaker 3 (7:41) West Coast right now. Speaker 2 (7:43) West Coast. Speaker 3 (7:44) In Los Angeles? Speaker 2 (7:45) Yes. Don't give him an address. Tim, don't. Tim, don't tell him where. Speaker 4 (7:50) I can't give you my quadrant. No. Dungeons and Dragons set up. He's going to show Speaker 2 (7:55) up with his golden die. And he's going to ask you to roll. Speaker 4 (7:59) Roll for damage. Speaker 3 (8:02) Knock on the door. Are we doing a barbecue? Yeah. Have you ever played Speaker 4 (8:07) Dungeons & Dragons, Tim? Speaker 3 (8:08) You know, that's what I missed. I was more, you know, that kind of long-form nerdy kind of game. Mine was Stratomatic Speaker 4 (8:17) Baseball. Ooh, tell me about that. You're talking to a baseball... I didn't play, Speaker 2 (8:22) but I'm aware of it. Tell us a little bit about Speaker 4 (8:24) it. Speaker 2 (8:24) It's Speaker 4 (8:24) really Speaker 3 (8:24) cool. You know, it's a long... long game, but you know, you play nine innings and you pick your teams and, you know, basically there's a roll of the dice and a, and a multi-sided dice die that, uh, um, determines whether it's a hit or, you know, a strikeout or grand slam, you know, whatever. It's, it's, it's, it's very complicated. Speaker 4 (8:46) Do you pick real players? You say you pick your teams. Yeah, we Speaker 3 (8:49) pick real players. Yeah. I haven't played for a while. Um, Back in the day when Cal Ripken was on his long streak. Sure. I don't think anyone's ever going to break that record of consecutive times played without missing a game. We kept Cal out Speaker 4 (9:06) of the game. Speaker 3 (9:06) 1,400 games or something? We kept Cal out of the game. You kept him out? Yeah, we kept him out Speaker 4 (9:10) of the game. Speaker 3 (9:10) Just Speaker 4 (9:10) to Speaker 3 (9:10) spite him. Speaker 4 (9:10) Yeah, Speaker 3 (9:11) just to spite him. It was Cal won't play. But Billy Speaker 4 (9:15) was in there. We ended the streak. What about fantasy baseball? Do you play that at all? I don't. No. Cool it, JB. Sorry. Are you a fantasy Speaker 2 (9:24) guy? Yeah, he's up at 4 a Speaker 4 (9:26) .m. I am. I'm the commissioner of my league. Really? It's my Dungeons & Dragons dork stuff. Can you be bought? Sure. Everybody's got their price. Everybody on my team's up for sale. Except the Dodgers. Speaker 2 (9:41) Wait, so Tim, I'm gathering by the fact that you played that that you were a lifelong baseball fan, and I mentioned... Bull Durham, which I saw in the theater twice. I loved that movie. I know it was a million years ago. It's an iconic movie. It's one of the great sports movies. Of Speaker 1 (9:57) all time. And Speaker 2 (9:57) it's Speaker 1 (9:57) not Speaker 2 (9:57) just about sports. It's about so much more. So when you, I guess you were a big baseball fan, so when you got the chance to play, and that character you played, what was his name, Nuke? Was that his name? Speaker 3 (10:09) Yeah, Ebi Calvin, Nuke Lelouch. Speaker 2 (10:12) Yeah, I mean, were you... Was that a role when that came your way? Do you remember the process of getting that? Were you stoked to get to play that part? Speaker 3 (10:20) Oh, are you kidding me? You know, the weird thing was that I got cast in another baseball movie the same time Eight Men Out that John Sayles was directing. And I love John Sayles. I had to make a decision, and I'm glad I made the one I did because it kind of shifted everything for me in life. Speaker 3 (10:42) So psyched. I mean, I did the audition section, and then I got my callback was basically, you've got to come play some bass, but throw the ball with Kevin Costner. Oh, wow. They wanted to see if I could throw. He didn't want to have to fake any of that stuff. And could you? So I had played all my life, and I was mostly third bass. So I had a pretty good arm, but I didn't know the mechanics of the pitching. So I had to go, you know, earlier and try to, you know, put that together. Speaker 4 (11:15) Did you end up becoming a fairly decent pitcher? Like, did you learn a couple of pitches? I Speaker 3 (11:19) did. I got it up to 85. Speaker 4 (11:23) Wow. Wow. No control at Speaker 3 (11:25) all. No control at all. I threw it into the stands. When he hits the bowl, you know, that was, you know, basically me. But I could... I could throw it pretty fast. Speaker 4 (11:35) And how were you as a hitter? Pretty good. Could you get around on an 85-mile-an-hour pitch? No way. No, no. Oh, no, no. I didn't play. Speaker 3 (11:44) I grew up in Manhattan, so we didn't have a lot of baseball fields. Speaker 4 (11:50) Right, you had show leagues. Speaker 3 (11:52) Yeah, we had concrete playgrounds, so we played softball. Gotcha. And so mostly softball. So I could hit a softball. I could hit very well. And I still play a little bit. Do you really? Yeah. I play first base now. Uh-huh. Speaker 4 (12:11) Yeah, yeah. It's easier. Tell us about that. Is that just your buddies? Is it a show league? How are you doing that? Usually just friends. Speaker 3 (12:22) You know, get together. There's some regular leagues. When I'm on the East Coast, there's a game I get involved in. I play hockey that way, too. Still? Roller hockey. Oh, my God. We Speaker 4 (12:35) can get so hurt. I have a game every Speaker 3 (12:36) Sunday out here that I'm missing for the show. You're playing roller hockey, Tim? Roller. I used to play ice. I haven't played ice for a while, but I play roller hockey every Sunday. Speaker 2 (12:44) Tim, I used to play on the Upper West Side for you. I played ice hockey. And then when I moved to New York, I used to play up on 84th Street. And there's a school between Amsterdam and Columbus. And they paved it. And then for some reason, it wasn't open for like six months. And all these Canadian guys that I knew and a bunch of American guys, we played all day Saturday and Sunday. Like right when