Adam Scott - “Hokum” | The Daily Show

0:00 PLEASE WELCOME ADAM SCOTT!

0:23 WELL, WELL, WELL.

0:25 WELL, WELL, WELL.

0:26 I'm so sorry for scaring you so badly, Jen.

0:29 the out of me in this movie.

0:31 How dare you?

0:33 I know.

0:33 I just felt like right now is a great time to scare the out of people.

0:37 Yes, that's exactly what we need.

0:39 It's exactly what we need.

0:40 Well, so many people, including myself,

0:42 have fallen in love with you from watching you on Parks and Rec Thank you.

0:46 and Party Down, so funny in Step Brothers,

0:50 and then you blew us away with your dramatic work in Severance.

0:54 THANK YOU.

1:00 AND NOW YOU'RE INCREDIBLE IN THIS HORROR FILM.

1:02 Have you been wanting to explore a darker side or is

1:05 it the state of the world that pushed you into it?

1:09 Um, I I don't know.

1:11 I guess after Parks and Rec ended,

1:13 I kind of felt like I wanted to try cuz when I started out,

1:17 I thought I was going to be like a super serious actor,

1:21 and then Step Brothers actually happened,

1:24 and uh and someone like fell out of the role

1:27 and they needed to cast it the last second.

1:29 So, I got that role and I didn't think I would,

1:32 and so that kind of set me on this kind of comedy trajectory or whatever.

1:36 And so, then a few years later I wanted to try something more serious.

1:39 So, I started like, you know,

1:41 at least try like I auditioned for Big Little Lies and you know,

1:45 tried to get you know, just do something different, I guess.

1:47 Yeah.

1:48 You you bring up wanting setting out and thinking you were going

1:51 to go down this dramatic path and not even really looking at comedy.

1:55 Speaking of that, um tell us about the great actor Adam Cordero.

2:00 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, Adam Cordero.

2:02 Cordero.

2:03 Yeah, I'm surprised you you didn't get that right cuz Yeah, I'm so sorry.

2:06 I did not do my research.

2:08 We're a fake news show, so.

2:09 Right, exactly.

2:11 Clearly.

2:12 I do very little homework.

2:14 Um Cordero was going to be my my new name, my my my stage name for a while.

2:21 This is a shortened version of my mother's maiden name.

2:25 And I remember when I was in acting school,

2:27 I wrote down Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Adam Cordero.

2:33 And I thought it sounded so cool.

2:36 I even practiced my signature.

2:37 It does sound cool.

2:38 I know, I still might do it.

2:40 Well, it's not too late.

2:42 Yeah.

2:42 Do you think Adam Cordero would have been a different actor than Adam Scott?

2:47 100%.

2:47 Yeah.

2:47 Very serious all of the time.

2:49 You'd be method right now, probably.

2:51 I would right now I'd be here only because I was

2:54 researching a role of someone that's a guest on a talk show.

2:59 Which isn't so far off from what you did as a little kid.

3:02 Did you Is it true that you stayed

3:03 up late to watch Letterman every single night?

3:07 every night on a 5-in black and white screen that I had in my room.

3:12 Underneath the covers?

3:13 Yes, it was the Yeah, cuz it was the '80s.

3:16 So Letterman was on at 12:30 and so no one was awake and uh and yeah,

3:22 I would practice being a talk show.

3:24 I set I set my bed foot pillows on my bed so it was

3:27 like a couch and I would practice talking to Dave uh on my couch.

3:32 Yeah, and masturbating.

3:34 I mean, I was doing Yeah.

3:36 Wasn't super cute.

3:37 Yeah, okay, now I believe.

3:38 Now it's believable.

3:39 Now it's believable.

3:41 Did you Sorry.

3:43 Did you ever get to meet David Letterman and tell him you masturbated to him?

3:47 Yeah.

3:48 I I did uh finally like uh like 10 years ago I

3:53 did I did this show and it was it was a huge deal.

3:56 Aw.

3:58 yeah.

3:57 But I did not masturbate on the show.

3:59 Okay, okay.

4:00 What a classy guy you are.

4:02 I love that you have some self-control.

4:04 Um I want to talk about this movie.

4:06 Hokum takes place in Ireland.

4:08 Yes.

4:09 Without spoiling anything, tell tell people what it's about.

4:12 It's about a guy who's a writer and he's going to a hotel in Ireland to spread

4:19 his parents' ashes and there may or may not

4:22 be a witch in the basement of the hotel, right?

4:26 Yes.

4:27 When I say may or may not, there is.

4:32 Otherwise, there wouldn't be a movie.

4:34 Yeah, I don't know why you'd say that if you had Yeah, there's a witch.

4:37 There's a witch.

4:37 There's definitely a witch.

4:39 And you you you thought it was scary.

4:40 You were scared.

4:42 terrified.

4:42 It's terrifying.

4:43 It is.

4:44 It's very scary.

4:46 And you play Well, first of all, how did this role come about?

4:49 Um for you?

4:50 It It just It was a script I read.

4:53 I love this guy this guy Damien McCarthy.

4:56 His previous movie Oddity is terrific and I was already a fan of that.

5:00 It was a small horror movie, Irish horror movie,

5:04 um that I was super into anyway.

5:05 And so this this kind of came across my transom.

5:11 What?

5:11 Do people say that?

5:12 I Sure Of course I know what that means.

5:15 That's what was about to come out of my mouth.

5:18 I I I It makes no sense.

5:20 I that I'll If you say so.

5:22 The script came across my transom.

5:25 Please do.

5:26 Um and and I just wanted to do it because I loved it.

5:30 sure that wasn't an autocorrect?

5:32 Or yeah.

5:34 was.

5:34 Was it melody?

5:35 Is that the name?

5:36 Melody.

5:36 Melody.

5:37 I love melody.

5:39 Are you talking about?

5:39 I don't know.

5:40 No one knows.

5:40 No one knows.

5:41 knows.

5:42 Good lord.

5:43 So so the director thought of you.

5:45 So okay, your character is a difficult man.

5:49 Yeah, and cantankerous.

5:51 Yeah.

5:51 Yeah, he's okay.

5:51 I was going to say yes,

5:53 He's a little bit of an We still root for you because you're a great actor.

5:56 But do you when a director calls you

5:59 and says I you're the first person I thought of Right.

6:02 for this To play this

6:04 Because I like I'm not swimming in offers,

6:07 but when I do occasionally get an offer, it's always for like an unhinged Karen.

6:11 Right.

6:12 And of course I immediately call my manager.

6:15 Um Uh Why do you think I'M SO UNHINGED?

6:20 AND YOU SCREAM at them.

6:21 scream at them.

6:22 Um But does it Yeah, I guess I guess I I wasn't sure why he thought

6:27 of me um to to play just an unruly uh prick.

6:33 Um But I was excited to because um I guess I

6:37 played a bunch of like sweetly likable people over and over again.

6:41 So it was kind of nice to to revel in and uh being unpleasant.

6:46 Yeah.

6:46 Well, you're also a very likable guy.

6:47 So I imagine that that would be Right.

6:50 fun to explore.

6:51 Sure.

6:51 Yeah, sometimes it's really hard just not to be so likable.

6:55 Yeah.

6:56 Yeah.

6:57 You know.

6:57 it's so difficult for you.

6:59 Thank you.

6:59 You're you're getting rave reviews.

7:02 One review said Adam Scott does his best film work to date.

7:05 Aw, that's very nice.

7:06 Yeah, New York Times says Adam Scott is perfection.

7:10 Wow.

7:14 I think that's setting an an unrealistic expectations.

7:19 No, what is it like

7:20 People will inevitably be disappointed if they read something like that.

7:24 Not true.

7:24 What is it like being so perfect?

7:26 Oh, it's really difficult.

7:29 Um I mean, where do I start?

7:31 You know.

7:32 Uh Desi is so hard.

7:36 Um You know, we all have to start somewhere.

7:39 So, uh the perfection is something I'm I'm working on.

7:43 I'm trying to trying to to to be less perfect.

7:48 We all do do our best.

7:49 with that.

7:50 Thank you.

7:50 Good luck with that.

7:52 Um, it's this it it takes place in Ireland.

7:54 Do you think that it it being in Ireland makes

7:57 it even more spooky because the buildings are so old?

8:01 Like if you shot it here,

8:02 you'd be shooting in like an abandoned Yeah,

8:04 in an abandoned Circuit City somewhere.

8:06 Yeah.

8:07 Has a different feel.

8:08 Um, abandoned Circuit Cities are terrifying.

8:11 Let me tell you.

8:12 Um, yes, Ireland is like the most pleasant, beautiful place on Earth,

8:18 but it we are out in the middle of the countryside and when the sun goes down,

8:21 it is immediately terrifying.

8:23 Oh my god.

8:24 Because it's just it's dark.

8:26 I mean, when the sun goes down, it's dark, obviously.

8:29 You don't say.

8:30 There it's dark when the sun goes down?

8:32 Yeah, I know.

8:34 But out in the middle of the countryside, there are no streetlights,

8:38 so it's really dark and uh, and it's and it's super scary.

8:42 When you're in those scenes where you're having

8:44 to be terrified and often you're by yourself,

8:46 what kind of sense memory are you doing?

8:48 Are you thinking about Trump getting a third term?

8:53 Yes.

8:53 Yes.

8:53 And I just start screaming uncontrollably.

8:57 It works.

8:58 Yeah.

8:58 Well, as a perfect actor, um, yes,

9:02 I will never let it That's the only way I will ever greet you.

9:05 on, whenever we see each other, you'll refer to me as perfect.

9:08 Is that what you're saying?

9:11 actor.

9:10 god, thank you.

9:11 What is there Is there anything that you

9:13 haven't done yet that you'd still like to do?

9:15 That's a really good question.

9:17 Um, I don't I don't know.

9:20 Um, I mean, I I really do think that You

9:25 know what I would like to do is play a talk

9:29 show host just so I could because coming here was

9:35 such a big deal for me just to like be at The Daily Show and like the the daily

9:41 the daily grind of a talk show I think is fascinating

9:45 and I and I know it's not as fascinating for everybody

9:48 who works here but I I find that I mean probably that again.

9:55 That's vodka in there right?

9:58 Cigar just drizzled over it.

10:01 Oh that's very it's because I one of my ways into wanting to be in show business

10:08 was David Letterman and that you know and and that really caught my imagination.

10:12 So I know that movies about talk

10:15 shows and movies about stand-up comedy are really

10:18 tough to make work that they never quite feel right but that would be fun.

10:22 Well so here let's switch seats.

10:24 OH GREAT YEAH.

10:30 ALL RIGHT.

10:31 OKAY YOU GOT THE L.

10:34 OH WOW OKAY.

10:38 I FEEL LIKE I NEED SOME CARDS or something.

10:40 Yeah grab the cards that's it.

10:42 Am I am I reading it?

10:43 Yeah you're reading it.

10:44 Hold on this is in theaters nationwide now Adam Scott.

10:48 Thank you.