Paul Walter Hauser: ‘Black Bird,’ Chris Farley and More

The Last Laugh

The Daily Beast

Comedy Interviews, Comedy, Interviews, Tv & Film, Society & Culture, Tv, Movies, Film

4.6 • 661 Ratings

🗓️ 20 December 2022

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Paul Walter Hauser is the rare actor who can make audiences laugh hysterically and break down crying, sometimes within the same project. From early guest spots on comedies like ‘It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’ and ‘Community’ to his breakthrough roles in dramatic films like ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Richard Jewell’ to his deeply disturbing performance as a deranged serial killer in the Apple TV+ series ‘Black Bird,’ Hauser has proven himself to be a force to be reckoned with as a performer. But as he reveals in this episode, it has taken a toll on his personal well being. We get into all of it, including how he broke into the business by writing a movie for Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele, talking his way into a role on Tim Robinson’s ‘I Think You Should Leave,’ hitting “rock bottom” and getting sober during the filming of ‘Black Bird,’ and the Chris Farley biopic he is more ready than ever to make.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The first time I remember seeing my guest on this week's show on screen,
0:05.0	I was pretty sure I was witnessing one of the funniest things of all time.
0:09.8	What can you tell us about Tanya Harding?
0:13.6	I don't know what Tony Harding.
0:16.6	Are you her bodyguard?
0:20.2	Well.
0:22.6	You didn't let me finish. Well, I don't know her bodyguard? Well. You didn't let me finish well. I don't know her well.
0:25.6	How about Nancy Kerrigan?
0:28.6	Who?
0:30.6	You haven't heard of Nancy Kerrigan?
0:33.6	Oh, yeah.
0:35.6	I thought you said Nancy Herring.
0:42.9	This is the Last Laugh.
0:45.3	I'm Matt Wilstein from The Daily Beast, and that was Paul Walter Houser as Tanya
0:50.0	Harding's bodyguard Sean Eckhart in 2017's I-Tanya.
0:55.0	That film's unique blend of outrageous humor and intense drama may have been the perfect
1:00.7	breakthrough role for Paul, who had spent years by that point making small guest appearances
1:06.1	in comedies like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and Key and Peel, but had never really been given
1:12.0	the opportunity to show what he could do as a serious actor. In the five years since, he landed
1:17.6	the lead role in Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, appeared in two Spike Lee films, and most
1:23.1	recently starred opposite Terran Edgerton as a deeply disturbing serial killer in the Apple TV Plus series, Blackbird.
1:31.3	Paul isn't our typical comedian guest on this show, but he does clearly have a serious love for comedy,
	...

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