-Tell me the story about this.
P.T. Barnum -- You must have done a bunch of research
and read about him. -Yeah, a lot.
He's an amazing character.
He was a true pioneer, a bit of a disrupter.
Like, I think of him as a Steve Jobs
or an Elon Musk.
He saw the world completely differently
than anybody else.
And he had this idea to change entertainment.
Art at that time was kind of stuffy.
It was opera. It was meant to elevate, meant to civilize.
He was like, "Screw that. Let's just have some fun.
He really invented pop culture.
So, it was, first of all, in the form of a museum,
and then it became the circus and the greatest show on Earth.
And he really redefined marketing.
He redefined entertainment as we know it today. Yeah.
-What is the song?
-"This is Me." -"This is Me."
-"This is Me" is -- -"This is Me" is the jam.
That's the one. -Well, you know what he did.
-"This is Me" -- get it on Spotify right now.
Alexa, play "This is Me."
-If anyone's seen "The Elephant Man,"
you remember, those people who were called oddities of the time
were kind of in the seediest part of show biz.
And they were locked up in basements,
and people were ashamed of them.
And he brought them out into the spotlight.
So, Tom Thumb was the most famous person on the planet
and beloved the world over.
The Bearded Lady, the Three-Legged Man,
he brought them out, and he made --
that was really his family.
That was his circus troupe.
And, really, what he was the first to do
was to say, "What makes you different makes you special.
Don't hide who you are. Celebrate who you are. Own it."
So, that is one of the big themes,
and that song "This is Me" is an anthem
that, every time I hear it, I choke up.
-It's fantastic.
We have Zendaya coming on the show on Monday,
and she's fantastic.
-Zendaya, to me -- And I've told her,
I'm ashamed of it -- I hadn't heard of Zendaya
when the studio mentioned her.
When I told my daughter, Ava, who is 12,
she was like...
Like, she, "Oh, my God."
-"Oh, my God, Dad!
You're so embarrassing!" -Yeah.
-"You don't know Zendaya?" -Yeah.
She's like, "You're in a movie with Zendaya?
You? What?!"
Honestly, she is so grounded, is such a wise soul.
And I can't wait for everyone to see her in this movie.
And I can't wait to watch to see what she does.
But we have Michelle Williams, Rebecca Ferguson,
Zac Efron, who was incredible in this.
And watch out for Keala Settle,
who is the Bearded Lady in this.
And she's been on Broadway for 13 years
doing eight shows a week.
She didn't think she was gonna get the part.
She came out, and she sang in our final workshop.
She sang it so well, tears running down her face,
that the head of the studio leapt out of his chair,
hugged her, and said, "You just booked your first major motion picture."
There you go.
Come on! -That's great stories!
I love that! -Come on!
-We have a clip. Here is Hugh Jackman
as P.T. Barnum in "The Greatest Showman,"
in theaters Wednesday, December 20th.
Check this out.
-♪♪ Come one! Come all! ♪♪
♪♪ You hear the call ♪♪
-♪♪ To anyone who's searching for a way to break free ♪♪
-♪♪ Break free ♪♪
♪♪ And the world becomes a fantasy ♪♪
♪♪ And you're more than you could ever be ♪♪
♪♪ 'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open ♪♪
♪♪ Yeah ♪♪
♪♪ And we know we can't go back again ♪♪
♪♪ To the world that we were living in ♪♪
♪♪ 'Cause we're dreaming with our eyes wide open ♪♪
♪♪ So come alive ♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-Our thanks to Hugh Jackman, everybody.