-Our first guest tonight is an Emmy-nominated actress
you know from her work in the critically-acclaimed shows
"Orange is the New Black" and "Russian Doll."
She executive produces and stars
in the Peacock series "Poker Face."
New episodes stream Thursdays. Let's take a look.
-We were political prisoners.
-Ah, no [bleep].
-No [bleep] whatsoever.
-How'd you get into that?
-I was in college. It was a turbulent time.
-Mm. Oh, yeah. I mean, the '60s.
-Did you hear that?
-'70s, bitch. -Oh, right.
Yeah, I was gonna say the '90s 'cause of all the flannel.
-You'd have been better off going there.
-Please welcome back to the show our friend Natasha Lyonne!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
Welcome back, Natasha! I'm so happy you're here.
-Thank you. I know. I am happy to be here.
-It's very lovely to have you here
for a show that is just wonderful, as well.
We had the show's -- one of the show's creators.
Obviously, Rian Johnson, who wrote and directed it.
And he's wonderful. And we were talking about --
This is sort of a throwback to those sort of
"Columbo" style shows. -Yeah.
-You play someone who can tell when people are lying,
which is very good casting.
'Cause of all my friends, I feel like
you have the best bull [bleep] detector.
-Oh, thank you. -Yeah.
-That was a lie, Seth.
[ Laughter ]
[ Cheers and applause ] It's a weird...
-But I -- You've got to think
you have a good bull [bleep] detector.
-Well, as a child, uh...
You know, I ran a small gang.
Uh, the Bugsy Malone gang. [ Laughter ]
-You -- How old were you when you ran your first gang?
-You guys know them, I guess.
We were notorious.
Uh, I was about 7 to 10.
It's all a blur back then.
And, yeah, so, as a young pickpocket, I --
It was I guess just a skill you learned out in the streets.
-Yeah.
-You had to be street-wise, you see?
That's what it was like back then.
And -- But, you know, the city, it's always changing.
Gentrification.
-Good shift into gentrification.
-Yeah, I wanted to seem like I was from modern times.
Yes.
-You're talking about your street-urchin gang
that was picking pockets.
-Yeah, I didn't want to seem too old-timey.
-Yeah. Oh, nobody ever thinks you seem too old-timey.
-I just don't want it to be alienating.
I am going to say things now like "gaslighting"
just to bring it in. -Oh, good.
Because gaslighting -- I know people say it in modern times,
but I don't think of that as a modern term,
since it came from a '50s movie.
-No, it's a famous -- Yeah, a big famous -- Yes.
That's the reason I know the word.
Yes.
-That is the embarrassing thing.
When people start using something in social media,
and you're like, "From the 1950s film?"
And they're like, "You're an old man."
-Yeah, they don't like that. Keep it young, Seth, okay?
I asked you for one thing here tonight.
-Keep it young. -Yeah.
I do everything I do for the tweens.
Yeah.
-"Eyes on Tweens." That's your --
-"Eyes on Tweens."
-You have a new show that's on PBS.
-On PBS. It's a -- Ken Burns created it.
-Oh! That's great.
-It's his first foray into fiction.
-Oh, wow! -It's exciting.
-Now, you, um -- You don't care for --
'Cause I don't consider what we're doing right now
sort of classic small talk.
You are not a small-talk aficionado.
-Don't believe in it. -You don't believe in it.
-Nope.
I, uh -- I would say I aggressively don't like it.
I think -- I think it's damaging to society as a whole.
-Do you feel this way about receiving it as far --
as also for asking it?
-Yeah, I don't like it in any of the directions.
-Okay.
-And I -- It's like John Lennon says. "Just give me some truth."
And I've come here tonight
to let you know that those are my interests.
To become -- I want to age into a sort of
Bob Dylan type figure and say things like that.
But I think it's really dangerous.
Because if you say to somebody, "How are you?"
their only option is to lie aggressively, right?
Like, society says you're supposed to say,
"Oh, I'm good," and keep it moving.
But you're not good, are you? I mean, sometimes, rarely.
But you should say something more like, you know, "50/50."
And --
Then the other person could respond with, like,
"Me? It's a great day. 70/30."
And on a human-condition level, I think we'd all be well-served.
It would be more honest. We'd keep it moving.
We could eliminate "How was your weekend?" entirely.
-Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-So you agree? [ Cheers and applause ]
-Now, do you think -- Can I make an argument for --
"How is your weekend?"
An argument for it being a thing you say
when I walk into an office with one of my coworkers --
A thing to say just so
I don't immediately start talking [bleep] and gossiping.
-Right. -You know what I mean?
It's just like an opener
just before we actually get into the nitty-gritty.
-Sure. Uh, listen.
Society functions in some ways, Seth.
-Yeah. -For example, traffic lights.
They're helpful.
That's what I'm sort of hearing from you in this moment,
is a traffic light.
-Yeah, I want a little bit of signaling.
-Yes, but might I propose...
the idea of a third thing. -Uh-huh.
-In other words, arguably,
it doesn't have to be gossip at all.
Maybe it would just be a third thing,
sort of a topic, you know?
Like, "Oh, great microphone."
You'd talk about the microphone for a while.
And then you'd move on to the pencil and walk away.
-So, anything not to ask
about how you're doing or your weekend.
Just drill down on the inanimate objects you can see.
-That's what I like. I actually -- You know, today,
I've been struggling with inanimate objects.
We talked about it backstage.
So maybe that's a -- -It's so nice you're being
honest with the audience about the fact.
-I know. -Natasha told me backstage -- -
-I had to listen to Marvin Gaye to get back in the zone
before I came out here. -You were worried they were
going to be props out here, because you were certain
you'd drop them. -Yes.
And -- But as soon as I told you, I felt a sense of relief
of now that probably won't happen.
And those are the kinds of conversations
people should be having. -Yes, there was value to that.
I have a lot more to ask you about your wonderful show.
We will be right back with the one and the only Natasha Lyonne.