-Our first guest tonight is an Academy Award-winning
actress you know from films such as "The Piano,"
"The Incredibles," and "The Big Sick."
She stars in "Mr. Mayor,"
which returns tomorrow night here on NBC.
Let's take a look.
-Is there something you need from me, Arpi?
-I need you to explain to me why you think our administration
needs outside help from a bunch of boss babies.
-Because if there's anything I've learned
after a year in government,
it's that we should do everything differently.
-Hey, man, I'm your most progressive progressive.
America Ferrera told me to settle down
at the Women's March.
-Please welcome back to the show
our friend Holly Hunter, everyone!
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
Hello! It is so lovely to have you back here.
-Thanks.
-You know, you were a long-time New Yorker.
Does it make you happy to be back in the city?
-Oh, well, yeah. I mean, I love doing "Mr. Mayor" in LA
because LA is so set up for work.
-Yes.
-I mean, if you need something yesterday, they can do it.
-Yeah.
-But it's always a pleasure to come home.
You know, I've been here since 1980, and it's my home.
-What was -- So 1980.
You were a young actor in the business.
I'm assuming your first apartments here
were not super nice?
-No, I mean, really, it was like a --
It was like me or the cockroaches.
-Yeah. I think in 1980,
cockroaches were legally allowed to vote in the city.
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, I mean, like, when the light --
When you turn the lights out, they came out.
-Yeah.
-You know, it was their time. -It was their time.
I always -- Did you ever find this?
My first apartment in New York had a cockroach problem,
and I always thought the interesting thing
was when one died, it would, like, walk
to the middle of the kitchen and then flip over there.
Like, as a way of saying,
"I just want you to know I was here the whole time.
My entire life was spent in your walls."
-Yes, and no one comes out and takes them.
You would think they would carry their dead, but they don't.
-No. It's nothing. Well, maybe they do.
Maybe they drag them out, and then they all scutter back.
-I mean, like, they lived in my silverware drawer.
I mean, that's where, you know, in the middle of the night,
it was like -- Yeah. -No, I mean,
you were doing pretty well if you had a silverware drawer.
-[ Laughter ] -They didn't live in mine
'cause it was just white plastic wrapped in --
It was all the take-out.
-Yeah, the take-out stuff. -Yeah.
You also lived in Pittsburgh.
You went to Carnegie Mellon, which is also where your costar
Ted Danson went to school, although different times.
Let's be honest. Ted is, I mean...
-Oh, my God. -...so much older than you.
-He's like a dinosaur.
-I mean, we could talk about him because he's not here,
but, I mean, he's just a very old man.
-Yeah. Whew! -But you --
So this is interesting.
You went back. It's a wonderful theater school.
You went back and you taught a class recently.
-Well, you know, I thought it was going to be really fun...
-Yeah. -...and kind of stress-free
to go talk to the students
and, like, moderate their acting classes
and maybe give them some direction.
And the person who was taking me around said,
"Oh, I hope you don't mind.
Judd Apatow is going to be in the acting class today."
I was like, "What?!"
And his daughter was thinking about going to Carnegie.
-Yeah. -So he was in the class
the entire time that I was,
like, "directing," and it was so --
I mean, I knew I was going to be found out as a complete fraud.
[ Laughter ]
But, anyway, he was absolutely lovely.
And then after that, I ended up working with him
on "The Big Sick."
So I didn't do terribly. -You didn't do terribly.
You basically -- You were secretly auditioning.
You know who's mad, is all the kids
that you were teaching them, and they're like,
"And she's the one who got the part!"
She was supposed to be teaching us!"
And then Apatow was like,
"Oh, who's this teacher up there?"
-Yes. Yes. -Do you think you're a good --
Did you feel like -- I mean, obviously,
you probably had great acting teachers coming up.
Did you feel like you could impart wisdom
as an acting teacher yourself?
-no. -[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. I think I've had great teachers,
but I don't know if I'd be a great teacher.
I think it's two different things.
-No, it's a completely different thing.
I mean, I just wanted to be kind to those kids because...
-Right.
-You know, I can't really impart wisdom.
-Yeah. -I can't tell people what to do.
You know, whenever you tell somebody, like,
the best way to do it, they do it the opposite way,
and they're, you know, incredibly successful.
So I don't. -The other thing is, certainly,
in a small period of time that you were with each student,
like, you probably can't tell enough
about what kind of actor each kid is
to, like, give them -- Yeah. -Totally not.
-The best path forward, yeah. -Yeah, I mean --
No, I would never be that presumptuous.
-Yeah.
You work with an incredible ensemble cast.
"Mr. Mayor" has Tina Fey, Robert Carlock.
I'm lucky enough to call both of them friends.
They're both, like, the funniest people in the world,
but they're also, like, brilliant scientists.
The way they build comedy is --
has an incredible amount of patience and craft to it.
-Such a great way to put it.
They are like scientists. -Yeah.
-You know, because they're so interested in character.
It's not -- They're so funny, but they're not just --
They're so character-driven writers.
So, once again, you know, they're so particular
with each one of the cast members.
I mean, Tina's direction is just brilliant.
-Yeah. As an actor, it must be so great to be with somebody
who knows exactly what they want.
Like, that they can ask for it and you can deliver it.
-Yeah, you can just feel free really to jump.
You can just jump off the cliff,
and, you know, you're going to be caught.
-You mentioned Tina being wonderful as a director.
You worked with probably
one of the finest female directors we know,
Jane Campion, in "The Piano" and now "Power of the Dog."
She's nominated for an Oscar. It's really exciting.
[ Cheers and applause ] Yeah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I mean, that is -- That's -- 1994, you do "The Piano,"
and what was that experience like to work with someone --
Did you know Jane at all before you did that film?
-No, no, but I just adore her and love her,
and this is just the greatest thing.
I could almost, you know, burst out crying right now,
I'm so -- I'm so thrilled for her.
-Yeah. -You know, she's an artist.
She is an artist of the first degree.
She's, you know, a completely silly person.
She's totally absurdly funny.
-I mean, so, it's interesting because, you know,
I talked to Benedict Cumberbatch,
who obviously is wonderful in the film and nominated, as well,
and he was saying, you know, when he went into this,
he was a little intimidated because, of course,
she was, at that point, Jane Campion.
Did you feel the same thing when you did "The Piano"?
At what point in her career was it?
Or did it feel -- Did you know --
Were you like, "Oh, my God, it's Jane Campion"?
-"An Angel at My Table" I thought was extraordinary.
"Sweetie" was amazing.
So, yeah, Jane came with a certain calling card.
There was a pedigree there that I knew about.
-Yeah.
So, having kids that I'm slowly introducing animated films to,
do kids -- especially with "The Incredibles,"
do they ever hear your voice
and know that you are one of The Incredibles?
-Yes. -Yeah. Is that exciting?
-Yeah, it's actually kind of -- it's kind of heartbreaking.
I love it.
-Do they all -- Are they all happy about it?
Because my kids -- -Oh, yeah.
-Okay. That's good. -Yeah.
But you know what's so weird about "The Incredibles"?
There were 13 years between the first one and the second one.
Like, I get people who are, like, 20 who are rabid fans,
and I'm not really used to that.
-Yeah. -So that's cool
because they caught "Incredibles" part two,
and they love it, as well.
So it's such a cool swinging door.
-Yeah, it's a real -- Anything --
Look, anything that expands the fan base, right?
-True. -Look, it's a business, Holly.
Let's be honest.
Hey, thanks so much for being here.
It's always such a delight to talk to you.
-My Pleasure. -Holly Hunter.
The second season of "Mr. Mayor"
premieres tomorrow night here on NBC.