-Billy, welcome back to our show.
and I can't help but notice you brought some trophies.
-No, enough about me. [ Laughter ]
Well, it occurred to me that one of the last times
that I think Alec and I sparred together on the stage,
as it were, was at a benefit for the Second Stage Theatre company
that we -- I think it was at a bowling alley.
-They have it at the bowling alley every year.
-Yeah, the a bowling alley every year.
-A bowling tournament. -And they select certain actors
to be captains of the teams,
and they give prizes
to the captains and the teams who win.
And this one was for first place...
[ Laughter ]
...for our team. -Congratulations.
-And this one was for Best Coach.
[ Laughter ]
-You are the Tom Brady of celebrity bowling.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-Oh, my goodness.
-Now, I -- I didn't bring the third,
'cause I didn't want to rub it in.
-Which is what? Which one was that?
-That was Highest Score, Alec. -Highest score.
-Now, there was a guy -- there was a guy on my team.
They pay money to bowl with actors.
I don't know why that would be an exciting --
-It is a little weird.
Like, finance guys pay to be on the bowling team.
-Precisely. And the fact of the matter is,
we very rarely get an opportunity
to have athletic prizes as actors.
-Of course. -So to have a bowling trophy,
for me, was pretty exciting, and I thought,
"I'll bring it home to my son,
and he'll see that I've accomplished something.
You know? [ Laughter ]
And one of the guys who was on my team asked me
as I was leaving, "Hey, do you think, you know,
since we bought the tickets for this
that we could take the trophy home?"
And I said, "No. Don't even think about that.
[ Laughter ] "If you could, do me a favor,
though, get my backpack 'cause I'm busy
carrying the trophies to the cab."
[ Laughter ]
-You're hard-core, man. -Well, you know, um...
I don't have a lot.
He's got 5 podcasts, 17 children.
-A cooking show. -A cooking show.
-A cooking show, yes, that's true.
-"Pancakes with Alec."
-I've got one play, and two trophies.
That's the only award.
-Yeah. Oh. You know what?
You came up on Alec's podcast the other day
'cause you had a great interview with Cameron Crowe.
-I interviewed Cameron Crowe. -Who is the greatest.
-Listen, I want to hear that podcast,
'cause I'll take anything.
-I was telling them that, in this business,
if you do one movie that's a great movie,
like, you're done.
You could just go home and never work again.
And if you do one movie where your performance
is, like, an essential part of that movie, and, of course,
you were the love god, the Dionysian love god...
-The Golden God. -...the Golden God.
Let's hear it, please! "Almost Famous."
[ Cheers and applause ]
And you got to make one great movie,
and you can just be like, "I'm done."
-As you can tell, I'm riding that to the grave.
I mean, that and my bowling trophy.
-That and the bowling trophies.
-Well, Cameron -- Cameron was very patient with me
during the audition process because I was supposed
to play a guitarist, a lead guitarist, but I don't --
or, didn't play guitar.
-And on the podcast, he said that you learned guitar
in six weeks.
-Well, I learned to pretend to play guitar.
This is what -- This is what actors do.
I can't do anything. I can't --
The fact that I bowled and actually had a high score,
and it was quantifiable,
that's probably why I took these trophies.
-Yeah, because you actually did that, yeah.
-'Cause I actually accomplished something.
-So you're saying that your guitar-playing
in "Almost Famous" was like Dick Van Dyke's
English accent in "Mary Poppins"?
Is that what you're saying it was kind of like?
-That's not where the comparisons end.
But the --
I can't really do anything, except for fake talents.
-I was there. I was there when you were doing it.
You actually -- You were unbelievable.
-At faking it, Jimmy.
-You didn't really play the guitar?
-The lead guitarist for Pearl Jam
is the guy who recorded all of that, and then --
I shouldn't really be saying this, should I?
No, I absolutely played all of that.
learned guitar in six weeks. [ Laughter ]
-Yeah. That's what we want to hear.
That's what we want to hear.
Just tell us what we want to hear.
-You ripped it. -And you were in the movie.
-Thank you, Alec.
-You did the Irving Azoff knockoff character
What was his name? Larry Hope?
-Dennis Hope? -Dennis Hope was my character.
I was in "Almost Famous." I had a beard.
Do you remember working with me?
-I don't. I don't. [ Laughter ]
I remember everyone else. [ Laughter ]
-Vividly. I remember --
No, no, you -- on the gimbal, you had a little --
a problem with your composure? -I have a thing --
-Tell me about your acting background before that.
-Do you guys want to hear that? -Yeah.
-Do you have, like, time? -Here, wait.
Let me just put this down so we can focus on you.
-Yeah, I -- -Turn around, take it in.
-I started acting back in 1999. Just kidding.
I would never get into that.
-No, what I want to know is --
Could you hold that up for me, Jimmy Fallon?
I'm gonna say your name a lot right now
because you can become really famous
if I keep saying your name on TV.
Jimmy Fallon, hold that up. Hold that up.
Which is, why do you keep going back
to the theater all of the time?
You go very regularly to the theater.
What do you get out of that?
-Well, I think, I mean -- You know this as well as I do.
There's a tradition of acting in America
that some of the most formidable performances,
some of the most formidable material that we found
has come from the theater, has come from playwrights,
and that's what I grew up associating with acting.
I would come to New York and see Broadway shows with my mom.
Saw a production of "Fences" with James Earl Jones.
-Where'd you grow up?
I'm gonna do my podcast with him right now.
Jimmy, you can go. [ Laughter ]
-Hey, Jimmy. -My guest is Billy Crudup.
Billy, where'd you grow up?
-Just get my cab. -Where'd you grow up?
-No problem. [ Cheers and applause ]
-Get over here! -So I was --
-Are you guys still talking about me?
-Yeah. -Sorry.
No, let's talk about this. -The theater's a habit.
It's a habit for you.
-It's the thing that I most adore about --
Oh, wait, sorry. You're still here.
-No, just keep talking. No, that's good, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
Do you like it better than film, or no?
-This is great.
[ Laughter ]
♪♪♪♪
[ Cheers and applause ]
-So, tell us about "Harry Clarke."
-In this play...
-Jimmy Fallon is currently at the Minetta Lane Theatre,
playing "Harry Clarke." -Thank you to my guests,
Jimmy Fallon and Billy Crudup,
who's appearing at the Minetta Lane Theatre
in "Harry Clarke."
We'll be back with Schwingy. [ Laughter ]
-Schwingy, we can't -- We bumped Schwingy.
Instead, guys, we're gonna be right back with a performance
from Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats.
Schwingy... [ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪♪♪