-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Amy Adams.
Before we move on, I have read that you pick up hobbies
and maybe drop them fairly quickly?
This was a time that a lot of people were
at least trying new things.
Did you -- Was there anything that stuck?
-No, but I did pick up a lot of hobbies.
They just didn't stick.
I'm a big fan of string instruments, apparently.
I tried the ukulele, the mandolin.
My husband got me this beautiful cello for Christmas
a couple years ago.
Can't play the cello.
Still haven't tried to play the cello.
I did try the ukulele.
I tried to learn "Party Favor" by Billie Eilish.
-Uh-huh?
-And my daughter was like, "Yeah, you can't --
You're not allowed to sing Billie Eilish."
-I will say, the order seems to be ukulele first,
not cello first.
That seems like an incredibly ambitious present
to buy somebody.
-Well, I love the sound of the cello,
and I think, you know, he was being kind in
supporting my love of string instruments that I can't play.
-Yeah, that definitely sounds like something you return
and you're like, "Do you have, like, CDs were people
play cello that I could just put on?"
-The funny thing is, I still believe
I'm going to learn all of this, Seth.
I still really believe that I'm going to be
proficient at string instruments.
I don't know why. -I like that.
I think we need more sort of self-belief like that,
so I'm going to jump on board, as well.
And let's set a time. -Okay.
Let's say three years from now,
you'll come on the show and do cello for us.
-Okay. I can play like seven chords on the guitar right now,
so, hopefully, maybe I'll just learn
those seven notes on the cello.
We can come up with a song or something.
-That sounds like a plan.
Hey, so, "Hillbilly Elegy" is this book by J.D. Vance,
and it's sort of his personal history.
And he was involved in the making of this film,
as was his mother.
Does it have -- I imagine it must have
an extra sense of responsibility
when you play a real person who's also nearby.
-Yeah, absolutely.
She came to set a couple of times,
luckily through some of the scenes that weren't as heavy.
That would have been really hard to film.
I do -- I have a really huge sense of responsibility
in playing somebody that's out there
and I know she's going to be watching this.
But she was incredibly courageous
and she's doing really well, so that helps.
But it's intimidating.
I mean, like -- Yeah, everything about it.
Like, coming up with the look, the --
She was going through a really hard time, too, in the film,
so, again, I'm just really grateful for her participation.
-And you got to co-star with Glenn Close.
And there's obviously a lot of hair and makeup and wardrobe
in this film that makes you both look very different
from how we're used to seeing you.
But at the end of the film, it shows, I mean,
the wardrobe department, the makeup department,
the hair department did an incredible job.
You guys really hit the target.
-Thank you.
Glenn -- when you see the picture of Glenn and Mawmaw,
it is uncanny.
They look so similar, and their mannerisms and everything.
She just nailed it. She's amazing.
I loved working with her and getting to know her.
She's a wonderful woman.
-I have not -- It was -- I moved from a few years ago,
and it was heartbreaking, because I used to live
in the same apartment building in New York as Glenn Close.
And seeing Glenn on the elevator
was just the jackpot of jackpots.
Did you know her particularly well
before you started doing the film?
-I didn't know her very well.
We're really lucky because we got to stay
in this bed-and-breakfast when we were shooting in
Clayton, Georgia.
I have the mug from it here,
which I've been drinking water from.
It's, like, my favorite mug. -That's a beautiful mug.
-Thank you. Yeah, I think so, too.
It's from the Beechwood bed-and-breakfast.
It's a -- And then there's, like, a wine --
They have wine there, too.
So we would sit with the wine and have coffee and, you know...
-Very natural.
You can tell, by the way you're drinking from it,
that it's not your first sip of anything from it.
-This is why I was never good at commercials, Seth.
It's like, there's things we're just not good at.
I'm bad with props. -Yeah. It's true.
I think, especially in a commercial --
In my early days, I had a few commercial auditions,
and when they put a prop in the mix --
I mean, I'm not a good actor to begin with,
but it really, like, cut my talent in half.
-Oh, I'm bad with props.
Every time they're like, "Okay, so, you're going to walk in
and you're gonna drop off your purse and you're gonna dump it,"
I'm like, "Ooh!
Okay. How much time do we have today?"
-Do you like -- Because I think some actors
really like to eat in scenes, because I think that takes them
out of their head.
Are you a good eating actor?
-Horrible. -Really?
-I don't know if I just have a dry mouth,
but I just always end up with, like --
I can't get the, like, food ratio,
and it always ends up getting in the way of the dialogue.
And I always -- I'm just really bad at it.
I've seen people who are really good eaters.
I've worked with a couple.
-Yeah, I feel like Brad Pitt could do, like, a "TED Talk" on
how to eat and act at the same time --
or, like, one of those, like, "American Masters" series,
and I think anybody -- I would watch that.
-Yeah, you know how they teach, like, stagecraft
where you learn how to fight onstage or --
-Yeah.
-Yeah, that would be a really important one,
I think, that I --
-Yeah, because, like, when Brad Pitt's eating, like,
a sandwich in a scene, you're just never worried
that he's going to spit lettuce on anybody.
He just -- He seems very in control of it.
-If I'm eating, you're just sure.
You're like, "I'm not sure where this ends up,
but it's not good."
-I will say, I've seen films with you
where you start to eat, I just turn it off.
Films I'm enjoying.
-I'm trying to think if there's films.
"Julie & Julia," she eats a lot.
The Christmas scene -- I was a master eater in that, so...
-That's a lot of pressure.
I mean, once again, like, this proves
that you can play a stringed instrument,
if you could get through a whole film
where you had to eat that much.
-If I could just put my mind to it, yeah.
-It is always so lovely to see you.
I wish you and your family a very happy Thanksgiving,
and thanks, as always, for making time for us, Amy.
-Thanks. You as well. Be well.