-This is a fantastic show. I'm enjoying it so much.
-I was very familiar with the "Watchmen" comic book.
You were less so. -I wasn't at all.
So you're way ahead of me. -Yeah.
But Laurie Blake -- this is a very kick-ass character to play.
Have you enjoyed it so far? -Oh, my God. I had a ball.
Yeah. -I mean, I can only imagine.
I should note that in the comics,
which took place in the '80s, Laurie Blake's character
you played wore a lot of spandex.
Now you're an FBI agent. -That was -- Yeah.
-Yeah. Are you happy --
-That was one of my first questions is,
"Don't make me wear that outfit."
-Yes.
-Yeah.
-And it seems like the FBI outfit seems very fitting.
-The basic black, yeah. -Basic black.
Your son knew the comic book? Is he excited --
-No, he didn't, but he's very psyched about the show.
He loves the show. -Okay. That's good.
-So I'm still the cool mom. -Oh, that's good.
-Hanging in there.
-Just hanging in there on the cool-mom thing.
-Yeah.
-The wonderful actor -- you could not tell behind his --
shiny silver mask -- is Tim Blake Nelson.
-Mirror guy! -Mirror guy, Tim Blake Nelson.
How is it working -- It's a fantastic cast
from top to bottom, but how was Tim?
-He's a new buddy. I just love him.
First of all, he's one of the smartest people
I have ever met in my life.
He's a real intellect. And also a minx.
He's always saying, you know, naughty things
to make you laugh.
-Gotcha.
-But he's a very dangerous person, actually,
to be on the road with.
-Okay. How so?
-Well, he invited me to a strip club in Atlanta.
-Okay. -Where we were shooting.
It's called the Clermont Lounge. You can Google it.
It's C-L-E-R-M-O-N-T. -Okay.
-And it's become famous because all of the strippers
are in their 60s and 70s.
-Is this a true thing? -This is a true thing.
And I don't mean to mock those ladies,
but it's not like they're, like, ex-dancer.
This is, like, your grandma... -Really?
-...going out there and just
pulling her top down and going...
-Wow! So this --
-It's not to be believed, and he just decided
that we had to experience this together for some reason.
And, so, we sat there.
And, first of all, I should have known not to go in,
because I was meeting him there, and when I went to the door --
it's in a basement of a hotel -- to get my wrist stamped
and I bought my ticket, the guy who was stamping my wrist
didn't even move his cigarette, and he burned me.
-Oh, my God.
-Yeah, and I should have just turned around and gone right --
-Yeah. That's a very -- That's a red flag of all red flags,
if the guy in charge of security is burning the customers.
-Exactly. And, so, you know, we watched the ladies
and we tipped them.
-Oh, that's very nice of you.
-Yeah, and one of them, when she wasn't dancing,
came over and asked me if I wanted to dance.
-Uh-huh.
-And I was like, "Um, well, oh, gosh.
No, thanks. No, but thank you very much."
And I realized she wasn't saying,
"Do you want to dance?"
She was saying "Do you want a dance?"
-Oh, my God.
-And I looked around. I went, "Oh, lap dances.
-So even these women at this age are even doing lap dances?
-Yes, they were offering me a lap dance.
-And is this, like -- -She was a little bit younger.
She was maybe 50. -Yeah.
So in the prime of her stripping years, yeah.
-Yes. Yes. No, it was not to be believed.
And then, you know, a guy -- A giant drunk guy
knocked me off my barstool.
-Yeah. It seems like hanging out with Tim Blake Nelson,
intellect or not, doesn't seem like
a very safe thing to do.
-No. He text me the next day and goes, "How are you?
That was great. We were chasing life."
And it was like -- But I have to say, he is a very nice man.
He's very happily married. -Yeah.
-And he's a very good daddy. So, Tim, don't be mad.
-I feel like I don't -- I don't feel like we'll remember
any of those other details.
You have a couple interesting props in this show.
The first one I'm gonna talk about is, you have a pet owl.
-Yes.
-And you had to -- In one of the episodes,
you fed the pet owl a live mouse.
-Yes. -Were you holding a live mouse?
-Yes, I was.
I said, "I can't feed him to the owl.
I can't do that.
I don't mind holding a mouse, but no."
And they said, "Oh, no, no.
We'll cut to the owl later." The owl was close up.
But the mouse -- the poor mouse -- every time --
'Cause they wanted it hanging down, dangling.
He kept crawling up on top of my hand like --
-Sure. 'Cause he doesn't know it's not real.
-Wouldn't you? -You're like, "No, no, mouse.
This is a movie. This is TV." -"Help me!"
So, we had to do several takes, until he finally
just sort of --
-Gotcha. You just tire him out. It's like working with kids.
You just do it enough until they're too tired.
The other thing -- You know, I'm trying to think of
the classiest way to say it, but one of your props
in the show is a giant blue dildo.
-You're really going to go there, aren't you?
-I mean, what else are you gonna call it?
I feel like -- Now, when they first told you --
When this was first introduced to you as a --
And I will say, the shocking thing is,
reading the comic book, I immediately got what this was.
-Yes.
-But not being a comic fan, were you taken aback
when you realized this was --
-Well, yes, because they sent me the script
after they offered me the part.
And I'm reading. I'm thinking, "This is so great.
This is cool.
Now she's got -- What's she -- Oh, dear God, no."
Now, I mean, it's the only time I've been sort of
grateful that my parents are no longer with us.
-Oh, that's --
-It's like...
-It's nice, though. -Just for that minute.
-Just for one minute. -I miss them so much.
-Yeah.
-Yeah, no, that -- I think I would have had to --
-Yeah. Well, I think the good thing to know is --
if they were with you -- still with us,
that would have killed them.
-Well... -Yeah.
So it's probably for the best. Now it's not on you.
[ Laughter ]
-No, actually, my mother could have dealt with it.
My father, no. -Oh, yeah.
Well, that makes sense. That makes sense.
I know this show is very much under wraps.
I believe four of the nine have aired
at this point of this interview.
-Yeah.
-You probably can't give anything away.
Is there anything you want to tell us to look for
while we're watching it or are you just too under wraps?
-Oh, gosh.
No. I just think that something that your people
are hoping for, they'll probably --
might get to see, and something that they didn't expect at all
they're gonna see, and they're almost the same thing.
-That is fantastically vague, and somehow --
somehow makes me want to watch it even more.
And I already wanted to watch a lot.
Thank you so much for being here.
Jean Smart, everybody.