PLEASE WELCOME OUR FRIEND JOHN LITHGOW.
♪ JOHN LITHGOW.
♪ LITHGOW.
>> James: SO NICE TO SEE YOU.
>> James: YEAH, LOOK AT THIS.
WHAT A DAY TO HAVE YOU ON WITH.
>> SO GOOD TO SEE YOU.
>> James: JOHN LITHGOW IN PERSON.
>> IN THE FLESH.
>> James: I'M SO HAPPY TO SEE YOU AS I ALWAYS AM.
HOW ARE YOU?
HOW IS EVERYTHING GOING.
HOW WAS THANKSGIVING AT YOUR HOUSE.
>> THANKSGIVING WAS LOVELY.
I HAVE A LITTLE GLAND GRANDDAUGHTER DOWN IN TUCSON, WE
SPENT AN INTIMATE THANKSGIVING, FOUR AND A HALF PEOPLE, IT WAS
JUST LOVELY.
LIKE SO MANY OF THE COVID ERA'S VENTS.
SMALLER IS ET ABOUTER.
IT IS JUST SO INTIMATE AND LOVELY.
>> WAS IT MANY PEOPLE AROUND THIS TIME, WATCH HOLIDAY MOVIES,
AND IN THE 80S YOU STARRED IN SANTA CLAUS, THE MOVIE WITH THE
LATE GREAT DUDLEY MOORE WHO I ADORE.
NOW YOU SAID THIS STD WORST MOVIE YOU HAVE EVER DONE, WHY IS
THAT?
WHY SO BAD.
>> PEOPLE BARELY KNOW ABOUT IT OVER HERE BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT
IN ENGLAND IT IS A BELOVED SEASONAL FAVORITE.
THEIR VERSION OF IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
IN MY MIND IT SAY HID COUNTRIES LIFE SO BUT YOU KNOW IT DID GIVE
ME A FRIENDSHIP WITH DUDLEY MOORE, THAT WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL
MAN.
>> James: YES.
>> BUT DUDLEY AND I SAT ALONE IN A SCREENING ROOM AT THE STUDIOS
AND WE WATCHED IT TOGETHER AND WE LEFT-- LEFT THE SCREENING
SHAKING OUR HEADS, I DO BELIEVE I REMEMBER HIM USING THE WORD
CAREER ENDER.
WITHIN IT WAS ADVERTISED, IT WAS PRODUCED BY THE MAD HUNGARIAN,
THE FALCON, HE WITH WAS LIKE THREE GENERATIONS OF EURO TRASH
MOVIE MAKERS.
AND THEY, EVEN WHILE WE WERE MAWKING IT THEY ADVERTISED IT AS
THE MOST EXPENSIVE FILM EVER MADE WHICH IS A RED FLAG.
YOU START BRAGGING ABOUT THAT.
>> James: YES.
>> BUT WHEN I WAS DOING IT IN LONDON, IT WITH WAS IN I BAS IN
THE BACK OF A TAXI WITH ONE NIGHT.
AND YOU KNOW HOW SMART TAXI DRIVERS IN LONDON ARE, THEY KNOW
EVERYTHING.
AND THIS FELLOW RECOGNIZED ME FROM SOMETHING ELSE.
HE SAID WHY ARE YOU DOING AISHEDZ.
I SAID I'M DOING A FILL TESTIMONY.
, OH WHAT IS IT.
>> SANT CLAS, PINEWOOD WHO IS PRODUCING IT.
>> I SAID THE FALCON.
>> THE FALCON, I HOPE YOU GOT YOUR MONEY, MATE.
>> I THOUGHT OH BOY, WE'RE IN TROUBLE.
THAT WAS MY FIRST IDEA THAT I WAS IN THE WORST MOVIE I EVER
MADE.
>> IT CERTAINLY WASN'T IN ANYWAY A CAREER ENDER AT ALL BUT WAS
THERE EVERYBODY A MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE, BECAUSE I FEEL LIKE YOU
ARE SOMEONE THAT JUST WAS BORN TO ACT.
BORN TO PERFORM.
WAS THERE EVER A MOMENT WHERE YOU CONSIDERED A DIFFERENT
CAREER PATH?
>> OH YEAH, GROWING UP I WANTED TO BE AN ARTIST.
THAT SEEMED A PROMISING PROFESSION.
MY FATHER, I GREW UP IN A THEATRE FAMILY.
MY FATHER WAS A REGIONAL THEATER PROWR.
AND I DID LOADS OF ACTING BUT JUST FOR THE FUN OF IT WORKING
WITH THE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY.
IT WAS ONLY WHEN I WENT TO COLLEGE AND FELL INTO THE
THEATER GANG AND HEARD ENOUGH LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE, I SAID
WELL, THE HANDWRITING SON THE WALL.
I'M GOING TO BE AN ACTOR.
AND I REMEMBER I AUDITIONED TO GO TO LAMDA IN LONDON.
AND TOLD MY FATHER THAT THAT WAS WHAT I WAS DOING.
I WAS A SENIOR AT HARVARD AND HE-- THIS A MAN WHO HIRED ME,
LIKE FIVE OR SIX TIMES TO ACT.
THEATER WAS HIS LIFE AND HE WAS SO UPSET THAT I WAS GOING TO GO
OF TO STUDY ACTING.
WHAT DID YOU THINK?
YOU EVEN HIRED ME.
IT WAS BOUND TO BE AN ACTOR.
WHAT DID YOU THINK I WOULD DO.
HE SAID WELL, I ALWAYS THOUGHT MAYBE BUSINESS SCHOOL.
YOU SEE HE AS A THEATRE DIRECTOR ERCK HE AILES FELT THE WITH ONE
THING HE WAS TERRIBLE AT IS ADMINISTRATIVE AND RUNNING
THINGS.
>> James: RIGHT.
>> HE THOUGHT I HAD-- HE KNEW THAT THE ACTING PROFESSION CAN
BE MISERABLE.
IT IS NOT ALL JOY AND LUXURY AND SUCCESS.
SOMETIMES THERE ARE LONG STRETCHES OF JOY ITSNESS AND
FAILURE.
>> BUT WHEN YOU LOOK BACK, AS WE ALL DO IN MOMENTS, AND YOU LOOK
AT YOUR CAREER, WHAT ARE THE MOMENTS, WHAT ARE THE JOBS THAT
YOU HAVE DONE THAT STAND OUT AS MOMENTS WHERE YOU GO WELL THAT
WAS PURE JOY, THAT WAS THE REASON I WAS DOING IT, DO YOU
KNOW?
>> LUCKY FOR ME THERE HAVE BEEN LOADS AND LOADS OF THINGS.
THIRD ROCK FROM THE SUN WAS A SIX YEAR LONG JOY RIDE.
DOING M BUTTERFLY ON BROADWAY WAS GREAT GROUNDS BREAKING
PEOPLE'S THEATER.
WORKING WITH ALL THOSE MARVELOUS ACTORS IN THE CLOWN PLAYING
WINSTON CHURCHILL, THOSE ARE JUST A FEW OF THEM.
>> THE CROWN.
>> AND YOU THROW IN SOME OF THE MOVIE EXPERIENCES LIKE A-RF,
WILD RIDE, THE TWILIGHT ZONE MOVIE.
I MEAN IT IS HISTORIC.
YOU HAVE THAT, YOU FIND A WAY OF MAKING EVERYTHING JOYFUL.
I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU DO IT BUT YOU ARE RARE THAT WAY.
I MEAN ACTING IS A VERY SERIOUS BUSINESS BUT YOU'VE GOT TO HAVE
AN EXUB RANT JOY IN DOING IT OR IT IS A REALLY TOUGH LIFE.
>> James: I JUST THINK YOU CAN'T LOSE THE JOY AND THE FACT
THAT REALLY WHAT YOU ARE GETTING IS TO PLAY DRESSUP, I ALSO DRINK
QUITE A LOT SO.
KNOW LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR OTHER INCREDIBLE THINGMENT CONDITION
GRATES ON YOUR NEW BEST SELLER.
TRUMPTY DUMPTY WANTED A CROWN, VERSES FOR A DESPOTIC AGE.
NOW THIS IS THE SECOND OF THESE BOOKS THAT YOU HAVE DONE.
THE EXPLAIN WHAT THIS IS ABOUT.
>> THE FIRST ONE I CAME HERE AND I SANG AN ENTIRE POEM ON YOUR
SHOW, THAT BAS THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THE TRUMP
ADMINISTRATION AND THIS IS THE OTHER YEARS, IT IS RIGHT UP
UNTIL ABOUT THE END OF APRIL WHEN I HAD TO SUBMIT THE POEM.
SO IT ENCOMPASSES AN EXTRAORDINARY PERIOD IN OUR
HISTORY, IMPEACHMENT, THE ARRIVAL OF THE CORONAVIRUS, THE
FINANCIAL CATASTROPHE AND THE BEGINNINGS OF BLACK LIVES MATTER
ACTIVISM AND IN REALTIME I WAS WRITING COMIC VERSUS AS THINGS
GOT LESS AND LESS COMMON.
SO IT IS QUITE A UNIQUE BOOK IN THE SENSE THAT IT IS A HISTORY
BOOK, IT ATTRACTS THOSE QUNS I'M VERY PLEASED.
YOU WILL READ US A PO WELL.
>> YES, THIS IS YOU WILL KAD TRUMPTY DUMPTY WANTED A ROUTE,
THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT THIS POEM IS TO LISTEN TO IT BEARING
IN MIND OF WHAT HAD HAPPENED SINCE I WROTE IT IN MARCH.
>> TRUMPTY DUMPTY WANTED A ROUT AND THE ELECTORAL LANDSLIDE TO
BIV HIM MORE CLOUT.
WITH JOBS AND PROSPERITY LENDING SOME FUEL, HE WANTED TO WALK OR
CERTIFICATE TYRANNICAL RULE.
WITH THE DOLLARRIST DIMS IN THE STATE OF DISTRESS, DUMPTY COULD
FACE THE HUGE SMELL OF SUCCESS BUT IN EVERY GOOD STORY THE PLOT
ALWAYS THINKENS.
THE HE WAS CARELESS IN COUNTING HIS CHICKEN.
A GLUE SOME PANDEMIC ASSAULTED THE GLOBE.
IRONICALLY HOBBLABLE-- HOBLING OUR HEAD GERMOPHOBE FOR WHEN
TRAGEDY STRIKES, IT CAN BE A DUPLICITOUS DUMP, TRUMPTY DUMPTY
WAS OUT ON A LIMB WITH PROSPECTS OF WIN WERE SUDDENLY DIM.
THOUGH HISTORY'S VERDICT REMAINS TO BE SEEN, HE IS ALREADY A
VICTIM OF COVID-19.
>> James: OH, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THAT, TRUMPTY
DUMPTY WANTED A CROWN IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW WHEREVER YOU
BUY YOUR BOOKS, STICK AROUND,