I am such a huge fan of yours.
Thank you.
So I am the one who said, we have to have her on the show,
because first I watched you in Ozark
and I thought you were brilliant in Ozark.
[APPLAUSE]
Thank you.
And then Maniac and now Dirty John.
And I can't get over how often you have to cry.
You have to cry intensely all the time.
How do you do that?
It's like opening Pandora's box.
[LAUGHING]
You just think about horrible things?
Yeah.
Really?
Yeah.
I mean, you cry hysterically.
You're so good at crying.
Don't make me cry.
[LAUGHING]
Well, then it's easy.
But I'm such a fan of yours, so thank you
for having me on here.
You're welcome.
It's your first talk show.
I am so happy that I'm your first talk show.
So you come from New York and you have an interesting--
your dad is a teacher and an artist and a painter.
Right?
And what kind of art does he-- what does he paint?
Just paintings.
Like, he does he does everything.
I feel like it kind of switches with art in a way.
And then your mom was a comedian and now is a therapist.
Yes.
[LAUGHING]
That's the kind of therapist I want.
Yeah.
Yeah, no, it makes sense why I'm an actor now, I guess.
Yeah.
But you really are, you're amazing.
So how long have you been acting?
Did you act when you were a little girl?
No, I started acting when I was 16.
And how did you--
Jason Bateman is a good friend of mine.
Yeah, I know.
He's so great.
And very funny also.
He's very funny.
Not in Ozark, but he's very funny.
No.
He's still a little funny in Ozark.
Yeah, very dry.
Yes.
So how do you find that character?
I mean, it's a departure from who you really are.
You mean Ruth?
Yes.
[SOUTHERN ACCENT] I just, you know, I kind of,
I kind of do it.
You know?
You just found that--
Yeah.
[LAUGHING]
It's a nice chair.
She's confident too.
Oh, yeah
I love it.
It's fantastic.
Is it fun to play Ruth?
[REGULAR VOICE] Yes.
I would think that would be more fun than the character in Dirty
John.
Dirty John's fun too, though.
[CHARACTER VOICE] I mean, I really
love playing the character of Dirty John.
I love The Ellen Show.
It's great.
[LAUGHING]
She's happy with everything except--
With everything except for John.
Except for him.
And you're smart enough.
Did you know the podcast?
Had you listened to the podcast?
[REGULAR VOICE] Yes.
I kept on hearing about the podcast
and then when the script came in I was like,
oh, I should listen to this podcast and I did.
I was like, OK, I'm in.
Yeah, it's really good.
So you had a scene in Ozark.
I'm going to go back and forth because I'm just
a fan of everything you do.
But you had a scene in Ozark with--
and I'm glad you freed those bobcats, by the way.
You had a scene with a mouse, a real mouse, right?
Yes.
OK.
So you had to hold the mouse by the tail?
Yes.
OK.
I love animals, all animals so--
Including rodents?
Of course.
Yeah.
They're very intelligent, you know.
They are.
Very highly intelligent.
So you're holding a mouse by the tail and you couldn't do that?
No.
Did you try it once?
Yes.
Well, OK, so there was, like, a mouse wrangler.
I don't know what it was.
I think that's what it was called.
And they're like, oh, it's not a big deal.
It's like it's like a cord, it's like a cell phone cord,
it's like spaghetti.
It's like, I never want to eat pasta or charge my phone again.
And I tried to touch the tail and I
realized when I went to the bathroom I couldn't breathe.
Like my breath, I was short of breath.
So they had to get?
So they had to get a hand double.
A hand double to hold it.
So it wasn't you--
And I'm playing this really tough character.
I'm just like, I can handle anything, you know,
even a little mouse.
[SCREAMING]
[APPLAUSE]
Oh, my god.
[SCREAMING]
Oh, my god.
[LAUGHING]
Oh, my god.
That is so gratifying.
Oh, my gosh.
I'm going to have PTSD.
[LAUGHING]
All right.
So, I was wondering how that was going to come out.
So that was fun.
[LAUGHING]
All right.
Let's watch this the stages of fright.
Oh, my god.
[SCREAMING]
Oh, my god.
That surprised me.
Yeah.
Oh, my gosh.
Sure.
Yeah.
All right.
[APPLAUSE]
Wow.
So you're initiated now.
That was your first talk show appearance
and now everything's going to be so easy from here on out.
You know what, I'm happy that you did that.
Yes, of course.
Yeah.
I'm was wondering if you were going to do that to me.
He's been in there a long time.
[LAUGHING]
I'm so sorry.
I'm sorry.
He's gone now.
All right.
You're fantastic, so thank you for being here.
Thank you so much.
New episodes of Dirty John air Sunday nights at 10:00 on Bravo
and you come back anytime you want.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
We'll be back.
[APPLAUSE]