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An Oral History of Mad Men, Part III: Bryan Batt aka Salvatore Romano
232 Plays8 months ago
In studio, we are joined by Bryan Batt, triumphant triple threat. Bryan was on Broadway, Bryan was in movies, Bryan was on The Simpsons (!!) Bryan was on Mad Men, that’s what we will cover today, Bryan plays Salvatore Romano, closeted art director at an ad agency in 1960s New York City.
Bryan described the the impetus for his love of clothing, and vibrant scenes from New Orleans, behind the scenes for the costuming of Mad Men, Bryan and Conor were in the same place unawares once in 2008, and a resolute belief that life is too short.
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Transcript
Introduction to Brian Batt's Career
00:00:00
Speaker
Welcome back. Feels like it has been kind of a long time. And I guess it has since I've been sick and like my brain has been melted. But today we are going to wrap our Mad Men series with a very special and distinguished guest.
00:00:16
Speaker
We are joined in studio by a man who has shaken hands with Jon Hamm. A man who has dined with Sir Patrick Stewart. A man whose caricature is displayed publicly in sardines. Here's a man who's written books with an S. He was even on The Simpsons, for Pete's sake. He dances, he sings, he acts. The one, the only, Batman, Brian Bat, Mad Men, Salvatore Romano.
Impact of Mad Men on Brian's Career
00:00:41
Speaker
Welcome. Thank you so much for being here.
00:00:43
Speaker
Thank you for that great introduction. We appreciate it. We try to build our guest up. And you have a very long and storied career. And yeah, we appreciate you indulging us with our obsessiveness about Mad Men. Well, I'm glad to help. I'm glad to help. It was a highlight. I must say, it was one of the most wonderful things I ever had the pleasure of doing. That's awesome. We had the reproducence of it.
00:01:11
Speaker
have been just really enriching. So I've totally, completely, 100% great. Totally. How are things in New Orleans today? It's cold as fuck in Georgia. I am sorry, but it has been absolutely gorgeous. For the last, I mean, 10, maybe days, it's been clear. Today's a little cloudy, but it's been sunny. And literally, it'll start maybe in the high 50s and maybe get to 70 in the day. Oh, perfect. That's the perfect weather.
00:01:41
Speaker
You can do worse than that. Well, you know the apocalypse is coming when that happens. Right. And that is the bittersweet nature of it all. It's like, keep it cold, keep that Gulf of Mexico cold, God damn it. Yeah, seriously.
00:01:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah.
Brian's Early Fashion Influences
00:01:58
Speaker
We've had what I call a fall spring in Georgia for the past week or so, and today a huge storm came through and the temperature has dropped 15 degrees in the past two hours. I hate to say that, I wish you would send it along. I think you might just be out of the range of this wild storm system.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah, I'm just, my birthday's on Friday, March 1st. And years ago, for my 50th, we had a birthday party here in the house, and it's usually warm. And all of a sudden, there was this cold front that came through. We cranked up the heat, you know, and then all these people in the house and had heaters outside, opened the windows. I can't remember the whole scenario, but we couldn't get heaters or something. And one of our friends from New York said, usually when it's cold outside, you close the window.
00:02:46
Speaker
We had planned on it being open air. So you'd have to go with the plan. Totally, totally. Enough of the work. So Brian, we usually start off most of our interviews with a similar question. And I think it might be a good way to jump in here. You seem like a very stylish dude from our research and seeing your photos. Do you happen to remember kind of like an early or the first memory of a piece of clothing fascinating you?
00:03:16
Speaker
Several. I remember having to get having to get dressed up to go downtown to get my picture taken with Santa Claus. And I was from a very somewhat conservative, I would say upper middle class. I wouldn't say because, you know, when I say upper class, I'm wealthy. I've met people like like crazy as well. Right. You know, we're not sure.
00:03:39
Speaker
Very comfortable. But, you know, I was born in 1963. My parents were, you know, born in the 30s, early 30s, and they grew up in the 40s and the 50s. So there was this sensibility, and even back then, that you dressed up to go downtown. Right. So I had all these little wool shorts with the knee socks. And I remember this little camel coat, this little coat and my little matching cap.
00:04:01
Speaker
The only problem was it had to be at least 80 degrees. But I had to get my picture in this little outfit. But I also remember doing like they were for one of the little shopping centers or one of the one of the little department stores that fashion shows. And somehow I got looked into doing it. And it was Buffy and Jody from Family Affair. The curly haired red Johnny Whittaker was his name. And he was like he came in to the host. I thought that was the coolest thing. And
00:04:31
Speaker
I remember loving the clothes there, but the one thing I do remember the most was, I think I was either in kindergarten, I might've been five, I think, but I wanted to pair flare pants. Now, this might've, I might've been four or something. It's before they used to make everything for kids, so you couldn't get jeans when we were little. I mean, they were only, they were work things, and teenagers had them. They didn't make them all for kids. And my parents were going to London, and I was like going, all I want
00:05:00
Speaker
our flair pan. They should have known that.
00:05:05
Speaker
Yeah, I remember, I don't remember which interview we were reading with you, but you mentioned like your parents going to Europe and all you wanted were like flares or bell bottoms and you were like, yeah, they didn't make it. Yeah, that and puppets, yeah. Yeah, and I always loved
Designing Clothes and Personal Style
00:05:23
Speaker
fashion. I mean, I was into it and then, I don't know what happened, but I think middle school, you know, you kind of, things start, you start to like, where am I gonna fit?
00:05:32
Speaker
And I went to a very kind of preppy kind of school. And that was also the big rise in preppy, the preppy look, which I really did like. I kind of took it to like a little further, like my mom, we, my parents were throwing a party with a bunch of their friends for family members, some friends and family was getting married. The group life, I loved my parents were so much fun and their parents, their friends and all the kids got along too. And it was almost like inherited family in a way for generations.
00:06:00
Speaker
um so one of the some of the kids were older they were getting married they said brian needed to go get a suit and i went to the men's store and i came back in a gray worsted wool like i looked like a fucking banker and i was i was
00:06:15
Speaker
I think I was 16, because I will never forget I had a date with her. She's still a good friend. And she's just a blonde bombshell, just gorgeous. Wild, a mane of blonde hair. And she had on a linen, almost like a Marilyn Monroe dress. And we go to the door and one of my dad's friends, hey, Ryan, what's with the big boy suit? And then he took a look at my dad. He goes, oh, big boy date.
00:06:39
Speaker
But I was really into that, like the bright colored, like the Kelly Green pants and the corduroys with embroidery and all that stuff. And then suddenly like in high school, I started to get this itch for more GQ looking things, you know? And it was a very, you know, I started to model in college for extra money. And I started to get into like, oh, high fashion.
00:07:02
Speaker
And all the while, I would design stuff. I love designing clothes, both men's and women's. And I really was into that. I mean, like, my mom would have to go to a Mardi Gras ball and I would design the gown or some other things. Or, you know, it was really when I got up to New York, I've always been into it since. But I went to Parsons. I took several classes at Parsons School of Design. Oh, that's great. And I dropped
00:07:29
Speaker
See, this did not come off. Yeah, seriously. I swear it is not in an interview that you're a designer at all. Really? Oh no, really. Yeah, that's crazy. That's amazing. A friend of mine from college, he's a big artist, his name's Brantley Elsie, and we both did plays together. He's from Arkansas, but he lives in Memphis, and he's an incredible artist.
00:07:50
Speaker
And he found, I don't know how he had, we did several plays together. Some of my sketches of these men's sweaters and the guys have spiked hair and I thought they're all hand knits. That's when Perry Ellis was doing all these great hand knits. And I was so into it. But no, yeah, I've always, in fact, my nieces were just, they made, they still do this here in New Orleans. They do this big debutante. And they were presented at several balls and they were queens of, so a wondrous queen to be ever part.
00:08:16
Speaker
And I helped them with design their games. That's great. And I had fun with that. Yeah. You know, I always loved it. Yeah. I always was into it. I mean, have you ever really had thoughts about starting your own clothing line?
00:08:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Yeah, I did. I did. I just think it's a little late. I mean, I will I would love to help or try. I mean, I think, you know, I was so busy acting and that's a whole nother world. Oh, absolutely. Actually, all I know is what I like and what I think works. And and someone else would have to handle the business and like how many bolts of this and how many sizes of this to make. And I wanted to do a dinner.
00:08:56
Speaker
I really was thinking I wanted to do a line of evening dinner jackets during Whiteman Matt Bandit because even before that, friends of mine moved to Tokyo and we did some side trips and they said just bring, if you want to have any kind of suits made or copied, bring them with you. They'll have it done in a day and it's great.
00:09:18
Speaker
So I brought a dinner jacket that I loved and I brought some seersucker fabric and I had this seersucker dinner jacket made for uh, you know, just to have every, and now listen, this is, I mean, this is like after the first season of Mad Men. So we're talking, you know, back then I had it made then and every time I don't wear it all the time, but every time I've worn it, I get incredibly, an incredible amount of compliments.
00:09:41
Speaker
As a
Mardi Gras and New Orleans Culture
00:09:42
Speaker
Southerner, this sounds amazing. And I really hope that you have photographic evidence that you can pass along to us.
00:09:50
Speaker
no data points so I don't want to be in the closet. Yeah, we would love to see it. Yeah, yeah, we will. We're doing audio only, but yeah, for our. Imagine if you were, yes. Yeah, yeah. We definitely want to use that to promote. But wow, that's a, that is maybe the best answer we've had for that question. Yeah, talk about hidden talent, because I don't think there's a single person that said that they did manage clothes.
00:10:18
Speaker
Oh no, it's Ollie. I've always loved it. In fact, Janie Bryant, who's a costume designer on that, is a dear, dear friend. And we've talked about it. We had so much fun when she would make our closet, is what she called it, for each character. And before we'd start filming, we would go to Western Costume in L.A.
00:10:37
Speaker
And she would have pulled all the suits and everything that we might need for that season. Some things were made. I think Brooks Brothers provided the shirts, the shirts and shoes. And I hope that is not someone at my door that I'm supposed to let in. Oh, it's OK.
00:10:56
Speaker
That would be a okay. We can pause it. Yes, we can. Yeah, we have the technology. That's amazing. Wow. So good. Sorry about that. No worries. No worries. We have a casual program here. Only one here. So we were talking about Jamie Bryant making the
00:11:16
Speaker
your closet and we'd meet and she would have all these clothes in and say, if the show started in 1960, well, she had suits from 57, 58, 59, maybe a few 60, because just because it's 1960 doesn't mean you're gonna wear everything from that year. And she's totally smart. And I've been a fan, of course, of costume and costume design, and worked with some really great costume designers on Broadway, like William I. D. Long. I mean, there's some incredible people. And Anthony Powell, who's the great-aunt.
00:11:45
Speaker
I never really realized what also a TV or for the film, because although we were on television, we were filmed. It was one of the last TV series that was done on film. Texture and attention to texture and fabric is even more so because you can see it. It's getting close. And she did all the period undergarments for the women. We did not have to wear
00:12:11
Speaker
I see that. As a joke question, do you have to wear period skivvies? No. We had to wear... I never got notes on my underwear, you know, because I like to be... I don't like anything moving around too much. Yeah, yeah. Are you a boxer brief man? I'm a boxer brief. Yeah, yeah, same. The boxer brief. Yeah. I'm joking, but I'm gonna drop a name. Uniqlo.
00:12:36
Speaker
The best dude for like basics? The heiurisms? Incredible. Right? But the heiurisms, I mean it breathes, it doesn't, I'm a big fan. So you sit there in the room and like when we first met we just clicked because
00:12:53
Speaker
I told her how much I love fashion and design and also that period. I've always had an affinity for that era of, you know, clothing and design. I've always loved mid-century modern. Little bits and pieces, not one like a whole house done that way. It's like we don't live in the past. It's like when you go to some home and it's all done in, you know, Louis the 15th, like I'm sorry, you're not, you know, that's done, you know, but mid-century.
00:13:18
Speaker
iconic pieces together. That's what I love. Anyway, we were talking and we just hit it off. And we had so much fun. So she invented Sal's separate. So I would, I would mix my vests and my jackets that didn't match my suits. So she called them Sal's separate. So it's kind of like Sal's around. But we didn't get, I mean, and it became to some people in the show, I won't say who,
00:13:41
Speaker
would like give her grief you know but like i don't like this color on me or and a man you know like oh this suit doesn't end like going it's a suit you look great it fits you like you know it's perfect and uh it's you're like that's what i say when you have someone that great
00:13:58
Speaker
Like, I can't remember who it was, but she was doing a show with Theonia Aldridge, who has won, like, 95 Tony Awards. And was it liking her costumes? Am I going, you might want to trust the expert, you know? They might know something that you don't know.
00:14:15
Speaker
about their field of expertise. Obviously, someone else thinks they know it. But, you know, anyway, I loved everything she put me in. I remember one time, I think it was something during the Red Scare that was a Christmas thing. And I can't remember was it with Castro and everything. And he had me in a red blazer or red sweater wrapped around. And man, man, Matt came up on set. He goes, no, no, no, no, no. He would never. No one would wear red during that because, you know, that was as a communist color.
00:14:45
Speaker
like, oh my god, the detail. I mean, their attention to everything. The only thing that we had as an actor, I thought, oh my god, she is trust. It's sometimes a choice of cufflinks. There'd be a couple to choose from or a couple of choices of socks.
00:15:03
Speaker
I remember one time, I'm walking from my trailer onto set, into the sound studio, and she is following me, taking pocket squares out and sticking them in. No, no. It's hysterical. But I love her, and I love her. I think she's so talented.
00:15:20
Speaker
And just her use of color and text from that show, she just created a, she perfected that world. Yeah. Yeah. One of the things that I think is the most standout about the show is, is literally that meticulous on every single front. And yeah, you know, I admire her work. I watch other period pieces now.
00:15:44
Speaker
And it's not like my eye goes to find anachronisms or something that's wrong. But when they are, it is so glaring to me, like a hairstyle. I saw something recently that took place in the 50s.
00:15:57
Speaker
he would never have his hair falling in his face like a bee. Right, right. Yeah, that's
Storytelling and Authenticity in Media
00:16:02
Speaker
kind of the whole thing about that. He was a bee knick and he was not a bee knick. And there were some other things that just, and unfortunately that takes me out. Yeah, agreed. I remember when I, and they had a painting, I think in one of them when the older couple was, the water was coming in and there was this also, and it was a, it looked like the Mademoiselle de Avignon and I'm like,
00:16:23
Speaker
That didn't go down in the Titanic. I'm glad that we are not the only people that think about this. You, in your vast career, also have this nerdy aspect to it, which makes me so happy.
00:16:42
Speaker
And it's not like I want it, you know, I want these people I don't try to find, you know, but if they're out there, if it's that glaring, it'll take unfortunately, take it out, take me out. You know, it's just that that's all right. Totally. Totally. If it's about immersion, right. That's kind of the that's kind of the point. It also drives me crazy when you create this fantasy world, if this is totally different than Mad Men, like you're watching something that is a fantasy and you set up these parameters.
00:17:12
Speaker
you have to stick to rules. I remember seeing a musical on Broadway about Dracula, I think it was called Dracula, and he ends up dying by gunshot wound or something stabbed by silver like, no!
00:17:29
Speaker
You know, it's like, these are the ways, you can't have this, you know, like what was the movie it? Oh, nevermind, I won't go there. I won't go there, because Janie did the costumes. Where are the rules? Just, there were no like, even though it was a scary, crazy scary movie, I'm like going, where are the rules? This is the latest it.
00:17:47
Speaker
Oh, right. Yeah. I have not. A student asked me what if I saw Pennywise right down the hall? What if I saw Pennywise right there? Yeah, right. What would happen? I was like, I like clowns. I did. So, is that a sign, Glenn? No, of course. No, not you. I was going to say, is a clown myself. Yeah.
00:18:10
Speaker
clowns all the time for Mardi Gras when I was old. My mom would, the whole family would, you know, get dressed up as, there was always a theme. I can a little bit understand the phobia, but it's like, I guess it's just like a phobia, you know, it doesn't have to be rational. No, but most phobias- And masks are scary potentially. Well, I'm used to them coming from here. Yeah, right. Yeah. Cause we would mask like a weed, we would mask a Mardi Gras and people are already having costume parties. So we have a costume closet.
00:18:39
Speaker
Yeah. Wow. I was going to ask what, and maybe that is, maybe that is the answer to this question. What is your favorite thing about New Orleans? Like all of the amazing things. It's kind of this sensibility that at the drop of the hat, there's going to be some kind of celebration.
00:18:57
Speaker
All I said, we celebrate everything from life, from births to funerals, and everything else in between. There's always been an excuse to have a good time. You know, life's too short. I'm affirmably, that's what I love. But we just had Mardi Gras down here.
00:19:12
Speaker
and it's kind of funny my husband's not from here originally although we've had our business here it's going to be we're going on our 21st year I know we go back and forth you know but but he considers himself now an Orleanian and he is more into putting together his Mardi Gras costume and I love that I really do
00:19:31
Speaker
It is, there's all these different aspects of Mardi Gras. Like, you know, like I said, my, my nieces and then the debutante balls, like, he's like, pick one or two, you know, I'm going to one or two of them, of course. But on Mardi Gras, one year, my, one of my nieces was that Rex is the main one, the king of Mardi Gras. And it's a big honor. And she was a maid in the court and another one was presented when he's like, okay, but we had to like, go have a great time during the day, then run home and nap, put on tails and then go downtown.
00:20:00
Speaker
where everyone's just still going crazy, and we're walking through in tails to go to this meeting. You can see the meeting of the courts, look at on YouTube, the meeting of the courts, Rex, and Google it, and you'll see. I can't remember her year. I think she was 2018, 2017, and then one was 2020. But you can just watch this last year or year before. It's very ceremonial.
00:20:26
Speaker
And it's all, you know, it's, it's, but it takes place in the evening of Mardi Gras and then there's a party and everything ends at midnight. Everything stops. They come down the streets with the horses and the things to clean up all the trash and everyone has to leave. By law. By law, you know. And there's all these traditions that I really like and some of my biggest stupid but far great traditions.
00:20:47
Speaker
But I love also how New Orleans celebrates itself. It loves itself. The architecture here is absolutely beautiful and not just the French Quarter. You drive all over the city and Uptown is filled with all these gorgeous, you know, Victorian houses and little tiny, we call them shotgun houses. And the Garden District has a steamboat Gothic and it's just everywhere you turn.
00:21:13
Speaker
And they'd rather preserve and keep this gorgeous architecture going than tear it down and put up something modern. If something is totally destroyed, then they'll tear it down and put it. It's rather celebrating a history. Right, right. Are you a
Technology and Human Interaction
00:21:31
Speaker
literary person?
00:21:36
Speaker
I mean, I wrote a play that I'm hoping will get done in New York. I did it here and we have producers and we're just waiting on some rights issues called Dear Mr. Williams. And it's based, it's a real story of growing up in New Orleans and getting out, but it's also told through Tennessee Williams words. So one heard of it is Tennessee Williams words and two thirds are mine. And he guides me.
00:21:57
Speaker
and I go back and forth playing. I would like to think of myself as literary, but I'm horrible. I get on this damn computer and it takes me away from my huge stack of reasons. Right. Don't we all? That is the struggle of modernity.
00:22:16
Speaker
And the other day I kicked off or somehow I got off of Instagram or first it was Facebook. I came to what happened and it took a while and I had to couldn't get on. For some reason, everything was blocked. My phone had blocked meta or something, the number from meta to send me the code to get back on. I mean, everybody else can send it. I get it from my doctor. I get it, you know, my bank accounts and all that stuff. But for some reason, this one was blocked.
00:22:46
Speaker
couldn't get it. And I finally they said, well, this is a way you can, you know, Facebook, you know, show you show your passport will scan your passport or your license. It's like, okay, I did it. And then I told my husband, he's like, kidding me, that's, that's the only identity sign that call the place that used to be called rent a nerd. But now it's called
00:23:07
Speaker
helped me out, you know, he got on my computer, he's like, I've never heard of this, you're going to have all your passwords, which I did, and I couldn't remember any of them anymore. And then I had to change, you know, freeze all the credit things, because if someone tried to open up a credit card in my name, anyway, turns out it was legit. That's how Facebook and meta, you know, checks on your true identity came back in because
00:23:35
Speaker
Next day, Instagram says there's been some suspicious stuff. We need to prove that you're not a robot. OK, I'm not. And I did press the squares with the bicycles. Did that. Right. So let me log out and try to get back in. It's been two weeks. I finally got back on. Oh, my God. Yeah. Well, what a fucking time to be alive. Right. So many reasons. I'm like, you know, it was just a little early. Yeah. Yeah.
00:24:02
Speaker
Man, it's going down. I never thought I'd ever see him like that. It's truly, truly. And like I, Connor would probably disagree. I'm not a complete Luddite. I know how some technology works and I try to use the technology that I want to work and half the time it's like, that's you. Like, oh, cool. Yeah, this thing should just work.
00:24:24
Speaker
Passwords just are not good. They're not good. Passwords don't, they're for many reasons, they suck. We need to figure out a better way to do it. I know we need to figure out a better way to do it. Well, I have this face identity thing on my phone and it doesn't accept me.
00:24:39
Speaker
And it's, yeah, yeah, that's what I mean. I mean, like the fingerprint scanners are kind of wonky. Like the face ID shit doesn't work half the time. The self checkout, you put your face or your fingerprint and all that stuff. Very scary. Very scary. I refuse to engage with any of that shit. I try not to, but because it's like,
00:25:02
Speaker
why do we get first of those machines always inevitably like at least one out of three times someone's going to have to come over and help oh yeah if you're buying liquor or something that's wrong or whatever
00:25:14
Speaker
Just hire someone to do it. And those machines are costing so much. And also, people can scam them. Oh, absolutely. They made it very hard to get around by this point. Theft is like, well, I don't want to say, but I've seen people like, you know, not put them when they're weighing their salad bar stuff, you know, holding it up and just putting your finger down, just getting in like, oh, it's only a dollar. They have this whole, you know,
00:25:40
Speaker
The giant by my house, it weighs the paper bags individually. So if you take a paper bag and don't account for it, you cannot proceed. Then someone has come over, a human being.
00:25:56
Speaker
We're taking these jobs, I don't want to get political, but they're taking jobs away. Like some people, they're not going to, there's only certain work that they can do and they want to do it and get paid and have a job. And this is one of the jobs people can do. Absolutely. You know, it's, to turn it over.
00:26:15
Speaker
I feel like most, you know, I use self-checkout a good bit because I just don't enjoy talking to people. I don't enjoy small talk. And you're doing this. I am mini duality. That is something of a masochist.
00:26:34
Speaker
when I do, you know, if I go get coffee somewhere and have like a, you know, a 30 second nice conversation with someone, I enjoy that, you know, and like it taking it's taking the human element out of a lot of things. And I agree. I agree. Yeah, I'm, you know, especially like,
00:26:54
Speaker
Like, you know, if you go somewhere enough, you kind of become a regular, and that's like a great feeling. I liked being a cashier, even. Like, every time that I was a cashier, I liked being a cashier. It's like nice to talk. It's like a different 15-second interaction every time, you know what I mean? It's just... When I shop a hazelnut, if I'm not working, if I'm not doing a show or I'm not working, doing a film or something, I'm usually there. And during the holidays, I'm like,
00:27:23
Speaker
day of 24 seven if I'm at work and I try to schedule because it's a difficult time and it gets packed and it really is fun talking to people and I sometimes I see people I haven't seen in a long time or yeah the show whatever but I do enjoy that I do enjoy the human interact also every once in a while you get a jerk but for the most part not you know at least for us yeah that's awesome um so Brian we we've already talked a little bit about how stylish you are um like
00:27:53
Speaker
We noticed kind of scrolling through a lot of your Instagram posts, you and your husband both dress exquisitely and you have a lot of, you know, soft shouldered Italian looking stuff. Kind of like what, how would you describe your style and some of, obviously you've been into it for a long time, kind of your style influence.
00:28:15
Speaker
I think I'm a classic with a twist. I like certain, sometimes I like a little punch here and there. I love during the summer, I love what I call, fuck you, and I wear it with like a white oxygen shirt or a blazer. But one time for one of the Mad Men parties, I wore these Moschino
00:28:37
Speaker
They were black and white, hibiscus, floral pants, white shirt, black blazer. And I got written up in Us Magazine, like, what not to. And they said, Thurston Howell, I can't remember what it's up, they were requiring me Thurston Howell. Oh, the Gilligan style one, yeah. The Gilligan style, the wrong. But it was ridiculous. I thought I looked great. Janie thought I looked great.
00:29:01
Speaker
And the whole thing is I don't care what they think. I mean, it's it's you get to a place in your style that you do have to not give a shit when anyone else thinks. And I think my age, I'm like, screw it. I don't care what. But sometimes, you know, I'm getting dressed. I'm like, you know, you turn back to like seventh grade like, oh, they're going to think I'm going to do something like that. You know, I don't like.
00:29:22
Speaker
And right now, um, I love, like you said, the soft shoulder thing. I love, are you familiar with suit supply? Of course. I love their stuff. I mean, I go in there and just think it's, it's so beautiful. So it fits me great. I can walk in and just, and they have this great, some of the great double-breasted wide lapels that you don't have to spend, you know, $8,000, $9,000, which I would
00:29:46
Speaker
never spend that much. Right, they take a lot of that classic Neapolitan and the stuff that Tom Ford is influenced by and distill it into an affordable option for the majority of people. Well, I need Tom Ford, please. I mean, can I tell you my Tom Ford story? You can absolutely tell us your Tom Ford story.
00:30:07
Speaker
Hands down
Fashion as Self-expression and Influences
00:30:08
Speaker
my favorite video, and it's on YouTube. I want to say it's 2004, but I think it's his last winterfall runway show when he was with Gooch. I think it was his last one.
00:30:23
Speaker
And it's this one way in his polls and he had both male and female pole dancers wearing like Oxford shirts and just underwear and socks and I wanted everything that came down that runway he had and the guys walked down the runway.
00:30:40
Speaker
with uh tumblers of scotch or bourbon it was it was just everything i love about fashion and these great dinner jackets and the red velvet it was just the coolest but i met him at um a bAFTA party during the height of madman and i remember because they're bad they're things are during the day they like these teas you know during the day and um
00:31:05
Speaker
Tom was out of town, so I went by myself. I went solo. And I went in and then I saw all these stars. And everyone's like being cool because we're all in the same boat. Everyone's nominated, blah, blah, blah. And I see Julianne Moore. And I get kind of like, oh my gosh. I think she's fabulous. And I loved her and everything since I watched her in soap operas when she played twins.
00:31:32
Speaker
Double the fun. And I'm like, I've got all nervous. And I was like going, oh, you know what? She's an actor. You're an actor. You know, she's here. Just go say hi. So go to the bar. And I couldn't get up my nerve to say hi. She turned around. She sees me. Oh, Brian. Right. I love Mad Men. Started talking like, I want you to meet my friend. Time for it. I'm like, go. And the day before, the day before,
00:31:59
Speaker
January Jones had said, who are you wearing to the Emmys? And she said, well, Tom Ford's making me a dress. And I said, oh, great. So in conversation, I said, oh, and by the way, I hear you're dressing my friend January Jones for the Emmys. And he goes, I only dressed you. Oh. Silence. I'm like, oh, OK. Well, all right. Nice meeting you. I'm going to go get my wine.
00:32:19
Speaker
Wow, he's weird, you know, but he's so talented, so fucking talented. Absolutely. I mean, he redefined stuff, redefined it, and just, and I still think he'll never go out of style. There's wide lapel, uh, dinner. Well, like he said, a lot of it is classic with a twist, which, uh, for, it's not for everyone. I'll, I'll give it an, or, you know, give the line the hat, but it, it does just look timeless, uh, for lack of a better word.
00:32:46
Speaker
Yes, I love now that everything is not for everything, that there is not. Like when we, in the period of Mad Men, everyone had the skinny suit, the skinny tie, and some bodies don't look that great in it. My person, I'm barrel tested. I had to lose, I was at my thinnest. I could, and I still look big in those suits. There's nothing you could do. When the Armani draping suits, when they're in the 80s and 40s, 90s, I look good, you know, that worked for me.
00:33:15
Speaker
Or also, I was dancing on Broadway, so I was like, you know, I got a twig. Not a twig, but I wasn't as well fed as I am.
00:33:26
Speaker
I love that there's not just one thing, and I think that's also for men and women. It's not just, this is it. Right. Totally. Whatever looks good in you, what works for you. And also, I mean, on another, I'm going off the tangent here, but I love that, no offense, but I love how you have a blazer. I know we're just at home. But I really like dressing. I think when you go out, and maybe this is the old man in me,
00:33:56
Speaker
Well, to tell the truth, I mean, it was Tom that got me really back into it. I was doing a show on Broadway and I was playing the lead and I'll be coming out of the stage door. And Tom said one time, he was like, you know, Brian, you kind of look like you're waiting for your mom to pick you up. You know, I had on baggy shorts and it's like,
00:34:14
Speaker
you're playing the lead in a Broadway show, you kind of need to just a little bit dress the part. You know, if we're going out afterwards, I'm like, oh my God, you're right. So then we started, this is also during Mad Men, when we'd fly, I mean, we'd put on a blazer. Now there's, you can have, I found all these unconstructed jackets and unconstructed loose fit, like some of them a knit or something, or like in the summer a linen with a t-shirt and some cool pants, whatever. And I will tell you, the flight attendants, the people everywhere,
00:34:43
Speaker
They treat you just a little differently. Absolutely. A hundred percent. And restaurants, and this is recent, but I remember going to, it was right after Hamilton had opened. A friend of mine was one of the technicians, he was one of the designers, so we got his house seats. And I'd met Lin-Manuel several times and he was a big fan of mine. So we'd go there in this house seat and it's star-studded. It was like literally right after that. And
00:35:10
Speaker
You know, in walks Felicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, dressed to the nines, almost like, you know, all they needed was Airdale's, you know, the dogs. And all these other people are put together, and I won't mention their names, but they're big stars, beautiful woman and her boyfriend at the time, in sweats and a scrunchy in her hair, no makeup. And I'm like going, it's Saturday night on Broadway, in the biggest hit,
00:35:37
Speaker
of maybe the you know this century so far you know could be um maybe you know comb your hair you know maybe yeah uh you don't want to shame but a part of you also wants to shame not necessarily but just rise to the occasion all it takes is a little effort it just it just looks it looks lazy yeah
00:35:59
Speaker
It looks like I don't care. It doesn't matter. And I think things should matter. I think when people are paying that kind of money, I don't know. Maybe I'm just showing my age, but, you know, it's like, would it kill you to comb your hair? And then afterwards,
00:36:15
Speaker
came up to certain people in the audience, came up to Debbie Allen and Felicia, came up to me and Tom and I asked if we wanted to go back some pictures. And they went to this other couple and they're like, oh, well, we didn't, we're not, because they're not dressed to get their photo. So that's just, you know, I'm sure people are going to bitch and moan, but
00:36:38
Speaker
It's two sides, right? Like the world is burning and so people should dress or the world is burning and people shouldn't dress. It's kind of in the middle. It's a very, very, very wealthy, he used to trade derivatives and he used to have to wear a suit to the office all this time. And he was dealing with millions and billions of dollars all the time. And then they started with casual Friday. Right.
00:37:05
Speaker
And she's like, oof. And then it got to be casual Friday. It was every day. And she made a good point. She goes, I'm sorry if I'm handing you millions and millions and you're dealing with concealment, Mama, I want you to look like you bathed.
00:37:24
Speaker
Like, you have some, you know, and I think he was so tired of having to wear a suit and everything to work that now, I mean, to get him to put on a blazer to go anywhere, it's like pulling teeth. I'm like, you know, it's crazy. I don't know, I'm sorry to get on that tan. No, no, we love tangents on this movie. Well, it is the show. And I had a line, I had a line of that, man. I had a line when, I can't remember what it was, it was, it was, Scott Seasony, maybe,
00:37:51
Speaker
And I have a line in the art department room where one of the guys says, she likes you because you dress like you have money to dress. And I'm like, you don't have to spend a lot of money to look like to dress. You don't have to dress like you do. And especially now, I went to a wedding not too long ago. A friend of mine's daughter got married. It was a beautiful wedding. And some guy, I was in line to sign the thing. I kid you not,
00:38:17
Speaker
Cargo shorts and a t-shirt. Oh, no. Too old. And I was just, I didn't say anything, but I wrote it like, you know, congratulations, we love you. I'm behind the man in cargo.
00:38:30
Speaker
Oh, that's wonderful. And that might come across as the neatest, and if it does, so what? I'm sorry. There are parameters. There are parameters, and you have to follow them. I'm a very casual person these days, but if I'm going to go to a fucking way through a funeral, like put on a shirt, put on a tie, put on a suit, like it's not that bad.
00:38:52
Speaker
And this has been going on for a long time. Tom's from Pennsylvania and he went in the little town of Pennsylvania and he went in for his, I think it was grandmother's funeral or something. And like the older women, some of them just all came in sweatsuits and like little, you know, eat like slippers. And I'm like,
00:39:08
Speaker
Yeah, I guess, you know, I guess you're there. Right, right. It's kind of the, you know, it's kind of the like, the phrase when you don't close the door, it's like, Oh, did you grow up in a barn? Like, did you not grow up around? Exactly. Yeah. And then I have an aunt who just passed away last year, who I just adored. And she was so dramatically. She was, she dressed like Auntie Mae. She was not playing around. And she didn't care.
00:39:33
Speaker
if it was like you know I remember one time to my grandfather's funeral and I was in I was a freshman in high school she had black netting wrapped like this veil wrapped around her head and had this hat and like a fur black fur I mean it was like who are you you're so fantastic at the point yeah
00:39:53
Speaker
You would wear hats the size of Cleveland. I mean, she would make a statement and I'm like, I love that. I love seeing people express themselves, you know. Of course, of course. Yeah. Like that's what I usually say is it's it's my first creative exercise of the day. You know, and so like if you want to just wear a t-shirt, fine.
00:40:15
Speaker
But like, I will probably look better than you. And that's good, right? That's a benefit. People are not dressing up. It's also people, you know, I guess it's a workout culture. And I avoid that by never working out. I hate it. I have a motto, no pain, no pain.
00:40:39
Speaker
I still hate it. No, all these people wearing, you know, workout clothes should go to the grocery or to go run their own errands or like, you're not at the gym. You're not working out. This is running errands.
00:40:55
Speaker
You know, you know, it's like, put on your errand clothes. I'll tell my little, tell my little, I'll go to a doctor's appointment or, or I don't know, whatever, or go to a board meeting. I've decided board meetings where people have come in in, you know, their workout club, you know, sports bra and some Lululemons.
00:41:10
Speaker
Oh, it's just it's everything. There's a vast spectrum and we have gone pretty far to one side. I don't know if we'll ever go now. You're right. It's really back again. But it's like I think this just is the way that it is.
00:41:26
Speaker
It was a phenomenon that a lot of men that had stopped really giving a damn started to care about how they looked again. And it did garner a lot of attention from the opposite sex or whoever they were trying to attract. Bloomingdale's did a whole big spread
00:41:46
Speaker
on and all the windows in their stores across the country were madmen. And they had a big party for us in New York, dressed us in these suits. I still have the suit upstairs. I think it was a Zinnia. It's great. And they said, well, thank you for this one. They said, no, thank you. It's not been since Miami Vikes has it been such a trend or such a push for a certain look. And it's not just one thing. It's
Preserving New Orleans' Heritage
00:42:14
Speaker
the shoes.
00:42:15
Speaker
It's the suits, it's a pants, it's a shirt, the night bars, the cuff links, the whole nine yards. So it was like, it did have an impact.
00:42:24
Speaker
Yeah, we have talked in the previous episodes. We did the first one with two friends of the show that love to Mad Men. And then we did kind of a round table and a lot of the conversation in these shows is how, you know, Mad Men and the style and the attention to detail really like
00:42:48
Speaker
influence people that we that we've been talking to and i think it yeah it was it was a catalyst for a long time yeah yeah i mean you know it wasn't just like a two-year kind of thing i feel like it was really built foundational clothing knowledge
00:43:06
Speaker
Right. And I think what happened was when the show progressed into late 60s and that more, you know, counterculture were like, you know, wider ties came in and platforms and psychedelia and all this stuff. People were like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. You just gave us this now. And that's what the 60s were. Absolutely. The 60s flipped everything. Yeah, yeah. You know, everything.
00:43:28
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, you can walk into a Macy's now and get a quote unquote skinny suit that has, you know, things about it that are definitely inspired by the 60s. And, you know, again, they don't fit everyone and they're mostly garbage. But, you know, that's it's mainstream now. It is. It is. I'm not. I love finding things. I love. Have you ever heard of Lords of Harlech? It's a little
00:43:58
Speaker
It's Lords of Harlech, H-A-R-L-E-I-A-C-H. They have these great embroidered pants. I have some wonderful pants by them and some pattern pants. And like Mr. Turk, Trinna Turk, Trinna Turk has a men's line called Mr. Turk. I get some of those crazy pattern pants. And but anything- I'm taking notes. I mean Mr. Turk, T-U-R-K.
00:44:20
Speaker
Yeah, they're expensive. Well, they want to go on sale. Go ahead, because I'm like, it's kind of, it's a little, little reminiscent of lilypulets. Right, right. Right. Yeah. But there's another French thing called Pert-E-R-T-E-D. Pert-E-Ego means loss of ego. They have these embroidered camp shirts that are just so cool. I'm in love with them. And then the other thing I love, anything that Todd Snyder does,
00:44:47
Speaker
Okay, yeah. That boutique, it's right in Rockefeller Center. I go in, I'm just going, I want it all, you know, because it's classic, a little twist, and I can do my thing with it. But, you know, it's, I really have to go clean up my closets and start over.
00:45:04
Speaker
Yeah, the wonderful perks of what it's called. Yeah, that's the that's like part of it, though, like the I guess having like a catalog. Right. And I'm going to wear this and keep this for a while. You're going to let go of this.
00:45:20
Speaker
Well, one of the perks of Mad Men was that Brooks Brothers, and I still like a lot of things, would dress us for things. And if we had to go to an event or, and I became friends with, you know, that department there and the PR department. And if I had to go to an opening or whatever, I was like, hey, can I, sure, come on in. And I have all this style. It's like, you know, thank God that's never going to go out of style, you know? Right. A camel hair jacket from Brooks Brothers is never going to go out of style or black.
00:45:50
Speaker
And I think it was also Joseph Abboud had invited us in and asked for a couple of seasons, would make stuff for us to wear to certain things. But that kind of dried up. Yeah. Yeah, sadly. But I still have some of the things because they're beautifully made and they'll never go out of stock. Totally. Totally.
00:46:14
Speaker
You know, Brooks Brothers, like, basically hasn't changed much since the dawn of time. And so, yeah, the fact that, you know, the fact that something looks 60s to 90s is fantastic. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. But also, they've changed some of their cuts. They do different cuts for, you know, the more trimmer fit. And then, you know, and also,
00:46:40
Speaker
Tom Brown did a line. Yes, yes. I'm so glad you brought that up. Was it the golden black label? It was the black label. Black Fleece, Black Fleece. And I still have, they gave me this gorgeous black fleece coat. It's like gray cashmere with these bright silver buttons, kind of a military coat. And because I was going to the Obama inauguration,
00:47:04
Speaker
oh god i went to that too it's fucking freezing freezing right it was so cold i was like it was oh my god i had the we were and we had this hand warmers right remember they gave you this yeah yeah yeah so cold and
00:47:18
Speaker
It was a wonderful day. It was great. I was so happy. However, you know, I wanted to like have a little meeting with the police because they kept on misdirecting us. They didn't. Oh yeah. I don't know how long. And I went, you guys, you do this every four years. You know, come on. Isn't there a game plan?
00:47:41
Speaker
You know, here it's amazing what the New Orleans Police Department does for Mardi Gras. That they're not, I mean, granted, there's one or two unfortunate murders. This one was one of them. None of them had to do on the parade route. It was some other thing and some other area that had nothing to do. But the crowd control that they accomplish with tens of thousands, I don't remember even more, in the streets, most of them drinking, you know, to control that. I find that fascinating. I said, y'all ought to get together.
00:48:11
Speaker
Get together and compare notes. Yeah,
Diversity in Theater and Media
00:48:14
Speaker
something. Because I was working the inauguration, right? And they didn't really give anyone any directions. It was like D-Day paratroopers, kind of. Everyone was like, not where they were supposed to be. And everyone was like, well, what are you? I'm a group 17. Let's go find group 19. It was just really chaotic.
00:48:40
Speaker
We were right behind, my brother was friends with one of the really good friends with one of the incoming, whatever, one of the congressmen. They gave him some tickets. My brother was a Republican. I don't know what if he still is now, I hope not. I know he's 45 support of it. This is how I got to go.
00:49:04
Speaker
We were invited, Playboy magazine did a spread on some of the guys and some clothes for Mad Men. And in turn, we had been invited a couple of times. I went once during the summer to the Playboy. And then we invited to the party. So my husband was like, nope, you know, I'm not that pleased, really. And because why don't you ask your brother?
00:49:28
Speaker
And then my brother's like a polar opposite. I mean, he's, you know, but we're very close. But I mean, that's a bucket list thing since he's been 10 to go to play women. And he asked his wife and his wife said, as long as Brian's there, have fun.
00:49:46
Speaker
So, we went and it was so great. I mean, we had the best time. We had to wear costumes and you have to drive to a parking lot and then the bus takes you to the mansion. Is it in New York? Is it in LA? LA. It's in LA. It's in LA. Yeah, it's a compound. It's a zoo and a grotto and all that stuff. Yeah, I bet. It's where the reality show is.
00:50:09
Speaker
Anyway, we get there, and it's like, you know, they're celebrities, but they're mainly older, like Julie Newmar was there, Jane Russell was still alive, and then all these buddies. And my brother, they're like, look at that dress, it's so tight. And I went, Jay, that's paint.
00:50:29
Speaker
And we did, it's kind of funny because we did like the little haunted house and we drank. I showed him the grotto and he met some people and we talked and the bunny that had, we did the photo shoot with us. I introduced him and everything. And he goes, okay, we can go. I'm like, are you sure? Do you want to?
00:50:44
Speaker
And I'm like, nope, seen it. It's great. Come on, let's go. We went and like, you know, LA kind of rolls up, closes early. You know, there's very few late night places to get something to do. So I think we went to the house of pancakes afterwards. That was a- That's like a totally appropriate palate cleanser, I think. Lately, he gave me his tickets to the inauguration. So I got to go to the inauguration kind of work. That's awesome. That's a fantastic-
00:51:12
Speaker
I see you're talking about 08. Yes. Yes. Okay. Yeah. The one where it was like, it would have been worth going to. Yeah. That was, it was like, it was, it was, you know, history. Unprecedented. Yeah. It was unprecedented. It was presidentially unprecedented. Yeah. Precisely. But it was, that was, that was, that was a good memory.
00:51:37
Speaker
Brian, the 2020s, for better and for worse, with the hell that we're living in at the moment, they're definitely different than the mid to late aughts when Mad Men came out. The fact that Matt wanted a gay man to play your character Salvatore Romano,
00:52:01
Speaker
Um, it kind of was very clear about, yeah, which is something we've read. It kind of feels, um, in a way that that was kind of ahead of the curve. Um, do you kind of feel that?
00:52:15
Speaker
Um,
Legacy of Mad Men
00:52:16
Speaker
he told me after, you know, after that, um, I do remember when I went in to audition, he, it was he and Alan and the director, and they, I read and, uh, they, I can't remember what he said, but he was like, he had me when he came in. And then, you know, I ended up getting it. It was like the easiest I've ever had. It was one audition. Oh, it went away.
00:52:40
Speaker
I guess Matt's camera just has failed. It's okay. But yeah, I thought that was cool. I don't know if I 100%, I guess I'm not good at percentages. Me neither. There's got to be a fine balance of what is acting and what is actual. Right. You know what I mean? Right.
00:53:04
Speaker
Like, casting, I love totally mixing casts, unless race or ethnicity has something specifically to do with the story. Like, you can't have, I mean, in my opinion, I wouldn't want to say if there's a wonderful musical called Ragta. And it is very clear, there are the white people that live here, you know, New Rochelle, there's the black people in Harlem, and there's the immigrant, there are immigrants coming in.
00:53:33
Speaker
And that is what it is about. That is the story. But then on the flip side, I saw years ago this glorious, glorious production of all shows, Carousel, the musical Carousel, which is beautiful.
00:53:51
Speaker
And it was completely interracial. And it totally worked. I mean, there was black, white, Asian, everything. It's the show that gave us Audra McDonald. It was her first Tony Award. And it was just breathtaking. And that is, to me, the high standard. You can't do the color purple and have white people playing those. It doesn't. And you can't have, I don't think you could do
00:54:21
Speaker
to kill a mockingbird and have Atticus played by a black man. It is the story. That's just my opinion.
00:54:32
Speaker
And the same thing goes with gay, because for most of my life, I had to pretend and act so that I would not be discovered. And that's part of it. So, I mean, is the flip side that I'm not allowed to play straight characters? Totally, totally. You know, it's too much of my, and I love that, like, here's, you know, Neil Patrick Harris, you know, known mainly on TV for How I Bet Your Mother, you know, and he's out and gay, married and everything.
00:55:01
Speaker
and still playing different characters. And I think that's fantastic. Same thing with Ron. And but I think I always I do think it's about the actor. And I do think people, at least the public, are caring less. Yeah.
00:55:18
Speaker
about someone's actual sexuality. Well, there's like the dork ass people who are like, Thor can't be black because like Nordic lore forbids it. Yeah, exactly. Like, well, that's lore and that's that's that's not reality. But it was all that big controversy about, you know, maestro.
00:55:40
Speaker
you know and and and in putting on a fake nose and and it was like oh this is you know insulting uh because he was jewish and blah blah blah and it was it was the family his children said no it's perfect because that's what he looked like right right
00:55:57
Speaker
You know, Bert had a nose. He had a schnoz. So my grandfather had a big schnoz. So what? You know, but if I was going to be playing my grandfather, I'd have the makeup artist put a schnoz on me. So that's the way it is. You know, it's it's not degrading. It was never about. There's no dimension of his nose. It's part of if you're trying to look like the character like I didn't see Helen Mirren in Goldung. But, you know, Helen Mirren
00:56:23
Speaker
You know, not really, you know, you're going to have to work on her to make her look like Golda Meyer. And that's fine with me because coming from an acting point of view, that's what it's about. You're transforming yourself into something else. Yeah.
00:56:39
Speaker
And I get it. I get it. I'm a firm believer in being seen and being, and that's why I loved about Mad Men. I was able to be, I was already out and it was no big deal. I just wish Sal would have stayed longer at the fair, but you know. Right. Yeah. To this day, it was stopping me on the street, telling him how much they loved the show and like, what happened to Sal? We loved him.
00:57:09
Speaker
That's phenomenal. And, you know, one of the things that I feel like in our research leading up to this, we saw a lot was Sal felt very, and, you know, I don't know what you attribute to you personally, or, you know, the writers in the writer room, but it, I mean, that, I think that's why it resonated with both of us.
00:57:30
Speaker
It was the writing. I mean, one great thing about the whole experience, the actors would always accredit the writers and the writers would always accredit the actors. Yeah, it seemed like there was a lot of camaraderie on this show.
00:57:42
Speaker
There was, and we realized early on, we were the little engine that honestly, you know, everyone thought, madman, what's madman? What's that? And it's on AMC. Is it on a, you know, no one, no, no TV series on AMC. And honestly, our first season, the numbers were so low. If we were on any other network, we would have been canceled, but it was AMC, you know, and Charlie and Matt, and they believed in it. And, and.
00:58:09
Speaker
Then the strike hat, the first strike, we had to wait. And this is a funny tidbit. I don't know if you know this, but this is before there were 25,000 TV series on every possible network and making up that. There was ABC, CBS, HBO, Showtime, and now AMC is doing it. They're doing a quality thing like a Showtime.
00:58:30
Speaker
Well, because there was no product or new product for the network, they decided to go try to take seasons of shows that had been on and they wanted to put Mad Men
00:58:44
Speaker
on network and which would have meant we would have made some money because cable's not that good. It's like Broadway. And they went with Dexter instead because of the smoking and the drinking. Yeah, I'm glad you bring that up because I wanted to mention this. What a perfect vision of America. The nice serial killer show is appropriate but
00:59:11
Speaker
The cigarette smoking show is off limits. Yeah. Just for phosphorus. I know. I know. I was like.
00:59:21
Speaker
I can believe that though, because Dexter is, I don't want to say it's a less sophisticated show, but it is a less sophisticated show. It's not about real emotion. It's about the ice truck killer. Yeah, right. But listen, I have family members. I think my nieces had not seen the whole thing. But while they were in college in high school, the teachers would find out I was on it.
00:59:47
Speaker
Whatever other friends and like it what you know, you know autograph pictures and stuff like that I said that you watch this and come back with a book report on it, right? Exactly be a real fan. Yeah, but it's it is it is very you know, it starts off slow it's not it's not what I loved about it is it's very theatrical but it's also
01:00:07
Speaker
It's not going to spoon feed anything. There's so many layers. That's why I think they aired the episodes back to back. So when you watched it again, if you stayed up and watched it again, you could see so much more. Oh, I don't want to tell you how many times I've watched literally front to back the whole spot. I told Connor this while we've been doing our project.
01:00:32
Speaker
Like, I pick up something new every single time that I watch. And that, like, for, you know, for a show that has been off air for about a decade. Like, that's huge. Yeah. Yeah. They really, it was, it was so amazing to be a part of it. I really still pinch myself because mainly I'd done big Broadway shows before that. Subtlety was not my thing. Right.
01:00:56
Speaker
I'm one of my friends. Well, first of all, my favorite thing that happened was my high school acting teacher, Kitty Greenberg, called right after the first episode aired. And she was one of the first people that called. Well, I already talked to my mom and she called. You just knocked it out of the ballpark, buddy.
01:01:17
Speaker
I had a big scene. I think it was a scene at the bar and at the restaurant when the guy tries to pick me up and I rebuff him. And then the next person that called not too long after that was Joan Rivers. I had done readings of a play that she had.
01:01:38
Speaker
And they did this article in the New York Times of me and my husband, a little carriage house. And she was just so kind and so supportive. You know, this is a totally random thing, but she wanted me to do this, you know, readings of this play that she'd written. And I did it and then I was out of town.
01:01:57
Speaker
And I wasn't in New York, and she flew me up, you know, and had me for the reading. And I ended up not being able to do the play. She did it in England, and I was filming, and I couldn't do it. But it never came in. It never came to Broadway. And it should have. It was really good. It was about her life. But what a kind and supportive, wonderful one. She really was. The rest of it was an act. It was an act. She was just so good.
01:02:24
Speaker
Yeah. That's what I've always heard. That's awesome. Good to hear. I wanted to ask about Baltimore, which has significance for me because I live in Baltimore, right? But Sal is from Baltimore, Matt Weiner is from Baltimore, Don's
01:02:43
Speaker
final wife also from Baltimore. What's the deal with that? Is there a significance? I mean, is Sal from Baltimore because they wanted to do the scene at the hotel? At the Belvedere? We didn't go to Baltimore because it was filmed in LA. LA, right?
01:03:07
Speaker
I don't know, maybe Matt just wanted to have some homage to his hometown. A little, like, more color? Yeah, I don't know. I think it's, I think it was awesome to see. Ever, really. So. The pilot, I was doing a play at the time. I ended up having to miss the first preview because we were filming the pilot and I was exhausted. And when I get exhausted, a hint of my Southern accent.
01:03:33
Speaker
And I remember them saying that and like going, be careful. But Baltimore doesn't have that big of a Southern set. There's that. But it is a Southern place and you have to come here to know that. Yeah, it is. No, I've been there once. But I had a guy who put my wig on.
01:03:51
Speaker
and he was the big guy from, and he had one of those really thick Baltimore. Yeah, it's crazy. It would be nice to have any accent, I think, but the Baltimore accent would be a special one to have. Oh, it is. I think John Travolta did one in a really thick one. Yeah, and it's just like a mutated Irish dialect. Yeah, it's so bizarre. I love it. It's kind of cool.
01:04:21
Speaker
Yeah, it's like nothing else. And I think that uniqueness is something that really stands out about Baltimore.
01:04:27
Speaker
Yeah, I like I'm glad that you did the accent because When you guys are on the plane, yeah, I can't produce yeah But also when you guys are on the plane flying to see the London fog people in Baltimore I feel like your southernness came out so hard because like the southern accent was was just like natural for you and Yeah
01:04:54
Speaker
too much. We didn't want like, they didn't want like, you know, Georgia. Just a hint. Yeah, totally. Totally. And I mean, New Orleans has its own thing in the South, in New Orleans. Oh, God. Yeah, it's New Orleans, the real New Orleans accent. Well, there's a bunch, but the real, you know, one that people like Harry Connick still has a little bit of it. We call it a Yat accent. Kind of like, well, yeah, don't. Yeah, Jamal. Right, right.
01:05:18
Speaker
You know, it's like a little Brooklynese. Yeah, it's got a little bit of that like Brooklynese, like, and French influence. It's like urban. Yeah. Yeah. In this Cajun, which is right. Oh, God. Yeah, it's all so good. It's so, so, so good. It's all over this country. It's crazy. It's crazy, crazy. It totally is.
01:05:40
Speaker
I
Brian's Current Projects and Future Plans
01:05:41
Speaker
just had to do for something an Oklahoma accent and I was trying to figure out, you know, how, because it's, it can be the, well, anyway, anyway, we don't want to talk. There's a Cajun restaurant in Baltimore called Talluloo, which, yeah, yeah. Talluloo, right, which is crab, apparently. I didn't know that.
01:06:01
Speaker
So Brian, just to kind of round out everything, you mentioned the play that you wrote with Tennessee Williams' words, but what's next for you? Emma, who knows? Right now I'm healing my foot and hopefully being able to turn down some things because at one point I could not put any weight on it.
01:06:24
Speaker
So there is a film, two films that are, you know, I think almost finished editing and looking for district and so we'll see. You know, it's all good. Who knows the funny thing about being an actor, you never know where, what's going to happen tomorrow. So it keeps me busy. Can I ask about the Wiener Dog Chronicles?
01:06:50
Speaker
because i saw that i saw that not only are you in the wiener dog chronicles once you're in the sequel wiener dog chronicles international international i think they're gonna do a next one wiener dog intergalactic oh yeah look at that dude that's franchise money
01:07:06
Speaker
One of my best friends, we met in college together, my friend Rachel. And this is her son, this is a budgeting little actor, and he's my godchild. And he got cast in We Need Our Nationals. And they were talking, and he said, she said, they're still looking for this judge, kind of. She goes, well, his godfather's, you know, Brian Batt. And Madman had just, I'd just been written off. And they go, do you think he'll do it? And I was like,
01:07:32
Speaker
she would all do it because she's like would you do it and just like be on the set with him and help him because she doesn't know you know so we did and you know it was like Morgan that's I had I've seen with Morgan Fairchild and Morgan Fairchild and I are friends now Morgan Fairchild um and it was what it was it was silly you know but I'll tell you so many people come up and they go they go I know you from and like
01:07:58
Speaker
That place, talking like Mad Men, like, no, wiener dog, yeah.
01:08:04
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. I'm not mocking you, of course. I think it's amazing. I think you're home. You have acted in a lot of different things. Oh, crazy shit. One thing I did recently that I really had fun was a movie called Pinball. Yeah, where you were the pinball guy, right? No, I was the art director for GQ magazine circa 1975. Wow. And I had friends who modeled new models of that era.
01:08:31
Speaker
and they put me in touch with them and I just talked to them about this guy. Physically I was nothing like him but you know I tried to do my but it's a fun movie I really enjoyed that and then another movie I enjoyed that I love it when they just offer you the thing and you don't have to put on tape but um this other one a friend of mine wrote she asked me to be in a small part but it's called American Reject
01:08:52
Speaker
And my friend Kathleen Montlion was in that on the TV reality show. You're the one that I want when they were trying to cast the revival of Grease. Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. And she was the runner up and she made up this whole thing based on a reality talent show kind of thing. And it's hysterical turning around the things I loved. I loved 12 Years a Slave was great, except so much of my stuff got cut.
01:09:16
Speaker
Literally, my same friend, she lives in LA, Rachel, and she went to one of the screenings. You know, they test the movies out before. And she calls me, you know, late. She goes, it's long, but you are all over this movie. You are all over this. I said, well, really? Because I just had like, you know, four scenes. And like, then when I went to the premiere. Oh, no. And I think I did the only Adam Sandler Judd Apatow movie that didn't do well. Wait, what movie was this? Funny People.
01:09:44
Speaker
Oh, I think I saw that one. I have not seen that one ever. And I have one scene left me, Sarah Silverman and all these other people are only at the end. And there was this whole other storyline that it was cut. It's so crazy. Like you do this
01:10:06
Speaker
Well, Brian, this has been incredible and we are very excited to finish off this series with an interview with you. Thank you for sure. We always like to give our guests a chance to shout out whatever they want to.
01:10:28
Speaker
Oh, oh, well, then I'm going to be perfectly self-serving. Go visit HazelnutNewOrleans.com. That's our store. You can buy things online. Yes, please do. But you know what? The big shout out is Vote to Save Democracy. That's all. Nice. You know, well, you know, remember what's that? Think about women. Think about women. Think about the women when you vote. Think about, you know. Think about democracy.
01:10:53
Speaker
This is just a few important things. Of course, of course. And shopping at Hazel's. Yeah, please go buy things from Hazel. This is not a paid sponsorship, but Brian Bat was. But it could be. It could be eventually. One more time. Thank you all, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. What is your Instagram? Oh, Brian underscore Bat, B-R-Y-A-N underscore. Yeah, follow it. It has a little blue chip.
01:11:23
Speaker
Finally got a blue check. Finally got a blue check. I was like, don't you know who I thought I was going to be for 15 minutes? Follow for some really good outfit inspiration. That's all I'll say. All right. Well, now I'll just take more pictures of that. Yes, yes.
01:11:39
Speaker
um anyway everyone thank you for sticking around for our uh oral history madmen as we know it series this is the finale and it's been fucking um i am thank you at rebels rogues on instagram and i am at
01:11:57
Speaker
Real Connor Nunez. Yeah. Yeah. If you've got questions, comments, concerns, shoot us an email at apocalypsestuds at gmail.com or give us a follow on Instagram at apocalypsestuds. And as always, thank you for listening. Ciao. Ciao.