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It's hot.
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I'm not going to lie, it's hot.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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For first week feast, I'm Sean Evans and you're watching Hot Ones.
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It's the show with hot questions and even hotter wings.
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And today we're joined by Jeremy Allen White.
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He's a Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actor you know from acclaimed performances and projects like The Bear, Shameless, The Ironclaw, and many more.
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You can also catch him starring as Bruce Springsteen in the much anticipated Scott Cooper directed new film Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, set to hit theaters on October 24th.
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Jeremy Allen White, welcome to the show. >> Thank you.
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Thank you for having me, man. Appreciate you. >> Long overdue.
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How are you around spicy food before we get started?
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I really like spicy food.
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Um, I actually, you know, when I was a kid, I would collect very strange hot sauces and kind of make my friends uh try them when they came over. So I I hope I hope I do. Okay. Yeah. [Music] Okay. Beautiful. [Music] That's nice. All good. [Music] >> Okay.
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So, Deliver Me from Nowhere tells the story of Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska, an album that he famously recorded on a fourtrack cassette recorder in his bedroom.
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M for younger audiences who maybe don't know Nebraska the way they know Born to Run or Born in the USA, what makes this album in particular so important that it has the gravity for a feature film, you know, four decades later? >> Yeah.
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Um there's a real uh intimacy to Nebraska.
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You know, I was um a really big Springstein fan.
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The stuff prior to Nebraska, a lot of it had this kind of like Phil Spectre sort of inspiration.
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there's a lot of this like wall of sound idea where it was really really grand.
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Um, and the lyrics were still really uh specific and detailed and, you know, Dylanesque, but sometimes the lyrics would get sort of overshadowed by the the sound of of the music.
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With Nebraska, it's just Bruce and a guitar. Very few chords.
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You feel like you're in the room with Bruce.
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And the storytelling, while his storytelling has always been excellent, um is uh is kind of particularly um uh beautiful and inspired in Nebraska, I think. That's really nice.
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>> We go bite for bite, huh? That's how it goes. >> That's how it goes. >> Okay.
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>> You know, you're leading me. >> Yeah. Right. >> All right. Right. Right. Right. Okay.
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You're in control over here.
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>> Yeah, >> I'm just reacting. >> Sure.
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>> So, it's crazy to me how you had no formal singing training before taking on this part.
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What makes Born in the USA a particularly challenging song to sing?
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I read that you got a migraine and lost your voice after belting it out for an afternoon.
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It's a hard song to sing cuz he's not really singing it.
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You know, it's um it's shouting and key.
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It's like, you know, in order to get the sound that I was after, I was singing from my chest and I was singing from my throat and I wasn't breathing properly.
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I wasn't singing from my my stomach, which I should have been.
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Um, and I got um I got knocked out.
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I got a I got a migraine. I was on my back. Um, I was sweating.
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And uh I saw Bruce at a uh at a party after that.
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He had a a a documentary um you know, The Road Diary that was coming out for for Hulu.
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I went to go see him down the road from where we were recording and um and I said, "Hey, how's it going?"
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And he said, "You know, what have you been doing?"
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And I said, "You know, I just record Bor in the USA."
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And he said, "That sounds about right."
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And I um I couldn't believe uh I couldn't believe this man, even at the age of 75, 76 now, um you know, he's performing this song for 90,000 people and then, you know, 19 other songs. It's it's incredible. Let's [Music] do it.
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>> This is a pickled garlic Sriracha.
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[Music] That's really nice.
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So, your roles often require you to master a skill that defines the character.
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You know, whether that's singing and playing the guitar like Bruce Springsteen or credibly playing a Michelin star chef or diving off the top ropes like a professional wrestler Carrie von Eric.
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When you think about these intensive preparation experiences that you've had, is there one that stands out as having like the harshest route awakening on day one?
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>> Yeah, I mean they're all uh you know uh challenging in their own right or they all have been, but you know, first things first, I feel so lucky.
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I have a job where I kind of get to learn from these like masters and and learn these things.
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>> I think the physicality of of wrestling, that stuff came a bit more naturally to me.
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It was it was scary, but it was fun and and and physical.
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Um the training for the chef stuff, you know, everything outside of kind of the knife work, there was nothing that that that scary.
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Um but yeah, picking up a guitar for the first time when you've never held one before and knowing in 6 months you have to be playing it.
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Um that was humbling and the most frightened I've been. Yeah. In my work life.
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>> Is there a scene from the bear that stands out to you as the most challenging to shoot?
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Not because of the emotional depth you had to go to or the exposition that you had to work through, but just because of like the sheer technical kitchen skills required to portray it authentically.
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The most difficult is probably in the in the pilot.
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Um, you know, Io and I went to culinary school for about 2 weeks and I spent some time in restaurants and in my hotel room in Chicago. I had a a cutting board.
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I had my knives and I would cut, you know, carrots and onions all night trying to get better.
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But then there's a scene in particular where you kind of meet Richie for the first time and he's just so on top of Carmy and he's being very frustrating.
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So I'm using a very sharp knife at the same time.
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And this was something that was still very new to me.
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So that was the first time I was really challenged with I think you know trying to be you know present um and uh and and doing good work with my my you know scene partners with Eban and everybody.
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Um and at the same time trying to perform uh with a knife.
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Um and that was kind of the most uh nervous I was. Yeah. In that situation. [Music] Woo. Okay.
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There's a little something going on here. >> Mhm.
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This to me is like >> Mhm.
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>> when the party really starts. >> Yep.
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So along with the critical acclaim from the TV world, chefs and restaurant professionals have really lauded the bear for its capturing the true essence of kitchen culture.
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Can you pull back the curtain on how closely the service scenes reflect that of running an actual restaurant?
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I know that you did work the line at the Joel Roll preparation. >> Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
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Sorry, ask that question again.
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My was focused on my mouth on that one. Please. >> No, I get it. Yeah. Yeah.
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It's like that scene, you know, the muscle memory and then it meets the emotion of it all and all of a sudden it's much more complicated. >> I'm like, yes. Okay. I was at Pasad Lee. Yes. Service. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yeah.
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>> There are a lot of similarities between production and making a film or a TV show and the way a kitchen works.
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>> Um you are always looking at the clock very similar to kitchens.
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When you're making something um there are uh many people, many responsibilities.
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um uh you're in tight uh spaces.
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Everybody has to be doing their job incredibly well all the time.
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It's like borrowed time in this weird way, but it's also very um exciting.
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Uh you can't focus on anything else.
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That's one of the reasons I really love acting.
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Um and I think that's a big reason a lot of people are drawn to cooking and kitchen specifically is it focuses your mind.
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You don't have room for anything else. Wow, let's do it. I feel great. It's going to be okay. Okay, that's nice.
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So, in the past, I've asked actors what it's like to walk away from a role that you've done for a really long time.
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What, if anything, can you remember about your last day on set as Lip Gallagher on Shameless?
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like when you're doing this role for a decade plus literally growing up with it.
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Does that last day does it feel like more of a party or more like a funeral?
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>> That's a really good question.
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Um it it it does for me it felt like a funeral, you know.
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It it was it was exciting the last scene we shot and by design it was all of us kind of all together and it might have even been the last shot of the episode season.
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You know, I had family and people I loved.
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I knew where I was going to be.
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6 months every year for 12 years, you know, saying goodbye to that, saying goodbye to that security, saying goodbye to those people.
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Um, and saying goodbye to, you know, Philip Gallagher, the the character that I played.
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Um, it was very difficult.
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It was very sad and it felt like walking into uh walking into the unknown.
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And and I remember um I remember having a lot of uh a lot of doubt after that day. Absolutely. Yeah.
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H be careful before I go in for the second one now. Be more cautious. >> No, we're good.
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>> Is there an acting style that you find difficult to work alongside even if the results are great?
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You know, it's interesting.
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I uh the actors I almost admire most are the actors that can kind of, you know, flip a switch.
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Um, you know, they can be speaking to you about a dinner they had the other night while you're in front of the camera between takes and then drop into something.
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Um and while I respect those actors a great deal, um sometimes it is very difficult for me to carry a conversation about our kids or or or something or dinner or something like that while we are um you know right um right in front of the camera.
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I think I uh I I I struggle sometimes.
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It takes me a little bit longer to to get there.
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Um but one day um I I hope I can uh I hope I can be one of them, you know.
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This one's catching up with me. >> Contemplating.
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>> It was a little sneaky there. Yeah. >> Okay.
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>> We're shooting this episode in Hell's Kitchen.
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I'm curious, was there a class or student production while you were at the professional performing arts school that you think was most impactful in building your confidence as an actor?
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I was a very bad student at PPS.
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We were um we were allowed to kind of like leave the school whenever you were able to leave to go to lunch.
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You were able to leave if you had free periods.
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And oftent times I would just leave and never come back.
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Um and at a certain point Yeah.
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And at a certain point, >> Mr.
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Valo brought me in, our dean, and said, you know, we understand you, you know, you want to be an actor, and this school part doesn't seem very important to you, but, you know, >> we do want you to graduate, you know, and um he ended up allowing me to go work at uh Susan Shopmaker Casting, which is a casting office.
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Um uh it was at the time on 38th, so just 10 blocks south of the school.
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>> And uh I ended up getting uh school credit.
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Um, so I'm always very, you know, grateful to that school for seeing me and um and, you know, uh, allowing uh, me to um, you know, get my education a little bit outside of the box.
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>> A little less conventional. >> Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. [Music] >> It's hot. I'm not going to lie. It's hot.
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>> Well, it is that time.
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This is the bomb beyond Insanity at number eight.
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If you're ready, >> you're doing great. >> Thank you. All right.
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[Music] >> I don't know why.
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I don't know why I'm doing that. >> Let's do it. >> Okay.
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>> Cuz you're here, you know.
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>> I'm only here I'm only here now. >> That's right. >> Oh my god.
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>> From the perspective of a New York guy, what do you see as the allore of Chicago?
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Like what makes the fabric of that city interesting for an actor? It's really wonderful. People watching. Um being on the train. God damn it.
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Being on the train was such a wonderful place.
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Um you know, people watching. Um imagination. It's a walking city. It's a train city.
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You get to engage with a lot of different people from different walks of of life.
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And so in that sense there's um there's an awful lot to draw inspiration from. Is that good? >> Yeah. >> Okay.
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>> Shooting in Chicago for so many years.
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Do you have a most memorable food experience there?
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Like I think like three out of the top five meals I've ever had in my life have been in Chicago.
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>> I've had wonderful wonderful meals there.
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Um Oreo is one of my favorite meals I've ever had.
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Bevetses is a restaurant I love to go to.
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Uh Lascarola is incredible.
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I will share an embarrassing story about going to Alinia.
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Um, I went there before I shot the bear. I was 23 years old.
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I had no business being in a restaurant that nice.
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I was chugging champagne and I would go out every 5 minutes for a cigarette.
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I was thinking, "My god, this dinner is taking such a long time.
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Why is this dinner taking such a long time?
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It's 2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours."
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Eventually, I'm coming in after my 12th cigarette of the night, and the hostess says, "Every time you go out for a cigarette, the whole kitchen is getting [ __ ] Everything is getting screwed up.
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You're ruining not only your own dinner, but the dinner for every single guest here, you need to stop leaving this restaurant."
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Um, so that was a um that was a fun experience I had or or at least I uh you know I learned something in a in a very great Chicago restaurant that I did not know how to appreciate yet. >> Here we are. >> Here we are. Are we here?
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>> If you're ready to move on to sauce number nine, we can >> You made it You made it sound like we were at the end and I got excited, but I saw another one. Okay.
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So, this is called a funkin yellow.
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>> I think I'm talking so loud now at you you're telling. Okay.
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>> Now, this one has kind of a sweetness to it up front that's somewhat helpful.
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>> Yeah, there's some cancellation or some there's something going on or my mouth is so torched that nothing matters anymore, you know?
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>> Either way, you take it, you know. >> Yeah, it's all good.
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>> Do you have any foundational advice for someone putting together a bouquet?
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you know, these pictures of you leaving farmers markets with fresh cut flowers, you know, it seems to imply a connoisseurship that evades dudes like me.
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Yeah, I'm not, you know, I'm not a connoisseur of these things.
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I um but I do I like having flowers in my house when arranging flowers.
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I think there was a period in time where I was really focused on I don't know, maybe trying to make it look nice and that's where I got into trouble.
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I think more recently I've embraced sort of different lengths.
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I don't cut everything the same length.
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Um I'm not afraid of of putting sort of like different textured flowers all in the same thing.
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Um I found that vase um with more sort of like chaos and confusion happening in it is um is more beautiful uh to look at or to me at least.
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And um so I think sort of the more the more chaos in that vase the better. You can't go wrong. I'll take that. >> All right. My goodness. All right.
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We have something to prove now. That's what's going on. >> All right, my man. Cheers. >> Pleasure. Let's do it. >> Oh, [ __ ] Yeah. Oh, go ahead.
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>> But the good news is Jeremy on White, the wings of death are behind us.
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And to close things out, you know, Nebraska is an album that famously has no drums, no band, just vocals, guitar, and a harmonica. All right. >> Yes, sir.
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>> And I realize that this is a lot to ask underneath the circumstances, but we actually have a harmonica here. >> Jesus Christ.
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I was wondering it would mean the world to us if you could close things out.
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Just a couple notes, but your lips are blistered in hot sauce. >> Oh my god. Oh my god. What is going on? I can't even open it.
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>> We're throwing a lot at you here at the finish line.
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>> Let me see what I can do. All right. I don't know. There we go.
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>> And look at you, Jeremy Allen White, taking on the wings of death, living to tell the tale, and now there's nothing left to do but roll out the red carpet for you.
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For me, >> this camera, this camera, or this camera?
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Let the people know what you have going on today. >> What's going on?
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Um, uh, today we ate a bunch of Hot Wings.
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Uh, I've got a I've got a film coming out.
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Um, it's about a man I care a lot.
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very uh very deeply about.
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Um that's Bruce Springsteen worked very hard on this film.
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There's a lot of beautiful performances in it. Please go see it.
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It's out in October 24th.
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My sister uh is a producer of a TV show um about um uh the Alabama prison system.
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That's also coming out in October on HBO Max.
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Please watch that as well. Thank you guys.
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Thank you for having me, Sean. I appreciate you. We did it. All good. Woo! Okay, here we go. >> Thank you, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for having me.
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Holy [ __ ] We didn't touch the stuff. Let the record show. Let the record show. >> Thank you, man. So good to see you. You're so good at this. I really appreciate you. >> Thank you, guys. >> Beautiful. Thank you. >> Awesome work.
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I've been such a big fan for such a long time.
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I've watched it's like back then when the action first came on and all like >> those like underground dudes >> and Matty Maddie was like OG like longtime friends of the program too.
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>> For all the trolls out there thinking that this isn't real [ __ ] hot sauce, go get [ __ ] bud.
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>> Hey, what's going on hot ones fans?
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This is a very special announcement for the Heattheads out there.
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