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And it's like in my stomach, it's also like as it was like traveling.
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Hey, what's going on everybody?
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For First We 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 Zoe Saldana.
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She's an actor who lays claim to some of the biggest box office smashing franchises of our time from Avatar to Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy.
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On that note, you can catch her in the long-awaited James Cameron directed and produced Avatar: The Way of Water, which at long last is coming to theaters December 16th.
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Zoe Saldana, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you so much.
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I'm excited and I'm emotional.
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I'm really I can I can smell I can smell the spices.
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Before we get started, how are you around spicy food?
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Are you comfortable around it?
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I feel that spicy food is like horror movies.
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When I was younger, I was a lot more comfortable around them.
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And the older I get, I've just become softer and softer and I just I can't I mean, I'm okay with it, but my stomach isn't, you know? Ay Dios mio. Mhm. It's good. It's kind of spicy. I like it.
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So, I can't stop reading stories about the making of this film from the requisite technological research to the construction of a 900,000 gallon tank designed to mimic the ocean's kinetics.
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How would you distill the experience of blending underwater filming along with the motion capture?
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Cuz from what I understand that's never been done before. It It never has.
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But, I do believe that this is James um James Cameron's like love letter to the ocean.
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He's always had this affinity with the ocean. You saw it in The Abyss. You saw it in Titanic.
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And he's always had different angles with it, especially with the hundreds of excursions that he's done.
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And he always had to wait for that technology to exist in order for him to manifest what was inside of his mind, you know? And he did it.
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I was fine with this one.
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This one feels like, you know, what you have on a Tuesday. Right. I think, yeah.
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Well, you ready to move on what we might have on a Wednesday.
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This is a Tropicante here in the two spot. Tropicante. Mhm. Okay. God help me. Mhm.
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Give me a feel like, oh, I might be in Jamaica.
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I was like brushing my teeth this morning.
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I'm like, what if it's so like spicy that I forget to speak English? Just let it fly.
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Wherever it goes goes wherever it goes.
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We're in the abstract over here. Perfect.
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From your unique vantage point, what would you say is the biggest difference between Trekkies and then Marvel Universe true believers?
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Like, is there a distinction between the fan bases?
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Are they really birds of a feather?
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No, there there there are differences.
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I think that Trekkies take it far more serious. Um They're lovely.
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I think it it was marrying the kind of world that people wanted to see at that time in the '60s.
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So, it just has like a very special place in people's hearts.
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And then there's something really beautiful about seeing a grandfather, father, and a son.
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Or a grandmother, mother, and a daughter.
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You know, all coming together and uh and enjoying this. Um so, yeah.
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I It is There is a difference.
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Yeah, bridge the generational divide.
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I know your mom loved it and my dad loved it.
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I was actually just telling telling them on the way in.
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Like, there's so many times where I'd come home and just Oh, my dad's watching Star Trek.
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I know, and you'd be annoyed.
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Cuz I grew up here in New York.
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Captain's log, you know, like every single time. it in Spanish.
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So, it was like Viaje a las estrellas.
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And I remember like it was dubbed when I was living in the Caribbean.
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We used to watch reruns of it and it was dubbed and I'm like, "Oh my god, this is so old." And my mom loved it.
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She used to watch it with her grandparents. Who's Rico?
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I don't know, but he tastes like pizza. Oh, it's a bagel. Mhm. Okay. It's not bad.
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I'm still I'm still here.
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I haven't needed my fluids. I'm I think I'm good. In the driver's seat. I can tell. I can tell.
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I feel like I'm in good hands in this car.
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What's the most paranoid thing you've ever seen a movie studio do to protect the secrecy of a production?
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Like our stories about canvas-covered golf carts and only being able to read the script with a security guard close by.
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Are those Hollywood urban legend or have you experienced those things firsthand?
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Have you been to a Marvel set? Sounds like you have.
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At Marvel, I mean, when you work for Marvel, it's just everything it feels like a cult.
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You're like, "What's going on?"
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Like, I'm dressed in green, 4 hours of makeup.
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We must be shooting something. What is it?
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And that has its advantages and disadvantages.
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The advantages are that you savor the surprise for the end.
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And you don't ruin it, and the audience is able to have an amazing adventure when they go to the movies to watch it.
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The disadvantage is mainly for the actor because you you don't know what you're doing.
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You don't know where you're going.
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You don't know what you're saying.
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You don't know what's going to happen and that can be a little nerve-wracking.
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It sounds like a banda sonora los calientes. This one's fine. Here we go. Oh, wait, wait, wait. It's it's growing. That's what happens.
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Sometimes, you know, like they hear you talking or something and then they come back and kick a little bit. Oh. Settle in in. Yeah.
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And then we have kind of a cumulative effect here now that we're approaching the midway point over here.
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This one feels like a mild like surprise encounter with an ex. You know what I mean? Yeah.
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Like you thought everything was going so well and then all of a sudden your day goes sideways.
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So, you broke into Hollywood with your role in Center Stage, a film that leaned on your background in ballet dancing.
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And when I was a kid, you know, breaking in a catcher's mitt, that was a ritual that we took very seriously.
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Can you talk through the tips and tricks when it comes to conditioning a pair of pointe shoes?
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Well, everybody does it differently.
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There's some people that tape up their their toes.
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There are other people that cut sort of like the sole, the inner sole of the shoe.
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They cut it they cut it in the middle just to help help with the breaking of it so that your foot is not the only one doing all the work.
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Um there are other people that go the full shebang and cut half of that inner sole.
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Uh there are people that just beat the crap out of their shoes and you just hear it sounds like a like a carpentry class and you're like, Um yeah, so it's different.
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How would you say that your ballet background has served you as an action star?
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I know you take pride in your kicks.
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It is the the number one element that is solely responsible for my career in action in the action genre.
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Had I not had an athletic background, I don't think I would have explored um action sort of movies.
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We're at the halfway mark. Oh!
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So, this next one is the one that you were kind of looking at, little nervous about. Fly by Jing? Mhm. Oh.
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You got chili oil base here. Crap. Here we go. Mhm. Oh. Yeah.
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This is like an axe from the same sack, ACTUALLY. SURPRISINGLY.
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FROM WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT YOU'RE LIKE, "OH! OH! OH! HI."
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Out of his out of your life and then back around again. Mhm.
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But going back in It's not bad. Here we go. It's not bad. All right.
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So, we have a crane segment on our show called Explain That Gram where we do a deep dive on our guest's Instagram, pull interesting pictures that need more context.
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So, we'll pull the picture up over here on the monitor.
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Actually, the laptop will come in handy.
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trying to tolerate the spiciness feels like multitasking. Right.
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And then you got this guy over here. No, it's okay. I understand.
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I can't imagine what it's like to be on that side of the table, you know?
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This guy over here just screaming questions at you. I love it.
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Here from the filming of Rosemary's Baby. I love Paris.
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It's one of my favorite places uh in the world.
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But I do remember that was a very stressful production cuz it was very rushed.
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And um And I remember like just working every day and not having enough time to rest.
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And during that time, I worked hard and I played hard, too.
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Like I was always like one bottle of wine a night, like, you know, pack of cigarettes.
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Like, "Did you see that scene?
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Yeah, we're going to do that one tomorrow."
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Like, and I remember thinking like, "I'm exhausted."
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You know, when you go to work, but it's like it's because that you're I was young and very immature and I was like I shouldn't have to party so much. It's funny.
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That's just what came to my mind. I'm just No filter here. There you go. Stream consciousness. Just let it go. It happens. It happens. God.
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Well, that does it for Explain that gram.
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We are on to the back half.
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You're doing so good so far.
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this like the hard stuff?
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It's going to I'm not going to lie to you.
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I'm not going to lie to you.
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We're going to be taking some steps here. Okay. I'm scared of this one.
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This one is like the chile lengua de fuego. Yep. And the sixth spot. lengua. Here we go. I know that face. I'm making the same one. Oh my god, hard liquor. Oh, thank you, Honduras. Thank you for this. Chile lengua de fuego. Ooh, my nose is running. Mhm. Okay. It's happening. Yep. We're in the show. I want to run away.
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But it's it's uh It's um It's not that Oh. No, it keeps growing. I'm so sorry.
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I'm trying to be tough, but I'm like No.
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So, despite at one point in your career swearing off big budget films, a fun and wild Zoe Saldana fun fact is that you've been in three of the top five highest-grossing films of all time, a feat that you stand alone in Hollywood history.
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Do you feel like you have some sort of sixth sense when it comes to aligning with these projects that end up being just massive global hits?
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No, I it's just it's an open heart.
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It's just um reading something and then meeting the director and then knowing the cast behind it.
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And um and thinking, you know, well, as an audience member, I would want to watch this.
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I would go to the movies to watch it.
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Like, that's how I've made these decisions.
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And it's also I don't look at action movies or movies that are meant for a younger audience and discard them.
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Now that I'm a mom, too, um when my kids are ready to watch these movies, I'll have like major credit with having At the end of the day if my kids still think I'm cool until they're like 14, 15 then I'm doing something right, you know?
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Well, wait till they see the way that you house these hot sauces on down the gauntlet and on that note [ __ ] Should we do the next one?
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Oh my god, you're so like excited to do it, too. Look at you.
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This is the cosmic disco here in the seventh spot. Mhm. There's a sweetness. At first.
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There's like a disco alien on the cover on the label. Oh my god. Yeah. I know. It kind of doesn't stop. Oh. I know. Oh.
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So I read that ahead of filming Avatar, James Cameron took the cast to live in the This is like Why do you want to keep going? [ __ ] Give me a second. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
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Taking my foot off the gas. Oh. Okay. All right. Keep Okay, let's do it. Let's do it. You ready?
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So I read that ahead of filming James Cameron took the cast to Hawaii to live in the woods and catch fish and build fires.
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When you think of the exacting and precise notes that he's given you over the years, is there one that stands out as being, you know, quintessentially James Cameron? I'm sorry. Yeah, go ahead. Take your time.
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I'm going to hit one, too. Yeah.
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Um a keynote for me as I was putting near Neytiri together and and because I was the first person cast, I was working with all all these people and we were kind of building the Na'vi together.
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I was a part of that team and it just felt so great and and the way that they walked and the way that they turned around and things like that.
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And I remember one day Jim was like, "You need to understand like they don't they don't lie.
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It's not in their nature."
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So, that kind of stayed with me and I tried to always process that.
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Whatever it is that you tell her, she'll believe it.
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And and whatever it is that she's thinking, she'll say it.
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And that always stayed with me.
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Did I answer your question? Yeah, you did. You did.
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Not only did you answer it, you answered it so eloquently and I saw the way that you were battling through that the whole time. Yeah.
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I was trying not to drool.
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For some reason like my mouth keeps like watering and I'm like, "Don't drool, please. So ungracious."
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Okay, are we going to do the bomb? Look at the color of it. Oh my god, I'm nervous.
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Yeah, there's no place to hide. This is another level. So, I'll slow IT DOWN. YEAH. I KNOW. I know. I know. Ah!
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Oh my god, I feel like Maya Rudolph when she played Beyoncé on your show. Oh my god.
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And then be care- be very careful. Oh yeah, yeah. I'm on it though.
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You know, I'm working for you and against you at all times over here. Are you working for me? I'm trying to.
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You know, I'm trying to save the eyes and stuff. like it.
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I know, in these circumstances is not easy, you know. Oh! I know.
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[ __ ] So, I know that you grew up between New York and the Dominican Republic. I know. I know. I know.
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It's always I just got to apologize.
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I know it's almost like I have to apologize for the show.
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For the uninitiated, can you explain the joys of Dominican Chinese food?
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It's a subgenre that even in New York, I think it's kind of like a if you know, you know.
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My grandmother and my grandfather used to celebrate their anniversary in this Chinese-Cuban restaurant on Junction Boulevard in Queens, and it was there for decades.
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And it had the best food.
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So, they would give you like fried rice with like tostones, you know?
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And uh so, I grew up sort of like that became like a normal thing.
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My dad is a My grandfather as a Dominican man worked in Argentine pizzeria, so he knew how to make empanadas and asados and everything.
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I learned to drink wine thanks to that because, you know, his wine selection was superb.
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And uh but I also have family that's like half half Dominican and half British, half Mexican, half Dominican, half Japanese, half Dominican.
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Like so, it was always very normal for us to eat all kinds of things um if my great-grandmother wasn't cooking.
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Did I answer your question?
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I went some you know I You know what is impressive and something I'm noting and unique and I've been doing this show a long time.
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You know I'm like before you start, you know, you're really going through it.
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I can tell, you know, and I am too over here even though I put up a stoic front. Oh, yes. You're very good at it. thank you, Zoe.
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So, but I would say it's Well, you know what you're good at?
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Once you get going, though, you hit it non-stop like all the way through. a lot. Yeah.
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But you just rip it right through, you know, you go from like bothered to then just bam like eloquent interview answered bam stick the landing and then damn it do we have more of these to eat?
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It's so spicy it almost tastes artificial. I know.
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Nothing really fun anymore.
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No, the bomb kind of changed everything. It messed the vibe up.
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It kind of feels like I don't know.
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Do you ever have that one friend that if you went out partying with her or him and you knew that around 3:00 in the morning like this is this is too late. Like we got to go.
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That's when they take that last shot. Yeah.
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And they're still drunk and all you want to do is like have a pizza, take a cab, and go to bed. Yeah.
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And they're like let's do it.
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Like the bomb feels like that one.
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Yeah, or yeah, it's like me.
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Like I'm that guy being like oh, we just got one more shot two more shots just two more shots just two more shots.
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Here on this show, right? Were we friends before?
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Did I drop you somewhere? I had that one friend.
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It's like oh my god, can you just stop? Come on, let's go. Come on, let's do it. Let's do it.
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And you're like it's 4:30 in the morning. Let's not do anything.
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This one was okay, but you know what?
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The bomb ruined my taste buds. Scorched earth. Mhm. Yeah.
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So I can't really taste anything.
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And I'll tell you, I'm getting gassy, too.
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I think that my stomach is like really like upset, hurt. Mhm.
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You know, Making it kind of pay for it all, yeah. Mhm. Sending you a message. Processing.
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And it's like in my stomach it's also like as it was like traveling LIKE [ __ ] THIS IS THE LAST DAB.
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WE CALL IT THE last dab cuz it's tradition around here to put a little extra on the last one.
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You don't have to if you don't want to. I don't know.
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Machine Gun Kelly said it one time like 7 years ago and we just kept doing it.
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I don't want to be this [ __ ] right now. I don't. I'm okay.
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My stomach is like really upset.
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But the good news is we've reached the finish line. We did it.
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Took on the Hot Ones Gauntlet. Still on our feet.
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Even though this one will have kind of a build, which I know you can start to I can start to see it.
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I'm I'm I'm reading the many faces of Zoey today. Yeah.
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But a through line through your career, stories that take place in space, stories that take place in fantastical lands, stories that take place in the future.
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And I'm curious to close things out with your brain on fire, mouth ablaze, what is science fiction able to teach us or make us feel that other genres can't?
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Um Well, you know, what is the saying that art can imitate life? Right? Mhm.
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So I think that if you manifest an idea through your art um you see it, you live it enough to sort of manifest it, I think. So I I like that.
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Like I like seeing is believing.
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So storytelling does play a very important role in in our evolution.
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So it's we have to be very careful with the stories we want to tell. Um I'm feeling good. That was deep, right?
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That was like a little deep.
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Yeah, well, you know what?
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Not a dry eye in the house after that one.
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Everybody got the hair on the forearm standing up.
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And you and me, Zoe, the hair on the back of our necks after taking on the Hot Ones gauntlet.
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I almost I was like, "What is she doing over here?" No, no, no.
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Guys, the bomb really like did something to me.
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I think I'm going to go back to the hotel and cry.
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Well, before you do that, let me just roll out the red carpet for you, Zoe.
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So that This camera, this camera, this camera.
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Let the people know what you have going on in your life.
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Um I hope you guys enjoyed this session of the Hot Ones. Um I I work a lot. I do a lot of stuff.
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And there's this movie called Avatar, this really really small movie that I did years ago.
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And because it was so small, we just had to do it again and and do it small again.
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But it's called Way of Water.
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It opens December 16th theaters everywhere.
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I hope you're able to enjoy it.
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And thank you for watching. Good job. Oh my god, YES.
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CAN I TAKE A PICTURE with my phone, you guys?
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I'm literally having like one of those out-of-body experiences where like, "Oh my god, like what's going on inside is so much bigger than what's happening out here." Shred.
21:33
Hot Ones fans, thank you so much for watching today's video.
21:35
If you want to get your hands on the Season 19 Hot Ones Hot Sauce Gauntlet, boy do I have good news for you. Just visit heatonist. com, heatonist. com. That's heatonist.
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com to get your hands on the 10-pack, the Season 19 Hot Ones 10-pack, Hot Ones in a box delivered right to your door. I highly recommend it. It's delicious. I eat it every week.