>> HI. [LAUGHS] >> THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME. >> REALLY NICE TO HAVE YOU HERE. >> I JUST HAVE TO SAY, SARA AND I LOVE THE MOVIE AND SARA IS ALREADY CRYING AFTER JUST ONE SCENE. >> IT'S VERY POWERFUL MOVIE. I WANTED TO SEE SOMETHING VERY LIGHT AND AIRY BUT I GOT INTO IT, AND THEN YOU MADE ME CRY, TOO, SO THANKS. THE LAST TIME WE SAW YOU, YOU WERE ON OUR SHOW WITH YOUR BEST FRIEND, "SCRUBS" COSTAR AND PODCAST -- >> THERE WE ARE. >> I REMEMBER BECAUSE HE WAS IN HIS CLOSET. >> WE DO A PODCAST CALLED "BIG DOCTORS, REAL FRIENDS," WHERE WE REWATCH "SCRUBS," AND HE HAS KIDS THAT ARE SO LOUD SO HE IS IN HIS CLOSET. >> MAY 2020, OVER ZOOM, YOU WERE SUCH A BRIGHT LIGHT DURING SUCH A DARK TIM, AND YOU WERE SO EXCITED FOR THE FIRST 2 MINUTES OF THE INTERVIEW. PEOPLE WERE SAYING IT WAS LIKE TWO PUPPIES. IT WAS AMAZING. >> WE LOVE THE SHOW, LOVE YOU GUYS, WHOOPI GOLDBERG HOLDS A VERY SPECIAL PLACE IN BOTH OF OUR HEARTS. ONE THING WE HAVE IN COMMON IS THE "THE COLOR PURPLE" IS ONE OF OUR FAVORITE MOVIES OF ALL TIME. [APPLAUSE] WE GET VERY GIDDY. >> SHE SHOULD HAVE WON THE OSCAR FOR THAT. >> ABSOLUTELY. THEY SHOULD GIVE IT TO YOU NOW. RETROSPECTIVELY. >> YOU DID A SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL LAST YEAR AND AGAIN THIS YEAR BUT THIS TIME AND ADDITIONAL CAST MEMBER, JOHN TRAVOLTA. >> WE BOTH LOVE MUSICALS A LOT. >> LET'S LOOK AT THE CLIP. ♪ WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE ♪ ♪ TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE ♪ ♪ ALL THAT YOU NEED ♪ ♪ TELL ME MORE, TELL ME MORE ♪ ♪ DON'T YOU WORRY ABOUT SPEED ♪ [LAUGHTER] >> TRAVOLTA, TO ME, IS ONE OF THE BEST DANCERS. >> THERE WAS SOME CHOREOGRAPHY, BUT TRAVOLTA WAS LIKE, NO, NO, NO, LET'S DO IT LIKE THIS, AND KIND OF TOOK OVER. WE LOVE MUSICAL THEATER, AND TO BE SITTING THERE, RECREATING "GREASE" WITH TRAVOLTA WAS JUST A LIFE DREAM COME TRUE. >> I DO THAT EVERY TIME I DO KARAOKE. WE DO NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS INCREDIBLE NEW MOVIE. YOU WROTE IT AND DIRECTED IT, "A GOOD PERSON" COME AT IT IS BEYOND THE EMOTIONS, THERE IS A CATHARSIS IN THIS FILM LIKE A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT. I LOVE MORGAN FREEMAN, BUT FLORENCE, THIS WAS THE MOST POWERFUL PERFORMANCE I HAVE SEEN. THE SCENES OF HER -- >> SHE IS GOING TO START CRYING AGAIN. >> I CRY EVERY TIME I TALK TO THE PRODUCER, I START CRYING, BECAUSE VERY FEW MOVIES HAVE THIS EFFECT ON ME, AND THIS ONE, I WAS A "GARDEN STATE" FAN, AND I WAS NOT EXPECTING "GARDEN STATE," BUT THIS IS LIKE A WHOLE NEW -- THE WRITING, THE DIRECTING, THE PERFORMANCES, IT IS JUST... >> THANK YOU SO MUCH BETTER IT IS A GIFT TO HAVE THESE TWO INCREDIBLE PERFORMERS. I THINK SHE IS THE MOST EXCITING YOUNG ACTRESS OF HER GENERATION, AND HE IS OF COURSE THE LEGEND THAT HE IS, SO AS A DIRECTOR AND A WRITER, TO HAVE TWO OF THEM GO TOE-TO-TOE, IT IS MIRACULOUS, AND I THINK THEY ARE MAGICAL TOGETHER. >> WHERE DID IT ALL START? HOW DID YOU END UP WRITING ABOUT THIS? BECAUSE ADDICTION AND GRIEF ARE THEMES WE SEE SO POWERFULLY IN THIS. WHAT WAS THE BEGINNING OR THE >> TO BE HONEST, I LOST A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS, MY SISTER TO AN ANEURYSM, MY FATHER TO CANCER, AND MENTOR IN COVID, MY BEST FRIEND, IT WAS PUBLICIZED BECAUSE HE WAS A FAMOUS BROADWAY ACTOR, MY BEST FRIEND, NICK CORDERO, GOT COVID AT 41 AND DIED. >> OH, THAT'S RIGHT. >> HE WAS LIVING IN MY GUESTHOUSE IN LOS ANGELES, SO I HAD A FRONT ROW SEAT TO THE HORROR OF IT. WHEN I SAT DOWN AND LOCKED DOWN TO WRITE SOMETHING, THAT IS WHAT CAME UP FOR ME. WHAT CAME UP WAS GRIEF, AND HOW DO WE ASSUME TO STAND BACK UP FROM GRIEF? >> DO WE STAND BACK UP? THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP, THE POWER OF LOVE, SOMETIMES COMES FROM SOMEONE YOU WOULDN'T EXPECT IT TO. THAT IS WHAT KIND OF CAME OUT OF ME, THIS INCREDIBLE FRIENDSHIP. TWO PEOPLE WHO ARE GRIEVING IN THEIR OWN QUARTERS AND REALLY NEED SOMEONE, AND FATE BRINGS THEM TOGETHER TO SAVE THM FROM THEMSELVES, AND THE FACT THAT WAS THIS YOUNG, INCREDIBLE INGENUE, FLORENCE PUGH AND MORGAN FREEMAN, I WROTE IT FOR FLORENCE, AND THAT IS THE GENESIS OF IT. >> BECAUSE THE FASCINATION IS THE WAY THE STORIES KIND OF CROSS, BUT THE SIMPLICITY OF SO MANY OF THE SCENES THAT MAKE YOU FEEL THE MOST, IT IS JUST SO RAW. YOU DEALT WITH A LOT OF GRIEF, BUT THE ADDICTION ELEMENT IS ALSO VERY -- THAT'S A HUGE PART OF IT. >> I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE WATCHING, I IMAGINE, CAN RELATE TO KNOWING SOMEONE OR HAVING SOMEONE IN THEIR LIFE WHO BATTLES THIS, PARTICULARLY WITH THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC, AND IT JUST FELT LIKE A VERY, YOU KNOW, CURRENT THING TO WRITE ABOUT. IT IS SOMETHING THAT HAPPENS TO A LOT OF PEOPLE. LET'S SAY, AND THEY NEED OPIOIDS, LEGITIMATELY, FOR PHYSICAL PAIN, BUT THEN THEY GET ADDICTED TO THEM AND GET STUCK ON THEM AND THEY ARE VERY, VERY HARD TO GET OFF OF. >> I FORGOT MOLLY SHANNON IS IN THIS. >> I ALSO WANT TO MENTION, I KNOW IT SOUNDS VERY HEAVY AND VERY MAUDLIN BUT THERE IS A LOT OF HUMOR. >> THERE IS LAUGHING. >> THANKS TO MOLLY SHANNON, WHO BRINGS A LOT. >> I LIKE HER. >> SARA IS STILL CRYING. YOU TOOK MORGAN TO A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN WE HAVE SEEN IN QUITE SOME TIME. HOW MUCH FUN WAS THAT? >> WELL COME HE IS TOUGH, AS YOU KNOW, HE IS A GRUFF MAN. HE REALLY LIKES ME. WE MADE A COMEDY IF YOU YEARS BACK, "GOING IN STYLE," AND WE% REALLY BONDED AND HE REALLY LIKE TO AND WHAT I DID WAS IT GAVE HIM TRUST. HE TRUSTED ME. OF COURSE, I DO GIVE MYSELF A PEP TALK IN THE MIRROR EVERY MORNING, DON'T BE INTIMIDATED BY MR. FREEMAN. BUT HE TRUSTED ME. I THINK THAT WAS WHY I WAS ABLE TO PUSH HIM TO GIVE THE PERFORMANCE HE GIVES, BECAUSE I MAY BE BIASED BUT I THINK IT IS ONE OF THE FINEST PERFORMANCES HE HAS GIVEN IN YEARS. >> IT IS. >> A VERY LONG TIME. >> YOU KNOW, YOU SAID ALREADY THAT YOU WROTE THIS PART FOR FLORENCE PUGH AND SHE KNOCKS IT OUT OF THE PARK, OBVIOUSLY. BUT WE HAVEN'T SEEN HER IN A ROW LIKE THIS BEFORE, AND SHE SINGS. HOW DID THAT MAKE IT INTO THE FILM? >> WELL, YOU KNOW, WE WERE PARTNERS AT THE TIME, WE DID LOCK DOWN TOGETHER, AND I KNEW SHE SANG AND WROTE MUSIC, ALMOST LIKE SOMEONE WRITING A DIARY, WHEN SHE WAS GOING THROUGH SOMETHING, SHE WOULD NOODLE ON THE PIANO OR GUITAR AND SHE WOULD WRITE SONGS TO HELP HER COPE, AND I WAS WRITING, SO I'M GOING TO PUT THAT IN THE SCRIPT, THAT IS SO INTERESTING. THEN, WHEN FLORENCE GOT THE SCRIPT, SHE TOOK IT AND WROTE THE TWO SONGS -- >> DID SHE? >> IN CHARACTER AS THE PERSON. AS A DIRECTOR, SOMETHING YOU NEVER GET TO EXPERIENCE. THE TWO SONGS THE CHARACTERS THINGS WERE WRITTEN BY FLORENCE IN CHARACTER. >> I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. >> THEY ARE GREAT SONGS FROM TOO. SOMETHING IN "GARDEN STATE" AND ON, AND A GREAT MOVIE, STOPPING, THIS SONG, IT HIT ALL OF THE LAYERS. >> WE ARE RELEASING THE SOUNDTRACK, FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH. >> THAT'S AMAZING! NEW JERSEY ALSO PLAYS A HUGE PART. YOU ARE A JERSEY BOY, PROUD. YOU EVEN GOT TO GO BACK AND SHOOTING YOUR OLD HIGH SCHOOL? >> I BROUGHT MORGAN FREEMAN TO MY HIGH SCHOOL. [LAUGHTER] >> THAT SOUNDS LIKE A DREAM SEQUENCE. >> THERE IS A PICTURE. THERE IS HIM LAUGHING AT A PICTURE. >> DID THEY WEIGH YOU? >> WE WERE TALKING ABOUT WEIGHING IN SCHOOLS BEFORE >> WANTED TO WRITE SOMETHING RAW. IF I PUT IT IN A PLACE I KNEW WELL, WHEN YOU ARE A WRITER AND YOU ARE WRITING IN HIGH SCHOOL, YOU ARE WRITING YOUR HIGH SCHOOL. WHY DON'T I JUST GO SHOOT IN MY HIGH SCHOOL? AND THERE'S A POND IN THE MOVIE, THAT IS WHERE I USED TO GO AS A LITTLE BOY WITH MY REMOTE CONTROL BOAT, AND I THOUGHT, I AM GOING TO BRING MORGAN FREEMAN TO MY CHILDHOOD DUCK POND. >> WHY NOT? >> MY CHILDHOOD DUCK POND. >> IT IS NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE THAT GET TO MAKE MAGIC HAPPEN IN THEIR LIVES THE WAY WE DO AS ACTORS, SO WATCHING THIS WAS QUITE EXTRAORDINARY AND REALLY GREAT TO SEE YOU DOING -- THIS IS YOURS, AND I LOVED IT. YOU DID A MAGNIFICENT JOB. TO ZACH BEARD HIS FILM, "A GOOD PERSON," FROM YEARS IN THEATERSL THEATERS, MARCH 24TH. DO YOURSELF A