producers. >> one of them. and got to fire a lot of people and from the onset we were able to find the right director or directors in this case and tweak e script and do the casting and got all of our first choices. everybody we wanted in the movie agreed. >> charlie: and why he >> why julie ann? >> charlie: ye >> apart from being just one of the great -- >> charlie: the relatnship is cal and julie anne. >> that's certainly one of them and ryan i think my relationship with him is key as well and why any of those people i think they have -- they're just great. they're just really, really fine actors. and i think any movie project would be lucky to have any of those people but julie ann has a warmth to her and i think that was necessary for a part like that. >> charlie: was it after 40-year-old virgin you became sort of a leang man. >> yeah, and something my wife and i laugh about all the time. >>harlie: like you're sleeping with a leading man. >> you know who i made out with today in marissa tomei and julie ann and how does that make you feel? it's surprising to say the least. >> charlie: and people are saying your playing the roles tom hanks used to play. >> really? other people are saying all these things? you're not saying them, all these other people are saying them. >> charlie: we have our sources. they write reviews. >> when i worked on the daily show there was a lot of that. >> charlie: i'll get to that. >> we heard; urce tell us. >> charlie: you owe that to stev stephen colbert. >> charlie: and the questions wher were from where? >> trivial pursuit questions. >> crlie: name me a great swedish rock star. >> bjork. and the only one that played along was mccain. he went with it and saw what it was and just went with it. where as a lot of the other candidates -- >> charlie: this was 2000. >> yeah. that was fun. we were very much under the radar. no one real kne of the daily show. right now if anyone from the show shows up they know what to expectbut then no one knew who we were and we put on suits and acted like correspon correspond. >> charlie: what's youradvice on colbert. >> just go with it. you won't outwit him. he's far too smart and he is far too funny. >> charlie: so play him that's character he's playing. >> just go along with him. don't tryo fight it. don't try to be funny. let him handle it because he'll be funny enough for both of you. >> charlie: so you left the office. >> i did. >> charlie: we talked about that before. >> yeah. >> charlie: but in creating your character you never watched ricky? >> i watched fiveminutes in the original show to get a frame of reference because i heard about the show and i didn't understand the fact the conceit was that of ey a documentary and wanted to see the structure and i had to turn to have because he was so good and specific and was such a finely drawned character if i watched more i would have been inclined to do an impression of him. >> charlie: why did you leave? >> i had a seven year contract and i first and foremost i wanted to honor that and out of respect to the actors and everybodon the show. i just felt it was time and wanted to spend time with his family and i have little kids and a wanted to make sure i could be theres much as i could be for their childhood. >> charlie: and you live in boston. >> part of the year. >> charlie: whenou look at today, how do you analyze. >> the luckiest s.o.b. >> charlie: that's what people say about you. >> i am. i'm lucky. ridiculously lucky. >> charlie: do you know why? they say it's because of your face and eyes. >> what? >> charlie: steve martin said you can inhabit any character and at the same time find something about that character that some redeemin value. >> wow. yes, that's exactly. i agree with steve martin. he's a huge idol of mine. that comes as high praise. i don't know. i think it is so much -- it sounds like i'm just saying that but truly think a lot of it is luck and being at the right place at the right time i have many friends who are equally talented or more so that that working hard and haven't had the same fortune that i've had and i don't necessarily know where it goes that way and i'm not questioning it. i'm always trying to be appriati of it. >> charlie: and you can't worry about the fact of what might hap end to it. >> no, you can't because then you're just worrying about all des and you have to enjoy it to a certain extent and if you're so worried about it ending, you know, ultimately it will and you can't -- just like we're all going to die. if i spent my life worrying about dying. >> charlie: you roll with it but at the same time you pay attention to it and work hard to get better and better at it. >> and it's always fun. that's an important aspect of it to me. it should be fun. this movie was fun and people watching the movie don't care if the actors had fun. they just want to see a good movie but it's important the experience is good. >> charlie: i suspect people can tell whether people are having fun. >> i think so. generally unless they're extremely good actors. >> you can fake fun? >> but yes, clear withhe group of people and with the office we had a ball every day. i think you can tell. i do think that registers. >> charlie: so when you do someing like little miss sunshine -- >> -- yeah. >> charlie-- is that equally chlenges for you. >> what was interesting about little miss sunshine is a friend of mine that was a producer on something else told me not to do it. said you hardly have any lines in the movie. you should not -- you shouldn't do little miss sunshine you sit in the second seat and stare out the window half the movie and a thought that's great. i just want to be in it. i st want to be part of it. i just want -- >> charlie: because? >> because i thought the script was great. something about the script i felt the same about this script, it's very onomical. it didn't tell you everything about every character. it told you enough to conclusions about characters or get a sense of characters but it didn't tell you who everybody was and i think that's important. >> charlie: you wte five episodes -- >> of the office? two. >> charlie: two. >> and directed three. >> charlie: is it hard for you having done those two things not to look at a script and say i want to change it, i want to tweak it, i want to make it better? >> to a certain extent, yes, but you also have to respect the wring. that's something that is important to me. and with the writer with the director if there a huge problem that you're having that's just something to be brought up and discussed but -- >> charlie: as an actor. >> right, but i don't want to come in and hack a script because as a writer i would have written it differently because every writer has a different approach and you need to respect that. >> charlie: some will suggest that people do it best have a kind of -- have a sense of often people who have been writers and have a sense of the complete story so they then know how to get their hands in the improvisation. >> that's true and the opposite true if you're a good improvisational actor you understand scene structure and there's different types of improvisation to there's people doing games and very jokey improsati and there's improvisation that happens on a movie set which i think is very different and when somebody comes into a movie and tries to just be funny or say silly things or things they think might get in the movie that's off-putting to me because i think that someone who i a improvises is different and that supportinghe script in place opposed to trying to make it your own. >> charlie: when you started out you wanted to be simply an actor. not a comic or comedic actor. >> a simple actor. i just wanteto act. i -- >> charlie: rather than law school. >> yeah,hat was the choice. it came down tthat. no, i didn't have any sense of being a comedic actor. that's just what i was hired to do >> charlie: but you got hired quickly at second city. >> couple years in. i did a couple class and paid my dues and auditions. >> charlie:nd what about acting? >> i just enjoyed there was always something fun like playing hockey or singing in the choir or doing any number of things. . it was just a fun thing to do but never thought of it as a career choice. >> charlie: or work. >> no, i felt like i owed my parents better. they invested so much in me. >> charlie: since you took private school. >> ifelt like i had to make more of yourself. >> charlie: your dad didn't object to you not going law school. >>hey're the ones that told me i should giv it shot and gave me the freedom tdo it and it was important to me and it's a lesson i want to pass on to my kids because they said you know what, this is your life, it's not about us or making us happy. you should do what makes you happy. >> charlie: what got you have chicago to new york? >> well, my wife was hired to appear on saturday night live and we moved to new york. and actually there coincided with a play i had done in chicago that was moving off broadway so she started at snl and i started on the play. it wked out well. >> charlie: and the 40-year-old virgin, how did that get started. >> they asked me if i any ideas for movies and said if you do please contact me so i went in and met with him months later and pitched it and i actually pitched the pok sequence where the character of andy is trying desparately to keep up with these sort of body stories of sexual conquests and he clearly has no frame of rerence to talk about it -- >> charlie: no history. >> and makes an ass of himself and pitched essentially that to him anthe story of this guy and sa i cance can sell that tonight. and he did. he pulled the trigger and we wrote it over the summer and shot it next fall. from the time i pitched it was like a year. the movie came out. >> charlie: it grossed about $200 million. >> i have no idea. i think it was sort of like harry potter. [laughter] >> charlie: billions. >> billions. i think it was a billion. but it did -- it was surprising too i remember going to the first preview and we didn't know. we thought it was funny but never put it in front of an audience and people really responded and really laughed. >> charlie: and how did it change your life? >> in all sorts of ways. >> charlie: you were a movie star. well, i didn't hav to audition any more so i look at ithat way which is interesting because just after they went in to talk to warner brothers abo get smart and i was still of the mind that i've got to go in and audition so i went over and i thought it was a casting call d i went with my head shot and resume but i didn't have abe of the script so i didn't know what my lines would be and i nt into the conference room and it was all the executives from warner brothers around the table and i sat down. i did not understand what was going on and they just offered me the part and it blew my mind and they could see -- >> charlie: did you think i can show you how good i am. >> i was holding -- i had a little brief case with my head shot. >> that was enormous. >> charlie: you knew you had arrived. >> then i became a jerk and started taking advantage of people. the list of people that i've been able to work with is kind of shocking frankly when i look back at katherine keener and juli julie anne benoche like how did that ha that happen? >> charlie: and keira knightley. d this is a scene about pick up women. >> just because you know how to pick up women doesn't mean i do. >> ever see karate kid? group and buy them a drink. >> without fail you buy her a drink even if she doesn't want one, you insist. do you talk about yourself? >> it's boring. she has to be the interesting one. it's a big game. game, creepy, creepy, little game. >> judgmental. at the end of the night do i ask hem to come home with me. >> no, you tell them. they have no choice and they are so overjoyed to have had the opportunity to make sweet sweet love to you. oh, my god, you did. you miagi'd me. >> charlie: tell us about ryan gossling. >> he's obviously a great actor but i met with him for this part. i had a three-hour meeting and he became a friend of mine. >> charlie: the conversation was whether i would hire you for my movie. >> it's weird when you put it that way. but yeah he was somebody we were interested in playing the role and actually we worked togeth and i forgotten about this when i was a young teen we did a pilot together and didn't have scenes but we had worked together many many years before and he reminded me of that fact and he's just a good guy. he's vy very sweet and very kind with a huge heart and funny. that's what's going to surprise people. here's this guy that you know of as a very intense leading man and he is a great advisor in that same sense he improvises on point and story within character and just funny and charming and as good looking as he is he's even better looking on the inside. really good guy. >> charlie: what's next? >> i'm doing -- i'm just about to finish a movie with keira knightley. it's sort of the opposite side of your armadeddon kind of movie. it's not the president on the phone with the astronauts did you blowup the asteroid, it's everybody else dealing with the realization the world's going to end in two weeks and they have to get their lives in order and believe it or not it's funny but it's a script they read and could not stop thinking about it. >> charlie: if there's somebody yo knew that's a very good actor male or female, very good actor, can they do comedy inevitably or is comedy some other kind of gene you have to have? >> you kno i think the mistake some people make about doing a comedy is -- and this is something ryan brought up with the first meeting is he didn't want to try to be funny and i think that was a good instinct because when people try to be funny it doesn't necessarily wo that way ande proached it as an actor. i just want to play the character -- >> charlie: if the character's funny you'll be funny. >> yeah, you play it truthfully and honestly and the humor will sort of evolve from that but when you go in -- and i think by the same token if like an actor known for comedic work goes to do a drama, you know, you don't have to walk around with a frown on face because you're in a drama. people don't know in life -- they don't know whether their life is a comedy drama. they're just part of it. i think you shouldn't know you're in a comedy when you're doing a comedy. a character shouldn't know they're in a comedy. >> charlie: what's the best advice you've received fo acting? >> listen. >> charlie: listen? >> yeah, listen. don't get ahead of yourself. it isn't a script. life isn't a script. >> charlie: thank you. >> thank you. >> charlie: great to see you. the movie's called "crazy, stupid love." it opens on theatres july 29. narrator: the monuments and memorials of the nation's capital are masterworks of enduring power and grace. they celebrate the mythic struggles and triumphs of our founding, bestow homage on the everyday heroes of ferocious war, and give expression to magnificent aspirations and ideals. these memorials define the skyline of the nation's capital, but their importance radiates far beyond marble, bronze, and steel. join us as we explore the compelling stories and continuing significance of memorials on theweta guide.