Steve Coogan
Appearances
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Thank you. Standing ovation in New York.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I know. That's unusual.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
So. Yeah, I hated it, too, the first time. I went with Frank Skinner, this British comedian, and the reviews were great for him, and for me, they were terrible. And the newspaper they were in, he hid under the sofa so I wouldn't find it. But I did. Yeah, but then you came back with a vengeance. Oh, in the end, I won.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I think it's good. I mean, I have a recurrent dream where I'm about to go on stage with no material and I wake up in a cold sweat. But, you know, I think. But why? Why do you stick? What makes you stick with the library? I think. It's important to, you know, when you write comedy and you do comedy on TV, there's so many layers between you and the audience. You don't see them laughing.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I mean, you do because they're over there and you're there. Yeah, these guys are here. But they're forced to. These guys are forced to. Yeah, I know. That's where those guys with the whips are at the back. So I think it's important to get rid of all the filters because you don't want to be on an ivory tower.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
You've got to be connected with your audience and make sure they're still laughing and see the whites of their eyes and all that stuff. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
If people want to come and see you, they'll come and see you, and you're in total control. And also, it's quite gladiatorial. If it's successful, you get all the credit, but if it fails, it's all your fault.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I'm not quite as rich as Elon Musk, but, you know. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I did the Stanley Kubrick movie. We did it on stage where I played... Peter Sellers did this famous... Anyone over 50 in the audience might know this movie. LAUGHTER Wow. I'm surprised, too. Where did you guys come from? So this, he did this movie about nuclear war, a comedy, a black comedy about nuclear war. And Peter Sellers played three roles in it. And I did a live stage version.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
And I did four roles because I wanted to do better than Peter Sellers. I just wanted to beat a dead man. That's all. No, but which is crazy, because four roles, and you were, like, losing, I saw you doing press for it, and you were, like, losing your voice from it.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Well, it's like when you're doing four roles on stage, you're on and off so fast, when you go off stage, they pull all the clothes off you, not in a good way. And then put it all back on you, and it's like a Formula One pit stop, because you're just going bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, and you're back on stage, and I did 140 shows, and I'm done.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Again, all the money in the world, why did you do that? I think, I don't know, maybe I'm a Catholic, and because I'm Catholic, I like to sort of punish myself and do penance. You know what they call penance? It's Lent, so, you know. That was your plan, doing Dr. Strange's love was your Lent? I think somehow, like, hard work is good.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
If life gets too easy and you get too lazy, it's good to kind of make, to scare yourself.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Well, yeah, in the UK, it's an institution. People over here, he's not that well-known over here. The only people who know him over here are the cool people like Bill Hader. Ben, Ben, Ben. Me, I know him. I know you. You're part of the new Gen Z. Are you Gen Z or millennial?
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I guess I'm one. Okay, well, I'm definitely a non-recon. I'm a last of the baby boomers, start of Generation X. In between there.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
All I know is I'm a white middle-aged guy, so I know I'm an endangered species. That's what I'm saying.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Part of the furniture in the UK.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
But over here, I'm still kind of, I'm still a bit, because no one knows who I am, I'm a little underground, so I'm still quite cool and edgy. So I come here to feel cool and I go back there to earn a living.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
It's not like I want to come to America to live the American dream. I come here because I get to work with interesting people. And fortunately, because the people I admire, I've had a chance to work with them in the past. People like Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller. And...
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
And, you know, so I go and work with people I respect, people who want to do... You know, I want to entertain people, but I want to have some substance to it, too. I like to make people laugh. I like to punch up, not punch down, like your president. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Our president.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I just, I go where the interesting people are. You know, I'm lucky enough in my career that I can work with people I like and respect. That's why I'm here with you. Oh, yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it. That's very nice. So that's what I do. And I'm over here right now promoting this new movie, Penguin Lessons. Yes. And I know that there's a good audience here.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
In some ways, in the UK, because I have this famous character, I'm kind of pigeonholed. Over here, I do some odd movies that kind of have a following. I did a movie called Hamlet 2 that has some kind of cult following over here. Thank you. No, you did everything.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Tropic Thunder, other guys. Other guys, yeah.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Philomena.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Philomena? Philomena was a movie. Oscar-nominated Philomena? Yeah, I got the Oscar nomination, so that's nice. It was nice to win, but, you know, it didn't happen.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
pay me my airfare and put me in a nice hotel. I mean, I did like two days on the Joker and that was great.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I was doing a film called The Other Guys with Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell. Very funny guys. With Adam McKay, director. Adam McKay, who is a great director. And I was... I enjoyed it a lot, but it was kind of like... I like to be in the driving seat.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
And when I was doing that, that's why I discovered the story of this Irish woman whose child had been taken from her and sold to an American couple back in the 1950s. So I pursued that as a writer, which was drama. And before that, I'd just done comedy. And I didn't know if it would work out, but we wound up at the Oscars. So I thought, okay, well, I'll do some more of this stuff.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
People seem to like it. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I have a career in the UK, and I like to do a bit of comedy, a bit of drama. Sometimes you don't want to get too serious because you can vanish up your own ass. So it's important to have a laugh and just remember, don't get too full of yourself. So I like to do a bit of yin-yang. So make people laugh, make them cry.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
If you make them cry too much, they're not going to want to see you anymore, so you've got to make them laugh again.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I know, it's a terrible thing, but, you know, it was a terrible story, actually, in the U.K., but the worst thing about it was, when I said I'm playing Jimmy Savile, the sex offender, people actually said, you'd be perfect for that. Wait a second.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, I mean, the thing is, you want to make people laugh and you want to make people think at the same time. And there's ways to do that. Also, I think, you know, a lot of comedy is about, some comedy can be about cruelty. I think it's always important to be, you can be smart and tough and you can be kind at the same time. You don't have to be a dick. Right. I got to write that down.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, do, do. I'll email it to you later. I didn't know you could do it without being a dick.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, I think, well, I think, look, it's like anything. When you have an argument with someone, you can bang heads. And if you have a different point of view, you can not end up resolving anything. Yes. And also, if you have loads of facts and statistics, they get twisted, and people can present their alternative facts and all that stuff.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
But if you tell a story or you make someone laugh, then people relax a little. And you can talk about serious stuff, as you do on this show, in a funny way. Then people relax about it, and it takes the edge off it. And it stops people being scared. We're living in scary times. And if you can laugh, have that gallows humor, then we can all get through it together, I think. Right. Right. Right.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
And I got a...
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
I mean, ostensibly, you look at it and go, it's a cute film about a penguin. I'm not really interested in doing a cute film about a penguin. Did you tell the penguin that? I didn't. I didn't. I told his agent. There is a live penguin in this thing. There's a few penguins in it. But to me, my buddy was writing it, Jeff Pope, who I've written a bunch of films before with.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
And he said, hey, I'm writing this film about a penguin. Do you want to be in it? And I said, no. I said, well, hang on. If I make the guy someone who doesn't like penguins and doesn't like animals and doesn't like children, doesn't really like people, then that gives him somewhere to go. And the penguin acts as a catalyst.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
But it's set against the fascist regime, the military dictatorship that existed in Argentina in the late 1970s. So there's a kind of dark, brooding backdrop to it. Any parallels to modern times? Well, I figured out that everyone loves the penguins because they're cuddly. And fascism's very popular at the moment, so... Something for everybody. Right, fascism, but Disney, Disney-fied.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's like fascism meets Disney. Yeah, which is Disney. Which is Disney, yeah.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
By the way, I just want to say about the penguins, because I'm a little worried. No penguins were harmed in the making of this film. And we have a robot penguin in the film, as well as real ones. So if we asked the penguins, we didn't ask the penguins to do anything difficult.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, that's like a... There's a fake one that I throw, and then we cut it together.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, no, and also, I've never thrown a penguin in my life. Don't get cancelled for throwing penguins. It's in the movie. It's in the movie, yeah. It's trickery. Okay. Magic, the magic of movies.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
Yeah, but we had a robot penguin, and we had a puppet penguin. Someone had their hand up a fake penguin, so to speak.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
No, no. It's funny. It's not silly. It's not dumb funny. I play a guy who doesn't really like penguins and winds up adopting one by mistake. And, uh... Thank you.
The Daily Show: Ears Edition
Republicans Play "War Plan" Semantics as Journalist Brings Receipts | Steve Coogan
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