Our challenge was always in the third act. Because we know the story of [a] rom-com. Boy meets girl, they're going to go through the second act, they're gonna play some mischief on each other, one's gonna find out the other one's kind of not being straight with them, they're gonna break apart. And then third act begins, boy chases girl, catches her, maybe get a kiss, the credits roll, we're happy they did it.

My challenge for my role as the male was always in the third act, when the boy comes back to girl, man comes back to woman. It was always written like [the man] comes back on two knees weeping. 'Take me back, or I am nothing.' And I immediately went, 'What girl wants that guy?'And they were like, 'Oh, you're afraid to be vulnerable.' I said, 'No, no, no. I'm not talking about that.' I said, 'Hang on a minute. I want to show up with some dignity.'

It was always a battle for me and one that I think I fought pretty well. It was the part of the rom-coms of why, to this day - after 55 films and a lot of dramas - when people go, 'What were the hardest roles?' Not Dallas Buyers Club, losing 55 pounds. That made sense. What was hard was fighting the battles for the third acts of those rom-coms. That's the hardest work I've ever done on film.

I didn't feel like I had a great story in game number three, much less game number 73. So a lot of my stories are - and I've confessed this before - not 100% true. It's just, you know, something that you and [former Jeopardy! host] Alex Trebek can chat about for 25 seconds. Like, mission accomplished.

So I told them that I liked airline food. That's not really true. He asked me if I had any dark secrets, and I told him, 'I killed a man down south once.' Also, not true ... We don't fact-check. We're not The New Yorker on Jeopardy!

A good Jeopardy anecdote is a little bit like a Mad Lib. Something like, you know ... Even though you're in your 30s, you own two tricycles, and they're both orange. On paper, that's kind of a boring story. Somebody has two orange tricycles. But when you think about it on Jeopardy!, that's kind of the perfect thing.

Yes and no. This has to act completely independently of the films. I think we made the right choices for the films. Sure, everyone's always looked and said, 'We could have done this.' I probably brought more of that to this than anybody because I've lived with it so closely for so long. But it was important that this be its own thing.

Again, just as I'm proud that each of the films and each of the directors were distinct, so too it was important that this be Mark [Mylod] and Francesca [Gardiner]'s vision. I mean, obviously, Ruth Kenley-Letts and I, who are executive producers, are very involved in debate, discuss, but any producer has to support the vision of the key creators.

You know, it's funny. The special effects team had a very clever rig, for that. Where they basically had almost like kind of like a metal exoskeleton and we just dressed it. And literally you could just turn it on and just burn it all night long if you wanted, you know?

I have one regret, which is I never got a closeup of the guy's, like, skin sizzling, you know? Uh, you always see it a little bit from a distance.

I was outraged. I would like to have that moment back. I congratulate the worthy opposition.

We kept rehearsing the scene and, finally, I had it. I said, 'Look, this thing stinks. This is a very important scene. We're introducing the character and it's just really fucking dull. We've got to do something.' I said to Eddie, 'Make some goddamn noise. Sing something.' And so we started. He just started singing 'Roxanne.'

The producer we had on the set immediately called the studio and said, 'Eddie Murphy's singing 'Roxanne.' What do we do? We don't have the rights.' The order came back that I was to stop shooting instantly. Well, you see the movie. I said, 'No, I liked it. Go buy the song.' They did in the end because we printed it and moved on. But the song came from Eddie. It was his spark. It's his moment.

She told me she only slept three to five hours a night. She was always dreaming stuff up and just busy. She'd sleep on her big travel bus if she was traveling and doing things and wake up early in the morning. ... She did her own hair and makeup, her own wig and her own makeup. And she'd get to work.

She's incredible. Great work ethic. She wanted to rehearse a lot, and I was like, 'I would love to rehearse with you.' I'd love to just be in her presence. She was incredible. She walked on the set and made everyone feel comfortable because people were so nervous to meet Dolly Parton. And she just walked on this set and said, 'Merry Christmas everybody.' Like to the whole room and everyone just was charmed. Like, that was it.

The amount of Listerine strips me and Glen ingested while making Hit Man is diabolical. I don't know how our stomachs could handle [it]. Like it was probably just like Listerine strips. And, at one point, we ran out of the minty ones, so then we were on the cinnamon. We're like - I don't know why. We're like, 'Here you go. Here I go.' But there's so many intimate scenes and every scene is a kissing scene. Every single one.

To be fair, me and him - because we were in the writing process with Rick. We wrote all of this and explored it, and we were very much a part of the creation of those scenes. Rick was kind of like, 'It's you guys. You figure it out.' Then me and Glen, we finished it, and then it was time to do it. We're like, 'Oh fuck, now we got to do it.'

We had a lot of days. A lot of days [of] fight choreography, fight rehearsal. He's just down. I knew he moved well, but then I saw him on the first day of our fight rehearsal, and I was like, 'Oh, he really moves well.' Forced me to bring my A-game. And, also, I think we're both two people who don't like to let the stunt doubles do it. Not every actor is like that but, when you have two actors that are, I think, as deeply committed to being in and kind of owning that physicality, that bodes well for the fight scenes.

Maria and Bari have already spoken. Maria isn't sitting around licking her wounds. She's moving fast, and 60 Minutes is absolutely in the mix. She wants to remain a major player.

Maria brings something Bari understands is valuable: access. She can get CEOs, billionaires, political power players and Wall Street titans on the phone. You don't throw away a Rolodex like that.

Maria believes she still belongs at the biggest table in television. And there is no bigger table than 60 Minutes. She wants back in the game - immediately.

It's been rumored that [Jack] is on the shortlist. We're going to find out pretty soon, aren't we? Because they have picked him. They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet. So my fingers are crossed for Jack.

They love that Zendaya and Tom were able to get married without anyone knowing it was happening. No one got photos. It's all been ultra private and protected. And privacy is the new luxury among celebrities. It's the chic thing - so, of course, Kylie is drawn to that.

You can't blame her for wanting to do the same sort of thing: get married and then drop some vague hints later. She might go as far as sharing some photos, but if Timothée has his way, they won't even do that.

It's, of course, a worst-case scenario for Kris. She wants a big celebration with cameras rolling and sponsorship deals galore. If they want to elope and tie the knot before the way [daughter] Kourtney [Kardashian] and Travis [Barker] did, she's OK with that - as long as the actual wedding is televised. But they are both vehemently opposed, they want nothing to do with the circus and will do what they want - period.

I have always had it in my head, like, 'I wouldn't mind just being on a procedural and just focusing on a character and being part of an ensemble.' And I was thinking that, in many ways, like, 'How lucky would I be to be employed right now and replaced by AI and/or the next generation?' I'm getting long in the tooth.

This was really only a few months before that, I was like, 'I could see myself slowing things down and joining a procedural.' God, how wrong I was that it would be a slowdown. I saw myself like Virginia Slim and a G&T just cruising. No. And thank God.

So when this landed in my lap, I didn't have long. I really had to give them an answer like that day because they had to literally shoot, they were shooting in less than two weeks. And I hadn't seen, I have still not seen Yellowstone, but I watched the pilot with my partner, and it was really good. Mostly, I was focusing on Luke [Grimes], and he's really good, and I wanted to know more.

But more than anything, I kind of wanted just to take the jump, because I knew it would have some eyeballs at least to some extent. And I wanted to kind of, like I said, I thought I could just lay back and, you know, run the Marshal compound and let [Kayce] do his thing. But my god, it has been an amazing journey. But it is so intense, the workload. And I had no idea what these actors [went through], because I've never been on a procedural like this except for like one time on Dark Blue.

Yeah, I've never done anything like this before. I've literally been going nonstop since after the actors' and writers' strikes. I was doing a movie with Adam McKay, which fell apart, and I ended up having a big period where I wasn't working when I recalibrated what I wanted to do.

Die My Love with [director] Lynne Ramsay, who I've always wanted to work with, came up. And it's been a cascade of all these projects [since then]. I just changed my mindset, going, 'I don't care about doing big movies or leads. I'm just going to do stuff I find interesting.'

And then somehow, I don't understand how the scheduling actually even worked out, because I literally left Die My Love and flew to The Drama. I finished that and flew to Primetime basically the same day. I was kind of producing [Primetime] as well. We were prepping four films at the same time. But I think it's worked out. At the end of this, I'm definitely taking a vacation.

For me, one season is perfect, having said what I wanted to say with this dangerous, innovative, pop-art Spider-Man. Onwards, upwards, inwards.

Look, I was nervous about it. But I guess not super nervous. I don't know. There was enough time I could get ready. And everyone was ready, you know? I really am grateful to the whole team there. There was intimacy on site. The director and the DP did a lot of sort of pre-lighting and pre-planning to minimize the amount of time I'd have to be walking around, which is good news for everybody. You know?

And I thought the actors, you know, like she said, everyone's just so pro. You know, this is not anyone's first rodeo. And so they understood this. It's a funny scene. I mean, it's a good scene. Yeah, it's because it's so weird and he's just walking around playing records and talking to his daughter-in-law. Like who does that?

Milly Bobby Brown is now in serious talks to join the MCU.

So-so. [Laughs]

In terms of working meta with my own son, playing my son, this was last fall. He's 32, and I was 32 when I did the original Spaceballs. So it was pretty much like a shape-shifting experience. [I] see him from behind, I think, 'That's me. Oh, no.' But in a Mel Brooks movie, it's kind of nice to have sort of a farce premise.

I remember this very well. After the match, Andy was crying to me with happy tears, and that started my water works as well. Andy is one of the kindest people I have ever met, with a pure heart and soul. I will miss you my friend. Prayers to ur family and loved ones. 🙏🏼❤️ #Butcher

Rest in peace sweet man.

One of my best friends of AEW passes away, Andy Williams, I couldn't keep it together back stage. There's nothing that can make my heart feel less, instead of cheering for me, please cheer for Andy one final time.

Saddened & shocked to hear about the passing of Andy Williams. Andy was a joy to work with - He was a kind, funny & deep individual who was an extremely talented musician & wrestler. My thoughts & prayers go out to all of Andy's family, friends & fans. RIP brother.

The reason why we shot all of that aerial footage ahead of time was then we had a volume stage in Montreal with a buck and a true F-18 cockpit that we were then shooting in front of real plates. And, it's sort of what they did on the Maverick movie, because on that I think they were also re-skinning a lot of the planes to look like they were in the front seat as opposed to the backseat. It was really fun to be able to sort of treat it as though, 'Okay, let's try to keep the camera where the only realistic places it could actually be mounted. We didn't want like a video game camera, flying, because I think it just added to the sort of authenticity of it.

And, we had actual two pilots as consultants who flew in the '70s and '80s and who are now in their 80s who were on set and advising us... It was amazing talking to these guys, and they were instrumental in making sure that everything that took place inside the plane was legitimate.

Whenever you take a program people have watched for years and put it in a new environment, there's going to be an adjustment period. People are always going to compare everything; it just comes with the territory. For us, the job hasn't changed. Ernie, Kenny, Chuck and I are there to talk basketball, be honest, have fun and deliver the chemistry our viewers enjoy because that's when the show works best.

I said, 'Ernie, I'll stay for two more years.' But he says, 'Chuck, I'm planning on retiring in two years.' So me and Ernie are a package deal. So, to answer your question, Ernie said to me, 'Chuck, would you please stay for two more years?' I said, 'You know what, Ernie? I love you, man. You're the best.' I said, 'I'll stay for two more years.' So, right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year, 100%.

That's right. That's right, I did. Well, first day of work, she shows up, and she's memorized the entire script. She thought that she was supposed to learn it all. And then, one day, one day, about, I don't know, three or four weeks into the shooting, she called me and Lily over during the lunch break. 'Come here.' You know, she had nails like this. She got in the corner, and she said, 'I think I've written the song.'

And she starts singing '9 to 5,' using her nails as percussion instruments. And I just - Lily and I looked at each other. We both had the biggest goosebumps we'd ever had. And it was like, 'Oh my god.'

This is it! This is it! At least the song is going to be a hit. This is great. This is the anthem of the secretaries' movement.

I'd love to be in the Dune sequel. I'm a Dunie, I love Dune. I'm obsessed.

Because Denis never asked me to be in anything. It's devastating.

I actually don't want to be in it because I just want to be able to watch them.

This happened...

I'm utterly overwhelmed. I just wanted to share with you that it took me a while when I decided to make this film during the pandemic. It took me a while to realize that this was my story to tell. I could direct it.

My hero and friend Gloria Steinem recently said, 'Please tell your own story.' The most important thing we can do for each other is to know each other through stories. I got to know my mother through telling the story. It's a gift that's indescribable.

I just want that invitation to go out, especially to women. I'm so excited to explore and discover and innovate new ways of telling stories from half of the earth's population because we don't hear from you enough. I can't wait to get to know you.

We thought, 'This is going to be such an amazing film. People are going to love it.' And then it got quiet. It got quiet. [They] were like, 'How many women in a film do you need? How many tones do you need? What kind of film is this?'

It just happened. It was more like serendipity, and it came, and we were ready, and everything fell into place. It's like in life - you try to force things; it doesn't work. You have to wait, be patient, and we both kind of open to it.

It was interesting because some of these celebrities were alone, and these people are never alone. Like, some didn't get plus-ones, so they just had to go to this event alone. And, because they always have a publicist or assistant, or a blood boy. There's always someone with these people. But, like, JLo was alone. JLo was kind of like a wallflower.

One of the ideas of our production designer, Jeffrey Townsend, was to very rarely use red in the movie until the two of them came together. And that little group of soccer players is all in red on purpose.

We used a very controlled palette in the movie, partly because of me because I hate blue. So we don't have any blue in the movie. But see, she's got a red car. It's just, no one will ever notice it, except for these DVDs, what a miracle they are.

Cancer is all the rage, but I've said plenty, and I need to get back to the business of living.

I've decided though, pretty specifically, to live with it, not die from it... The cancer rabbit hole is enormous. You can go into focus groups of 10,000 guys who have exactly what you have. I won't touch it with a 10 foot pole.

Fear not, I am a tough old son-of-a-b---- and I have great support, so I expect to be around a while.

[The biscuits], man they are dry. Oh my god. They are, like, making your gums become your top lip. They are better [in later seasons] because I've complained so globally about them.

They didn't expect me to go at them like a truffle hound -- I decided that Rebecca should be an emotional eater. At the end of the day, they were like, 'Do you want a spit bucket?' And I just thought no, that's very inelegant.

Hannah thinks the biscuits have improved on this series. I had my first one for a bit of PR and I was like, 'These are fine.' She's like, 'Yeah, but the first season they were terrible!'