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For a man whos made a career showcasing zhlubs,Judd Apatowsure is constantly working.
But in many ways, it feels like something different.
Its why Apatow decided to release it now, instead of pushing it back for an eventual theatrical release.
He wanted to celebrate those who sacrifice.
you might read some excerpts from the transcript or listen to the full episode right below.
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Who should I know about?
The first person she showed me was Pete.
I just looked at some YouTube video of him on some show.
Sometimes you just go,Thats the guy.
Thats the one whos gonna be the big star.I dont know what accounts for that.
I had the same feeling when I saw [Adam] Sandler for the first time.
Thats something that I like.
So we had him do a cameo in the movie.
We didnt really have a part for him.
We had Bo Burnham inFunny People it was the same thing.
We have a lot of those in the movies, just people we like.
Nick Kroll was inGet Him to the Greek.
But also to say we knew they were great.
We didnt have the thing yet, but just we knew, and Pete was one of those people.
So Bill had that instinct right away.
And then the next thing you know, he was onSaturday Night Live.
He has a dark sense of humor.
Hes hilarious, has been hilarious since he was younger than 20, which makes no sense.
He obviously has a very interesting attitude about life.
And the story of his life is fascinating.
Its also one that makes us all worry about him and hope that he heals and can feel strong.
And hes a great guy.
Hes a bighearted person.
Hes a really kind person.
When they would score, he seemed so much more excited than when he scored.
On Omitting 9/11 While Adapting Davidsons Story
We debated that a lot.
I mean, the story is fictional.
So we werent trying to do Pete Davidsons life story.
So the question was, Should you make it 9/11?
And there were a lot of people who told me, You should.
9/11 is so universal that it affected everybodys life.
It changed the world.
So I thought the reaction to him and his problems would have to be through that filter.
I didnt want to use that filter.
I also think 9/11 is such a giant subject.
I dont need it to be 9/11, because thats what were talking about.
Some people say, I want my movies to end in an hour and 40 minutes.
I know that its really painful for them to sit for 2:20.
So Im always trying to make it as short as I can.
But usually its ten or 15 minutes longer than most people probably would want.
So go fuck yourself.Thats where I always land.
People will watch ten hours of the Michael Jordan documentary.
And ifHarry Potters three hours and 35 minutes, no one bitches.The Avengersis three hours and whatever.
I definitely am up all night worrying about it and thinking about it.
But Ive also noticed that when these things hit TV and streaming, no one thinks theyre too long.
They only think its too long when theyre in a movie theater and they have to pee.
The concept of length … anyone can debate me because its also personal taste.
For a lot of people, if theyre watchingThe Avengers, they wish it was six hours.
They wish it was 25 hours a day.
Theyre like, Let me take a couple of breaks and Ill stay here forever.
And I feel that way for movies like that, and all sorts of movies.
Im fine at two hours, two and a half hours with the human stories.
Some of the most fun Ive ever had is watching threeSopranosin a row.
That doesnt mean that Im not wrong a fair amount of the time.
So theyll say, Were going to showFunny Peopleon FX.
Youve got to cut 11 minutes, and you have no choice.
And then suddenly, okay: Heres the cut I wouldnt make.
And then sometimes I make the cut, and I think I might have just made it better.
But then theres scenes that you cut for time, and you miss them.
The scene is him eating hot dogs and then you hear Cut!
And Adams like, I just got over leukemia.
You want me to eat four hot dogs?
And Im begging him, How about this?
I wont do a second take.
Can you do it once?
And its him saying No.
I miss it so much.
I mean, no one will watch it.
So I will make those cuts and then regret them for years.
And most people think thats the movie.
Most people watched it on DVD.
They watched this two hour and ten-minute version ofThe 40-Year-Old Virginwith this big, long sequence of Stormy Daniels.
Theres all sorts of crazy stuff in it that wasnt in the movie.
Like a really long Kevin HartRomany Malco fight.
I dont know how that occurred to me.
I just thought,Im probably repeating myself.
My themes are probably all the same.
Theres a lot of coming-of-age stories, problems in romance, parenting issues.
But I ultimately felt like I didnt understand it enough yet.
I might return to it.
Then I had an interesting idea about people getting out of prison and what that experience is like.
I did a lot of research on it.
It was actually very painful because the justice system is very cruel.
When you spend a lot of time learning more about it, it hurts.
You feel for these people if you have any compassion at all.
Its somewhat devastating what our country does to people.
A story about it, it just troubles me.
There was no part that felt like it was going to head comedic or even dramatic.
It just took me down, quite honestly.
Because it is about the sacrifice his father made and how it affected Petes family.
Theyre not trying to make movies.
Theyre not trying to get ahead or win awards.
There is definitely a great cost to that.
That subject matter was very challenging to write about, and Im really proud of the movie.
I think it talks about some issues that people dont bother to pay attention to.
Theyre taking a very great personal risk to be there for other people.
In a lot of ways, if you like, the movie is about them.
Thats one of the reasons I wanted it to come out.
