The Stars of ＂Willy Wonka,＂ on Childhood, Wilder, and Hollywood ｜ Ep. 41
Episode Stats
Length
1 hour and 20 minutes
Words per Minute
182.28957
Summary
On this day in 1984, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory opened in theaters. On this day, two of my favorite actors, Peter Ostrom and Julie Dinklage, were introduced to the world for the first time.
Transcript
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Your home for open, honest and provocative conversations.
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Hey everyone, I'm Megyn Kelly. Welcome to The Megyn Kelly Show.
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OMG, you're just not going to believe what we have for you today.
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Like I've been looking forward to this my whole life.
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better known as Charlie Bucket and Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
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Now let me tell you, months ago, I was sitting down with my team and they were saying,
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what's your dream list? Like who are your dream guests?
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You know, and for a long time it was Bashar al-Assad.
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It's a weird turn because I really think I would do a good interview of him.
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There is no movie that compares to this one when it comes to importance in my own life.
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I think it's a cult hit and people will feel my love for it and understand why I think it has a larger cultural significance.
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Then a couple of weeks later, my executive producer, Steve Krakauer, sends me the update on the guest bookings.
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And it's like, okay, on this date, we have this person.
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And on this date, we have Peter and Julie Dunkel.
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He just threw it out there like it wasn't even a thing.
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Because we don't know each other well enough yet for him to understand how life-changing that would be for me.
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I've talked about it every day up until this day of taping this show.
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So just a word on this movie, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, why it means so much to me.
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There are many reasons, and I'm going to get into some of them with my guests.
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I grew up watching this movie religiously every time I could.
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This is before the day of, like, on demand, where you could just watch it whenever you wanted.
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You had to work for it back in the 80s, and I did.
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And my connection to the film now is almost religious.
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I will not watch this if I'm channel surfing and it's on.
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Like, that's not the way this film ought to be treated for me, given my history with it.
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I want to preserve its specialness, its rarity, its magical journey.
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And it's life lessons, which are what I believe has made it such an enduring hit.
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That even those down on their luck could see their whole lives change with just one turn
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of good fortune if they're kind, if they're loving, and if they don't give up on this
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And so now, to quote Mr. Willy Wonka, some of my dreams become realities, and some of my
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Without further ado, Peter Ostrom and Julie Dawn Cole.
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I have been looking forward to this my whole life.
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I just turned 50, and you still have this effect on me.
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I'm sure you get this all the time, because the movie is so important to people like me.
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And I wonder what it's like to be on the receiving end of that kind of admiration.
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I guess as time goes on, I realize that the film did have an impact.
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That people, you know, will relate the very first time they were in a movie theater, they
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And it usually has to do with a significant other, like their brother or their parents.
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And I'm amazed at the impact that the film has made on people's childhoods.
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And that being said, I think Julie and I are both humbled by the response that people still
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And, you know, you meet people, and you're doing stuff, and you may be talking to somebody,
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and they're having a rotten day, and maybe they're a little bit grumpy and grouchy.
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And then you happen to sort of, you know, Wonka comes up in the topic of conversation, and
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you just see something happen in people's eyes.
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I am absolutely thrilled that you said yes to coming on.
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I was terrified that you wouldn't like me and wouldn't want to talk to me.
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It's just to be talking to two people who did such an amazing job, and it brought me
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and my family so many hours of enjoyment over the course of my life.
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And I, you know, now I didn't know all the facts about the film.
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Maybe I'm in the cult, but I'm not in the official fan club.
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I found out you guys have done like a retrospective or the cast watched the movie while commentating
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But it wasn't a huge, huge hit when it first was released on June 30th, 1971 by Paramount
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I wouldn't call it a dud, but it was open to lukewarm reviews at best.
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And then, you know, kind of quickly vanished and really wasn't picked up again until it
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And then people kind of slowly kind of rediscovered it.
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And it kind of came and went and disappeared within, you know, three or four weeks.
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If you remember back then, you know, movie theatres didn't have the multiplexes that we
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And, you know, movies came and, you know, if they were successful, you know, they would
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sit in the movie theatre for two or three months.
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And I think we were there for like three weeks and it disappeared.
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The reviews in the UK, I remember one said, it's fun, but not very funny.
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But I'll tell you, that's when I, so I was born in 1970, so I didn't see it when it first
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came out, but that's when it came out into my life in the 80s.
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And what I remember is my best friend, Kelly McGinnis and I setting the alarm.
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We would set the alarm for five in the morning when it just happened, whenever it was playing
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But no matter how early, how late, we would set our alarms.
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We would sit with our popcorn and watch it together.
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And today, it reminds me of that, reminds me of my snowy winters in upstate New York with
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my family, with my best friend, and a little bit of magic around every corner.
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You know, it's like unexpected pleasures and visual delights.
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And, you know, as you guys might say, a hefty dose of pure imagination.
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And how extraordinary that you did not know that Charlie Bucket was a near neighbor of
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When I learned, Peter, that you were living just outside of Syracuse, New York, just north
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of Syracuse by Watertown, I was like, it was meant to be.
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Like the one that, Wonka doesn't really always make me cry, although pretty much every time
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But the spot that gets me every time is when you guys walk into the chocolate room and the
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And as you're playing that, everybody is visualizing the green and the candy canes and the lollipops
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and the river and the purple jacket and skipping down those steps.
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I mean, I realize it's not the experience we had watching it, but do you remember as
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The true story is that all of us walked into that set for the very first time when we took
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that very first take because Mel Stewart wanted it to be a surprise.
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All of us, except one person, had not seen the great chocolate room.
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That person being Julie, who, and I'll let her finish the story, but somehow she got, she
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And so her expression wasn't quite as original as Paris and Denise's and Michael's and myself.
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In my defense, you know, I'd gone out earlier as Pete did as well.
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And so we were on location before some of the others and hanging around for costume fittings
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And I believe it was Harper Goff, who was the set designer, said, oh, yeah, come in and have
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a look around as they were constructing the set.
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So, you know, how exciting seeing this and that.
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And then our director, Mel Stewart, said he didn't want any of the kids to see the set
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And that was that because he wanted our original reaction.
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So I picture you looking at the other guy saying, I want to go in first and don't you dare stop
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So, OK, I know you've been asked these questions, but I've got to ask for myself.
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So everything that we did eat that we actually put in our mouths was edible, but not, you know,
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obviously there was lots of material that was not edible.
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How about those mushrooms you were eating, Julie?
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Well, I had the watermelon that I had to smash open on the rock, which I absolutely hated.
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And it was, you know, chocolate flavored things.
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And I think they wanted me to smear it all over my face.
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And, you know, A, I thought that was not very ladylike.
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And B, I thought this is going to make a hell of a mess with my hair and everything else.
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But he kept saying, look like you're enjoying it.
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But, you know, the other things like Denise, Violet had the gummy bear that came down from
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the tree and they replaced the gummy bear's ear, which was the piece that she bit and
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ate that, whereas the rest of the gummy bear was not edible.
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I mean, that would be a few pounds in that if it was a real one.
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So, Peter, do you remember, since it was your first time, walking in there and seeing
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And not only that set, but every set that they produced, you know, it was just fascinating.
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And, of course, I had never made a film before.
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But as quickly as it went up, it came down and you moved on to the next scene.
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And I enjoyed that as much as of making the film, just the whole, you know, the process,
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the experience of watching everybody involved in production do their job, you know, for,
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you know, and, you know, Megan, for every two people in front of the camera, you've got
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50 people behind the camera that if they don't do their job, you know, nothing happens.
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They're as important as the people in front of the camera.
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So I enjoyed the whole process, you know, and just, you know, listening to pure imagination
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You know, I was still, Julie was probably, well, no, we were probably both still there.
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I think I got done December 12th, December 13th.
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I think I had just finished and I was, I was heading back to the UK at this point.
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Let's go back to when you were children and you were, you were auditioning for this film.
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You, you were living in Cleveland, right, Peter?
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And I, I had worked at the, at the Cleveland Playhouse.
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Um, and that was one of the theaters that, uh, the casting agency, Marion Doherty out of New York City, um, decided to contact because of their, they had a good reputation for having, um, good children's theater.
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Um, Joel Gray, uh, Margaret Hamilton, they got their start at the Cleveland Playhouse.
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Margaret Hamilton being Wicked Witch of the West and Wizard of Oz.
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Um, and then Joel Gray, um, at any rate, they contacted, uh, the Playhouse and I just, I was in the right place at the right time.
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You know, they gave me, or the casting agency asked if they had anybody that they might recommend and my name was given to them.
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And, and, uh, at that point, uh, we had no scripts.
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They, uh, sent a representative, um, from New York out to Cleveland.
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I was just completing sixth grade and we, I just read from the book into the tape recorder and she took a few, uh, took a few Polaroid pictures and, uh, basically said, you know, don't call us.
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We'll take that back to Mel Stewart, our director and Stan Margulies, our producer and David Wolper.
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And, and, you know, we'll, we'll contact you if this goes any further.
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And they did contact me probably in July and they had kind of given me, well, no, I guess I did in July.
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I went to New York for an actual screen test and, um, had to, I am not a singer at all.
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I think I sang my country tis of thee or something like that.
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And, uh, they just kind of shook their heads and said, don't worry.
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We're not going to use your voice anyway, which in the end they did, which was kind of fun, but they kept my, my, uh, they, um, my singing part was, uh, kept getting smaller and smaller and smaller.
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As, as time went on, Jack Albertson carried the day or carried this song that he and I did.
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Please tell me that when they told you you got the role, they did it with a golden ticket.
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So after that, I went to summer camp and they basically said, you know, you're still, we're still interested in you, but Charlie is really skinny.
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And I wasn't, I wasn't, I wasn't, you know, I'm still skinny, but so I went to summer camp, you know, riding horses and, and hiking and climbing and doing all the things you do at summer camp.
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You know, trying not to eat because I wanted to, you know, lose more weight and came back after, came back after camp.
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And actually I went to, uh, uh, Chautauqua, New York, cause that's where the, um, Cleveland Playhouse had their summer theater and did, I think I did, uh, uh, Wilderness, um, for them in August.
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And then it was shortly thereafter, probably around August 10th that they actually called and said, you know, you're Charlie and you've got to be in Munich in 10 days.
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It was a short period of time and, uh, off we went.
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Meanwhile, Michael, who plays Augustus Gloop was given exactly the opposite instruction.
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So you were you were 12 as well when you got the part?
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And I'd gone to theatre school in the previous September.
00:20:48.020
I'd been at school for a while, a drama school in London.
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And, you know, when you're at theatre school, you have lots of auditions.
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And so I had been in a production of Peter Pan in London over the Christmas period.
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My very first ever job, first ever audition and stepped on the stage and, you know, got that role, which was lovely.
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But it was a production with Hayley Mills, who was my absolute idol, you know, as a child, you know, watching her in all those movies.
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I was just like, oh, my goodness, I'm on stage with Hayley Mills.
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I used to have pictures of Hayley Mills on my bedroom wall.
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And there I was, my very first job working with her.
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And there'd been a few other auditions for things, but I wasn't getting close with any of them.
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Every time you would go for an audition, they would say, you know, what have you been in?
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And at this point, I didn't even know what it was.
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You know, it was just all the girls of the school were lined up in the hall.
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You know, you, you, not you, real capital, cool stuff.
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Too tall, too small, too fat, too thin, too dark, too short, all of that.
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And so then I was shortlisted and, you know, come back, come back.
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And then I began to find out what this movie was about.
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And they sent me out with the school bus driver to get a copy of the book.
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And I read the book overnight and thought, wow, this is just amazing.
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And I do, I still have that copy of the book, which I had all the cast signed at the time.
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And read it and thinking, my goodness, this is just amazing, this chocolate room and the illustrations, which, you know, everybody, well, hopefully will remember Quentin Blake's illustrations, which are just so wonderful.
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And so when I went to audition the next day for the final penultimate, I think it was, test with Mel Stewart, the director and producer, Stan Margulies, I thought, right, you've got to get smart this time.
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So when they asked me what movies I'd been in, I lied.
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And I told them, yeah, well, it's very Veruca, isn't it, really?
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But I think I said I'd been in Oliver, which I hadn't, but I knew some of my school friends had and a couple of other movies.
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So that's, I mean, obviously Veruca is the most fun part in the movie.
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So obviously everybody would like to play the Veruca part at one point in their life.
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I want to ask you how fun it was before or after I tee up just a little sample of Veruca for the audience.
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They've been shelling flaming chocolate bars from dawn to dusk.
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Put a jerk in it or you'll be out in your ears, every one of you.
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The first girl that finds a golden ticket gets a one pound bonus in her paybacking.
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And it was just like just when you think you're being as mean and spoilt and bratty is, you know, it's like, no, take it up a notch and another notch and another notch.
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So you had to find your deepest inner nastiest person.
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I had to channel my inner demons or whoever my my archetype or something.
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But, yeah, you know, just, you know, I'm a nicely.
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I would hope my mother would say, you know, I was well brought up and well behaved.
00:24:50.980
And so, you know, being bratty like that, just, you know, it was a bit of a stretch.
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You know, I would have been slapped if I behaved like that.
00:25:02.280
Well, that what I love about it is it does show.
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I mean, the whole film is about showing examples of bad behavior and where they will get you in life if life works out as it should.
00:25:10.980
You know, but Veruca is a perfect example of that because they really don't show her as a very sympathetic character in any single scene of the movie.
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She's portrayed as just truly, right, and awful, like the whole time.
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I don't think it's a single that she's charmless.
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There's not a single scene where she's got a redeeming feature at all.
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I mean, you know, from outside the factory, everything.
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Even outside the factory, you know, I want to go in first.
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She wants a boat and she wants an oompa-loompa and she wants to lick the wallpaper and have a snozzberry.
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So let's talk about the scene where she gets done in, where you go down the educated educator.
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It depends how old you are if you ask that question, because that's the question that lots of the kids ask me.
00:26:16.040
Where did you go to when you went down the chute?
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So if you're a child, I will say, well, luckily the furnace wasn't lit.
00:26:25.320
In reality, I landed on some cardboard boxes and some mattresses and, you know, they broke my fall with that and stopped me bouncing back up.
00:26:36.160
There is a little anecdote to that, which I do tell, that we had an assistant director.
00:26:42.520
His name was Jack Rowe and his son's one was Pete Standin.
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And the oldest son was an assistant on the movie, and he was probably about 16, I think, at the time.
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And he was one of the guys who was there to break my fall and stop me bouncing back up.
00:27:04.740
Well, I was more worried about Bill looking up and getting a glance of my underwear as I fell down the chute.
00:27:12.280
So next time you watch it, you might notice that my hands are kind of clamped to my side trying to hold my skirt down.
00:27:17.840
Well, that's what you think about when you're 13, don't you?
00:27:23.780
I read that you and Denise, who played Ruka, both had crushes on Peter.
00:27:32.980
I know he's blushing and he's pretending he can't hear any of this.
00:27:36.380
Pete, go and talk about something else for five minutes.
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He didn't know any of this at the time, so he was very innocent, as it was anyway.
00:27:48.240
You know, when we talk about a crush, it was like whose turn was it to stand next to him?
00:27:52.820
And, you know, that was it, really, the extent of it.
00:28:00.220
So I think we were a particularly kind of gang that hung out.
00:28:03.740
We were staying at the Schloss Hotel, which Pete's father found for us just outside Munich.
00:28:09.060
It was a beautiful Bavarian-style hotel, and it had a river that ran down, you know, nearby.
00:28:15.400
And the only thing, of course, that we were allowed to do, I don't suppose we'd be allowed to do it now.
00:28:18.360
We used to go down to the river every night and skip stones.
00:28:21.740
So Pete is the master at, you know, bouncing stones on the river.
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And Denise and I would go down there and say, oh, Pete, show me how to do it.
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And we had many a lesson, but we learned nothing.
00:28:37.520
I want to talk about that scene because I heard that you had a birthday celebration on this set, Julie,
00:28:43.320
and that they gave you one of those golden eggs.
00:28:48.520
It was interesting bringing that back through the airplane on the way home, you know.
00:28:56.000
But yes, it was my 13th birthday, you know, shot over a week.
00:28:59.460
But the very last day, I believe, was my birthday.
00:29:02.540
And, you know, so singing, you know, happy birthday and then, you know, shoved me down the chute.
00:29:10.580
So, yeah, I remember very well, October the 26th.
00:29:12.720
Now, Pete, since your birthday was a week later or earlier, did you, no, yeah, later, did you, did you get an egg?
00:29:21.120
What I do remember, I think, for my birthday was going to Oktoberfest.
00:29:32.840
Yeah, that was 12 turning 13 at Oktoberfest, drinking beer with Frawley Becker.
00:29:46.040
Drinking beer with Frawley Becker, our dialogue coach, so, from the film.
00:29:52.240
So, you know, again, I go back to the film was great.
00:29:56.360
But as a 12-year-old kid, you know, moving to Munich, Germany from Ohio, that was like icing on the cake.
00:30:10.260
And Munich, at that point, they were right in the middle of building all over the city, getting ready for the 72 Olympics, which was really, you know, coming out, you know, for Germany and Munich.
00:30:23.440
And it was just an exciting time to be there and, you know, to look back at that experience.
00:30:31.260
It was like being like a foreign exchange AFS student, you know, when you're 12 years old.
00:30:36.700
It was the perfect city in which to shoot because it did have an amorphous kind of look.
00:30:41.100
You weren't exactly sure what you were looking at.
00:30:46.660
You could tell it was in America, but you didn't know exactly where it might be.
00:30:52.720
Because that was a great, that was so well done, just to keep it unclear where you were.
00:30:59.020
They had just finished Wolper and Mel Stewart, if it's Tuesday, this must be Belgium, just several months prior to that.
00:31:12.600
And I think that that probably had something to do with making the film there.
00:31:17.940
Also, we were always told, I have no idea how much of it is true, but if we had gone to California, there would have been more child labor laws and we couldn't have worked as hard.
00:31:31.920
I have no idea, but it makes a great, great story.
00:31:40.600
How about, I mean, every actor gets asked this question, but when you've starred in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, you really, this is a serious one.
00:32:00.360
I was given, I was given the clapstick, the very, our very last scene, Mel Stewart.
00:32:08.140
I asked him because I liked, you know, memorabilia, stuff like that.
00:32:12.360
And I thought it would be a great, you know, thing to have.
00:32:16.700
I had no idea that it wasn't the only clapstick that they had used, but it was one, it was used, you know, quite often.
00:32:28.120
I mean, this is like the whole point of the movie.
00:32:39.940
In the clip that you first played, you know, there were a stack of Wonka bars and all sorts of things.
00:32:45.880
And, you know, they were just burning them afterwards.
00:32:47.880
And I didn't have any family on set with me in Germany.
00:32:53.020
And I, you know, say, oh, can I, can I, can I take a couple?
00:33:01.500
And so, you know, yeah, I had a few bits and pieces.
00:33:03.940
But I somehow ended up with an everlasting gobstopper.
00:33:15.920
Julie, tell the rest of the story because it's, you're forgiven for this.
00:33:23.320
That the proceeds of that everlasting gobstopper went to your daughter.
00:33:48.780
I mean, it was just, you know, a piece of rubbish.
00:33:51.700
It was like the lid that you make coffee cups out of, you know, that kind of molded plastic
00:33:56.660
You know, and I'd had it in the bottom of a trunk for years.
00:33:59.100
I'd even stood on it at one point and broke it and had it mended and that kind of thing.
00:34:03.340
I think both you and I, Pete, didn't we both have scrumdiddly umptious bars?
00:34:09.280
And we were there for trick-or-treat, which we did around the studio lots, all the different
00:34:14.000
sets and, you know, having this great big bag full of candy, of gummy bears and all
00:34:19.800
sorts of things, and including some Wonka bars in there.
00:34:28.820
I can't believe you're just throwing out there that you went trick-or-treating on
00:34:40.820
The one problem with the everlasting Godstaffer was it didn't really look like it was going
00:34:48.000
You know, all those sharp edges, it would be terrible.
00:34:52.000
Now, I know that you get asked this, but I want to ask you about the remake.
00:35:07.840
I think it was a glommer, and it looked creepy.
00:35:11.300
And while the real Willy Wonka had like an element of creep to it, just like a little bit
00:35:16.760
to freak you out here and there, it wasn't creepy in the way the Tim Burton remake was.
00:35:24.620
I'll ask you, Pete, did you see the movie, the remake?
00:35:32.740
And, and there were parts of it, you know, that I enjoyed, but it's, you know, you really
00:35:40.400
But just from a selfish point of view, it kind of really helped us because people, you know,
00:35:48.080
kids saw that film, but their parents said, no, no, no, you've got to see the original.
00:35:52.840
And so it kind of, they brought, they dusted us off again, brought us off the shelf.
00:35:59.240
And now we were introduced to a whole, you know, the next generation, you know, or the
00:36:08.020
So it's, but I enjoyed it, but it's, it's so different from, from the original.
00:36:14.960
Well, I agree because, you know, it was, I think we were around about the 30th anniversary
00:36:21.060
And, you know, I remember thinking, oh, that's sad, you know, but Hey, we've had 30 years
00:36:25.160
where we've been, you know, at the top of the tree with this, as it were, and time hand
00:36:29.960
over the baton to somebody else, but that didn't happen.
00:36:32.740
And people got very partisan and they got quite cross.
00:36:36.660
And, you know, whereas I think we're a bit more philosophic about it, you know, the fans
00:36:45.660
It's like messing with your childhood memories.
00:36:52.720
We're, we're actually every Christmas, my family over like the holiday will dress up
00:36:58.460
as something, you know, whether it's, I could be anything when the year we did the Incredibles,
00:37:03.680
And I will disclose that this year I'm, I'm breaking the surprise because, but when my kids
00:37:09.300
hear this, they'll already know we're, we're going as the cast from Willy Wonka.
00:37:21.280
She has to like, she'll never forgive me if she's not.
00:37:23.680
Um, so I either have to be, uh, uh, Denise, um, or I have to be Grandpa Joe, right?
00:37:29.800
So I either going to be Violet Beauregard or Grandpa Joe.
00:37:33.220
But my, um, you know, as, as we're getting ready for it, I'm getting my assistant to help
00:37:38.980
me find costumes that look like the original and not super cheap costumes.
00:37:42.520
And she keeps forwarding me damn things from the, the remake.
00:37:45.660
I'm like, all right, Abby, first, I didn't know about the cast doing the voiceover of
00:37:52.300
And now you send me an Augusta's gloop with a red and white horizontal stripe.
00:37:59.280
I love the fact that the dress that I wore, the red dress is iconic.
00:38:03.220
Um, and you know, it's been rocked by a few celebrities year before last Dolly Parton
00:38:11.520
I got sent pictures of Sharon Osbourne rocking it.
00:38:13.820
And I love the fact that other, other people are doing it and it's kind of gone timeless.
00:38:18.600
One time I've got a, I've got a copy of the dress that I had made for something, not because
00:38:23.920
I hasten to add, but it was made for a joke thing that I was doing.
00:38:28.060
And I was walking along the street and I had it over my arm and somebody just pointed at
00:38:37.200
What did they say when they found out it was actually?
00:38:41.460
Then they looked rather shaken and shocked and, uh, you know, yeah.
00:38:56.160
And I wouldn't say you guys are instantly recognizable as the children you were in that movie.
00:39:05.640
I think I'm a little bit luckier because with makeup on a following wind, you know, sometimes
00:39:11.800
Guys, Pete, you do look, you do not look like a 12 year old boy anymore.
00:39:17.300
Like, Hey, do you ever see, do you ever see Willy Wonka?
00:39:19.680
No, no, I don't reveal, I don't reveal, um, no, it doesn't, I'm a shy guy.
00:39:31.280
It just doesn't come up and my kids aren't impressed anymore either.
00:39:36.020
So one time, I think it was roundabout when you're talking about the audio commentary that
00:39:41.940
we did and we had been doing a convention in New Jersey, uh, chiller for, for Halloween.
00:39:47.900
And Pete had gone into Greenwich village to see the parade and what have you.
00:39:53.240
And didn't you, you got on the subway, Pete, didn't you?
00:39:55.520
With four, four guys and he had a photo taken with them, you know, a selfie and they had
00:40:11.620
Um, but, but it's something you've lived because I, I know after that movie, you were a hot
00:40:19.520
ticket and you pieced out of Hollywood when you were probably the biggest child star going
00:40:28.460
It wasn't, uh, it, I enjoyed doing it, but it just, it didn't seem like it was something
00:40:34.920
that, uh, I was chosen to do for the rest of my life and just, you know, other doors
00:40:41.960
opened for me and I kind of followed, you know, those paths.
00:40:46.180
Um, but I look back, you know, with, you know, just fond memories of this film.
00:40:51.800
And again, so thankful, you know, of the happiness that it brings to people, um, like yourself and,
00:40:58.320
and, you know, other, uh, folks out there that, you know, still love seeing this film.
00:41:07.140
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00:42:21.120
Now we want to quickly bring to you a feature we call Asked and Answered here on The Megyn
00:42:25.660
Kelly Show, where we try to answer some listener questions that have been sent in.
00:42:29.620
And our executive producer, Steve Krakauer, has got the first half of the equation.
00:42:35.040
Yes, Megyn, great questions coming in at questions at devilmaycaremedia.com.
00:42:43.340
But we are also gathering listener questions at our social media accounts, Twitter, Facebook,
00:42:52.380
This one came to us from Jessica Ray on Instagram.
00:42:55.040
And she wants to know, when did you know that Doug was the one?
00:43:02.500
You know, it wasn't like the lightning bolt, like, ah, you know, exactly.
00:43:08.820
But there were several moments when we were dating where it was like, oh, wow.
00:43:15.880
Um, and I think probably the, yes, I'm going to get married to this person is, I don't
00:43:26.000
I think I've told this story in the show before, but maybe you didn't hear it.
00:43:29.020
Um, when Doug and I were dating, um, a good long while into the relationship, uh, when
00:43:35.180
he, he spent his first night at my townhouse that I had just recently bought.
00:43:39.580
It was the first and only place I ever owned all by myself.
00:43:42.820
And, um, he was sitting there, he had on jeans and a white t-shirt and his hair was all messed
00:43:48.260
And he looked over at me and he said, by the way, if you don't want kids, you should tell
00:43:55.580
Oh, I was like, I, I mean, that was a very dreamy moment for, for the two of us there
00:44:03.060
because, you know, it's like most guys are like, you know, they don't want to be pressured
00:44:08.900
And the women are typically like running after the men.
00:44:11.000
I realized we're not all like this, but I have enough friends who are sort of like looking
00:44:14.000
at their biological clocks, wondering, and enough guy friends who are like, ah, I don't
00:44:17.620
want to marry somebody who's under that kind of a pressure cooker situation that I get
00:44:22.820
And when Doug and I were first dating, uh, I don't know, I was 35 and he was 35 or four.
00:44:32.440
Um, the point is I was getting a little lung in the tooth.
00:44:34.820
So somebody might have that concern about me, but it was actually kind of exactly the
00:44:39.220
I went into the relationship thinking, I'm not sure if I want kids.
00:44:42.460
Um, it's a whole longer story, but I just wasn't sure.
00:44:47.960
And I actually told my stepsister that night, I think I met the man I'm going to marry.
00:44:53.760
And then, you know, it's been so many moments thereafter little, little things, you know,
00:44:57.700
big things and little things, the birth of our children, you look over at him and you
00:45:00.660
see that face and you think, yes, um, I don't know moments when he's like incredibly great
00:45:06.400
Those, those just reinforce your love so much moments where he challenges me, where I try
00:45:10.080
to get away with some intellectual sleight of hand and he won't allow it.
00:45:15.820
I recommend to all you guys is, um, if I'm feeling mad and I don't want to tell him what
00:45:20.360
I'm mad about, you know, how we women are, he does not allow that.
00:45:23.620
He comes right over and he's like, what's going on?
00:45:26.420
And nine out of 10 men I know are like, okay, good.
00:45:30.640
If you let them off the hook, they're like, thank you.
00:45:33.480
Meanwhile, the woman that just keeps steaming, like screw him until she calms down.
00:45:39.800
So he will come over and he'll say, no, something's wrong.
00:45:44.600
And he's very quick to say like, this is what I'm feeling, you know, and I'm getting that
00:45:49.060
So we get into it and we don't, it doesn't always turn into an argument, but it's, we communicate.
00:45:53.320
Uh, and just knowing that he actually does want to know will sort of diffuse the situation
00:45:58.880
Anyway, sorry to ramble on, but he definitely is the one.
00:46:02.140
And it has been made clear to me in a series of moments over what now is, I mean, we're
00:46:07.720
going on, going on our 15th year together and, um, man, it's everything.
00:46:14.780
And, uh, I hope you have the same in your life.
00:46:18.200
Don't forget it's questions at devilmaycaremedia.com.
00:46:28.580
I just love the fact that it's, um, it plays a, uh, you know, a special part in so many
00:46:33.580
people's lives that it's got them through tough times, you know, and I, you know, people
00:46:38.640
have told me stories of post 9-1-1, you know, this movie got me through some dark times and
00:46:44.960
I'm sure probably just in the recent months it's happened again.
00:46:47.920
So it's, uh, it's sort of the, the, the chicken soup of movies.
00:46:57.820
I, it's one of those things where whatever I'm feeling, if I, if I put it on, I always
00:47:04.580
And it's to the point now where I just, I will never watch it haphazardly.
00:47:10.400
I won't, you know, like we have three young kids, so we've got the movies in the car.
00:47:17.300
They know that's a special movie that we only watch on special occasions.
00:47:28.400
She just said to me, cause I just had my birthday in November.
00:47:30.920
She just said to me, mama, she was like, when I'm a grownup, I'm going to watch this every
00:47:52.240
I'll make you dinner and you can watch it here and Pete and I will sing along.
00:47:56.680
But what's great is, you know, there's, there's countless stories like that, that it just,
00:48:04.500
You know, you ask me if people recognize me and they don't, although probably a year
00:48:10.780
and a half ago, two years ago, I was at the Syracuse airport and I was working on my laptop
00:48:16.860
And this guy was sitting down probably three seats from me and he, he just came over to
00:48:24.860
me and he goes, I just want to thank you for the film.
00:48:29.660
And he, and I just smiled and he smiled and he went back to his seat, you know, just like,
00:48:38.640
You know, that's the kind of stuff that, you know, like, man, you know, looking back,
00:48:47.460
You did something that mattered and it's, it just doesn't cure cancer.
00:48:53.120
Like I know you do now, Pete, you're a veterinarian, but it did help a lot of people in small and
00:49:01.080
And I, I'm sure as an actor, you just never know, cause I know Julie, you, you went on
00:49:06.840
You just never know whether you're working on a project that's going to turn into that.
00:49:13.400
No, we were, you know, you were happy to be working and cast in something that was fun.
00:49:18.000
So, you know, when you're 12, you're not thinking about the next 50 years, are you?
00:49:21.920
And, you know, to be fair, you know, even 25 years ago, I'm thinking, well, you know,
00:49:28.380
And here we are 50 years, you know, am I getting it?
00:49:31.060
It's going to be wheeled out on my Zimmer frame.
00:49:41.920
And so you've gone on, as I said, Pete, you're a large animal veterinarian.
00:49:47.120
Our clinic, it's a mixed animal practice, but I primarily do large animals.
00:49:57.680
I mean, it's not, you certainly eschewed the fame and stardom of Hollywood, even though
00:50:02.860
I, I know you were offered a three picture deal at the end of Wonka.
00:50:07.160
So it's extraordinary to me that you knew at that young age at 13, when let's face it,
00:50:17.840
You must have known yourself extraordinarily well, even back then.
00:50:22.220
And I had good, I had support from my parents, you know, and I tried to kind of carry that
00:50:31.760
Um, is I kind of like to think of it as a banquet or a smorgasbord.
00:50:39.260
You, you present as many opportunities for your kids as possible, and they're going to
00:50:45.680
pick and choose, um, what turns them on, you know, what, what, uh, really excites them.
00:50:51.680
And I just knew that, you know, the theater, um, was probably not where I belonged.
00:50:58.180
And, and again, I had other, other opportunities, but as a parent, what's really hard is I'm sure
00:51:05.480
my father was disappointed because he always wanted to be an actor.
00:51:09.500
And that's what, after he retired as a lawyer, that's, he did.
00:51:13.960
And, and in New York, and it was fun to watch him perform.
00:51:21.980
You know, I was, I said, nah, I just don't think that this is my cup of tea.
00:51:29.580
So that's, I mean, speaking of what turns you on, were you a total chick magnet after this
00:52:01.080
I played some other, uh, parts at school while I was still at theater school.
00:52:07.240
And then, you know, at sort of 17, 18, when everybody was going off to college, university,
00:52:13.580
I got a role in, um, a TV soap, uh, a BBC soap opera called angels, which was a series
00:52:25.640
I, I went into a long running series, which I was in for two years, but it was very much
00:52:32.260
And at that point, you know, Willy Wonka was not something I talked about.
00:52:35.760
And in fact, it, it might've even closed doors sometimes because it was a, you know, it was
00:52:44.520
So it was later in the eighties when it became, began to be cool and, and led to lots of other
00:52:52.880
I did a lot of theater work, did voiceover work.
00:52:54.960
I had my children, um, and then, um, I don't think, I mean, I kind of, parts of it, I liked,
00:53:02.600
I don't think I was ever what they call a lovey enough that I was not in love with the
00:53:08.820
It was always, it was a job and I enjoyed it, but I didn't, somebody, another actor,
00:53:16.320
I like the show, but I don't like the business.
00:53:21.040
I didn't like the business and, you know, some of the, the darker side of the business.
00:53:27.680
And I began to think, I don't want to be doing this when I'm 60.
00:53:32.920
And so a good 12 years ago, I made plans to get out and I went to university then and did
00:53:40.540
my degree in psychotherapy and became a therapist 12 years ago and work with cancer patients currently.
00:53:49.440
Oh, so all Pete's helping animals, you're helping people and you're both healing.
00:53:57.460
I, when you said you didn't, you didn't really love the, the business part of show business,
00:54:01.980
it reminded me of Gene Wilder who said something similar, you know, how he liked acting, but
00:54:14.360
He liked to hang out in his beautiful country home with Gilda when she was still with him.
00:54:21.420
Can we, can we spend some time on Gene Wilder and whether, whether anyone else could have
00:54:30.960
I, you know, now when you say it and you, you hear the bing, bing, bing of pure imagination,
00:54:35.600
you just see Gene and you see those sparkling blue eyes.
00:54:40.880
And the moment in the movie that gets me every time when he hugs Charlie at the end, when
00:54:46.340
they're in the elevator, that's, that's, you know, yeah, I'm welling up now.
00:54:51.640
So yeah, he had that, you know, for me, the, the, the mystery, the mischievousness, the,
00:54:57.860
the enigma, the, you know, the, the maverick that he was.
00:55:01.560
So, you know, I, I, I didn't think when I first met him that he looked like Willy Wonka.
00:55:07.220
I remember writing back to my mother and saying, he's not at all as I imagined him to be.
00:55:12.560
You know, I'd seen the, the illustrations in the book, but he had that, just that weird
00:55:21.600
They, Roald Dahl wanted Spike Milligan for the part, which would have been very different.
00:55:26.860
Um, and you know, I think that was some of the, the, um, conflict that he had with Mel
00:55:31.880
Stewart because they disagreed about the casting.
00:55:34.420
Gene Wilder at the time was not a huge movie star in the UK.
00:55:38.360
Um, so, you know, Roald Dahl had quite strong feelings on that.
00:55:46.740
And yet when he had those moments of being kind of slightly sinister, they were quite scary.
00:55:58.860
I love the inside jokes throughout the movie, his little comments and his little, little
00:56:01.960
asides to the, the brats all around him and just kind of just to the audience.
00:56:07.800
So what he, he was not as big a star as he would become, but he was a, he was a well-known
00:56:15.460
Was he, was there any sense that he was the star?
00:56:21.120
He was, both he and Jack Albertson were as warm and as honest and as helpful.
00:56:26.860
To everybody, not just to me, you know, uh, on that set.
00:56:31.680
So there was, you know, he had, uh, just both of those guys were a joy to work with.
00:56:38.740
And for me, you know, I mean, they kind of took me under their wing a little bit, you
00:56:43.080
know, and especially Jack, um, cause you know, we were a pair, you know, we were, we're partners
00:56:52.380
Um, but Jean, again, nothing but, you know, good memories, fond memories of, of, of working
00:57:00.280
I read Peter that you actually ate chocolate with him during the lunch hour.
00:57:07.160
We would, we would, uh, I still like chocolate and so did Jean.
00:57:12.040
And so we would share a bar, you know, going back to work in the afternoon.
00:57:17.300
So, yeah, that was fun, but that's the type of guy that he was, you know, he liked to,
00:57:22.400
you know, hang out, you know, and, and it was probably, he probably knew what he was doing,
00:57:28.680
you know, just to build up that relationship between Charlie and, and Willy Wonka, you know,
00:57:35.440
but, uh, he was genuine, you know, he was just, you know, he was good, good person.
00:57:42.040
I know he told the story on Larry King and again, at the 92nd street, why years later
00:57:46.960
that, um, he was the one who insisted that Willy Wonka come out with the cane and then
00:57:51.680
he, he would fall into the somersault and stand and people would cheer.
00:57:55.680
And then that was another surprise for you, for you all, because he wanted to keep people
00:58:01.420
He knew it would keep people guessing about who he was and what his motivations were and
00:58:07.560
Um, did you, Julie, did you have any experiences with him on the set?
00:58:11.200
Where he was kidding around with you or he was playful or he was surprising?
00:58:17.380
Um, you know, my 13th birthday, which was the goose room, you know, back in the day, you
00:58:22.360
would have, um, a stills photographer that would come around, but they were always black
00:58:25.340
and white then, but because it was my birthday, Jean booked, um, for a photographer to come
00:58:30.220
in and take a set of color stills for my birthday.
00:58:33.160
And that was my, my gift from, from him, which, you know, it's lovely that I've got
00:58:37.800
this wonderful set of color photos, which so unusual for the, you know, for the time and
00:58:44.060
And apparently he told Rusty Goff, who's, um, what, you know, our friend and Oompa Loompa
00:58:50.160
friend, um, when Jean found out, you know, a couple of weeks into shooting that I was
00:58:55.640
the only kid on the set that didn't have any family with me.
00:58:58.780
I was out in Germany with just a chaperone that I only met at the airport.
00:59:01.860
And then we were away for three months, you know, with this total stranger.
00:59:05.700
And he was rather aghast at that and quite shocked that I didn't have anybody kind of
00:59:12.260
So apparently he said to Roy and, and to Rusty, you know, guys, boys, I think he said,
00:59:24.620
I read that about Rusty that he was, he was described as quote, the head Oompa Loompa,
00:59:28.220
which I must confess in all my times of watching it, I did not know there was a head
00:59:31.620
Oompa Loompa, um, but he talks about how he had that one scene of them in, uh, with
00:59:36.900
Mike TV, when Mike TV is done off, he had to do the, the dancing and the, the somersault
00:59:41.960
or the, the cartwheel, which was just dreadful, but there was a reason for that.
00:59:45.640
Well, the, um, the choreographer who Howard Jeffrey, um, you know, was an amazing dancer
00:59:50.820
and had done choreography for, for trained dancers.
00:59:54.560
And he didn't realize that he'd got this bunch of Oompa Loompas that were cast from all
01:00:00.500
over Europe, none of whom had any dance background at all and their limbs don't move in the same
01:00:06.980
So when you're doing a pirouette and a jeté and you're full height, it doesn't quite
01:00:10.340
work the same when you're a little bit shorter.
01:00:19.920
Uh, he had, he had been suffering from Alzheimer's, which they had not disclosed.
01:00:26.180
And, um, that the family put out a statement that I have to ask you about.
01:00:31.380
They, they wrote the decision to wait until this time to disclose his condition wasn't
01:00:37.660
vanity, but more so that the countless young children that would smile or call out to him,
01:00:43.160
there's Willy Wonka would not have to be then exposed to an adult referencing illness or
01:00:49.860
trouble and causing delight to travel, to worry, disappointment, or confusion.
01:00:55.200
He simply couldn't bear the idea of one less smile in the world.
01:01:06.280
And what's a little bit interesting is Gene, for what he'll be remembered for, um, Willy Wonka
01:01:14.160
come, you know, is it, at the top of all of his credits and initially he probably would
01:01:22.020
not have wanted that or would be disappointed to think that, you know, with all his roles,
01:01:29.300
you know, with Mel Brooks, you know, and, you know, all the different things that he, he
01:01:34.640
did, you know, that he would be remembered mostly for Willy Wonka.
01:01:38.120
I think he grew into that and, and accepted that, that, uh, Hey, it, it wasn't such a bad
01:01:46.340
And, and just the quote that you read, you know, kind of, you know, points to that, that
01:01:52.100
he did recognize, you know, the importance of that role and that, that people, you know,
01:01:59.700
There were also some other things that led me to believe, um, you know, you never know why
01:02:04.760
actors want to talk about a role or don't want to talk about a role, but there were some
01:02:10.660
of the things that he said that led me to believe that he didn't really want to over
01:02:14.540
discuss Willy Wonka because he didn't want to break the magic.
01:02:19.160
Honestly, that was one of my concerns in doing this interview, but it hasn't, it hasn't broken
01:02:26.440
So now I should be really mean and just step by feet.
01:02:30.240
Well, I did, I did wonder, I'll confess after, after we lost Gene Wilde, after we lost Gene
01:02:38.140
Wilde or Peter, whether you were thinking, Oh my God, I'm finally going to get to move
01:02:55.140
You mentioned that final scene and I, I agree with you.
01:02:58.240
That's, that is the one that tugs most on the heartstrings.
01:03:01.460
And I read that the, those last few minutes, uh, had to be rewritten or were rewritten at
01:03:11.000
Mel Stewart's direction before, before we talk about it, let's just listen to what we're
01:03:15.300
This is the last, last part of the movie when they're flying above town in the great glass
01:03:33.540
But Charlie, don't forget what happened to the man who suddenly got everything he always
01:03:53.220
Well, there is the, the story that they didn't have a final line and, or they didn't like
01:04:01.300
And so, uh, Mel Stewart rang David Seltzer, who was, I think in a cabin or something somewhere,
01:04:10.120
And he demanded that he, you know, got this final line while David Seltzer was practically
01:04:23.600
So is it one of those things where they came to you and said, instead of this line, you
01:04:31.720
I don't think, no, by the time that we did the scene, David had written, had written what
01:04:38.820
So I don't think there was any disagreement, at least not to me.
01:04:45.380
Gene, you know, looked at the script and said, I don't know.
01:04:48.220
So, you know, he didn't like what they had written, but by the time it came to me, it
01:04:57.520
I still have a copy of my script and it is as went out.
01:05:01.040
But I think the ink was fairly wet when it was.
01:05:11.980
But the script, you know, Roald Dahl, you know, he's, he's listed on the credits as
01:05:21.440
David Seltzer did, you know, Roald Dahl, you know, was, you know, had such disagreements
01:05:27.880
with Mel Stewart and Stan that he pretty much quickly divorced himself from the project.
01:05:41.980
And by the way, the, the perfect line ever to end that movie with, I mean, brilliant.
01:05:48.300
If you read the book alongside it, which I have done recently, I read it during lockdown.
01:05:53.860
You'll see that lots of the script is lifted from the book.
01:05:56.820
So you can see the kind of Roald Dahl bit, but then I would imagine that some of these,
01:06:02.280
the jokes and things were the David Seltzer part.
01:06:08.040
Cause I heard that, um, initially there was a thought by Mel Stewart, the director of wanting
01:06:14.000
to reveal that Willy Wonka had strategically placed those golden ticket, the tickets in
01:06:20.020
order to give you Peter, AKA Charlie, the factory that this was all pre-planned and that he knew
01:06:26.580
exactly who the five children were going to be.
01:06:36.360
I, this is the first time I've heard about that, but, uh, I read that.
01:06:40.560
I read that Mel Stewart wanted that and then that they, they dropped the idea because, but
01:06:45.300
then they, they left the hints because how else would Slugworth, I mean, who was really
01:06:56.060
And I, you know, I'd like to complain to the management anyway, because Veruca Salt was
01:06:59.880
the only one that didn't have a film crew there when her ticket was found.
01:07:08.680
So now that you are in your sixties and maybe have grandkids as well as kids, possibly.
01:07:15.660
I've got, I have one, um, just coming up to one, uh, my, my granddaughter Amber will
01:07:22.440
And you both, you both have kids, no grandchildren from myself now yet.
01:07:27.180
Well, let's go back to when you did first get to show it to them.
01:07:30.300
And you see that movie through your own children's eyes for the first time.
01:07:37.640
I've got a very strong, I mean, I can't remember the first time they sort of grow up and I,
01:07:44.100
And I think my daughter fell asleep the first time and, you know, wasn't hugely impressed.
01:07:47.620
I think she was a little young, but then they kind of grew up and it was always just
01:07:50.940
part of the family folklore kind of like, oh yeah, mom was in that.
01:07:56.560
But we did a convention in Florida and Pete's son, uh, Leaf and my son, Barney, they were
01:08:04.540
similar ages and they sat eating chocolate and watching it on a loop for a whole day.
01:08:19.440
I mean, they kind of grew up with it, you know, and it's, again, it's, you know, looking
01:08:25.080
back, it's kind of, you know, as my parents said, they took, you know, home movies, you
01:08:30.220
know, and it's just kind of in the, the attic, the history of, of our, our, our family.
01:08:43.180
I mean, it's like any fan of the movie has Googled that a million times and looked at your
01:08:47.060
picture and compared it to when you were a boy.
01:08:50.360
Oh, by the way, by the way, I have to ask you, because I asked my kids, they were almost
01:08:56.600
Um, I said, what, what would you want to ask them if you could ask them any question?
01:09:00.820
And they wanted to know if you could play another role in the movie, who's, would you
01:09:12.560
I, you know, I got a song and I got to smash things up and I got to be.
01:09:21.260
Um, I would not want to be in that styrofoam ball being rolled around and turned blue and
01:09:32.820
The fizzy lifting, I wouldn't have mind a go at.
01:09:36.060
Although it was quite uncomfortable, wasn't it, Pete?
01:09:40.420
They just had you suspended by ropes or what was that?
01:09:49.920
Is there, is there somebody, if you had to switch a role?
01:09:52.680
I got to say, Jean, you know, I was being groomed for Willy Wonka.
01:10:02.860
And I love how in the movie he's, without knowing he's going to have this special bond
01:10:06.520
with Willy Wonka is defensive of him in scenes.
01:10:09.120
And you can just, you can feel it coming, you know, you know, it's eventually going to
01:10:14.360
I love that he kept surprising you guys that he, not only did he do the somersault, but
01:10:20.300
I guess his creepiness on the boat was unexpected.
01:10:25.260
I mean, it was scripted, you know, the, the lines, but, uh, not the way he delivered it.
01:10:32.440
And I also read, Pete, there was something about the, that end scene in the office that
01:10:42.100
I mean, Jean did not let on, you know, the, um, veracity, um, the, how, how, you know,
01:10:51.040
the screaming, the yelling, you know, the high intensity, you know, that the scene would
01:10:57.160
And, and again, he wanted, you know, my, my, you know, primary reaction, you know?
01:11:05.120
Um, so rehearsal was, was probably kept to a minimum.
01:11:10.220
And, and I don't recall, we didn't do very many takes, you know, uh, of that scene.
01:11:20.440
And we were, we were both like, okay, let's get this done.
01:11:26.760
Plane, plane was taxiing down the runway at that point.
01:11:31.400
But again, very, very little rehearsal, you know?
01:11:35.520
So, and Jean wanted it that way and, and he hit it, you know, you know,
01:11:44.840
And even the script, you know, for you not to say anything in response,
01:11:48.440
for you just to place the gobstopper down with the simple Mr. Wonka.
01:11:57.380
The line so shines a good deed in a weary world.
01:12:04.840
There are so many lines that sometimes you hear now and, you know, they've kind of become
01:12:09.900
almost, I don't know, like sort of little folklore, little expressions that people use.
01:12:15.940
And I think, yeah, I know where that came from.
01:12:20.580
And people will say that so shines a good deed in a weary world.
01:12:29.180
But I tell you, as you know, I mean, if you're a true fan of the movie, you're very annoying
01:12:33.500
to watch the movie with because, you know, every line.
01:12:37.440
I mean, it's like the little lines that always delighted me and Kelly McGinnis, the one I watched
01:12:42.200
it with everything, like Rachmaninoff, you know, like whatever, you know, he's in the room
01:12:49.800
Random, stupid lines that really didn't amount to anything that you just will say over and
01:12:57.340
So but let me ask you now, because I'm I'm I I you've been so generous with your time,
01:13:03.120
but I have to ask you, why has the movie endured?
01:13:08.020
There have been many wonderful films over time, including films directed at children that
01:13:23.160
You can and you've mentioned this, Megan, you can watch it with your family and your kids
01:13:30.360
come away with a little bit different take on it than what you do.
01:13:35.580
The humor is is kind of targeted at various levels.
01:13:39.500
So people of all ages can watch this and take something different from it.
01:13:44.800
The fact that if you do well, you're an honest person, you know, things are going to probably
01:13:53.040
And that's not a bad message to have, you know, going forward.
01:13:57.200
The other thing that I think that really makes the film kind of fun is all the different,
01:14:03.080
you know, smaller scenes when they're looking for the golden ticket.
01:14:07.540
You know, one of my favorite scenes is the Dan Rather scene when all the golden tickets have
01:14:13.280
been have been found and and, you know, he's lamenting that there aren't any more tickets
01:14:18.380
out there and says, you know, but there's many more important things, many more important
01:14:28.700
You know, I mean, just those I love those different scenes.
01:14:33.520
So and the other little guy who says the guy says, I am now telling the computer exactly
01:14:38.920
what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate.
01:14:42.800
The wonderful woman whose husband has been kidnapped and she says, how long have I got
01:14:57.280
I agree with Pete because it is a moral tale, isn't it?
01:15:03.640
And we we want to believe and hope that good things happen to good people and the bad people
01:15:10.060
And we like to believe that that's kind of karma taking care of itself.
01:15:14.940
And so it is the ultimate dream that, you know, yeah, if you're a nice person, then things
01:15:22.920
And yeah, we all need a little bit more of that right now.
01:15:28.840
That that's sin, you know, gluttony, greed, rudeness, idleness is not rewarded.
01:15:36.580
And that the kid who does what he thinks is right, is kind, can be rewarded with a lifetime
01:15:43.220
Parents will love it because it's a slightly moral tale.
01:15:45.800
You know, you see, kids, I told you, don't speak with your mouth full and don't be rude
01:15:49.000
like that because you'll go down the garbage chute or, you know, be shrunk or blow up or whatever
01:15:54.040
So, you know, that's it's a moral tale for parents.
01:15:56.780
Kids quite like seeing other kids get get their comeuppance.
01:16:01.140
You know, we've all had the bullies at school and we go, yeah, good.
01:16:07.980
And then, you know, I'll be still my beating heart.
01:16:18.440
Listen, to quote the man in the airport who put it so succinctly.
01:16:34.360
I don't totally have it figured out why, but I don't know.
01:16:38.700
You know, it's like I don't get overwhelmed by celebrity.
01:16:43.400
If anything, I have a negative association with most of them.
01:16:49.760
You know, it's like when that movie came out, as they mentioned on DVD or back then it was
01:16:57.120
VHS, I had lost my dad recently and my best friend Kelly and I used to sit there and watch
01:17:06.240
You know, it's an escape in so many ways into something magical and wonderful and visually
01:17:11.620
delightful and just away from whatever you're trying to escape.
01:17:15.540
Back then we didn't have the iPhones or the iPads or devices.
01:17:20.700
You can find a collection of people with whom you have nothing but a positive association,
01:17:25.340
Like an actor, for example, who you just look at and have nothing but great thoughts about,
01:17:30.960
especially in today's day and age where they're they're political and they're trying to lecture
01:17:38.700
And I think it's almost it's more important that Peter never went on to play another role
01:17:45.720
like maybe that's helped preserve my love for him in the film.
01:17:49.040
And I never saw Julie in another role, though she did have a successful career in acting
01:17:55.280
But it's almost sort of helped preserve the legacy.
01:18:00.980
Well, I mean, I know he did Blazing Saddles and he did Silver Streak and he did all these
01:18:03.960
wonderful movies, but like in Young Frankenstein, for me, he will always be the one role like
01:18:15.460
I think you probably can relate to something to this in some way.
01:18:18.660
Maybe you have a film or a song, right, or some memory like that that just brings back
01:18:26.380
You know, the passage of time, it always brings tears if you really think about it.
01:18:33.620
It was like those two actors and Gene Wilder, all of them have brought me a lot of joy over
01:18:41.260
So thank you for indulging me and spending this hour with me, which was my Christmas present
01:18:55.220
Today's episode was brought to you in part by Home Title Lock.
01:18:58.440
Put a barrier around your home to protect yourself from home title theft.
01:19:05.480
I want to tell you before I let you go that, you know, been a lot of crying on this show
01:19:09.180
and there could be reason for even more coming up on our next show.
01:19:13.600
Actually, I didn't cry, but I did laugh hard and had some really funny reactions.
01:19:18.020
In fact, my senior producer, Debbie Murphy, who's been with me for 12 years, she's a hardened
01:19:23.840
She actually told me this is her favorite interview of mine.
01:19:32.280
It's Father Jonathan Morris, who is father no longer.
01:19:37.400
My priest left the church, leaving the status of my now baptized children in jeopardy.
01:19:46.060
But it is about his story, how he became a priest, which is actually very funny in and
01:19:50.940
of itself, the way it happened, and how he just recently decided to leave the priesthood
01:19:55.540
and the woman behind the story, or at least who came into the picture.
01:20:00.620
So we have them both in an interview you will love.
01:20:03.720
I don't care what your faith is or whether you don't or aren't a person of faith.
01:20:09.360
I don't think you're going to be able to turn it off.
01:20:14.560
Christmas, so tune in when you have your downtime after you're like, you're punch drunk from
01:20:18.620
all the presents and the coffee and all that stuff, and you got nothing to do, and there's
01:20:21.960
some football on, and I don't know, you're looking for like a little way to escape for
01:20:26.360
an hour from all the toy trains going off and the new loud presents that the rude uncle
01:20:47.860
The Megyn Kelly Show is a Devil May Care media production in collaboration with Red Seat Ventures.