Timcast IRL - Tim Pool - Sunday Uncensored: Robert Davi & Alex Marlow Member Podcast: Robert Davi Tells Crazy Hollywood Stories And How Pablo Escobar Gave Him Emeralds
Aired: 2022-09-04
Duration: 37:27


=== Frank Sinatra and the Waiter's Breakthrough (08:23) ===

[00:00:01]  Robert Davi, legendary actor, movie star.
[00:00:05]  You have some stories to tell us about the deep, seedy underbelly of Hollywood.
[00:00:09]  Well.
[00:00:09]  Spill the beans.
[00:00:11]  Spill the beans.
[00:00:12]  Well, I started to allude to a story of when I did the film with Sinatra in 1977, my first film.
[00:00:20]  And what it was, was I was working as a waiter in New York City at a place called Fiorello's, which was across the street from Lincoln Center.
[00:00:29]  And I was making my nut.
[00:00:30]  I had a railroad flat on 2nd Avenue.
[00:00:34]  It was $175 a month back in the day.
[00:00:36]  Railroads.
[00:00:37]  They suck.
[00:00:37]  Railroad flat.
[00:00:38]  Yeah.
[00:00:38]  You know.
[00:00:39]  It was great.
[00:00:40]  Great spot.
[00:00:41]  For those that aren't familiar, this basically means that all the rooms are connected to each other in a row.
[00:00:45]  So it's like you walk in the living room and there's a bedroom, which is basically a hallway, and then a bedroom, which is basically a hallway, and then maybe a back room.
[00:00:51]  So people might not be familiar.
[00:00:54]  Right.
[00:00:54]  Wow.
[00:00:55]  Yeah.
[00:00:55]  But no, this was cool, actually.
[00:00:58]  You know, $5,000.
[00:00:59]  Same thing I was paying $1.75 for.
[00:01:04]  So I was able to do that.
[00:01:06]  I was studying with Stella Adler, great acting coach at her school, taking my voice lessons from Samuel Margulies and Dan Farrow from Juilliard, and working at a fruit and vegetable stand at 110th and Broadway.
[00:01:18]  17th and Broadway, 110th and Broadway. Now I got fired from Fiorello's and I was
[00:01:25]  making my nut, paying for everything that I had to do, working three days a
[00:01:30]  week as a waiter.
[00:01:31]  I went in one night, the guy says, you're fired.
[00:01:33]  I go, what?
[00:01:35]  He goes, I've got to let you go.
[00:01:36]  I go, why?
[00:01:37]  He goes, you didn't hand in all your checks.
[00:01:40]  No, he said, you didn't hand in all your checks the other night.
[00:01:42]  I said, yes I did.
[00:01:43]  I'm very careful.
[00:01:44]  He goes, check your drawer.
[00:01:45]  And you have a drawer with a key.
[00:01:47]  I went in this drawer.
[00:01:48]  I'm a lefty.
[00:01:48]  This was so slanted the other way.
[00:01:51]  I pulled out the check.
[00:01:52]  I said, well, it's not me.
[00:01:52]  It's not my writing.
[00:01:53]  It's a mistake, Frank.
[00:01:55]  His name was Frank.
[00:01:56]  He goes, I've got to let you go.
[00:02:00]  And I went like that.
[00:02:01]  What?
[00:02:01]  It was like getting hit in the solar plexus.
[00:02:05]  And I was innocent.
[00:02:05]  I don't look innocent, but I was innocent.
[00:02:07]  All right?
[00:02:09]  I didn't know to say to him at that time, well, how much will it cost to keep my job?
[00:02:12]  Because I was making good tips.
[00:02:13]  They found out.
[00:02:15]  And my checks were bigger than everybody else's because people were doing funny things.
[00:02:21]  I got fired.
[00:02:23]  Well, lo and behold, two and a half months later, I get this movie with Frank Sinatra, Contract on Cherry Street, which changed my career.
[00:02:34]  And I'm doing the film, filming during the time, three months.
[00:02:38]  So for making $300 a week as a waiter, I got $3,500 a week all of a sudden for three months doing the film.
[00:02:45]  Sinatra paid.
[00:02:46]  Nice.
[00:02:47]  Right?
[00:02:47]  Nice little payday back then.
[00:02:48]  That's great.
[00:02:49]  So now, I'm doing the film, and I told Harry Guardino, who's one of the funniest guys around.
[00:02:54]  He's been in Dirty Harry's, a lot of films.
[00:02:57]  What year was this, one more time?
[00:02:59]  1977.
[00:02:59]  77.
[00:02:59]  In New York City.
[00:03:01]  And I then go to... One night, Harry, on my trailer door, you know, a little two-banger, not a big trailer at that time.
[00:03:12]  He goes, the old man wants to take us to dinner.
[00:03:14]  I go, okay. He says, yeah, all right. So I go over, get in the car.
[00:03:19]  In the car is Jilly Rizzo, who was Frank's right-hand guy, like his brother.
[00:03:23]  Another gentleman who was the...
[00:03:28]  was a very interesting guy in New York City, okay.
[00:03:32]  And then Martin Gables and myself and Frank Sinatra.
[00:03:36]  So we go, and I'm thinking we're going to go to Patsy's Pizzeria at 117th and Broadway or Patsy's at West 54th Street, two of the great places we would go to.
[00:03:44]  Both called Patsy's, coincidentally?
[00:03:46]  Yes.
[00:03:47]  Is it the same Patsy's?
[00:03:48]  No.
[00:03:49]  I didn't think so, based on the way you were telling the story.
[00:03:50]  Totally different Patsy's.
[00:03:51]  Patsy's Pizzeria and Patsy's Restaurant.
[00:03:53]  Totally different things.
[00:03:55]  So we go to make a U-turn and they park right in front of Lincoln Center.
[00:04:03]  Fiorello's.
[00:04:06]  I look at Harry Guardino.
[00:04:08]  I look at Frank.
[00:04:10]  I look at Harry.
[00:04:11]  He smiles.
[00:04:12]  I look at Frank and Frank goes, come on, let's go eat.
[00:04:16]  We go into the restaurant.
[00:04:19]  Lo and behold, the guy that fired me turned whiter than this paper.
[00:04:24]  I've never seen anybody turn so white.
[00:04:26]  Not only because I was walking with Sinatra, but the other guy with us was in head of all the restaurants in New York City.
[00:04:34]  He was the one that made sure everyone had their produce and everything was running right and everything else.
[00:04:39]  So we sit down and eat and I'm like, you know, this is a, what an up and comings.
[00:04:45]  And the guy leaves the table for a few minutes, he goes, I'll be right back.
[00:04:49]  He goes, comes back with an envelope.
[00:04:52]  He goes, gives it to me.
[00:04:54]  I go, what's this?
[00:04:54]  He goes, You know, severance pay.
[00:04:58]  They should have never fired you.
[00:05:00]  I had to talk with the guy.
[00:05:02]  Wow.
[00:05:03]  So that was... That's cool.
[00:05:05]  And another thing he said to me that he was very sensitive, I have scarring on my neck and other places.
[00:05:10]  And Sinatra had scarring.
[00:05:12]  He was a forceps baby, meaning back in the day they would use forceps to take you out.
[00:05:15]  Oh yeah, right.
[00:05:16]  Which I was.
[00:05:17]  And he said to me, early on he liked me, he says, He goes, you're a forceps baby, huh?
[00:05:23]  I go, yeah.
[00:05:24]  He goes, yeah, me too.
[00:05:25]  And he showed me his scar.
[00:05:26]  He says, never let them bother you.
[00:05:28]  Wow.
[00:05:29]  And he was that way.
[00:05:31]  And when I did the Bond film, he was very close to Cubby Broccoli.
[00:05:35]  Cubby Broccoli produced all the Bond films.
[00:05:38]  And I used to have lunch with Cubby Broccoli, Frank Sinatra, or dinner, and a guy named Sidney Korshak.
[00:05:48]  Sidney Korshak was the most powerful man in Hollywood.
[00:05:50]  He was a lawyer.
[00:05:53]  And any problem in the world in film, Sidney Korshak could take care of it.
[00:05:59]  Any studio would get... The legendary story of the Godfather is when they wanted Al Pacino.
[00:06:07]  Francis Ford Coppola wanted Al Pacino to show you who Sidney Korshak was.
[00:06:11]  They, uh, Bob Evans, who was the head of Paramount, called a guy named Jim Aubrey, who was called the Smiling Cobra, who I did a TV series for years later, but he was the head of MGM.
[00:06:23]  He had to call him up because Pacino was signed to a picture that MGM had.
[00:06:26]  They wanted to have Pacino released from this picture.
[00:06:29]  So they call him up, Evans calls him up, he says, uh, Jim, I, you got this actor, Al Pacino, I'd like to, Francis Watts, he used him for The Godfather.
[00:06:37]  You got him for this little film, but our book is number one in the world, it's like, Your film will be worth much more money if you let him do The Godfather first, then the guy goes F you and hangs up the phone.
[00:06:48]  Evans calls up Sidney Korshak.
[00:06:49]  Sidney, I've got a little problem.
[00:06:51]  Can you curse on this show now?
[00:06:52]  Yeah, yeah.
[00:06:53]  Because it's more cocksucker motherfucker.
[00:06:55]  Alright, good.
[00:06:56]  So, Sidney Korshak.
[00:06:57]  Evans calls up Sidney and says, Sid, I've got a problem.
[00:06:59]  What's your problem?
[00:07:00]  Well, we want this actor.
[00:07:01]  What's his name?
[00:07:02]  Al Pacino.
[00:07:03]  Al Pacino.
[00:07:04]  I never heard of him.
[00:07:04]  No, Pacino.
[00:07:05]  How do you spell it?
[00:07:06]  P-I-C-I-N-O.
[00:07:08]  Pacino.
[00:07:08]  Okay, what's the problem?
[00:07:09]  Well, I called up Aubrey.
[00:07:11]  He's signed to do a picture at MGM.
[00:07:14]  I told Aubrey, he says, look, just hold off a bit.
[00:07:16]  Let's do The Godfather.
[00:07:17]  You're filming.
[00:07:18]  He says, alright, I'll get back to you.
[00:07:19]  Five minutes later, Aubrey calls up Evans and goes, you cocksucker, you son of a bitch, and hangs up on him.
[00:07:27]  Five minutes later, Sidney Korshak calls up Evans and says, all right, you got your Pacino?
[00:07:32]  He goes, I figured.
[00:07:33]  He goes, why?
[00:07:33]  Because I just got off the phone with Aubrey.
[00:07:35]  What did he say?
[00:07:35]  He didn't say anything.
[00:07:36]  He cursed me up and down.
[00:07:38]  I go, what did you say?
[00:07:39]  He says, well, I told him.
[00:07:40]  I says, look.
[00:07:42]  You know that thing, I didn't talk to Aubrey, I talked to Kirk Kerkorian, you know who that was?
[00:07:47]  He owned MGM, the MGM Grand, the big casinos and all of that.
[00:07:52]  He says, I called up Kirk, he says, well what did you say to him?
[00:07:54]  I says, you know Kirk, that thing you're building in the desert, meaning the big casino, what decade would you like it finished?
[00:08:01]  And that's how it got started.
[00:08:02]  Wow.
[00:08:02]  Oh wow.
[00:08:07]  Back in the day, people, and look, I don't like crime at all, but we have, our government is worse than the mafia.
[00:08:14]  The mafia in Italy actually came about because of the suppression of the government.
[00:08:22]  Did you know that?
[00:08:23]  Filling a vacuum.

=== Tour See Tour (03:02) ===

[00:08:24]  Yeah.
[00:08:25]  In Sicily, because the people, you know, and I always felt that, you know, Imagine if they were back on the streets.
[00:08:32]  There wouldn't be no drugs.
[00:08:33]  There wouldn't be fentanyl.
[00:08:34]  Right.
[00:08:35]  There wouldn't be any of this.
[00:08:36]  There'd be much more.
[00:08:37]  This crap wouldn't happen.
[00:08:38]  Yeah.
[00:08:39]  Yeah, it was its own government in a sense.
[00:08:41]  Yes.
[00:08:44]  I've been there.
[00:08:44]  under the government you get less rights but what people don't understand too is
[00:08:48]  um...
[00:08:49]  i went out of brazil and i was covering the favelas in the gangs have been there
[00:08:52]  but people don't realize that they hear gang anything it's a bunch people just
[00:08:55]  like shake you down and knows local government right they could be called the gangs because the government
[00:09:00]  didn't like them and didn't have authority over them but couldn't do
[00:09:04]  anything until they pacified
[00:09:06]  But I remember when I went in there, we were going to do an interview with a gang leader and I was like, do we got to be worried?
[00:09:11]  And they were like, no, it's like walking up to a city councilman.
[00:09:14]  It's just a local guy who lives here.
[00:09:16]  They have different rules from the government wants, but their whole thing is keep the peace.
[00:09:20]  Ain't nobody got to be fucking with my family or shit like that.
[00:09:23]  So he was like, Hey, we'll get you an interview.
[00:09:24]  And he put on a mask and then he explained what was going on.
[00:09:27]  They were basically in these favelas, there was no government, so a gang happened, which became the government.
[00:09:32]  They sold drugs, they partied, but the people there were getting along.
[00:09:36]  That was what they wanted, that's what they liked.
[00:09:38]  The government came in with guns and then cleared them all out and asserted their dominance over the area.
[00:09:42]  At least the gangsters are honest with you, let me tell you something.
[00:09:45]  Yeah, seriously.
[00:09:46]  If you break the law, the government is manipulative.
[00:09:49]  These guys, so I always felt that, you know, I mean, it's interesting, you know, you don't want to, nobody wants crime and anything else, but there was a certain order, you know, there was a Sicilian, and I'm not denigrating, I mean, there was a code of, there was an actual book written in Sicilian
[00:10:06]  Hey, it's Kimberly Fletcher here from Moms4America with some very exciting news.
[00:10:11]  Tucker Carlson is going on a nationwide tour this fall, and Moms4America has the exclusive VIP meet and greet experience for you.
[00:10:21]  Before each show, you can have the opportunity to meet Tucker Carlson in person.
[00:10:26]  These tickets are fully tax deductible donations.
[00:10:29]  So go to momsforamerica.us and get one of our very limited VIP meet and greet experiences with Tucker at any of the 15 cities on his first ever Coast to Coast tour.
[00:10:41]  Not only will you be supporting Moms for America in our mission to empower moms, promote liberty, and raise patriots, your tax-deductible donation secures you a full VIP experience with priority entrance and check-in, premium gold seating in the first five rows, access to a pre-show cocktail reception, an individual meet-and-greet, and photo with America's most famous conservative and our friend, Tucker Carlson.
[00:11:08]  Visit momsforamerica.us today for more information and to secure your exclusive VIP meet-and-greet tickets.
[00:11:16]  See you on the tour.
[00:11:24]  A coat of ethics and honor that these old time guys had.

=== Encountering Escobar (13:46) ===

[00:11:27]  Now what they did is when the young guys came in and they started veering into drugs, that then became another thing.
[00:11:33]  Because You know, I met Pablo Escobar.
[00:11:38]  Oh yeah, how'd that go?
[00:11:40]  Yeah, when I did the Bond film.
[00:11:41]  I'm in the Amazon rainforest.
[00:11:43]  When I filmed in the favelas and I filmed in the Amazon rainforest with the Yanomami Indians, it was the first ecology film with a Finnish film director, Mika Kautismäki.
[00:11:52]  And we went to Manaus, Boa Vista, Tepicang, and we're in Manaus, which is where the rubber barons built this huge Hotel Trapical.
[00:12:01]  I mean opulent, unbelievable.
[00:12:04]  And the Bond film had just come out.
[00:12:06]  It was getting a lot of attention all over the world and Brazil especially as well.
[00:12:10]  And I'm sitting at this luncheon area.
[00:12:13]  I'm kind of flirting with these Irish dancers.
[00:12:16]  And a guy comes over to me.
[00:12:18]  He goes, Mr. Davi, yes.
[00:12:21]  He goes, we saw Licence to Kill.
[00:12:24]  He says, we enjoyed the film very much.
[00:12:27]  He goes, thank you so much.
[00:12:29]  He goes, a friend would like to meet you.
[00:12:32]  I go, oh yeah, sure, where is he?
[00:12:34]  He says, oh no, no, it's a little drive.
[00:12:37]  You can come with us?
[00:12:41]  And I go like… And I'm interested, okay.
[00:12:46]  Could it be?
[00:12:47]  Okay, all right, sure.
[00:12:49]  Yes, don't worry, you'll be okay.
[00:12:52]  So we drive, about a half hour, 40 minutes.
[00:12:54]  You get in a car with some strangers?
[00:12:55]  Did you actually feel like you had an option?
[00:12:57]  Did you feel like you had an option, or was it a?
[00:12:58]  No, I was okay.
[00:13:00]  I felt, you know, you gotta realize, I'll tell you the other story to this,
[00:13:03]  because there's a certain point where celebrity feels, invincible, it's stupid.
[00:13:10]  It's a dumb feeling.
[00:13:11]  It's very dangerous, but it's a dumb feeling.
[00:13:14]  And I experienced that, so I understand it.
[00:13:17]  So what happens is, they drive me to a place.
[00:13:20]  We're in the little dirt road and trees and jungle and all of a sudden this dirt, this tree thing goes like this.
[00:13:27]  It opens up and then there's another long dirt road and we go and now I'm getting a little nervous and then there's a clearing and guys that is watching and we go and I figure okay and they told me yes Mr. Escobar would like to meet you.
[00:13:44]  No way!
[00:13:45]  That's insane.
[00:13:48]  Now, you had heard about me from Beverly Hills because when I did the research, the guy that designed his home in Medellin was a guy that I was researching with.
[00:13:57]  I was asking questions.
[00:13:59]  Hence, loyalty is more important to me than money and some other things like that.
[00:14:03]  So now, I meet Escobar, broken English.
[00:14:07]  He goes, I like the film.
[00:14:11]  Very good.
[00:14:12]  Loyalty is more important to the man.
[00:14:14]  And this and that.
[00:14:15]  And the other thing goes, you know, I tell you a little bit about my personality, which would have been interesting in the film.
[00:14:20]  He says, when I was younger, I wanted to buy a discotheque, Medellin.
[00:14:26]  I had money, and they wouldn't sell it to me, so I offered them more money.
[00:14:33]  offered them more money, they wouldn't sell it to me. So what I did is I built the exact
[00:14:37]  same place across the street and didn't charge for drinks or entrance. I put them out of business.
[00:14:42]  He goes, that was one interesting idea of personality. He goes, and then I had a house
[00:14:49]  and I knew this, the Pasafino horses, the You know what those are?
[00:14:54]  They're the horses that have the gate where the left side, rear, and front go at the same time.
[00:15:00]  So when they're in the mountains, there's no jiggling, okay?
[00:15:04]  So he goes, he says, what's interesting, nice colors.
[00:15:08]  In my house, we would play Lulu, which is like the, I guess, blackjack or card game.
[00:15:14]  We'd drink aguardiente.
[00:15:16]  He goes, and then we hear, And we put the cars down, we pick up a drink, and we watch the gate of the Passo Finors coming through the house.
[00:15:31]  It's interesting.
[00:15:34]  I mean, and then he gives me a little bag and we talked a little more about stuff.
[00:15:39]  What was in the bag?
[00:15:40]  Emeralds.
[00:15:43]  Emeralds?
[00:15:44]  Emeralds.
[00:15:44]  What?
[00:15:47]  Is this emeralds in case the feds are listening or is this emeralds?
[00:15:52]  Yeah, yeah.
[00:15:53]  Literally.
[00:15:54]  Emeralds.
[00:15:54]  No, they were jewels.
[00:15:55]  No.
[00:15:55]  Oh, cool.
[00:15:56]  There were gems, because when I went to... Tim, are you taking notes?
[00:15:58]  When you get really big, you're going to be able to pull off all this stuff.
[00:16:01]  It's going to be great.
[00:16:02]  I'm excited.
[00:16:03]  No, no, no.
[00:16:03]  So, no, this was actually, you know, he says, you have girlfriend, wife, whatever, he says, you can make ring out of.
[00:16:08]  These are raw stones.
[00:16:09]  And he gave me a bag of raw stones.
[00:16:11]  Were they big?
[00:16:13]  Yeah, they were nice.
[00:16:14]  I scored a lot of points over the years.
[00:16:16]  Did you give them to a girlfriend?
[00:16:17]  Is there any concern about receiving that from... Well, just with the I.R.F.
[00:16:21]  Yeah, I guess.
[00:16:22]  Yeah, I'd be more worried about the government than the gangsters every time.
[00:16:25]  No, no, no, but this is actually a great question.
[00:16:27]  It's like, does he expect anything or he's just... No!
[00:16:29]  No, we're just appreciative.
[00:16:31]  Wow.
[00:16:31]  I never saw him again.
[00:16:32]  Wow.
[00:16:32]  Never had anything... Wow.
[00:16:33]  No, no, this was just...
[00:16:35]  Was it a nice place?
[00:16:36]  Was it fun?
[00:16:36]  You're like chilling in a nice chair, have a cigar or something?
[00:16:38]  Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:16:39]  I didn't have a cigar, but it was a nice... I had a drink.
[00:16:42]  Any food?
[00:16:45]  There was some crudité stuff, but I didn't need it.
[00:16:48]  It's funny, because he's like, I see myself in your villain.
[00:16:52]  You know what I mean?
[00:16:53]  Yes, yes, yes.
[00:16:54]  You know, I was very savvy, don't forget.
[00:16:56]  As Sanchez.
[00:16:57]  And then later on, in 2002... That's a good idea for a movie.
[00:16:59]  It was, you know, and then later on, in 2002.
[00:17:03]  That's a good idea for a movie.
[00:17:05]  2003, I met the guys that killed him.
[00:17:11]  Wow.
[00:17:12]  That's crazy.
[00:17:14]  I met the guys that killed him.
[00:17:16]  And I had to tell my friend who knew this story, who was a Special Forces guy, another thing, he says, you've got to tell him this story, that you met Escobar.
[00:17:23]  And these are the guys that took him out.
[00:17:25]  Lauren, I got an idea for you because I've been following Robert around for a couple of days and doing tons of publicity and he has a thousand of these stories.
[00:17:33]  I've heard him tell 400 stories over the last three days and I've only heard him repeat himself once.
[00:17:38]  There was one time.
[00:17:39]  There was one time.
[00:17:40]  But that's it.
[00:17:41]  Just following Robert around.
[00:17:42]  We walked into a Nancy O'Dell with a really hot bar and he walks up to the maitre d and he just comes in says two cappuccinos please and it is like there's no cappuccino this is a place where you go for a martini or something like that you're not you're getting a cappuccino here they produce a cappuccino just magically it's like he's got this way with people it's the voice it's the vibe yeah it's the
[00:18:06]  They know he knows people.
[00:18:08]  I had a modest budget for marketing so I have a nice room.
[00:18:10]  It's like I went to the hotel where I'm at.
[00:18:12]  Yeah.
[00:18:13]  No, it's awesome.
[00:18:14]  I had a, you know, modest budget for marketing, so I have a nice room.
[00:18:20]  I've been to the place before, and the, you know, guy that works there who's from Ethiopia,
[00:18:29]  Great little guy.
[00:18:30]  His name was Angel, in his Ethiopian language.
[00:18:35]  Takes me to my room, brings the bags in.
[00:18:38]  He goes, He goes, you're fantastic.
[00:18:42]  Thank you so much.
[00:18:43]  Gives me my bags.
[00:18:44]  I give him a little tip.
[00:18:45]  Thank you very much.
[00:18:46]  He goes, I'm so, such a pleasure.
[00:18:48]  Can I have a selfie?
[00:18:49]  Of course.
[00:18:50]  We take a selfie.
[00:18:51]  Sweetheart guy.
[00:18:51]  This is, oh, Salt of the Earth.
[00:18:53]  We talk a little bit about Haile Selassie and the Ark of the Covenant and everything like that.
[00:18:58]  He comes back.
[00:19:01]  I'm going to arrange for it.
[00:19:02]  You shouldn't be here.
[00:19:05]  Hey guys, Josh Hammer here, the host of America on Trial with Josh Hammer, a podcast for the First Podcast Network.
[00:19:12]  Look, there are a lot of shows out there that are explaining the political news cycle, what's happening on the Hill, the this, the that.
[00:19:18]  There are no other shows that are cutting straight to the point when it comes to the unprecedented lawfare debilitating and affecting the 2024 presidential election.
[00:19:27]  We do all that every single day right here on America on Trial with Josh Hammer.
[00:19:31]  Subscribe and download your episodes wherever you get your podcasts.
[00:19:34]  It's America on Trial with Josh Hammer.
[00:19:36]  I have the suite.
[00:19:38]  You're going to stay in the suite.
[00:19:40]  That's cool.
[00:19:41]  Wow.
[00:19:42]  I got upgrades.
[00:19:43]  He goes, I want to upgrade you to this.
[00:19:45]  Now I got this huge suite.
[00:19:46]  I'm by myself.
[00:19:47]  Had I known, I would have brought the family.
[00:19:48]  You know what I mean?
[00:19:49]  He did the same thing to me, but he put me closer to the elevator.
[00:19:51]  He said, you shouldn't be here.
[00:19:52]  You should be where you hear the ding, ding, ding.
[00:19:55]  You should be by the bathroom.
[00:19:56]  I'm way in the back.
[00:19:57]  There's no sound.
[00:19:58]  There's nobody else around me.
[00:20:01]  But it's funny stuff like that.
[00:20:02]  They would be good stories to film.
[00:20:05]  What's the seediest Hollywood story?
[00:20:07]  What's the darkest?
[00:20:08]  I mean, meeting Pablo Escobar is pretty amazing, but ultimately you've got a bag of emeralds.
[00:20:13]  What about something like you witness a guy murder somebody or something and they drag the body out?
[00:20:17]  Those are stories you never tell, hey?
[00:20:19]  Yeah, no, thank God I haven't had... But no one's listening.
[00:20:22]  I haven't had like what Burt Reynolds had when there was murder on the set or something like that.
[00:20:28]  I didn't have anything like that, thank God, happen.
[00:20:31]  I'm trying to think because, you know, 45 years of doing this, you know, there's all kinds of... You know who Tully Savalas is?
[00:20:39]  No.
[00:20:41]  Kojak.
[00:20:41]  Kojak!
[00:20:42]  I'm 36, man, I don't know.
[00:20:44]  Oh my God.
[00:20:46]  You see, we have to... This is... Half your age!
[00:20:48]  All I know about Telly Savalas is a ball is a cue ball, right?
[00:20:54]  Yes.
[00:20:55]  Okay, that's it.
[00:20:56]  But he was in the Dirty Dozen.
[00:20:57]  See, I think we have to... He was an iconic figure, Telly Savalas, as Kojak.
[00:21:05]  Who loves your baby?
[00:21:06]  With the lollipop in his mouth, right?
[00:21:09]  But anyway, I'm doing it.
[00:21:10]  Well, if you don't know who he is and your kids don't know, it's kind of a moot story to say.
[00:21:14]  I won't say that.
[00:21:17]  What can I tell you?
[00:21:17]  Oh, I could tell you.
[00:21:18]  When I was in Brazil, when I told you celebrity feels invincible?
[00:21:21]  Yeah.
[00:21:22]  So, we're in Boa Vista, which is a wild west town.
[00:21:25]  There are murders every night in this town.
[00:21:28]  People get shot up.
[00:21:30]  So, we're shooting outside a bar, and I'm drinking.
[00:21:33]  I have to get drunk, and me and this Finnish actor have to have a wrestling match.
[00:21:37]  Wait, wait, wait, you have to get drunk for what?
[00:21:38]  For the scene.
[00:21:39]  Oh, for the scene.
[00:21:40]  I wanted to, so I, you know, I'm a method actor.
[00:21:42]  You're a method actor, yeah, what do you do?
[00:21:43]  So I drink some cachaça, caipirinha.
[00:21:46]  Caipirinha.
[00:21:47]  You know it, alright?
[00:21:48]  So I'm drinking a little bit too much of these guys, and now I'm lit.
[00:21:52]  And we're wrestling, and we're on the thing, and we're trying to do now, after the wrestle match, the dialogue scene.
[00:21:58]  And you need quiet for that.
[00:22:00]  So the AD is trying to say to this bar that's over there, when I was down, to the people, Please be quiet, please.
[00:22:06]  And nobody's being quiet.
[00:22:07]  And I go, why do we got to do another take, you know?
[00:22:10]  He goes, well, because they're not quiet.
[00:22:11]  I go, oh.
[00:22:12]  He goes, I'm going to, I'm going to go talk to them.
[00:22:14]  He goes, no, no, no, no, you stay here.
[00:22:15]  I said, no, let me watch.
[00:22:17]  Because the Bond film had come out, and I'm thinking, who the hell I am in other films.
[00:22:21]  And I go into the bar, and I see this guy.
[00:22:24]  And he looks at me like this.
[00:22:26]  The guy's look was, And I'm half lit, and I'm going to this face.
[00:22:33]  Silencio, por favor.
[00:22:34]  Para mí.
[00:22:36]  Silencio, por favor.
[00:22:37]  Para mí.
[00:22:37]  Enfermando.
[00:22:38]  Silencio.
[00:22:44]  I leave.
[00:22:44]  I go back down on the thing.
[00:22:46]  Two minutes later, the director, Mika Karusmaki, grabs me by my elbow and goes, come on, we have to go.
[00:22:51]  Why?
[00:22:52]  What happened?
[00:22:52]  He says, no, we just have to go.
[00:22:54]  Let's go.
[00:22:54]  Don't worry about it.
[00:22:56]  So they put me, you know, I fell asleep on the couch in the lobby of the hotel, you know, one boot off, one boot on.
[00:23:03]  Next morning I go, what happened?
[00:23:05]  And they said, you know that guy, Silencio Por Favor, whatever you said to him about me?
[00:23:10]  Yeah.
[00:23:11]  He said, you better get this gringo out of here or I'll shoot everybody in the ass.
[00:23:18]  And there was a murder that night.
[00:23:19]  Every night there were murders there.
[00:23:21]  So not as susceptible to your charms as the Major D at the Hamilton.
[00:23:27]  Not the same, I guess.
[00:23:29]  Some people just want to drink.
[00:23:30]  I don't care what you have to do about it.
[00:23:33]  I don't do that kiss and tell thing.
[00:23:36]  I would never do that.
[00:23:38]  So, without getting into personal stories, we hear a lot about child abuse and stuff like that.
[00:23:44]  Dark stuff happening in Hollywood.
[00:23:47]  That Corey Feldman talked about quite a bit.
[00:23:50]  You know what I mean?
[00:23:51]  I got the Nickelodeon thing about the kids being abused and stuff like that.
[00:23:55]  Yeah, I had not experienced, thank God, any of that.
[00:23:59]  It could have been happening behind my back.
[00:24:01]  I did experience... You know what bothered me about the Me Too movement a bit?
[00:24:07]  And a certain thing, the culture of Hollywood, that in the eighties You could be, and I was never a druggie, I've had family members that had problems but I was never myself, but you could take a date to a club like the Roxbury they had on Sunset Boulevard or another club and you could be there with her and another girl could come over and the girl could say,
[00:24:36]  And, you know, for some reason a girl goes, I'll be right back.
[00:24:39]  And the girl would go, and you would, the girl would go, there would be somebody that had quaaludes that would be giving, the culture was quaaludes, so when you hear about 20 or 40 years later, he drugged me, he did this to me, he did that to me, all of this other stuff, it's kind of... They knew.
[00:24:57]  There was kind of, some of them did, I'm not saying all of them, but it was an absolute thing that was happening there that the drugs and the and and and it's unfortunate and look at I have six

=== Why We Left (12:14) ===

[00:25:13]  No, no, no.
[00:25:14]  I've got a 3-year-old, 21-year-old, 31-year-old, 32-year-old, and 15 and 17 step-daughters.
[00:25:23]  My goodness.
[00:25:24]  You know what I mean?
[00:25:24]  So I'm very sensitive to women, for Pete's sakes.
[00:25:27]  But there was a culture of that drug abuse stuff in modeling and in the film world back then.
[00:25:38]  Was it hard?
[00:25:39]  You told the story about how you finally got that job with Sinatra.
[00:25:42]  Was getting into that difficult?
[00:25:44]  You could.
[00:25:45]  Why do you bring that up?
[00:25:47]  Here's what it was.
[00:25:50]  Word on the street was Sinatra was doing a first film in eight years, a book that his mother loved, Contract on Cherry Street.
[00:25:57]  I said to my agent, who I was freelancing with, Barry Moss, who became a great casting director for theater, put me in plays and stuff.
[00:26:06]  I says, Barry, what about Sinatra's film?
[00:26:08]  He goes, he's using all his friends.
[00:26:11]  I says, where's the casting office?
[00:26:16]  He goes, well, it's Columbia Pictures, Fifth Avenue, next to Tiffany.
[00:26:21]  I said, I'm going to go up there.
[00:26:22]  He goes, go ahead.
[00:26:23]  What do you have to lose?
[00:26:24]  Yeah?
[00:26:25]  So I go to this Columbia picture, and there was a guard.
[00:26:30]  Today you couldn't do this.
[00:26:31]  But there was a guard, and it was a brother.
[00:26:34]  I go, on Cherry Street, he goes, third floor.
[00:26:38]  Oh.
[00:26:38]  I take the elevator, third floor.
[00:26:39]  There's a woman sitting behind the desk and one on the desk.
[00:26:42]  Door was open.
[00:26:43]  I go, I don't mean to intrude, but I understand you're casting for Cherry Street.
[00:26:47]  I was told it was all cast, but I figured, Not quite.
[00:26:52]  Do you have a picture and resume?
[00:26:54]  I go, I didn't want to be that presumptuous.
[00:26:56]  They go, bring one tomorrow morning.
[00:26:58]  That was my opening gambit.
[00:26:59]  Wow.
[00:27:00]  I said, screw that.
[00:27:01]  Ran to the agent, came back ten minutes later, guard up there, third floor, they're in different positions.
[00:27:09]  I go, why wait?
[00:27:10]  And they laughed and they said, thank you very much.
[00:27:13]  Good call.
[00:27:14]  They called me the next morning.
[00:27:15]  Back then, though, you had no cell phones.
[00:27:17]  You had to have a pocket full of quarters.
[00:27:19]  And you had Actifone.
[00:27:20]  You had a number where you checked in every day.
[00:27:22]  All right?
[00:27:23]  So you put the number down, blah, blah, blah.
[00:27:25]  And I call in the Actifone number.
[00:27:28]  And it says, Columbia said, call them right away.
[00:27:30]  This is a Friday morning.
[00:27:31]  I call Columbia.
[00:27:32]  They go, Robert, please come and pick up a script.
[00:27:35]  I go there, pick up a script.
[00:27:37]  They give me the script.
[00:27:38]  They go, read these scenes.
[00:27:39]  Come back at 6 o'clock.
[00:27:40]  Go to the park.
[00:27:41]  Learn the scenes.
[00:27:42]  I do that.
[00:27:43]  I come back at 6 o'clock at night.
[00:27:45]  A woman named Renee Valenti was the head of Columbia at the time.
[00:27:48]  Hugh Benson was producing.
[00:27:49]  Billy Graham was directing.
[00:27:50]  And Sinatra was his project, his book.
[00:27:54]  I do the reading.
[00:27:55]  Now, actors, when you do a reading, you tend to sometimes slow down after you close the door.
[00:28:01]  You're waiting for that moment where the light bulb goes off and everyone says, it's you, it's you, it's you.
[00:28:07]  So I slowly was walking away, but the door opened up and she goes, don't leave yet.
[00:28:12]  Now that means two things.
[00:28:13]  Either they want you to read another part or they have a direction.
[00:28:16]  She came back about five or seven minutes later and she goes, what are you doing this summer?
[00:28:24]  I said, you tell me.
[00:28:25]  Nothing.
[00:28:26]  No, I said, you tell me.
[00:28:28]  She goes, 99% it's yours.
[00:28:30]  Wow.
[00:28:31]  And she says, we'll call your agent Monday.
[00:28:33]  Call.
[00:28:35]  Got it.
[00:28:35]  And you went down there of your own accord.
[00:28:38]  Own accord.
[00:28:39]  That's what I say.
[00:28:39]  I tell kids, people say, be respectful but don't take no for an answer.
[00:28:46]  If you believe in yourself.
[00:28:47]  This is big though, and Tim, I know this comes up in your show a lot because your audience skews younger.
[00:28:52]  I feel like people, we're almost exactly the same age, that our age and younger, I don't see anyone who's a big success who didn't take what they wanted, who didn't go out there, carve their own path, didn't take no for an answer.
[00:29:03]  Lauren killed a guy.
[00:29:04]  The one that we know of, and who knows beyond that.
[00:29:10]  But this is such a big thing.
[00:29:11]  Just in case people might believe that, I'm kidding.
[00:29:13]  Just a joke.
[00:29:13]  I was actually 200 refugees, if you will, on The Daily Beast.
[00:29:18]  Oh really?
[00:29:19]  I literally can't think of anything I can think of anything in my life that I'm doing that I didn't just take on my own and and of course you got to get people to buy in and believe in you eventually but it's the it does start with why wait let me bring the resume now this is this is my destiny I'm going to see that it is so and I know there are people in the audience who are thinking about that and is just If this conversation gives you that push to go do something you want to do.
[00:29:44]  I mean, it's so big.
[00:29:45]  It's just such a big concept that is lost because you're not learning this in school.
[00:29:49]  No one's telling you to take what you want in school.
[00:29:51]  They're telling you to play by the rules, wait for the establishment to tap you in the shoulder, and it doesn't come.
[00:29:56]  And at the same time, they're strangely enough telling all these kids, oh, you're going to be president when you're older.
[00:30:01]  You're going to be an astronaut.
[00:30:02]  You're going to be this.
[00:30:03]  Meanwhile, setting them all up for failure.
[00:30:05]  Yeah, for Biden!
[00:30:08]  When I was younger, there was a lot of, I don't know what to do, someone's supposed to tell me what to do, and then at a certain point, it wasn't about, someone needs to tell me what to do, I don't know what to do, it was, you're in my way, I'm trying to do something.
[00:30:21]  Yes.
[00:30:21]  And that's exactly right.
[00:30:22]  You have to, yes, you have to, you know what I mean?
[00:30:25]  But it wasn't like, there was a point where I decided, you know what, I'm gonna take, it was like, I'm a young kid.
[00:30:30]  I'm skating.
[00:30:31]  I'm playing music.
[00:30:31]  And I'm like, I have no idea what's going on, what I'm supposed to do.
[00:30:34]  And then as I got older, I pursued the things I cared about.
[00:30:38]  I knew what I was talking about.
[00:30:40]  And then when it came to things, I was just like, I'm going to go do this.
[00:30:43]  You're in my way if you don't want.
[00:30:45]  So like I worked for nonprofits and I'd say, here's what we got to do.
[00:30:49]  I worked for one within my first week.
[00:30:51]  I was like on probation for fundraising, you know, trying to sign people up and I sucked.
[00:30:55]  And then I actually got the job because I had my friend come and pretend to sign up so that I could get in.
[00:31:00]  And then, but that was it.
[00:31:01]  I was like, I'm getting this job.
[00:31:03]  So I need to get three signups in three days.
[00:31:05]  And on the last day, with like an hour left, I was like, I'm getting this job.
[00:31:09]  And I called my friends like, hey, show up and sign up for me.
[00:31:11]  And I'll tell them I did it.
[00:31:12]  And then signed my front up, got the job.
[00:31:14]  And a week later, I was the best in the office, signing up like eight people a day.
[00:31:18]  And then I said I figured it out. It took me about a week.
[00:31:20]  You wanted people who could naturally do it Well, I figured it out in a week
[00:31:23]  Here's how to make it better and they said we don't care what you have to say do your job and I said
[00:31:27]  I'm gonna quit and go work for an office. I went next door after after a month of working there
[00:31:32]  I went to another company and I said, here's what I'm doing per day
[00:31:36]  Will you hire me and give me a promotion?
[00:31:38]  And they said, absolutely.
[00:31:40]  We're going to steal one of the best people from a rival fundraising non-profit.
[00:31:45]  And all you want to do, of course we want you in the position.
[00:31:48]  We want you to train people.
[00:31:49]  I go to them.
[00:31:50]  Then after working there, I just decided I'm going to do my own thing with my friends because then we don't got to worry about the middleman.
[00:31:57]  And then I ended up moving to LA, went to another non-profit and said, I want to be a director.
[00:32:01]  I want to run the office.
[00:32:02]  And here's what I want.
[00:32:05]  I always tell my friends this, but some people just don't have it.
[00:32:08]  It's not trying to be mean to them, but I tell my friends, I'm like, if you really want it, after you get your job, start looking for another job.
[00:32:16]  Never stop looking for what it is you want to do.
[00:32:19]  Because I was like, you need to understand this.
[00:32:20]  This is what I tell my friends.
[00:32:22]  When I started working for Vice, people were all excited.
[00:32:25]  Like, oh man, you're so lucky.
[00:32:26]  Vice is the best.
[00:32:27]  And I said, I don't work for Vice.
[00:32:28]  Vice works for me.
[00:32:30]  And then when I wasn't getting what I want, I went to the CEO and I said, you promised me this, this, and this.
[00:32:36]  I'm here.
[00:32:37]  I'm waiting.
[00:32:37]  And I'm not going to sit around and wait forever.
[00:32:39]  Am I going to get what I asked for?
[00:32:41]  And then he was like, Shane's a cool dude.
[00:32:43]  He was like, you're right.
[00:32:45]  We're going to get it done.
[00:32:47]  A week goes by, I get a little bit, my salary goes up, they give me more things that I'm asking for, and then I'm like, this is good, but I said three things.
[00:32:55]  So then a month goes by and I go back and I said, you got me this, you kinda got me that, we're still missing this.
[00:33:00]  And they were like, we're gonna work on it, it takes time, I understand.
[00:33:04]  And I'm like, and I do too, I know it's business.
[00:33:07]  And then finally, once I got poached by ABC News and they offered me substantially more money and everything, I went to them and said, I quit.
[00:33:14]  And they were like, what?
[00:33:15]  And then they were like, no, no, no, no, no, no.
[00:33:17]  We're not done yet.
[00:33:17]  And I was like, yes, we are.
[00:33:18]  I've come to you three times now telling you what I wanted.
[00:33:20]  You didn't get it for me.
[00:33:21]  I quit.
[00:33:23]  I'm done.
[00:33:24]  And then one of the C-suite guys is on the phone with me and he's like, Tim, this is not over.
[00:33:29]  And I was like, yeah, it is.
[00:33:31]  I cashed the check already.
[00:33:32]  I appreciate it.
[00:33:33]  Have a nice day.
[00:33:34]  And that was the end of it.
[00:33:35]  Wow.
[00:33:36]  But, you know, my attitude, people were shocked.
[00:33:38]  They were like, how could you leave Vice?
[00:33:40]  They're the big thing.
[00:33:41]  And I was like, because I'm doing something.
[00:33:44]  Vice is in my way.
[00:33:46]  I worked for them.
[00:33:47]  It was great.
[00:33:47]  They got me what I needed.
[00:33:48]  But there's an exchange here.
[00:33:50]  I'm not some dude desperate for their attention.
[00:33:52]  I come to them and say, here's my goal.
[00:33:54]  Can you provide for me?
[00:33:56]  And when they said yes and then didn't, I fired them.
[00:33:59]  That's it.
[00:33:59]  Yeah.
[00:34:00]  Yeah, it's so important.
[00:34:01]  That and preparation.
[00:34:03]  Like I knew I got a scholarship to Hofstra University for theatre, for acting, and I was hungry.
[00:34:12]  I mean, driven.
[00:34:13]  I didn't want to read a book.
[00:34:14]  I wanted to put them in blenders and drink them, so I could have as many as I could.
[00:34:18]  And today's youth, they're consuming social media, but reading, the written word, the classics, they're not teaching them in school.
[00:34:26]  They want to post Instagrams, you know.
[00:34:28]  Yeah, they want to post it.
[00:34:28]  TikToks.
[00:34:29]  TikToks, and all that other quick stuff, when it's really a concern.
[00:34:34]  Who were the best actors, the best directors?
[00:34:36]  What were they doing?
[00:34:37]  What was their process?
[00:34:39]  So you get inspired by, who were the best teachers?
[00:34:42]  So if you get that preparation, then you have the confidence to say to somebody and look them in the eye, and they know right away.
[00:34:49]  I always had a friend tell me, doing the reading is a superpower.
[00:34:52]  And it's gotten so bad today that when I apply that, he's like, any show you go on, doesn't matter where, if you just read the article that you've been asked to read by the news program, nine out of ten times you'll blow the other person out of the water that you're debating.
[00:35:06]  Because there's a good chance they never even touched it.
[00:35:08]  And that's the majority of people today.
[00:35:10]  They just won't even read past the headline.
[00:35:12]  It's wild.
[00:35:13]  That's everybody.
[00:35:14]  Yeah, the bad news is the powers that be are not giving young people the tools.
[00:35:19]  They're not telling them the secrets.
[00:35:20]  But the good news is if you listen to a show like this or if you're paying attention to people who've made it and you're following Lauren online or Robert, then you are going to be so far ahead of everyone else because You now have the tools.
[00:35:32]  We're giving you guys the answers right now.
[00:35:34]  But you do have to deliver the goods, Tim.
[00:35:36]  You're a huge ball of energy.
[00:35:39]  You can't come in and demand stuff if you didn't do anything.
[00:35:41]  You've got to do the tasks at hand.
[00:35:43]  And then, if your bosses don't answer the call, then doors will open up for you.
[00:35:47]  Because I know I hire tons of young people.
[00:35:50]  Anyone who is hungry.
[00:35:51]  Anyone who comes in thinking, I'm going to make my mark.
[00:35:53]  I'm going, I've got to work with this person.
[00:35:54]  I've got to sign them up.
[00:35:55]  I've got to figure out a way.
[00:35:56]  Yeah, and there's something called modafinil and provigil that removes your requirement for sleep.
[00:36:02]  It's used by astronauts and snipers.
[00:36:05]  It's called modafinil?
[00:36:06]  Modafinil.
[00:36:07]  You use it?
[00:36:07]  No, no.
[00:36:08]  Oh, I never heard of it.
[00:36:09]  I'm joking.
[00:36:09]  Oh, okay.
[00:36:10]  But people think I'm on Adderall or something.
[00:36:12]  Oh, really?
[00:36:13]  It's also a great option.
[00:36:14]  I don't drink.
[00:36:15]  I'm not, you know, like anti-drink or anything.
[00:36:19]  I'll drink maybe like once or twice a year for celebrations.
[00:36:21]  But mostly I take vitamins, I slam vitamin C, and cut out the sugars, trying to be healthier.
[00:36:29]  So the only thing that's close to drugs is I have a nitro cold brew in the morning.
[00:36:34]  I fucking love those things.
[00:36:35]  That's the secret I guess, and then I stay up all day.
[00:36:37]  But the real secret is cutting out the sugars and exercise.
[00:36:41]  Because when I used to eat rice, this was only a year ago, after at four o'clock I'd eat dinner, I'd fall asleep.
[00:36:47]  Yeah.
[00:36:48]  And then I would have to wake up at seven to get ready for work.
[00:36:50]  And that's like, it's just draining.
[00:36:52]  But Robert, thanks for hanging out, man.
[00:36:54]  The stories were amazing.
[00:36:55]  Really do appreciate it.
[00:36:56]  Oh, I appreciate it.
[00:36:57]  Thank you for having us.
[00:36:58]  Absolutely.
[00:36:58]  Great meeting you.
[00:37:00]  Great meeting you and you.
[00:37:01]  It's great being on the show.
[00:37:03]  And I'm looking forward to watching My Son Hunter on the 7th.
[00:37:06]  Please, yes, the 7th.
[00:37:07]  Go to mysonhunter.com.
[00:37:10]  Get that show.
[00:37:11]  Go to Breitbart and Unreported Story Society.
[00:37:16]  It was their energy that got the script together and stuff like that and their foresight of bringing it to me to direct.
[00:37:24]  Right on.
[00:37:25]  For everybody who's a member, thanks for making this all possible.