The Actor Factor

Transcript

OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:

For our next game, called the Actor Factor, please welcome contestants Gretchen McNeely and Mel Umbarger.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: Mel, you share something with many of our contestants, which is a deep love for Harry Potter.

MEL UMBARGER: Yes. Yes, I do.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: How much do you love Harry Potter? Can you give me an example?

UMBARGER: I can. When we were planning our wedding date about 10 years ago, Jo did not ask me when she was going to release "Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix." She didn't let me know. I know.

EISENBERG: And you referred to her by her first name, so...

UMBARGER: We're on a first name basis.

EISENBERG: Yes.

UMBARGER: So after we got married, that morning we went with - still in our wedding finery - all of our bridesmaids and groomsmen went to Barnes & Noble and we picked up our copy of "Order Of The Phoenix."

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Gretchen, you are our second contestant that has synesthesia. If I say it right.

GRETCHEN MCNEELY: Gesundheit.

EISENBERG: Synesthesia is something you have.

MCNEELY: That is true.

EISENBERG: So it's colors are associated - for you, they are associated with what?

MCNEELY: In my instance, I see individual letters in colors, and I always see them in the same color each time, and it's a wide variety.

EISENBERG: OK. So what color is O?

MCNEELY: O is nearly clear but with a tinge of aquamarine.

EISENBERG: Totally.

MCNEELY: Yeah.

(LAUGHTER)

MCNEELY: Your name is actually very beautiful.

EISENBERG: I've been told that before.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Well, right. Well, Gretchen wins, so...

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Thanks, Gretchen. Mel, Gretchen, in Hollywood, if your film doesn't have a huge movie star in it, forget it, right? So the more the merrier. And so we've gone back and inserted the names of actors into movie titles to make them more marketable. Let's go to our puzzle guru, Art Chung, for and example.

ART CHUNG, BYLINE: So the comedian and host of "The Price Is Right" stars as the object of Ben Stiller's affection, and that's not hair gel. That would be a description of the film, there's something about Drew Carey.

JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: So the last name of the actor rhymes with the last word in the title of the movie. It's a little bit of a mashup game. And you're going to replace that word with the actor's name. Right?

EISENBERG: See how it rolls. The reptiles on this aircraft don't stand a chance when this legendary movie tough guy is aboard, pilgrim.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mel.

UMBARGER: Snakes on a John Wayne?

EISENBERG: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: This romantic comedy about competing bookshops just got edgier when the dark knight's Batman joins the fray. Dark knight's Batman.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Gretchen.

MCNEELY: Barnes and Noblesse oblige Keaton.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: That is the correct answer from a different game entirely.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Mel, do you know the answer?

UMBARGER: I can't remember the movie.

COULTON: We were looking for is, you've got Christian Bale.

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: "You've Got Mail" and Christian Bale.

EISENBERG: These people clearly prefer when the Joker met Sally.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: There's no crying in baseball when the star of "The Help" and "The Amazing Spiderman" joins an all women's baseball league.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Gretchen.

MCNEELY: A league of their Lupita Nyong'o.

(LAUGHTER)

CHUNG: Technically true, but not the actress we're looking for.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: But that was kind of amazing. Mel.

UMBARGER: A league of their Emma Stone?

CHUNG: That is correct.

EISENBERG: Yes. A league of their Emma Stone.

(APPLAUSE)

COULTON: Gretchen, you're scrappy.

EISENBERG: That's amazing.

COULTON: You're going down swinging. I love it.

(LAUGHTER)

MCNEELY: Today's underdog.

COULTON: You're, like, winning the meta-game.

(LAUGHTER)

MCNEELY: Good to hear.

COULTON: Anne Hathaway is even more confused by Meryl Streep's behavior when she insists on wearing clothes designed by this star of "Chips."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

COULTON: Gretchen.

MCNEELY: The devil wears Erik Estrada.

COULTON: That's right.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: You said that with a bizarre level of confidence.

(LAUGHTER)

MCNEELY: It's the only thing I've gotten right tonight.

EISENBERG: That's amazing. No, you've gotten a lot right. You've gotten a lot right. Annette Bening and Julianne Moore are a lesbian couple whose children discover their birth father is actually Urkel from "Family Matters."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Gretchen.

MCNEELY: The kids are all Stephen Wright?

(LAUGHTER)

COULTON: Close.

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Mel.

UMBARGER: The kids are all Jaleel White?

EISENBERG: Yes.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: This is your last question. In this Coen brothers film, Javier Barden roams the Texas countryside, killing everyone in his wake while tracking down an aging Jeff Spicoli from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High."

(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)

EISENBERG: Gretchen.

MCNEELY: No country for Sean Penn.

(APPLAUSE)

EISENBERG: A true statement.

(LAUGHTER)

EISENBERG: Art Chung, puzzle guru, how did our contestants do?

CHUNG: Our contestants were amazing. It was a close game, but Mel is our winner. Congratulations.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "ACT NATURALLY")

BUCK OWENS: (Singing) They're going to put me in the movies. And all I've got to do is act naturally. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.