A lot can happen between two Martin Scorsese movies, especially if you're actor Kevin Corrigan. Between his roles in Goodfellas and The Departed, Corrigan appeared in over fifty movies. But Corrigan found a way to connect to the famed director in an unusual way. "The questions I wanted to ask him had nothing to do with filmmaking or acting," Corrigan told Ophira Eisenberg on the Bell House stage in Brooklyn. "They were questions having to do with music." Scorsese had made a young Corrigan a cassette mixtape of some of the music from his classic films, and from that a love of everything from salsa music to the Beatles bloomed.
Corrigan is frequently typecast. In fact, as Eisenberg pointed out, "IMDB lists [his] trademark roles as Drug Dealer, Drug Addict, Kidnapper, Rapist, Drunk, Bank Robber, and Hitman." But Corrigan sees the similarities in all characters. "I was on a show called Damages and I played a Wall Street guy," Corrigan replied. "And I'm like, what's the difference between this and the drug dealer I was playing? [That] I'm wearing a suit? It said something to me about human beings in general. We're all thugs."
In his new romantic comedy movie Results, Corrigan plays a schlubby, recently divorced man who hires a trainer to help him get into shape. That trainer, his co-star Cobie Smulders, joins him for a game about celebrity workout tapes.
Heard in Results May Vary
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Transcript
OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Welcome back to ASK ME ANOTHER, NPR's hour of puzzles, word games and trivia. I'm Ophira Eisenberg and our VIP is one of the best character actors out there. He's worked with Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott but also starred in your favorite indie films - "Living In Oblivion," "Trees Lounge," "Buffalo '66," "Henry Fool," "Pineapple Express" - just to name a few. Please welcome our VIP, Kevin Corrigan.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Welcome to ASK ME ANOTHER, Kevin, thank you so much for joining us.
KEVIN CORRIGAN: Thank you for having me.
EISENBERG: We know you as a 15-year-old in "Goodfellas."
CORRIGAN: Yes, I was 15 - no, I was actually 19...
EISENBERG: 19.
CORRIGAN: ...Going on 20.
EISENBERG: Oh, OK.
CORRIGAN: But what's the difference? You know, I mean, I'm 15 now.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
CORRIGAN: Really, who isn't, in their - in - 15 in the head, you know?
EISENBERG: But, you work with Martin Scorsese when you're 19 and then you work with him again, years later, on "The Departed" and was it nice to then meet him as an accomplished actor adult and work with him again?
CORRIGAN: Well, you know, I didn't feel that way at all.
EISENBERG: No?
CORRIGAN: I - like, again, it's - it was kind of like hey, Marty (laughter).
(LAUGHTER)
CORRIGAN: The questions that I wanted to ask him really had nothing to do with filmmaking or acting. They were mostly questions having to do with music.
EISENBERG: Oh, like what kind of stuff were you talking to him about?
CORRIGAN: Well, what I wanted to talk to him about on the set of "Goodfellas" was the - this salsa music that he put in after Johnny Boy throws the dynamite off the roof. And he said, oh, that's "Ritmo Sabroso" by Ray Barretto. I used one of his songs in my first feature "Who's That Knocking At My Door" called "El Watusi." I'll make a tape of that for you. Because he...
EISENBERG: That was a great impression, by the way.
CORRIGAN: Thank you, thank you.
EISENBERG: (Laughter) That was great.
CORRIGAN: He made me a tape - a cassette tape because we didn't have CDs in 1989. 16 years later, I just used the same tact. I just went up to him and said hey, Marty have you - did you hear that Cream is getting back together?
(LAUGHTER)
CORRIGAN: He was like oh, yeah, I heard. I couldn't - I can't go to them because I'm in preproduction for this film, you know, I wanted to go but I can't go.
EISENBERG: IMDB lists your trademark roles as drug dealer, drug addict, kidnapper, rapist, drunk, bank robber and hit man. Do you want to be a romantic lead?
CORRIGAN: Well, aren't I?
EISENBERG: Yes, you are.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Matter of fact...
CORRIGAN: Aren't I...
EISENBERG: ...You are.
CORRIGAN: Aren't I romantic?
EISENBERG: You are actually - you are the romantic lead in this new film which I enjoyed - "Results." It's an odd romantic lead. You - so, it's with Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders and you play a guitar-playing, pot-smoking divorcee who's trying to get his life back together by going to a personal trainer. And these people kind of lead you in an interesting place; you lead them in an interesting place. Was this a nice departure?
CORRIGAN: It was just a bigger part.
EISENBERG: (Laughter) OK.
CORRIGAN: It was the same old stuff but just more of the same old stuff.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
CORRIGAN: No, I really - you know, it's like I...
EISENBERG: That is awesome. I love that response.
CORRIGAN: You know, it's like, hey, you're the guy who sells pot. You're the guy who smokes pot. You're the guy who does the drugs, yeah, the thug and the thing and whatever. And, you know, I remember thinking - I was on a show called "Damages" and I played a Wall Street guy and I'm like, what's the difference between this and the drug dealer I was playing? I'm wearing a suit. That's the only difference.
EISENBERG: Costuming, yeah.
CORRIGAN: That's the only -you know, so it kind of said something to me about human beings in general. You know, that we're - they're - we're really all thugs.
EISENBERG: (Laughter) Agreed. Now, we always ask our VIPs to give a prize to our final winner at the end of the night and you provided a bunch of stuff - some of that is from your personal DVD collection, some that you made, and on the mix CDs that you made our winners, what do you have on those -a quick summary so we know?
CORRIGAN: Well, whoever wins the booty that I provided is going to get some good stuff. I hope it goes to someone who deserves it. It's the Lennon CD that I made, has a lot of interview material and a lot of my favorite songs by him. So, like, there's a track called "Solitude" which is just him, I guess, in the Dakota, you know, composing and then the song "I'm Losing You," which "Solitude" became. That type of thing.
EISENBERG: Wow.
CORRIGAN: I like to, you know, create that kind of narrative in my mix CDs.
EISENBERG: Yeah, that's good. Are you ready for your ASK ME ANOTHER challenge, Kevin?
CORRIGAN: I am. I'm as ready as ever.
EISENBERG: OK, very good.
CORRIGAN: As I'll ever be.
EISENBERG: Kevin Corrigan, everybody.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: So, Kevin, like in the movie "Results" where you have a trainer, we wanted to have someone help you in this game. So we have your co-star, Cobie Smulders, on the line. Hello, Cobie.
COBIE SMULDERS: Hi.
EISENBERG: Hello. Welcome to ASK ME ANOTHER.
SMULDERS: Hi, Kevin.
(APPLAUSE)
SMULDERS: Hello, everyone.
EISENBERG: I loved you in this movie. You play a trainer in the movie and you are constantly running in, I would say, the majority of the scenes. Are you a runner?
SMULDERS: I am not.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
SMULDERS: I am not at all. No, that was the best acting I've done in my life.
EISENBERG: (Laughter) OK so as you both know, there is no shortage of celebrities who have exercise videos, so for your game, we are going to play you clips from some great celebrity workout videos and you just have to identify star.
SMULDERS: OK.
EISENBERG: OK, so we're going to bring back Jonathan Coulton and Greg Pliska in case you need hints and if you get enough correct, Randy Collins (ph) of Granite Falls, N.C. is going to win an ASK ME ANOTHER prize.
CORRIGAN: Oh, Randy.
EISENBERG: Yeah (laughter).
CORRIGAN: I'll try. I'll try, Randy.
EISENBERG: So here is your first clue. In her 2009 video, "Fit In Your Jeans By Friday"
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: I know. It's a fast video. This reality star explains the secret to what many consider her greatest asset.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO, "FIT IN YOUR JEANS BY FRIDAY")
KIM KARDASHIAN: These lunges are what tones my booty. I'm always going out, I'm always going to different parties and clubs and events and you have to look good. You have to stay in shape.
EISENBERG: Oh, her life sounds so hectic.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Kevin, who...
SMULDERS: I feel like Kevin's got this.
EISENBERG: Kevin, do you have this one?
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
CORRIGAN: Is it, I don't know, is it Snooki or something?
(LAUGHTER)
SMULDERS: What about, like, a Paris Hilton or something?
EISENBERG: Yeah.
SMULDERS: Wasn't she - wasn't that, like, her time back then? Wasn't that...
EISENBERG: They do all sound the same, you have a good point.
GREG PLISKA, BYLINE: It's like if you crossed Paris Hilton and Snooki into a...
SMULDERS: Yeah.
PLISKA: Into that - whatever that body type became.
CORRIGAN: Richard Simmons?
PLISKA: She - no.
(LAUGHTER)
JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: It's a great guess.
PLISKA: She is a celebrity known mainly for being a celebrity and she comes from a family of people known for being...
SMULDERS: OK.
EISENBERG: And her butt broke the Internet.
PLISKA: Her butt broke the Internet.
SMULDERS: Oh, so it's Kim Kardashian.
EISENBERG: There, yeah.
PLISKA: There you go.
CORRIGAN: Oh.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
CORRIGAN: OK.
SMULDERS: We're going to do great at this, Kevin (laughter).
EISENBERG: OK here's a fact - the star of "Expendables 2" and "Walker Texas Ranger."
(SOUNDBITE OF EXERCISE VIDEO)
CHUCK NORRIS: Many times, I'll come into the gym just to work on my triceps. Why? Because, guys will always walk up to you and say hey, how's it going and they want to see if you have any muscle in your arms.
(LAUGHTER)
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: Is that true?
(LAUGHTER)
CORRIGAN: Is it Chuck Norris?
EISENBERG: It is Chuck Norris, yeah.
(APPLAUSE)
CORRIGAN: OK.
COULTON: Who apparently works out his arms just so that he can impress other dudes at the gym?
EISENBERG: I know.
SMULDERS: Hey.
CORRIGAN: Look, you want me to do some push-ups right now?
EISENBERG: Yeah, kind of.
CORRIGAN: I could do 10 right now, guaranteed.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: I like that the audience is like, let's see it! 10 push-ups, great radio.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: It's a real driveway moment right there.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: In this 1993 video directed at senior citizens, this actress, who played Sophia on "The Golden Girls," knows how to pep up her audience.
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO, "YOUNG AT HEART: BODY CONDITIONING")
ESTELLE GETTY: Congratulations, you figured out how to turn on your VCR. That's the hardest part of this exercise video. After that, I guarantee it's a piece of cake.
EISENBERG: Classic. Classic.
CORRIGAN: I don't know, is it Maude?
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Cobie, you want to help him out?
SMULDERS: It's like, I - it's - yeah, it's - it is - it's Sophia, right?
EISENBERG: Yeah, Sophia.
SMULDERS: Sophia Petrillo?
EISENBERG: The short one. The tiny one.
SMULDERS: Yeah, yeah.
COULTON: Are you stalling because you're Googling right now?
(LAUGHTER)
SMULDERS: No! No.
(LAUGHTER)
SMULDERS: No, I would never cheat. She was best-known for her role as Sophia Petrillo on "The Golden Girls" from 1985 to 1992. It won her an Emmy and Golden Globe.
(APPLAUSE)
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: Oh, you figured out how to play the game.
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: All right, Cobie, Kevin, this is your last question. The future governor of California already knew how to work the crowd in this exercise video for children called "The Fitness Express"
(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO, "THE FITNESS EXPRESS")
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER: So why don't we just say hasta la vista to fatty bodies and then if you're doing well with the exercise program, I'll be back.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: It's like all the catchphrases in one line.
SMULDERS: Every catchphrase.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
CORRIGAN: Sly - no, hey - it's we want to pump you up...
SMULDERS: But it's for the kids.
CORRIGAN: ...Our cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger.
EISENBERG: Yes, our cousin Arnold Schwarzenegger.
CORRIGAN: Can I do this now?
(SOUNDBITE OF BELL)
EISENBERG: You can do it afterwards to sort of punctuate your own victory.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: Let's go to our puzzle guru, Greg Pliska, and find out if they have enough points to send a prize.
PLISKA: Well, let me just total this up, here.
EISENBERG: OK, very good.
SMULDERS: (Laughter).
PLISKA: It's difficult math, yeah. Yes, Cobie and Kevin, congratulations.
COULTON: It's the new math.
PLISKA: You have enough points.
(APPLAUSE)
EISENBERG: Thank you so much for joining us all the way from the other side of the country.
SMULDERS: Thank you for having me.
EISENBERG: And thank you so much to Kevin Corrigan.
CORRIGAN: Thank you.
EISENBERG: Thank you.
CORRIGAN: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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