Summary
Overview
Dax Shepard and Aaron Weekly welcome director Larry Trilling to Armchair Expert for a wide-ranging conversation about his career directing television (including 60+ episodes of Parenthood), his experiences working with actors, his high school years at Santa Monica High with future stars like Robert Downey Jr. and Charlie Sheen, and his approach to filmmaking. They discuss favorite movies, the differences between directing TV versus film, and share personal stories about friendship, acting, and the entertainment industry.
Santa Monica High School's Celebrity Alumni
Larry Trilling shares stories from attending Santa Monica High School in the early 1980s alongside future Hollywood stars. He describes how Malibu didn't have its own high school at the time, so children of entertainment industry families like the Sheens and Penns attended public school in Santa Monica. Trilling recounts witnessing Robert Downey Jr.'s magnetic stage presence and trying to recruit him for student films, as well as his friendship with Dean Cain, who later became Superman.
- Larry attended Santa Monica High with Rob Lowe, Charlie Sheen, Sean Penn, Chris Penn, and Robert Downey Jr.
- Malibu didn't have its own high school, so Hollywood kids living there attended Santa Monica public schools
- Robert Downey Jr. was already acting professionally and asked for payment to be in Larry's student film
- Dean Cain was Larry's basketball friend who later went to Princeton, dated Brooke Shields, and became Superman
- Larry delivered pizza to Dean Cain right when Cain got cast as Superman—a low moment meeting a high moment
" He was magic. So Matt Reeves, the director, and I were students there. And so we tried to get him to be in our film. A student film. And so he was like, how much are you going to pay me? And I said, no, we don't have any money. He's like, no, no, no. You're already a professional actor. "
" I hadn't seen him for a few years, and then it was kind of a low moment. I was delivering pizzas, and I wound up delivering to him, and he answered the door. He said, oh, my God, I just got cast as Superman with Terry Hatcher. I'm going to be starring in this show. He's like, what are you up to? And I'm like, I'm giving you your pizza. "
Breaking Into Filmmaking and Five Years of Struggle
Larry describes his journey from film school at UCLA to working professionally, which took approximately five years of delivering pizzas and struggling. He explains how meeting Matt Reeves in junior high got him into filmmaking, though Reeves owned all the equipment so got to direct while Larry acted and wrote. After film school, Larry gave himself a five-year deadline before considering law school, and right around that mark, he made an independent film that became his calling card.
- Met Matt Reeves in junior high who 'seduced him' into filmmaking with equipment and opportunity
- Spent four years at Columbia as English major, then four years at UCLA film school
- Delivered pizzas during and after film school—'unemployable' despite eight years of education
- Gave himself five-year deadline to make it or go to law school
- Made independent film 'Dinner and Driving' with Molly Shannon and Adam Scott that became his calling card
" Four at Columbia and four at UCLA. Four years and no employment skills whatsoever. Unemployable. It's crazy. Because I was delivering pizzas during my time there and then after that. So, yeah, I literally was like, here I come, Hollywood, but nobody cared. "
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