Well, hey, what's going on, everybody. I'm Trevor Noah,
and this is The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Today is February 15,
which means it's President's Day.
And if you forgot to get your president a gift, don't worry,
all those valentines teddy bears at the gas station
are on sale right now.
Anyway, on tonight's show,
how Stonehenge gentrified England,
COVID is now made in the USA,
and you're invited to Donald Trump's victory party.
Plus, Neil Patrick Harris is joining us on the show.
So let's do this, people.
Welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
-? ? -ANNOUNCER: From Trevor's couch in New York City
to your couch somewhere in the world, this is
The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah.
Let's kick things off with Stonehenge.
England's second-oldest national treasure.
For centuries people have been visiting Stonehenge,
even though no one knows for sure what it means.
It's basically the ancient version of a Kanye West tweet.
But now we're learning that if you tried to visit Stonehenge
when it first went up,
you might not have found it there in the same place.
A dramatic discovery has linked Stonehenge
to its original site in Wales.
Archaeologists from University College London
uncovered the remains of an ancient stone circle in Wales,
and supports the theory that the monument was dismantled there
and then dragged over 140 miles
to Wiltshire, England.
Okay, I'm sorry, but that is incredible.
Stonehenge was moved 140 miles?
How?
And also why?
What was the difference between a field in Wales
and a field in England in prehistoric times?
No one was like,
(English accent): "The schools are much better there.
Plus, there are so many good restaurants you can walk to."
(regular accent): But at least now we finally understand
why Stonehenge looks so weird.
It's because they took the whole thing apart,
brought it to England, and then realized
they forgot to bring the instructions.
I mean, without those, you're screwed.
(English accent): Uh, maybe the stone goes here.
Well, why do we have so many screws left over?
Do-do you put them... I think
they're supposed to be next to each other.
(regular accent): Either way, I think it's incredible
that they were able to move those giant stones.
But I also feel really bad for whoever
they roped into helping them.
'Cause back then there were no good excuses to bail on things.
I would love to help you out moving the stones,
but I have a cello, um, recital tomorrow.
Cellos don't exist yet.
Yep, you're right, I will see you there to move the stones.
But let's move on now to the coronavirus pandemic.
The reason you got a fake ID saying that you're 65.
For weeks, the big fear has been about the dangerous variants
of the virus from the UK and South Africa
that are now spreading around the globe.
But now the United States
is getting some mutations of its own.
NEWSWOMAN: This morning, growing concerns about variants
of the coronavirus. The New York Times reports
doctors have now found seven variants of the virus
that originated in the U.S., spotlighting the urgent need
for better tracking of cases and mutations.
All of these variants had the same exact mutation.
Now, that could just be a coincidence,
but some researchers are worried that could this mean
that the virus is getting smarter and adapting?
That's right, people. There are now variants of the coronavirus
that were made in the United States.
Which means these new coronas don't even believe in corona.
And what's depressing to realize is that throughout the pandemic,
the virus has been getting smarter and smarter
while us humans only seem to be getting
less brain good-gooder. Less brain...
Less good-brained.
And let's be honest.
This is kind of our fault, people.
We as humans let this virus spread so easily
that we gave it lots of chances to mutate and evolve.
You know, it's like what happened with alternative milks.
We let soy milk slide, then almond milk,
then oat milk. And now we're, like,
two months away from the barista asking us
if we want fish milk.
And, yeah, I do want some fish milk, please.
So the pandemic is moving into a new phase,
but we're still learning a lot about how
so many things went wrong up until now.
And it looks like one person that many of us
gave a lot of credit to
might have been hiding some things.
NEWSWOMAN: Growing fallout for New York Governor Andrew Cuomo
and his administration
over withholding COVID death toll numbers in nursing homes.
The growing scrutiny comes just weeks after
New York Attorney General Letitia James
released a report claiming the state had undercounted
nursing home deaths by as much as 50%.
State health officials acknowledge the death toll
was more than 15,000, much higher than originally reported.
NEWSWOMAN 2: A top Cuomo admitted withholding data
for months over concerns the Trump justice department
might use the info against them.
NEWSWOMAN 3: Those comments sparked immediate backlash
among lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
NEWSWOMAN 4: State Republicans going so far as to say
he should be impeached.
Wow.
Really, Governor Cuomo?
You lowered your own numbers
to make yourself look better?
Whew.
Guess who just got uninvited to my 29th birthday next week.
And the explanation for this...
the explanation that they're going with is that they thought
the Trump administration would
use the high nursing home deaths against them.
Which, yeah.
Usually, if you're not doing a good job,
it gets used against you. That's the whole point of data.
This would be like if the Kansas City Chiefs said,
"Come on, you're gonna look at the scoreboard?
"Isn't it enough that I'm telling you
that I won the Super Bowl? Come on."
And when you think about it, messing with COVID numbers
to make yourself look better is just about
the Trumpiest thing that you can do.
Which is ironic, since the main reason
Cuomo became a pandemic hero is that
he was giving "informative," coherent press conferences
while Trump was trying to inject people with bleach.
It's like, if you take a bowl of Chef Boyardee
and put it next to a bowl of worms,
the fact it's next to something so disgusting
makes those worms look really delicious.
Like, look, man, I don't care what anybody says,
for me, you cannot justify "doing the wrong thing"
because you say "Oh, Trump might have or might not have
or will or wh..." No. You did the wrong thing.
Hey, Batman, did you kill those innocent people?
I had to do it. You should have seen
what the Joker was gonna do to them.
Like, worse than kill them?
No further questions.
But let's move on now from a governor
who might be getting impeached to a president
who just beat impeachment
in our final installment, probably,
of The Magical, Wonderful Road to Impeachment.
? ?
That's probably presidential harassment.
Impeachment.
It's the most presidential thing
Donald Trump has ever done.
And after a full week of arguments
in Trump's second senate trial,
it all came down to this.
NEWSWOMAN: Former president Donald Trump tonight
declared not guilty of the impeachment charge
he incited insurrection at the Capitol on January 6.
And he is hereby acquitted
of the charge in said article.
NEWSWOMAN: Seven Republican senators voting with Democrats
to convict, 57 to 43.
The most bipartisan Senate impeachment vote in history,
but far short of the two-thirds majority needed to convict.
Yes. The bad news for Donald Trump
is that seven members of his own party
said that he was guilty-- which is unprecedented.
The good news for him is it wasn't enough,
so Trump is free to go, baby!
2024, here we come! (imitates air horn)
Ooh, and we gettin' the whole crew back together.
Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, that dude with the horns,
Mike Pence-- sorry about trying to get you killed.
But that's in the past now-- let's do this!
And true to his form, Trump got acquitted
43 to 57.
This dude just loves losing the popular vote.
And I get... I get that it's disappointing
for a lot of people, but we should know this by now--
this is what Trump does.
He wiggles his way out of accountability.
Trying to hold Trump responsible for his crimes
is like trying to kill a fruit fly.
It's just, like...
Aha! I got it this time.
Then you open your hands, he's not even there.
He's already halfway across the room,
sitting on your girlfriend's boob.
And this was actually a bit of a tricky situation
for Republicans, because polls show that most Americans
don't like Trump and think he should have been convicted.
But the GOP base still loves Trump
and would turn against anyone who votes against him
faster than Buffy fans turned on Josh Whedon.
So to make everybody happy, senators came up
with a really amazing and bullshit excuse
that even if Trump was guilty,
they couldn't do anything about it,
because he's already out of office.
And nobody rolled around in that bullshit more
than my man, Mitch McConnell.
There's no question-- none--
that President Trump is practically
and morally responsible
for provoking the events of the day.
We have no power to convict and disqualify
a former office holder who is now a private citizen.
As an ordinary citizen, unless the state of limitations is run,
still liable for everything he did
while he's in office.
Didn't get away with anything, yet.
Yet.
We have a criminal justice system in this country.
We have civil litigation.
And former presidents are not immune
from being accountable by either one.
Wow.
Yet another profile in courage from Mitch McConnell.
Basically, what he's saying is, Trump caused the riot,
Trump is super guilty, and Mitch just hopes that someday
someone else will do something about it.
Whew.
I mean, look, nobody's actually buying this explanation.
Out of anyone, Mitch McConnell is the one person
who always finds a way to get things done
if he wants to get it done.
This dude is so effective, he has federal judges
on the French Supreme Court.
(French accent): I don't know how he got here,
but the law is the law, so electric cars are illegal.
But now, all of a sudden, Mitch is coming up with excuses
just so that he doesn't have to take a stand.
And I just have one question, Senator McConnell.
How can you even look at yourself?
Uh, I never have, Trevor. Every time I look in the mirror,
it kills itself.
Oh. Okay.
But thanks to Mitch and 42 other Republicans,
Donald Trump managed to beat off the charges against him.
And now his friends and family are beating off in general.
NEWSMAN: This was a big win for Team Trump.
The former president's taking a victory lap,
not showing any signs of remorse or regret.
After yesterday's verdict, Trump attorney Michael van der Veen
was seen fist-bumping another member of the defense,
saying, "We're going to Disney World,"
as if they had just won the Super Bowl.
NEWSWOMAN: Mr. Trump's son Eric posting this on Twitter.
Two-nothing.
Now, that's what I'm talking about.
Two and oh!
Obama never even won a single impeachment.
Shit's embarrassing.
I mean, say what you want, but Trump is the acquittal GOAT.
Sorry, O.J., You had a good run, but Trump got acquitted twice.
And he's responsible for more deaths.
And you might think two and oh is as good as it gets.
But I think Trump might even have a third impeachment in him.
Eight months from now, Congress could just be like,
"Aw, damn it, we just found out
that Trump sold the Declaration of Independence on eBay!"
"Well, I hope someone does something about it,
but I vote to acquit."
"Damn it, Mitch!"
But for now, if you're celebrating
alongside Team Trump,
and you want to remember this day forever,
well, here's an offer you won't want to miss.
ANNOUNCER: It's official-- President Trump has won
his second impeachment trial,
on technical grounds,
and now you can celebrate with the president
with the new Trump Acquittal Collection,
including the official Acquittal T-shirt,
the official Acquittal Blanket,
and the official Acquittal Coffee Mug.
Order now, and you'll get real copies
of the Trump defense's used trial notes.
All purchases come with a baseball bat
and flex cuffs,
for the next time we march on the Capitol peacefully.
Wink, wink.
Let's say sometime this spring. Be there.
We'll be wild.
Oh, man, I'm getting the hoodie!
All right, when we come back,
our correspondents tell us what they learned
during the pandemic.
And Neil Patrick Harris is joining me on the show.
So don't go away.
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Although COVID is still a huge danger,
the vaccine rollout is giving us all hope
that the end of the pandemic is in sight.
And with that in mind,
Roy Wood Jr. gathered some of the news team
to check in on how they spent their pandemic.
Guys, the vaccine's on its way,
the pandemic's almost over, so let's take stock.
I know we've all been locked up for about a year now.
-How is everybody doing? -You know, Roy,
all this extra time at home really hasn't been that bad.
I took up crochet, and it's actually kind of fun.
Whoa. Are you gonna make me a scarf?
Yeah, totally, right after I finish off these mittens.
(whispers): Wow.
Michael, what have you been up to?
Well, you guys know I always wanted to paint.
-Uh, yeah. -Uh, yeah.
Well, this year I took up oil painting.
Wow! Oh, my God, that's amazing.
Seriously, Kosta, those are impressive.
Man, I'm so inspired now.
(playing piano rag)
Taught myself how to play piano.
Bought this one on eBay.
Fixed it up using a YouTube tutorial.
-Sounds good, right? -Roy, that is killer.
I love it.
-(piano rag ends) -So, Ronny,
what have you been up to all this time?
Nothing. I just basically sat here.
Oh. Okay. Yeah, like... like meditation.
-Yeah, yeah. -No.
Just, like, freaking out in silence for nine months.
LYDIC: Okay.
Well, that's cool, Ronnie.
Michael, is that a schooner?
It is. Oh, my God, Desi, you really know your sailboats.
Yeah, well, I spent a week in June studying wooden ships.
Oh, my God. Well, then, you're gonna love this.
-It's the USS Constitution. -Oh, my God.
-The only wooden ship... -It's the only wooden ship...
BOTH: ...still in commission by the U.S. Navy.
-(chuckles): Yeah. -What the hell?
What is wrong with you guys? What kind of maniac
uses the apocalypse for self-improvement?
Well, guilty as charged.
I'm rocking a six-pack now.
Oh, yeah.
(grunts) Never felt better.
I made some changes, too. Totally revamped my diet.
Got rid of all the refined sugars.
Ronnie, if you want, I'll mail you some of my bread recipes.
No. I don't want to make goddamn bread at home.
So many problems are in the world.
They're not going away just by making some focaccia.
Actually, it's... (Italian accent): Focaccia.
(normal voice): I also learned Italian.
You know, one of the biggest knitting communities
is in Tuscany.
Uh, shout-out to my ladies in the old country.
(speaks Italian)
Oh, my God, I love Italy.
It's actually the setting for my third novel.
It's about a Venetian prince
who fell out of favor with the pope
but then finds true love with a stable maid called Rosaria.
Shut the (bleep) up.
Okay? Who had the energy to do all this?
I cut my hair once in May, and it was a disaster.
And that was it. I spent the rest of the time
looking at houses on Zillow
in random towns all over the country.
Oh. Any towns you like?
No.
Casper, Wyoming.
Oh, yeah. 82601.
What?
That's the zip code for Casper, Wyoming.
I memorized the whole country back in April.
Ugh, wasn't April a mess?
The only thing I managed to do was learn telekinesis.
Wow. Okay.
Great. You guys did stuff.
Somehow.
Looks like I wasted my year.
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, Ronnie.
Ronnie, don't be so hard on yourself, okay?
Look, I'm not a psychiatrist.
I have another semester before I become one.
But I think the important thing to remember in these times
is that the biggest accomplishment we can make
is survival.
And you've done that, Ronnie.
So you should be proud.
Hold your head up high.
You did it, man.
Yeah, you're-you're right. I-I did survive.
Yeah, but wait, wait. Ronnie, just a second.
Done.
Damn, Kosta. That's awesome.
Aw, you look so sad.
Oh, I know. He does. Got me feeling...
(playing wistful music on piano)
Hmm.
Okay, so, great talking to you guys, as usual.
I'm gonna go stare at my ceiling until June.
-Bye, Ronnie. -(playing upbeat music on piano)
I'm with you, Ronnie.
I barely learned any new languages myself.
All right, when we come back,
Neil Patrick Harris is joining us on the show,
so don't go away.
We have a moral obligation
to admit the world's poor, they tell us,
even if it makes our own country
-poorer and dirtier. -(chime)
-What is hate speech? -(ding)
All cultures are equal
-except that they're not all equal. -(chime)
-What is a white supremacist? -(ding)
Well, I'm, like, extraordinarily loaded
just from, like, money I, you know, inherited.
-I've never needed to work. -(chime)
-What, precisely, is privilege? -(ding)
Our civilization is superior,
-and we need to defend it. -(chime)
-What exactly is a nationalist? -(chime)
Our leaders are weak.
If you let people spray-paint obscenities on city hall,
pretty soon, they are overturning cop cars.
-Weakness invites aggression. -(chime)
-What is a fascist? -(ding)
There was no physical evidence that George Floyd
-was murdered by a cop. -(chime)
-What exactly is this disinformation? -(ding)
All right, I got to go. You should stick
-to the thigh-high boots. You're better at that. -(chime)
-Is that sexism? -(ding)
This may be a lot of things,
this moment we're living through,
but it is definitely not about Black lives.
And remember that when they come for you,
and at this rate, they will. -(chime)
-Who exactly is the fear mongrel? -(ding)
Iraq is a crappy place
-filled with a bunch of, you know... -MAN: Yeah.
-CARLSON: ...semiliterate primitive monkeys. -(chime)
-Who's the racist here? -(ding)
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Earlier today, I spoke
with award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris.
We talked about his new limited series
that explores the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the U.K.
and working with Nicolas Cage.
They've taken him into hospital.
Oh. Sorry.
Is he all right?
Yeah, fuss over nothing.
They said it was pneumonia.
Then they said it was like something you get from birds
in his lungs.
They said it was strange.
They said it was some kind of psittacosis.
-What, like you get in parrots? -That's what they said.
You haven't gone a parrot, though, do you?
Of course I haven't got a (bleep) parrot.
Neil Patrick Harris,
welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Thank you so much, man.
This is my first time on the show.
I'm excited and a little bit nervous.
Oh, well, how can you be nerv... I'm the one
who should be nervous, because, I mean, like
Neil Patrick Harris has touched
so many of the greatest shows and movies
and productions and everything that we know of.
I always find myself wondering, in a career like yours,
do you think you have the Midas touch,
or do you just know where Midas is
and what he's about to touch?
(laughs) Man, that's so flattering.
I-I like to sort of see
if I can live in Kevin Bacon's wake.
(both laugh)
And be a few degrees away from the real man
who's a few degrees away from everyone.
I'm old, mate. I-I've been around for a while
doing a lot of disparate things.
So, thankfully, I get to keep working
in, like, weird ways I never imagined.
-Right. -Acting, sure.
Uh, but, like, hosting award shows? Weird.
Never part of the plot.
Writing books? Weird.
Like, I just do weird stuff lately,
so, you know, it is what it is.
You-You've historically just been
one of the most busy people out there.
Like-like you said, writing, singing,
performing on Broadway, acting in movies,
TV shows, hosting shows.
So, what have you been doing at the height of the pandemic?
Because there was a period where nobody could work.
-So, what were you doing? -Yeah, well, I was working
right as the pandemic started.
I was filming The Matrix 4 in San Francisco.
And that was right when everything
started being a little bit cuckoo
-at the beginning of last year. -Right.
And then I... We came home,
were about to head to Berlin
to film the second half of the movie there,
and, uh, the lockdown happened,
so that got held for a while.
I got COVID.
My husband, our kids, we all got COVID early on.
And so we were just hunkered down.
We were fine.
Like, medium on a-- on a--
On a spicy level, we were, like, a four.
And then-- So then we were--
We had antibodies and we felt fine,
so we weren't, y-you know,
um, as nervous as-as some people around us were.
But we just kept to ourselves.
Um... I'd been working a bit,
so it was actually kind of nice to exist.
We were kind of-- We had finished renovating a place
and we were able to move in.
And, I don't know, I-I thought--
We have ten-year-old kids, my husband and I,
and-and, uh... and I think it's important
to be showing them
the positive aspects of this as much as the negative.
This is normal to them.
-Mm-hmm. -It's not-- It's a little abnormal
but it's not super weird, like it is to adults.
So we've been just acknowledging that this is what it is
and spending time together,
sitting in each other's sauce
and trying to break up fights.
And I really feel like I know my family more than I ever have.
And that's chaotic,
but it's also kind of fantastic,
so I've been-- I've been blessed.
Then I went to Berlin, filmed more, uh, of that movie.
I went to Budapest and filmed a movie with Nicolas Cage.
Oh, nice. Why-why do you--
Yeah, why do you s-sound surprised about it?
You're like, "I went to Budapest." (stammers)
It sounds like you were, like-- It was a stopover flight
and then, all of a sudden, you were in a movie with Nicolas--
The way you said it. It was like, "I-I was in Budapest.
Then I was in a movie with Nicolas Cage?"
Because I had just finished being in Berlin, Germany,
filming a big, giant movie.
And I thought that was super cool and I can now,
you know, sit back with my family for a while.
And then I got an e-mail asking if I wanted to go
to Budapest, Hungary, and film a Nicolas Cage movie.
Never met the guy.
Never thought I'd really be in Nicolas Cage's orbit.
And in the middle of the pandemic.
Budapest is completely locked down.
It was one of those fly there for multiple days of quarantine,
-film for two days and split. -Yes, yes, yes.
I was there in this hotel.
Everything. No restaurants were open.
-It was really strange, right? -Oh, yeah, no.
So just a weird time to be traveling the globe,
filming things, right now, this last year.
But I did it. It's a comedy. It was super fun.
And, uh, Nicolas Cage is as lovely
as you would imagine Nicolas Cage could be.
-Have you met him before? -I love that. I love-- I-I haven't.
I haven't. But I also haven't been to Budapest.
So maybe that's how it happens,
is, like, I go to Budapest
and then I'll be in a movie with Nicolas Cage.
-Best VIP room ever. -(laughs)
Um, let's talk about, uh,
your new show that's gonna be premiering on, uh, HBO Max.
It's already, um, aired
on the other side of, uh-- of the Atlantic
to really, really, really great receptions,
and that's a show called It's a Sin.
A beautiful and powerful story.
Talk me a little through what this show is about.
Well, it... (exhales)
It sort of does-does two things.
It's-it's written and produced by Russell T Davies,
and he's prolific.
He did Years and Years,
A Very English Scandal, Dr. Who.
He's done great-- The original Queer as Folk in the U.K.
And then he wanted to do something
that was more personal to him.
And so he wanted to do a five-part, sort of,
larger story about HIV/AIDS and how it came into the U.K.
after it had been in the States in the '80s.
And no one had-- has really written that story.
And so that's kind of the dynamic of it.
It's-it's a limited series.
It follows these...
people on the edge of adulthood
from various parts of the U.K. that come together in London.
And you're watching them all live these exciting lives
of possibility and you really like them.
And yet you're also watching knowing
that this big...
-shadow is slowly coming over everyone. -Yeah.
And so it's very emotional.
It's very... uh, educational
but not in a really pejorative,
kind of, um, lecture-y way.
Your f-- You want these people to screw each other literally
and have fun and dance, you know?
And yet you know what's happening.
You know what's coming.
-So it's a really interesting dynamic. -Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.
Um, I play the mentor to one of the kids,
a Savile Row tailor guy who's living kind of,
um, lovely, monogamous,
old-school, same-sex, uh, couplehood life,
uh, and is an example to one of the kids, uh, in the thing.
So I-- My part's not gigantic,
but it's been really exciting to be a part of a piece of art
that turns into an education
in a way that people are responding to legitimately well.
My job is actor.
I don't feel comfortable in the role of educator.
-Right. -I'm not-- I'm not very educated. (chuckles)
So when I am able to be a part of something
where people can be effective,
where a generation who lived in the world of HIV/AIDS
can really have a profound experience
reliving things that they had experienced,
but, more importantly, Trevor,
to have a younger generation that, quite frankly,
doesn't really know much at all about HIV/AIDS,
that really legitimately doesn't know any of it
and how it happened and how it came to be
and what it means now.
Because, essentially, you can have,
you know, unprotected sex,
catch it, take a pill, you should be fine.
Like, a lot of younger generation,
that's all they know from it.
So to be able to educate
in a way that's still kind of vibrant,
that's-- like, that's a really--
that's a really nice notch to have on a belt.
It's a beautiful story.
And, you know, some-some of the comments I've seen about it,
especially from the U.K.,
have been many of the feelings I had
when just watching the first episode was-was that
it's interesting to explore the paradox
of the joy that was contained in a world
that was overshadowed, as you said earlier,
by-by this ominous feeling.
It feels like that was important to show as well.
Because sometimes stories tell one side of the story.
Very sad or only happy.
This seemed like it was a complicated reality
of what it was.
That's very well said.
And-and that's what I think is so great about it.
Because the '80s were that--
you know, had that kind of heartbeat to it.
And there's lots of scenes with people dancing in nightclubs,
and it's-it's- there's a sexiness to it, you know?
So you also-- You-you get intoxicated by that.
And yet, at the same time, there's this...
there's this voice on-- o-over your shoulder,
whispering in your ear, saying,
-"Don't forget, this is about HIV/AIDS." -Right.
And it's a very serious topic.
And so, as you go, it's...
(sighs) Your-your concern for the people and--
Yes, obviously, without spoiling anything,
not everyone in the cast survives,
because that's sort of part of the-the storytelling.
And then-- But even in episode one,
wondering who all these people with great futures,
wondering who's gonna mess up and how and what's gonna--
like, who's gonna survive,
it's a very treacherous tightrope of a show.
I don't know. I-I think Russell T Davies
has-has had extraordinary writing
after extraordinary writing.
He's-- He-he makes content that is really, really vital.
And, uh-- And this is no different.
Yeah, it's, uh, it's really been well-received,
um, in the U.K., and when it premieres in the U.S.,
it's gonna be interesting to see, you know,
how people resonate with the story and what they feel
about it. Before I let you go,
I would love to know how you worked on your accent,
because one of the, one of the... (stammers)
the feuds that's constantly, uh, you know, brewing
between the U.S. and the U.K.
is how people do the other's accents.
Everyone loved your accent-- how did you work on it?
Um, I have a pretty decent ear for accents,
but I really didn't want to rely on that,
-so there was a dialectician that I worked with -Uh-huh.
a fair amount, we went through the entire script.
We sort of decided what type of person
-he was... -Right. Did you, did you, like, do that thing,
where you, like, live in, like, were you walking
around your house, like, (English accent): "I would like
-some tea, please?" -(laughs)
No, I went... I went about a week early
to walk around and just kind of sit at pubs and listen
to people so that, like, my ear was just in-in-in line--
but the hardest part, to be honest,
was when we were filming... my accent...
I was fine with my accent as written,
but then between takes, I wasn't sure whether I should maintain
the accent or whether I should drop it, because I didn't want
to seem like this weird method actor that, like, is always
in character, always speaking with a posh British accent.
And yet it seemed like it was equally strange
-To just flip out of it, right? -to drop it and talk
with hard Rs, uh, the whole time in Manchester,
where everyone's talking like...
and so I just kind of split the, split the difference.
I probably talked more like a Brit than an American
just-just to make it easier on myself.
But, no, man, I have a massive talent crush
on the U.K.-- I think the work that they do, uh,
on television, I think that the work that they do on film
and on stage is-is, uh,
really exciting and really, uh,
um, important and I've always wanted to be a part
of something like that, so I was very conscientious
about not just yawning and faking my way
through an accent, for sure.
Well, just judging by the reviews,
I can safely say they've also got a crush on you.
Uh, Neil Patrick Harris, thank you for joining me on the show.
Congratulations on another fantastic project and, uh,
here's to the next Budapest, my friend.
Uh, cheers, man-- we'll see you soon, I appreciate it.
Don't forget, you can watch all episodes
of It's a Sin on HBO Max starting February 18.
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Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
You need to be where you need to be by lunch today,
if not, earlier than that.
I know it's Sunday, you want to go to church.
Today is not the day to go to church.
Do it virtually because you may get stuck
at the church house and if it's Valentine's--
Today's Valentine's Day, if you don't like the person
that you're with, you might as well go ahead, leave right now,
'cause it ain't gonna be good for you, 'cause you may not
be able to leave until about Wednesday.