Straw media. Hi, I'm Michael
Madson and welcome back to my podcast American
Badass. This episode's guest I'm really
excited about. I'm going to be speaking
with Tom Arnold. Tom's a comedian
and also great actor. He's done so
many movies and TV shows. You
probably know him from sons of anarchy and
true lies, happy endings and Roseanne, of course, and he's got some
funny stories. Let me tell you. Him and I were filming together in
Italy last year during Covid we shot
a Christmas movie together called Christmas thieves,
and Tom and I had pretty interesting
time, to say it least. So
why don't we just jump right in? Hey, Tommy, kid our the
year you met. That's getting better. There you are. Thank you,
Tommy, Tommy, thank you.
Thank you, Tommy. Thank you.
Have you seen the poster for our
picture? Is that? Was surprised.
They're usually pretty bad. I know
exactly how many bad posters have you been
on, because I've been on.
I've been on quite a few. The
WATZORI never posed right. It's serted, asserted, as said there, because
we're like yeah, we don't want
to pose of this. WHO PICKS THEM
OUT? Picks the I know it's
always the worst picture of me that I
can imagine. There it is on
the fucking poster all over the world.
Why don't you guys pick that one? You know. Yeah, I look
like I'm about to throw up or
something. It's yeah, why that one?
Yeah, so you gotta. You
got a great bike. How do
you like doing to podcast? Well, you're only my second. I did
Bruce Down and you're just you're the
set. You're the second guess. So
I love it turning. I'm honored
to follow Bruce. I love him.
I'm honored to have you tell me
here. We had a good time in
in Italy. It's wonderful to talk
to you again. Yeah, yeah,
the poster man. I was surprised. I said, where is the poster?
Please let me see it before it's
too late, and I was so
surprised. It looks great. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not bad.
I think it's going to be pretty
funny. Yeah, it will be.
It hit plus, what with what
we know for being there, it's
gonna be very funny. We have
the inside information. Yeah, yeah,
we do. When is it coming
on? I'm sure the fall sud well,
I guess it's follow us. Yeah, I'm sure that. Yeah,
that's this will be very soon.
Christmas. I always want to be in
a Christmas movie. Yeah, some
of them are really good at they play
am over and over. So you're
definitely at your Christmas movie every year.
It'll be on it. Yeah,
Oh, yeah, it's great. Yeah.
Well, then we took a lot
of rides in the morning. We
took a lot of log rides in
the boarding for the VALADI are. Yeah,
yeah, let's talk about Italy.
Let's talk if you don't mind,
knows, Tom me. Sure.
Yeah, I mean, you know,
we get I get to lax and
I'm it's a confusing at La. She
know, it's November. It's covid
right, last November, and I see
a guy with the Lakers hat on
and he goes hey, you need anything?
And you pulled out a wad of
paperwork. Just what not organ I
had. I had a deep folder. Yeah, you all said, I
think I was good. They have
good and it really was. That set
the toad for our journey, which
was long. It was a seventeen hour
journey and for the minute we sat
next to each other and you know,
you had a glass of wide for
the for the flight, you know,
of course. Yeah, and then
you we just started telling me stories about
your life. We talked about our
lives and they were so amazing. I
mean it's you know, I did
realize that you don't, that you have
a documentary, because I remember saying
you got a document some of this shit,
because it was so excellent. You
know, family very honest to growing
up as to that, you know, all the way through your life.
And the funny thing is, as
the flight got longer, in first of
all, the flight a head is
loved you and kept bringing you wide it
little glasses about that big and yeah, you know, yeah, and I
would get up after let's say twelve
hour, ten hours and go party and
you know, and I'd come back
and then, you be, it still
in the story, but it'd be
at a perfect place, like, you
know, it wasn't like, Oh, I'm waiting on you, it's like,
okay, what do you get back? Will Continue. And and then
when you get to Amsterdam, which
is a terrible idea for Michael Bad said
a Tamarow to have a six hour
layover in Amsterdam. And you know,
for fortunately, you know, we
talked about should we leave the airport,
and I I said no, believe
it or not, you just was too
and so was a good aim.
Yeah, but here you have angels walking
with you. That's all I'm going
to tell you that. First of all,
you got to of the they give
you of you flight on, if
you fly on that airline, they
give you a little ceramic houses from yeah,
yeah, you know, from the
Nethers there. They're way one.
Right, you had to. They
gave ye to. I had three exits.
That, yeah, three, of
course. I've also help party and
then I we went to the VIP
lounge and and we're in there and you
kind of stretched out said I would
take a nap. I go listen,
fucker, we're not missing the flight, we're not. Please don't because I
don't want to be fucking stuck here. And you stretch right out, take
your hat off, ticking the NAP. And then at what point, he
was getting close to time to go, and I read two party and I
came out and you were gone and
I freaked. I went I looked at
both the parties, I looked everywhere. I was asking people, do you
know where Michael Bads it is,
and and they're like no, and I'm
like, Oh, you got to
be shit me and we were so far
away from our gate and we had
to go back through custom so Mary,
well, Ye, love me forever. Yeah, I thought I'm going without
him, I have to, and
I read and read and read. It
barely made it through customs, you
know, because there's always an issue.
And then I get to this place
where they're doing all the covid checks right
before board and there's a lot of
people and I thought he's never going to
make it because they want us to
fill up more paperwork. I'm fucking I
don't even know what I'm gonna say. And all Suday one of those cart
comes up. Yeah, basically to
scape position that you were up in the
VIPA, just stretched out, relaxed, and a woman has driven you up
there, and only that, she
filled out your paperwork. You're like,
yeah, she's us. What's your
address? You I don't know. You
know, but you had it all
done. You went right to the head
of the line in front of everybody, and I was like this guy is
so blast, you know, he's
got a age. I just thought there's
no ways going to make it and
I just run, you know, ran
down there right you're writing. You
know, and you're like what did you
leave me? I go why?
What I mean? I left you here,
but of the come in to your
vehicle. I just killed everybody.
Good, Tom Arnold, and they
gave me any I wanted. Dad,
I was afraid for us to go
through customs together. Just then they combination
of Hudo's. What has gone out
of our lives? Who? I was
like, well, let you got
to get one of us in there.
But we made it and we had
a great fun. We had a couple
here. You're a good list.
Well, I loved it and you know,
I kept saying this is this reminds
me of with Dale and I I
don't know if you ever saw that
movie. I kept saying that for you,
you know. And it's a great
movie with Richard Grant and about to,
you know, to friends center travel
and and it said, you know,
the chaos, but you know,
we get to the set, you
know which you know, you do
everything about the hotel, you know everything
about the town, you do everything
about everything. And and we get to
the set, which is like forty
five minutes outside of Rowe and you they
put an Elf costume on. Yeah, like with ties. It was nice
and I was sad, of course. Yeah, and we had a great
day, but then it you gotta
let me tell us all the way through.
Then you came there with a shoulder
injury, is what you told me,
right and absolutely and worse. So
the doctor came over to give you
a shot of hudo's Wat. Anyway, the next day you're like I'm feeling
a little rough and and that.
The people are like, well, are
we gonna? First of all,
they said, I said to these people,
he's taking a little just let him
relax for a minute. What the
fuck? You've seen this, because
they several of told me they worked with
Peter o'tool a bad day. They're
old enough that I go, you seen
this? They don't know. We've
never seen anything like but I said he's
got to be fine, because I
know you and I spent so much time
of you. You just ate a
little break. And at what D up
happened is later, when I was
helping you out of the hotel, I
got a look at your shoulder.
I I was grabbing on the shoulder that
was injured and you had bruises everywhere, because I was like maybe he's bullshitting
me about his shoulder. Oh No, he had. You had bruises everywhere,
and then from me grabbing you,
I was like, well, what
had happened is we're sitting there that
you're like, I don't trust these fuckers.
They like trying to stop the movie, which they were, you know,
and anyway gets covid and movies that
I need the buddy. So I'm
like, relax, take a minute
and I go you and I pointed to
a guy, really good, look
at young guys a mail bottle there,
who's brother finance the movie. I
say, put his clothes on. So
I took your clothe, your Elf
costume off. You put it on him
and I said we'll shoot from behind, Michael, just give us a few
hours. Will shoot from behind.
Give us a day. And I thought
the more we shoot with this kid, that more they're going to keep this
movie going, because this kid is
the brother of the finance here. Oh
he was very happy, Bud.
He had a big Roun on this.
Oh my God, he was so
happy. He was the best day of
his life. But he's also so
good looking. He had a rocket bodies
like twenty five, and so you
know. But then you came back and
we killed it dead. I got
to be crabby that I kind of lost
my shit. You said, yeah, you did, yeah, yeah,
but I let you ask because I
love you. You let you really did?
You really did? Is after all
that, I'm like, they had
a last day and then what happened
the last day's the best part, because
it's such a Michael Batsis story.
Yep, so, Jim I are off
to a good start. The movie
we were filming together. I had a
shoulder injury and wasn't feeling great,
and then there was Tom. Well,
we come back, we're we're going
to hear a bit more about what happened
to him. Tom had some problems
with is Santa Costume. I wasn't the
only one. I haven't a shitty
time. Had A pretty shitty time also,
but more about that after the break. And we're back. I welcome
back to American Badass this episode's guest
actor and Comedian Tom Arnold. And for
those of you just joining us,
Tom and I filmed the Christmas movie together
in Italy last year during the pandemic, and so things were already unusual,
to say the least. On top
of that, I had a shoulder injury
and we had a deal with the
bureaucracy of the pandemic, of course,
and it's a miracle that we made
it there in the first place. But
it even got better, or worse, I should say. Thank you for
Tom anyways. So you know,
we had a couple rough days in the
middle and we finally complete it and
we get the car. We're drive back
after our last date. I say
I got to tell you something bad.
This morning when I put on by
Sata suit, I shouted I shit it
and I said I went into that
bathroom with a butt downstairs there. There's
no luck on it. So I
had to fucking take off all my clothes.
I was biked up. I had
all that Shit and fucking put what
foot on the door and then take
a make my underwear a wash cloth,
cleaned them up and they've had to
clean myself. Fortunately, I had shit
all the way through to the to
the red said about it, but I
said I have been naked and my
pants fell down a lot that movie with.
Yeah, what's I got cleaned up? There's been. There's no underwear
there anymore. There did they to
cut that line and I thought I was
trying to tell you that story to
make you feel I go well, at
least you did shit your paths and
you go, you know, I was
a Christmas tree. went out to
get Christmas trees with a kid might side
and he's hate and I shit my
paths and said that you, but that's
not there the whole story. Then
your story goes and your son is shit
his pats. So I'm not sure
who shit at first, but you took
off your underwear for however you day
like that US here. I gave it
to him and then I should in
my head with no freaking up and very
awkward, and you're trying to get
a Christmas tree. And then I was
like, okay, you're story,
be me, and did you go.
And then it went back the next
year and I shit my pats again,
like it's is just having a Shitty
your pad. Story is a good for
Ed you, way you talk.
You're like yeah, I should. I
mean it was even a beat for
me telling. I go, I got
to tell you something, hubiliity.
This this one happened today. I was
in there. I Tell a hole's
breathless story and you go, yeah,
I was Christmas looking for a Christmas
trade and go, cut it out.
My son Shit is past Ay.
You know, felt bad. I gave
my anywhere, and then I should
my like your storious dad. I thought
I finally had a good, crazy
story for you, dude, very bad
off, and it's also sweet.
Your story is sweet because your going down
at chopping down a Christmas tree with
your kid and your kid shits is past
and you do what any good dad
would do. You give them your underwear,
you clean them up and then,
of course you shit your pants with
no underwear and your wife's like,
what the fuck is going and then happened
the next year. Yeah, exactly
the same situation, or twice in the
yeah, he's yours. Now he's
a sergeant. Now, for God's safe,
I know, tell self and bloss
it's crazy. Yeah, he's.
I didn't know if you were going
to tell the Shit Pad story, but
I'm glad you did because, yeah, I didn't want to preach on the
spot, but I thought it was
pretty funny because, yeah, Vid,
you, well, they're always dude. We were stuck downstairs in that basement,
having to change clothes and get ready
and all Christ in heaven, man.
Yeah, it was not. It
was not a great place to get
privacy. Yeah, yeah, well, what they also had our a trailer
so far away from yea, and
that why that few mouth we you did
the right thing. You're like,
this is fuck, you know, like
I'm not getting out of the car. And you weren't being a baby.
You're like this is so crazy far
for the set that that they just wanted
to keep us on the set at
all time, right even between set ups
and take downs and other people shooting, and so we were this little area
with all these people and you finally
said, well, this just is an
appropriate and it ended up and be
a great for me too, because we
got we got a little time in
our trailer. Yeah, and it's not
it's not like you were trying to
say, let's slow this shit down.
You're like, I will be here
when you call for me, but but
I don't want to be here when
you're not calling them, which is a
great thing. You were right there
with me the whole time, though.
I don't think I could have made
it through without you. Tell me,
you know, we had someone,
if you listen to me so well,
we we played off of each other. It kind of react the whole relationship
in the plot of that thing is
so ridiculous. But yeah, I can't
imagine anybody else getting away with it. No, no, and what's happened?
Is We really what I wanted?
Any said it, though. I
wanted. I wanted your outfit and
you're not wanting to know else. You
have a die self outfit was ridiculous, you know, you take it a
couple hours off. Was the best
thing that ever could have happened because,
yeah, then we shot all the
stuff behind you, but then we had
to change the characters to be and
then they're way more realistic, like originally
you were this sweet like uncle turned
out and I was the gangster, and
all of a sudden it changed it
to the way it should be. But
you also we had some amazing seeds
together. I have to tell you when
I was, you know, freaking
out, and you seriously, because your
way you play, because you're acting, is so fucking stellar that it's a
we you know, we also made
a different holiday movie. Yeah, it
was completely yeah, well, that
big merry Christmas at the end of where
singing in front of the house.
Yeah, wow, I had never read
that. I didn't realize we were
even going to do that. Yeah,
it was such a nice, sweet
way to end it up. Yeah,
Bruce Shoulder having pulled out of yours. Your show are pulled out of the
socket. Yeah, could play your
planey. Yeah, yeah, that was
fun. You don't want to be
in the hospital in Rome. No,
though, I get. Do you
remember this? The guys go, they
finance here the real rich guy.
He was like fat, you know.
They come out with her. We
take picture of my girlfriend. The next
day take a picture my girlfriend,
a different woman. He goes like this,
thank you for being so good with
with Michael, I go well,
of course, and he goes,
we'd like to do you a favor.
I'd like to send it doctor to
visit you. I go, oh,
that about. He goes like a
dermatologist, like that was the most insulting
they got ever heard you go that. I said, by dermatologist over to
you to take a look. It's
free favor for whatever he does your fuck
up face, but that's really what
he said to me. Yeah, that's
right. It was supply yea with
whatever I supposedly needed and literally, I
not know what the hell they were
buying. Know, you did it here.
He did have these, you know, have a box, take a
whole bug. Yeah, sure,
it was great, because I taken a
box of those in my life.
And I was like, Oh, here's
what's going to happen, and you
had it. You you were like,
I don't know what's going on,
I don't know what they gave me,
I don't know. I'm like,
Oh fuck, Oh, I've got to
be with you, because whatever you
do, I've done worse. I'm going
to tell you. Yeah, you
know, it was really long. You
were, you were it was so
good. Yeah, we boughted, so
you said. Well, we both
did. It went both ways, you
know, UK back and finally I
could be by Asshole self for a minute.
But no, it was really good
because we were, you know,
we're the only two guy. We're
there, nobody speaks English. We're making
this movie that we're kind of suspect
about, and we really bought it because,
you know, we both had each
other's backs. And you know what
day, you know this and that, but we were together all the time.
Yeah, to work, back from
work, at work, you know,
a very rarely does that happened.
And and but it was a it
was a good thing. I hope
the picture is funny as hell, and
I being that it's a Christmas picture
and with you, it just yeah,
remember looking forward to something I've done
coming out as much as I'm looking for
that one. I really it's good, you know. Yeah, hope what
we did, you know, shows
up in yeah, Ture. Well,
let me just say it's called the
Christmas thieves and we aren't really sad at
it Elf. We are port we're
thieves, the worst people. We're robbed
on Christmas Eve because we're like yeah, we can steal a lot of shit,
and we had to up writing for
the cops. End Up in this
house where the kids take got where
the babysitters, because maybe sitters dressed up
on Christmas Eve, and we're like, yeah, we are the baby since
sure we are. Yeah, WE'RE
gonna say here that, you know,
and there's some stories. Eventually gets
me and the kids. Bob is a
cop, of course, and that
there's a whole bunch of other story stuff.
But there's some real sweet stuff in
there too, and you were extra
sweet and you know, I see
you work with those little kids are the
way they're looking at you and responding
to you, you know, and it
was very it was wonderful. I
think they were scared to death of me
when we first started, but yeah, think you got over it because,
you after they saw me with the
fishing pole trying to get this out.
It's pretty good. Holy Cow.
The truth is you never know what goes
on behind the scenes of really any
film set, and it sounds like Christmas
thieves was a hell of a ride. Thank God Tom and Mike had each
other. Who shows what would have
happened otherwise. You definitely need a buddy
in a situation like that. We
had Straw hut. Hope you guys had
happy holidays and have already found the
motivation to hit the gym, even though,
what is it? July? I
know? If not, keep searching.
We believe in you. If you
haven't already, please rate and review
this episode and subscribe on Apple or
spotify or wherever you listen. Next Time
Tom and Mike will be talking about
their dream rolls, starting out as actors,
how to deal with unwelcome plot twists
and Mike's Documentary American Badass, a
Michael Madsen retrospective. Tune in here
on Strahud media.