In This Episode
Louis Virtel And we’re back with an all new episode of Keep It. I’m Louis Virtel, fresh off the SAG Awards, which we’ll talk about for a second. I’ve met every celebrity and they were all so nice and so exhausting. Maybe I’ll still burst into tears. I don’t think my trauma is totally covered yet by time and space. But also the other pop cultural topic of the moment is the abs of Mike White, which we’re going to get into right now with our guest host, the fabulous, the unmistakable, the awesome Nina Parker.
Nina Parker I love it
Louis Virtel Um, yes, Survivor 50 is back. It’s back. Yes. Quite the long premiere. It was been her length.
Nina Parker I said, is this Avatar? Three hours? It’s crazy. But you know, it’s crazy if you don’t watch or if you’re new to it, but if you love the show, you’re eating it up. I was looking at a lot of comments and people were like, it wasn’t long enough.
Louis Virtel Which is crazy because by the way like in LA anyway, there’s a huge watching at bars culture of Survivor Imagine watching a television at a bar for three hours
Nina Parker I know a lot of people watch, like, reality shows at bars in L.A. It’s a thing. I need to hear what’s going on. I’m too social. I’m going to be talking to people and taking shots. I need know. I’m gonna have to rewatch it later to really sink in what happened. So I’d rather just do it at home.
Louis Virtel I will say this. I’m grateful that we have activities involving TV shows we can scream at because that’s all being straight up. Right. Let me scream at the sports in front of my friends who are also screaming. You’re also screaming.
Nina Parker It does feel like an experience I missed growing up. So it is fun to scream at shows, but I get too involved. I have to really put like a line with myself in reality shows because I just, I don’t know, maybe I’m an empath. I get to invest, I get angry. Oh yeah. And then I take it out into the world and you know, I’m hip checking an old lady in Gelsens and it’s like, you know what, what am I doing?
Louis Virtel Well, also, you would think that the way these shows are produced, like, we all agree who, like, the good people and the bad people are. Oh, no. You’ll, like talk to your friend and it turns out you have nothing in common anymore. They love that sociopath. It’s like, five million voted for Trump. Yeah. No, seriously. Oh, I think you like them. Right.
Nina Parker I don’t know if we can be friends!
Louis Virtel Anymore. And they’ll say things that sound kind of like microaggressions or something. I’m like, oh wait, I’m learning something about you.
Nina Parker And that’s why you gotta just listen sometimes to what people’s views about certain things are. That’s how I feel like you really find out about people. It’s not like the big grandiose things. Sometimes it’s the little microaggressions where you really found out where they lie, where you’re like, oh. Oh, that’s what’s gnawing at you? Oh, and that’s how you feel. You know? There’s been shocking things that I’ve heard from people. You know, even in like dating, you know, if I say something and I’m talking about being where I live in L.A. Or whatever and the guy’s like, Oh, the homeless over there. I’m like, oh, you got to get out of it.
Louis Virtel No, oh, the amount of times I’m at a pool party trying to enjoy myself and like, you know, someone says something like that I’m like honey. I’m basically on vacation. Can you get to the good part of your personality?
Nina Parker Have a little personality, babe, please. Yeah, tough. It’s so like that. So I do enjoy those little pockets of things, but I saw that the ratings were insane. Oh yeah, and by the way, I guess they never aren’t. It’s always good, but they said it’d been the highest rated show on CBS since 2022. Wow. Which is insane.
Louis Virtel Yeah, but by the way, if you’re a fan of Survivor, it’s impossible not to check into this season because it’s got a 25-cast member. And it keeps toasting the past of the show, too. So it’s revisiting all these times. I mean, it’s crazy that we’ve had 25 years of this show. I’m sorry, I have… I will say this, I’ve two problems with Survivor. One, Jeff Probst is just constantly screaming. I need him to modulate. You know what he dresses like? Do you remember the show Legends of the Hidden Temple? Yes. Kirk Fogg was the host of that show. I- Did you remember the host of the show? Honey, now-
Nina Parker That is inside baseball.
Louis Virtel Name a single thing and I remembered it. Just know that about me. But it’s like a toast to that kind of rugged, khakis thing, but also clearly a costumer picked it out. Like it’s not rugged at all. Not rugged at all.
Nina Parker Right. Do we know where he lives in his off time? Does he live in LA? I wonder.
Louis Virtel I know there’s a treehouse, and I know he built it.
Nina Parker Because I feel like it was cosplay initially, right? Like, this was a now- You’re so right. You know what? You were just, like, you were a host.
Louis Virtel Yeah, he used to host Rock and Roll Jeopardy!
Nina Parker It’s like, you’re a host. You were a bougie host. And now, because you did Survivor, like, imagine us going to host. Like, I imagine what I would cosplay in if I was hosting. Like, would get cornrows. Oh, sure. And put on a bandana, but here, from neck down, so I look like I’m about to rob a bank. And, you know, and I would put on, like, some dusty overalls. Like, I don’t know. First of all, that sounds like I’m building a house, but you know what I mean. Like…
Louis Virtel Not like that corporate retreat paintball energy. Yes!
Nina Parker Yes, and so I feel like he has morphed it into, like, this rugged Marlboro man personality, which, no shade. But, like this is now, like Survivor has become who he is.
Louis Virtel No, you’re right. It’s made up. He just keeps believing in it.
Nina Parker Yes. Yeah. Like there is a whole crafty crew there.
Louis Virtel I can’t decide if I’m a fan of the fact that he seemingly pulled himself out of the Emmy race for best reality host because he won it three times in a row and then he suddenly dropped out, presumably because he didn’t need any more Emmys or whatever. Who does that? But here’s the thing. It’s like, now the race isn’t real. I want to believe in the sanctity of awards and you’re ruining it with your humility.
Nina Parker By the way, I’ll never do that. Yeah, please. I’m going to do a reverse Susan Lucci. I’m taking all this shit. I’m taken everything with me. I’m takin’ the napkins home. I’m talking everything.
Louis Virtel No, Billie Eilish, two Oscars, I need nine more.
Nina Parker Yes, I’m never dropping out of anything, are you crazy? Right. No, very gracious of him, I am sure, but.
Louis Virtel Uh, so essay question, we talked a lot about reality TV, you and I, we talk about the America’s Next Top Model documentary last time you were here. What do you think is the single greatest season of a reality show? Ooh, ooh, that’s a good question. Cause it’s all about a season. You know, like if you like one season of The Traders, the next one might be, you know, totally boring, which I think this one totally was.
Nina Parker Well, it’s I think it depends on what kind of reality are we talking a reality show where there’s competitions? Are we talking about a reality? So like Real Housewives of Atlanta? I will allow both I’m giving it to Real Housewife. Okay, sure. I mean, I think the the Real House wives that put everything on the map was Atlanta
Louis Virtel Yeah, you know, so that’s also the show with I think the most people per cast were funny.
Nina Parker Yes, I think the Real Housewives of Atlanta season when it was like, I don’t know what number season it was when it was Kim, Sheree, Mimi, when everybody was going crazy. Kim was getting her wig pulled. Shere was, when she did the who gon’ check me boo, like all of that happened to me. That was what put Real Housewives on the map, because it wasn’t OC. It existed and people watched, but I don’t think Real Housewife exploded until Atlanta came and just knocked it out the park.
Louis Virtel You couldn’t be tardy to that party, you simply had to be there on time! I had to be there on time.
Nina Parker It was like platinum songs, like it was a time. Yeah.
Louis Virtel Yeah. And also whenever Candy Burris does interviews, I’m like so into her. You are! Yes. Well, I also, I stand songwriters. So when people are like, you know, like Bonnie McKee or these people out in the world who are like did you know I wrote these number one hits? That’s like, I love these sweatiness of that. Like reminding us you had a part in a big song. I do.
Nina Parker Yeah, I do love like the resilience of Candy because when she was, when Escape wasn’t platinum anymore, like she really knows the power of the pivot. I’m gonna go write these songs, there’s probably songs people have no idea that she’s involved in, but even now with like being on Broadway and working with Denzel and like her reach is really long and I think in the Bravo world people give her respect for that, but the real world I don’t think they understand. And I feel like she’s rather humble about like her connections. Like she’s really super connected and works and like she even, you know, has a sex toy line. Like, she’s about that bag and I respect that.
Louis Virtel I also think No Scrubs is better than anything on Crazy Sexy Cool, is that bad?
Nina Parker You’ve, uh…
Louis Virtel Cause you know what my problem with waterfalls is?
Nina Parker Hmm
Louis Virtel You ready for this? Okay. The line, don’t go chasing waterfalls, amazing. Okay. The next line, please stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to. Can we get a rewrite on that?
Nina Parker I mean, you know, that was the time, we was just looking at the videos back then. Yeah, right. But I don’t know if I can say that. Crazy Sexy Cool is like a soundtrack to my life. So I can’t get on board with that now. That was-
Louis Virtel Red light special, yeah.
Nina Parker Album like creep is probably my favorite TLC song of all time I don’t can’t tell you how many hours in the girls bathroom I took trying to learn the creep dance like it literally there are certain album. It’s the creepy
Louis Virtel Is the creep dance very like arm swing out in front of you like this? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, yeah yeah.
Nina Parker And then the front, we should bring, we should do a TikTok dance and bring this back.
Louis Virtel Okay, you could do that. What if I didn’t? Yeah. You can film me. Okay, that’s exactly what’s gonna happen.
Nina Parker But like the creep dance was, I feel like there are certain songs like SWV.
Louis Virtel Oh god, right here, I love that song, yeah.
Nina Parker I remember what I was doing when I first heard it, you know, Criss Cross when I came out. You know, fun fact, I won tickets on the radio to go see Criss cross perform. Oh my God. And I’m gonna age myself. Yeah. But you know who opened for them.
Louis Virtel Hold on, the year must be like 92.
Nina Parker This was like, probably, yeah, like 92, 93.
Louis Virtel Open for them. So you’re saying it’s somebody who became huge or later. I’m gonna go with it’s too early for like Spice Girls. I’m going to go with boys to men.
Nina Parker Mary J. Block.
Louis Virtel Oh, well, that’s exactly the year what’s the 4-1-1 came out, if I’m not mistaken.
Nina Parker Mary J. Blige opened for them. I won the tickets on the radio. I was calling like a mad person. I got the tickets and I was like second row. And it was the craziest shit. I didn’t know who Mary J Blige was when I watched.
Louis Virtel I assume she did real love.
Nina Parker I don’t remember what she did. I honestly was trying to just look for Daddy Mac and Mac Daddy.
Louis Virtel Did you wear backwards jeans?
Nina Parker I wore everything backwards. I had huge crushes on them. This is aging me horribly. I wrote about this on threads and somebody was like.
Louis Virtel One foot in the grave, lady!
Nina Parker And I was like, you know what, what’s the alternative here, by the way, when you call someone old, like, what would the alternative be? Yeah, yeah. Be young. Right, exactly. I mean, yeah, I’m getting up there, but I won’t look until I’m 82.
Louis Virtel But also, you got that right. Also, by the way, we used to be excited about things like concerts, and then it would be a privilege to get to go and you would win tickets on the radio. So we used have joy, how about that? Sorry you’re too young to have experienced that.
Nina Parker I don’t know if, I know people call in for advice sometimes on the radio, but I feel like calling the radio is a thing of like the 80s and 90s.
Louis Virtel Yes, I would say it’s actually insane to call her and be like, please play Morgan Wallen for me. I can’t find it.
Nina Parker If you could just play it on your phone, right? So why do you need to call the radio? Cause I really would as a kid, this is just getting way off topic, but you know, like we would create our own music by listening to the radio and pressing record. Oh, excuse me.
Louis Virtel Oh, excuse me, that was my whole life, yes.
Nina Parker Like you would just sit and you know people ask like what did you do before cell phones that?
Louis Virtel Right, and occasionally I didn’t have the technology to actually tape the song off the radio, so I would hold the recorder up to, Margaret Cho has a whole bit about this. So occasionally you hear your mom opening the fucking door and being like, dinner’s ready and you’re late and you are ugly or whatever she screams at you.
Nina Parker I was, I actually have one of these where I was watching, I think it was like Nick at Night was on, and you could hear Happy Days in the background. Hell, yeah. My mom was like, Nada! So, absolutely, this was a time.
Louis Virtel I would absolutely record the Happy Days theme off Nick at Night. For real? Yes. Sunday, Monday, Happy Days. Not even Rockin’ Around the Clock, like the Bill Haley classic. Just the pure theme song. You know, I have…
Nina Parker You know, I love it here. I don’t feel old, like I feel seen. I feel so seen. Oh my god.
Louis Virtel Our geriatric asses have a great episode.
Nina Parker Like, these days, you don’t look like what you’ve been through. So nobody really knows, and that’s the fun part about it.
Louis Virtel Oh, yeah, no. Well, skincare has come a long way. And with that, and sorry, we meant to talk about Survivor, but I’m sorry, lots of amazing things got in the way. I’m Sorry. You bring up Mary J. Blige and I’m lost. Okay. This episode, we have a lot going on. First of all, we’re gonna talk about new albums from Bruno Mars and Hilary Duff. Those are two tastes that don’t intersect almost at all. Very random combo, yes. Yeah, but we’ll see what we discover about them. I like both. Our guest this episode is the, hold onto your hats, Stellan Skarsgård. Oscar nominee for sentimental value. He’s also been in every movie. So if you’ve seen a movie, you have seen him. Yes, we talk about Mamma Mia, of course. That’s really our episode today. And then I have a very salty keep it that I’m excited to get into too. I’m so excited to hear this. So as you know, rage is a big part of my life and I like to explore it on this show.
Nina Parker I feel obviously the climate of the world has me on edge and I am doing everything in my power not to like lose it.
Louis Virtel Oh, yeah. Well, don’t worry. My favorite joke got into the SAG Awards. That is about this topic. Sterling K. Brown said it, which was, by the way, there was like no place for this because I don’t write Kristen Bell’s material. She’s the host of the show. And she doesn’t really do a monolog. So there’s no room for monolog jokes, but he snuck this one in there, which is the joke is the theme of tonight is 1920s, 1930s Hollywood. We thought with everything going on in the world right now, we’d take you back to a happier time. The Great Depression. And Janelle James was with him. She is fabulous.
Nina Parker Yes. Always nailing the delivery. Her delivery is really good. Starling is really funny too.
Louis Virtel Yes, which was the point of the bet, him proving he could be funny too.
Nina Parker Are you watching paradise? No, I haven’t seen it. You’ve never seen it with
Louis Virtel With Julia Nicholson and stuff? No, I’ve not seen it.
Nina Parker Oh, my gosh. You’ve got to watch it. You’ve gotta watch it, and now we’re into the second season. It’s phenomenal. It’s a phenomenal. I think you would love it.
Louis Virtel Alright, after I get through hour 17 of the first episode of Survivor, I will watch that.
Nina Parker Yes, so watch it next year!
Louis Virtel We’ll be right back with Keep It.
Louis Virtel [AD].
Louis Virtel Today we have two albums to cover. I know we’re in the heart of movie award season, but let’s take a break for just a second. We’ve got a new album, a short album, from Bruno Mars called The Romantic. And we have a new from a gay beloved television star, Hilary Duff, called Luck or Something. We’ll start with Bruno Mars. What are your feelings about this man in general, who by the way is 40.
Nina Parker I mean, you know what, he has very boyish energy, right? And not in a way that he’s immature, but he just feels like a really young guy. So you’re like, oh, okay, but you know, 40 these days is a different kind of 40 than it was 30 years ago.
Louis Virtel No, I just I didn’t know that you could be a 40 year old rascal. He’s a rascal
Nina Parker Calling somebody a rascal is insane. I actually am going to use that from now on. But it is actually a perfect description. No, I love Bruno Mars. I love him. I like his music. I love.
Louis Virtel Okay, interesting distinction, because I like his music. I actually think he’s extremely talented. I’m glad that he’s a part of the industry because he sets a high bar for quality in terms of just pure vocals, instrumentation, whatever. I do think the subject matters of his song leave something to be desired. Like, this to me is ten prom proposals in a row.
Nina Parker Do you feel like this is TikTok-inspired? Like, he’s just trying to get like… I don’t want to cheapen his art, but maybe he’s hoping a couple of these end up as TikTok routines or something. Or something.
Louis Virtel Yeah, I mean, because the nature of all of these songs is just, girl, you’re the best. Right, right. Which I feel like has a place on TikTok. Sure, yeah. But at the same time, I wish there was one song that wasn’t like the others. It just felt like nine random things he was working on thrown into an album. And by the way, the last time he released a solo album, one album of the year.
Nina Parker Yeah, it did. You know what? And then he had the thing with Anderson Paak, right? So I do like him. I like his energy and I like his music a lot. But would I just normally just put on a Bruno Mars album? Probably not. I would put on Bruno Mars song.
Louis Virtel Well, by the way, you don’t have to put on Bruno Mars because you walked into Best Buy today and you heard a Bruno Mars song.
Nina Parker I was just going to say I could just hear him at H&L! This is shady, I don’t mean it that way.
Louis Virtel I do a little bit because I think he is so talented. He is. But it’s just like- You think he’s a little schnicky? It’s like it’s romantic music, but it also kind of just belongs in a Microsoft commercial.
Nina Parker Yeah, I mean, I kind of feel like the machine interrupted him.
Louis Virtel YAH!
Nina Parker When he was at his peak, and which the industry will do to you, right, where if something is working, they want you to drill it into the ground.
Speaker 3 Yeah, right.
Nina Parker Like we only want you if you do this thing. So I think that that maybe the music industry did that to Bruno a little bit where it’s like, this is working, keep doing this.
Louis Virtel And also he plays the game well like he makes me I would compare it Maybe to like pink or something where there was like a roughness to pink when she started No, that’s still actually when you watch an interview with pink. It’s still a little bit like I’m positive You can beat me up, but you know as you know, she became more famous. They just became normal pop songs. Yeah
Nina Parker Yeah, exactly and there’s you know, and again pink is also one of those people where people love her music, but they like her
Louis Virtel Yes. I just-
Nina Parker I just feel like ultimately this industry is built on people just wanting to like you and you know, like if they like you Like, if they like you.
Louis Virtel Unthreatening. Yeah. Yeah. Like if they…
Nina Parker Yeah, like if they like you I’m surprised Bruno hasn’t done more of things like being on The Voice.
Louis Virtel Yeah, though that said, are you familiar with the song Fat, Juicy, and Wet? Yeah, very much. Because guess what gets played in my car still to this day? First of all, what are we doing with Sexy Red? Because it’s not enough. No, no, yes it is. Okay. Yes it is
Nina Parker Oh, she’s been performing in Mar-a-Lago, she can go. Oh, did she? Yes, she did. Oh, She can get her ass out of here. But I’m Lewis, and I like sexy rap. Mm-mm, no, baby, mm-mm. No more Norma Bootyhoe talk.
Louis Virtel I already excused Taylor Dane, because I said, I was like, all right, it’s not Pride season, you need to make money, go ahead and go to Mar-a-Lago. Sexy Red, no! Yeah, and like, hitting up weddings. Yeah, she’s where she deserves to be. God damn it, because when she said Coochie Water autographs signed Sexy red, I was, like, give me the quill, I wanna-
Nina Parker You know, I gotta be honest with you though. I knew a lot of sexy reds growing up. I’ve had my fill. I’m good. I’m Good. Excuse me? There’s multiple? Yes!
Louis Virtel Okay. Depending on where you at. Alright.
Nina Parker I’m good
Louis Virtel Who do you think is the best sexy rut of all time? Is it Lil Kim? That was insulting.
Nina Parker How dare you? Let me get my shit. Now, please, I mean, Little Kim. Yeah, Little Kym is probably my favorite. I mean again, one of those people where I feel like I grew up, like, you know, she was just so empowering. So yeah, and Little Kim to me, like, to me Sexy Red tries to be like a garbage pail kid.
Louis Virtel Yeah, yeah, okay
Nina Parker You know? Like, she just tries to be nasty. But Little Kim was like… Lived it. Like, this is like, I’m nasty, but I did this, and it’s not just, like, talking about body odor. Like, you know what I mean? Like…
Louis Virtel No, wait, the album Hardcore has a lot going on. That’s not just that. Yes, yes. That’s not just that. Yes, yes. Right, right.
Nina Parker She’s talking about sexually explicit stuff, but it’s not to the point where we’re talking about what’s coming out of it.
Louis Virtel You’re sort of saying sex you read as the Lisa Lampanelli of music, you know, just dirty for dirty’s sake. Just dirty, girl.
Nina Parker It’s just too much for me. You know, and I rarely, like, kind of cringe and grab my pearls, but every now and then I’m like, sexy red, like please. So I’m happy to, you know, retire her from my…
Louis Virtel But speaking of sexy, is Bruno Mars sexy?
Nina Parker To ME?
Louis Virtel Okay.
Nina Parker No, because I could put him in my pocket!
Louis Virtel No, he’s one-nine. He’s a Fisher-Price Little Superstar.
Nina Parker I feel like I would put him on my hip while we was grocery shopping.
Louis Virtel You know? He’s sort of like if Richard Simmons had a Stefan Rakel. Yes. Like he comes in the machine, comes out, and he goes…
Nina Parker That is
Louis Virtel very specific.
Nina Parker Actually, I quite agree.
Louis Virtel I think he would look cute in the shorts, too.
Nina Parker I don’t think he’s unattractive. He’s a very attractive man.
Louis Virtel No, you look gorgeous. Gorgeous. Talk about skin care.
Nina Parker But also, just like you said, a rascal. Just a little rascal, you know? I put him on pendant on my necklace and walk around with him. You know, it’s just, no.
Louis Virtel It’s just interesting though, because I would say, you know, when Prince performed short person athletic movements, it was sexier somehow.
Nina Parker It was. Listen, I have never been attracted to a man in platforms like I was to Prince. Right. There was something about Prince that attracted every damn potty. Everybody loved and wanted Prince.
Louis Virtel I think also because it was very confusing because Bruno Mars to me just reads like a straight person whereas Prince to me Could be attracted to anyone or anything. Yeah, even though he also had both Homophobic energy. Yeah and gay energy. So maybe it was just the mystery of him It was the mystery. You know who the Prince is for gay Disney adults who are 34 years old Hilary Duff. Yes. She has a new album out. What are your feelings on Hilary? Because my feeling about who she is as a person, her career, like coming from Lizzie McGuire, et cetera. I am exactly one year too old to have gotten on the Hilary. There are certain people where I just missed, like for instance, the concept of Pokemon is for people one and a half years younger than me and downward.
Nina Parker That one year is actually a huge difference because it’s like this maturity point where you’re like, I’m too old for this, even though you’re 16 and everybody into it is 14. But it makes a big difference because you ignore it. So the same for me, but I liked her. I never disliked Hilary Duff, but I will say with this Ashley Tisdale mess.
Louis Virtel Oh yes. I became a stan, I’m a stan. Well also it feels like Ashley Tisdale just played whatever is going on in this mom group, totally wrong. Yes. Also Mandy Moore is in this group and if you’ve never met the girl, Saint. Yes. The girl is cool. Yeah. Liberal and no nonsense. Right. Has been through it in the industry and got a TV show that really happened for her. So I have to pick her side. Yeah.
Nina Parker Yeah, I was here for, you know, I have to say the way Hillary and her husband kind of came and tore down, I respect somebody who tears the buildings down. Oh yeah. Who’s like, I’m not, this is how I feel. I’m not standing down from how I fell. So after that, I was like, let me go on ahead and listen to this album. Because I love how she was moving.
Louis Virtel I loved it. What do you think of this actual album? Cause by the way, at least the Queens community, gay men are fucking all over this and snatching up this album. It did really well in its first week of sales. There’s no way this woman isn’t headlining WeHo Pride. I’m telling you, kick Tinashe off the stage now. I’m positive it’s gonna be Hilary Duff.
Nina Parker I think this is her, you know what I think people, they peak and then they ebb and flow, right? And I think she is in her flow right now. And again, someone who I think is gonna do, music is gonna to do well digitally on TikToks and all that stuff, but I like it. I think has a few bops. You know what? I mean, is it like gonna be something that’s iconic for me? Probably not. But I like and it was better than I expected, honestly.
Louis Virtel Yeah. Well, also, it’s like the lyrics are, I don’t want to say deeper, but they have a kind of sardonic edge. You know, it’ not just, you know, a pop song like Come Clean, like the old shit she did. What surprised me, listening even just one song in, I was like, this sounds exactly like Carly Rae Jepsen. It’s exact. And then the album kept going on. I was, like, Carly Ray Jepson again. And by the way, I love a Carly Rage Epson album. I love her. And then I realized Hilary Duff’s husband, who worked on the album, was instrumental in making Carly Rage Jepsons first album Kiss, which is one of my 10 favorite albums. Yes, but like literally the combination of nice girl whimsy mixed with a sort of sarcastic edge is the Carly Rae Jepsen standard and I think she’s adopting it really well here.
Nina Parker Yeah. Yeah. I think like, you know, there are certain people who find their groove. Yeah. I’m going to say something a little controversial. Please. Please don’t hate me. Everybody’s looking at me. I’m gonna say this. I hope I don’t sound ridiculous. I like a little Addison Ra-
Louis Virtel Oh, me too. We’ve talked about that album a lot. It’s good.
Nina Parker I know she can’t probably really sing in real life.
Louis Virtel Let her be like a fun hologram, please.
Nina Parker Please, I’m gonna listen to it every time I get ready. I’m doing my eyebrows. I’m putting on that Pepsi song. Like it’s, you know, this is where I’m like, this is for the kids. So I don’t really think anybody cares about my opinion about Addison Rae, but I know she’s kind of like, people feel like she’s manufactured and she’s not really kind of mid-talented. I actually agree with that, but whatever they manufacture is kind of a boppy.
Louis Virtel I would say almost every song on the Addison Rae album is great. I love the New York song. I love Headphones On. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She got some bops. Yeah. You know. And even what she’s doing, again, it’s not like she’s a belter or anything, but like there’s a whispery sensuality that has something in it. It’s that whispery Aaliyah. Well, oops, shouldn’t have said that. Now, you said the quiet part. You said something.
Nina Parker I just mean, I don’t mean comparison, obviously. I’m not comparing them, but I’m just saying there’s a range of singers that are more whispery that we listen to the beat in the, like this is, it’s not just gonna be the voice that makes them popular, right?
Louis Virtel Actually, I don’t think Aaliyah is a bad comparison. Like, I’m thinking of, like, Rock the Boat, and, like there’s, like that kind of energy. It’s a vibe. Vibe is exactly it. Vibe music, right? It’s a vibe. Yeah, yeah. Vibe is exactly. Vibe music, right?
Nina Parker And I’m a big person on vibe music because I’m mood music person. So as much as I respect a belter, I don’t want to listen to a belters when I’m doing shots and smoking a joint before I go out.
Louis Virtel Oh please
Nina Parker I need somebody whimsical and vibey.
Louis Virtel I’m almost, I’m almost anti belting, almost. You’re anti-belting. Well, if you’re Whitney Houston and you speak in belt and it’s organic to who you are as a person, love it. Mariah, etc.
Nina Parker It can be annoying if they think they’re a belter, but they’re not.
Louis Virtel Yeah, well, and also it’s like I think the best part of a musical performance is the acting within it Do I believe the sentiment you’re delivering and if it’s just about? Disconnected from like the shall we say intention of the song I can hear that I don’t want to listen to a ninth-place American Idol contestant You know that’s that’s what Whitney had such a boom in her natural voice that it was basically like she was talking to you
Nina Parker Yeah, and also Whitney had such an opportunity, she could do everything. You know, she could like do fun little, it’s not right. Yeah. And she’s not belting them, but it was still like, she knew music enough to know what was gonna be a bop. And I’m not always looking for a hit. I just want something, I just like what I like. I like what sings to me personally and puts me in a good mood to do something. That’s what I’m looking for. But…
Louis Virtel But by the way, you nailed something when you talked about vibe, because I would say like a lot of the songs in this Hilary Duff album don’t particularly stand out, but as a cohesive album, you want to listen to it in a row. So there’s a different kind of success model that isn’t just you had a bunch of good pop songs in a road, which I think is the problem with the Bruno Mars album, because it’s just a bunch standalone songs that don’t really have anything to do with each other.
Nina Parker It’s not a story.
Louis Virtel Except some sort of Spanish styling that he added to the album. But yeah, I needed like a curated vibe. Any good party has a curated vibes.
Nina Parker Especially at my age, I need a vibe to like get into what I’m doing. Like, okay, this is what Ima do while I make my charcuterie board.
Louis Virtel Do you make a charcuterie board? I absolutely do. It’s my favorite thing. That’s the closest thing to cooking I will ever do. I’ve not done it, but I am envious of the art in it.
Nina Parker Oh my gosh, it’s the best thing. It’s my dinner. You know, when they talk about girl dinners, please.
Louis Virtel Do you have the nuts too?
Nina Parker The nuts, the honey, a little spicy honey sometimes.
Louis Virtel The Jam?
Nina Parker Little jam.
Louis Virtel Yeah. Little prosciutto? Is it bread and crackers?
Nina Parker Never bread. Oh, interesting. Oh no, I never do bread. All right. Crackers only. Okay, got it. Yeah, I don’t have time. I’m not making a sandwich.
Louis Virtel You know that crackers is my favorite food. Really? Yeah. What kind? Water crackers? Lots. But did you know that Wheat Thins once sent me a mug that said number one Wheat Thins fan? Get on my level. What? You’ll never be me.
Nina Parker But you like a wheat then.
Louis Virtel 100%. That’s different than charcuterie. Right, because I was like.
Nina Parker Right. Because I was like, I would never put a, you know, as much respect to wheat thens. But you know what? I love that sun-dried tomato wheat then, please.
Louis Virtel Oh, please.
Nina Parker Sun-dried tomato wheat there with a little…
Louis Virtel And you know they dry them in the sun. First of all, they’re wet. And they take them out there. It’s still Sandy Duncan. She takes them out in her bushel. And she begs the sun to dry the wheat then. To dry the Wheat Thin.
Nina Parker You can pry my sun-dried tomato Wheat Thin out by cold, dead hands, OK? Out of the farmhand’s hands. Because he’s the one taking them out there. You’ve never had that in a little sparkling water on a Saturday. You ain’t been living.
Louis Virtel But by the way, to bring this back essay wise.
Nina Parker Yes! You know, just a little something. That’s what it is. It’s not a meal. Yeah. You’re not going to get a meal, but you know what? That’s okay. I think now I can look at things and appreciate them for what they are instead of trying to make them something they’re not. Yeah. Like, I think everybody thinks that when we think about talent, which there are a lot of talent to people without a record deal that we don’t know, right? Yeah. You can hear that in any subway station, but sometimes a little appetizer of a singer is okay.
Louis Virtel Oh, yeah. No, I have to say my friend Lauren Nyberg once said to me when a bunch of us were debating Taylor Swift during some heated Taylor Swift moment, she just goes, man, people really take her seriously. And I was like, that’s sort of the right take. Like, why is this the world’s most important thing? Like, she kind of is a morsel of a singer songwriter. There are some good songs. And it’s, you know, inoffensive, generally Speaking, you know?
Nina Parker I think we have to embrace the fact that the music industry has evolved past, I think when we were growing, the 50s and the 60s, and you know, music was intertwined in civil rights. So it was really important. Now, music is silly as hell. And if you look at it like that, then you’re less offended when things happen because it’s not, it’s a very unserious industry. All this entertainment shit is very unserius right now. So you got to kind of look at it like this is not meant to be, You know, a whole think piece. Like, she’s just singing about rainbows and unicorns.
Louis Virtel Yes, right. And I believe she knows about those.
Nina Parker And it’s also okay for it not to be for you without it being a bad thing.
Louis Virtel Yes, I get a little obsessive when people are like, you know, you say you don’t like an album, they’re like, well, it’s not for you. I’m like, honestly, most music is for me. So maybe they should have just made it better, yeah. You get offended when they say it’s for you? Yeah, sometimes. Yeah, I mean, like I know when I’m out of my depth, but like, don’t tell me because it’s like a lady singer or something, well it’s got for you, it’s just like, excuse me, all I do is listen to them.
Nina Parker A male vocalist. Right, right, right. That’s true. That’s very true.
Louis Virtel Up next we have our interview with the delightful and fabulous Stellan Skarsgård, star of the new movie Sentimental Value, for which he is nominated for an Academy Award. He is beaming in from a place that has a little bit of creaks and cricks going on in the background. Just forgive it and enjoy the Scandinavian atmosphere. We’ll be right back.
Louis Virtel [AD].
Louis Virtel I’m thrilled to welcome my next guest, whose career includes classic after classic among on the Von Trier collaborations, Breaking the Waves, we’ll get into that, and Dancer in the Dark. He’s also captivated audiences in recent roles on Chernobyl, Andor, and the Dune films. He won the Golden Globe for best supporting actor in a drama for his most recent film, Sentimental Value. And if I have it my way, he’ll win the Oscar too. He’s nominated in the same category there. Please welcome to keep it, Stellan Skarsgård.
Stellan Skarsgård Hello. Thank you.
Louis Virtel I was just marveling of course at your filmography and everything that you do. And the first thing I re-watched of yours recently was your cameo on Saturday Night Live with your son Alexander. And I have to say, you really belonged there. Like your delivery was exactly right for SNL. Thank you. How did you feel in that environment?
Stellan Skarsgård I felt very, very good, but I mean, I did not know what I was doing. Everything went so fast and you’re ill-prepared and everything just goes, you wing it. And it was great fun. It was fun to see Alexander handling it so good.
Louis Virtel In the particular sketch, you were in a couple, but the main one was sort of lampooning, I think, what Americans think of Scandinavian films. What do you, in general, think of what we think of that kind of cinema? Does it feel one-dimensional or two-dimensional to you, or is it at all accurate? What do think?
Stellan Skarsgård No, it’s not. I mean, of course it’s a is not accurate. National traits are not as obvious as that, usually. But they, of course, since the Bergman days, the Bergmann films, they think that Swedish films are, Scandinavian films are you take a long pause between each sentence and nod. Is it all between the lines? And there’s usually nothing between the lines. But in this particular film, it is actually something between the lines and if you… If you’ve seen it, it’s fun to watch because there’s a lot of silences, but there’s happening a ton of things in the silences.
Louis Virtel I want to get to sentimental value in a moment, but you actually just brought up Bergman and in one of your breakout roles in The Simple-Minded Murderer, Bergman himself was a huge fan of that movie. And I was wondering at that crucial part of your career, someone like that stepping in and noticing the movie. I mean, does that change the trajectory of your life? Because I just think of that filmmaker in particular as so instrumental, particularly in the movies of Joakim Dreher.
Stellan Skarsgård Actually, I didn’t know that Bergman liked the film. Oh, yes, he did. Yeah, thank you. It’s a bit late now, but still, I really enjoy it. But of course, Bergman was incredibly powerful at the time, and he decided who could make films and who could not make films in Sweden at the times. So it’s good that he appreciated it. When you’ve done films for 50 years or 60 years, as I have, each film doesn’t really… Change your life. It’s the sum of everything that sort of makes a career or breaks a career.
Louis Virtel I think one of my favorite things about sentimental value is, although it’s about a family and the dynamic they’re in, it’s also about your specific relationships to three different people. The two people who play your daughters who are fabulous and this actress who comes into your life. And I was wondering, in fashioning this movie, do you have to forge specific relationships with these actors ahead of time in order to capture this depth you get on screen?
Stellan Skarsgård Not really. I mean, actors are really good at creating really intimate relationships in no time at all. They can undress in front of each other after 15 seconds and then forget each other in 20 seconds. So they are very fickle. But of course, I had different kinds of relationships with all three of them because they’re different personalities. But that’s more my personal relationships. But, but, but… The thing that makes the intimacy so visible in this film is that we came to play in the same key in a way. We have different experiences, but Joachim brought us down to the basics, to the ground where we did not have any tools anymore. We didn’t have any sort of tricks or anything. He took away all that stuff. So we were naked in front of each other in that sense.
Louis Virtel Do you have a favorite unexpected moment of intimacy in this film? Like something you couldn’t have kind of premeditated with skill and talent ahead of time that kind of comes out on camera?
Stellan Skarsgård Well, I definitely, the very last scene, which is almost a happy ending, but it’s only almost a Happy Ending. And at that moment, we took it as the last thing, we shot it as a last thing after three months of shooting. And so we had the entire film as a, now a memory bank, so to say. But… We knew it was very difficult to find that tone exactly, to find the expression exactly, but we nailed it immediately. And that was amazing. And we just look at each other for maybe 15 seconds and we look away and we smile. And that means that what you first, You were surprised when you were making it. And I was surprised, even if I was 15 meters away from Renate Reinsveld, the lead in the film, I saw in her eyes that something had happened to her. Something had happened me too. And then it creates this beautiful ending, which is almost a happy ending, because it’s only almost. They try the entire film to reach each other in different ways, and it doesn’t succeed. Because a lot of trauma stuff. But this, in the very end, there’s a hope for reconciliation, there’s hope for forgiveness. It’s not as easy as it is in more simple films that they hug each other and everything’s good forever.
Louis Virtel Now, if people haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a guy who’s a well-known filmmaker. And earlier in his life, he had cast one of his daughters to play a crucial role in one of these movies. And now later in his live, he’s trying to cast the other daughter who has since become an acclaimed actress to play this role, but because their relationship is rocky, she doesn’t want to step into it. And at the end of this movie, the lines between art and real life are- are blurred and then like Anyway, it’s the best ending of a movie I have seen this year and I think it also just it’s like you come out of this movie that there’s there’s lingering tension that you kind Of don’t know what what the movie is gonna do with and then it turns out This movie understands these characters and this world even better than we do. It’s like if you realize the movie a smarter than you
Stellan Skarsgård Yeah, that’s always funny.
Louis Virtel But I also want to talk about the actress who plays your other daughter, Inga, is daughter Lilius, who is just, I had never seen before and is immediately captivating. And I want to compare her to you because both of you in this movie, there are times where I was wondering, did you rehearse just how you would look or how you will react in certain scenes? Because the thing that sticks with me the most about this movie is just the looks on your face that illustrate everything that just happened. And is that the kind of thing that can be directed? Or how do you get to these moments where your face says everything?
Stellan Skarsgård It is to be in the situation. It’s not sort of that you, oh, I’ll look over there and then I look over there and I nod and then smile and stuff like that. It’s it’s not technical in that sense. So every take is different in a way. And every take is new. And the rhythm of the take is also new because you produce constantly real life through your face. And it’s visible and it’s readable. And it depends on how you react to the situation. And if you do two takes, you might react differently. Somebody does something to you and somebody does something too to the scene. To me, acting is more reacting than producing expressions yourself. I mean, it’s actually you see me reacting to my fellow actors. And that’s the fun part because they surprise you and you surprise yourself.
Louis Virtel I want to say additionally, this movie is kind of about acting. You know, we’re learning about the skills of both your daughters, but really the Renata Rhynes of a character. And I was wondering, what are your favorite movies about acting? Are there any movies you’ve watched that you look back and think, oh, this actually says something true about what I do or the craziness of the profession or about being an actor?
Stellan Skarsgård No, not really. I can’t even describe it myself. I mean, it’s such an elusive profession. You don’t know what it is. You try to invent sort of methods to make it understandable, even form it in words. But you can’t, because it’s like all art. It’s like music. You can’t say what it’s in music that makes you cry. It is something. It something magical. And The same thing goes for paintings. And the same thing goes for acting. You don’t know what it is. The very magic of it, you don’t what it. But of course you can say, oh, he looks angry now, or he looks happy.
Louis Virtel I’ve seen you also say that like, I don’t know if it makes you laugh, that actors try to describe actors as an intellectual exercise. But the fact of the matter is like, amateurs can be just as good as professional actors or just as beguiling, I guess. Do you ever miss anything about being an amateur actor?
Stellan Skarsgård I constantly miss it in a way, but I work hard to become an amateur actor all the time. I sort of forget my skills and forget my tools. There was a Swedish director who once said to me, I know you know how to do this, but i don’t want to see your fucking tools. I want you to be as good as the amateurs that I have in this film. And I understood exactly what he It has to have that freshness, that sort of, you can’t plan life, you know? And to create life, you can’t plan it. So you can create the circumstances that makes it possible to get there, to have the freedom to express it, but you can plan it because life is totally irrational.
Louis Virtel I would say it reminds me a little bit of poker or something. When you watch like people, like professional poker players deal with somebody who’s new on the circuit, like they can’t read the usual tells or they don’t have like a playbook to go by. So like some other math has to come into play in order for it to make sense to them.
Stellan Skarsgård That’s good, I never thought of that, that’s good.
Louis Virtel Just the other day at the SAG Awards, Jessie Buckley, while accepting her award, toasted the great Emily Watson, who you’ve gotten to work with a number of times, but specifically in Breaking the Waves, which is a singular, unforgettable movie, both because of you and because of her. I was just wondering, could you talk about just her as an actress? Because I feel like there’s something about her, and she was just great in Hamnet, and she’s had wonderful roles, including on Chernobyl, which you were on. I can’t compare her to other people, actually. And I was wondering what you just think of what she brings on the screen.
Stellan Skarsgård She’s a unique voice in a way. And she was, Breaking the Waste was her first film and she did that role and it was extremely courageous because it comes from a religious home. And she said yes to a film where she was often naked, had sex scenes with a middle-aged Swede and was directed by a middle aged Dane and it wasn’t that she hadn’t heard of. So, she was very courageous, but the most courageous thing she did was to let go of everything in front of the camera and to be there and naively in a way watch the world and absorb it and react to it. She did it perfectly. She asked me for one, for an advice, and I said, don’t plan your acting. It’s not going to work. Just go for it. And she did, but everything she does has this kind of dreamy quality that makes her mesmerizing.
Louis Virtel That is exactly it. There’s something that’s like very real about her and then also kind of touched in another universe and there’s some like inner play there that makes it particularly interesting. I can’t really compare that to anybody, but you’ve now been in many Lars von Trier movies. My question about his movies is, how often are you in a movie of his and then what you see on the screen afterwards actually resembles what you thought you were making? Because he takes you such crazy places and the directing seems so spontaneous. That if I were an actor in a movie, I don’t know that I would be sure what he actually captured.
Stellan Skarsgård No, but there comes the not-so-amateur Stellanen. I know what he captures. And he thinks I’m sort of, I’m totally oblivious of where the camera is and stuff, but I know where the cameras is all the time. But I don’t use it until I want to use it. So I look like I don’t know because I can’t sort of pretend it’s not there. To me, the camera, it’s a coworker. It’s another actor. It’s a part of the scene. And I feel if the camera is out of rhythm, I feel that if he’s not moving in the way it should move in the scene and stuff like that. But that is too much experience.
Louis Virtel Do you have a proudest moment working with them?
Stellan Skarsgård It’s not very hard to work with him. He’s so funny, intelligent and lovely during the shoot and he leaves you with total freedom and everybody’s laughing and everybody is having fun even if you do horrible stuff. But the good thing I think is, I don’t feel any responsibility and I can’t have responsibility. I don’t have any responsibility for the film. I can do whatever I want. He will use the best things, and he will make something out of it. And when he’s pleased, I’m pleased, you know? Because I cannot sort of come and say, well, you shouldn’t do like that, you can’t cut like that. You can’t have any looking at the camera left and then camera right, you now? It doesn’t work. You can say that to him because he does what he wants and he knows what he’s doing. So I let him do his film.
Louis Virtel Looking back at your filmography as I said like the versatility is absolutely wild You seem to belong in every particular environment though I am of course fascinated with you talking about the discomfort in making a Mamma Mia movie first of all the music of ABBA Is its own particular? Resting energy. I mean like you’re either tuned into that like power pop vibe or you’re not but secondly that incredible company do you have a Favorite moment where it sort of came together on set and you felt like, you know, now I’m a musical star in a movie and it’s making sense to me.
Stellan Skarsgård As a musical star, it never made sense to me really, but it made sense to me was when I showed my butt in the first film, but that is more my kind of film. We were rehearsing dancing scenes forever. We were, we were rehearsed in Vaux-le-Vous, a dance to Vaux le-Vou for a month and a half every day. And I still couldn’t do it. And they cut it out. But what gets to you there is hearing Volevoo, even when you wake up in the middle of the night, you know, and hear Volevoo. So I couldn’t listen to those songs right afterwards, but it was a fantastic experience. And it was also a learning thing because it’s the most light and direct communication I’ve ever had with the audience. Because of the type of film it was. It’s not a film, really, it’s a party. His communication is very direct and very basic and you don’t need your usual sort of analysis of the role. You can’t care about, what is his background story? What is that? Well, why is he doing like that? I mean, you just don’t talk about it. Just have fun. And I understood more about what is. Contagious, it’s contagious how fun we have to the audience. And that was the important thing. And that is expressed through faces and body language and everything. And people recognize it and become a part of it without wanting to or knowing about it. It’s an animal language in a way. It’s like dogs, ah, that dog is happy, I’m happy.
Louis Virtel My last question is, two of your sons recently just had movies come out. Bill Skarsgard was just on the show talking about Dead Man’s Wire, but also Alexander was in Pillion, which was fabulous. I saw you talking about that movie with him a little bit on that Actors and Actors chat, but I was wondering what you thought of those two movies and their performances therein.
Stellan Skarsgård Oh, they’re great. Both of them are great. And they’re very good movies. Pillion is sweet and lovely romantic comedy, in a way. And Dead Man’s Wire is Gus Van Sant and it’s like a 70s movie and it makes you feel at home.
Louis Virtel I hadn’t seen a movie that actually felt like the 70s and so long. It made me miss like the drabness of it, just like the facial hair, the outfits, et cetera. Before I let you go, what has been your favorite part of, you know, this long awards season? Have you gotten to meet anybody new that you otherwise wouldn’t have met or discussing this film in particular, which by the way is a lot of fun to discuss. It feels like a great book or something. Reminds me of being in English class. You just keep talking about it.
Stellan Skarsgård Yeah, you can keep talking about it. And that is one of the best experiences of this long campaign. But also meeting the audience. And the audience, you get such a variation of reactions, but so much total abandonment and love from everybody, from a 13-year-old to a 75-year old, because it touches on things that are universal. That are common for all languages and people, countries and ages. So it’s been a very special experience in that sense. Otherwise, it’s a lot of work and I’m happy that it’s over in a week or two.
Louis Virtel Well, I hope it ends with you with an Oscar because you are the supporting performance of the year. It is such a fabulous performance. You can’t get it off your mind. It’s that, that good. So happy for this movie. Thank you so much for being here and for sharing all your stories. Much appreciated.
Stellan Skarsgård Thank you very much and I hope to see you again.
Louis Virtel Thank you to Stellan Skarsgard. Sentimental Value is in select theaters and on demand right now. And you better watch it. We’ll be right back.
Louis Virtel [AD].
Louis Virtel And we’re back with the meanest part of the episode, it’s Keep It. Nina Parker, you look, first of all, you just snarled.
Nina Parker I know, I’m thinking about it. I’m getting upset.
Louis Virtel Okay, hit me, what are we looking at?
Nina Parker Keep your apologies, Bapta. Oh, oh my god. Get your ass out of here.
Louis Virtel We haven’t talked about this yet.
Nina Parker All late and shit, please keep it. You know my thing is this, you not sorry. First of all, you’re not sorry
Louis Virtel Let’s get into what actually happened, first of all. So at the BAFTAs, Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were on stage and there is a movie this year about someone with Tourette’s, a real life person who was in the audience. That person had a Tourettes-esque outburst. This happened to be the N-word. And you could hear it on camera and even though it was from the audience and I believe they were on a delay, they didn’t bleep it. Like we could hear at home.
Nina Parker Yes. Intentional. Yeah. I mean, and when you find out that they bleeped other things, but chose to keep this in, I am just really over people not seeing humanity and how black people need to be treated. And now at this point, just keep it how you got it and don’t be mad every time I crash out. I am going to meet the energy crazy every time. And I’m going to say something crazy every time because if people don’t want to be sorry, I won’t be sorry either. I am, I am kind of at a point where I’m fed up with the bullshit. And I feel like even with this apology that they’ve released, like a week late, they still are talking in the apology. It should just be the apology to black people instead. They’re still, they infiltrated the apology, explaining what, like, you know, almost like mansplaining Tourette’s in that apology. And- and- To me, there were two different things that happened, right? The incident happened, but also you need to talk about the fact that you didn’t feel like there was not a personal apology to Delroy Lindo and to Michael B. Jordan in the moment. And also the fact that when you didn’t bleep this out, you need to tell us why. And just instead of saying, oh, we just, we kind of over- because the reason that you did not do it is because you did see humanity in these people or the people who watch them or support them. You did not feel like it was a priority. And that is a problem. And so for me, I don’t want, I honestly, I don’t want no more apologies from nobody. Do what you gonna do. I’m I’m here for you being blatantly racist in my face so we could just deal with that head up I don’t want no more to secret shit Like let’s just deal With it out front because by the way black folks know we know when people deal with us and when they don’t. It’s very, it’s like breathing air, you know. So I don’t, we don’t gotta play this game anymore, you know, as far as like for appearances. I think it’s over for those days. I think let’s just be out with it on the table and deal with that. But the whole like, oh, we just didn’t mean to, no, this was intentional. So I just, I don’t actually want an apology. I don’t want an apologies explanation because people are trying to, you now, make this. A through Z, but it’s just, it’s really one and one plus one equals two and it is exactly what you think it is.
Louis Virtel I think also the problem is, and Alan Cummings tried addressing it a little after the fact during the telecast, is that it was the weighting of the issues equally, you know, like he’s tried to say, people with Tourette’s do this thing, but then also it’s like, no, what we should have just talked about were the people on stage. Right! You know?
Nina Parker And to hear from Delroy, who, you know, the speech that he gave in centers when he was talking about his best friend being lynched in the movie, right? He talked about where he pulled that from when he did that, right. There’s so much significance of what this movie stands for and how they’re being treated during this award season. It is just all so correlated. And for me, that stuff is not far away. These are not things that happened hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And the fact that people can watch this movie and still just be blind to how things are operating is just beyond me. It is willful ignorance at this point. You just don’t wanna know. And then this is the thing, Black folks gonna thrive regardless. We gonna thrive, regardless. We gonna find it fun in it, regardless, we gonna make a joke about it, regardless. What people need to understand is like, it’s not that we need it. It’s not anything that we needed, but it’s something that should happen because it’s the right thing to do.
Louis Virtel I saw a video from New York Public Advocate Jomani Williams on this topic. He has Tourette’s himself. And I thought he was brilliant. If people want to get into this moment and like both the Tourettes of it and just the unbelievable, unthinkable-ness of this moment, he gets into all of that, so I really recommend that. Also, there’s almost like no going forward in this award season from that moment. I just, you know, it just sucks.
Nina Parker The thing that broke my heart really, aside from the incident happening, was watching Delroy and Michael B. Jordan’s faces. It’s a look I’ve had before that I recognized immediately and it broke my hear. However, I was so excited to see them celebrated so much at the NAACP Awards. They were so loved. And listen, there’s something to be said for the resilience of knowing how to push through things and congrats to Michael B Jordan on his sag win. So it’s onward and upward, but, you know, it definitely. I hate that just this whole thing happened.
Louis Virtel I also hate that the PJs were at the same time as the NAACP awards. Excuse me!
Nina Parker Or as they’re saying actually, NAACP, which that’s been a whole topic too. They’ve been saying NAACPs at the awards. Like they never said the double is gone.
Louis Virtel Oh wow! Someone had a meeting
Nina Parker So they don’t go by NAACP anymore, they go by N-A-A C-P.
Louis Virtel But I don’t know what to do with the NAACP.
Nina Parker But I don’t know why, but it was a very big topic of conversation when the awards were airing.
Louis Virtel Okay, very good. I will remember. Okay, my keep it, I was all angry about mine before. It’s significantly less important than this. But I just want to say, keep it to people who keep telling me that Kelly Osborne must be going through something terrible because of how she looks. And conversely, stop telling me that Lindsay Lohan is doing great because she looks great. The idea that someone went under the knife or something and that means their wellbeing is all satisfied or bad. Right. Stop guessing, you’re wrong. You don’t know anything about either of these people. Last time I checked in on Kelly Osborne, she was covering Papa Don’t Preach. It was pretty good. Not bad. And also obviously ever since Ozzy Osborne died, we’ve seen Sharon Osborne and Jack Osborne and Kelly Osbourne at various tributes. But like the way people look at a picture of somebody and decide they are quote unquote happy or quote unquote going through it or whatever, it’s like, these aren’t clues.
Nina Parker Right.
Louis Virtel And then sharing it online, it’s like, so not only do you think they look bad, you wanna make it worse and get your voice in there.
Nina Parker Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there’s a lot.
Louis Virtel This is a tricky one. These are both tricky ones.
Nina Parker Yeah, because it’s, you know, I am just of the belief of like, I don’t talk about people’s appearances, you, know, like, I do talk about their actions, but it’s a hard thing to talk, you just don’t know, we just don’t know what’s going on unless they say, like she said on her Instagram later, you now, I’m dealing with the worst grief of my life. So she’s kind of giving it a clue, you to like, she’s just kind of grieving, but she’s not saying she has a health issue.
Louis Virtel Yeah, right, right.
Nina Parker But either way, nobody really owes us an explanation to what they’re going through either.
Louis Virtel Right. It’s a part of the parasocial problem. You know, it’s like, well, we do know them differently than we once did because of social media, but I still think we’re making lots of leaps that make no sense.
Nina Parker It’s also okay to just have these discussions in your group chat.
Louis Virtel The amount of times this is the answer. It’s just like, what if you kept that nasty joke maybe about whether someone should come out or not among your gay friends?
Nina Parker Listen, everybody gossips. We live in a world where people gonna gossip. That’s not gonna go away. But you don’t have to make like a whole post about it on your Instagram and ask people’s thoughts. Or I would be horrified if somebody put up a poll about what I was going through because I’m wearing my hair natural. You know what I’m like? You still.
Louis Virtel Yeah, right.
Nina Parker You know? And a lot of times, explanations are very stupid and dumb, right? Like, you’re like, oh, I just did this because of XYZ. So, I think I completely agree with you. There’s just no way of knowing, like, you know what I saw recently, this has nothing to do with an appearance, but you know, La Roche confirmed that Zendaya was married. Correct. And everybody is saying, like he shouldn’t have done this, and da-da-da, and then there’s people in the comments, like, I know how celebs work, and this was planted. And it’s like, none of y’all know what the hell is going on. We don’t know. We don’t know.
Louis Virtel Right. We don’t know. Good guesses. Just couch it in the form of guesses. Like, yeah.
Nina Parker Like, yes, you know how, okay, Maria, you know, how everything works in Tuscany. Like, please, girl, like, you don’t know what’s going on. Neither do we.
Louis Virtel No, the amount of times we project expert status on people because they, I don’t know, made a video about something, their deadlifts are amazing. When it’s like, you don’t have any fucking training in this.
Nina Parker Just cause you saw somebody on fashion bomb daily every day, doesn’t mean you know what’s going on, my love. Like we don’t know how people are moving. Do I think it was strategic? Absolutely. Yeah. You know, but, you know, that’s, but we really in this thing. So it’s like, we’re still making educated guess.
Louis Virtel Also, by the way though, if they really did get married, that is so impressive. How do you pull that off?
Nina Parker Oh my gosh, so impressive that nobody in the family said nothing?
Louis Virtel Right. Was there a witness? No, like, nobody.
Nina Parker NOBODY SAID NOTHING!
Louis Virtel Were they wearing a Spidey suit?
Nina Parker Aw man, that’s the one celeb wedding I would want eyes on.
Louis Virtel Oh, yeah.
Nina Parker Cause did you see him with our family in Oakland?
Louis Virtel No! Please! What happened? Ha!
Nina Parker Her family is very Oakland. Okay. Okay. And by that I mean black.
Louis Virtel I’m there. Yes.
Nina Parker Okay, Zendaya’s from the Bay Area like me, and she, like a year ago, had him at like a family function and the cousin, it wasn’t him or her, her cousin was filming the whole thing and she left him for the wolves. She wasn’t with him. You know, she wasn’t like introducing him and next to him, she left and that’s what you do. Yeah. You drop them off. Oh, please. See how they survive at the barbecue.
Louis Virtel Oh no, this isn’t a debutante ball. You don’t have to, like, walk in through- If I take you with me!
Nina Parker If we become better friends and I take you to the barbecue, I’m leaving you. You got to fit for yourself. I want to see you over there talking to my auntie about recipe.
Louis Virtel Well, I got news for you. I don’t want to be a sociopath. I’m gonna win over your auntie.
Nina Parker And you will, because it’s authentic, because you don’t need a crutch. Oh, no, no. You don’t the crutch, that’s how I knew he was the man for her, because he’s over there talking to her cousins, and they in his face, and he dealt with it so well. So, you know, they’re going to be all right.
Louis Virtel Okay, good. No, I’m encouraged by that.
Nina Parker And I think you and my auntie will get along just fine.
Louis Virtel By the way, that’s a total litmus test for me. If you can’t like meet somebody’s relatives and absolutely like own the moment or whatever. But also I do have the like added like energy vibe of I know every old reference. So I have my tricks.
Nina Parker Well, some, right? Because then you’re going to meet these old ladies who have a whole life that you didn’t know about. And it’s just fun to hear, you know, their stories. You know what I mean? It’s going to be a learning process for everybody.
Louis Virtel Well, also, I just realized that sometimes when people socialize, I guess they’re just not interested in everybody. Whereas, like, when I meet people, I’m like, I can get it, let me dial in. We’re over time, because we just yapping. I know. Please put us in a party and watch us working. No, you have to physically take us out of this room to stop this.
Nina Parker Somebody needs to actually come in here and take my mic because I will talk to you all day.
Louis Virtel No, we need to be candy-craned out.
Nina Parker I need stop times and start times, because I will yap all day. That’s why I do so well on threads. I just be talking to myself.
Louis Virtel No, please. Please, thank you, and we’re richer for it. Nina Parker, in case people the past few times you’ve been on the show didn’t have a pen and they weren’t writing down where they could find you.
Nina Parker I didn’t have a p-
Louis Virtel Okay, we’re going to give them a moment to get a pen. Get a pen, please. They have the pen now. Get a pin. Yeah. They could only find a marker, but they have a marker. This is for a specific crowd, by the way. Yes, right.
Nina Parker Our Gen Z is using pants.
Louis Virtel Yes right. It’s next to the answering machine. Where can they find you?
Nina Parker The Nina Parker on all platforms.
Louis Virtel Okay, thank you once again for being here. And thank you for joining us. We accidentally covered every topic today. There’s none left. Is anything solved? We tried to solve it anyway. We’ll see you then on Keep It. Don’t forget to follow Crooked Media on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. You can also subscribe to Keep It on YouTube for access to full episodes and other exclusive content. And if you’re as opinionated as we are, consider dropping us a review. Keep It is a Crooked Media production. Our producer is Bill McGrath and our executive producers are Louis Virtel, Ira Madison III, and Kendra James. Our digital team is Delon Villanueva, Claudia Sheng, Rachel Gaewski, and Jay Banks. This episode was recorded and mixed by Jerik Centeno. Thank you to David Toles, Kyle Seglin, and Charlotte Landes. For production support every week. Our head of production is Matt DeGroot. Our production staff is proudly unionized with the Writers Guild of America East.
