 Welcome everybody. Good evening. I'm Mark up to grow the director of the lbj presidential library I am delighted to welcome you here tonight, and I'm delighted to share with you lbj a film by Rob Reiner, which is absolutely Sensational I had the pleasure of seeing it a couple of weeks ago And I'm confident that you'll enjoy it everybody every bit as much as I did This is a review from Variety that praises The film and one of the excerpts from the review reads when you watch a biopic The hero stands in on some level for all of us And maybe the movies are having an lbj moment currently because Johnson In his tug of war between complacency and idealism Racism and brotherly love Reflects something about a great many of us That spirit inside that makes us want to be better But only because we know deep down That we're not all we should be his evolution is A reflection of all of us What you're going to see in this film I think is I think a very fair Portrayal of Lyndon Johnson You'll watch the film and then Afterwards, I hope you'll stick around for a discussion that I'll moderate with Rob Reiner the director Joey Hearthstone the writer and Woody Harrelson the star and I have the Pleasure of introducing them now and I'll bring them out One at a time, but I'll start with the producer who won't be participating in the Conversation, but we are delighted that he's here Matthew George Matthew. Can you come out? Please welcome Joey Hearthstone the writer of the film the legendary Rob Reiner the director and The equally legendary Woody Harrelson who stars in the title role as lbj Gentlemen, thank you so much for being here tonight and again. Thank all of you Enjoy the film and we'll see you afterward Uh Matt George The reason he's not speaking is because he's from Australia And and and you say well, what would he know about lbj, but the fact is he knows more about american history than any of us So there you go. Well, we were backstage and and Woody said Where's lucy? Why is she not here? We didn't know what we want to know what she thinks that uh lucy was standing. So I think that's a good sign I Where is lucy? Lucy stood up. Yes, that's a good sign. That's a good sign Well, let's uh, congratulations gentlemen on a wonderful movie. Joey, let's start with you. Um, how did you write this? Why did you write this movie? Um, a few guys in la had an idea to do a movie about linden johnson and they just wanted it to be about Uh, this moment in time and I didn't know very much about him I knew a lot about the kennedys and the more I learned about johnson The more I realized that it was his humanity that really appealed to me and the kennedys were this Awesome untouchable force, but johnson had something that people could relate to or at least I could relate to And it made me want to tell the story of that character. How did you delve into this story? How did you learn about this? Very complex man started with the robert caro books and then read everything else I could and I just kept reading until I started to understand what was going to come next in every book and Then there are so many different variations of linden johnson in these books that Ultimately, you sort of have to pick and choose and decide who the man is or who your character is going to be And once I felt confident who that was I started writing Rob, uh, you are a child of the 60s And so many of us grew up Watching all the family and you played mike stivik and you would have been one of those guys outside the white house Yes with a picket sign. I was one of those I I wasn't I wasn't outside the white house, but I was of draft age during the vietnam war And I was against the war and we the country was divided and I had a certain um You know I was looking at linden johnson through my prism which was You know, I could be sent away to war and I could die and all of that And it took me a long time to mature And spend time Working in government and in politics and understanding public policy and how things are shaped and how things are moved to really appreciate What linden johnson was able to do and once I understood that Uh, it changed my perception completely of of who he was so that when The script came to me um, initially I thought, you know, I I I don't know if I can and what do you we we had what do you and I had the same discussions about it Which is what you know, how can we find the humanity in this guy because every You know thing that you read and all the books and all the Moving things that have been done. They're always this kind of two-dimensional character who is strong and he can twist arms and he gets what he wants and he's a great negotiator, but You know, I also read all the carol books and When I read this one biography by doris kerns goodwin, that's when I Really cut to understand more of who linden johnson was because he was Like everybody was very complex Person and had certain insecurities and I remember reading two things in that book That a lot more of his humanity came out in his I kind of give maybe it's because You know doris kerns goodwin worked with him and then she went down to the ranch and she worked on this biography But the one was the about this recurring dream that he had about being paralyzed He had seen as I guess it was his grandmother or you know in a wheelchair and he Would have this dream about not being able to move, you know, not being able to Go forward and then the other thing was about his relationship with his mother You know, which was also complex and not simple his mother loved him, but also wanted him to You know succeed in a certain way and I think he felt Insecure at times and feeling like he wasn't up to it or he wasn't pleasing her in some way So those are the two things that I took We know the historical stuff. We know what he was able to accomplish But the trick was to make him human and make him a full three round, you know, a full dimensional character And that's why I was really lucky when woody agreed to do it because Woody brings a lot of humanity brings warmth. He brings humor. He brings all of this, you know The sweetness and the strength all of those things and if we were going to make a movie about linden johnson to me what We want to make a more movie. That's about The total cat guy and even though it was a small sliver of time that we looked at If that doesn't emerge then then, you know, we're just doing a a documentary or we're just doing another You know a dry thing but but, you know, luckily woody agreed to do it and You know, it's the one of the most brilliant performances. I've ever seen. I mean, it's just Woody is a friend of the lbj Libraries he came down here to study the role last year. We had the great good fortune of getting to know him woody And I said he would so woody was on his way to new Orleans where the film was shot and you were nervous about it having and having rather this this character this very complex character, but you got it and And you got the subtleties of lbj How to talk about the process by which you got to know this character and have it him and convey him as you did Well, uh, first of all, I just wanted to say I'm so excited to be here. I I've now this is my fifth time to see this movie Am I cutting out a movie? I'm kind of cutting out Maybe I should do my theatrical diaphragm thing and just project without a mic, but You know, it was I just it's every time I've seen it. It's been an extraordinary thing saw it at You know in toronto and in zurich and in new Orleans And uh, also the first time I saw it was with rob and his office And that was terrifying and uh It was terrifying to me too because I asked what he I said Are you one of these actors that doesn't like yourself on film? Because I was worried we're gonna just a two of us sitting in a room. I thought oh my god What if he just can't look at this and and he was you were nervous too You weren't really nervous, but then he liked it. Nice. Ah, good I didn't mess them up. But I'm just saying that like this to me was the most exciting thing to watch this year And especially with mark and everything that he did to you know Make this a reality for me and help me understand the the man and the myth a little better and uh Just the fact that lucy is here is uh, I cannot tell you how exciting that is I mean, I'm dying to hear what she thought but I guess we'll wait until after I'm Done uh droning on just give us either this or this Even if it's this Oh my god, did everybody did everybody hear what she said? She's all right. She said she said I knew the man that you played tonight I recognized him And I loved him But then she whispered did you have to do the thing about the slacks? I All I could think of I mean, I've had two experiences Um showing a movie where I was nervous really nervous um this One time was we were doing when harry met sally a royal premier and princess die was sitting A two uh two billy crystal was here and then was princess die And I'm thinking oh here comes the orgasm scene Oh my god. Oh my god. What is she gonna do? And and she laughed and she turned to billy. She said I'd be laughing a lot more but people are looking at me And tonight I had the same feeling I was thinking I'm always thinking about is lucy and the certain things that you You know as her father did and I thought oh gee, I hope it's okay. That's all I could think of I was thinking that on the toilet I was gonna say There'll be plenty of time at dinner to talk about that joey. Let's go back to your dinner conversation Let's go back to your script your marvel script One of the things you get right. I think is is the very complicated relationship between lbj and the kennedys Which I think so many people I think have the perception as being monolithic Talk about that and how you understood better the relationship between lbj and jfk and rfk if I could just jump back real quick to your first question. Um There's a lot of process that goes into the script My guess is I don't know who the person is on this stage that you most want to hear from But I know who the last one is which is why I breeze through my answers as quickly as possible So you can hear from these two guys But actually the two guys in la who I didn't name by name not because I forgot them But because I wanted to get to them too because I like hearing from them are tim and trevor white And so these were the two producers who brought me this story and the script was actually developed by all three of us So I would I would write each draft give it to these two guys And they would come back with lots of incredible notes And that's how it went from being 120 pages that were all about linden to being a story about linden. So Um, obviously the kennedy men and johnson are a really big Focal point of this. I think the biggest surprise I had in researching it was I sort of thought that they hated each other that was kind of the The misunderstanding especially with with john kennedy There was a lot of respect and admiration between the two presidents and that made it more complex to write And then for me bobby kennedy has always been a hero of mine And rob and his wife like to give me some crap for that But bobby is someone I really admire and I saw bobby as a worthy opponent. Uh, he's very He's very driven very very he's not the guy you'd want to go up against and but because he's the opponent He makes our hero rise even higher Rob, how do you see the kennedy's if john kennedy's in so many ways partly because he was a martyr a libo emblem Uh, and I suspect that when you were in the 1960s you may have seen him in the same manner while seeing Sort of vilifying linden johnson. Is that a is that a fair assessment? Well, it is fair at that time, but like I say Having spent as much time as I have in government and politics and developing public policy and I've spent a lot of time as an adult doing that I have so much greater respect for what linden johnson Was able to achieve and there's a line in it where it says, you know Kennedy was a man of ideas now. We need a man You know of action a man who can get things done and At working through you know with early childhood that we you know, my wife michelle was over there We worked on that we worked on marriage equality. We worked on environmental issues so so many things To understand how difficult it is To move the ball forward And to see what linden johnson was able to do It's extraordinary Absolutely extraordinary, but you have to understand it And and you know, I'm I'm I have no illusions about Politics at all. I care about one thing and one thing only moving things forward getting things done That's all that matters. So, you know those personality things and that and the other To me linden johnson is the epitome Of what you want in a public servant. It's not about looks or all that's it's about get Getting stuff done and you know Hillary clinton's been vilified for all kinds of things She can get things done and that's all I care about And she knows how to work she knows how to work across the aisle just the way linden johnson Linden johnson knew how to work across the aisle He knew that it's not it's not enough to just you know, you know, cry into the wind about what you want to have happen It's about understanding people's personalities getting people together and working You know just really sticking to it and you got to admire that. I mean that to you know, look at the list I mean medicare medicare heads. I mean it's just goes on and on and these are programs that are still around and still, you know You know helping society. This is this is big legacy stuff, you know, and when you think about it You think about you know f dr And he did you know Who came out of it, you know, but linden johnson look what he did Look what he did you can't look at any president and say This much was accomplished in that short of time And had it not been for vietnam, I don't think He wanted it. I mean it was like he was stuck, you know stuck and I didn't understand that then I understand it now. I do get it now. It's taken me a long time You know to be fair, I think it's taken history a long time to catch up to the legacy of linden johnson because of the complications of vietnam What do you have become one of our most accomplished actors? Why did you want to play this role? Oh, uh, thank you, by the way I'm sure I deserved it, but I'll take that I uh, well I You know what I I wanted to work with rob reiner. I think rob reiner is just one of the great directors we have he's like a master of his craft And uh, I've admired him for so long and so many things he's he's done and moved me and made me laugh and So uh, in spite of uh, as I was telling lucy, I had some initial, you know Nervousness about johnson because of the vietnam legacy, but uh, You know, I read this incredible script written by joey hartstone. That is like amazing script And then met with rob and then the next thing, you know, uh bob's your uncle And uh And I'm so psyched to now be working in new orons with rob on another script that joey hartstone wrote called shock and all Which is a phenomenal Uh script as well. So I don't know. Uh, I just Am I answering your question because I I realize i'm just going on. No, it's fabulous Uh, and we're going to talk about shock and all in a moment the the next project you're having the worst PR for our Oh, sure Let me so you you grew up here in texas. Did you have a preconception of linden johnson? Well, yeah, like I say, it wasn't entirely a favorable idea of linden johnson So, you know, it was great to dive into this, you know, once the decision was made The only thing to do is to really try to get to know them as good as possible Which is what brought us together the first time and uh So the more I learned about him, it's just like what rob said you realize. Oh my god. Look what he accomplished And yeah, he was trapped in vietnam. I mean, I the so-called wise men just continued to give him bad advice And uh, he and robert macna mare really had some friction over that But uh, I I really admire the man Is when when you look at somebody as complex as this rob you called him shakes birian Where did he was there's something that gave you a clue to his humanity? Was there one thing that what we thought? Yeah, I get it um And now I can sort of begin Figuring out how to play this role Well, I think there was a lot of factors, but Maybe more than anything was just listening to him talk on the phone I mean he was Electrifying. I mean he was amazing the the way he would Talk to people. He's just a genuinely great communicator And uh, I started to just feel his humanity more, you know the big times. He's really distressed or times He's you know adamant about trying to Make this happen or that, you know, he's he's a great guy in a lot of ways and you know, he had a A tough time with the vietnam legacy, but uh, as I said to lucy, I think he'd be considered Maybe our greatest president were it not for vietnam The problem you have a fascinating career. I mentioned all the family which is when you We came to know you your father was in the business Um, how do you choose projects? I try to I mean for the most part I just try to find something that I can connect to there has to be something in it where I can connect to the main character in some way and If I can then I can tell that story the story of those those people some of them are more personal than others And this is a kind of movie that I wouldn't have been able to do Uh 10 20, you know 20 years ago. I couldn't have done it Because I wouldn't have been able to connect to lyndon johnson. It took me Growing up it took all the experience I had like I say working in in in in Politics and government to really on to really appreciate it and to connect with them So it has to be relatable to you so I have to be able to relate to it I also felt you know in reading that that he had a lot of insecurities and people who are as Accomplished you look at people who have accomplished a lot They usually have tremendous insecurities and They fight to overcome those insecurities to be able to achieve things and that I understand too I can get I get that about about how how he was able to you know And and I think that's that's what we try to show in the movie that you know that he He was fighting in many cases his own demons But when you do that and you are able to push past it You can accomplish a lot you can either be subsumed by your demons or you can Overcome them and I think that he was fighting that his whole life and I think he was It was in a way an impetus for him to to to go forward, you know And and I felt that my whole life there's always a time like a oh my god I doubt myself. Oh and then you go no I'm gonna and then you then you go forward and hopefully your skills kick in You can do you know, I mean, that's what you do. I mean So what do you also we came to know you through a an iconic television series cheers in the 1980s And you've had this fascinating career. How do you choose roles? Even things like Rob Rob has an incredibly eclectic body of work. So do you How do you choose a role? Well, I mean a lot of what he said is true, you know, you have to connect to it But sometimes, uh, you know, I just think this is really funny. It doesn't have to be a piece with I like the for it to have heart, you know The heart of it if you can kind of connect to the beating heart of it then You know, there's something but I I've definitely done Times where I didn't connect to the heart and I somehow convinced myself to do it and those are always disastrous Right, honey That is law Woody's bride who is with him tonight Uh, Joey talk about shock and shock and all Um, the movie that you're currently doing with Rob and Woody. Tell us a little bit about that So that was Rob's idea We had started lbj yet and Rob called and said hey, I want to do a movie about journalism and the iraq war Would you like to do that? And I thought yes, I would or any other movie you'd like to do. I'm happy to do But so he found these four journalists in dc who worked at a company called night ridder that Is a consortium or was of about 31 newspapers across the country and these were four guys who from 9 11 up until the day We invade iraq really get all their reporting right. They they are skeptical about the wmd about iraq connection to 9 11 All of it, but they're largely ignored And so it's sort of in all the president's men type story where these guys Have are tapping into the truth But nobody's listening to them and they're trying to get it out there before it's too late When can we expect this project Rob? Well, we're shooting it right now. And so we'll be done In about three weeks or so and then you know, we'll so like a month Yeah, he does this very fast Well, we're about halfway through now and then it'll come out next year I mean, it'll be interesting because it may come out around the time Unless we can less lbj comes out at the end of the year. We don't know yet We have few offers from a number of companies that want to distribute lbj and the question is whether or not we try to Run fast and try to get it out at the end of this year If not, both of those pictures will come out next year. So you guys No suit or wrap up this project that you just jump right back into the next one. What is that like literally like One day you're you're directing one project with this same writer with the same star and the next day You're doing a totally different project. How does that work? Well, you don't it's not always one after the other I mean, you know, I mean for actors it's different but for a director You don't usually do one right after the other. I've done three movies now in the last Two years, I mean, I mean the last year and a half or whatever and it doesn't usually work that way I mean for shock and awe it's something that I had been thinking about for 10 years And trying to figure out how to do it and trying different ways of going and when I had this great You know experience with joey and his writing was so good on lbj. I thought wow, you know, what if he Then you just luck out if the guy says oh, yes, and then all of a sudden something comes You know it comes together and then you just Luckily find you know matt george who jumps in and finances it you just run and do it I mean But you can go two three years without Getting something done if if uh, you know if nobody wants to give you the money, you know But he gave us the money so we got joey sounds like you're gold Yeah, it's been a good couple of years Gentlemen, uh, congratulations again on a marvelous mission. We can't thank you enough for coming down to your library