Maya Hawke

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Amy Poehler: Hello, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Good Hang. I'm really, really excited about this episode with the great Maya Hawke. We had such a good conversation. We used so many words, and I just love talking to her. We talk about really interesting things today. We talk about growing up in New York City and being a kid there. We talk about her love of magic and wonder and a life of imagination. And we talk about joy and anxiety, the characters that we played together in Inside Out 2, and also how those emotions interact and connect in real life. So it was a great convo. And as always, we like to ask someone who knows our guest, a friend, a fan, someone who has a question that they think I should ask the guest before we start the podcast. So we are joining with Willa Fitzgerald. Willa is an actress. She's on Pulse right now, a medical show on Netflix. She was in Little Women with Maya Hawke. And most excitingly, she's joining us from Hungary, which I believe is also where Budapest is. So Willa, can you hear me?

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Amy Poehler: I'm so grateful. Thank you for calling in from there. And thank you for talking about the great Maya Hawke today.

Willa Fitzgerald: My delight. My delight.

Amy Poehler: I know. Now tell me how you two met.

Willa Fitzgerald: We met actually in Ireland doing Little Women in 2017. And I mean, we just fell in love. I think that would be, it was a love story. It was a love story for sure.

Amy Poehler: You both were, she was playing Jo, you were playing Meg. What was it like to play Meg? What did you bring to this Meg?

Willa Fitzgerald: I feel like my personal mission was to bring a humanity to her because I feel like she's often sort of the too perfect sister a little bit, which is I think why people don't love her and relate to her. And she also feels a little bit out of our time in the sense that she makes very classically gendered choices with her life. So I feel like my personal mission was just to elucidate why we should like Meg and why we should understand her as a really kind of relatable, lovely character. And I think we did it. I think we actually managed to pull that off.

Amy Poehler: And here you are two young actresses at the time joining this production. I think for Maya, it was her first big production. What did you see in each other? How did you become friends?

Willa Fitzgerald: We really just bonded because I had already been working, but I was suddenly kind of entering a new phase of my career where I was getting to do this project that I was just so excited about. And it was her first job and she was so excited about it. We were all staying at this hotel together outside of Dublin and we would go to the pool together or the steam room and just talk about what really excited us about being actors. We really connected on an artistic level. And also I think on just a personal level, because I think we're kind of very opposite people in a lot of ways. I think that we both learn a lot from the other person in the way that they navigate the world because it's so different from maybe the way that we ourselves navigate the world.

Amy Poehler: How are you different?

Willa Fitzgerald: I think the most reductive two-second answer would be, I think I'm a very cautious person. And I think Maya is full of a lust for life and a real sort of verve that she just is unafraid in situations that I sometimes feel a little bit more unsure in.

Amy Poehler: Maya does a lot of things. She does a Broadway show. She performs records music with a lot of different bands including solo stuff. She's writing, she's acting. To your point, it feels like she ventures and is adventurous in the stuff that she does.

Willa Fitzgerald: What I admire about her so deeply is that she just kind of has this sort of infinite curiosity and well of creativity that she seems to be able to draw on. She has a real, she's really interested in just the world around her in a way that's so kind of pure and limitless.

Amy Poehler: So we're going to get to the question you have for me to ask Maya. But just before we do, I want to say congratulations on Pulse.

Willa Fitzgerald: Oh, thank you.

Amy Poehler: I love a medical show.

Willa Fitzgerald: Well, you know, Maya was a big reason why I took that job.

Amy Poehler: Ooh, how come?

Willa Fitzgerald: Because she loves Grey's Anatomy and she was the one who made me love Grey's Anatomy. And when I was calling her and I was like, I've got this possible job, what do you think? I want to talk about it. And she was like, do it. I will be the biggest fan of this show. Please.

Amy Poehler: Has it been fun to play that kind of part and get into the jargon and get into the vibe of what it would be like to be in an emergency room? What's been fun about it?

Willa Fitzgerald: I feel like in those sort of situations where you're really just playing at a job, it's kind of the purest expression of the childhood fantasy of being an actor where you're like, I am now a doctor and I can now save people's lives. Like, wow. I loved it. I do love learning new things and I learned so much. I'm also just a little nerd and loved going through the big medical pamphlets that we would get given for every episode and just being like, oh yeah. Watching cadaver videos of the surgeries and being like, wow, medical school.

Amy Poehler: Do you, when you, I always try to ask people who are on medical shows, when you cut, do you cut into fake bodies? Real bodies? Do you ever have to put a scalpel in? I know that there's fake torsos and stuff. Do you do that?

Willa Fitzgerald: Yeah. No, we had our prosthetics person was from Walking Dead. Our prosthetics were next level. They were like, we're going to use some old zombies. We're going to get them.

Amy Poehler: Okay. So thank you for getting on. And what question do you think I should ask Maya today? Do you have any thoughts?

Willa Fitzgerald: I'm curious whether her sort of lust for life, her ability to be so interested in the world around her, was something that she feels is innate to her as a person or whether it's something that she feels like was cultivated either by herself, by her community, by her parents. And if so, whether there's a specific moment in which she recalls seeing the world in that way from a young age.

Amy Poehler: What's great about that question is I think people really reduce the children of actors and artists in the way that they talk about what it is like being a nepo baby. You're in the same profession as your parents when in fact, what is it like growing up with artists that are parents and how do they introduce you to art? And also what is it like being a New York City kid? A lot of people don't know the feeling of growing up in the city and what that's like, what you get to see, or what you don't get to see. How does it limit you and how does it open you up? I think that's a great question. Really well done. You seem like a woman in her thirties who has her shit together. Congratulations.

Willa Fitzgerald: Thank you. I mean, you know, it's all an illusion.

Amy Poehler: Really, really nice to meet you. It's such a pleasure. Thank you so much for the time and for helping me get to know Maya a little more. I really appreciate it.

Willa Fitzgerald: So fun. Thank you again. Bye.

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Amy Poehler: Maya Hawke is with me. Maya, I'm so happy to see you.

Maya Hawke: I'm so happy to see you.

Amy Poehler: We haven't seen each other in person since Inside Out 2 premiere shenanigans. Dude, that movie.

Maya Hawke: I know.

Amy Poehler: That movie made people so happy.

Maya Hawke: I know. I feel so seen.

Amy Poehler: What have you had people come up and say to you about that movie?

Maya Hawke: It's been one of the great honors. My little sister was asking me the other day, she was like, do you get annoyed if someone asks you to do the Anxiety voice? And I was like, not at all. Because sometimes if someone wants me to go put on an ice cream scooper uniform, I'm like, I'm done with the ice cream scooper. But with this movie, that character, I've had so many people feel so seen by it. Little kids feel so seen by it. It helped them understand their brain better. I'll get a call from a friend who is a parent and be like, hey, would you do a recording? My kid's going through this hard time. Would you record something in the voice for my kid? And I'll be like, sure. I'll turn on the little speaker and be like, "Hi, I know it's really scary when parents have to go to the doctor's office. I know that it makes you nervous. But the thing is, you just take deep breaths and trust that your daddy will be safe and that the doctors are going to take great care of him." We'll do things like that. I don't mind at all. I love it.

Amy Poehler: I feel the same. I feel like you and I had a couple of moments when we were doing press where we kept looking at each other, like, whoa, this feels so much bigger than us. And the response of the movie was so beautiful. I know that that is very rare to be in something good that people like, that people go to see, that is a good experience. Those don't always happen. And that is good for the world.

Maya Hawke: That's like, it's so rare to have it hit all those benchmarks. It's like a rainbow.

Amy Poehler: Plus a billion dollars, babe.

Maya Hawke: I know. For something that makes a billion dollars and is good for the world, I don't think there's anything that does that.

Amy Poehler: No. It's crazy. The word billion and good for the world doesn't go together.

Maya Hawke: Does not go together. No. Ever. Of anything. Ever.

Amy Poehler: What have you learned about anxiety in the past year, your own or others, because you played that character?

Maya Hawke: So much. I think with the Joy-Anxiety relationship, it taught me a lot about showing love to that part of myself and allowing other people to see it so they can show it love. That is all actually a way to calm it down. It's inviting it into the conversation, looking at what it thinks and is worried about, addressing each point, and then offering it a comfortable chair and saying, "Okay, you're invited. I'm not trying to shut you out behind a door."

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Maya Hawke: Because that, of course, just works it up even more.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Maya Hawke: The biggest thing I learned from doing this and being allowed to be welcomed into the beautiful world of this movie is to give my anxiety a comfy chair.

Amy Poehler: Yes. That's so well said. Wow. And for people listening right now, everybody is so stressed.

Maya Hawke: I know.

Amy Poehler: Of course they are. Anxiety might be the defining emotion of our time. It was so fun to work on those characters together because when the time is very scary like these times, you want to find a way to tune in, check out, help yourself, help other people. You want to dip in and out. But when you're just getting someone going with toxic positivity like "this is great," it's like, babe, things are bad. These are real bad. So anybody listening, I want you to know that we know things are bad. But also, if you shut joy out completely, you're not helping anybody.

Maya Hawke: There's a beautiful moment in the movie. It's a testament to the work you did as Anxiety and the work the animators do and the work that Kelsey Mann did, the director, and Pete Docter, the producer, and all the artists, and all the writers. When Anxiety does a small little gesture to let Joy be finally called back. Riley has finally calmed herself down on the ice. She's talked to her friends. She's feeling a little bit like herself. She gets back on the ice. She starts skating and Joy is being called back. And Anxiety does a little genuflect, a little gesture of like, "This way, ma'am."

Amy Poehler: [Laughs] For people listening, you can see what Maya and I are doing. We're doing a little "your table is over here."

Maya Hawke: It made me cry so hard. I thought, the tiny gesture of that is what we must try to do during this bananas foster time we're living in.

Amy Poehler: Well, and to make room for each other. And to make room to get off of our phones, which we were talking about before we started rolling. To get off of our phones where we're just being bombarded by, here's a funny video of a cat. Here's a video of the apocalypse. Here's a funny joke that is offensive. Here's a funny joke that's your humor but would offend someone else. Here's another video of the apocalypse. To get out of that and into, oh, here you and I are sitting with each other.

Maya Hawke: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: We're looking each other in the eyes. We can still do this.

Maya Hawke: Yes.

Amy Poehler: We can still talk and be and make space for each other. Look at the people around us. We have to make time to do that even as we make time to try to figure out what is happening.

Maya Hawke: I agree.

Amy Poehler: I kind of experience you as an old soul. Have you been told that?

Maya Hawke: I have been. There's been some ageist claims about my soul made.

Amy Poehler: You must get this a lot. People talk and they roll their eyes about their 20s, about people's 20s. What's good about being in your 20s?

Maya Hawke: I'm already starting to have more random body pain. But I know I have less than I will have. So it's a more pain-free time. Recovery is faster.

Amy Poehler: Recovery is faster.

Maya Hawke: Yes. So that's good. I still can, yeah, just general recovery, bounce back from things more quickly, emotional recovery, independence. It's this kind of miracle window before insane amounts of responsibility. But after independence where no one's telling you what to do. That's the miracle of your 20s. Your responsibilities are there, but they're not usually kids and family. But you have this freedom. That's a cool window of time. And so, bounce back.

Amy Poehler: "Miracle window" is such a good way to say it, Maya. That's very wise. It's true. If only one can know the time they're in and appreciate the time they're in. It's hard to do.

Maya Hawke: Yeah, it is.

Amy Poehler: Okay. Speaking of the time you're in, I want to jump back to Little Maya.

Maya Hawke: Yes.

Amy Poehler: I'm always really interested in what it's like being a New York kid.

Maya Hawke: I was kind of a sad kid, or set point melancholic. Moody and emotional and homey. But a New York City kid is awesome. There's so much stuff to look at and do. My favorite place to go was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Temple of Dendur, because of "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." Do you remember that book? The kids run away and they live inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art and they sleep in the queen's bed and they steal money from the fountain. It's awesome. I love that book. I loved going to the Met and I loved going to the Natural History Museum and I loved going to the zoo. There was so much activity-based stuff as a little kid. I loved that. So many different ways to express all your weird interests. I had lots of weird interests as a kid. I loved dead insects, the preserved dead insects. I loved going to see them at the Science Museum and the rocks. There was just so much exposure and different kinds of people you could decide to be. So much interaction with difference. That was so cool and I think so rare because so many people grow up in these little communities where everyone feels the same. But in this city, you're interacting with humanity all the time. You get to decide who you are, which is great. Then you get to high school and it's like being in college for other people. It is crazy. I went to more clubs between ninth and twelfth grade than I have been since.

Amy Poehler: There's a lot of pressure for New York kids to be very interesting.

Maya Hawke: There's a lot of pressure to be interesting, to be adult, to be on the town.

Amy Poehler: Did you ever have a 13-year-old like, "I'm in Studio 54 and I don't know how I got here"?

Maya Hawke: Yes. You did.

Amy Poehler: Or you're just in a club and it's like, "I'm little. I might be too young for this. I'm too little for this."

Maya Hawke: Hmm, interesting. Seemed like a good idea at first. I'm proud of myself for getting in here, but now how do I get out? But I love it. I would do it. I would raise kids in New York. I think it's an awesome way to grow up.

Amy Poehler: To your point, there was an independence. You took the subway. You walked around. You kind of figured out life. What were some memories of that time when you felt adult or grown up? A moment where you had an adult moment.

Maya Hawke: I realized in high school that I could cut class. There were no real ramifications to doing it. So I started just doing my own thing during the day. In high school I experimented with smoking cigarettes, which you shouldn't do and is bad. Very, very bad. Do not do it. You look very cool. Don't do it, though. I couldn't buy cigarettes because I was a kid. So I would occasionally walk around to try to bum cigarettes off people.

Amy Poehler: This is what I'm talking about. This is what I picture a New York kid doing.

Maya Hawke: I went to school in Brooklyn Heights. The only people who smoke in Brooklyn Heights are construction workers. They smoke Newports. I hated Newports. So I would take the subway to the East Village so I could bum Marlboro Golds off of people, because people in the East Village smoke Marlboro Golds outside McNally Jackson bookstore. I would take this out on my free period, my lunch break. I'd be like, "I won't go to math today. I'll just take a double free period and I'll go take the subway to Greenwich Village or the East Village and bum a Marlboro Gold off some intelligent, handsome man smoking outside of a bookstore."

Amy Poehler: Some documentary filmmaker.

Maya Hawke: Some documentary filmmaker sipping a cappuccino. I was like, "I am a grown-up, and this is an adventure."

Amy Poehler: Oh, this is exactly the kind of story I picture. Just getting on the subway for a cigarette.

Maya Hawke: Because you have a preference. A neighborhood-based cigarette preference. It's really ridiculous.

Amy Poehler: During that time, there was probably a sense of you when you knew deep down, even in high school, like, "I'm not going to worry so much about math. I'm going to be an actor." I know what I'm going to do. When did you know you were going to be an actor? When did you feel like you were going to really make this your job or your life?

Maya Hawke: I knew I was going to be an artist of some kind. I think I was really afraid of being an actor because my parents are both actors. I got to see that they were as successful as one could ever have dreamed to be in that profession and still had so much job insecurity and stress and highs and low moments. I was like, "I don't know if this seems fun." I had experiences of going to school and trying to leave my house with an umbrella because there was some article out and there was paparazzi around the house. I was like, "This seems eh." I don't know about this. It wasn't until 11th grade where I realized that there was nothing else that I was good at and liked. I was like, "I like this. I am good at it. I feel like this is my community. The other people who like this, I like them and they put up with me because they'll put up with anyone."

Amy Poehler: That's great about the theater community. They will put up with anyone unless you're mean.

Maya Hawke: I just found my home and I was like, "Okay, I'll figure out that other stuff. This is what I want to do."

Amy Poehler: Okay, this is a great segue into our thing. We do this thing at the beginning of each show where we talk to people who know our guest.

Maya Hawke: Oh, no.

Amy Poehler: And just to talk well behind their back. It always helps me figure out if there's questions I should ask my guest and also to get to know the guest more. We talked to your friend Willa Fitzgerald.

Maya Hawke: She's the best.

Amy Poehler: She's the best. Now, you two met on the set of Little Women.

Maya Hawke: Still the greatest experience of my life.

Amy Poehler: Wait, tell us why.

Maya Hawke: It was my first professional job. I had to drop out of school to do it, and I was really worried about it. I get to Ireland. We're in this town called Dunleary. I've just never had an experience this positive. It was the four sisters and the guy who played Laurie, and we fell in love with each other. We were staying at this seaside hotel in this port town. It was the Royal Marine, the name of this hotel. It was walking distance from this farmer's market and these restaurants. We just loved each other. I'm already so old I can stay awake forever, but do you remember when you were 18 and 19 and you just didn't need to sleep at all? Somehow I could work a full 14-hour shooting day and then be like, "Should we go out?" And then I'll learn my lines and then I'll go to sleep for two hours and then go back. I don't know how we did it, but it might have just been the raw joy of how in love with each other we were. We were going to set on the days that we weren't working and being like, "I have a note. You should try this in the next scene." It was just acting, acting, acting. We love it and we love each other. And it's Ireland and it's the ocean. We did a moon spell where there was a full moon and we bought crystals from this guy in town and we put the crystals in the moon and then we went skinny dipping in the port and it was freezing. It was just happy. It was a happy fun.

Amy Poehler: That sounds so fun. She adores you. She was talking about exactly that, how you all connected so fast. She was saying that you have this lust for life. Her question was, do you feel like that's always been innate? It's kind of what we're talking about nature versus nurture. You're the daughter of artists. You're looking at, you want to be an artist. Do I want the life of an artist? What does that even look like? But there is always this little thing inside all of us from the minute we're born. Did you always feel like you had that kind of lust for life? And her question is, do you think it was innate or was it nurtured by the environment that you were in? Or both?

Maya Hawke: I think both. I think I've always believed in magic and always believed in love in a really intense way. I think that was nurtured in me from a really young age. My parents are magical. My mom was this magical creature who would come home from work looking fabulous, but she'd take everything off and immediately put on a big velvet skirt and gardening gloves and go outside and teach me how to pull up stinging nettles to make soup, and the soup would be a witch's potion because it was good for you. She just had this magic to her. My dad would be like, "We're going to watercolor together, and we're going to make a masterpiece. I'll do this blue, and you do red, and we see what we create." There was just this imagination fostered in me from a really young age. I was really lucky to get that kind of love and that kind of exposure to seeing the world as a place where magic is possible. It's the luckiest thing ever to have that happen. I always think about it like in Harry Potter, when his mom dies she puts a spell on him that protects him from dying with love.

Amy Poehler: I've read all of them out loud. Harry Potter's mom protects Harry Potter with a magical spell because of course the mother always has to die for the kid to be on an independent adventure in every single story.

Maya Hawke: There's actually a whole theory about that.

Amy Poehler: We'll set that aside. About children's stories, you have to kill the parents in children's stories because that's how children become the unfolding of their own story. They become little adults.

Maya Hawke: Right. God forbid.

Amy Poehler: God forbid the mother live long enough to see her child succeed.

Maya Hawke: Yes, God forbid. But I always feel like that period of time in my life where my parents gave me this magical spell, this love spell, then there were other different hard times in all of our lives, but that early magic protected me.

Amy Poehler: They do say that from like one to five or one to three is so much. It's a lot of pressure on young parents. That time is so important. So much of your belief system about the world and how you feel and if you feel safe and your attachment style is formed so early. I've sensed from you both introvert and extrovert.

Maya Hawke: This is true.

Amy Poehler: Oh my God, I got it right.

Maya Hawke: You got it right.

Amy Poehler: So what, tell me about that. How have you figured that out?

Maya Hawke: Okay, I see myself as having three cups. There's the extroversion socialization cup, the alone time cup, and the with one other person having an intimate conversation cup. And I need all three cups to be somewhat full to be functioning.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Maya Hawke: Like if I've had too much parties, work, like not no alone time and just these two cups are full. Oh, I'm gesturing and this is audio.

Amy Poehler: That's okay. The people you're making, you're gesturing cups.

Maya Hawke: I'm gesturing cups. But, you know, then I really feel bad and I need alone time. If I've got too much alone time and not enough socialization, I really feel bad and drained. So I'm always trying to look at my schedule and my life and be like, am I getting enough friend time one-on-one? Am I getting enough alone time? And am I getting enough energizing social time out in the world, going to see a concert, going to see a play? I need a little bit of everything.

Amy Poehler: I love the cups idea. I do something similar where I think about a refrigerator and I think about magnets. And then in the best day ever, all five magnets are on the refrigerator, but I try to get three. So it's like work, motherhood, friendship, spirituality, wellness, some kind of care. And what's my fifth magnet? Relationship. So it's like if you can get three out of five, it's like today I was a good partner, today I did some good mom stuff and I worked a little bit. Or it's like, no, today I took care of myself, today I met with friends and today I gave my kids some good advice. Whatever is the magnet that you can put on there. Very rare to get five.

Maya Hawke: Yeah, but you don't want to go too long without having a day that has, like you don't want to leave one of them off for a while. You get a dusty magnet.

Amy Poehler: You don't want to get a dusty magnet.

Maya Hawke: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: We could go, you and I could sell the cup and magnet. I was just thinking this. We could write books. We could make these magnets. We could do separate podcasts just about this and we could make billions of dollars and it would be another good billion. And it would be like with me today is Maya Hawke. She's of course the inventor of the cup theory. She brought me that theory when I was working on my magnet project. And together, we've got cups and magnets. We're touring the world.

Maya Hawke: Yeah.

[Ad break]

Amy Poehler: Okay, you've finished Stranger Things. It's done. What was it like when it's, that's a wrap on Maya Hawke, a series wrap. I know you can't tell us anything, but I do hope you tell us how it ends.

Maya Hawke: I will, of course I will.

Amy Poehler: Great, thank you. You can tell me off the air. But what was it like hearing series wrap?

Maya Hawke: Well, I want to hear what it's been like for you, like what it was like for you on Parks. You know, I think for people who don't know, if you're an actor on set, you get like, that's a season wrap on Maya, like season four, all right. And you get your last shot. And often people will kind of clap and stand around and say stuff. But series wrap is a big deal. And on a show like yours, which has been such a long journey for you and for everyone involved, and there's been strikes and there's been COVID in the middle of all of it and everyone's gotten older and grown up and everyone's been watching and watching.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Maya Hawke: A good AD will make sure that that series wrap means something, that people are there and they're there for you. And it's just a big moment. Matt and Ross, who are amazing, wrote scenes that seem to have some connective tissue for the characters and for us. And on this last day of shooting we got to film these scenes that had this beautiful connective tissue. And I actually think I learned something about acting that day, about being present in your own emotion as a person and the emotion of the character and allowing those two wires to connect. And my life has been changed as an actor. The way that I act has changed since that series wrap day. And it was so emotional. I cried all day long from beginning to end in these like crashing waves. And I just love everybody on that show so much. And it's been so, it's shaped me so much. And we've been on such a long, complicated journey together.

Amy Poehler: You started when you were what, 19?

Maya Hawke: I started when I was 19, which is like, you know, lots of them started at like nine and have been doing it for 10 years. And I've been doing it for seven and started at 19. So, I mean, I got nothing on them.

Amy Poehler: But it's funny that you've been on a show for seven years and you still think you're the new kid.

Maya Hawke: Exactly. That's crazy. I do. I do still think I'm the new kid. But it was really emotional. And I don't know if I'll ever have another experience like it.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, I mean, congratulations on that show.

Maya Hawke: Thank you.

Amy Poehler: Your work is so good. That show is so great. And it really, I mean, just to, you know, I'm sure you can feel the anticipation growing. I can't even imagine the press junket you're going to have to do when this show comes out. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be bananas of how you're going to be talking about. Like, that show feels like the audience has been through it with you, too. Like, it feels like the audience has also been through it.

Maya Hawke: Yeah.

Amy Poehler: I guess is the only way to say it. That the kids on the show and the audience have not had an easy couple of years.

Maya Hawke: I know. And there's something about it that feels very cathartic about the end of it. Yeah, and I don't even know if I'm right about this, but I've always seen the upside down as a metaphor for depression and anxiety. And in some ways of like your teen years, it's really hard to be a teenager. And the hormones that get released, the new emotions that get released of depression and anxiety and self-awareness and self-consciousness, it's like a hard period of life to survive. And I've always seen the upside down as like this portal that opened up to all those emotions for these young people and like navigating one way out of it and through community and bravery and friendship. It's really emotional. And the allegories to what's going on in the world right now are plentiful. And it means a lot to me to get to be a part of something like this because it's really a once in a lifetime thing. These adventure stories and these hero stories about kids and groups of kids grow up with this, they grow up simultaneously with you. And I'm so grateful. It's such a special thing to get to be a part of.

Amy Poehler: That's so awesome. And you and your friends like Joe and Sadie are like doing music, you're on stage, you're all doing a bunch of things together at the same time. Can I talk about your music for a second? I would be curious your relationship to, you're such a talented and multi-talented artist who can do a lot of things very well. And like what I imagine for you, what I picture in the future is us hearing you writing and directing and producing and doing so many things as well as acting and music. But right now you have two very big careers in what are sometimes feel like very disparate ways of participating in the arts. It's like, if acting is one kid and music is the other. Who's my favorite kid?

Maya Hawke: Yeah, who's your favorite kid?

Amy Poehler: Well, okay, the way I like to see, first of all, I don't always do a good job balancing. I don't have a favorite kid. I love creativity and I love storytelling. And I see them as completely connected. And like, if there was an outlet in the wall with two plugs, it's like different lamps that you plug into the same power source is how I feel about it. That said, I'm a much more trained actor than I am a musician, and I'm a much more confident actor than a musician. Walking onto set or onto a rehearsal period is where I feel confident and comfortable. And I feel like I know the rules, and I like it there. And I feel really grounded. Music is really scary. And it's like it terrifies me. Performing live terrifies me. Writing terrifies me. What people are gonna make of my lyrics terrify me. Like it's all really scary. So it's the same power source. One of the lamps is like a scary Halloween lamp that I don't totally know how it works. And the other lamp is like my favorite bedside nightlight that's my comfort zone.

Amy Poehler: And if you want to listen to Maya's lamp workshop, you need to go to the Beverly Wilshire. You need to go to Cups and Magnets.

Maya Hawke: Cups and Lamps and Magnets.

Amy Poehler: Cups and Lamps and Magnets.

Maya Hawke: No, it's so true. They've got a whole product line.

Amy Poehler: Just to put out, just to manifest, just for a second, for fun. Do you ever think about writing a musical?

Maya Hawke: No.

Amy Poehler: Do you think about writing a musical? But that's not what you were gonna say.

Maya Hawke: Oh my god, but what musical do you want to write? I don't know. Yes, okay, so great, write that.

Amy Poehler: Okay, but do you ever have a fantasy of being on stage singing and singing with someone who you deeply like? Do you have an artist whose voice you fantasize about harmonizing with and singing with, alive or dead?

Maya Hawke: I have a lot of different people that I love. I am terrified of harmonizing.

Amy Poehler: You are?

Maya Hawke: That's the only thing that I can kind of do really. It really scares me. I am not a good harmonizer and it scares me.

Amy Poehler: So what about forget the harmony but just singing with somebody?

Maya Hawke: I would love to sing with Joni. I mean, I would have to do a one-note harmony while she danced all over the place. But I love Joni. I mean, this morning I was listening to Judy Sill a bunch, and I love Judy Sill, and I love Joni. And I'm obsessed with Adrienne Lenker. And I am obsessed with Taylor Swift. And I'm obsessed with—I mean, I just love—

Amy Poehler: You love female singer-songwriters.

Maya Hawke: I love songwriters. I just think they're so cool.

Amy Poehler: Yeah.

Maya Hawke: And it's like almost that fantasy is more like to get to write a song with someone. Not like singing it and performing it is less the dream. It's like writing a song with someone that would be the dream.

Amy Poehler: Ooh, I love. Okay, and speaking of writers and artists, you have worked with in films, you've worked with really talented, distinct voices, Wes Anderson, Bradley Cooper, Quentin Tarantino. That experience of getting on a set with someone who feels like they have a very strong sense, do you like that? Like being in someone's simulation basically? Do you like jumping in there?

Maya Hawke: Yes, I find it extremely fun and really relaxing.

Amy Poehler: You were in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with like five actors, you were all playing Manson people, Manson-ish people, Manson-esque. And did your mom give you any advice about working with Quentin?

Maya Hawke: Keep your shoes on.

Amy Poehler: Keep your shoes on.

Maya Hawke: Keep them on, baby.

Amy Poehler: Are you going to try to get...

Maya Hawke: Keep them on, baby. Keep them on.

Amy Poehler: Keep those shoes on. Perfect advice. Did she come to the set?

Maya Hawke: No.

Amy Poehler: Yeah, it's weird to have your parents come to set.

Maya Hawke: Yeah. I know. It's just, I don't even like... Or I don't even find it weird. The shoes just wasn't in town.

Amy Poehler: Well, I don't like any of them.

Maya Hawke: It was LA.

Amy Poehler: Right.

Maya Hawke: She's like, I'm not going to LA. No. I have too many things to do here.

Amy Poehler: I've been to that set. Because I was a set kid. I think it's the best place on earth. Okay, tell me about sets you were on when you were a kid.

Maya Hawke: Oh, so many. I mean, one of the most memorable ones was the set of My Super Ex-Girlfriend because I got to get into the flying suit. And it was a movie that my mom did. It's really good and really funny, but she was a superhero, and so she flew in it, and I got to get into the thing and fly across this studio. But really the thing I remember about sets is they all blur together except I love crafty. And I loved the—it was like this safe little world where I could be alone. So no one needed to be watching me. I could walk over to Crafty and take cookies and M&Ms and gummy bears, and I could go watch the stunt people practice. And then I could go watercolor in the trailer, and I could go to the costume shop and help them sew. And it was just like Disneyland, basically, where I was independent and left alone and allowed to explore and allowed to just park my butt at the monitors and watch take after take after take. And it's really where I fell in love with acting was backstage at the theater and on set. And so I think it was the most fun thing ever.

Amy Poehler: What always shocks me is when I invite people to come to set that they don't want to come, and when they come, they get bored. I'm like, what do you mean it's Disneyland? And they're like, you just did the same scene nine times from one direction and then moved the camera and are doing it nine more times. How on earth is this like Disneyland?

Maya Hawke: This is so interesting. I'm the exact opposite. People want to come to set because they seem like it's interesting, and I say it's not. It's boring.

Amy Poehler: Well, it's very true, and I will say, one of my favorite things in the world generally is to be not busy around a busy person. So I still like to go with people to set because it's where I am the most at peace because all my cups are getting filled. I'm not alone, but I also, and there's tons of exposure to people if I want it, but I can be totally alone and not busy and just like reading my little book somewhere and it's fine. So it's got this social, not social, privacy, all these different things all at once. And it feels so good to me. It's like such a nice way to spend time with someone. It's like five minutes when they have a break. Hi, how are you? That was cool. That was good. Goodbye. I'm reading my book again. Like it's, I love it. So I think there's something I really love about visiting other people on set and having visitors on set when they feel like I do. And you brought up the cup system. And just once again, for $59.99, you too can learn Maya's Cup system. It comes with a workbook. We do an in-person retreat. You have to watch a seven-minute video before a paywall. And then we're going to be in Reno November 15th. We're very excited.

Maya Hawke: Okay.

Amy Poehler: And then the other question I wanted to ask you is because, you know, you played anxiety. The world is anxious. You're really in touch with those feelings and you take great pride, I think, in being part of like a big discussion about it. What do you listen to, watch, read? How do you make yourself laugh? Like what are you getting? Where are you getting your joy from?

Maya Hawke: Where am I getting my joy from? Well, recently I got a lot of joy from the Fourth Wing book series. It's fantasy. It's like romantic fantasy. Fantasy dragon college basically, a dragon war college. And that was my escapism of choice.

Amy Poehler: I unfortunately said so many things just now. Okay, so say again.

Maya Hawke: It's called the Fourth Wing is the name of the first book and it is a dragon college. It's a war college for dragon riders in a fantasy universe. It's romantic. It's very sexy.

Amy Poehler: I've been looking for a new... Fantasy is my new, like, I never thought it would be a genre I'm into. I'm so into it.

Maya Hawke: I'm so into it.

Amy Poehler: Have you read The Name of the Wind?

Maya Hawke: No.

Amy Poehler: Okay. Patrick Rothfuss, R-O-T-H-F-U-S-S. Rothfuss. He wrote a book called The Name of the Wind. And it is a series. It's part of the King Killer Chronicles. And it's a fantasy novel. And it's basically just like, it's just the story of a child who grows up in an inn and how he becomes like this king killer.

Maya Hawke: Cool.

Amy Poehler: But it's very, like, school to train to get to the thing.

Maya Hawke: I love.

Amy Poehler: Me too.

Maya Hawke: Give me a training sequence.

Amy Poehler: Me too.

Maya Hawke: Make me into the person I was always meant to be.

Amy Poehler: I know. I love it too. Force me to do it.

Maya Hawke: I love that because what do you like about the Fourth Wing? What did you like?

Amy Poehler: Well, there's incredible hardcore training sequences. Yes, dragons. There's a very hot guy.

Maya Hawke: Here we go.

Amy Poehler: Who's like, he's a rebel. And like maybe he's bad except obviously the bad guys are actually the good guys and the good guys are the bad guys and you have to figure that out and it's awesome and he like trains her because he's like their lives get wed together, spoilers, and he's like you have to live so that I can live and so he's like do sit ups and she's like okay and it really works for me is all I can say.

Maya Hawke: Do sit ups. Do sit ups. Do sit ups. You gotta have a strong core if you're gonna fight those dragons. Those dragons go right for your core.

Amy Poehler: You gotta. Yeah. And she's like stabbing him with knives and he's like yeah good job good job good job. You know, it's amazing. Do you read or listen?

Maya Hawke: I read this. I do both. I do a lot of audiobooks but I've recently been trying to get back into paper books. And that's been bringing me joy. I watch piles of TV. I love comedy. Recently I loved The Studio. That was really fun.

Amy Poehler: So funny.

Maya Hawke: It wasn't Han. So funny. I mean, the sartorial choices in that alone were incredible. The way that character is so ridiculous. And my buddy Ike is in that who was so great too. That episode where he kept getting thanked at the Golden Globes, yeah, and Scott was thanking him. It's just so stupid and funny. Also the old school Hollywood party where Zoe Kravitz is like, old school Hollywood means there's drugs in the food?

Amy Poehler: I love that one. That really got me. That's not touching me. She was so good in that episode.

Maya Hawke: Yeah, so I've been doing that.

Amy Poehler: Would you ever, like, I mean, I guess, you know, Stranger Things is like, it's a new, it's like current fantasy. I mean, that's fantasy. But would you ever want to?

Maya Hawke: Yes.

Amy Poehler: Okay. Great. I don't need to finish it. Because I think that what I'm getting from our convo today is like story, adventure, fantasy. The kind of bigness of life is like what energizes you. Like you're excited about the next. Like you're really looking for, you have like a really big capacity for big, swirly ideas.

Maya Hawke: I really love them. I mean, not to mention that almost all of the best fantasy is about humans banding together to take over fascist regimes. Like, it's just a general theme.

Amy Poehler: Yes.

Maya Hawke: Of fantasy and about the little guy rising up. And I think that partly why it as a genre is kind of exploding right now. People like romantic and fantasy people are really, it's like always at the top of the bestseller list these days. And I think it's because community. It's always about an unlikely band of maniacs and different people from different places that find each other and come together to try to build a new world that works better for them than it used to.

Amy Poehler: I just want to say that getting the experience of talking about Inside Out 2 with you and getting to know you has been so great. And I hope we get to make another one. I would really like, I mean, I would like to do anything with you. It would be so wonderful. But I really hope we get to make another one because I want to see more of anxiety and joy learning how to work together.

Maya Hawke: I know.

Amy Poehler: And they have the same physical symptoms. And they, look, they get things done. Okay. They get things done and they're excited. Some emotions like to chill out, lie on the couch, and those are important too. But anxiety and joy are going to keep things moving.

Maya Hawke: Yeah. Yeah, I know. They are.

Amy Poehler: I'm so happy that you came today. I'm joyful that you came today.

Maya Hawke: I was anxious about it.

Amy Poehler: No, I wasn't actually. I was just excited.

Maya Hawke: Thank you so much.

Amy Poehler: Thank you so much for coming, Maya.

Maya Hawke: Thanks for having me. I love you and love seeing you. You're the best.

Amy Poehler: I love you so much. You're the best.

Maya Hawke: You the best.

Amy Poehler: And I would do something with you even with our real flesh and blood bodies.

Maya Hawke: Okay, yeah. We can do that too.

Amy Poehler: I mean, I prefer animated but it's just a lot easier for me in terms of hair and makeup. I mean, also just the pajama pants aspect. But if you do make a Fourth Wing movie, I will play the dragon.

Maya Hawke: I would not be in charge of making it.

Amy Poehler: Here's hoping. Here's begging the world. I will donate my body to be the dragon. I will donate my body to dragons. Thank you, Maya Hawke. That was such a great conversation. I loved it.

[Outro begins]

Amy Poehler: And for this Polar Plunge, I just want to talk about books because we talked a little bit about books and how they are bringing us joy. And I want to mention again a fantasy book that I love. It's called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. Eagerly awaiting the next book, sir. So chop, chop. So check it out and get your dragons on. We can't ever have too many dragons. But thank you everybody for listening to Good Hang and bye, see you soon.

[Credits roll]

Announcer: You've been listening to Good Hang. The executive producers for this show are Bill Simmons, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and me Amy Poehler. The show is produced by The Ringer and Paper Kite. For The Ringer production by Jack Wilson, Kat Spillane, Kaya McMullen, and Alea Zanaris. For Paper Kite production by Sam Green, Joel Lovell, and Jenna Weiss. Original music by Amy Miles.

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