Just Between Us

by Mario Lopez

  Not a disaster, but it was just awkward and uncomfortable. Bottom line: I didn’t do my job well and the interview wasn’t great. From then on, I made it a policy not to do the interview if I haven’t seen the project.

  I should note that a requisite skill for hosts is to learn to ask questions that are more than just softballs. It is, after all, entertainment news and the ability to touch on controversy can lead to lots of attention on social media and increased viewership. That means part of my homework is reviewing questions I must ask during an interview, usually per the producers.

  Even though we try to make it look spontaneous, many of the questions you see reporters asking on TV aren’t thought up on the spot; they’re well planned, albeit sometimes boring. The producers at Extra often craft the questions they want me to get in and then I make them my own. During a recent red-carpet prep, for example, I was asked to bring up a comment having to do with the reality TV show The Bachelor. The show and the comment had nothing to do with the awards show, but it was topical. Apparently the winner of The Bachelor had asserted that he didn’t think a gay version of the series would be a good idea. The media had grabbed hold of that and were having a field day with it. So when I was interviewing the celebrities on the red carpet, I not only had to ask them about the awards show, the movies, and their outfits, but I also had to work in questions about that comment. The producers typically ask me to take advantage of the opportunity because it’s not easy to get a microphone under the noses of some of these A-list celebs and that sound bite could be used in another story.

  Helping generate the show’s provocative content is part of my job description and I don’t think that’s a bad thing. It’s just that some days that’s easy and some days it’s uncomfortable. My personal preference is to ask questions only about the matter at hand and not stray from that. Yet that’s not reality. It can get tricky to ask something out of left field that’s obviously intended for controversy. Imagine you’re getting your car fixed and the mechanic asks you about your underwear. It’s that out of place. So when I have to ask these questions, it puts me in a really weird position. Sometimes the celebrities give you a look like, “Huh? Are you serious?”

  Much as I don’t like it, I feel the heat from the producers looking for the sound bite. And they want something that is relevant to whatever the big story of the day is. Of course, I do my best to ask in a smooth way to finesse the situation, but some of the inquiries are so out in left field no amount of panache will ease the tension. As an example, at the 2014 Screen Actors Guild Awards preshow, I had to ask an awkward question to every person of color. My producers wanted me to get their reaction to the latest Madonna controversy that was all over the Twitter-sphere and involved her referring to her white son as “my little N-word.”

  So, I’m standing on the red carpet and here comes Oprah, who’s been nominated for a SAG Award for her work in The Butler. I hadn’t seen her in a while, but I admire her for countless reasons, among them her meteoric rise to the upper stratosphere of hosting. As she approaches me, I catch sight of her big smile and I am painfully aware in the back of my head that my producers want me to ask her, “How do you feel about Madonna’s using the N-word in reference to her son? She said she did it in a loving way, but is it ever acceptable?” Talk about an awkward position. Everyone’s in a jovial mood and wants to talk about their movie and the awards, but the producers want me to ask that! Sure enough, she steps up to the camera, and as soon as I welcome her, they’re bugging me about it. I’m congratulating her on the film, saying happy birthday and talking about some pictures of her hanging out with the First Lady, just trying to make small talk before I drop the bomb.

  And then I have to ask the question because my producers are glaring at me. So I hit her with it. And the look of shock on her face is painful. This must be the first time she’s heard about it. Her eyes get really big. I am literally breaking the news to Oprah!

  And then she processed it. Just as she started to answer me, Oprah said, graciously, “You know what, Mario? Let’s move on to the next question. This is a little too touchy. I don’t feel it’s the right spot for this, and I don’t want to go anywhere near it.” What else could I say to her but, “Okay, I respect that. I understand. Thank you.” And then I went immediately back to her movie.

  But talk about uncomfortable, talk about weird. Lee Daniels, the director of the film, was standing right there, and he sort of rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, next! Come on, Mario!” And I felt like screaming, “Hey, I don’t want to talk about this stuff! My producers are trying to get some sound bites.”

  The truth is, all entertainment news shows do it. So do local and national news outlets that cover aspects of entertainment. Everyone in media is on the hunt for newsy moments. But you can imagine how I must feel as I’m asking every gay person their reaction to The Bachelor and I’m asking every person of color their reaction to the Madonna thing. Yikes.

  No show is perfect; it’s TV. So there are always flubs and bloopers from us messing up. I find human error funny whenever we’re on the red carpet. All the awards shows are feeding frenzies but the Oscars top them all. That’s where the media really doesn’t get any space—we’re stationed around a prickly hedge, literally squished up next to it, left standing there for four hours straight.

  You’re also inevitably standing next to somebody from USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, or some French magazine—with the red carpet three feet in front of you and you’re behind a hedge leaning forward. I was once poked in the crotch of my tuxedo with these branches going through my pants while I was trying to talk to Tom Hanks. Not fun. It’s very tight quarters there behind the hedge; they pack us in like sardines. There is often pushing and shoving and tempers flaring. I remember one time our producer Jeremy Spiegel got into it with one of the French magazine people, right in front of Kevin Spacey and Jack Nicholson. Kevin Spacey acted as the referee and was trying to calm things down. He said, “Hey, hey, you guys, take it easy.” The celebrities were calming down the producers and reporters! It felt like I was on a Jerry Springer episode.

  Then again, any time there’s drama on the red carpet it’s exciting. I think the tension builds because all the “cool kids” come at the end and there is so little time left to get in your questions. Everyone in the lineup waits for all the big stars: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Sandra Bullock, Oprah. All those people come at the very end and they all come at the same time. We’re left with a conundrum: Sandra Bullock doesn’t want to wait for Julia Roberts to finish her interview with you, and Brad Pitt and Angelina will wait for no one. And so you’re kind of scrambling. It’s a delicate dance. You never want to blow anybody off to talk to a bigger star. I always try to be respectful and mindful of finishing my conversation and I just get to the next person when I get to them. And hopefully they’ll still be there. I don’t want to blow anyone off; I think it’s mean and unnecessary.

  All the other awards shows—the SAGs, the Golden Globes, the Grammys—provide a platform for us to stand on, so we have a little bit more space and it’s much more civilized. However, the rule of thumb is that all the big names come in during the last few minutes on the red carpet. If it’s the Grammys, inevitably Paul McCartney and Jay-Z and Beyoncé will all arrive right at the end. That’s why I have to be on my toes and be prepared.

  • • •

  You know how my mom always wanted to keep me busy so I wouldn’t have time to get into trouble? Hosting full-time for Extra—with Carmela Soprano (aka our executive producer) keeping me in line—is sort of a grown-up version of keeping really, really, really busy and out of trouble.

  And in keeping with saying “Yes!” to opportunities, I leapt at the chance to host The X Factor with Simon Cowell and crew. Because of my schedule at Extra, they knew going in that I wouldn’t be able to rehearse the show before taping. But in what turned out to be a trial by fire, they trusted that I was the host who could
pull off a great show without a rehearsal. I did literally every episode of X Factor completely cold. No rehearsal. And we’re talking about a major production show that’s shot at CBS TV studios. Talk about a crash course in all manner of hosting challenges, except it all went like clockwork because of the precision of Simon Cowell. Far from the caustic critic he appears to be, Cowell is actually super cool once you get to know him—a real gentleman. He’s far and away the best judge—ever—in the history of talent competition shows.

  Cowell does run a very tight ship and he has great staff working for him. From the standpoint of an entrepreneur, Simon Cowell is a role model as well. He’s polite, savvy, fair, and approachable to employees and fans alike.

  We end up talking about music a lot when we’re just hanging out. I loved having the chance to ask him, “Who do you think the American version of the Beatles are?” I told him my pick was the Eagles. He agrees with me there and thinks maybe Aerosmith is a strong second. Of course, he thinks all the best acts are from the UK and it’s hard to argue with him when you think about such giants as Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, and Black Sabbath. One of the things that surprised me about him is how supportive he is. He would sometimes leave messages on my phone when he thought we had a really good show and thought I did a good job. He’s just that kind of guy. For a boss who is infinitely busy to take the time—I love that. While it’s true that he has got more money than he knows how to spend nowadays, I don’t think money is what motivates him. He loves discovering talent and providing the platform for the world to recognize up-and-coming performers; he loves being a presence that encourages people to believe in themselves and work toward their dreams.

  If I ever worry that I’ve overloaded myself, I have only to look at Cowell. Though I was sorry when X Factor was canceled, I have been around long enough to know how these things play out. My fingers are crossed that I have a role to play on whatever show Simon Cowell develops next. And I can’t wait to interview him about it on Extra.

  • • •

  In the entertainment media world, the most strenuous hosting assignment in my view is working a press junket.

  A junket, as it is known in Hollywood, is an event that’s designed to bring as much media as possible to one location to cover the release of whatever is being launched or promoted. In moviedom, junkets allow the major studios the opportunity to utilize the star power of the release’s most celebrated actors and directors to help promote a film. These are stars who are considered the most bankable because they have the ability to draw the most amount of public interest that will bring in the bank at the box office. They are indispensable once the publicity gears have been set into motion.

  A junket lasts only a day and is usually held in a five-star hotel in a major city or cities. It is planned with militaristic precision once a movie is complete and ready to be shipped out to a “theater near you.” So the junkets are strategically staged to gather the media in major cities around the world, with reporters flocking in from all over to fawn over the film’s stars and ask redundant questions in a sit-down interview.

  For films like Transformers and animated movies like Ice Age, the studios might spend over a million dollars on a couple of days of press junket events. Imagine that! Not to mention the same amount they spend in other cities and in foreign countries if they think the location will add to the promotional value. I saw a junket for Fast Five in Brazil, and Tom Cruise did his Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol junket in Dubai. Studios will even sometimes pick up the tab to fly in media when they really want to capture the attention of the moment. The more they expect the film to make, the more they will spend on promoting it. Why? Because fanning the flames of excitement through media is going to create the buzz and excitement that will allow the movie—or the album that’s dropping or the book that’s launching—to “open.” A failure to do well in the opening week can kill a great project in its tracks. It’s high-stakes gambling time and a successful junket is hugely important.

  In the luxury hotels where the junkets are typically held, entire floors are sequestered off from the rest of the public. Extra will usually set up in its own room in the hotel and we use our personal camera crew; other times the movie has its own camera crews set up for each of the participating stars. For example, let’s take the amazing film 12 Years a Slave. At that junket, I walked down the hallway in the hotel and would see the names Chiwetel Ejiofor, Brad Pitt, Michael Fassbender, Paul Dano, Lupita Nyong’o, and Steve McQueen written on pieces of paper taped to the various doors. The interviews with the stars or the director take place inside those rooms, while outside those doors are three or four chairs where reporters wait in line to have their four minutes with the star. The junket’s organizational team literally uses a stopwatch, and when your time is up they kick you out of the room and it’s on to the next reporter.

  Compared with other folks waiting in line, I imagine my junket experience is a bit different because I’ve met many of the stars prior to this incredibly abbreviated sit-down interview. When I walk in and see the star sitting waiting to be interviewed, several things go through my head: I wonder how tired they are; I hope I don’t forget my questions; I hope I have enough time to ask all the questions on my list; and, most important, I genuinely hope we can have a laugh and make the process painless and fun for us both.

  There’s a camera crew there, two chairs, and the big players. On the same day that I interviewed George Clooney on a junket for the film The Monuments Men (and worked in those questions about his basketball game with DiCaprio), I went on to do interviews with Matt Damon and Cate Blanchett, obviously great actors, and both passionate about work they do outside of their comfort zones. That was the same junket when I met and interviewed Bill Murray for the first time. He is as cool and funny in person as he is embodying all those characters he does. Bill Murray, by the way, is a lot taller than you would think—he’s about six-four. He came in to our interview wearing pink pants, a pink shirt, and half a beard. After chatting a bit about his role in the movie, he volunteered that he was staying at George Clooney’s house for the junket.

  “George is a great guy,” I said, nodding.

  Bill Murray shrugged and said, with a twinkle in his eyes, “Except that he’s a compulsive cheater in basketball.”

  Hmm. Note to self: remember to requestion Clooney about the DiCaprio story.

  “Really?” I asked Murray.

  According to Bill Murray, George Clooney is not good at basketball. They were apparently playing one-on-one and Murray could have easily killed Clooney, but “I decided to let him win because I was his houseguest and wanted to be polite.”

  You can just picture his deadpan delivery as he’s saying this. I have to give it up to Bill Murray—he’s a guy who plays by his own rules in Hollywood, including the fact that he doesn’t have an agent or a manager. If you want Bill Murray, you have to call an 800 number. That goes for everyone. Apparently, you leave your address where the script can be picked up. And if he reads it and likes it, you get a call back. That’s how you get Bill Murray in your movie. Everyone—including Steven Spielberg and Martin Scorsese—has to call in on the same 800 number. No favoritism allowed.

  Other junkets that stand out for me include interviews with Jennifer Lawrence, who is one of those wonderful young stars who keep it real. She’s such a sweetheart and so down-to-earth. She freaked out when she first met me during a junket for Winter’s Bones because she was a huge fan of Saved by the Bell. She hopped out of her chair and brought her brothers into the room to introduce them to me. I guess her family members were big fans of Saved by the Bell too. How do you not love a star who can be a fan too?

  That attitude, I have to say, is more widespread than not. Most people in show business who have gained any kind of a foothold work very hard at what they do, so why not find ways to make the work fun? Certainly that’s the atmosphere I like to create as a host. Not long
ago I hosted a Katy Perry special that came about because of my business relationship with Clear Channel. This project was to be aired on the CW Network. The special included her live concert presented sort of like VH1’s Behind the Music. Katy and I hung out for two hours, and when she wasn’t performing we did interview questions. It didn’t feel like work at all. I’ve had her on Extra a bunch of times and also on my radio show—one of my more recent exciting ventures. Katy Perry is one of the biggest pop stars in the world and I can honestly say that she’s down-to-earth. She always sticks her fingers in my dimples when we see each other and has told me that her mom and grandmother love me.

  Compliments from Jennifer Lawrence and Katy Perry are genuinely flattering. It’s also nice to know that we’ve got a comfortable enough relationship that makes it easy to pick up the conversation the next time an interview opportunity rolls around.

  As someone who has climbed the ladder and as an outside observer, I’m fascinated by how celebrity does or doesn’t change people as they make their way up the ranks of Hollywood fame. Take Taylor Swift. I can remember seeing her perform at small-town carnivals and then big state fairs. She has managed to remain the nice girl I first met.

  Bruno Mars is a phenom who seemingly came up fast from obscurity to superstardom although that is rarely the case; most stars work hard for many years before they make it. I sat next to him at a fight in Vegas right before he was getting ready to perform at the halftime show at the 2014 Super Bowl to be held at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. He said, “Damn, man. You know, I’m a local Hawaii boy. I can’t believe I’m going to have to be out there in the cold like that. My voice may freeze.” Bruno keeps it real, is down-to-earth, and is just one of the guys. He is generous and loves to talk about talented people he knows who are just coming up—like his sisters, who are forming a band that he will be behind all the way. Bruno is the full package. He cares about being righteous as a person along with being great as an artist. It’s rare that I come across a talent who stops me in my tracks. Bruno Mars is one of them.