Paula Goes To Hollywood

You know, people tell me all the time

gosh, Paula, you must feel like you're living a dream. Well, it's true. I mean, who could ever imagine going from selling small lunches cooked in my kitchen

to walking down the red carpet of a Hollywood premiere? I mean, we're talking Elizabethtown, y'all

That's right. Paula Deen in a big Hollywood movie with Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, and Susan Sarandon

And listen, it's being produced by Tom Cruise and written and directed by my favorite, Cameron Crowe

You know, this whole thing is just so exciting. I just got to share it with y'all

So come on, let me take you behind the scenes as Paula goes to Hollywood

They say the road to Hollywood is a well-worn path that's unique from person to person

But my story of arriving to work in a major Hollywood film may be the most unusual one of all

Cameron Crowe, the writer, director, and producer of so many fabulous films like Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous

has written and directed a movie called Elizabethtown. and can you believe cast me in it

The idea of Paula and Hollywood is so funny to me because she's so not Hollywood

nor will Hollywood corrupt her. You know, Paula is just real as real can be

and that's why it's funny to me. Even the idea of Paula's Hollywood

or Paula and Hollywood just cracks me up. Being an overnight success, y'all, is not easy, you know

15 years of hard work cooking and serving up meals for my old family recipes

put me on the road to movies. Who would ever have imagined

You know, first it was the food, then the restaurant and cookbooks

My own TV show. And lo and behold, a call from one of the most respected directors in Hollywood

to please come and be in his movie. She gets a phone call here at the Lady and Sons

This is Cameron Crowe. And I need you to speak to Paula Deen. And my mom is, well, I don't know who Cameron Crowe is

Talk to the guy. So, Cameron, I'm a movie director in Hollywood

I've seen your show. I think you're really great. And there's a role in this movie that we would like for you to please

will you please come and be in this movie? Paula was a lifesaver for us because we had this really important part

Aunt Dora, who's the commanding force of this extended family that is at the center of Elizabethtown

And this woman is bringing everybody to her home to celebrate the unfortunate death of Mitch Baylor, who's Orlando Bloom's father in the movie

And we had such a hard time finding the actress to play this part, because I think you have a lot of people that aren't really connected to the art of communicating and cooking and bringing people together

so they'll act it. But there's something about seeing someone who's not a cook

act like a cook. Just something is a little amiss. And Gail Levin is the casting director

So she called me one night and said, I found Aunt Dora

I said, how'd you find Aunt Dora? You're home sick. She goes, I've been watching TV

and I found the most amazing woman, and her name is Paula Deen

So I get this video of Paula Deen's show with Jimmy Carter. I put it in the player and, you know, she's magic

Immediately, you're drawn in by this woman. You feel like she's a part of your family

And, you know, you just catch the buzz when you see Paula. So I called Gail back

I said, you're right. This is Aunt Dora. I called Paula. I gave her the part in about two minutes

Didn't even audition her. I'd never done that before. It was just such a strong instinct that we had

that I had, that she would be a natural. And I agreed to come out

I said, I will come out and do my best for you. I said, but if I'm no good, you know, just send me back home

I said, I can always fry chicken. So not only was I going to be working with a famous director

and the producer of the movie was Tom Cruise. I mean, come on, girls, Tom Cruise

and then I heard who was going to be in the cast for Elizabeth Town

You know, I really realized that I had my work cut out for me. I mean, my goodness, Susan Sarandon, Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst

cute little Judy Greer. I had been admiring all these people for a long time

and now we were going to be working side by side. You know, I still can't believe it

When I see the movie, I'll be more surprised than anybody in the audience. Also criticize somebody's cooking

on my last visit in 82. It wasn't anything personal. I just really don't like ham

Well, Holly, I accept your apology because I know my ham was delicious

And I was even more surprised when I found out that some of the cast

like Judy Greer, who plays Orlando Bloom's sister in the movie, not only knew who I was

but was a fan of my cooking show. Oh yeah, I was totally freaking out

and I thought she was in it. I thought that was genius. She seemed really calm and collected

so it was a really perfect role for Paula to play. Orlando Bloom didn't know who I was

before we got started. But after our early scenes, well, let's just say

we got acquainted pretty good. Paula was ever-present as soon as she stepped on set

She's such a huge, boisterous character. She's an amazing woman. and her stories and her life story is fascinating

Really fascinating. Now, y'all stay right there because I want to tell you the whole story of how I got here

From the early days making sandwiches to the restaurant cookbooks, the TV show

and now the movie. We'll hear from some of my new friends

the writer and director Cameron Crowe, the stars, and we're going to show you some scenes

from the movie Elizabethtown, and we're going to even show you how we made some

So y'all stay tuned. As I head to Hollywood, I want to share with y'all my walk to fame

You see, I've been blessed with more than I could ever have imagined

And now I'm appearing in the big Hollywood movie, Elizabethtown. And I tell you, it hadn't been easy getting here

But you know, I wouldn't change a thing. And I never could understand those fathers who didn't say I love you

Because he said it all the time. And to all of you who put this evening together, it has gone beautifully

Thank you. Lena, it hadn't hit him yet. Oh, it will. It will

I was 40 years old. I wanted my independence. I wanted to be able to take care of myself

I wanted to give myself and my children choices instead of having to just take whatever came our way So I lay in bed at night thinking what are you going to do Paula It now or never

So I had to turn to what I really knew, and that was my stove

And so I cooked up this little plan of opening a business called The Bag Lady

Mom calling said I saw a woman in the Washington, D.C. area

had put together a small door-to-door catering company, and she thought it was a neat idea

and knew she could cook and said, let's start a little business

You want to? I said, sure, Mom. You know, I thought it'd be a summer job, really

It was a nightmare. It really was. And we were, it was very close to going out and begging, just peddling this food

So I was at the same door at the same time every day. and eventually somebody said, okay, I'll take lunch

And then once they tasted it, mom was fixing everything. So it was, we got them

And the bag lady business just grew from there. And about a year and a half later, a unique opportunity arose

A local motel had an empty kitchen and a dining room. They needed somebody to come in and cook and serve food three times a day, seven days a week

This proved to be a whole new challenge for me and my sons

The worst years of my life was the five years that I spent in the restaurant at Best Western

It was just horrible. And I can't even get the boys to talk about those days now

It's even too painful for them. Now, I never back away from a challenge, y'all

After five years of this grueling work, we decided to move the business downtown

and that restaurant was called The Lady and Sons. And as if I wasn't busy enough, I got this crazy notion that I was going to sit down and write a cookbook

It took her five years to write this little cookbook pieced together from our family's recipes

and we finally had it printed out. And when we did that, I thought, wow, this is determination

I mean, we'd gone from $200 to downtown to 5,000 cookbooks. And at that moment, I said, we're okay

We've got a good business. You know, we don't need groceries on credit anymore

At this point, y'all, people were coming from all over the country to try our food

It was so hard to believe. And then one day, a beautiful young woman I knew from around town came in to eat

And we got to chatting. One day, she said, do you know Gordon Elliott

I said, well, I know the name. She said, well, he's a good friend of mine

and he's coming to Charleston to do some Gordon Elliott Doorknock dinners

And she said, I'd love for him to come over and meet you. And I remember what a big deal we all thought that was

Jamie and Mom and I were all really excited, you know, we had Gordon in there. And I walked in, and within minutes I met Paula, the boys

Bubba, Aunt Peggy, and the whole crowd. and I realized I was not only in a unique environment in terms of the restaurant

but a totally, overwhelmingly wonderful family. And Paula at the head of it

So I put her on a show that I was doing at the time called Doorknock Dinners, where I would knock on the door of a home and whoever answered

I promised them I could take my cook or chef into their kitchen

Whatever we found in their refrigerator, they would turn into a gourmet meal. And Paula was my cook

hello how are you gordon elliott from food network it's okay we're not gonna harm you

paula dean from savannah georgia from how are you and the woman said no kids are screaming i'm hungry

i can't muck around love the fact you're on tv bye-bye and paula said do you mind if i try i said

it's a dead issue to me but go right ahead this is what my two boys look like those two big hunks

back there we could i had the tall blue eyed one and the short brown eyed we've actually got well

Well, I kind of scooted up there and started talking to her

I told her, I said, if you'll just let me in, it'll be all right. Look into my refrigerator

Well, no, look at... Listen, for 27 years, I walked into a kitchen with very little groceries

And you had to feed these two big men. And look what I did. I found enough to feed them with

It's for the kids, too. Hmm, I don't know. Don't be shy

Why don't we take a look in the fridge? You want a look? How about that? Okay. Let's see what we can do

And I remember at the end of that show, Gordon looking over at my mom and saying

Paula, you're a star. You're going to have your own show and I'm going to produce it. And that was in 1997

And sure enough. I can't take any credit for Paula. Paula would have become a star

Someone would have put her on a local TV channel. Someone would have found her. There's too many cameras wandering around America

She would have been on food finds probably a week after I had met her and she would have been a star

I was just lucky enough to be there first. So I did the door knock dinner shows two times

and then Food Network also put me on food finds, ready, set, cook, and follow that food

And just when this whirlwind of TV was getting going, my show, Paula's Home Cooking, hit the air in November 2002

So I'll tell y'all all about that next. I want to take y'all behind the scenes of Paula's Home Cooking

to see just how I did on my first day on the set of the show

and then show you the first day on the set of the movie Elizabethtown

I was so nervous. And then later, I'm walking the red carpet at a Hollywood premiere, baby

My road to fame, as my friends say, has been a long journey

full of very unexpected surprises. But I did try to make sure that every single experience

was going to be preparing me for the next one. I was just as nervous on the first day of the set of Elizabethtown

as I was a first day shooting Paula's Home Cooking. But the thing about it, what happened on that first day on set

She totally trusted everybody she was working with. She knew that we cared for her and loved her

and wanted her to be nothing but a success. All right, tell me when

Okay, we are on. Okay. Today, I'm going to make y'all the most wonderful peach smoothies

And my biggest concern was not having anybody to talk to. You know, just trying to carry on a conversation right by myself was very frightening to me

Because I kept saying, you know, Gordon, don't you think I ought to have a guest on with me or something

He said, no, no, you know, you can do it. You can do it

and one of a southern girl's very favorite ingredients, melted butter. Can't have too much melted butter

We sat behind the camera and I talked to her and I just let her cook

I said to her, listen, you're not doing a show. You're just having a few friends over while you cook and chat

That's all. Just talk to me. But when you look up, don't look at me

Look at the camera. Yeah, baby. And once Paula home cooking hit the air that was a giant step We were literally bursting at the seams at 311 West Congress Street On really good busy days we would feed 600 or 800 people

And there's no way we could have increased that because we just didn't physically have the space to do it in

So Paula's Home Cooking really was the catalyst for us moving into this bigger building

The Lady and Sons restaurant is now housed in a 15,000 square foot, 200 year old building

Slap in the heart of downtown Savannah. Only till very recently have the boys and I lifted our heads up to look and see what's happened

And the tour buses would ride by every day and I'd hear them over the loudspeakers saying, this is the Lady and Sons restaurant

And that'd just be about it. They have good southern food. and then the spiel would change as our business changed

She's got a cookbook out by Random House. She has two cookbooks out by Random House. You've seen her on QVC

You've seen her on the Food Network. And now the trolley companies ride by

they have to start their little spiel a block away because it's so long that they have to get it all in before they pass by

I mean, what a surprise all this is. Yeah, because at my age

you feel like the most exciting thing that you're going to do

is maybe get to scream out, Bingo! You know? But boy, was I wrong, y'all

when I thought the biggest thing in my life would be getting a lady and sons into this new building

and marrying my husband, Michael. Nope. Now I'm off to Hollywood, y'all

You know, my family and friends even had a surprise party for me before I had to leave to go for rehearsals

You know, I think they might have been hoping to calm my nerves a bit. One of the most surreal situations that I've ever been in my life was when I went out there to rehearse

And I start at the table and I walk around and see all these names

You know, I see Susan Sarandon, Kirsten Dunst, Judy Greer, Cameron Crowe, Paula Deen

What? What? It was insane. You know, it's a funny thing when you have a read-through with a lot of actors getting together

It's intimidating. And I've found that sometimes people don't bring it. They don't want to put themselves out there because they don't want to be judged by all of these other actors

There's a story that Robert De Niro, for example, barely speaks above a whisper when he does a read-through

You know, it's clearly him not just doing the part yet. He'll do that later

And not Paula. She brought it from moment one. Drew, you know, I really should have your mother on this wall

Trying to fit in, Drew. And to hear these people and to see these people

do the work that they are trained to do was amazing. I was so into the story and into the script

that when it came to my lines, I just sat there, and I was still just like this

And Gail said, Paula, Paula, that's your line. And I said, oh, my God, I was the only one to screw up

But it was like I was in a trance, you know, watching these people

And so I read my two little lines, and I thought, hell, I'm out of here. I know I'm out of here

But, yeah, I stayed, and it was just wonderful. And Paula just brought the house down

and all of us knew we were in the presence of somebody who was good at this

but also it's who she was. She brings people to her, and if ever there was someone that could be relaxed and casual and inviting and fun

while cooking an elaborate meal, it's Paula Deen, Which was really important because that character that she plays is always making everybody entertained, comfortable, happy, well-fed, and cared for

And she did that from moment one. And that was just rehearsals

Coming up next, I'm going to take you behind the scenes, and I'm going to do something that women around the world would love to do

I'm going to shoot my first scenes with that sweet heartthrob, Orlando Bloom

It was a little awkward, you know, being in the bedroom with somebody so young

But I quickly got over it. I was very gentle with him

Well, it's showtime. I'm in Hollywood, and I'm ready for my close-up

Rehearsals went well, and everybody being so nice and friendly and generous

made this all so much easier. You know, not that the role was that big of a stretch or anything

The character was much like who I am. You know, I didn't have to fake an accent

because the woman was Southern. She was all about family, you know, holding the family together

And she loved being in her house and in her kitchen cooking

So, I mean, that's not a far-fetched at all for me. You know, had I been playing, asked to play another role

that could have, might have been very difficult. but to me what they were asking me to do was just really to be myself

but my name was going to be Dora. Paula is really good at improvising

There's one scene up in the bedroom in Elizabethtown and the bedroom was the archive of the family photographs

So it was kind of like all that wall space is occupied by family members

you know, alive and gone. And they all live there. And this person who's so much about life

honors these people every day when she gets up and goes to bed. And that's Aunt Dora

So she's pointing out to Drew, who's been the solitary character, like who his family is

So I wrote this thing for Paula. And I gave it to her just a minute before we shot the scene where

And I go, Paula, I want you to try this and say that this is Orlando's cousin Dickie Connelly who had three nipples

And every man has his burden, and that was Dickie's. But he was a poet

And it's kind of a tough line. But Paula just slammed it out of the park

And we were all cracking up. and it was part of about a hundred things she did in that bedroom scene

So come on in. You know it not every day I invite good men to my bedroom but I just wanted you to meet your family the Baylors and the Conleys Let start with Dickie Conley Now he was an alcoholic he had a drinking problem and he also had three nipples

He had three nipples. And he was a poet. We sort of improvised bits as well, you know

There were photos on the wall, and we picked things out and played with them, you know

I mean, a lot of what was really surprising was that really what Paula had was a sort of very broad script

You know, it was kind of like, this is your domain and this is the sort of, this is the idea

There's relatives on the walls. And she kind of just went with it and let things happen, which was sort of, I'm not even sure where the three nipples thing came out

I'm not sure whether that was Paula's or whether that was Cameron's, but it was kind of, that's how naturally it flowed

So it was good. There's one scene where I asked her to just go with Orlando Bloom a little bit

and ask him where his mother was, because his mother doesn't show up for the funeral at first

And Paula said, how's your mother? How's she doing, Drew? And it's a lot of people's favorite part of the movie

in that here is somebody so true to life that has manners, has opinions

but you're going to see it in a very small glimpse and that glimpse is going to give you volumes

And that was great of Paula. How's your mother, Drew, honey? You know, I really should have a picture of her in here

And this picture is... I'm coming! Lena! Lena, just watch over it

Two more minutes. I'm coming. This was the last picture taken of your daddy

this was just three days ago drew he was the most loving man coming when you stay as long as you need

to it was it was very surprising how um how comfortable in a issue was with the whole thing

which was great considering it was like you know it was kind of it was a very sensitive and poignant

moment and you know it's easy to overplay those moments or to sort of slightly you know for them

to go askew, but she was very much in the moment and comfortable with it

All right. You're welcome. You're welcome. All right, now I want us to have some organization

Just from having done it so much, she has such a command of how she moves through rooms

and brings that camera in. And she did that in the movie

There's a great scene where Orlando Bloom first enters her house. And it was a big important scene for me when I wrote the script because he's just come from the visitation for his father in a funeral home

And the scene is meant to go from seeing death, the death of a loved one, to an explosion of life

And the cut is from that funeral home to Aunt Dora's kitchen

and in that kind of explosion of life and humanity and Aunt Dora having brought all these people together

to celebrate Orlando's father, here comes Orlando and Paula as Aunt Dora sees him

and she turns from the stove where she's making some hoe cakes and she says, oh my God

And it's just a beautiful moment because she sees her brother in him

She sees a member of the family that needs to be welcomed and loved

And it's all on her face. And the two forces come together and she welcomes Orlando

And I don't know that you can do that as easily if you haven't welcomed people so regularly

and made yourself a part of their homes and vice versa the way she does on her TV show

She's so good at it. Lena, look at Mitch's baby

You look just like your daddy and husband. Wait just a minute, I've got to talk to Drew

We hope you're going to stay for a while. You're at it tonight, pal. Let everybody go

You just want, I think, watching a movie to feel like the people are real

Those are people like you know, people that are in your family. That's, you know, that's a wonderful thing when you're watching a movie

when you never feel like somebody's playing dress-up and putting on a show for you

It's more like you're a fly on the wall. I love that

I always strive for that in the movies that I've done. Coming up next, the first day of shooting was full of surprises

And great time of day. I got to tell y'all about the role that food plays in this movie Elizabethtown

Imagine that, me talking about food. And later, I want y'all to join me as I try to get all dolled up for the red carpet premiere

One thing I learned about shooting Elizabethtown is that movies are not shot in order

So it sort of made sense that one of the first scenes we shot was actually one of the last in the movie

It can make it confusing, but the laughter sure makes it easier

The funeral scene was really right comical. It took place in Kentucky

So hot. So hot. But there was some glitches in this funeral

You've all peaked emotionally the night before, and now it's just the ceremony of actually saying goodbye to Mitch

But, man, these are the weary, walking wounded. These are the people that have survived this whole event

By that point, so many disasters and fiascos, mini-fiascos, leading up to the major fiasco of Hit

that it's a sort of comic relief when the coffin goes down

without anyone in it other than the blue suit. Friends and neighbors, we are gathered here

to say our final goodbyes to my dear friend, Mitch. Ouch. This was the first day of filming

It was a big scene with everybody standing around. I'd written it into the script, but it actually happened naturally

and surprised everybody. And I think we felt kind of blessed on that day

because there was this happy accident that had happened. Everybody laughed. Scenes in the movie broke the tension

And it got us going, you know. And that's how we began on Elizabethtown

And I love that that scene was in the trailer. I love that Paul is seen in the kitchen welcoming Orlando was in the trailer

because those are sort of really representative moments of the movie. It's about life and loss and family

and the explosion of love that can come out of a situation like that

And we began in a graveyard. Andor really represents the family And I guess what people like to do in the South, in the heartlands of America, as it's called

when somebody dies, is they celebrate. And the majority of that is through eating

So, you know, that brings people together. That brings, you know, the kitchen being the heart of the house

And so really Paula, as Aunt Dora, was really the heart of that house

And that's a really present part of the movie. Food is life

And in a movie that begins with the unfortunate death of Orlando Bloom's father

I wanted this movie to go from death to life. It kind of begins with an ending and ends with a beginning

And one of the things that Orlando's character learns, I think, is life is everywhere

Life is all around you. He's been kind of an interior guy. But here he comes to Kentucky, and he's in Aunt Dora's kitchen, and he sees food

and memories and life and family are all one. And he learns to share food with everybody

and what that means in the course of the story. And I just think not all of us have had that upbringing

but it's so great to show it in a real way. And it was important that we get somebody that really honored food

whether they talked a lot about it or just showed it, as Paula did. You know, funeral food is real important to a southerner

We put a lot, a lot of love into our food, and that sounds kind of corny and cliche-ish

but it's the truth. A lot, a lot of love. Bill Bannon is not going to be here

What do I do with my drink? You know, I think it's a big deal. All those people in that scene became part of that family as we were filming

I know people say that, but we actually did become kind of a family

Working with Cameron is a different sort of experience altogether. And it requires something that isn't really acting

It more just it that whole sense of you don want to act you want to be And that means just being in the moment And I never could understand those fathers who didn say I love you because he said it all the time

And to all of you who put this evening together, it has gone beautifully, and thank you

It ain't that meeting yet. Oh, it will. Orlando is a sweet, gentle young man, kind of quiet and low-key

and very focused. This was such a great, wonderful group of people to work with

On a movie, there's a lot of hurry up and wait, a lot of downtime

So you get to spend a lot of time just kind of sitting around and talking

and, you know, getting to know your co-stars. It felt like we were all a big family all the time

I would leave work if I didn't have to work for the next couple of days and feel really homesick for the set

when I was in my own house. When we were shooting, I think it was in October when we were shooting this big scene at the memorial service

when we were all in Los Angeles for a couple weeks, and I was talking about wanting to make Christmas cookies for people

and starting to get ready to think about that, and she taught me how to make her Paula Deen peppermint bar

And so she brought in one of her tapes of her shows and showed how you smash up the peppermint sticks

and taught me how to double boil the chocolate without having a double boiler

by just using the pot and a glass bowl and spread it out on wax paper on my kitchen table

and then sprinkle it in and let it dry in the fridge. And so I did that, and that was what I gave for Christmas presents to a lot of people

was the Paula Deen Peppermint Bar. I'll never forget it. It's my recipe now that I can make

My one thing. Okay, y'all, coming up next, let's get ready for the premiere

Walk the red carpet and go see the movie for the very first time

It's easy for me to say that now. You know, I'm not sure what I'm going to be thinking when the lights go down and that movie starts to roll

After all the years of hard work, where Hollywood could never have been a dream

I've achieved more than I could ever possibly imagine. And now here I am, as they tell me, poised to walk down the red carpet as a newly minted movie star

I can't believe that this is happening to me, but I don't stop and think about it, you know, too very much

I just try to be very thankful and enjoy each ride that I get to take

I don't think Paul even realized it would be this big. It's remarkable, I think, that it has come to this

I'm excited. It was so hard to try to relax, especially with me knowing what was coming up later that night

We've got a dinner, and then we walk the red carpet into the theater is my understanding and then we watch the movie that we all been waiting a long long time to see You know the red carpet thing was something that I seen for years

but never, ever did I think I'd be on one. And it was just so exciting thinking about it that, you know, I began to worry about something

You know, I said, Paula, you're not that good in high heels. What if you fall down

And then, thankfully, I got some tips from the big dog. Just kind of lifts a hand up like that

They go, yes! I feel it. I will try. You see, I'm going like this

Okay, let's try one like that. There they are. Well, you're better than me

Kind of a wave and a thing. I love it. Give me your hand

I'm so excited to see you here. Oh, my God. Is that not the sweetest thing in the world

It's exciting, you know, because this whole town is all hopped up on movies right now

The Toronto Film Festival is, you know, it's a real peak in the movie-going season

Mostly I'm just happy that the actors are here and we get to share it and feel the audience

And when I knew Paula was here, I knew things were getting good

I can't tell you what a pleasure it was to work on the movie with you

and for this to be the first time for me. Have you seen it yet? No

No. You're so great. You're so great. I was such a lucky chick to be with y'all

Are you kidding? We were so lucky to have you. It's so great. It's so cool

And with just a few chances to practice and a few encouraging words from the professionals

it was off to the red carpet. Some interviews, photographs, it was just like living a dream

It's like you're seeing the movies, but somehow you're watching yourself and pinching yourself at the same time

And just when you're starting to get comfortable with it all, it's off to see the movies for the very first time

Somebody asked me a while ago, one of the interviewers said, Well, how deep into the movie will it be before we see you

I said, great time of day. I have no idea. They said, how many lines did you have

I said, they're on fire? I don't know. I said, what I can tell you is I changed clothes four different times for the movie

I had four wardrobe changes. And they said, oh, that's pretty good

So we'll see. I can't wait to see it. The anticipation is killing me, y'all

But first, just one more introduction. Paula Deen. And now, showtime I understand you have to let me go

You're about to lose this company million I cry a lot lately Drew I have some really bad news Dad died

I'll be back in two days. Just get Dad home. The kids parts of this family have never integrated well

so don't expect to make a lot of friends when you go there. Drew doesn't make friends, Mom. I have friends

Louisville, Kentucky, huh? Actually, near Louisville. Louisville. Louisville. Louisville. I'll keep that in mind

home is your family. My dad. He's okay, right? He's fine. They're all here, cuz

This loss will be met by a hurricane of love. You look just like your daddy

We hope you're gonna stay for a while. Uncle Mitch always wanted us to meet. Everybody says we look alike

Weird, huh? Like looking in the mirror. Hello? Hello, stranger. I wanted to tell you the truth

My dad's dead. And they're not buying cremation. Was there such a thing as partial cremation

Can you even say such a thing? Good Lord. Things really are black and white

Every day needs a purpose. I can't believe I'm telling this to someone. Sometimes the end of one man's journey

You and your dad were close. Oh, very close. I knew him very, very well

Very, very well. Yeah, I don't know my father very well either

It's the beginning of another man's life. We should have taken this trip years ago

This is for you. I love you. What you're seeing is not really me

The real me is a spectacular failure. You're always trying to break up with me

And we're not even together. We're not. Please don't take this as rejection

I really don't. Elizabeth Town. It was a little, it was a little almost unexpected, even though I know I've done it and I've been working on it

It was still like a, you know, a little unexpected, but how exciting

You know, what a nice surprise for this to happen to me

I can't tell you how exciting and thrilling it was to totally move from a world that you're used to

and to be a part of that world, even for a short time

It was very, very exciting. Well, I felt just like Cinderella in a fairy tale

But the very best part is that it's all true