"Billions" is on Showtime Sunday nights.

One of the things I'm most jealous of your part

on "Billions" is how often you get to eat

at incredible restaurants.

Has that been a fun part for you?

-It has been a -- It is a huge part of the show,

and it definitely was a fun part of it for me,

and it sort of increased as the show went along.

It's a little bit less so now,

but it became a real part of the show.

And I went to all of these places

I had heard of and never been to

and then went to all of these places

I had never heard of, and they were really amazing.

And, you know, Brian Koppelman,

one of the creators of the show, is a big foodie,

so we were constantly going to amazing places.

-I imagine it looks wonderful to be able to eat all of that food,

but as an actor,

are you actually eating all of that food?

-Well, I am, because I think that people

should actually eat and look like they're eating.

And it bothers me, 'cause, you know, actors

will sort of play with the food and do a lot of kind of, like,

you know, kind of fake eating, because, you know,

you're going to have to repeat it

and actually eat all the stuff that you're eating, so I --

But I tend to just say the hell with it,

and I actually do it.

So I'll end up having to eat like seven chicken sandwiches

or two or three plates of poutine.

And we go to these -- But the real problem is more

that it's like 6:00 in the morning

and I'm eating...poutine.

And that's what becomes really strange.

I'll be eating the finest mutton chop in New York City

at 7:30 in the morning, and it's gross.

And it gets cold, and it sits there, and they try --

It's just weird. It's weird.

-I do appreciate you eating the real food,

because I can tell you that I notice --

I was just talking to a friend of mine about a show

that we both like, where the main character,

every eating scene, is pushing food around

and then maybe a solitary pea on the fork.

That does take us out of it.

-Well, it does. It takes you out of it.

And it really became a part of --

It became a big part of this character, too,

this kind of appetite, that he was just kind of --

Sort of anxiety eating and stuff like that, too.

So, you know.

-It is -- We should -- Now I do feel like, address --

I really do hope that all of these great New York restaurants

that you've eaten with on the show,

I do hope they return and find life after this.

Because, you know, I think

one of the great things about this show is it --

it really shows how New York

has the best restaurants in the world.

So hopefully they'll return in all of their glory.

-Absolutely true. Yep.

-You -- The last time you were on,

we talked about how your son was not impressed

that you were on "Billions."

-My son is unimpressed with me in general.

-Just in general. -Just in general.

Now, I mean, yeah, no, he was not particularly impressed

with me being on "Billions," no.

My son is -- He's a wonderful -- He's a fantastic kid.

But he's very genuinely cool, and you don't --

You got to earn it from him. He's -- I swear --

He's like Steve McQueen or something, my kid.

-Wow. -He's just --

You know, he doesn't give it away for free.

He's a wonderful, wonderful kid. But he's -- he's Steve McQueen.

-And, you know, I've actually talked to Koppelman about this.

You know, the show is liked

by as cool of people as you could want.

I mean, athletes love "Billions."

You would think that maybe through them.

But that speaks to how cool he is,

that he doesn't even care that cool people like it.

-Steve McQueen. I'm not kidding.

The kid -- The kid is next-level cool.

It's like -- He really is.

-You -- You have mentioned that he's a fan of "Rick and Morty."

-Yes, he is.

-And then you got to be a voice on "Rick and Morty."

How did he react when you gave him this news?

-And I had -- I didn't tell him that I had done it,

'cause I thought this will be a nice surprise.

And then it aired.

I actually haven't seen it yet, but he saw it.

And I got a kind of

very kind of low-key, terse kind of...

"Nice job on 'Rick and Morty.'"

-[ Laughs ] -And I was like --

And I reacted like Steve McQueen had just pulled me aside.

I was really like, "Wow! Wow! Really?!

Did you think -- That's so cool! Really! Wow!"

You know, I got really thrilled that Steve McQueen stopped me

in the kitchen and been like..."Good job."

Like that. You know --

-You blew it. You can't be that thirsty with their praise.

You should have Steve McQueen'd him back.

-I can't! I mean, how can you -- I can't do that.

I'm not that cool. I'm not that cool.

He's stone-cold cool, the kid. He's great.

-So you have not seen

what your character was animated to look like?

-No. I saw sort of an early thing,

but I don't even really remember it.

-Well, we have a photo we want to show real quick.

This is you as the Story Lord. -Uh-huh.

-I think we sent a text of it to you, 'cause there's both

shirt on and shirt off,

and I think they did pretty well by you.

-[ Laughs ] Oh, yeah, no. Actually that's interesting.

-Yeah!

-You know, I'm actually -- Wow. The chest is, like, crazy.

-Yeah. -Wow.

-I mean, it really makes you wish there had been

more shirtless scenes in "John Adams" because --

-[ Laughs ] There really should have been.

Were there any in "John Adams"? -I think there were none.

-"I think there were none."

Maybe Jefferson got a little bit.

-Well, I know there's, like, the --

You know, there's, like, the after-dark "John Adams."

-[ Laughs ] That's right. That's right.

The Skinemax "John Adams." The "Silk Stalkings."

That's actually -- That's funny.

I like the touch of gray at the temples with that guy.

-Yeah, no, it's -- It's a very distinguished man.

-Yes, I can be -- You can be anything.

You can be anything. -You can be anything.

With the power of animation. Hey. Thank you so much.

Always such a delight to talk to you, Paul.

Stay healthy through all of this,

and we hope to see you in person next time.

-Thank you, sir. Likewise. See you around. Thank you.

-Paul Giamatti, everyone. We'll be right back.