Hi.

You look fantastic.

I try to clean up for you.

You clean up real good.

I try.

You know you're always cleaned up real good.

The last time you were here you were with the entire cast

of Scandal.

Long time ago.

[INAUDIBLE]

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then you had a reunion the other day.

We did.

We got together at George's house.

And we all came, everybody came dressed in regular clothes

except for Toni and I. We were like the embarrassing parents

at camp.

We both had on like Scandal swag, sweatshirts and t-shirts

and hats, to so it was so corny.

Like everybody else was normal, and we were goofy

because we were stupid.

But that was a fun thing.

So you just for the hell of it just had a reunion?

We do, we try to.

I mean we're really close.

Seven years being each other's besties.

It's hard to let go.

And we won't.

You refuse.

We will not.

Yes.

Next time, everyone will dress up.

Yes.

But you've been really, really busy.

So you did this, the movie that is it now a movie.

It was a play.

I can't-- and we'll talk about that in a minute--

I cannot believe you did that eight shows a week.

Eight shows a week.

And man Oh man, it's intense.

It's the hardest thing I've ever done.

For sure.

I can imagine.

So we'll talk about that in a minute.

But you just finished filming something with Reese.

Yes, Little Fires Everywhere.

I love that book.

Isn't the book so great?

You have to read the book.

'Cause we'll be out next year.

But it's a limited series for Hulu.

We're really excited.

I loved working with Reese, she's amazing.

She's busy, too.

She's very busy.

She's a busy girl.

But yeah, I love the book.

So I'm so happy to hear that you're doing that.

She's so good in it, too.

Yeah.

And your dad had a cameo.

My dad is a featured background artist,

he prefers to be called.

And he didn't have any lines, but he was very-- this is him.

And basically Reese created a monster,

because he walked into the hair and makeup trailer

and she was like, I knew the moment

I met you that you were a star.

Oh God.

I was like, how am I going to take this guy home?

And he was-- he did a good job.

Did he pretend like he was talking in the background,

is that what he was doing?

He couldn't, because we would have had to pay him more.

And I'm not doing that.

Even for my dad.

But they pretend.

I'm a good producer.

But he-- really what I've been doing

is leveraging it for good behavior.

Right?

So like if my dad misbehaves, I'm like,

I could cut you out of that show.

I'm a producer.

I could cut you out of that show.

Smart.

So kind of keeps him in check.

So he's a regular background artist.

He's a featured background artist.

Wow, well, we'll look for them, then.

That's--

He's like the only one.

He's the only one standing in the background,

and like his presence means something

about Reese's emotional arc.

Oh.

So he really is.

So he really is featured.

I thought you were just kind of making fun of the situation.

No, no.

He's an artist.

That man is an artist.

Good to know.

All right so maybe we should feature him here just

in the background.

He's going to destroy my career by being everywhere

I go in the background.

Every show you're like, wait, is that Carrie's dad?

Is that him again?

He's kind of become insta famous, too.

I've done these videos with my dad.

We're doing like facials for Neutrogena and he loves it.

He loves-- he's been featured on all these shows.

Wow.

Yeah, he'll be offended that you didn't feature him longer.

That one picture won't be enough.

I see.

Well.

Maybe he can come on next time.

He seems kind of high maintenance.

No.

I didn't say it, Dad, she did.

However.

Truth hurts.

Let's leave that on the background, the entire show.

Every guest.

No matter who's out here.

You did something that is really important, that a lot of people

should be doing.

You went door to door.

You were in Virginia when--

I did, this weekend.

Because you were like, you got to get out and vote.

Well, what happens is every time that people are feeling

frustrated with politics, which is happening a lot lately,

I get all these messages on text or on social media

I like Olivia Pope, fix this.

Olivia Pope, you have to save the day.

And at first it was really funny, and I felt kind of cool

to be so famous.

But I have started to realize that it means

we have forgotten our power.

Right, that people think that a pretend character on television

has more power than we do.

And that's not what a democracy is.

We all have the power to change our communities

by voting and volunteering and showing up and running

for community boards and commissions.

But instead we want to believe in this one

candidate or this one imaginary character.

So I've just been trying to knock

on doors that tell people, you are more

important than Olivia Pope.

Olivia Pope can't vote.

You can.

Good for you for doing that.

All right, let's talk about the American Son.

This is the most intense--

And I've just realized my dad is still up there.

He has to stay there.

I don't want him to get mad at me.

OK, good.

American Son.

Explain what this is about.

So the whole film takes place in 90 minutes

real time in the lobby of a police precinct.

It's a black mom and a white dad who are desperately

looking for their 18-year-old son who's just

had an altercation with the cops,

but we don't know exactly what.

So it's like dropping into this nightmare of a parent's worst

night.

And just really wanting to know where your kid is, and it's

that-- it's every parent's worst nightmare to wake up at 3:00 AM

and have your teenager not be home,

but also when you are the parent of a black child

it's so much more complicated because of that fraught

relationship between police officers

and the black community.

Right.

So you have a white cop, you have a black cop.

Yes.

And you have-- you talk about every scenario of race which

is so important.

It really goes to so many different places.

We talk about a lot of different issues and a lot of different

takes on the issue, and I think that's one of the reasons why

I'm so proud of the film, because I think

we're in a moment when we don't really

talk to each other enough.

Like we tend to watch the news channels that

are going to give us the news that makes us comfortable,

and we only have conversations with people

who think the same way we do, and at dinner parties

if somebody brings up something that makes us uncomfortable

we just change the subject.

And I think for a long time.

I thought that a safe space meant that everybody should

be comfortable all of the time.

So avoid, avoid.

But I'm starting to understand that I think really

to have a safe space, that means that everybody in the room

has to commit to being uncomfortable

for a little bit of time.

It's really, it's interesting and I agree with you

when I heard you say that we all tend

to watch the news that we want to watch,

and any other news is they're wrong.

And we hang out with people who agree with us,

and I think that is making us more and more and more divided,

and it is not working.

We need to change this, because we all

need to come together and figure out how we become a human race

and not start judging each other the way we have been doing.

Something has to change.

All right, more with Carrie after this.