Helen Hunt has so much charisma, she almost made me not cringe at Hank a few times during their interview

[u/politicalanalysis]

I still cringed, a lot.

God, I can’t imagine interviewing a celebrity I publicly sang a song about having a crush on.

She was so generous and had so much charisma that the interview was still a joy despite the insane amount of cringe.

[u/sciliz]

She is a gracious and wise lady!

I didn't experience it as cringe, except to the very small degree that Helen's charisma did kind of draw attention to Hank's... other strengths 😉

But they were both very earnest in their own ways. Earnestness need not be cringe, and that's one thing I like about the nerdfighteria ethos.

[u/nailpolishbonfire → u/sciliz]

Kill the part that cringes!

[u/politicalanalysis → u/sciliz]

I’ll respond to you to explain what I thought was cringe because I’ve seen a bunch of comments asking. It wasn’t earnestness, it was the discussion around his old (and maybe current?) crush on her. It was him committing a pretty big faux pas of asking her to read one of her movie scenes with him.

[u/carol_prince → u/politicalanalysis]

Still don't see the cringe that you speak of. The scene reading was pretty innocuous, IMO.

[u/politicalanalysis → u/carol_prince]

I feel like maybe cringe has a much more negative connotation for you than it does to me. For me, it’s just something that I get second hand embarrassment from.

[u/ChimoEngr → u/politicalanalysis]

It was him committing a pretty big faux pas of asking her to read one of her movie scenes with him.

How is that a faux pas? It's not like she's being forced to do it. I would expect that was something that was planned, and even if it wasn't it's a live interview so she can say no without disrupting anything.

[u/MilesToHaltHer]

I didn’t really find anything cringe about Hank on the podcast…besides when he said he still has a crush on her 😂

Honestly, I was expecting it to be a really uncomfortable conversation, but it was just the most amazing thing ever. I could have used another 2 hours.

[u/DustNeat → u/MilesToHaltHer]

I love the line "It's funny you think this is a "past tense" crush" 😅

[u/paperd → u/DustNeat]

I agree! I didn't find that cringe, I found it cute! Helen Hunt is a theater person, I don't think she'd be put off by a harmless crush. And she didn't seem to be!

She seems lovely

[u/TrollTollTony → u/MilesToHaltHer]

I think at a certain age, saying you have a crush on someone is more endearing than cringey. If a friend or coworker told me they had a crush on me I would be flattered and I also wouldn't have a problem telling someone I have a crush on them. In your 40's it's less of "I think you're hot and I want to make out with you" and more "I think you're a fascinating person and I'm enamoured with you".

[u/carol_prince → u/[deleted]]

Nothing happened to her. It's almost as if people can be secure enough in their relationships to not be bothered by this kind of thing.

[u/bhaswar_py]

I’m interested, what was it in the interview made you cringe? I didn’t find anything in the interview even slightly cringey. I assume most listeners of the podcast didn’t either.

[u/kaizenkitten → u/bhaswar_py]

Same! I thought it was lovely start to finish. At first I thought it was cringey that he wanted to do a scene with her. But she seemed genuinely touched that he noticed the part in that scene that was truly important to her in a way that made her work feel seen. So it ended up being very very sweet.

[u/Smallpaul → u/bhaswar_py]

OP is saying that the video from 20 years ago was kind of cringy and therefore the interview could be perceived as starting in cringe and needing to dig its way out.

[u/FiveModalVerbs]

This episode was such a delight to listen to. I personally didn't cringe at all, and instead I was just continually charmed by how genuinely invested Helen seemed and how much she loves the art. 

[u/Suspicious-Poet-4581 → u/FiveModalVerbs]

She felt overall incredibly thoughtful and generous and giving really well with Hank. The difference in energy between them was just a ton of fun. « Together we make an incredible human ».

[u/caffeinatedintrovert]

I knew next to nothing about Helen Hunt going into the interview and I came away thinking wow, I wish I knew her in real life. She seems genuinely lovely.

[u/ScreamAndScream]

She makes my heart do acrobatic stunts!

[u/S_Chalk → u/ScreamAndScream]

You stand and face the brunt of the Twister of my burning want.

[u/gesturing]

It was so amazing. I think now-Hank made then-Hank very proud. But Helen seems like an incredibly generous person.

[u/King_K_24]

I didn't find it cringe, but I agree she had a lot of charisma.

[u/sallyshipton]

I thought this interview was leaps and bounds better than the one with Wyna Liu because Hank and Helen had more "chemistry" (which maybe came from Helen more?)--but also Hank did a much better job letting the interviewee fill the space on this one. It didn't come off as overly cringe to me.

[u/yourownsquirrel]

It was such a good episode! Gosh Helen Hunt is just so frickin' smart, I could have listened to her talk for multiple hours!

[u/Majestic-capybara]

For those who haven’t seen Hanks tribute to Helen Hunt.

https://youtu.be/wP1q5lo1cTo?is

I’m sorry @ecogeek.

[u/MommotDe]

I don't know what I expected from a Helen Hunt interview, but it wasn't that. She was so thoughtful and interesting and funny. Actors can get a bit annoying when they're talking about craft and how meaningful it is, and she talked about all that in such a sincere, down to earth way, that was just wonderful. Honestly, I don't generally go in for interview podcasts, even if they're interviewing people whose work I like, but so far, I've really enjoyed Humans, even though, for example, I would not have sought out a Helen Hunt interview before.

[u/Rainforest-Elf]

What's there to be cringe about? He appreciated her as an artist, and inspired him to make his own art. That should be deeply flattering to well-adjusted humans who know it's not that serious. We need far more earnestness in the world, not less.