OPHIRA EISENBERG, HOST:
Alysia Reiner and Beth Dover both starred on "Orange Is The New Black," and their characters didn't get along. But in real life, they are besties. Alysia, Beth, hello.
BETH DOVER: Hi.
ALYSIA REINER: Hi.
DOVER: Thanks for having us.
EISENBERG: Pleasure.
REINER: So fun.
EISENBERG: I have to say, having the both of you on is also a landmark moment for our show because we are slowly trying to have every single member of "Orange Is The New Black" on our show.
JONATHAN COULTON, BYLINE: (Laughter).
DOVER: All right.
EISENBERG: So this really - this is very helpful. But you know what? I will say with the two of you, this is the first time that we've had characters from the other side...
DOVER: Right.
EISENBERG: ...The more villainous side.
DOVER: We're the double villains over here. Yeah.
EISENBERG: Yes. Did you meet on the show, or did you know each other before?
REINER: Yeah.
DOVER: Yeah. We met on the show.
REINER: It's very - the weird thing about "Orange" was if you hadn't had scenes with people, you kind of never saw them. So it was our first...
EISENBERG: Right.
REINER: ...Day where we had, like, scenes together hating each other. And all of a sudden, it was like, oh, my God. I love this girl. She's so cool in real life.
DOVER: And then we would go out for martinis. After yelling at each other, we'd go out for martinis afterwards.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
DOVER: It was great.
EISENBERG: I don't know about you, but recently, I found out that I don't actually like a martini. I only like two.
(LAUGHTER)
EISENBERG: And I know that you're involved in the Resistance Revival Chorus.
DOVER: Yay.
EISENBERG: You're on an album.
REINER: Yes. I'm on my first album. And in December, the vinyl comes out.
COULTON: Oh, my gosh - vinyl.
REINER: It's a red vinyl record.
COULTON: Yeah.
EISENBERG: I love that you're going to get a record, an actual physical record.
REINER: Yeah.
EISENBERG: I love also the colored vinyl.
REINER: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Jonathan, you did colored vinyl - right? - for your last...
COULTON: I did. Yeah. I - my last couple of albums, I have gone all out with the vinyl design with...
REINER: What? Tell me what color. What color?
COULTON: I usually have one right here. You know what? Hang on one second. I'll...
REINER: Yes. Yes. Please. Please.
COULTON: (Laughter).
REINER: Yeah.
COULTON: Very, very proud of this one. The records themselves - look at that.
REINER: Whoa.
DOVER: Oh, wow. Look at that.
COULTON: Yeah.
EISENBERG: Very psychedelic.
DOVER: Yeah.
COULTON: It's like a melted candy cane. I love it.
DOVER: Yeah.
EISENBERG: OK, we have a couple great games for you.
DOVER: Woo-hoo (ph).
EISENBERG: Are you ready to play some games?
DOVER: Yes.
REINER: Yes.
EISENBERG: OK. So in this - the first game, you're going be playing against each other, so we're going to alternate back and forth. You'll take turns answering questions. Your first game is an audio quiz.
DOVER: Woo (ph).
EISENBERG: So what we're going to do is you are going to hear what famous animated characters sound like in other languages.
REINER: Oh, my goodness.
EISENBERG: You just have to identify who you are hearing in the clip. OK, Alysia, this first one is for you. We're looking...
REINER: OK.
EISENBERG: ...For the name of the famous animated couple you're hearing in this clip in French.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE SIMPSONS")
VERONIQUE AUGEREAU: (As Marge Simpson, speaking French).
PHILIPPE PEYTHIEU: (As Homer Simpson, speaking French).
EISENBERG: There's a little gravel in that voice, which I feel like kind of helps you. And...
REINER: Pepe Le Pew maybe.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
COULTON: Beth is trying to send it telepathically through her...
(LAUGHTER)
REINER: I would have to go Simpsons on that one.
EISENBERG: Yes. That's correct.
REINER: Woohoo.
EISENBERG: Does he say (speaking French)? Anyways...
(LAUGHTER)
REINER: (Speaking French).
COULTON: It's already a French word. It's already a D, apostrophe, H.
EISENBERG: That's right.
COULTON: Right? It's already French.
EISENBERG: So the two voice actors that you heard in that clip of Marge and Homer speaking in French actually met during the auditions for the show and are now married in real life.
REINER: Aw.
DOVER: That's sweet.
REINER: That is so cute.
EISENBERG: I know.
COULTON: That's very cute.
DOVER: (Speaking French).
REINER: (Speaking French).
COULTON: All right, Beth.
DOVER: Yes.
COULTON: This one is for you.
DOVER: All right. I'm ready.
COULTON: This underwater creature who lives in a pineapple is speaking in Vietnamese.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As SpongeBob SquarePants, speaking Vietnamese).
DOVER: OK. Is it...
COULTON: The pineapple is a big clue.
DOVER: I mean, OK. Is it SpongeBob SquarePants? Is that a thing?
COULTON: It is...
REINER: Woohoo.
COULTON: ...Absolutely SpongeBob SquarePants. That is correct.
REINER: I never would have gotten it in billion years.
DOVER: Well, you know what? My kid is watching SpongeBob these days, so I...
COULTON: There you go.
DOVER: I was - you know, thankfully, there we go. All right.
COULTON: Well done.
EISENBERG: Turns out Squidward is a - Squidward's an octopus, not a squid. What?
COULTON: Yeah.
DOVER: Wait, you guys. Have you guys watched that octopus documentary on Netflix? I highly recommend it.
REINER: No. I heard it's amazing.
DOVER: I will literally never eat octopus again because they're smart and wonderful. And I feel - I can't believe I've eaten octopus. But anyway, all right. There we go.
EISENBERG: Do I have to...
DOVER: That's what it's called. It's called "My Octopus Teacher." That's what it's called.
REINER: But it has a sad ending, right?
DOVER: I think so. But I didn't watch the last five minutes of it.
(LAUGHTER)
REINER: That's the way they do it. That's the way to do it. I love you.
DOVER: I just wanted to stop. You know what?
REINER: So good.
DOVER: It's a dark enough time as is. I don't need the last five minutes of the octopus movie.
REINER: That's why I haven't watched So good. Yes, yes, yes.
EISENBERG: I'm going to I'm going to end everything I watch five minutes early. That's a great idea.
REINER: Let's just keep it light, right?
EISENBERG: OK, Alysia. Here's one for you. This royal Disney character is singing in Cantonese.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FROZEN")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As Elsa, in Cantonese).
REINER: That was so good.
COULTON: (Laughter).
REINER: Elsa, I believe, in "Frozen."
EISENBERG: Yes.
REINER: Woohoo.
EISENBERG: Absolutely.
DOVER: Nice.
EISENBERG: Yeah. Hiding away because you're afraid of the power of your emotions translates into every language.
REINER: Absolutely.
DOVER: (Laughter).
EISENBERG: Yup. That is correct.
COULTON: All right, Beth. Here is one of the most famous cartoon characters in the world in Italian.
DOVER: Oh, God.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As Mickey Mouse, speaking Italian).
DOVER: OK. Just by nature of the high-pitched sound, I'm going to go - of the voice - I think it's Mickey Mouse, right?
COULTON: Yes. Exactly right.
REINER: Woohoo.
COULTON: Mickey Mouse. Yeah.
REINER: Woo.
DOVER: OK, great.
COULTON: You recognize that falsetto anywhere.
DOVER: I would. I really would. My whole bedroom is a Mickey Mouse theme. So I'm like...
COULTON: Really?
DOVER: ...New to it.
REINER: You're ready for this.
DOVER: I'm into the Mickey Mouse.
EISENBERG: Your kid is helping you out a lot.
COULTON: Was that their choice? I feel like it's rare for kids these days to actually care about Mickey Mouse.
DOVER: No. He doesn't care about it. And he was too young to choose. And so I did it for him.
COULTON: OK, well, good (laughter).
DOVER: Honestly. And he's fine with it. And we're just going to keep it like that as long as humanly possible. It's been this way for years. And he might be 16, 17 before it changes. We'll see.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
COULTON: Fantastic. I love it.
EISENBERG: All right. We've got a couple more. Alysia, this is for you. Here's the Russian version of the title character from a kid's TV show.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "PEPPA PIG")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As Peppa Pig, speaking Russian).
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #4: (As Peppa Pig, speaking Russian).
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #5: (As character, speaking Russian).
EISENBERG: Oh, Beth knows this one. She was very excited. What do you think?
DOVER: Alysia, if you need any help, I watch this constantly. And I don't want to, but I do.
COULTON: (Laughter).
REINER: OK. give me a hint. Give me a hint.
DOVER: It starts...
EISENBERG: There was a little snort at the very beginning, a snort - like a (snorting).
REINER: A pig?
EISENBERG: Like that kind.
DOVER: A little pig that little kids watch. Oh, my God.
DOVER: They're British. They're British.
REINER: British pig.
EISENBERG: They're British. (Laughter) They're British pigs.
COULTON: British pig for kids.
REINER: British - oh, oh. Peppa Pig? Peppa?
EISENBERG: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's it. That's it.
REINER: Yay. Yay. Oh, thanks for the snort. I would have fully missed that lady. Thank you.
EISENBERG: It was just a little at the beginning. Yeah. It was a little at the beginning. I was like, that will get it. So wait a second. How old is your daughter?
REINER: She's 11 now.
EISENBERG: Oh, yeah. So we passed this.
REINER: Yeah. Yeah.
DOVER: You're not watching "Peppa Pig."
REINER: No.
(LAUGHTER)
DOVER: You know, Eli does watch Butterbean Cafe, which Alysia does a voice on. And every time he watches that and every time your character comes on, I take a little video. And I send it to Alysia.
REINER: It's so nice. It's so nice.
EISENBERG: Aw.
REINER: He's like my one fan.
(LAUGHTER)
COULTON: All right. This is the last one. Beth, it is for you.
DOVER: Oh, God.
COULTON: This is a famous Disney villain in Spanish.
DOVER: OK.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "1010 DALMATIANS")
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As Cruella de Vil, Speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #7: (As Anita Radcliffe, speaking Spanish).
UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #6: (As Cruella de Vil, speaking Spanish).
EISENBERG: Wow. That's tough.
COULTON: That's a hard one.
REINER: I don't know. A villain - so it's a famous villain?
COULTON: A famous villain.
EISENBERG: Yeah.
COULTON: What if in that clip there had been some dogs barking?
DOVER: Oh, Cruella de Vil.
COULTON: Yeah. That's correct.
EISENBERG: Yes.
REINER: Woo.
DOVER: All right. All right.
EISENBERG: I feel like we need a story from her point of view. Like, you know, who knows...
REINER: Absolutely.
EISENBERG: ...What happened.
REINER: Yeah.
REINER: Exactly.
DOVER: Yeah. Exactly.
EISENBERG: Maybe there's a reason for this. I want to know her backstory. I want to know what she's doing now. I want to know where she gets that haircut. It's not good.
DOVER: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
EISENBERG: Did she do it herself?
COULTON: (Laughter).
DOVER: Right. Exactly.
REINER: I think we should - I think the four of us...
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
REINER: ...Should pitch that to Disney.
DOVER: Yeah, we should. Listen - villains need a backstory too, Alysia, right?
REINER: Yes. Yes.
DOVER: We should all...
EISENBERG: That's right.
DOVER: ...We got to do, you know, a little spin-off, right?
COULTON: All right. We're all going to quit our jobs and do it. Let's do it.
EISENBERG: (Laughter).
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
EISENBERG: That was - you guys did great on that first game.
REINER: Woohoo.
EISENBERG: Well done.
DOVER: All right.
EISENBERG: After the break, we'll play another game with Alysia and Beth. Then we welcome writers Karen Chee and Jonny Sun. I'm Ophira Eisenberg. And this is ASK ME ANOTHER from NPR.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
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