John Mulaney talks about fatherhood in a new interview David Letterman.
The comedian returns to his high school alma mater, St. Ignatius College Prep in Chicago, to sit down with Letterman for a new episode of the former late-night host’s Netflix show. My next guest needs no introduction.
In the special, Letterman asks Mulaney about his battle with addiction, his journey into comedy and, of course, family life with his partner Olivia Munn and their 2-year-old son, Malcolm.
The relationship and subsequent child came as a surprise to Mulaney fans when the couple went public their happy news in September 2021, less than a year after the comedian completed a stint in rehab for alcohol, cocaine and medication addictions.
Mulaney was married to artist Anna Marie Tendler from 2014 to 2021, during which time he was open about the couple’s plans not to have children in both his stand-up appearances and interviews.
“It wasn’t so much that I thought I wouldn’t do it, because the way I did it, it was never a good day to have one,” Mulaney tells Letterman in the new session, joking, “I thought : “Oh, it’s pretty crowded today.”
“I just didn’t think about it,” he adds. “I just lived from one minute to the next.”
Despite his previous indifference toward parenthood, Mulaney says he “got rigid” back then his son was born.
“I said, ‘Oh, there you are,'” he remembers. “You’re the thing I couldn’t find. I wasn’t looking in good places, and then, oh, there you are.”
Mulaney’s own father, Chip, is taking part in the special. A business lawyer, he often appears as a serious and often strict father figure in his son’s comedy routines – and Mulaney admits in the interview that it was difficult to explain his show business ambitions to his parents.
“He said, ‘So at best you’re like Steve Martin?'” he recalls. “To him, Steve Martin on TV was an untrustworthy idiot.”
Although he aims to be a slightly warmer presence in his own son’s life, Mulaney admits he learned a few things about parenting from his childhood.
“I knew that my parents loved each other very much, and that gave me a lot of security,” he explains. “I felt like they were like a unit. They really like each other.”
“So Olivia and I are trying to show Malcolm how much we love each other,” he adds.
Mulaney’s father also tells Letterman how scared he and his wife were when they learned the extent of his son’s addiction, saying they were “very surprised” by the severity.
“The most helpful thing was that many of the doctors at the facility he went to spoke to you as parents,” he recalls. “You also read us a letter talking about your addiction and telling you, ‘Hello, I am your addiction. I’m here to kill you.’ And it’s a bit bloodcurdling.
“I’m sorry you were so scared,” Mulaney shares emotionally.
My next guest needs no introduction is now streaming on Netflix.
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