GLENN: Mark Duplass, welcome to the program, sir.

MARK: How are you, sir? Thanks for having me.

GLENN: Very good.

First of all, let's just start with this. We're big fans. I didn't know Stu was a big fan of yours.

STU: Oh, The League is a tremendous, legendary show.

GLENN: And I've seen Blue Jay. And Pat actually saw parts of it as well. And it is -- I mean, it's just genius work. It's just genius work.

MARK: Thank you so much. Thank you very much.

GLENN: You're welcome.

So let's -- let's start here. First of all, the audience should know that this never happens. Mark calls in, and our producers talked to him a couple weeks ago. And he said, "Please don't promote anything of mine. Don't talk about anything of mine. I just really want to have a conversation about what's happening in the world." I just wanted you to know that that's the kind of character this guy has coming to the table.

You are a -- a Hollywood guy. You're obviously on the left. And unashamed of being on the left.

MARK: Yeah, I would go so far as to say I'm a self-professed semi-elitist Hollywood libtard. I'll go ahead and I'll take it, man.

(laughter)

GLENN: Okay. All right.

So -- so what are you -- what are you doing?

MARK: Okay. First of all, I don't really know. I'm jumping into some things without being fully educated about what these consequences are. But something in my -- something in my deep gut has been telling me that the divide we are experiencing right now politically is -- it's obviously -- it's gotten so incendiary and it's gotten so gridlocked that, quite frankly, it dovetails with something that, while I am not as politically astute and well read as most people who are having these conversations, I've made my whole life about relationships and about the healing of relationships, about going to therapy over relationships.

GLENN: Right.

MARK: I work with and sleep next to my wife every night. My brother and I run a business together. My parents and I live 2 miles from each other, and we see each other every Sunday. I know deeply what it's like to be close with people and how to work through issues.

And when I sense the way that people are communicating with each other, so gridlocked in their positions, just firing away with incendiary criticism, I thought to myself, "I think I know how to operate in this space a little bit, so I'm going to try to jump in and see what I have to offer."

PAT: That's great.

GLENN: So what do you have to offer, Mark?

MARK: Well, I guess the first thing that I noticed is that, you know, it feels like the country is in a terrible marriage right now of some sort, where you get to that point where you're just like, "You know what, I can't even have a civil conversation with you because I feel like I'm constantly under attack."

And, you know, look, I've been there in relationships before. I think everybody has to a certain degree. And, you know, my whole theory is like -- that movie and that book love story that came out in, like, 1970 I think did a terrible disservice to all relationships by propagating that quote, love means never having to say you're sorry, which to me is the worst thing you can possibly --

PAT: It's an amazing falsehood.

GLENN: Yeah, it really is.

PAT: It is.

MARK: To me -- to me, we're in the place where love means always having to say you're sorry, even at times you're pretty sure it's the other person's fault.

GLENN: Amen.

MARK: You need to kind of -- you need to just step up for a second and just say, "Hey, I probably did some of this. I'm sorry for that." And let the healing begin.

You know, my wife and I always joke, like when we get to that gridlocked place, we have to go to the lowest common denominator of connection. And that, for us, is we put on The Big Lebowski and we get a six-pack of beer and we sit next to each other and we just enjoy it. And we don't talk. And then the good vibes start to happen. And then slowly one of us says, "Hey, I'll order some Thai food." Let me do it. And then the other person says, "Oh, that was nice." And then the other person brings them the Thai food. And then literally, brick by brick, you get yourself back to the place of good feeling and communication.

So I started thinking, what is the lowest common denominator between, you know, conservatives? Between liberals. What is something that we can share without screaming?

And I thought to myself, well, what about charitable giving? I continually hear that conservatives actually give more to charity than -- than a lot of liberals do. And I know a lot of that is church-based. And everybody can get into an argument about that. But whatever. Put that away. Everybody likes to take care of sick children. Everybody believes that clean water systems installed in third world countries for relatively cheap that are sustainable are a good thing, you know.

And so I said, what if I can find some -- just reach out a little bit and find some of these campaigns that maybe we could share and in the positive spirit of giving, without yelling at each other, just focus on the giving, maybe you might grow something. I don't know. It's still early. It's all half-baked in my head, to be honest. But this is the pool I'm trying to step into at the moment.

GLENN: How does it make you feel that that is exactly the same pool that Glenn Beck stepped into? What does that say about you, Mark, really seriously?

PAT: That says you better not open up your Twitter account page.

(laughter)

MARK: I mean, it's phenomenal. I mean, honestly, this is like, all I am looking for right now is a connection point. And I have been -- I was so guilty in mid-November of like getting on Twitter and proselytizing about why I was right and finding new and interesting and multisyllabic ways to slam Trump, you know, which --

GLENN: See, another point in common.

(laughter)

MARK: Exactly. And so I look back, and I'm like, "Why am I doing this? This is at best further marginalizing us. And at worst, just losing half of my fans who don't even care about what I'm saying now." And I just started to think, "This doesn't feel like the right way. And deep in my gut, I know that when my brother and I get into emotional trouble or my wife and I, or my friends and I, or my parents do, that always the way forward is to, regardless of whether who started it, regardless of who was more unfair or who was louder with their words, I always know deep in my gut, I have to step forward first. I have to be the one. I would love it if someone else did it. But, you know what, who cares. Put that away. Be the one, step forward. And when you do that, it usually ends up working out pretty well.

So, you know, for me, the fact that you heard that and you reached out and said, you know, come on my program and let's talk about this. This is super exciting to me. Because I guess I'm in a bit of a fact-gathering mode. Like, I first started talking to people with the question of, if you held your nose and voted for Trump, I get you. I have nothing against that, honestly. Nobody has a favorite politician anymore. You know, we're too aware of the machinations. We read too much news. So if you just thought to yourself, "You know what, there's a Supreme Court justice coming up, long-term, I want to get a G.O.P. guy in there so that, you know, I will get the right appointee or I'm a one-issue voter, such as I'm a pro-life voter," I can understand that. But if you're on fire for Trump, if you're in love with the guy, tell me why. You know --

GLENN: We can't help you -- we can't help you with that, Mark. I don't know if you know anything about us at all, but we can't help you on that one.

MARK: Yeah, I do. And I do.

GLENN: Yeah, we feel exactly the same way.

MARK: No one -- no one is on fire for Trump. There are a couple of really frightening people on Twitter who are in love with Trump. But, by the way, there are just as many of those frightening people on the left. So that's not a party divide thing. There's always the outliers there.

So what I have learned, interestingly enough, in doing that, is no one is on fire.

There are, you know, tons of reasons. The last thing I want to be is be reductive in any way about a large group of people who may have voted for him. But I keep getting these really, I guess fascinating answers for me, which are sort of like, I felt hopeless. I felt like Obama left me behind. This guy was a hail Mary. I didn't know what he was going to do. He was an other. And I felt the lack of political jargon. I felt that his candor and just the feeling that he was being truthful and his words weren't well rehearsed, made them feel like he was like them. So they said, "I want to take a chance on him."

Okay. That, I can actually understand. You know, people saying, he's -- he's telling me he's going to bring jobs. No one is talking to me and saying that they're going to bring jobs. I'm choosing to believe him.

So okay. I can get behind that too. I can understand where you're coming from. So I guess the 30,000-foot view of it for me has been, you know, I live in Los Angeles. And I do live in a bubble. And as much as I tell myself, you know -- I open up my Twitter feed. I look at Fox News once a day to see what's happening. The truth is, I'm mostly hearing from people who are terrified of this man and it's a fear-based thing. And it's -- the rhetoric is incendiary. And most of the Trump supporters that I have talked to are so appreciative to have me come forward and not call them racists and not just start yelling at them about why they're wrong and why they're ruining the country. And when I do that, it's pretty tremendous the -- I guess I would say how easy it is to establish a connection.

GLENN: Talking to Mark Duplass. He is a film director and producer and actor and seemingly somebody who is really rooted in common sense. We'll continue our conversation here in just a second.

[break]

GLENN: So, Mark, let me tell you a little bit about my experience. Because we're on the same exact course.

I -- we -- we can see people on both sides that are in pain. And, quite honestly, we didn't take the time to really look or listen -- I should speak for me. Just convinced that I'm right and I know exactly what you're thinking. And it really wasn't what people were thinking.

And -- and by my actions and my words, I took half the country, the -- the left half, and just threw it away.

MARK: Yeah.

GLENN: And just assumed, well, no, you'll get it because it's right. And how stupid is that. And now, I'm trying to reach out to the left and doing the same thing. I'm doing work with Operation Underground Railroad which is freeing slaves and, you know, kids in sex slavery. And it's an amazing thing.

And so far, I've gotten Samantha Bee and Riaz Patel. And that's it.

(laughter)

And my audience is saying to me all the time, "Glenn, nobody on the left is going to do this. This is a worthless cause. It's not going to happen."

MARK: Yeah.

GLENN: I imagine that you're feeling the same way. Are you getting anybody on the right to join you and say things like I have? Yeah, I get it. I was wrong. I'm sorry for the things that I did. I'm not changing my -- I'm not changing my principles, but I certainly am apologizing for the things that I said that made people feel bad.

MARK: You know, the truth is, I think while you and I are coming from the same exact place, I really haven't asked that specific question of the right. And -- or of anyone who honestly doesn't agree with my political principles. And I don't even -- I almost feel like I don't even need that step right now.

I don't need the admittance of any wrong. I don't need the acknowledgment --

GLENN: No, no, hang on just a second.

I actually haven't -- I mean, I'm not really asking that. I would like to see that from the press, only because -- only because it would show that they get it.

MARK: Yeah.

GLENN: But I don't need that from people. But what I am asking is you want to join me on some projects, let's go work together. Let's -- you know, let's put our audiences together and go do a service project or something.

MARK: Yes.

GLENN: Is there anybody on the right that has responded to you in a positive way and said, "I get it?"

MARK: You know, so I went to speak with Steven Crowder who was really, really great. You know, like, I watched one of his shows. And, quite frankly, I was terrified. He's big. He's extremely intelligent. He's good-looking.

I was like, he might beat me up. I don't know what's going to happen. And he was very, very respectful.

And I talked a lot about, you know, charitable causes on his program. That is a place where I believed that we could, you know, cross the divide a little bit. And, you know, it was interesting because I think that, you know, I really respect him. But his motor, to a certain degree, is to engage in political debate. And I think that a lot of times when I reach across, our motors are set to debate.

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: You know, and that is one thing that I have -- I'm trying to get good at disarming a bit so that I can just cut through on the bottom level a little bit more. Which is -- I mean, it's just kind of happening quite frankly naturally with you here because I think you and I happen to share -- I don't know what it is.

GLENN: I was the -- yeah, I grew up in an alcoholic family. And I was the one that said, "Hey, everybody, let's get along," quite honestly.

MARK: Yeah, I was like, it sounds like you had gotten beaten up a little bit in life. Sounds like you had been to therapy. You've been handed some sort of dose of humility. I've had that. I've dealt with depression and anxiety and artistic failure and all this stuff. And I just -- I feel weak in the world. And I am not certain that I am right anymore. And I want to share that with people.

GLENN: Yep. Yep.

MARK: Because not knowing creates intimacy in my opinion. And I can be bombastic at times. Like, I do feel like I know what I'm doing in the film industry. And I can go to a Sundance or South by Southwest and speak confidently about that. But when it comes to these bigger issues, I feel clueless. And I'm trying --

GLENN: I have to tell you -- I would hope that we all do. Because we all got us here. And none of it is working.

Hang on just a second. Back with Mark Duplass in just a second.

[break]

GLENN: Mark Duplass is with us. He's a self-described elitist, out-of-touch Hollywood libtard, which is pretty brutally honest. And welcome back to the -- welcome back to the program. A guy who said three months ago, I was tweeting things out, nasty things, about Donald Trump and his supporters. And I realized, what the hell am I doing?

Mark, can I take you to the movie Blue Jay for a second?

MARK: Please. Yeah.

GLENN: In that movie, which honestly is brilliant. Unlike anything that I have seen. It perfectly captures an uncomfortable conversation between two people. It -- it is perfect in its unrequited love. I mean, it's just a brilliant film.

But in it -- and I don't want to spoil it for anybody, but I'm going to, you find out that the woman, when she was a teenager, had an abortion of your baby, as you played the male role. When you're both teenagers. And you said horrible things to each other. And the whole relationship broke apart. And it's obvious you two still love each other 25 years later.

MARK: That's right.

GLENN: That is -- as I watched that film, I watched it, and I thought, that is a great pro-life movie. But it is also -- you could say it's a pro-choice movie because she made the decision. And she has dealt with the consequences of that decision. But it was her decision to make. Yada, yada.

You could look at that movie, and it was no straw man on either side. And so many -- and I'm going to pull out my own side. So many Christian movies -- I can say this about the left. But let me say it about the right. So many Christian movies make anyone who was playing the character of the woman in your movie look like the most evil witch imaginable. And so there's no honesty.

And I really think that that's all that people are looking for, is I'm not a monster. You're not a monster. Can't we just come together and talk about this? I don't want to live this way anymore.

MARK: Look, I hope you're right. I hope there is a rising tide for this. And I'm willing to bet a bunch of money on it. And that's kind of what my mission is right now, is to create these sort of bipartisan, nonpartisan, whatever you want to call it, charitable giving campaigns.

I spend a lot of time reaching out to a lot of my supporters on Twitter, a lot of Steven Crowder's and even some of your fans when they found out I was coming here. And I said, "Look, what are the causes that we can all agree on?" And it was really fascinating. Because, again, a lot of conservatives like to give to their churches. A lot of liberals feel like, "Oh, I'm not sure about that." They're skeptical of religion. And I was like, "Okay. Fine. Look, we're not going to argue here. We're going to look for the baseline stuff," you know.

And, you know, really, education for kids, sick kids, highly efficient giving programs, clean water systems, you know, that was really good. And then I found out some blind spots of my own, which were great. I got my own education. A lot of conservatives said, why don't you guy ever talk about veterans? What is it?

And I said, "You know what, it's really weird. I do give a lot of charitable giving. And I don't often think about veterans." And I think it's tied to this defensiveness that the left has that we spend too much, quote, unquote, on the military. So that it often gets grouped into that. And you forget like, oh, Jesus, these are the people who have served, and we need to take care of them.

And so I got a little education on that front. And, likewise, I was able to, you know, speak with some of my conservative fan bases who would say, you know what, America first, man. We got to take care of our people at home. What are you doing reaching out, you know, across these borders? Like, we're struggling here.

And I would say, but, yeah, for like 80 cents, we can install a clean water system in the third world.

GLENN: I know.

MARK: Like -- and then we don't have to be there every day fixing it. It's done. We led the horse to water, and it's done. And they say, "Oh, well, that makes total sense." So it's like, great. I learned something. You learned something. Here we are.

GLENN: I just hired two full-time psychiatrists for a shelter for kids that had been used in the sex slave trade, two full-time doctors for $400 a month in Thailand. I mean, come on.

MARK: Wow.

GLENN: Jeez.

MARK: You got it. So my challenge is -- and I'm challenging the left mostly right now amongst my friends is saying, guys, you were ready to pay a lot of taxes. You voted for a woman who was going to tax you. And you're going to save a lot of money next year. Congratulations. Now, you already signed that money away with your vote. So what I want you to do is take that, whatever your differential is, if you're in that top tax bracket and you're saving 8 percent, I want you to take a large chunk of that and I want you to come with me and put some money down. And we're going to reach out and say, "Hey, everybody come join us?" You know, match us dollar for dollar.

I did this once. I put in $10,000. All my fans came together. They matched me dollar for dollar. We made it to 20. I reached out to Google. I guilted them, and I said, "You know, I'll take a picture with you, and you match that other 20. And we'll turn it into 40 grand."

GLENN: It's weird. Because I did the same thing with Google, and I said, "I won't take a picture with you."

STU: And it worked.

GLENN: It worked. It was great.

MARK: And it was perfect!

GLENN: Yeah.

MARK: So I'm ready to stretch this idea out. And, you know, I'm developing one for some foster care programs, which has been a really easy thing that everybody agrees on, you know, left, right. And try and -- look, I'm not above going to Wells Fargo and saying, "Hey, guys, you're looking pretty bad right now. You want to put up some money. I'll shake your hand and take a picture with you if you give me a bunch to match."

STU: Oh, totally guilt them into it. That's a great approach. It works.

MARK: Let's see what we can do. You know, I don't know, it's not going to change the world. But maybe some positivity in it. And most importantly, I just -- I really want -- while I have the ear of people right now who probably a lot of them didn't vote like I did. And don't believe like I do, I just want you to know that my friends and I, when we gather for dinner, my elitist Hollywood libtard buddies, we're not all over here screaming how terrible you are. There are a few people on Twitter doing that. And, yes, they do believe that way. But, by the way, every day on Twitter, I'm getting people from the right screaming atrocities at me.

STU: Sure. So do we.

MARK: I'm not going to allow that to define all of you. Please do not allow that to define all of us. And know that we are interested. We are curious, we are trying to figure things out. And we're making that move.

GLENN: Mark, I have to tell you, I have been -- as the guys know and many of the listeners know on this program -- I have been searching for people like you for at least two years.

And it's just a -- it's a thrill to talk to you. Because I know you guys exist. I just know you exist. And to have the balls to stand up and to do what you're doing is remarkable. Just remarkable. It's a real honor to talk to you.

MARK: I appreciate it. I feel the same way. You know, hopefully you and I can link up on some things.

GLENN: So let's talk about that. What do we do?

MARK: You know, like I said, I'm starting a new campaign right now. It's in the early stages, that, you know, it's going to be targeted towards, you know, foster care. And my goal is to a few times a year, just basically say, here I am. I'm putting the money down first. And then get some of my people around me, who have enough extra cash -- thank God, I am grossly overpaid for what I do. I'm not going to apologize for it. But I'm going to use some of that stuff because I don't need it. And create some of that capital. And, again, just as you have said, I'm willing to be the first one to say I'm sorry. I'm willing to take the first step in. I'm looking for people who are willing to be first -- come on. Let's go --

GLENN: Okay. Let me do this. I'll match you dollar for dollar on what you're doing. You want to put up another ten grand or whatever, I'll match you on that.

MARK: Awesome.

GLENN: Will you -- because I -- and feel free to say no. Because I understand everyone's schedules. Are you willing to come to Africa with me?

STU: Oh.

GLENN: Are you willing to get on to a plane and go and bring awareness to the slave trade that is currently happening in Africa with Operation Underground Railroad? I won't hold you to your answer now because I want you to do your research and see what it's all about. But are you willing to --

MARK: You know, normally people ask me out for a milkshake first. And then to Africa.

PAT: And then --

STU: I don't care how many kids you wind up saving.

GLENN: If you want a milkshake, I can put one on the plane.

MARK: By the way -- by the way, I will 100 percent go to Africa with you because this is life. I mean, when Glenn Beck says come on my show and I'm going to bring you to Africa to do this and this time -- and the fact that you and I, on paper, technically I think should be screaming at each other right now if you look at our profile.

GLENN: I think so too.

MARK: And we're not. And we're agreeing. I feel like we owe it to ourselves to dive into this a little bit more. And, you know, at the very least, scream at each other in Africa.

STU: Oh, my God. I would totally watch the movie Glenn and Mark go to Africa.

GLENN: What are the odds that one of us is left in Africa?

(laughter)

STU: Great.

GLENN: Mark, it has truly been a privilege to talk to you. I think courage is contagious. And I -- I so commend you for what you're doing. I know the risk you're taking. I know the hits you're going to take from both sides. Believe me.

And I'm just -- it's -- I'm just thrilled. And let's stay in touch. And you tell me, and please come back on. And you tell me what you're doing. And I'll write the check. And I'll be in touch and tell you where to meet the plane. And we'll go save some kids.

MARK: That sounds great. Milkshakes, Africa, some charitable giving -- we start nice and easy, Glenn.

GLENN: Right. Start small. Africa today, Mars tomorrow.

STU: A bit of advice, Mark, fly separately.

MARK: Listen, I appreciate you guys being open and having me and letting me pontificate a little bit here, and I will for sure be in touch. And, you know, it's very -- it's very heartening to have a nice conversation like this. And I look forward to more.

GLENN: Likewise, thank you. Mark Duplass, thank you so much.

STU: He's awesome.

GLENN: He is great.

STU: Yeah.

JEFFY: That was great.

GLENN: And, you know what, Pat, same guy that you saw in the movie, Blue Jay, right?

PAT: Yeah, uh-huh.

GLENN: Just honest. Just this honest, raw, real guy.

PAT: Yeah.