Exclusive Interview: Eric McCormack and Steven Weber Talk Eating Out with Eric & Steve

Eric McCormack (Will & Grace, Travelers) and Steven Weber (Chicago Med, Wings) have been pals since the must-see TV days. They’ve spent over twenty years laughing, singing, arguing, and eating out, which inspired their new podcast.

Each episode, Eric and Steven yack and snack with their favorite show biz friends to share behind-the-scenes stories of their lives in entertainment. So grab your favorite drink and a snack and join Eric and Steven on Eating Out with Eric & Steve!

Pop Culturalist recently sat down with Eric and Steven to chat about their venture into the podcasting space, Eating Out with Eric & Steve, and more!

PC: Eric, Eating Out with Eric & Steve is inspired by dinners that you’ve had with your friends throughout the years, except now they’re being recorded. I love that for listeners it feels like you’re at the table with everyone. The conversation moves so effortlessly. How have you made sure that these discussions translated well in a podcast format? How much planning are you doing ahead of time to talk about the topics that you’ll cover?
Eric: It’s funny you ask that because Steven and I have been talking about the fact that we’re really podcast fetuses. I didn’t listen to a lot of them. I’d never done them. When it comes to a format, I didn’t think there was one. Steven was like, “We just chat, right?” I said, “Yeah.” So it’s an endless, formless dinner conversation that’s intentional and haphazard. That’s what I think will give it a shaggy dog feel. Every week will be a conversation that you could overhear at the table next to you. It won’t be any more formatted than that. That’s hopefully the charm.

PC: Steven, from the get-go, you both established that this podcast is very self-aware in a medium that’s grown in popularity. What makes Eating Out stand out amongst the rest?
Steven: I would say that it’s inherent in the title: we’re eating. What started out as a little gimmick to distinguish our podcast from others turned out to be the main component. Because eating with friends is something that actually loosens people’s tongues. It disarms them in a way that our conversation becomes rambling in the best sense. It’s very natural. While obviously, we do have a format to which we’ve learned to adhere to, I like Eric’s use of the word “haphazard” in a positive way. We’re chewing, we’re eating, we’re digesting, and at the same time, we’re bonding. Bonding over our lives and our interactions. It’s a lot of fun.

Eric: I think also because we haven’t said to someone, “You have something to promote. Please come on and promote it.” We’re actually talking to old friends whose major stories we and the audience already know. What we’re trying to get is the other stories, those backstage stories, the goofy stories, the childhood stuff that maybe never gets a chance to come up in a ten-minute interview when you’re promoting a movie.

PC: Speaking of the guests, how are you deciding who gets paired with whom?
Steven: It’s funny because we know most everyone we’re speaking to. We’ve known them for years, often in different ways. Before we chat with everybody, Eric and I will speak to each other and ask, “Who do you want to interview? Who do you want to introduce first?” Then we’ll figure that out. But we’ve looked for specific pairing as one would pair specific wines with specific meals, if you will. [laughs] But for the most part, everyone is an accomplished raconteur or a good listener or these are people we’ve actually had meals and conversations with for the most part.

Eric: Sometimes we’ve paired people on purpose, like Kevin Pollak and Rachael Leigh Cook. They’re both from different parts of my life and Steven’s life, and yet they were father and daughter in their breakout film She’s All That. There are a lot of times when we don’t even realize how well people know each other, like Peri Gilpin and Tony Shalhoub. I didn’t know that they have their own stories together. It’s always fun, just like a dinner party. You never know what you’re going to get.

PC: You’ve both done it all throughout your careers, from working in front of and behind the camera to your work on the stage. Have any of those experiences lent themselves to this podcasting journey? What’s the most surprising thing that you’ve learned while making this jump into this medium?
Steven: Yikes. That we’re not too bad at it, and that it’s actually a cool and accessible medium. Everyone has one, but this is fun to do and it’s engaging. Eric and I actually found that it encourages a communal relationship that we’ve been hunting for with this particular podcast. It’s promoting friendship. As I said, we’re not splitting the atom. We’re not political or anything. We’re just about togetherness in a weird way. What we have in common, what our friendship embodies, is our years in the industry. But also apart from that, it’s genuinely friendly. We’re not trying to convince anybody of anything.

PC: Speaking of that friendship, the two of you have been friends for over two decades. Have you learned anything new about each other having worked together on this podcast?
Steven: Come on, Eric. You can tell him. Tell him what you recently learned about me.

Eric: About not eating with pants on?

Steven: The thing with the soap and slinkies?

Eric: What have I learned? For me, the main thing is that we didn’t set out to host per se. The premise of a dinner is that it’s a give-and-take. It’s a bit of a free for all. You have to listen to each other. We eat with a lot of funny guys. You’ve got to be listening to the whole conversation to not step on people’s jokes, to add to it. What I’ve learned with Steven is that we do that well. We’re raconteurs, but we’re also listeners. If I may steal something Steven just said, we’re such fans of our friends and of each other that that lends itself to a certain warmth that takes it above just an interview show.

PC: You have so many incredible guests lined up for this podcast. Is there somebody that you’ve yet to sit down with that you hope to do so in a future episode?
Steven: We have a list of people. We really do. We know so many people from years of working in this industry. But a lot of people have lives. They have schedules. It’s hard to coordinate getting two guests on the show, let alone finding one who’s got a moment to spare with us. Even though they’re all eager to do it, it’s been hard. But there are a lot of great, interesting people. Like Eric was saying earlier, it’s not just the showbiz part, it’s the human part. It’s the friendship part that has been becoming increasingly more interesting, at least for me in these discussions. We have about ten to twelve of them so far. Each one is in a way an improvement on the last, not that any one of them needs improving, but we’re evolving as hosts and as guests. I’ve become a better listener, I have to say.

Eric: We’re dropping our second one this week with Bryan Cranston and Julie Bowen. I’m just hoping that more people in the business perhaps that I don’t know very well or haven’t met will be like, “I want to be a part of that.” That’s what happened with Will & Grace. We had these guests come on and you could see how much fun they were having, so other people signed on. That’s what we’re hoping for too. If you hear Eating Out with Eric & Steve, come and join us.

Make sure to follow Eric (Twitter/Instagram) and Steven (Instagram). Listen to Eating Out with Eric & Steve wherever you stream podcasts.