In a current episode of “Hot Ones Versus,” actor Hailee Steinfeld checked out her “Sinners” co-star Michael B. Jordan with a mixture of shock and amusement, and requested, “What the f— is this? This is press for our movie?”
It’s a query that has seemingly been requested earlier than within the 10 years that “Hot Ones” (and subsequent spinoffs like “Versus”) have been pushing out episodes on YouTube. The idea is each easy and outrageous — an interview executed whereas company eat a collection of rooster wings of accelerating spice ranges, usually with disorienting discomfort — and the present has develop into a well-liked sensation and a vital cease on the trendy movie star promotional tour.
“Hot Ones” host and co-creator Sean Evans, 39, has been there for all the journey, consuming wings proper alongside his company, which have not too long ago included Selena Gomez, Invoice Murray, Woman Gaga, Dangerous Bunny, Ben Stiller, Serena Williams, Cate Blanchett, Demi Moore and, in a very memorable look, Conan O’Brien.
The present has additionally develop into a fantastic enterprise, as final 12 months Evans and co-creator Chris Schonberger have been a part of a bunch of traders who purchased First We Feast, the studio behind “Hot Ones,” for greater than $82 million.
Gone its origin as a web-based upstart and persevering with its transfer into the mainstream, the present is eligible to compete for an Emmy within the speak collection class towards the likes of Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert.
Based mostly in New York Metropolis, Evans sat for an interview with The Envelope whereas not too long ago in Los Angeles.
Evans, left, with visitor Invoice Murray in an episode of “Hot Ones.”
(First We Feast)
How has the pitch to expertise modified over time? Folks presumably get the premise now?
Probably the most profound manner that it’s modified is now we’re taking the pitches. There was a time the place we needed to be very persuasive, nearly to the purpose of tricking folks into doing the present. And now the tables have fully turned. You even simply see it in the best way that folks sit down. I keep in mind very early on there was all the time this problem for me to win over the visitor within the first couple of wings and make them perceive that that is going to be … very completely different from what they’d count on from what’s written on paper.
Loads of instances company got here in with some kind of preconceived notion for the way it will go after which had their minds modified simply over the course of doing the interview. We even have a reputation for it. We name it the “Charlize Theron Shoulder Drop,” as a result of when she got here on the present, I keep in mind she was type of side-eyeing her publicist. And I keep in mind her saying one thing like, “Am I gonna have to eat all of these?” And by the second or third wing, her shoulders had dropped. She was fully free. And to me, it’s probably the most vital tentpole episodes that we’ve ever created.
How would you describe the vibe of what you’re in search of? What’s that feeling you need within the room?
Early on, it was type of gonzo-ish. However within the time since, what I’m in search of is one thing actual. I believe what occurs is company are in a PR-driven flight sample, and what you need is one thing very actual to occur. And on “Hot Ones” you may have these moments of people who find themselves struggling, who’re weak, who’re in a borderline state of panic. You’ve got feelings which can be actual, and all of this stuff are so laborious to get to in a standard interview setting. The truth that we are able to create these moments, after which mix it with this considerate career-spanning interview, all of these parts working collectively, it simply offers you a novel have a look at the movie star company. And, after all, movie star is that this way of life that by definition is unobtainable. However what we’re doing is knocking them off of that pedestal all the way down to a stage that everybody can relate to. It’s very human. And that’s what folks reply to in plenty of methods. I believe we by chance invented the “What’s it like to have a beer with this person” present.
What does it imply to be competing for an Emmy?
It’s by no means actually one thing that I wrapped my head round or thought was even attainable, however they’re opening up the eligibility, which I believe is overdue and inevitable anyway. So then it was nearly getting the paperwork collectively and placing collectively a submission and hoping for the perfect. However I do suppose that whenever you have a look at the reveals which have outlined this class for therefore lengthy, the throughline with all of them is that they’re the cultural reference level for the place you may see celebrities in a looser, edgier setting. And “Hot Ones” satisfies that definition. … I didn’t know that we’d be part of the dialog, by no means dreamed of it. However now that we’re, I’ll say with my full chest that we belong.
Simply bodily, after 10 years, is the present troublesome so that you can proceed to do?
The good factor about spicy meals is you develop a familiarity with the issues which can be uncomfortable. And I’ve been there so many instances that I do know that there’s mild on the finish of the tunnel. I believe that it’s been general a internet optimistic as a result of I take so significantly better care of myself exterior of the present than I in any other case would. I do have a clear invoice of well being and go to the physician yearly and have them hook me as much as all the pieces and do each type of blood check, as a result of I’ve this distinctive vocation, this distinctive lot in life, this distinctive path that I’m on. But additionally, there’s numerous jobs the place folks have had lengthy careers although there’s a bodily toll to it. Ray Lewis performed 17 years within the NFL, and he was on the market taking part in linebacker each Sunday. How unhealthy can a pair wings be?
