On his YouTube show ,听Kevin Nealon doesn鈥檛 look like a former Saturday Night Live听star. He looks like a dad out for a morning walk: slightly sweaty and disheveled, wearing听a bucket hat and big glasses. But that鈥檚 kind of the point. The SNL veteran and former听Weeds actor is听using those听mundane morning walks to provide an unexpected, slightly voyeuristic鈥攁nd surprisingly unvarnished鈥攇limpse into听the lives of celebrities.
The twentyish-minute videos feel听handmade鈥攊t鈥檚 just him and a camera mounted on a selfie stick鈥攂ut over the past two seasons, he鈥檚 managed to land high-profile guests like , , and . Brad Paisley, who was on an early episode, wrote the theme song. Matt LeBlanc almost pushed him off a cliff on one of their hikes. Aside from the occasional moment of danger, the show听attracts almost 200,000听subscribers, because Nealon has dug into something that a lot of outdoor types already take for granted: hiking is a really good way to get to know听people.
Nealon is back with听a third installment of episodes in September. We asked him why he wanted to go for hikes in the first place, who was the least prepared person he鈥檚 hiked with, and how rambling around in the Hollywood Hills has opened up surprising doors.
How It Started
鈥淚t kind of came about organically. I was hiking with Matthew Modine, who is a friend.鈥
https://www.youtube.com/embed/2lYT8Ejg_Tw
鈥淲e鈥檙e hiking, and it鈥檚 really steep, and we鈥檙e an hour in, huffing and puffing, and I asked him, 鈥楧id you ever turn down anything you regret?鈥櫶齛nd he said, 鈥榊eah, after Full Metal Jacket,听I turned down the Michael J. Fox role in Back to the Future听and the Tom Hanks role in Big. I blew it.鈥欌 We both laughed, but it felt like we were getting into something, and I thought, Wouldn鈥檛 it be funny if I recorded it and posted it to Instagram?鈥
How It鈥檚 Made
鈥淚 started with selfie stick and an iPhone camera, and then people were commenting, saying, 鈥楪et a steady cam. Come on, you can afford it!鈥櫶齀 got a rig with a GoPro, an Evo听Gimbal, and an external mic, so it鈥檚 not so fuzzy. It鈥檚 not highly produced, and I think people are attracted to that, because they can relate to it. Sometimes I鈥檒l make a list of what I鈥檓 going to ask people, but usually it鈥檚 organic. When you鈥檙e out hiking, it opens up your mind.听We鈥檒l talk about anything from rattlesnakes to moving to Europe. It鈥檚 fun for me, because I get to hang out with these fun, creative people. I like hiking alone, but hiking with people makes things go by faster.鈥
Why Hiking in L.A. Is More Intense than You鈥檇 Think
鈥淚鈥檝e lived here for 40 years, and I鈥檓 still discovering all the canyons. When I first moved to this neighborhood in west L.A., I was on Weeds, and in the morning, I鈥檇 go hiking and bring my scripts听so I could work on them. I was usually the first one on the trail in the morning, all the cobwebs were still there, and one morning I heard a deep guttural growl鈥攄efinitely knew it was a mountain lion. The next day, they caught a 200-pound lion right there.鈥
Why Hiking with Celebs Works
鈥淚 think that when you鈥檙e hiking, and you鈥檙e not looking eye to eye, you feel more free. I don鈥檛 know if it鈥檚 endorphins or what, but when people pass me on the trail, they鈥檙e always talking about heavy stuff. Surprising stuff comes up. When I hiked with Conan O鈥橞rien, he revealed that anxiety is in his family.听I found out that Adam Sandler was in a private jet that almost crashed. David Spade told me that his assistant tried to kill him once.鈥
The Celebs He鈥檚 Hiked With
鈥淎t first it was my friends, then it was people that I thought听would be interesting听or that I admire.听I鈥檝e hiked with some people who are flatlanders. Howie Mandel had to buy hiking clothes. showed up with a cup of coffee. got so lost that he couldn鈥檛 find the trail, so we ended up hiking for two hours in the dark.鈥
The Celebs He鈥檚 Going to Hike with This Season (and Beyond)
鈥淚 can tell you that Molly Shannon and Chelsea Handler are both in really good shape. I went hiking with Eddie Izzard for season three. We went up to the Hollywood Hills. He鈥檚 a marathoner, and I was dying. It was a hot day, but I kept pushing myself. It鈥檚 made me realize that when you鈥檙e tired, you can go farther than you think you can.鈥
鈥淚 want to get Ellen or Oprah. And the Obamas. Either Obama.鈥