'He's One Of The Greatest Living Actors Out There': Jerry O'Connell On Paul Giamatti, Jerry Bruckheimer, And New Talk Show 'Jerry O'
(CBS Local)-- Jerry O'Connell has been involved in the entertainment business for decades.
The 45-year-old introduced himself to the world in the 1986 classic as an 11-year old in "Stand By Me", became a household name in "Jerry Maguire" and is now jumping into daytime television as a talk show host. "Jerry O" premieres August 12 and O'Connell has learned a lot about the hosting world from Kelly Ripa.
"I got into the talk show stuff because of my good friend Kelly Ripa," said O'Connell in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "Kelly is the best. She is the best as a friend, person, and a mom. Kelly Ripa is also the best at what she does at her job. She does it with ease, she's just got a flow. She like's [Michael] Jordan, it's a God given gift."
One of O'Connell's recent acting gigs was Showtime's "Billions" with Paul Giamatti and Damian Lewis. While O'Connell has worked with some of the best actors in Hollywood, he was blown away by Giamatti's performance as Chuck Rhoades.
"I was sitting across from Paul Giamatti and he was hitting this monologue of what he was going to do to me and he comes in and rolls it out," said O'Connell. "He's just one of the greatest living actors out there."
Another experience that stands out for O'Connell was his time with Jerry Bruckheimer on "Kangaroo Jack." The kids movie featured Christopher Walken, Michael Shannon, and Anthony Anderson and O'Connell will never forget the six months he spent in Australia with that crew.
"It was really one of the most fun things I ever worked on," said O'Connell. "Anthony Anderson and I got to run around Australia for six months. I have a wife and children, but being in Australia with Anthony Anderson may have been the peak of my life. I got to work with Jerry Bruckheimer and see how the big time producers produce. Mr. Bruckheimer was tweaking my accent and giving me notes on my accent. He really helped me out with notes and it was really fun to watch how the big time players play."