‘Access Hollywood’ Host Scott Evans Talks Interview Show ‘House Guest’

Side hustles will be laborious for hosts. Their on-camera jobs sometimes require lengthy hours, a lot of preparation, frequent journey and back-to-back shoots or pink carpet occasions, leaving little spare time.

But in some way Scott Evans, the popular and long-serving host of Access Hollywood, discovered a technique to make his work in Webby Award-winning methods as a home extension of his day job. Evans created the digital interview present House Guest by inviting celebrities and notable names over to his precise residence for a yard hold that options all the trimmings of a full of life gathering, like meals, drinks, video games and sincere conversations.

“We’ve been hosting lunches, brunches and dinners at the house for a while so I decided to gather people in a meaningful way, create a safe place where people can really be comfortable and then capture it on camera,” defined the Indiana native. “We make something to eat, something to drink and then we chop it up. You might get to see them in a whole new light or confirm even more why you love them in the first place while also hearing about some of the best lessons they’ve learned.”

House Guest, which celebrated a one-year anniversary over the summer time, has hosted the likes of Oscar winner Regina King, Keke Palmer, Tony winner Cynthia Erivo, Emmy winner Niecy Nash-Betts, Saturday Night Live star Leslie Jones, Aisha Tyler, Tina Knowles, Amber Riley, Chloe Bailey, Meagan Good, Muni Long, Taye Diggs and extra. Evans’ viewers appears to be loving the view into his yard because the clips obtain tens of millions of views and no scarcity of loving feedback. “Scott’s channel feels like visiting your favorite cousin’s house,” somebody just lately posted on YouTube. That’s precisely what Evans was going for when he wager on himself to self-finance the operation and leaned on his leisure contacts to ebook bold-faced names for prolonged chats outdoors of his Access Hollywood day-to-day.

He’s nearly to drop his largest interview but with vp Kamala Harris, who swung by his residence for a news-making dialog (over her favourite pizza, which Evans made particular) about her presidential bid, the brand new memoir 107 Days and what’s subsequent for her outdoors of Washington D.C. Ahead of the interview drop on Thursday, Evans hopped on the cellphone with The Hollywood Reporter to speak about his preparation, his revelations and whether or not or not Rihanna is on the RSVP checklist.

What pushed you to launch this within the first place?

I used to be prepared for extra of the sorts of conversations I used to be already having with expertise however that weren’t making it into the ultimate piece on air both because of story depend, timing, editorial focus, that sort of factor. There’s plenty of magic left on the reducing room ground. A number of the content material that feels uplifting, encouraging and joy-filled isn’t at all times on the forefront, and so I wished to do one thing that felt very me. I additionally wished to create one thing that harkened again to the greats that may very well be one half Ina Garten’s Barefoot Contessa and one half Arsenio Hall. I wished to create that area, particularly as a result of there are fewer and fewer of these kind of alternatives, particularly for individuals of coloration to be highlighted. How can we get extra in charge of that content material and get it in entrance of people who find themselves eager for it? And how can we put a constructive spin on it versus the extra dramatic or mess that’s already on the market?

I didn’t even consider that, however yeah, it does have a tone not like different reveals which are so fashionable on-line now as a result of they are often messy or dramatic for the sake of going viral. House Guest actually matches who you might be as a human being …

And it matches the sorts of conversations that I have already got, whether or not it’s with a star or with a teen within the trade who’s coming into their very own and needs to glean one thing from an govt or a veteran within the trade. I used to be at all times searching for steering from individuals, asking, “How are you making it through this?” “What are you leaning on?” “What are the things you do that make this situation bearable?” I wished to have the ability to create an area for individuals to really feel snug to share experiences and to simply really feel higher about our days.

What sort of host are you?

I search to create the sort of area the place everyone feels prefer it’s their home. Come over and get tremendous snug. Come in sweats or designer wares, no matter is most snug, however come able to have a very good time. What I realized in my years of doing interviews on Access Hollywood is that for those who imply to create an area the place somebody goes to supply some a part of themselves in a method they haven’t earlier than or they’re going to talk on a topic that they in any other case haven’t, you must be ready to share your self. We are by no means, form or kind attempting to make anybody look dangerous or loopy or emotional, nothing like that. I’m additionally keen to share simply as a lot as they’re.

Is there an interview you discovered most revelatory, both from the visitor or your self?

We did an interview early on with Andra Day, and so many individuals had been within the feedback stunned that she was not a British girl and that she’s a Black girl. This is a girl who received a Golden Globe for taking part in Billie Holiday however her backstory for some purpose was not getting throughout to the viewers. The House Guest interview allowed individuals to see her in a completely completely different method in all of her Andra Day glory. We bonded over the shared elements of ourselves, our incapability to typically keep centered on what’s in entrance of us and we simply went with the dialog the place it was purported to go.

How is your preparation for these interviews in comparison with your day job?

It’s slightly bit extra intense as a result of it’s by myself. When you’re working for an leisure information group, there are “must get” subjects, or related information questions. But with this, I can go wherever I need to go, so long as it’s applicable or well-received with the visitor. It’s been nice to have the chance to dive into elements of somebody’s story which are new or which are attention-grabbing. I’m occupied with Michael Evans Behling, who talked for the primary time about his adoption journey. While some individuals might have recognized he was adopted by members of his household, they may not have recognized the circumstances or particulars. He shared brazenly and actually about that with out me having to prod or inquire as a result of he felt able to share that a part of himself. Every occasionally as expertise walks out of the room after an interview is over, their publicist or assistant will say to me, “I don’t know how you got them to talk about that. They’ve never said that before on camera.”

When Regina King got here on, she opened up about her son and memorializing her son to the world. But she was additionally processing for the primary time on digital camera, how a lot she wished to share. In the center of it, she mentioned, “I was unprepared for what I would share.” There had been issues she might not have wished to speak about however inside quarter-hour, we had been speaking about all of it. She thanked me for taking such excellent care of friends and for being somebody to rely on and lean into with powerful subject material. I did my perfect. But there was a second when she checked out me and mentioned, “There are moments, Scott, when you remind me of Ian, and it’s a really beautiful thing.” I misplaced it. I misplaced it.

Wow. That’s a testomony to who you might be, your integrity and talent as an interviewer, which is obvious throughout your many, many interviews. What else has been key to your success?

There are so many blended messages on the market, particularly on social media, about who you might be, who you possibly can’t be, who you’ll by no means be, what you might want to change as a way to obtain this or that earlier than it’s too late. So a lot of it’s counting you out whenever you’ve already executed that to your self. So for me, I finished listening to music or some other messages like that after I’m driving round L.A. for work as a result of it typically made me arrive to my location [in a hyped up way] like I used to be prepared for the membership or for another sort of feeling. I’ve discovered that managing my surroundings whereas I commute has led to an actual shift that interprets into my work. It feels simpler, extra actual.

What are you listening to whenever you’re driving throughout city?

If I’m about to have a visitor on, I’m listening to their audiobook or their work. I simply blasted by means of one among Chelsea Handler’s books, Life Will Be the Death of Me. I’ve informed so many mates about the subject material and power of her books. I re-read Michelle Obama’s Becoming, Jenifer Lewis’s The Mother of Black Hollywood: A Memoir. Viola Davis’s Finding Me: A Memoir and Whoopi Goldberg’s Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother, and Me. Game-changers, game-changers. I like listening to from individuals, of their phrases, what helped them of their lives, how they overcame pitfalls or shortcomings, as a result of it helps me navigate my very own.

Any different private highlights from individuals you’ve had on House Guest over the previous 12 months?

Yes, typically it’s not people who find themselves probably the most well-known or doing the splashiest work however I do know they are going to be individuals that we are going to look again on years from now, like, “damn.” Diarra Kilpatrick from Diarra From Detroit. She was a implausible episode, which had every part from the heartfelt to the hilarious to the tragic. That describes so lots of our tales and it felt very actual. Also the Keke Palmer episode as a result of she mentioned, “Whatever we got to do to make it happen, I’m coming to sit with my guy. I see all of my friends with my guy. He’s my guy.” She creates these moments, that whereas marvelous, hit you useless in your coronary heart. I acquired to listen to her discuss in regards to the choice to personal her story in order that another person couldn’t, her choice to guard her personal narrative, and it was one thing I’ve by no means seen or heard her discuss earlier than, definitely not in that method.

Hearing you say “my guy,” I’ve to ask about Rihanna. Every interview I’ve seen, her face lights up when she sees you. It’s a special power. I can’t put phrases in Rihanna’s mouth nevertheless it looks like, to me, that you’re her man, too. I think about that she’s a dream House Guest visitor?

I already informed her that if we’ve got to come back to her, we’ll do a visitor home House Guest. When I realized that my father’s heritage went additional again than Panama, to Barbados, I shared that along with her sort of within the second, nearly on accident. And she meant what she mentioned when she provided, “I’ll take you back.” I didn’t say something as a result of we had been nonetheless on digital camera however inside days, her staff referred to as to say, “Are you packed?” I used to be like, “For what?” But we went, and I’ve since been again 3 times. I’ve taken my mother and brothers to Barbados to point out them their heritage and our connections to that island. We’re now at some extent contemplating if we should always have a spot there that we personal to essentially make this part of our story in a significant method. I’ll always remember that about Rihanna.

Let’s discuss cash. You finance this operation by your self. Why and the way costly is it?

It’s lots. Each episode is sort of a bit. We’ve been lucky right here these days to work with model companions that actually consider within the work that we’re doing. They’ve launched the reins to assist us create the present we need to create with out an excessive amount of interference on messaging as a result of they actually get it. It’s additionally been a dream to win a Webby Award [for Interview, Talk & After-Show, Series and Channels]. That was unreal.

So how do I say this? The price of the present shouldn’t be nothing, however we spend what it takes to make it possible for it’s a present on the stage that it must be. It additionally looks like an interruption from the vast majority of clips coming throughout your timeline. When you see our YouTube thumbnail, it stops you and helps you are feeling that you simply’re proper there with us. And that’s not low cost. But each watch issues. Every remark issues. Every share issues.

You’ve handed the one-year mark, received a Webby and preserve touchdown big-name friends. How lengthy do you propose on conserving House Guest open for enterprise?

We’re in it for the lengthy haul. House Guest is simply one of many concepts that we’ve got about initiatives that we’d love to do, reveals that encourage, uplift, entertain, put smiles on individuals’s faces. We’re creating initiatives within the sports activities area, different codecs. Keke Palmer was useless critical when she mentioned that we should always do a range present by bringing our mates and fellow performers collectively to do one thing actually cool. Some corporations have already expressed curiosity in serving to us develop that and getting it throughout the end line. House Guest isn’t going wherever however keep tuned as a result of there’s far more to come back.

Aside from Rihanna, who’s a dream visitor?

Rihanna, at first. But additionally the Obamas. I’m curious to see what they’d be like on this format, particularly after the launch of Michelle and her brother’s podcast. To be included within the Ebony 100 alongside them was nuts, to be sincere. But the truth is that I can’t reply this query with out saying the large three — Beyoncé, Rihanna and Lady Gaga. At any level, women, come over. The invitation is open.