LeRoy Butler talks about enjoyable of filming with Tony Shalhoub at Lambeau

What does it take to get two of Green Bay’s most well-known faces collectively for lunch at Lambeau Field?

Four slices of nine-grain bread, eight slices of Colby Jack cheese, an entire lot of butter, a sprinkling of shredded cheese and a shared love for the Green Bay Packers.

Actor Tony Shalhoub, the Emmy Award winner who was born and raised in Green Bay, and legendary Packers security LeRoy Butler, the Pro Football Hall of Famer who performed his total profession in Green Bay, sat down over grilled cheese sandwiches for the Wisconsin-themed episode of “Tony Shalhoub Breaking Bread” that airs at 8 p.m. Nov. 2 on CNN.

From one of many bench seats in an empty Lambeau Field bowl, The “Monk” and “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” star and the creator of the Lambeau Leap speak soccer, household and childhood reminiscences over melted cheese and toasted bread. It’s as ooey, gooey and satisfying as you may anticipate — the television-viewing equal of consolation meals.

“I have to tell you, this is the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. Whether it’s the place, being here with you, the specialness,” Shalhoub says to Butler.

It’s what the six-part CNN docuseries that premiered Oct. 5 is all about, showcasing how meals — home made bread particularly — brings folks and cultures collectively. As the host, Shalhoub travels to bakeries, kitchens and eating places everywhere in the world, together with Iceland, France and Brazil, however one full episode is devoted to his dwelling state.

He additionally visits Fika Bakery & Coffee House in Egg Harbor, Sway Brewing + Blending in Baileys Harbor, the Ukwakhwa farm on Oneida Nation land close to Green Bay and Uplands Cheese in Dodgeville. Viewers get to see him with members of the family in downtown Green Bay and all collectively at their Door County lake dwelling.

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The “Breaking Bread” analysis group, with an help from the Packers, got here up with the concept of pairing Shalhoub with considered one of his private heroes. Butler jokes he didn’t even have to listen to the entire pitch earlier than he mentioned sure.

He knew Shalhoub from “Monk” reruns and as Jack Jeebs within the “Men in Black” films however had by no means met him till the 2 filmed at Lambeau earlier this yr.

“I’ve met a lot of famous people before, like super famous, like Reggie White and Brett Favre. I was so starstruck,” Butler advised the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “And I’m never short for words. My assistant was like, ‘Uh, are you OK?’ I said, ‘No.’

“He’s different, because he’s from Green Bay and just that he knew who I was was overwhelming to me. I had a magnificent time. He’s just so gracious. He really is.”

Grilled cheese connects LeRoy Butler to his childhood, Packers taking part in days

Butler’s historical past with grilled cheese sandwiches proved the right match for the present. Eating two grilled cheese earlier than each Packers recreation turned his ritual as a participant, however they return to his childhood when typically that’s all that was within the fridge to make a meal. He remembers his sister utilizing a butter knife to slice from the block of presidency cheese given to low-income households within the Eighties.

“When I was young, in extreme poverty, the grilled cheese was like platinum,” mentioned Butler, who grew up in Jacksonville, Florida.

His love for them caught with him throughout his soccer profession. Even when the Packers have been taking part in on the highway, the group would discover a method to verify he had them for his pregame meal — and made simply the way in which he likes them. He’s a stickler for Colby Jack cheese and crunchy bread.

He tells a comic story of being in San Francisco for a recreation and former Packers coach Mike Holmgren asking somebody to do no matter it takes to seek out Colby Jack for Butler’s grilled cheese, even providing to pay for it out of his personal pocket if he wanted to.

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“Growing up in poverty, I thought it was just cheddar. That’s it. Just a yellow/orange-looking cheese. There’s only one flavor. So I got to the Packers in 1990 to find out they have over 340 different kinds (in Wisconsin), and I can mix it,” he mentioned.

Butler, who lives in Milwaukee, regularly makes grilled cheese sandwiches for his seven kids and 6 grandkids. He likes so as to add a little bit parsley on the cheese for Packers colours.

Their dialog at Lambeau Field was each emotional and lighthearted

He took Shalhoub to the 1919 Kitchen & Tap inside Lambeau Field for “Breaking Bread” to point out him the right way to make a correct grilled cheese. He likes his with a number of butter and a few shredded cheese on high of the slices and a little bit extra on the skin of the bread “to get the goo that I want.”

“This is a revelation,” Shalhoub says as he watches him.

Butler realized some issues from Shalhoub, too. “He knows everything about bread. … Blew me away.”

It appeared becoming for the 2 to take their sandwiches into Lambeau to eat them. It’s the place Shalhoub grew up going to Packers video games along with his dad and uncles as considered one of 10 youngsters, and it’s the place Butler says he grew up as a person.

“Let’s talk about anything you want. Just go,” Butler mentioned of their dialog in entrance of the cameras in a quiet Lambeau. “Otherwise, there’s 90,000 people in there, and if me and him was sitting there, we’d get mobbed.”

Butler was deeply touched to listen to Shalhoub speak about his household’s historical past. His father, Joseph, got here to Ellis Island on a ship from Lebanon at age 8 after he and his siblings misplaced their mother and father throughout World War I. It was a three-month journey that finally introduced him to Green Bay. His mom, Helen Seroogy, was a second-generation Lebanese American born in Wisconsin.

“It was very emotional, but it was uplifting,” Butler mentioned. “To become a big star like he has, he’s put in the work.”

Butler, who’s presently working as an government producer on a documentary about his life, mentioned he inspired Shalhoub to think about doing the identical about his household’s immigration story.

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The two additionally laughed so much throughout their time collectively.

“When you think about it, most people when they’re eating, you see smiles,” Butler mentioned. “Go to any restaurant and any place where people are eating and talking … dinner and sports together. There’s nothing negative about that.”

Butler’s look in “Breaking Bread” comes throughout the identical yr he made a cameo in “Green and Gold,” the feature-length film filmed in Door County and Green Bay that stars Craig T. Nelson as a Wisconsin dairy farmer and diehard Packers fan. He enjoys these sorts of tasks and interactions. He says it’s “baked in the cake” for him.

“I love it. I think that’s the only way people can really know LeRoy Butler the person, if they can see me in different elements, different things. Not just football. Not just the Lambeau Leap.”

He has made a pal in Shalhoub, who lives in New York City and nonetheless will get again for Packers video games with among the season tickets that when belonged to his father. Butler is aware of the Shalhoub household is an enormous one although, so simply in case he ever finds himself brief …

“I told him from now on he’s on scholarship,” Butler mentioned, laughing. “All he has to do is call me up. I can get him in the stadium. … He’s got a full ride.”

Kendra Meinert is an leisure and have author on the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.