All language subtitles for Home.Town.Bens.Workshop.S02E01.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-NTb

A really good friend
of mine is in town.

Chris Sullivan.

He, uh, he and I connected

over classic cars.

But then,

the similarities between us
just kept growing.

Yes, we're both tall.

We both have beards,

we're both jolly,

we're fun to be around.

At least, we think we are.

Even our wives
have become friends.

We are simpatico.

We are the same.

Except for he's a huge star.

He's been on Broadway.

He played in The Knick.

He played Taserface

on Guardians of the Galaxy 2.

I mean, he was nominated
for an Emmy

for his role in This Is Us.

And one more thing
we have in common,

we both are passionate
about community.

That passion is
what has brought

us to the biggest build

I have ever done.

We're building a table
for everyone in Laurel.

Twenty-six foot long
dinner table.

This will be a table that
anyone can use.

You have a wedding, you got
a church pancake breakfast,

get the table.

Gonna go right
in the heart of downtown.

We are going to build community

if we can get it
out of the shop.

- Ben?
- Well, if it isn't

Mississippi, Chris Sullivan.

How are you, my friend?

How often do people
confuse you for me?

Uh, since I've been in Laurel,

it's happened about, uh,

15, 16 times, you know...

- That is a beautiful suit.
- Thank you.

Thank you so much, uh.

I wanted to, uh,

I wanted to impress.

- Uh...
- Have you ever been
in a woodshop?

I haven't.

I haven't, not a proper,
not a proper woodshop.

- But you're an Eagle Scout.
- That's right.

My Eagle Scout project

was building
some memorial benches

- at my
United Methodist Church.
- Oh, gosh!

- There it is.
- Over at California.

- The similarities
between us...
- I know.

When I first saw your show...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...Home Town,

I called my wife, Rachel in

and I said, "Rachel
you're not gonna believe

get in, get in here.
We're..."

-"We're on TV."
-"We're on TV."

I'm like, "Look at this,
this is us."

And, uh...

Boy.

Let's get started. I don't
want to mess up your suit.

Thank you so much.

- So, uh...
- Um, actually, I have...

I need to go,

uh, put on
my woodworking clothes.

It's very Hollywood.

Hey! What did you
expect man, huh?

Are you ready?

This is like
a utility kilt.

I figured it was

suitable for the...

- Well, Scotch, Irish.
- ...Scotsman.

Yeah, Scotsman

and co.

- And co.
- Yeah.

- I love it.
- Yep.

And you ready to draw a table.

I'm ready to go.

Because Chris and I both

value community,

we wanna build
something that'll bring

the people of Laurel together.

These days we need community
more than ever.

Here in the south,
anyone can tell you

there is no better place

to gather than around
the dinner table.

A table for all.

When you hear

a big dinner table, you think
eight foot, ten foot.

I'm seeing 26 feet.

The main thing we're gonna do
is there's gonna be

breadboard ends and
breadboards in the middle.

You got a skirt
that runs the full length.

We're gonna have eight legs
coming down.

Then we're gonna use metal
to build a trailer system

that runs the full length
of the table that'll stabilize
the legs.

Have you ever welded?

I have not.

Today is your lucky day.

So, imagine if we had
wheels that hinged.

Oh!

Coming over here,

there'd be a wheel

and here there's a wheel.

And then on the other end,
you create a way

to hook it to my truck.

Then it's a trailer
with a table

- on top of it.
- It is a...

- trable.
- It is a trable.

Let's do it.

It's my coffee.

- First thing we're gonna
do is prep the wood.
- Okay.

- You've heard of
rough cut lumber?
- Yes, sir.

Rough cut lumber is this.

- Like, where it's,
it's literally rough.
- Right.

This is the first stage
that it comes in

from being a tree.

We're gonna start
with Spanish Cedar.

Normally, it is reserved
for humidors.

It's what lines
the inside of the box

and the moisture is regulated

by the Spanish Cedar.

It's an incredible
wood species.

Since this table
is gonna be outside,

it will stand up to
the moisture a little bit
better than most lumber,

most wood. Like, if we
were to use a treated pine,

five years, this table's
gonna be rotten.

So, we'll use the Cedar

- for the top and the legs.
- Okay, great.

And the oak

is actually going to be

the stretcher, the skirt.

- Okay. Then the kilt.
- Okay, great.

- The kilt for the table.
- If you will.

- Okay.
- I would and I would...

- You know, I will.
- I know, you will.

So, we're gonna
plane all of this?

- We're gonna plane
all of it.
- Great.

All are gonna be smooth
when we're finished.

Fantastic.

This is really simple.

And all it does
is it shaves a layer...

- Right off the top.
- ...off the top.

Like, when did you say,

"I wanna be an actor?"

I mean, I've been
acting since,

uh, high school.

I was also, you know,
playing tennis.

- That's the sport
that stuck, you know.
- Okay.

- Tennis? You're not...
- Yeah, so I--

Well, listen, when I was--

Don't take this the wrong way.

Yes, go ahead.

You're not built like
a tennis player.

Back then, when I was playing
tennis, I was this height,

190 pounds

of, of fast serving machine.

I was a junior ranked
tennis player.

I shall bet you're so tall
that your, your serve
was like...

But my fastest
that was ever clocked,

147 miles an hour.

- That's moving.
- That's moving.

And then, I ended up getting

a scholarship to go play

at Loyola Marymount University.

- Oh, cool.
- Uh, in LA.

And, you know,
tennis had me up

at five o'clock in the morning

and theatre had me up

until 11 o'clock midnight.

And after doing that
for an entire year

I just... I couldn't do it
anymore, I had to pick one.

So, it was acting,
you were like...

Yeah, it was,
it was something.

It was where my heart was.

It's ironic because
the profession that I chose

is a, is a team sport.

A theatre world is
a tight community, is a,

uh, a group of people
coming together, sharing,

you know, sharing emotion,
sharing vulnerabilities

and telling a story.

And then, tennis is
this individual sport

that requires
a lot of mental stability.

So, the mental stability
that I lacked,

uh,
in my tennis game
was actually,

a, uh, quite the asset

for, uh, for my acting.

So, this is essentially
one section of our table.

One of...

Three.

So, what we're building

is a 26-foot long
dinner table.

It's 40 inches wide,
so a big table.

We're gonna use
breadboard joinery

to bring it all together.

This table is going to be
for anyone in Laurel to use,

for their festival or reunion
or bar mitzvah

or whatever you got.

So, these are our breadboards.

Breadboards actually run
perpendicular to
the longer boards.

Wood, over time moves,

it cups,
it bows and it twists.

What the breadboards are gonna
do is, they're gonna keep

most of that from happening.

The way we'll do that is some
mortise and tenon joint

that we've done
in the shop many times.

It is a technique,
it's been around forever.

It's the old stand box
what everybody uses.

This is a drill press

that cuts a square hole.

The tenon comes out
of the tabletop,

and then the mortise
is in the breadboard.

And then that slides
across it,

locking all of the boards
of the top together.

Do you wanna do it?

Yeah, all right.

The first job that you could
pay your bills on.

My first big break was a show

called Defending The Caveman.

That was a Broadway
one man show

that was touring the country.

How many shows a week?

Uh, eight shows a week.

I did 36 states,

three countries,

and about 1000 performances.

- And then...
- How long was the prep?

A year.

- Oh, you prepped for a year...
- I mean...

- ...before you did it?
- It took me six months
just to memorize it.

Gosh!

But once I got that
first laugh,

I was hooked, man.

You doing good.

Would you say
that I'm the best

non-woodworker
to ever work this machine?

You are definitely
working it

Um...

Do you want this,
this satisfaction of
the HGTV sawdust shot?

- Yeah, yeah.
- I'm gonna let you.

This is us.

All right.

Huh. How about that?

That was good.

- You almost had it on one.
- Yeah.

Well, no, I intentionally
stopped short giving
my signature

- puff at the end.
- The last little?

Yeah, that's gonna
be my move.

That's just weird.

All right. So, we're gonna cut
the tenons here

on the bandsaw.

The fence is set

to shave off the amount
that I want.

The stop is there to keep me
from going too deep

- because it needs
to fit perfectly...
- Right.

- ...into the breadboard.
- Great.

So, then we have a tongue
sticking out of the center.

Just like that.

You want me to support
the back end?

- Yeah.
- Great.

The band saw tango.

Da-da-dum.

That feels very...

♪ Beards ♪

♪ Touching beards ♪

So, what
are we doing here?

Well, what we are doing
is actually

- adding on to Scotsman Co.
- Uh, yes.

And we... As you can tell,

there's a lot of metal working
going on.

And I was thinking...

Brought for you some
of these scraps

to build a table base.

Imagine if the center beam
was this

- and then, everywhere
our legs were...
- Uh-huh.

- So, four cross pieces.
- Okay.

And then, something like this

or maybe a little smaller

that our legs...

- Sit in.
- ...sit into.

- Great.
- Yeah, and then, these are

the wheels I was thinking.

- This is our foot.
- Yeah.

- This is here.
- Yeah.

- And...
- So, when you're not
using it.

- It's like that,
sits on the ground.
- Got it.

Then you lift it up,

the wheel falls under it,
set it down.

Great. Click it in place.

Roll on.

You wanna weld?

Yeah, I wanna weld,
I wanna cut.

- Basically anything.
- As manly

- as possible.
- As manly as possible.

Does this take you back
to your New York days?

Constant scaffolding.

We moved to New York,

yeah, right after
we got married,

five days after we got
married, actually.

Was Broadway the goal?

Well, it's the pinnacle
for theatre.

When did TV start?

Um, about two years in.

And I started doing
small parts

in little episodic series

and trying to figure out
how TV worked.

I mean, it was, like,
I was literally learning

trial by fire,
learning on set.

And that's when I started

piecing together,

uh, my television career

with all of these
little scraps.

So, you're just making
something out of

- what's left.
- Little pieces, little roles.

When did "the camel" happen?

The, uh, "the camel"

happened about four years in.

My voice-over career

had been pretty
well established before that.

And then, Gieco came
around and, uh,

we did "the camel," so.

- Can you...
- I mean,

"Hump Day."

You know it,
everybody knows it.

That's the interesting
part is.

Of all of my work, more people
have seen that commercial

than any other commercial.

It's voted the number one
Gieco commercial of all time.

That is high ranking.

There's like,
a lot of commercials.

- It is my favorite
work of yours.
- Yeah.

But thank you.
I put a lot of effort.

My favorite of everything
I've done?

Ah...

You know what, I'll take it.

Were you thinking, like,

maybe I'll transition away
from Broadway into TV?

The idea is to always stay
in all the worlds.

Do some theatre,
do some TV, do a film.

- And then, rotate.
- Be adaptable.

- We try to be well rounded
individuals, right?
- That's it.

We don't... We don't only
work in wood.

- We also do metal.
- We also do metal.

All right.
This is simple.

- Pull the trigger,
wire comes out.
- Yeah.

Start close and then just
push that puddle.

Looks pretty good.

This one was better.

Yeah, I figured it out
about halfway through.

You started
shifting towards TV?

Right. Making
a conscious shift.

My manager was like,

"I need you to take some
time off from theatre

'cause theatre takes up
a lot of time,

and let me try to get you on

some TV shows."

And so, it was a bit of a,

a leap of faith
to stop doing theatre

'cause I've been
doing it so consistently

- for so long.
- I mean, your own Broadway?

That's right. And so,

to kind of lay back
and let him

try and get me out there
was, uh,

was hard to do, but he did it
in no time and we got
The Knick.

So, how long after that was
This Is Us.

So, like, you get on
The Knick,

- that's two years.
- Yeah, The Knick was,
you know, 2014

and This Is Us was 2016.

Dang!

It was quick.

Yeah, and so,
I was pretty much

the last person to be cast

- on This Is Us.
- Really?

Yeah, they had
gathered the whole cast

and I was the last one.

You were the final piece
of the puzzle.

I was the one
who welded it all together.

- High...
- Can't see you.

I can't... Hold on.

Are you there?

You said,
you wanted a table for all.

This should seat about
30 or 40 of them.

Um, I could
squeeze more,

- not 30 and 40 of you and me.
- No.

Regular size people.

- Yeah.
- Non-behemoth.

Chris Sullivan
and I've just finished

the basics on the framing
of our 26-foot long,

moveable dinner table.

And now, we can

turn some legs.

But before that,

I know you love classic cars
like I love classic cars.

So, I think, we need
to take a break,

go for a cruise in
a classic Corvette.

- I mean...
- Yes!

- Ain't that beautiful?
- This is one of the most
beautiful cars ever made.

- I love this.
- I agree.

- I agree and also...
- Sixty...

- ...seven?
- Sixty-six.

- Six.
- Good eye, though.

And also, it is, uh,

maybe the smallest car

ever made.

Sweet ride.

Oh, man!

Like a glove.

Chris and I love
classic cars.

Antique cars

used to be designed in a way
that the lines of the car

were so pleasing.

You can't quite place your
finger on what about it, it is

about the line in the car
that makes it look so good.

And that's really good design.

So, tell me about your
high school Mustang.

I'd always wanted
a '65 Mustang.

I just thought... they were,
they were my favorite

- and...
- Classic.

And my dad had a history
of bringing home strays.

- Dogs, cat...
- My dad too.

- Dogs--
- Another similarity.

Dogs, cats.

And one day,

without asking my mom,

he brought home
this '65 Mustang.

And we started working on it.

I drove it all through
high school.

It became part of my identity.

But also, you know,

driving a classic car
is unpredictable thing.

- Yes.
- You know, it...

It's gonna die,
it's gonna overheat.
It's gonna...

- You have to have
tools with you.
- Something's gonna break.

And so, when I was getting
ready to graduate

I had kind of thought,

well, I can't be bringing it
down all the time

if I'm driving around LA,
trying to become
a famous actor.

Right.

And sold
the Mustang and

regretted it instantly.

But then I moved to Chicago.

Didn't need a car in Chicago.

- Right.
- When I moved to New York,

- didn't need a car
in New York.
- Didn't need a car.

And I moved back to California
and I finally realized,

you know what,
I should look for the car.

So, I hired
a private investigator

and I gave him the VIN number.

And two weeks later,

we had located it

and it was about, it was still

30 minutes from
my parents' house.

And brought it
back from them,

and we restored it over
the course of a year.

And now, it's the dream car
I've always wanted.

And it's what you drive
to work.

It's what I drive to work, yeah.

Well,
speaking of work...

We got our, our planks
for our tabletop.

- Yeah.
- We got the tenons.

We have our mortises

and our breadboards.

Now, we can dry fit

- all of this together.
- Great.

So, you get

"This Is Us."

Did it feel like,

"this is it?"

We all knew that when we read
the first episode

that it was the best episode
of television we ever read.

- Everybody connects
withThis Is Us...
- Yeah.

...because it has

- something for everybody.
- Right.

How do you connect to it

- other than your...
- Well, I mean, it's, it's

mirrored my life,

you know, in eerie,
eerie types of ways, you know.

My same struggles
with anxiety and depression

that I, that Toby was
dealing with

kind of came along
at the same time.

Toby and Kate having a child

kind of lined up right

with Rachel
and I having a child.

I'll put it this way,
I've learned a lot
about relationship

from being a part of the show

and turning towards
each other

even when things
are difficult

through death,

tragedy,

change, addiction,

depression, anxiety,

whatever the thing is.

Most people are dealing with

- one of those things.
- Yeah.

And so, the show,
the show has been a real,

kind of blessing
and that it's,

it's taught me how to deal
with a lot of other stuff.

- That's incredible.
- Yeah.

We are going to turn legs.

- The whole thing is balance.
- Okay, right.

- You want it to look balanced.
- Sure.

- You want it to be balanced.
- Right.

So, the most important part
is getting it on the lathe...

- centered.
- Centered.

Okay. So, this
is our center finder.

- Mark that, mark that.
- Oh!

An X marks the spot
that's center. Simple as that.

I've to turn eight legs.

So, you're gonna take this.

- You hold it against your hip.
- Uh-huh.

- All right, cool.
- What is your secret?

- The secret to my success?
- Yeah.

That's a good question
I've never thought about that.

I enjoy being
a part of a community.

We're talking about collaboration,

we're talking about

exactly what we're doing
here today.

Yeah, we're working
together on this.

And we can, hopefully,
by being the...

Attempting to be
the best versions of ourselves

can help others

do the same thing.
That's right.

Let's see what you got.

Too much.

This is one tool
that people are terrified of.

- Right.
- But,

to me it's the safest tool
in here

because you're
holding the blade.

The blade isn't turning.

- Isn't that satisfying?
- Oh!

- Yes.
- Just like...

Oh!

So good.

The way that I make
all my legs match

is I turn one

and then I use it
as a template for others.

This is interesting.

You can work
with this?

It's, I mean, seriously,
it's impressive.

Do you, do you mind if I...

- Can I come in
and aid a little bit?
- No, please, please.

I'm gonna follow
your design.

Make sure you follow it.

I'm going to.

Do not round my edges, Ben.

Little more.

Do I have lathe face?

I know, you and Rachel like

- to talk about that.
- Oh, yeah!

Anytime on the show
when the lathe comes in,
it was like,

"Oh, we get to see
Ben's lathe face."

You get real serious.

- It's kind of
like Taserface.
- Yeah.

Latherface!

My name is...

Latherface!

Chris Sullivan
and I have just finished

the 26-foot long,
moveable dinner table.

Now, all that's left
is putting it together.

So, we gotta assemble
the three Spanish Cedar tabletops,

put the oak skirt in place,

and roll it on out of here.

This will be the trailer.

Trailer meeting table.

Becoming...

- Trable.
- Trable.

It fits

almost as if it was
designed that way.

Well, howdy-do?

I'm glad these come
in three pieces.

We drained this thing up
in a text message with

him and me and our wives
and we...

...didn't know if we could
pull it off.

When I relayed
what I was gonna do

to the guys in the shop,
they were like,

"This is impossible."

"It'll never work."

And then, to see it
come together.

- Right there.
- Yeah.

It is a beautiful table.

It is not just a like,

"Oh, this is a cool thing."

It is very cool.

- No.
- Just go in deeper
with it.

It didn't go.

It's a good thing, we're,
we're calling this

a community trable because,

um, it takes a community
to lift it.

You and me,
get here. I'm sorry.

It's heavy.

We had to bring in
Josh and Stuart.

And...

...we're gonna have
a time moving that.

I'm, honestly,

I'm wondering if Clint has
the power to pull them.

One, two, three.

- There.
- Got it.

Oh, that's,
oh, that's flexin'.

Today, we're gonna place
it at the Laurel Mercantile,

but this is not
the Laurel Mercantile table,

this is the community table.

I mean, this is
a moveable feast.

You know, you're hosting
your family reunion,

I have a 26-foot long table

that everyone
could sit around.

Hook this thing to
the back of your truck

or your minivan
or your sedan and just

pull it on down the road
to the location.

- By the bottom.
- By the bottom,
it's okay.

Here it goes.
All right, down.

Look at this.

We did it.

A table for all.

Chris Sullivan's...

...table for all.

Thank you, friend.

Oh, it was a pleasure.

- It was a pleasure.
- Was it?

- Yeah.
- Good. I'm glad
you still say that.

It was a lot of fun.

We're using teak oil
to seal the table.

It'll do well in the weather
and it's easy to fix.

Now, we got Allie, Eveny
and Brooke

coming down to help us set up.

Oh, my gosh, y'all!

- This is insane.
- It looks amazing.

It's a table for Laurel.

- I love it.
- A table for all.

A community table.

Y'all have chairs lined up?

- We do, yeah.
- Yes, time for chairs.

The beautiful thing
about getting it done today

and getting it in position,

this weekend
is Independence Day

and there is
a huge celebration in Laurel.

We've all been through a lot

and I don't think
that we will ever

take for granted
how special it is

to have community
to be able to

talk and laugh.

And that's why, Chris and I
wanted to build this table.

A table big enough
for everyone.

People are gonna have a reason

to come together and gather
and you know what,

now they have a place
they can do it.