Original subtitles

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.