John Turturro

Turturro said he practiced on the subway by putting his hands in people's bags without stealing.

“And I did go on the subway. I didn't steal from people. I put my hands in people's bags”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 25:40

Turturro said he prepared for his pickpocket role by reading books and getting coaching from magician-pickpocket Apollo Robbins.

“I read a profile of Apollo Robbins in The New Yorker, who's a magician pickpocket. And he agreed to help me, first on Zoom and then in person”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 25:07

Turturro said he is irritated by tourists who stop on New York sidewalks to look up.

“Sometimes I am. I say you've got to move. You can't just stop”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 24:01

Turturro said Christopher Walken's original name was Ronnie and that Walken has said he would have preferred the name Nick.

“Chris has told me, you know, I don't really like that name, Chris. I should have been Nick”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 23:08

Turturro recounted that Christopher Walken sometimes doesn't understand the Severance scripts and that he tells him to just say the lines.

“Just say the lines and somehow they'll make sense because there's this subliminal message going on between us and our bodies”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 21:59

Turturro said audiences of Severance enjoy the mystery rather than wanting spoilers.

“But I think people like the mystery. I think they want to know, but they like not knowing or trying to figure out what's happening”

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!: We take John Turturro to the Cheesecake Factory (Oct 31, 2026) · Listen from 21:26