Zombies Don't Eat Brains

And other stupid and surprising things I learned from Pam Grier, Peter Dinklage, and George A. Romero

As a professional journalist, I’ve talked to a lot of famous people over the last three decades. And I’ve asked a lot of them some very stupid questions. From Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone, Esquire to MTV, I’ve engaged actors, writers, musicians, athletes, chefs, politicians, directors, and astronauts in some truly asinine conversations. And then they paid me for it! Yeah, it was a weird world before the Internet took all the writing jobs.

I’ve shared a few excerpts from some of my favorite awkward interviews (with Moby, Shaquille O’Neal, and Buzz Aldrin). And to start off 2025, here’s another sampling of some of my best, worst exchanges with surprisingly tolerant celebrities.

Pam Grier

Eric Spitznagel: When fans meet you, are they disappointed that you aren't more like your movie characters?

Pam Grier: Sometimes they expect me to walk in with a big afro and a jumpsuit and platform shoes and a funky soundtrack following me, like wacka-wacka-wacka. But usually when I start talking, they realize, oh yeah, that was just a movie role she did. None of that was real.

ES: And if they don’t, you take them down with a Foxy Brown judo-chop?

PG: Not judo, but I could maybe do some kung fu White Tiger Qigong.

ES: I have no idea what that means, but it sounds badass.

PG: Judo is external. It’s Japanese, it’s not Chinese. It’s two different forms. I try to know my stuff. I also practice yoga and rumba. I’m all about feeling good after I work out, knowing that I’ve given praise to my body.

ES: Yoga is great but you’re not going to teach a lesson to a dope-pushin’ pimp with the downward dog.

PG: Sometimes they need the rough stuff. Sometimes they need Mama G to step in. As my mom would say, “I don’t think so!”