Willie Geist is a man of many talents.
For starters, he can get up at the crack of dawn to be part of the top-rated news program, Morning Joe. But after the sun rises, the Today show veteran can easily fill in as co-host with Hoda Kotb or Jenna Bush Hager and end the night doing a shot-ski with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live.
But for the past five years, there is one special project Willie has continued to build from the ground up. In fact, he's ready to celebrate a major milestone this weekend.
On April 18, Willie will mark five years of hosting Sunday TODAY, a program that continues to spotlight celebrities in a whole new way. Thanks to the "Sunday Sit-Down," Hollywood's biggest stars have been able to open up about their personal and professional life in a comfortable, slow-paced setting you don't always see on the small screen.
"The more time you can spend with somebody, the more of a relationship you develop with the person if you don't already have one, the more trust you build with the person or the more interesting the interview becomes," Willie exclusively shared with E! News. "We ask for an hour. Sometimes we go longer, sometimes it's 45 minutes based on somebody's schedule, but if I don't know the person already, that gives me that trust and shows them I'm prepared and I respect their time and I respect their work and, hopefully, I'm asking questions they haven't been asked before and making them think and reflect."
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Willie would travel to a celebrity's home or office to chat. In fact, he would happily visit a bar if his guests, like Ryan Reynolds and Bryan Cranston, were launching a new beverage.
And while many interviews have now moved to Zoom, Willie still has a way of making guests feel at home. On Sunday, April 11, Oscar-nominated actress Amanda Seyfried, who prefers a "normal" and "low-key family life," shared a rare glimpse of her infant son, who made a surprise on-camera cameo.
But perhaps what viewers respect most is that Willie isn't focused on making headlines. While speaking to E! News, the morning show host said he simply strives for "deeper storytelling" and a program that is "uplifting, but not cheesy."
"We're a reminder of the power of humanity and all the good that is out there," he shared. "We try to stay hopeful."
And like viewers watching across the country, Willie is a fan of many of the people he interviews. What often comes next is TV magic.
Whether driving around the Hamptons with Ina Garten or playing with tools alongside Chip Gaines, Willie has had a few "pinch me" moments in the last five years. As he prepares to celebrate the five-year anniversary of Sunday TODAY, Willie took a trip down memory lane to reflect on some of his favorite interviews. Keep scrolling to see the "Sunday Sit-Downs" he won't forget.
"There are a rare few guests who have been on twice but Ina is one of them," Geist previously told E!. "The first time, I went to her house in the Hamptons and parked in her driveway and walked in. We were both wearing denim, which I thought was a good matching look for us. We were in that big kitchen everyone knows and has seen on TV for years and years and we cooked. We sat at her table and ate lunch and then she said, ‘Let's go for a ride to the beach.'"
The Sunday TODAY host continued, "So we hopped in her Cooper with the top down. She put on a huge floppy hat and there I was riding shotgun with Ina Garten. We were driving to the beach and there was a man jogging. She honked and waved and sure enough, it was Jeffrey [Garten]. Boy, I really got the full Ina Garten experience."
"David Letterman was so cool," Geist shared. "We live 10, 15 miles away from each other and he goes to the same bait and tackle shop I go to in Westchester County, New York. We knew he liked to go fly fishing so we asked if he would come stand in a stream with me and I was surprised when he said, ‘Yes, I'll meet you in the stream. Let's go talk.'"
"We must have sat for two hours and talked and then Chip went, ‘Hey! Want to go break some stuff?' So he gave me a hammer and we had a hammer throwing contest and Joanna is standing there with her cup of coffee going, ‘God, you guys are such idiots' and she's right," he shared with a laugh. "I just love them as people. I love their show and I love what they do, but they're such genuinely good people."
"Ryan Reynolds has a line of gin called Aviation, so when we did that interview, we said let's do it in a bar," Geist shared. "So he mixed up some drinks and we talked about it. Bryan Cranston had a line of Mezcal. It feels like every celebrity has a line of booze and we're always happy to indulge and tip up a glass before we get going."
Before the pandemic, Geist would travel across the country to meet with Hollywood's biggest names. As he recalled to E! News, "You might see Al Pacino doing an interview with us that you've never seen him do before where the two of us are driving around Beverly Hills with the top down in a 1974 Cadillac."
If you ask Geist to share one of his most special interviews, it has to be his very first sit-down for Sunday TODAY with this Oscar-nominated star. "It was the height of Hamilton-mania and the fact that we got Leslie Odom Jr. to do our first show on an unproven show will always be so meaningful to me and he will always hold a special place in my heart," he recalled, "and I'm so happy that he's gone on to such big things. I was such a fan of the show and I listened to the album all the time."
"Dolly Parton is a great hero of mine," raved Geist. "I had the opportunity to interview her a couple of times and have gone down to Dollywood and be invited again. Those are the pinch me moments. The people who you grew up loving and listening to their music and now, here you are, being invited into their world and to be able to ask them about their lives and career blows your mind."
"As a guy who grew up loving Caddy Shack and Ghostbusters, the chance to sit down with Bill Murray—a guy who doesn't do a ton of interviews—that was really special, especially when you consider he doesn't have a publicist. You just call a 1-800 message for Bill and if he wants to call you back, he will," he remembered. "He didn't actually call us back. He came into the Today show for an interview with Savannah Guthrie and while in the green room, he casually told our bookers, ‘I want to do that Willie Geist show.'"
"Time is one way to put people at ease because they don't feel pushed and stressed, but the setting is important too," Geist explained. "We interviewed Jerry Seinfeld on the stage at the Beacon Theatre—his home away from home and where he goes to do his stand up."
Sunday TODAY airs Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. on NBC.
(E! and NBC are part of the NBCUniversal family)