Betty White on Staying Young at Heart

Hi, I'm Betty White. I'm here on Young Hollywood. As, as inappropriate as that sounds.

So our tagline here at Young Hollywood is, it's not about age, it's about attitude. Well, you've got the attitude. That's for us kids all try to keep a good attitude going, you know. Like that we got you on Young Hollywood. We got our pillow hall of fame here, you got to see where we got Zac Efron, Selena Gomez, Justin Timberlake.

Oh, I love it!

I think we might need Betty White now in the in the Young Hollywood pillow of fame. Betty White, big, big one. I like that, we'll do the full thing.

Oh, isn't that fun?

I love how you're always on top of what's going on in pop culture. I mean like the Miley Cyrus video that everybody's talking about with Wrecking Ball, and now you're on top doing your own your own wrecking ball.

Oh, it's so silly but it's such fun. I'm having such. Everybody says, well, aren't you at 92, aren't you thinking about retiring? I said, no, I don't know what that word means and I'm never going to find out.

What do you think the key has been, because you are just as relevant now as you were in the 80s and you were in the 90s, which is, you know, such a hard thing for people to do and you're you're almost on top of everything right now.

I'm not on top of everything but I'm having a very good time. And it's such a thrill at this age to still be invited to do stuff. That's a that's a privilege and fun and I never take it for granted.

And what drives you? What keeps you going every day? I know you're on a Sunday, you come to visit us on a Sunday.

I love what I do. I really do. And you get back what you give. And you guys do so much in return for us, that uh it's the only way you can say thank you sometimes.

I love that. And now your new show, Betty Goes Wild. I mean just by the name, when people hear it, everyone's like, I've got to tune in and see that.

Oh you do because this one I'm really proud of. It's National Geographic and it's all the big cats, the endangered big cats. So we went we did a lot of shooting with lions and tigers and leopards and oh, it was it was such a lovely experience to do. So I can't wait to see it.

When you first heard the title, did you know exactly what it was? Cause when you just say Betty Goes Wild, I mean that could be it could be anything.

I think we did it and and and then they named it. But Betty Goes Wild can fit almost anything I do, right?

Right. And then you said if if you weren't an actress, you'd want to be a zookeeper.

Oh absolutely. And I kind of am because I I've worked with the Los Angeles Zoo and with zoos all over the world for 50 years. So I was out at the zoo yesterday feeding peanuts and and and grapes to Bruno, our beautiful big 350 pound orangutan, and Elka. They named her Elka after my character on Hot in Cleveland. And she's a baby orangutan, she's about this big. So I was out there all day yesterday.

And now Off Their Rockers, I mean it's a show that, you know, was on and then you know, you get the phone call that it's not going to be on. And then you get the phone call, now it's it's going to be back on.

I I just go with the flow. That's all I can do. Off Their Rockers is a silly show but it's uh it was a huge hit in Europe. And an Emmy winning and all that kind of thing. Then they brought it to this country and they asked if I would do it and I said, I don't want to do a a well, they kept making it a nicer and nicer offer, so here I am stuck with two series. Stuck is the wrong word. Here I am blessed with two series.

Busy girl.

I know and I love it. And I love Girl too. I love that best.

Right. And then what advice do you have for like the youngsters out there that, you know, want to break into the business or want to make it since you've been doing it so long now?

Oh, I uh I'm not the one to give advice but but enjoy what you do. Don't don't complain about it. And even if it's hard work, even if it's a job that you're not necessarily thrilled with. Do the best you can but say yes to business wise. Anything. You know, when you're starting out, try everything. Don't turn down. Well, I don't think I'd I don't think I'd like to do that. That's the only way you get exposure on all sides. And that's when the the offers multiply.

Hot in Cleveland, what can we expect? You know, long run so far on that show and it keeps on going, where are we going from here?

Thank goodness, that's the most fun. Those girls are such great buddies to work with. And we do have fun.

You have to keep them in line?

Uh no, they keep me in line on both sides of the camera really on Hot in Cleveland. I think it's the happiest set in town. Our guest stars come in and they say, oh my gosh, there's no tension. What is all this? He said, well, we we're trying to find tension but we can't find it.

And what's the key to that? How do you guys keep that environment of no tension and that it's it's just so much fun?

We well, everybody's a pro. They've all everybody on the show has been in, you know, successful shows. And we not only respect each other but we love each other. And we have silly family jokes. And we have to be very careful because sometimes in a scene somebody will just slip up, you know, slip of the tongue or something. And that's all it takes to put us on the floor. It's not funny but to us it's hilarious.

And last question for you. If we had to describe, if you had to describe Betty White in just one word, what would that word be?

Oh, the most talkative old broad probably that you've ever met.

One word. That's a lot of words. You gave one word. Talkie. Talkie, I love it. Well, thank you so much for for coming out and hanging out with us, the one and only Betty White and and uh as you've seen this, this Betty White. We're going to add it to your pillow of fame. The one and only Betty White.

Thank you so much, dear. Appreciate it. Really appreciate it. Thank you.