A-list stars used to side-eye 'Hot Ones.' Now they're knocking down Sean Evans' door

In a caller occurrence of “Hot Ones Versus,” histrion Hailee Steinfeld looked astatine her “Sinners” co-star Michael B. Jordan with a premix of daze and amusement, and asked, “What the f— is this? This is property for our movie?”

It’s a question that has apt been asked earlier successful the 10 years that “Hot Ones” (and consequent spinoffs similar “Versus”) person been pushing retired episodes connected YouTube. The conception is some elemental and outrageous — an interrogation done portion guests devour a bid of chickenhearted wings of expanding spice levels, often with disorienting discomfort — and the amusement has go a fashionable sensation and an indispensable halt connected the modern personage promotional tour.

“Hot Ones” big and co-creator Sean Evans, 39, has been determination for the full ride, eating wings close on his guests, which person precocious included Selena Gomez, Bill Murray, Lady Gaga, Bad Bunny, Ben Stiller, Serena Williams, Cate Blanchett, Demi Moore and, successful a peculiarly memorable appearance, Conan O’Brien.

The amusement has besides go a large business, arsenic past twelvemonth Evans and co-creator Chris Schonberger were portion of a radical of investors who bought First We Feast, the workplace down “Hot Ones,” for much than $82 million.

Long past its root arsenic an online upstart and continuing its determination into the mainstream, the amusement is eligible to vie for an Emmy successful the speech bid class against the likes of Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers and Stephen Colbert.

Based successful New York City, Evans sat for an interrogation with The Envelope portion precocious successful Los Angeles.

Evans, left, with impermanent Bill Murray successful an occurrence of “Hot Ones.”

(First We Feast)

How has the transportation to endowment changed implicit the years? People presumably get the premise now?

The astir profound mode that it’s changed is present we’re taking the pitches. There was a clip wherever we had to beryllium precise persuasive, astir to the constituent of tricking radical into doing the show. And present the tables person wholly turned. You adjacent conscionable spot it successful the mode that radical beryllium down. I retrieve precise aboriginal connected determination was ever this situation for maine to triumph implicit the impermanent successful the archetypal mates of wings and marque them recognize that this is going to beryllium ... precise antithetic from what they’d expect from what’s written connected paper.

A batch of times guests came successful with immoderate benignant of preconceived conception for however it would spell and past had their minds changed conscionable implicit the people of doing the interview. We really person a sanction for it. We telephone it the “Charlize Theron Shoulder Drop,” due to the fact that erstwhile she came connected the show, I retrieve she was benignant of side-eyeing her publicist. And I retrieve her saying thing like, “Am I gonna person to devour each of these?” And by the 2nd oregon 3rd wing, her shoulders had dropped. She was wholly loose. And to me, it’s 1 of the astir important tentpole episodes that we’ve ever created.

How would you picture the vibe of what you’re looking for? What is that feeling you privation successful the room?

Early on, it was benignant of gonzo-ish. But successful the clip since, what I’m looking for is thing real. I deliberation what happens is guests are successful a PR-driven formation pattern, and what you privation is thing precise existent to happen. And connected “Hot Ones” you person those moments of radical who are struggling, who are vulnerable, who are successful a borderline authorities of panic. You person emotions that are real, and each of these things are truthful hard to get to successful a accepted interrogation setting. The information that we tin make these moments, and past harvester it with this thoughtful career-spanning interview, each of those elements moving together, it conscionable gives you a unsocial look astatine the personage guests. And, of course, personage is this manner that by explanation is unobtainable. But what we’re doing is knocking them disconnected of that pedestal down to a level that everyone tin subordinate to. It’s precise human. And that’s what radical respond to successful a batch of ways. I deliberation we accidentally invented the “What’s it similar to person a brew with this person” show.

What does it mean to beryllium competing for an Emmy?

It’s ne'er truly thing that I wrapped my caput astir oregon thought was adjacent possible, but they’re opening up the eligibility, which I deliberation is overdue and inevitable anyway. So past it was conscionable astir getting the paperwork unneurotic and putting unneurotic a submission and hoping for the best. But I bash deliberation that erstwhile you look astatine the shows that person defined this class for truthful long, the throughline with each of them is that they’re the taste notation constituent for wherever you tin spot celebrities successful a looser, edgier environment. And “Hot Ones” satisfies that definition. ... I didn’t cognize that we’d beryllium a portion of the conversation, ne'er dreamed of it. But present that we are, I’ll accidental with my afloat thorax that we belong.

Just physically, aft 10 years, is the amusement hard for you to proceed to do?

The bully happening astir spicy nutrient is you make a familiarity with the things that are uncomfortable. And I’ve been determination truthful galore times that I cognize that there’s airy astatine the extremity of the tunnel. I deliberation that it’s been wide a nett affirmative due to the fact that I instrumentality truthful overmuch amended attraction of myself extracurricular of the amusement than I different would. I bash person a cleanable measure of wellness and spell to the doc each twelvemonth and person them hook maine up to everything and bash each benignant of humor test, due to the fact that I person this unsocial vocation, this unsocial batch successful life, this unsocial way that I’m on. But also, there’s tons of jobs wherever radical person had agelong careers adjacent though there’s a carnal toll to it. Ray Lewis played 17 years successful the NFL, and helium was retired determination playing linebacker each Sunday. How atrocious tin a mates wings be?