Woody Harrelson, the acclaimed actor known for his mellow and jovial energy, was breaking down, barely able to string together coherent sentences because his mouth was on fire from the ludicrously spicy hot sauce that coated his fried cauliflower. Of course, the pain is what you order by coming on Hot Ones, the beloved hot wings YouTube show.

Once it was over, Harrelson still coughing, admitted to host Sean Evans, “You nearly killed me, dude … and I say that with all due respect, because I know you nearly kill people on the daily.”

Harrelson said that he never thought he’d do the show because he used to think he didn’t have what it took to get to the end of the poultry gauntlet. “And now, here we are,” he said, victorious.

That sentiment, while proclaimed in jest, captures a current appetite among many celebrities and fans alike to break away from conventional interviews in favor of more authentic and flavorful content.

And what else like breaking bread – or chicken wings or, you know, yeast extract – has the ability to break that artifice, foster trust and entice celebrities to lower their guards for a playful exchange to which audiences can relate.

“The hardest part of the interview is penetrating all of that artifice to get something real,” Evans told CNN in a recent interview.

This screenshot from JOLLY's youtube episode shows Joshua Carro