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Speaker 1: You and I have worked together Boom nailed It, What

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Speaker 1: You're Gonna Laugh?

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Speaker 2: And Celebrity Jeopardy.

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Speaker 3: Rumble I was in Rumble Stop It?

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Speaker 2: Who did you play in Rumble?

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Speaker 3: Clonk? I was a wrestler. Wow, Yep, yep, we worked together.

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Speaker 2: This is why I don't like when, you know, with

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Speaker 2: the voice acting, they put you in a room by yourself.

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Speaker 3: You don't put you in a room by yourself.

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Speaker 1: I think, especially when it's the middle of a global

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Speaker 1: pandemic and they put you in a room by yourself.

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Speaker 1: You literally don't know, don't know anyone. I really don't

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Speaker 1: have anything else to say about that except that we

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Speaker 1: did work together. So I'm just I'm just closing the

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Speaker 1: loop on that. I'm just closing I'm just closing the

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Speaker 1: loop on that.

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Speaker 2: It's so good to know.

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Speaker 1: Hi.

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Speaker 2: Hey, I'm Susan Kiletchi Watson and I am happy.

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Speaker 1: Welcome dear listeners. You know last week I asked you

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Speaker 1: to come back, and so I'm very glad that you did.

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Speaker 1: Thank you. This is Off the Beat and I am

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Speaker 1: your host, Brian Baumgartner. Today this is us, and by us,

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Speaker 1: of course, I mean me and Susan Colecchi Watson. That's right,

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Speaker 1: I have the Beth Pearson from one of the most

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Speaker 1: watch shows in recent memory on television or streaming. This

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Speaker 1: is Us. But she is so much more than just

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Speaker 1: an excellent actor on a highly acclaimed and beloved show.

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Speaker 1: She is also an Oxford trained thespian, a producer who

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Speaker 1: can call names like Angela Davis and Oprah, and an

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Speaker 1: absolutely radiant person that I was so happy to get

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Speaker 1: to know today. So let's talk about her childhood in Brooklyn,

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Speaker 1: her impeccable resume, and her new life in the White House.

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Speaker 1: That's right on the upcoming Shonda Rhime's murder mystery series

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Speaker 1: The Residents. Listen up, everybody. I think you're gonna have

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Speaker 1: a lot to learn from my well, my new best friend,

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Speaker 1: the brilliant Susan Colecchi Watson.

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Speaker 4: Burblon Squeak, I love it, Burblon Squeak, Burble and Squeaker

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Speaker 4: Cook get every more lift over.

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Speaker 5: From the night before. Hi, Susan, Hi, how's it going?

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Speaker 2: Pretty good? How's it going?

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Speaker 1: Uh know what, I have no complaints and if I

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Speaker 1: did not, many people would care anyway, So I'm just good.

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Speaker 1: Keep it to myself. Where where am I talking to

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Speaker 1: you from today?

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Speaker 2: I am coming to live from the borough of Brooklyn.

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Speaker 1: Coming to you live. Well, that was a question for

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Speaker 1: me if you ever made the move over to Los Angeles.

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Speaker 1: So are you so you're still in uh mainly in

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Speaker 1: New York.

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Speaker 2: I'm mainly well, you know, I cannot say mainly. I

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Speaker 2: could say that I have a home base in New York, Okay,

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Speaker 2: but I would say I am not here all the time.

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Speaker 2: I just need I need to have someplace I call home.

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Speaker 1: So this this is it, you know, you know, you

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Speaker 1: know what we call that, Susan, we call that.

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Speaker 2: I know, I keep your b words to yourself. I'm

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Speaker 2: trying to like not do you know what I'm saying, Like,

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Speaker 2: I don't know, I don't know, but I think recently,

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Speaker 2: like I just got back from LA two days ago,

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Speaker 2: Brian no litter, and like I think for the first time,

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Speaker 2: like I shot a whole series for like six years,

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Speaker 2: and this is the first time I said to myself,

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Speaker 2: I might be by coastal.

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Speaker 1: Is uh we're going to talk about uh, your your

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Speaker 1: news series. I'm very excited about that. But are you

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Speaker 1: uh so you're done with that now?

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Speaker 2: I literally Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we just wrapped it after

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Speaker 2: probably a year, a year and two months. Oh god,

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Speaker 2: it was. Yeah, it's about that long for eight episodes,

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Speaker 2: I mean mostly due to two strikes mostly why it

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Speaker 2: took that long.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I read something about I heard.

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Speaker 2: That that that.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I heard.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's kind of major.

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Speaker 1: It was.

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Speaker 3: It was in the news. Uh, for sure. I'm so

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Speaker 3: excited to talk to you.

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Speaker 1: I'm even more excited after after doing a little research

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Speaker 1: on you. I've been a fan of yours for quite

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Speaker 1: a while really not yes now, and just after reading

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Speaker 1: about you, I think I'm an even bigger fan. You

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Speaker 1: grew up You grew up there in the borough of Brooklyn.

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Speaker 2: I did. I grew up here and Long Island. So

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Speaker 2: it was like first eight years I was born in Brooklyn,

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Speaker 2: of course, and then raised half of my childhood in

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Speaker 2: Long Island. Then the second half, sorry half of my

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Speaker 2: childhood in Brooklyn. Then second half was in Long Island,

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Speaker 2: and then after college I moved back to Brooklyn. So

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Speaker 2: I've been in Brooklyn for the majority of my life.

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Speaker 3: That's home.

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Speaker 2: That's it. Yeah, it's been home. I'm you know, people

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Speaker 2: somewhat of a New Yorker, but as I travel more,

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Speaker 2: I think that that's shifting a bit. I think, I

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Speaker 2: just I'm always going to be that in my heart,

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Speaker 2: and I'm always a Brooklyn girl in my heart no

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Speaker 2: matter where I roam. I just I think that I'll

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Speaker 2: tell you a funny story. I remember we were leaving.

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Speaker 2: I grew up in Section in East New York and

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Speaker 2: in Start City, right and I remember when we were leaving,

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Speaker 2: and I like eight years old. I was the last

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Speaker 2: person to walk out of the apartment door and I

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Speaker 2: was helping my mother sweep okay, yeah, And she walked

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Speaker 2: out and I walked out behind her, and as dramatic

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Speaker 2: as I was at eight, I turned around and I said,

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Speaker 2: I'll be back, and I want so. I just think,

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Speaker 2: in my heart, it's just who I be.

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Speaker 1: Well, I mean, I you know you you gave me

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Speaker 1: some news about the strike. I hadn't heard about that.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you've heard this or not. Brooklyn's

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Speaker 1: changed quite a bit. I don't know, I don't know

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Speaker 1: if you've noticed. But Brooklyn, I mean when I started going,

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Speaker 1: and I am not a New Yorker, but I was

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Speaker 1: there quite a lot that was never a place, that

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Speaker 1: was never a visitor's destination.

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Speaker 3: Now it's like you have to go there.

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Speaker 1: That's where, That's where's where everything everything is now.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so true. It's like I knew when I saw

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Speaker 2: like I was living kind of deep and ben Stye

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Speaker 2: and Stuyvesant Heights and Bedstye a beautiful area. And I

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Speaker 2: knew when I started seeing like whole families from like

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Speaker 2: Europe like wheeling bags behind them and like looking on

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Speaker 2: their phone for like an address, I was like, wait, wait,

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Speaker 2: what's that mean? I was like, this is too far

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Speaker 2: to just have missed the stop, you know, off the

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Speaker 2: A train, you know what I'm saying. So it really

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Speaker 2: did start to to it had shifted. I mean, there

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Speaker 2: are some times that I even don't recognize certain areas,

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Speaker 2: which is you know, for me, if I'm being honest,

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Speaker 2: it's there's a lot of heartbreak that comes along with that,

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Speaker 2: and also a lot of things that make me think, well, gosh,

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Speaker 2: why couldn't it have been like this, you know, why

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Speaker 2: couldn't there have been attention paid to you know, the

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Speaker 2: streets and keeping up buildings and you know, making sure,

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Speaker 2: you know, keeping crime low and just all these things

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Speaker 2: that I feel like could have had that same attention

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Speaker 2: had the money been invested before that, and so those

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Speaker 2: type of things, those are the things that I think about,

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Speaker 2: especially as a black woman growing up here and have

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Speaker 2: been here all my life and child of immigrants, you know,

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Speaker 2: and so much of that population comes to Brooklyn to

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Speaker 2: build lives for themselves, and so many of them are entrepreneurial.

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Speaker 2: Like if you come into Flatbush and you know, there

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Speaker 2: are areas in East New York, you just see such

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Speaker 2: a thriving Caribbean community. These are people who come and

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Speaker 2: they build and make away from themselves, like my parents did.

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Speaker 2: My parents came and they had four kids together, and

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Speaker 2: they worked a job and went to school, and they

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Speaker 2: made sure they got like their masters so that they

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Speaker 2: could go and you know, do the things that they

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Speaker 2: wanted to do. And my dad became an engineer, and

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Speaker 2: my mom is like a psychiatric nurse, you know. So

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Speaker 2: they do all these things to like better than leaves

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Speaker 2: and better their kids, and they want their kids to

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Speaker 2: go to college and all this kind of stuff. So

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Speaker 2: there's so many hard working, really great, great people in

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Speaker 2: this borough that I feel like tried and deserved better

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Speaker 2: than what it came. The eighties and nineties but like

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Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, You know, that's that's like

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Speaker 2: gentrification for me. I see both sides of it. But

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Speaker 2: I also, you know, love New York. I love my city,

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Speaker 2: and I know that there are a lot of things

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Speaker 2: that we can enjoy now that benefit everybody, right, you know,

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Speaker 2: And that's impossible not to see as well.

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Speaker 1: So given that your parents were immigrants, moved there were

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Speaker 1: there are things that you feel like you were exposed to,

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Speaker 1: either culturally or in terms of your extended family. I

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Speaker 1: always say extended family slash friend group that gave you

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Speaker 1: something there in Brooklyn that you feel like was unique.

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Speaker 2: Oh wow, there isn't. I don't know if it's just

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Speaker 2: a sort of an organic energy that is here, but

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Speaker 2: there is this unique sense of cool in Brooklyn, do

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Speaker 2: you know what I mean? That's specifically a Brooklyn thing,

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Speaker 2: you know, And maybe that's the thing that I've always

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Speaker 2: It's something that when you experienced it, it's like you

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Speaker 2: kind of always want it or long for it or

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Speaker 2: whatever it is. But it's the sense of being comfortable,

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Speaker 2: comfortable in your authenticity that is kind of lovely about Brooklyn.

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Speaker 2: Like I just find that these people are my people

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Speaker 2: are so in their skin, you know, in a really

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Speaker 2: cool way and sort of unafraid of the uniqueness of

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Speaker 2: whatever that is, but also kind of very much identified

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Speaker 2: with the ones around them that have you know, been

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Speaker 2: a part of this culture well.

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Speaker 3: But grounded and secure.

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Speaker 2: It feels very grounded. Yeah, it feels very ground Everybody

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Speaker 2: has their stuff, you know, if we dug in, we

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Speaker 2: find some things, you know what I'm saying. But like,

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Speaker 2: but just overall I think that that's it's very I

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Speaker 2: think unique to this borough. I each borough has its

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Speaker 2: own thing. Long Island has its own thing that is

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Speaker 2: very unique and special about the vibe there as well.

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Speaker 2: But I found that it's quite identifiable even outside of

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Speaker 2: the borough, Like people can kind of sense if you're

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Speaker 2: from there, you know.

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Speaker 1: That's yeah, no, absolutely. What were you interested in as

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Speaker 1: a kid? Were you interested in the arts or performing?

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Speaker 2: I was from the time I think I was three,

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Speaker 2: I was interested in performing. I remember my mom took

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Speaker 2: me to a modeling agency. You know, Moms was trying

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Speaker 2: to help me. She was trying you know what I mean.

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Speaker 2: She's you know, just Jamaican woman coming hair and making

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Speaker 2: her way. My mom is a very strong, you know,

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Speaker 2: independent woman, who was fierce in terms of like forging

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Speaker 2: a life for herself and very successful at it. And

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Speaker 2: so what she saw, you know, her little girl wanted

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Speaker 2: to be a part of something. And she took me

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Speaker 2: to a modeling agency and I took I remember actually

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Speaker 2: taking these pictures. Yeah, these little sad, lonely girl picture.

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Speaker 2: I don't know why they maybe looks so sad in

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Speaker 2: the day, gonna picture brow but I'm like, my head

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Speaker 2: is like leaning on the back of a chair with

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Speaker 2: my two hands under knee that just longingly looking up

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Speaker 2: into a light. And I remember we came out and

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Speaker 2: the guy said to my mom her stomach sticks out

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Speaker 2: in her butts to be and I remember it, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 2: curiously seriously, and my mother the okay, was like, and

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Speaker 2: we're done here. Nobody's gonna talk to my kid like that.

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Speaker 2: And but it's sort of like never it never died

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Speaker 2: in me. But I appreciated the fact maybe that didn't

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Speaker 2: start so young, because the way I am in the

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Speaker 2: business at this stage in my life is different because

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Speaker 2: I entered into it, you know, as an adult young adult.

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Speaker 2: But I entered into it as an adult.

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Speaker 1: Right were you did you were you seeing? I mean

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Speaker 1: obviously New York again spoiler alert. New York has a

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Speaker 1: lot of theater and it's a thriving ARTSYE were you

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Speaker 1: going and seeing shows at a fairly young age. Was

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Speaker 1: that something you were interested in doing?

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Speaker 2: No, But I remember my parents like if somebody came

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Speaker 2: up to visit, if somebody came up from Jamaica to visit,

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Speaker 2: or something like that. I remember them getting all just

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Speaker 2: stuff and going to Broadway, right, you know, and it

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Speaker 2: was a big deal. They had gotten these tickets and

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Speaker 2: I mean, honey, the first came out. I mean, it

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Speaker 2: was like a thing to go to Broadway. So I

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Speaker 2: had this imagination of Manhattan and what it would be

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Speaker 2: like to go to school in Manhattan and you know,

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Speaker 2: go be on stage. I mean I just had this

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Speaker 2: imagine the nation about it. But I did not go

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Speaker 2: until and it was my mom who took me and

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Speaker 2: my younger brother to see Five Guys named Mo. I

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Speaker 2: think it was that it was on Broadway, and I

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Speaker 2: remember there it was like a review type of show,

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Speaker 2: and I remember watching it and there was a moment

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Speaker 2: where they say they invited the audience of one stay.

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Speaker 2: Anybody who wanted to be up on stage could come

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Speaker 2: up for this for this for the song, and I

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Speaker 2: think it was called pus Okay, all right, it's fine,

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Speaker 2: it's foe. And I remember I was like ooh me

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Speaker 2: and I jumped up and I was one of the

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Speaker 2: people who got to like dance across the stage. And

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Speaker 2: that was sort of me. Like any opportunity I got,

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Speaker 2: I took it. If the opportunity was there, or I

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Speaker 2: was at home kind of creating dances and singing and

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Speaker 2: waiting for an opportunity to like do it at a

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Speaker 2: talent show, and you know, I went a little money

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Speaker 2: here and there, you know what I mean, and that

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Speaker 2: type of thing. And I grew up dancing, so there

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Speaker 2: was performance with dancing and competitions with dancing, so there

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Speaker 2: was there was that I kept it as a part

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Speaker 2: of my of my life, and I think there was

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Speaker 2: like the tiny little secret within myself that that's what

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Speaker 2: I wanted to do. But I think to sound realistic

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Speaker 2: in any way, I came up with like, oh, I

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Speaker 2: want to be you know, when I was young, I

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Speaker 2: wanted to be a waitress, and when I was older,

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Speaker 2: I wanted to be a lawyer or maybe a writer.

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Speaker 2: You know, it's these things, but deep down underneath, I

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Speaker 2: was like, I really want to do this. I just don't.

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Speaker 2: I don't know if that's the thing to say, or

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Speaker 2: or maybe I didn't fully know how to do that,

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Speaker 2: you know.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I think in a way and I

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Speaker 1: don't want to put words in your mouth.

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Speaker 3: I mean that I was the same like I will.

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Speaker 1: I've defined it now for myself, like that was an

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Speaker 1: activity that I did, you know, like theater and in

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Speaker 1: school and stuff like that. But I never, like my

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Speaker 1: brain never went to, oh, that's what I want to

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Speaker 1: do when I grow up. I think, right, yeah, and

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Speaker 1: a lawyer.

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Speaker 3: That's a funny thing.

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Speaker 1: And I think, you know, my parents will say now like,

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Speaker 1: well that was because that was another way to perform.

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Speaker 1: And I don't know if they're thinking about lawyer like

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Speaker 1: like on TV.

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Speaker 2: I don't know.

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Speaker 1: My sister's a lawyer. I don't know how much performing

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Speaker 1: she actually does. It seems like she pushes a lot

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Speaker 1: of paper. But for me, it was more of an activity. Now,

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Speaker 1: you you went to Howard, I read and got a BFA.

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Speaker 3: At that point were you were you studying theater?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? So that I got a Bachelor of Fine Arts

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Speaker 2: and I started off writing so I started off as

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Speaker 2: like an English major, okay, and I'd never been more

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Speaker 2: depressed in my life. Everything I couldn't, you know. I

299
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Speaker 2: saw so many ces. It was terrible, and so I

300
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Speaker 2: just like go back to my dorm and just curl

301
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Speaker 2: them in my bed. I just wasn't enjoying it. And

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Speaker 2: then one day I just walked across the yard, which

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Speaker 2: is like the middle of Howard. It's sort of this

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Speaker 2: iconic space at Howard where all students gather, and at

305
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Speaker 2: the top of the yard at one end is like

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Speaker 2: our huge library, I believe it's moreland spring guard at

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Speaker 2: the top of the yard, and then at the other

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Speaker 2: end it's the College of Fine Arts, which is now

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Speaker 2: the CHAT was in the College of Fine Arts, and

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Speaker 2: I remember I was in. I was I was sort

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Speaker 2: of on the right side of the yard, and I

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Speaker 2: was in this building. I don't even know what it's called,

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Speaker 2: because that's how much I committed that to memory. And

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Speaker 2: I walked out of the class one day and I

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Speaker 2: just literally walked diagonally across the yard to the College

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Speaker 2: of Fine Arts. And I just walked in and I

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Speaker 2: was like, can I just do this? And they were like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: you want to change you major. Yeah, you know what

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Speaker 2: I'm saying. And I remember Miss Janet, Miss Janet, who

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Speaker 2: might still be there. I love you, Miss Janet. She

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Speaker 2: was just like, yeah, yeah, you can do that. And

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Speaker 2: I think I may have said in my classes whatever,

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Speaker 2: but I changed my major and I did not tell

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Speaker 2: my parents. Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. The padres were not

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Speaker 2: necessarily feeling me being an acting major, so I didn't

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Speaker 2: tell them. I just did it. And then I don't know,

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Speaker 2: it was a while before I told them, but I

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Speaker 2: invited them to come see a show that I was

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Speaker 2: in and they came down and they saw it and

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Speaker 2: they were like, okay, you know, and I told them

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Speaker 2: that I had switched my major and they're like, okay,

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Speaker 2: as long as you have English as your minor, so

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Speaker 2: you have a backup. And I said, yes, great, I'll

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Speaker 2: be fine. And then I started taking so many dance

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Speaker 2: classes that I had an acting major and a dance miner.

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Speaker 2: So good luck parents. The Immigrant dream.

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Speaker 3: It's so funny. I can't even believe this is coming up.

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Speaker 1: This was not This is gonna sound like a weird

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Speaker 1: humble brag, but I will tell you this, Okay that

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Speaker 1: because you're talking about writing. And I right now, at

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Speaker 1: this moment, it'll be by the time this airs, it'll

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Speaker 1: be over, so I won't get in trouble with anybody.

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Speaker 1: I am delivering the commencement address at my college.

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Speaker 3: Wow, in just a couple of days.

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Speaker 2: I'm very proud of you, and let.

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Speaker 3: Me well, no, but let me say this.

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Speaker 1: It's it doesn't that doesn't involve performing that that involves writing. Yeah,

348
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Speaker 1: and so it's me now like I feel like I'm

349
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Speaker 1: back in college. I'm back in college with a deadline

350
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Speaker 1: to finish this paper that I then am going to

351
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Speaker 1: read in front of my class.

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Speaker 5: Oh my gosh, I.

353
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Speaker 3: Don't remember being more.

354
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Speaker 1: And I've written books by in the way Susan, I've

355
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:06,200
Speaker 1: written books. But there's something about this that has transported

356
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Speaker 1: me back to those days.

357
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Speaker 3: And I took some.

358
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Speaker 1: English courses as well. But yeah, trans has transported me back.

359
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Speaker 1: And I'm not I'm not feeling overly comforted. I'm wishing

360
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Speaker 1: that I could change my major or what you like

361
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Speaker 1: an interpretive dance of somebody else's words right now?

362
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Speaker 2: What what college are you doing this at?

363
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Speaker 3: S m U Southern Methodist University there in Dallas, Texas.

364
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Speaker 2: Okay, fantastic. Listen, here you go. All you need I

365
00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,520
Speaker 2: think is like once you find I don't know if

366
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Speaker 2: you've written this yet.

367
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Speaker 3: Yeah right, I'm in it.

368
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Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I feel like once you find your theme

369
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Speaker 2: or like your little thesis.

370
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Speaker 3: Whatever, there you go.

371
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Speaker 1: That's college. That's what I'm saying. That's what I'm saying.

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Speaker 1: That's what I'm talking about. That's yeah.

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Speaker 2: Okay. Something they didn't have we're in college was chat dpts.

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Speaker 3: Oh, I can't use that.

375
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Speaker 2: I wouldn't want you to, but yeah, it is. That

376
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Speaker 2: isn't it. It's crazy and they're all you know, all

377
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Speaker 2: the teachers, they're going to be just in you.

378
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Speaker 3: Oh of course are you kidding me? Especially me? Like

379
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Speaker 3: there is there is? Why is this guy here? And

380
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Speaker 3: what is you talking about?

381
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Speaker 1: So you obviously dove in once you changed your majors.

382
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Speaker 1: So at what point there did you say like this

383
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Speaker 1: is what I'm going to do, this is this.

384
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Speaker 3: Is my path.

385
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Speaker 2: Yeah, I got you, and I.

386
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Speaker 1: Know eventually you went back, you went got your master's

387
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Speaker 1: at Tish, So by then I know he had decided.

388
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Speaker 2: Decided for well, I never I never even wanted to

389
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Speaker 2: do that. I thought I was done with school until

390
00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:09,000
Speaker 2: I found out that I just it was Ron van

391
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Speaker 2: Lou who kind of showed me I could be a

392
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Speaker 2: way better actor than I actually thought I was. But

393
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Speaker 2: I I decided that. I think that was when I

394
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:24,600
Speaker 2: just everything in me at that point turned on and

395
00:22:25,280 --> 00:22:29,679
Speaker 2: you just know, we know that feeling of when you

396
00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:33,280
Speaker 2: just know there's no other way around that. You know,

397
00:22:33,359 --> 00:22:36,359
Speaker 2: you just know, like everything that was dead a minute

398
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,959
Speaker 2: ago came to life and you're like, and this is it.

399
00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,679
Speaker 2: And so that's what happened to me. And it was

400
00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,199
Speaker 2: probably in that way. I mean, I it's like the

401
00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:46,920
Speaker 2: way of the world lifted off me and I felt like, oh,

402
00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,200
Speaker 2: this is my tribe. I'm home. I found my people

403
00:22:50,280 --> 00:22:55,240
Speaker 2: who are like me, and it just made me come

404
00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,119
Speaker 2: alive in a way. I started, really I actually started

405
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Speaker 2: enjoying my time at school.

406
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Speaker 3: Then that's awesome.

407
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Speaker 1: Uh you go to Tish, Are you thinking about film

408
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Speaker 1: and television at Such.

409
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 2: A good question, Such a good question. I think we

410
00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,119
Speaker 2: focused so much on theater. Yeah, me too, that it

411
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:18,840
Speaker 2: was like, okay, I I think my focus honestly was

412
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:22,040
Speaker 2: becoming the best actor I could be. Like it was

413
00:23:22,080 --> 00:23:25,800
Speaker 2: such a time to like focus fully on art, on

414
00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,480
Speaker 2: the art right, and so I just thought, oh, man,

415
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Speaker 2: I want to be like the dopest, like leading character

416
00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 2: actress I can be, you know. And I wanted to

417
00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:39,439
Speaker 2: be the type of actor who was quite transformative. So

418
00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:41,760
Speaker 2: if I I could do one thing and then do

419
00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,600
Speaker 2: something completely different and be seen completely differently, and that

420
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:49,880
Speaker 2: was success to me. So if that came on stage,

421
00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,360
Speaker 2: and I thought it was going to be like, oh,

422
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 2: you know, I'll come out and I'll do stage and film,

423
00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,280
Speaker 2: you know. And then I came out and then I

424
00:23:56,359 --> 00:23:59,480
Speaker 2: was successful in television, I said, okay, television is And

425
00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:01,119
Speaker 2: then it's like I didn't do as much theater as

426
00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 2: I thought I was going to do, or I didn't

427
00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,080
Speaker 2: do as much film, and it just the business just

428
00:24:05,119 --> 00:24:09,439
Speaker 2: started to who I wasn't. It took on its own life,

429
00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:13,679
Speaker 2: and so I loved that. And then TV started to

430
00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:18,040
Speaker 2: change and it felt it felt more like really great

431
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,240
Speaker 2: short films and it felt more you know. So yeah,

432
00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:24,439
Speaker 2: just this dynamic started to shift and happen. It's so

433
00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 2: funny how you just don't know, right, you just and

434
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:31,000
Speaker 2: it's hard to go, well, this is what I want

435
00:24:31,040 --> 00:24:33,120
Speaker 2: to do as soon as I come out, because nobody knows,

436
00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:35,760
Speaker 2: you they don't know what you can do. They you know,

437
00:24:35,800 --> 00:24:39,480
Speaker 2: it's hard to prove yourself, especially at a time where

438
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,119
Speaker 2: I feel like they weren't seeing all the ethnicities, and

439
00:24:43,119 --> 00:24:45,840
Speaker 2: they weren't seeing like, you know, women for like these

440
00:24:45,880 --> 00:24:48,800
Speaker 2: major roles, or black women in certain ways. And so

441
00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:54,320
Speaker 2: it was it really was staying consistent and sort of

442
00:24:54,920 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 2: not buying into how they felt about me. They jart

443
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:04,159
Speaker 2: of the you know out there, whoever they are. It was, yeah,

444
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 2: the them, It was like, well, I know, I'm supposed

445
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:11,000
Speaker 2: to be doing this, and I'm just going to go

446
00:25:11,040 --> 00:25:13,119
Speaker 2: through the doors that open for me, knock down some

447
00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,280
Speaker 2: that won't, and you know, just kind of keep it moving,

448
00:25:16,320 --> 00:25:21,320
Speaker 2: but not let that thing take over my drive or anything. Like.

449
00:25:21,359 --> 00:25:24,439
Speaker 2: I never let it. I guess in a way I

450
00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:26,560
Speaker 2: could say I did not let it get under my skin.

451
00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:27,120
Speaker 3: Yeah.

452
00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 2: I just kind of continue to love what I do

453
00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:31,680
Speaker 2: and just keep doing it.

454
00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:37,840
Speaker 1: You spoke about having early success in television. I see

455
00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,600
Speaker 1: a number of shows. Of course, the requirement for anyone

456
00:25:42,240 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 1: in New York is lawn.

457
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 3: The law in order. How early on was that for you?

458
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:53,159
Speaker 2: Oh? Super? So I was just out of school. Yeah, yeah, yeah,

459
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 2: most of them that I did, I think I was

460
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,720
Speaker 2: like I think I was like a year out or

461
00:25:57,760 --> 00:26:01,240
Speaker 2: something like that, but it was but you know, it

462
00:26:01,280 --> 00:26:04,199
Speaker 2: was like it was really cool. It was it was

463
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 2: so iconic. It's so New York and like for New York,

464
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,160
Speaker 2: it's like we don't have we didn't have anything else

465
00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:16,920
Speaker 2: shooting right here. So it was really fantastic to do. Well,

466
00:26:16,960 --> 00:26:19,119
Speaker 2: it's like you graduated, you know what I'm saying, and

467
00:26:19,160 --> 00:26:26,480
Speaker 2: you got to do the commencement speech at your college.

468
00:26:26,880 --> 00:26:27,240
Speaker 3: Yeah.

469
00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 1: I I was not a New York actor. I had

470
00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:35,000
Speaker 1: the opportunity to do one the s you know, I

471
00:26:35,040 --> 00:26:38,159
Speaker 1: don't know always it's always SUV, but yeah, because of

472
00:26:38,200 --> 00:26:43,040
Speaker 1: your brain. But SVU, I remember this, and I've heard

473
00:26:43,160 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 1: this is true on all of them, the most well

474
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: oiled machines maybe in the industry period.

475
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:53,880
Speaker 3: Was that your experience as well?

476
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,440
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, they got you in and got you out

477
00:26:56,480 --> 00:26:58,600
Speaker 2: and they and they knew what they wanted.

478
00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:02,040
Speaker 1: They knew what they wanted, their organized together on time,

479
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:08,479
Speaker 1: no farting around. And so I wonder, because for me

480
00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,040
Speaker 1: that experience was way later. I was brought into it,

481
00:27:12,280 --> 00:27:17,320
Speaker 1: But I wonder for you one was that helpful for

482
00:27:17,480 --> 00:27:21,560
Speaker 1: you in terms of your career? Your development you're sort

483
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:24,440
Speaker 1: of getting I mean, it feels like, on the one hand,

484
00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:27,720
Speaker 1: like having your feet under you when everybody else very

485
00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:29,960
Speaker 1: clearly knows what they're doing is helpful.

486
00:27:31,119 --> 00:27:33,880
Speaker 3: Or what? Did it end up being.

487
00:27:33,680 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 1: More problematic as you continue to move on and maybe

488
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:41,720
Speaker 1: did not have those same experiences on other shows immediately following.

489
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 2: It takes your training wheels off. I think, you know,

490
00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 2: it's like, okay, now, you know, I'm a little wobbly,

491
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,120
Speaker 2: but I got it. You know, I'm on the two

492
00:27:52,119 --> 00:27:54,760
Speaker 2: wheels now. And then you move on to the next

493
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,480
Speaker 2: thing and you have that under your belt, and as

494
00:27:57,480 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 2: we know in this business, anything that you could get

495
00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:01,280
Speaker 2: under your belt, it just gives you a little bit

496
00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,960
Speaker 2: more wind under your wings, you know. And so it

497
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:08,000
Speaker 2: was like that, and I don't think I speak alone,

498
00:28:08,080 --> 00:28:10,000
Speaker 2: and you know, so many of my friends who have

499
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:12,240
Speaker 2: gone through that you feel like, oh, I have that

500
00:28:12,359 --> 00:28:14,720
Speaker 2: TV experience. Now I've been on it. You know, I've

501
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:17,159
Speaker 2: done the thing where you gather with your friends and

502
00:28:17,200 --> 00:28:19,320
Speaker 2: you watch your one scene. You know what I'm saying,

503
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:22,160
Speaker 2: and like, yeah, you're like, you know, it's.

504
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:26,680
Speaker 1: Seven emails out exactly.

505
00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:29,800
Speaker 2: I found some of those emails a while back I

506
00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:31,600
Speaker 2: was like, oh my god, I'm so obnoxious.

507
00:28:34,040 --> 00:28:34,880
Speaker 3: It's all the same.

508
00:28:37,119 --> 00:28:37,520
Speaker 5: Yeah.

509
00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:41,480
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering if if there's you know, you begin

510
00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:45,320
Speaker 1: to go into some recurring stuff, so you know, if

511
00:28:45,360 --> 00:28:47,920
Speaker 1: there's something before that. I mean, I saw a list

512
00:28:47,960 --> 00:28:49,960
Speaker 1: of shows. I know this from a lot of different times,

513
00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:54,120
Speaker 1: but and you know, big shows, The Good Wife, n Cis,

514
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,080
Speaker 1: Royal Pains, the following VEEP Blacklist. Was there a show

515
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:03,560
Speaker 1: or an experience that you had early on, either because

516
00:29:03,600 --> 00:29:05,400
Speaker 1: of the people that you were working with or the

517
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:09,040
Speaker 1: show or the role that you had that you feel

518
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:15,520
Speaker 1: like really propelled you forward and either gave you confidence

519
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,800
Speaker 1: or changed something for you early on.

520
00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 2: Hmmm, that's so good. Let's see something that gave me confidence. Well,

521
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:31,360
Speaker 2: I feel like when I started to get recurrings, Well,

522
00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:33,800
Speaker 2: here's what gave me confidence. No, I'll be honest with you.

523
00:29:33,880 --> 00:29:35,520
Speaker 2: And I remember you were saying like, you don't mean

524
00:29:35,560 --> 00:29:38,720
Speaker 2: to sound like you're humble bragging, right, And I don't either,

525
00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,320
Speaker 2: But this gave me confidence. I would go in for

526
00:29:42,520 --> 00:29:47,360
Speaker 2: roles that I was absolutely not right for, you know,

527
00:29:47,800 --> 00:29:50,280
Speaker 2: but I went in and I was like, all right,

528
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:56,000
Speaker 2: you know, and or maybe I could have played it,

529
00:29:56,520 --> 00:29:58,480
Speaker 2: but they would say, you know what, go out and

530
00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:02,000
Speaker 2: read this, and I would come back in and booked

531
00:30:02,040 --> 00:30:04,160
Speaker 2: the role. They told me to go out and read

532
00:30:04,200 --> 00:30:06,600
Speaker 2: four and come back and it was like, Oh, it's

533
00:30:06,640 --> 00:30:09,479
Speaker 2: just going to be on for maybe like once or twice,

534
00:30:09,680 --> 00:30:12,880
Speaker 2: and they would become recurrence nice and those were the

535
00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:14,800
Speaker 2: ones that I was really proud of, and those gave

536
00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,240
Speaker 2: me confidence. Like even when I did Louis back in

537
00:30:18,280 --> 00:30:21,840
Speaker 2: the day and that started, like, you know, he was like,

538
00:30:21,880 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna have my wife on this show, you

539
00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 2: know what I mean? First of all, it started where

540
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 2: I was like, how did I get his wife? You

541
00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:30,600
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying? Like, I just was like, the

542
00:30:30,640 --> 00:30:33,160
Speaker 2: two children have been established. This is like a big

543
00:30:33,240 --> 00:30:38,000
Speaker 2: Like I was really surprised that I would even get that.

544
00:30:38,600 --> 00:30:41,880
Speaker 2: And it started again. It was like one or two

545
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:43,800
Speaker 2: episodes and it became I was on it for two

546
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:46,880
Speaker 2: seasons or there was things that I was able to

547
00:30:46,920 --> 00:30:49,880
Speaker 2: create certain characters just because they felt like they saw

548
00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:53,120
Speaker 2: something and they were like, you know, what can you do?

549
00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 2: Oh can you give her Jamaican accent? Great, We'll put

550
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:56,880
Speaker 2: her on. And then it was like, great, should be

551
00:30:56,880 --> 00:31:00,280
Speaker 2: on for the rest of this season and So those

552
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,200
Speaker 2: were the moments that I got that there was confidence.

553
00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:08,400
Speaker 2: Not only it's you know, it's not just because of

554
00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 2: what you think the obvious reason would be. It was

555
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:14,240
Speaker 2: mostly because it was like, oh, you can get an

556
00:31:14,280 --> 00:31:19,120
Speaker 2: opportunity in so many different ways. Like it's not just like, oh,

557
00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:24,200
Speaker 2: it's this particular part, this audition, this thing, it's it

558
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 2: could be that's just your entry point, and then it

559
00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:30,400
Speaker 2: becomes something completely different that actually had a lot more

560
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:32,920
Speaker 2: life than the original thing you went in for. So

561
00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:36,200
Speaker 2: that's I love that. I love when this business is

562
00:31:36,240 --> 00:31:38,720
Speaker 2: not so black and white and there's so many ways

563
00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:41,640
Speaker 2: that you can cultivate like a really cool career.

564
00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:47,600
Speaker 3: I'm glad you brought up Louis. The show was super celebrated,

565
00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:54,920
Speaker 3: well received, and really I think was groundbreaking in terms

566
00:31:54,960 --> 00:31:57,160
Speaker 3: of its format in the comedy space.

567
00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:02,400
Speaker 1: How was that for you working on something that you

568
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:05,840
Speaker 1: have to be aware is so different than anything else

569
00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:09,840
Speaker 1: was on television. Did you enjoy that aspect of it

570
00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:11,560
Speaker 1: and working with him?

571
00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:17,480
Speaker 2: I enjoyed that. I loved that they gave Louis basically

572
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty thousand an episode to do what

573
00:32:19,720 --> 00:32:24,040
Speaker 2: he wanted to do, and the creativity that was allowed

574
00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,880
Speaker 2: to come from that, and he taught me, you know,

575
00:32:28,640 --> 00:32:31,520
Speaker 2: the camera and things like that, Like any questions I had,

576
00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:34,400
Speaker 2: like were answered and I was allowed to learn by

577
00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:40,840
Speaker 2: watching directing and the playfulness and the I love comedy,

578
00:32:40,880 --> 00:32:44,440
Speaker 2: so comedy is like one of my favorite loves in

579
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:48,120
Speaker 2: the world. And to do a comedy, to do something

580
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:50,480
Speaker 2: that felt very like off the beat and path, and

581
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:53,840
Speaker 2: to be so unexpected in it, like nobody is looking

582
00:32:53,880 --> 00:32:58,560
Speaker 2: for me to play his wife and have these very

583
00:32:58,560 --> 00:33:02,640
Speaker 2: white children. None of that made sense. But he hired

584
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:08,240
Speaker 2: me because he went off of his instinct and what

585
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:14,600
Speaker 2: he saw when he watched audition tapes, and so that

586
00:33:14,680 --> 00:33:17,840
Speaker 2: worked in my favor at that particular time. And I

587
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,280
Speaker 2: felt like I dig that. I dig when people are

588
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,440
Speaker 2: just like, yeah, I get it. Yeah, no, she's not

589
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:29,960
Speaker 2: any of the checklist things, but like what she go

590
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,200
Speaker 2: out to it, Yeah, let's go there. Like I again,

591
00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,320
Speaker 2: it's that area of like it's not black and white,

592
00:33:34,840 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 2: and I really I dig that. And it showed to

593
00:33:38,040 --> 00:33:40,440
Speaker 2: me a lot of creativity in the way that the

594
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:44,960
Speaker 2: show was being thought about and developed in a very creative.

595
00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 1: Way based on what happened in the news.

596
00:33:50,080 --> 00:33:52,840
Speaker 3: I don't know that's a weird way to say it.

597
00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:57,840
Speaker 1: You know, I feel like the show is not respected

598
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,120
Speaker 1: or has talked about now as maybe it should be

599
00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:08,560
Speaker 1: in terms of how groundbreaking it truly was. Does what's

600
00:34:08,600 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: happened after color for you the experience in any way

601
00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:18,440
Speaker 1: or make you not able to enjoy it or tainted

602
00:34:18,480 --> 00:34:19,080
Speaker 1: it in some way?

603
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:25,719
Speaker 2: No, But I also understand the importance of what needed

604
00:34:25,760 --> 00:34:28,080
Speaker 2: to be expressed, do you know, And so there was

605
00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:32,560
Speaker 2: this balance. You have to have this balance of knowing

606
00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:36,160
Speaker 2: when to stand down and which voices need to arise

607
00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:38,839
Speaker 2: at what time. You know what I'm saying, And so

608
00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:43,719
Speaker 2: it's just negotiating and still having gratitude for what I

609
00:34:43,760 --> 00:34:48,440
Speaker 2: got to experience at the same time having respect for

610
00:34:48,520 --> 00:34:52,640
Speaker 2: what other people had to experience. So it's a balance.

611
00:34:53,360 --> 00:34:56,480
Speaker 2: I know that I can say things that would would

612
00:34:56,520 --> 00:35:00,560
Speaker 2: be on the opposite end. That was my experience. So

613
00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:03,279
Speaker 2: at the time, when you know all was being said,

614
00:35:03,400 --> 00:35:06,680
Speaker 2: I just I understood my place at that time, and

615
00:35:06,719 --> 00:35:09,279
Speaker 2: I understood that there was a space, there needed to

616
00:35:09,320 --> 00:35:12,120
Speaker 2: be a space for those voices to be heard. And

617
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:13,919
Speaker 2: that's I can give all.

618
00:35:13,840 --> 00:35:16,560
Speaker 3: Respect to that good well said.

619
00:35:17,960 --> 00:35:19,799
Speaker 1: Knowing I was going to talk to you and look,

620
00:35:20,040 --> 00:35:23,840
Speaker 1: not only was I watching, I feel like everybody was watching.

621
00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 1: You began a little show called This Is Us on NBC,

622
00:35:28,719 --> 00:35:30,759
Speaker 1: And as I was thinking about it today, this is

623
00:35:30,800 --> 00:35:34,879
Speaker 1: what I was going to say. I feel like it was,

624
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,240
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways, or at least my memory,

625
00:35:38,719 --> 00:35:46,279
Speaker 1: sort of the first big blockbuster hit show on NBC

626
00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:52,840
Speaker 1: after US, after not after the Office, Like there was

627
00:35:52,880 --> 00:35:54,440
Speaker 1: a period of time, and there was a couple of

628
00:35:54,480 --> 00:35:56,760
Speaker 1: years in there, and again if I'm forgetting some show.

629
00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,759
Speaker 2: It was like seven to ten. Yeah, it was a

630
00:35:59,040 --> 00:35:59,680
Speaker 2: whole Yeah.

631
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:08,120
Speaker 1: Well you well you were you started in U in sixteen, right, sixteen? Yes, yeah,

632
00:36:08,200 --> 00:36:11,160
Speaker 1: so yeah, so like there were two or three years

633
00:36:11,160 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 1: there in between US.

634
00:36:12,239 --> 00:36:15,480
Speaker 3: But that's my memory, right, And I chose not.

635
00:36:15,400 --> 00:36:17,440
Speaker 2: To look at that drama maybe go ahead, sorry.

636
00:36:17,280 --> 00:36:19,680
Speaker 1: Yeah no, no, no, Like like in terms of just

637
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:23,560
Speaker 1: like tent pole shows on NBC that they were building

638
00:36:24,120 --> 00:36:27,239
Speaker 1: their slate around, This is Us came out of the

639
00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:33,160
Speaker 1: gate like Gangbusters and was a hit sort of immediately.

640
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:36,600
Speaker 3: First off, how did you how did you get the

641
00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:38,000
Speaker 3: role of Beth.

642
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 2: I auditioned like it was a normal, normal, super duper

643
00:36:44,200 --> 00:36:49,719
Speaker 2: normal audition, but I got two sides, you know, and

644
00:36:49,760 --> 00:36:53,359
Speaker 2: I went in during like a weird you know, sort

645
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,799
Speaker 2: of like there was no more pilot season really, you know,

646
00:36:57,080 --> 00:37:01,319
Speaker 2: just like all over the place, and I auditioned with

647
00:37:01,760 --> 00:37:07,279
Speaker 2: a probably a casting associate, you know, and in one

648
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:11,400
Speaker 2: of the little back rooms that tells and one of

649
00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:14,160
Speaker 2: the smaller rooms. Let me stop making this story extra,

650
00:37:14,600 --> 00:37:16,040
Speaker 2: but it was.

651
00:37:18,560 --> 00:37:20,600
Speaker 3: It was it was. It was pedestrian.

652
00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:25,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was just very so soups Cash. Yeah, nothing

653
00:37:26,800 --> 00:37:30,799
Speaker 2: nothing stood out to me, you know, yeah, it was

654
00:37:30,920 --> 00:37:31,400
Speaker 2: very much that.

655
00:37:32,880 --> 00:37:36,719
Speaker 1: You know, sometime and sometimes it's it's who's doing a show?

656
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:38,120
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, I don't have to tell you this.

657
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:43,719
Speaker 1: It's like who's producing a show or you know what

658
00:37:43,880 --> 00:37:48,439
Speaker 1: their legacy is, you know, Shondaland, or it's you know,

659
00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:52,920
Speaker 1: Chuck Lori, or it's Greg Daniels or it's whatever. Did

660
00:37:52,960 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 1: you you You're like when the show is coming here, like, oh,

661
00:37:56,320 --> 00:38:00,000
Speaker 1: this is important to the network, not necessary even necessary,

662
00:38:00,160 --> 00:38:01,640
Speaker 1: they're going to pick it up to series or whatever.

663
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:05,160
Speaker 1: Did you feel that early on, like that this was

664
00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:06,759
Speaker 1: going to be a big show or no, this was

665
00:38:06,760 --> 00:38:07,960
Speaker 1: another pilot you were doing.

666
00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,720
Speaker 2: No, I just it was another pilot. Well here's the thing, also, Brian,

667
00:38:11,760 --> 00:38:17,120
Speaker 2: I didn't read it the full pilot until they were

668
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:20,319
Speaker 2: ready to test me. Okay, so I didn't know the

669
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:22,880
Speaker 2: specialness of it till like the day before I tested,

670
00:38:23,760 --> 00:38:26,239
Speaker 2: And when I read it, they were asking me if

671
00:38:26,280 --> 00:38:28,640
Speaker 2: I wanted to fly out to la or stay in

672
00:38:28,680 --> 00:38:31,240
Speaker 2: New York and just have them keep my producers session

673
00:38:31,320 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 2: tape because by that point I had now auditioned for

674
00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 2: it again with like some of the executive producers who

675
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:41,919
Speaker 2: were directing the first episode, John and Glenn, and I had,

676
00:38:42,200 --> 00:38:43,480
Speaker 2: you know, So they were like, do you want to

677
00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:45,520
Speaker 2: just keep the tape that you did with John and

678
00:38:45,520 --> 00:38:47,839
Speaker 2: Glenn or do you want to come out and do

679
00:38:47,920 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 2: it sort of in person? And they're like, well, how

680
00:38:51,480 --> 00:38:52,840
Speaker 2: do you feel about the script? And I was like,

681
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:58,319
Speaker 2: did y'all send me the script? And they were like,

682
00:38:58,400 --> 00:39:00,920
Speaker 2: oh my god, I read this. So I went and

683
00:39:00,920 --> 00:39:03,040
Speaker 2: read the script and then I was like, oh, this

684
00:39:03,200 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 2: is I'm going to be on a plane. I am

685
00:39:06,560 --> 00:39:09,759
Speaker 2: definitely going into the room for this, you know. So

686
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:13,440
Speaker 2: that's when I knew that it was special, But beyond that,

687
00:39:14,280 --> 00:39:16,440
Speaker 2: it wasn't necessarily about the team. And I knew that

688
00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,719
Speaker 2: Dan had done crazy stupid love, so I knew that,

689
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:21,400
Speaker 2: you know, there was a quality there that's gonna be

690
00:39:21,560 --> 00:39:26,400
Speaker 2: there and and so I didn't know much else but

691
00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:30,480
Speaker 2: I but I read that script and that script was insane.

692
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:33,640
Speaker 2: I was like that first episode got me like there

693
00:39:33,680 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 2: was no doubt in my mind, like you have to

694
00:39:35,200 --> 00:39:38,279
Speaker 2: be on a plane, right, So, yeah.

695
00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,560
Speaker 1: We could have been co workers. They talked to me

696
00:39:41,640 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 1: about that show, tell me yeah they I mean, they

697
00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:50,520
Speaker 1: obviously made a way better choice with Chris Sullivan who.

698
00:39:50,320 --> 00:39:50,719
Speaker 3: Played to.

699
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 1: There were conversations that happened, and I don't remember how

700
00:39:55,360 --> 00:39:58,359
Speaker 1: serious they got. I don't remember. I don't remember any

701
00:39:58,440 --> 00:40:01,000
Speaker 1: of it at this point. I don't think it was

702
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:02,879
Speaker 1: a serious regular thing at that point.

703
00:40:03,160 --> 00:40:06,399
Speaker 2: It wasn't. It wasn't. It actually wasn't. And I think

704
00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:10,560
Speaker 2: they were kind of deciding as the show went because

705
00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,440
Speaker 2: I feel like I remember hearing some kind of rumors,

706
00:40:12,440 --> 00:40:14,439
Speaker 2: like at some point in the first season when when

707
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,520
Speaker 2: Chris's character has the heart attack, Untoby has a heart attack,

708
00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,839
Speaker 2: like they weren't sure if he was going to come

709
00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:21,960
Speaker 2: back from that, right, and I think there was going

710
00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:23,719
Speaker 2: to be like too much with like William and then

711
00:40:23,920 --> 00:40:26,160
Speaker 2: I don't know, you know what I'm saying then, or

712
00:40:26,160 --> 00:40:27,920
Speaker 2: maybe it's one of those things where Chris just turned

713
00:40:27,920 --> 00:40:31,359
Speaker 2: it into, you know, what it wanted to be for him,

714
00:40:31,400 --> 00:40:34,560
Speaker 2: and so I but I do remember that. I do

715
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,080
Speaker 2: remember him saying like he wasn't a regular and I

716
00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:41,320
Speaker 2: was so I had never been a regular on anything.

717
00:40:41,440 --> 00:40:43,799
Speaker 2: So I was very wet behind my ears when it

718
00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:46,759
Speaker 2: came to that, to that, and I was in this

719
00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:49,040
Speaker 2: space of like, oh, damn, I'm gonna be on TV

720
00:40:49,160 --> 00:40:53,920
Speaker 2: every week, you know what I mean? You know, So

721
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:57,239
Speaker 2: some of the stuff was, you know, it's all very new.

722
00:40:57,320 --> 00:40:59,880
Speaker 2: Every every stage you get to it's all new, and

723
00:41:00,480 --> 00:41:06,640
Speaker 2: you know, And so hearing that about Chris was it

724
00:41:07,080 --> 00:41:09,920
Speaker 2: felt like, Oh, I thought you were already a regular,

725
00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,000
Speaker 2: So when the transition happened, it felt kind of seamless.

726
00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:16,560
Speaker 2: But I do remember us having discussions in that first

727
00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,520
Speaker 2: year or so that he wasn't a regular yet.

728
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:21,920
Speaker 1: You guys came out of the bat and suddenly it

729
00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:25,960
Speaker 1: becomes a huge, huge hit. As you just said, it's

730
00:41:26,000 --> 00:41:29,480
Speaker 1: your first show that you're a serious regular on. It's

731
00:41:29,640 --> 00:41:33,759
Speaker 1: become like the most important show for NBC and everybody

732
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:36,840
Speaker 1: is watching it. How does that? How does that feel

733
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:40,000
Speaker 1: for you? And did you feel the change happen very

734
00:41:40,040 --> 00:41:43,239
Speaker 1: quickly or again, was it more gradual for you?

735
00:41:44,000 --> 00:41:48,200
Speaker 2: I think I felt it. It did happen fast. It

736
00:41:48,239 --> 00:41:53,120
Speaker 2: happened after the first episode, yeah, aired, and then it

737
00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:59,160
Speaker 2: didn't slow down the show. Yeah. Just very grateful anytime

738
00:41:59,200 --> 00:42:02,040
Speaker 2: I say this, but it's stayed number one for the

739
00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:04,960
Speaker 2: entire time it was on, you know, and it just

740
00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:09,560
Speaker 2: did not slow down. And so the great thing about

741
00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:13,000
Speaker 2: it was how grounded we all were about it. I

742
00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:16,239
Speaker 2: dig that. I just love when really wild stuff could

743
00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:19,759
Speaker 2: be happening and everybody is just everybody's calm, you know

744
00:42:19,800 --> 00:42:23,480
Speaker 2: what I mean. Everybody's like, we're all here, it's all fine.

745
00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,600
Speaker 2: You were still, you know, having our lives with our

746
00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:30,600
Speaker 2: families and our things and enjoying it, enjoying the mess

747
00:42:30,600 --> 00:42:34,919
Speaker 2: out of it. But like there's a perspective on it.

748
00:42:35,520 --> 00:42:39,640
Speaker 2: And I think we had that and maintained that throughout

749
00:42:39,640 --> 00:42:40,879
Speaker 2: the six years we were on.

750
00:42:41,520 --> 00:42:44,600
Speaker 1: You've said, the show opened a lot of doors for you,

751
00:42:44,680 --> 00:42:47,040
Speaker 1: gave you a lot of opportunities. You got to direct,

752
00:42:47,280 --> 00:42:49,319
Speaker 1: you were allowed to be in the writer's room.

753
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:52,600
Speaker 2: I didn't it's a direct, but I didn't want to direct,

754
00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:53,799
Speaker 2: but I had the opportunity to.

755
00:42:54,080 --> 00:42:55,840
Speaker 3: I will get that, Okay.

756
00:42:55,560 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I didn't, but I want. I

757
00:42:58,920 --> 00:43:01,000
Speaker 2: had the opportunity to. They gave it to me many times.

758
00:43:01,080 --> 00:43:03,480
Speaker 2: If I wanted to direct but I wanted to write,

759
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:08,040
Speaker 2: I went back to the writing thing. Who knewressede.

760
00:43:08,400 --> 00:43:09,040
Speaker 3: Here's the thing.

761
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:31,719
Speaker 1: I chose the directing and not the writing. What was

762
00:43:31,760 --> 00:43:34,920
Speaker 1: the best thing out of that show that you were

763
00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,640
Speaker 1: able to do or accomplish. And it could be in

764
00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:44,040
Speaker 1: terms of specific performance or storyline, or or an outside

765
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:48,319
Speaker 1: something that you were given to do there that you

766
00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:51,560
Speaker 1: feel grateful for and that you feel like has changed

767
00:43:51,600 --> 00:43:53,280
Speaker 1: you as an artist moving forward.

768
00:43:54,280 --> 00:43:56,520
Speaker 2: I love that I was able to write on an

769
00:43:56,520 --> 00:43:59,759
Speaker 2: episode because also when you write it, you end up

770
00:43:59,800 --> 00:44:04,720
Speaker 2: like it. Yes, And I love producing, and I've produced

771
00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,560
Speaker 2: other projects, so like for me, that comes like second

772
00:44:08,640 --> 00:44:12,000
Speaker 2: nature behind the camera, the way acting feels like sort

773
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:13,719
Speaker 2: of first nature in front of the camera, you know.

774
00:44:14,239 --> 00:44:22,239
Speaker 2: And so I really really credit Dan with that. He

775
00:44:22,400 --> 00:44:25,160
Speaker 2: was so generous about making sure that we all got

776
00:44:25,200 --> 00:44:29,120
Speaker 2: what we needed out of the show other than the

777
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,520
Speaker 2: acting part of it. Always had an open door policy.

778
00:44:32,760 --> 00:44:34,600
Speaker 2: We could always be in the writer's room, We could

779
00:44:34,600 --> 00:44:37,839
Speaker 2: always sort of be chiming in. They were specific about

780
00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 2: this stories It's not like I'm going in the writer's

781
00:44:39,560 --> 00:44:42,640
Speaker 2: room and changing minds and hearts. But there was a

782
00:44:42,680 --> 00:44:44,920
Speaker 2: thing where it was an open door. We could hear

783
00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:48,200
Speaker 2: what was going on and give them any information that

784
00:44:48,239 --> 00:44:51,080
Speaker 2: we felt like about ourselves might feel relevant to the

785
00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 2: character and things like that, and we could always talk

786
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:57,600
Speaker 2: to him about stuff, and he was just really very

787
00:44:57,719 --> 00:45:00,799
Speaker 2: very good about that. It took so much out of

788
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:03,839
Speaker 2: me just producing that one episode and writing it and

789
00:45:03,920 --> 00:45:07,880
Speaker 2: acting in it. I had such an appreciation for like

790
00:45:08,200 --> 00:45:10,799
Speaker 2: what we do. I loved it. I really loved it

791
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,920
Speaker 2: on every level, being able to have a hand in it,

792
00:45:14,040 --> 00:45:16,760
Speaker 2: all of it. And then I realized how much goes

793
00:45:16,840 --> 00:45:22,120
Speaker 2: on per episode. You know, there's so much that goes on,

794
00:45:23,080 --> 00:45:27,440
Speaker 2: you know, from anything from casting every little part to

795
00:45:28,160 --> 00:45:30,560
Speaker 2: what the location is going to be, what the wardrobe

796
00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:32,040
Speaker 2: is going to be, what the hair is going to be,

797
00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:34,680
Speaker 2: what the props are going to be, what the you know,

798
00:45:34,719 --> 00:45:36,759
Speaker 2: and then it's the redoing of all those things, and

799
00:45:36,760 --> 00:45:39,480
Speaker 2: it's daily. There's meetings that we had in getting with

800
00:45:39,520 --> 00:45:41,640
Speaker 2: the director and doing the director's past and going through

801
00:45:41,680 --> 00:45:45,080
Speaker 2: the script with the director to get the tone quality,

802
00:45:45,120 --> 00:45:47,440
Speaker 2: and I mean, there was just so much stuff that

803
00:45:47,560 --> 00:45:55,480
Speaker 2: I was like, damn, this is happening every episode, you know,

804
00:45:56,080 --> 00:46:00,200
Speaker 2: it was so full. It was so full, but so fulfilling.

805
00:46:00,320 --> 00:46:01,400
Speaker 2: So yeah, that was great.

806
00:46:02,200 --> 00:46:06,240
Speaker 1: I noted earlier when you when you talked about comedy

807
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,400
Speaker 1: being your love, and look, you had some serious storylines.

808
00:46:10,480 --> 00:46:11,960
Speaker 3: By the way, again.

809
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:14,680
Speaker 1: Spoiler alert, a lot of the characters went through a

810
00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:16,560
Speaker 1: lot of things in your show.

811
00:46:16,840 --> 00:46:17,680
Speaker 3: A lot of stuff.

812
00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:21,520
Speaker 1: However, and this isn't really a question, it's more just

813
00:46:21,680 --> 00:46:25,479
Speaker 1: a comment. I always felt like you were a breath

814
00:46:25,480 --> 00:46:29,880
Speaker 1: of fresh air and to call you like comedic relief

815
00:46:30,360 --> 00:46:34,640
Speaker 1: not fair, not fair or right, But there was an

816
00:46:34,920 --> 00:46:39,319
Speaker 1: ease that you had that you showed that was part

817
00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:42,560
Speaker 1: of the personality of the character for sure. But also

818
00:46:42,680 --> 00:46:46,839
Speaker 1: I know now you that you brought a lightness to

819
00:46:46,920 --> 00:46:50,279
Speaker 1: it where I feel like the shows like that have

820
00:46:50,320 --> 00:46:54,840
Speaker 1: a tendency to they can they can sit down in

821
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:59,799
Speaker 1: that morass of like the horrible things that are going on,

822
00:47:00,520 --> 00:47:04,920
Speaker 1: and you were, uh, you were a fresh light throughout

823
00:47:04,960 --> 00:47:08,120
Speaker 1: the run of that show. Obviously things going on as well.

824
00:47:08,160 --> 00:47:11,200
Speaker 1: But it made sense to me earlier when you were

825
00:47:11,400 --> 00:47:13,480
Speaker 1: when you said, like, comedy is my first love, like

826
00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:18,000
Speaker 1: sometimes playing against those significant moments that are going on

827
00:47:18,239 --> 00:47:21,920
Speaker 1: and using some some lightness can give it equal or

828
00:47:21,960 --> 00:47:24,640
Speaker 1: more impact. So anyway, that's just my way of saying

829
00:47:25,400 --> 00:47:30,360
Speaker 1: kudos to you. I'm sure it was difficult after six years,

830
00:47:30,440 --> 00:47:33,640
Speaker 1: one hundred and six episodes to to say goodbye. The

831
00:47:33,719 --> 00:47:37,120
Speaker 1: fans obviously had a difficult time when it was over.

832
00:47:37,280 --> 00:47:40,279
Speaker 1: For you, did tough when it when it was over?

833
00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:42,120
Speaker 3: Or for you? Was it was it time?

834
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:47,360
Speaker 2: It was? I wouldn't say tough, It was said sad,

835
00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:52,640
Speaker 2: but it was time because we had never imagined it

836
00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:56,720
Speaker 2: going longer. It's Dan had from the beginning at least,

837
00:47:57,040 --> 00:47:59,960
Speaker 2: you know, I'd always known that he wanted to five season,

838
00:48:01,080 --> 00:48:03,920
Speaker 2: and they, the network, as for us to do six,

839
00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:09,600
Speaker 2: and so we did six. And I saw the end

840
00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:12,920
Speaker 2: always coming, and there was this story that was happening

841
00:48:12,960 --> 00:48:16,000
Speaker 2: within that, but it had it had an ending. It

842
00:48:16,040 --> 00:48:19,840
Speaker 2: always had an ending, and you know, with Rebecca's passing,

843
00:48:19,840 --> 00:48:23,319
Speaker 2: it was like, that's we've now told this chapter, you

844
00:48:23,360 --> 00:48:25,240
Speaker 2: know what I mean, And we've told so many chapters

845
00:48:25,239 --> 00:48:30,440
Speaker 2: within that. The sadness started coming to me. It started

846
00:48:31,280 --> 00:48:36,320
Speaker 2: February of twenty twenty two and we wrapped in May.

847
00:48:36,719 --> 00:48:41,400
Speaker 2: So I remember things like, oh, this is the last oh,

848
00:48:41,600 --> 00:48:45,400
Speaker 2: shuttle ride, We're gonna take to more pray aluh, you

849
00:48:45,440 --> 00:48:47,600
Speaker 2: know what I mean, like all that stuff. And I

850
00:48:47,600 --> 00:48:52,839
Speaker 2: remember walking behind Miguel Miguel John Quertas and Mandy Moore

851
00:48:53,680 --> 00:48:56,680
Speaker 2: one day and I just knew, like us was getting

852
00:48:56,719 --> 00:49:00,520
Speaker 2: ready to kind of wrap up his storyline, and I

853
00:49:00,560 --> 00:49:02,160
Speaker 2: was like, Yo, this is actually the last time I'm

854
00:49:02,160 --> 00:49:05,160
Speaker 2: gonna see them do that. And so there was a

855
00:49:05,200 --> 00:49:09,120
Speaker 2: great consciousness about all of the last and all of

856
00:49:09,160 --> 00:49:15,799
Speaker 2: the moments that I knew were in their final you

857
00:49:15,840 --> 00:49:20,520
Speaker 2: know run, And I was getting very nostalgic and very sad,

858
00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:22,240
Speaker 2: but I was happy I did it because I started

859
00:49:22,239 --> 00:49:25,520
Speaker 2: to metabolize it early so that by the time May hit,

860
00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:28,360
Speaker 2: I was all right, you know what I mean, Like

861
00:49:29,280 --> 00:49:32,239
Speaker 2: I got the show. I had about fall months, you know,

862
00:49:32,480 --> 00:49:35,719
Speaker 2: to get my little self together. So I was it

863
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:37,480
Speaker 2: helped me. It really worked for me.

864
00:49:38,200 --> 00:49:38,680
Speaker 3: Good for you.

865
00:49:39,640 --> 00:49:42,479
Speaker 1: It does take time, and you do start thinking about

866
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:46,400
Speaker 1: those very small moments that you would never think about before,

867
00:49:46,480 --> 00:49:50,640
Speaker 1: right that this is the last Yeah, I played, this

868
00:49:50,760 --> 00:49:51,920
Speaker 1: played the same game.

869
00:49:52,800 --> 00:49:56,720
Speaker 3: You and I have worked together. Boom nailed it. What

870
00:49:58,040 --> 00:49:58,719
Speaker 3: you're gonna laugh?

871
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,440
Speaker 2: And we had never met celebrity Jeopardy.

872
00:50:01,560 --> 00:50:05,600
Speaker 3: Rumble, I was in Rumble stop it?

873
00:50:05,680 --> 00:50:06,800
Speaker 2: Who did you play in Rumble?

874
00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:12,799
Speaker 3: Clonk I was a wrestler, nip wow, yep, yep. We

875
00:50:12,880 --> 00:50:13,440
Speaker 3: work together.

876
00:50:13,840 --> 00:50:15,840
Speaker 2: This is why I don't like when, you know, with

877
00:50:15,880 --> 00:50:17,840
Speaker 2: the voice acting, they put you in a room by yourself.

878
00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:19,640
Speaker 3: You don't know a room by yourself.

879
00:50:19,960 --> 00:50:22,480
Speaker 1: I think, especially when it's the middle of a global

880
00:50:22,520 --> 00:50:25,320
Speaker 1: pandemic and they put you in a room by yourself.

881
00:50:25,360 --> 00:50:29,319
Speaker 1: You literally don't know, don't know anyone. I really don't

882
00:50:29,360 --> 00:50:31,319
Speaker 1: have anything else to say about that except that we

883
00:50:31,360 --> 00:50:34,319
Speaker 1: did work together. So I'm just I'm just closing the

884
00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,840
Speaker 1: loop on that. I'm just closing I'm just closing the

885
00:50:36,880 --> 00:50:37,520
Speaker 1: loop on that.

886
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:38,640
Speaker 2: It's so good to know.

887
00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:44,480
Speaker 1: Yes, so you mentioned before you enjoy producing. Yes, you

888
00:50:44,520 --> 00:50:48,080
Speaker 1: have produced at least a couple of projects, and that,

889
00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:54,080
Speaker 1: as you said, gives you something that just just acting doesn't.

890
00:50:54,120 --> 00:50:56,080
Speaker 1: Are you you want to continue to do that in

891
00:50:56,120 --> 00:50:56,719
Speaker 1: the future.

892
00:50:57,400 --> 00:50:59,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I am doing it. Yeah, I just I've

893
00:51:00,120 --> 00:51:03,800
Speaker 2: really I enjoy putting stuff together. I enjoy connecting people.

894
00:51:03,840 --> 00:51:05,399
Speaker 2: I like putting all the right people in the room.

895
00:51:05,800 --> 00:51:08,960
Speaker 2: I like yeah right, I like seeing something lift off

896
00:51:08,960 --> 00:51:11,719
Speaker 2: the ground. I love a great idea. I love. I

897
00:51:11,760 --> 00:51:14,359
Speaker 2: love when I have an idea and I can get

898
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:17,200
Speaker 2: the right people to help me to make it happen.

899
00:51:17,600 --> 00:51:20,200
Speaker 2: And I love helping other people execute an idea, you know.

900
00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:24,000
Speaker 2: So it's it's just part of how I like to

901
00:51:24,080 --> 00:51:27,520
Speaker 2: exist in this whole business that we're in. Outside of

902
00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:31,279
Speaker 2: you know, the acting in front of the camera. I

903
00:51:31,400 --> 00:51:35,600
Speaker 2: just kind of adore it, Like I really love being

904
00:51:35,600 --> 00:51:38,680
Speaker 2: boots on the ground as a producer. It is fun,

905
00:51:39,000 --> 00:51:40,640
Speaker 2: really fun, and it's so freeing.

906
00:51:40,960 --> 00:51:44,040
Speaker 5: You know, really hard, but fun hard.

907
00:51:44,239 --> 00:51:46,359
Speaker 2: And people, you know, they're like, oh, you don't want

908
00:51:46,360 --> 00:51:48,680
Speaker 2: to direct, but producing is like direct, and I was like,

909
00:51:48,719 --> 00:51:50,839
Speaker 2: it kind of is, but it's not. And there's something

910
00:51:50,840 --> 00:51:54,359
Speaker 2: about direct producing that is different for me. And even

911
00:51:54,400 --> 00:51:56,520
Speaker 2: when it's hard, I enjoy it, which is how I

912
00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:58,439
Speaker 2: know it's something that I should be doing.

913
00:51:58,920 --> 00:52:04,600
Speaker 3: Yeah, something that you have done, which I have not yet.

914
00:52:05,160 --> 00:52:05,319
Speaker 3: You know.

915
00:52:05,360 --> 00:52:08,719
Speaker 1: I did theater for years and years and years, and

916
00:52:08,760 --> 00:52:11,120
Speaker 1: then I feel like I and I call it like

917
00:52:11,160 --> 00:52:14,080
Speaker 1: I changed my career, like for me because it was

918
00:52:14,080 --> 00:52:17,600
Speaker 1: an abrupt it was all I did was theater, and

919
00:52:17,640 --> 00:52:20,840
Speaker 1: then for me it was boom and sort of changed

920
00:52:20,840 --> 00:52:25,799
Speaker 1: careers into film and television, you a couple of years ago,

921
00:52:26,200 --> 00:52:33,440
Speaker 1: Shakespeare in the Park, Mary Wives. It's a groulic show.

922
00:52:34,000 --> 00:52:38,040
Speaker 1: You're outdoors, you're in the park, you're in well, at

923
00:52:38,120 --> 00:52:43,799
Speaker 1: least your hometown adjacent in New York performing. Did you

924
00:52:44,000 --> 00:52:44,560
Speaker 1: enjoy it?

925
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:49,040
Speaker 2: I enjoyed the mess out of it, like we had.

926
00:52:49,440 --> 00:52:50,719
Speaker 1: I didn't know what you were going to do it

927
00:52:51,000 --> 00:52:56,560
Speaker 1: most fun, It was so, it was so.

928
00:52:56,840 --> 00:53:00,600
Speaker 2: I love those people, you understand, eighteen people that I

929
00:53:00,800 --> 00:53:04,920
Speaker 2: just adore and love, and our director Sahima Lee and

930
00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:08,520
Speaker 2: are our writer Jocelyn Bio who's now nominated for a

931
00:53:08,600 --> 00:53:11,000
Speaker 2: Tony fora ja Ja's hand Brating that was on Broadway,

932
00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:15,240
Speaker 2: but she translated Mary Wives of Windsor into Mary Wives

933
00:53:15,280 --> 00:53:21,160
Speaker 2: and placed it in Harlem among the Nigerian Ghanaian community

934
00:53:21,200 --> 00:53:24,759
Speaker 2: and various communities you know that come from the African diaspora.

935
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:27,319
Speaker 2: And when I tell you like, I'm telling you like

936
00:53:27,719 --> 00:53:30,319
Speaker 2: it is criminal to have as much fun as we

937
00:53:30,360 --> 00:53:33,960
Speaker 2: had in the middle of coming back from COVID. We

938
00:53:33,960 --> 00:53:39,439
Speaker 2: were the first show, first theater play to come back

939
00:53:39,480 --> 00:53:41,120
Speaker 2: from COVID, the first.

940
00:53:41,360 --> 00:53:42,480
Speaker 3: And were outside.

941
00:53:43,320 --> 00:53:48,000
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it was nuts and we had we fought

942
00:53:48,120 --> 00:53:53,360
Speaker 2: monsoons and just whole tropical storms and sets coming down

943
00:53:53,480 --> 00:53:58,279
Speaker 2: and everything thundering, enlightening, and we I mean it was

944
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:01,960
Speaker 2: out of They made documentary about it. It's on HBO.

945
00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:04,160
Speaker 2: Y'all could watch it. I ain't lying, and I tell you,

946
00:54:04,200 --> 00:54:06,640
Speaker 2: like I sad you. The things we went through was,

947
00:54:07,080 --> 00:54:12,600
Speaker 2: you know, preposterous, but like one of my favorite experiences

948
00:54:12,600 --> 00:54:16,719
Speaker 2: of all time at one thousand percent. I would do

949
00:54:16,840 --> 00:54:19,040
Speaker 2: it over exactly the same way in a heartbeat.

950
00:54:19,080 --> 00:54:22,319
Speaker 1: Stop it, student, you're gonna make me do it, and

951
00:54:22,360 --> 00:54:24,400
Speaker 1: then I'm gonna don't.

952
00:54:25,760 --> 00:54:29,520
Speaker 2: I think they're adding the re renovating the delacors right now.

953
00:54:29,960 --> 00:54:32,560
Speaker 2: I believe they're adding a retractable roof. So what happened

954
00:54:32,600 --> 00:54:36,200
Speaker 2: to you? What happens? That's what happens. I think it

955
00:54:36,280 --> 00:54:38,880
Speaker 2: might have been because of us. We missed so many shows,

956
00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:42,080
Speaker 2: including our opening night, not our opening night, but our

957
00:54:42,120 --> 00:54:47,279
Speaker 2: first show, our first preview, second preview, no no, no,

958
00:54:47,920 --> 00:54:51,239
Speaker 2: rain Thune, the light Raccoons, oh god, you name it.

959
00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:55,000
Speaker 2: We did. It's fantastic, fantastic.

960
00:54:55,520 --> 00:54:56,320
Speaker 5: Uh.

961
00:54:56,360 --> 00:55:02,680
Speaker 1: Well, you have a very very big show just wrapped

962
00:55:02,760 --> 00:55:06,880
Speaker 1: up production. You've heard it here first exclusively reporting.

963
00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:09,680
Speaker 3: You.

964
00:55:09,680 --> 00:55:15,000
Speaker 1: You just wrapped several years ago. Infact, in two thousand

965
00:55:15,040 --> 00:55:19,719
Speaker 1: and seven, you were a guest star on an episode

966
00:55:19,760 --> 00:55:25,080
Speaker 1: of Private Practice, a show sure in the Shondaland universe.

967
00:55:25,360 --> 00:55:30,680
Speaker 1: Now you are back a much bigger role in a

968
00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:36,400
Speaker 1: very very eight I one might call it not the

969
00:55:36,440 --> 00:55:40,759
Speaker 1: same as this is Us that a highly anticipated new

970
00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:45,480
Speaker 1: show in the Shondaland universe the Residents. Any connection between

971
00:55:45,600 --> 00:55:49,640
Speaker 1: your guest spot in two thousand and seven and this

972
00:55:50,640 --> 00:55:54,640
Speaker 1: is there? Is there a line there or no.

973
00:55:53,840 --> 00:55:56,960
Speaker 2: Just that I'm I'm just me as a person, as

974
00:55:56,960 --> 00:55:58,279
Speaker 2: an individual.

975
00:55:58,040 --> 00:56:00,799
Speaker 3: But in terms of like your work with them, No.

976
00:56:01,000 --> 00:56:04,080
Speaker 2: No, I don't think I mean no, it was no

977
00:56:04,080 --> 00:56:04,880
Speaker 2: one said anything.

978
00:56:05,480 --> 00:56:05,719
Speaker 4: No.

979
00:56:05,840 --> 00:56:08,000
Speaker 2: But guess what when I was like when I heard

980
00:56:08,000 --> 00:56:09,719
Speaker 2: about the role, I was like, O, can you tell

981
00:56:09,760 --> 00:56:15,799
Speaker 2: Shata I was Private cra Remember she has said that

982
00:56:15,920 --> 00:56:18,800
Speaker 2: she liked all of my cuts. I mean, let I listen,

983
00:56:19,080 --> 00:56:22,600
Speaker 2: you go there right? But I know it was this

984
00:56:22,719 --> 00:56:24,439
Speaker 2: was like a whole new, whole new game.

985
00:56:25,560 --> 00:56:32,560
Speaker 1: Uza Aduba, Andre Brower, Gian Carlo Esposito, you, of course,

986
00:56:32,719 --> 00:56:39,799
Speaker 1: Jason Lee, Ken Marino, and many many more fantastic actors

987
00:56:40,440 --> 00:56:44,839
Speaker 1: working on the new show. A. If you haven't read

988
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:47,920
Speaker 1: the book or know the story, the log line is

989
00:56:47,960 --> 00:56:52,720
Speaker 1: simply a murder mystery set in the White House. Uh,

990
00:56:53,120 --> 00:56:56,359
Speaker 1: now you read it. You wanted to do it. You

991
00:56:56,440 --> 00:56:59,520
Speaker 1: asked if if if if she remembered your takes from

992
00:56:59,560 --> 00:57:05,000
Speaker 1: two thou seven. Now, Uh, first season is shot. Yes,

993
00:57:05,160 --> 00:57:07,720
Speaker 1: we are you still excited about us?

994
00:57:07,960 --> 00:57:13,520
Speaker 2: I am so so excited about it. I I you.

995
00:57:13,400 --> 00:57:16,720
Speaker 1: Know, you can't say anything else, I know, but anyway, God, no,

996
00:57:16,880 --> 00:57:17,520
Speaker 1: I know.

997
00:57:17,520 --> 00:57:20,680
Speaker 2: I'm so excited. It's it's you know, I just talked

998
00:57:20,680 --> 00:57:23,560
Speaker 2: about how much I love working on Marywise. I gotta

999
00:57:23,600 --> 00:57:28,360
Speaker 2: tell you this right here. Same feelings, same feelings. I mean,

1000
00:57:28,720 --> 00:57:35,400
Speaker 2: the most fun, the most amazing people to work with,

1001
00:57:35,960 --> 00:57:39,920
Speaker 2: like just comedy. It was just comedy and plus the

1002
00:57:39,960 --> 00:57:43,960
Speaker 2: most I hung out with this cast like you would believe.

1003
00:57:44,000 --> 00:57:46,800
Speaker 2: Like we've we've karaoke, We've gone to Rod Show, We've

1004
00:57:46,840 --> 00:57:49,920
Speaker 2: done all things. You know, We've gone, we've traveled together.

1005
00:57:49,920 --> 00:57:53,480
Speaker 2: I mean, it's incredible. And you know, we lost our

1006
00:57:53,520 --> 00:57:56,200
Speaker 2: dear Andre Brower, you know, as we all did the world,

1007
00:57:56,200 --> 00:57:58,400
Speaker 2: did you know, sort of in the center of it,

1008
00:57:59,040 --> 00:58:04,040
Speaker 2: and John Carlos Posito came in and you know, just

1009
00:58:04,120 --> 00:58:10,000
Speaker 2: with open arms, and it's been really, really incredible. It's yeah,

1010
00:58:10,000 --> 00:58:11,760
Speaker 2: I can't say too much about you know, the story itself.

1011
00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:14,280
Speaker 2: But I will say it's not anything like the book.

1012
00:58:14,800 --> 00:58:17,440
Speaker 2: I mean no, he completely made this. He read the

1013
00:58:17,440 --> 00:58:19,200
Speaker 2: book and was like, can I do this with it?

1014
00:58:19,800 --> 00:58:21,840
Speaker 2: You know, this book is just about the White It's

1015
00:58:21,880 --> 00:58:25,080
Speaker 2: not just about This book is about the White House,

1016
00:58:25,200 --> 00:58:28,480
Speaker 2: and there's the White House staff. So that's what people

1017
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:29,960
Speaker 2: need to know. This is not something that takes place

1018
00:58:30,000 --> 00:58:32,760
Speaker 2: in the West Wing. This is very upstairs, downstairs. This

1019
00:58:32,840 --> 00:58:37,640
Speaker 2: is very like the ushers, the butlers, the engineers, the painters,

1020
00:58:38,200 --> 00:58:43,160
Speaker 2: the housekeeping. This is that, and it happens this murder

1021
00:58:43,200 --> 00:58:47,720
Speaker 2: happens amongst them during a state dinner, and so what

1022
00:58:47,960 --> 00:58:52,240
Speaker 2: unfolds after that is absolutely But the way I felt

1023
00:58:52,280 --> 00:58:55,000
Speaker 2: about that script is very similar, Like when I first

1024
00:58:55,040 --> 00:58:58,600
Speaker 2: read this is Us. I read the first fifteen pages

1025
00:58:58,760 --> 00:59:01,439
Speaker 2: of this script and I call my people and was like, yes,

1026
00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:04,760
Speaker 2: I would like to do this. Can we make that happen?

1027
00:59:04,840 --> 00:59:08,600
Speaker 2: So it was that for me, and I just could

1028
00:59:08,680 --> 00:59:12,760
Speaker 2: not be happier and prouder of coming through it after

1029
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:17,880
Speaker 2: you know the many you know, just big girls. Yeah, yeah,

1030
00:59:18,120 --> 00:59:19,800
Speaker 2: like there was some there's some rough stuff we had

1031
00:59:19,840 --> 00:59:24,520
Speaker 2: to deal with unfortunately, but here we are and we

1032
00:59:24,560 --> 00:59:27,320
Speaker 2: could not be happier, prouder.

1033
00:59:27,480 --> 00:59:29,640
Speaker 3: Yeah, did you like this is us?

1034
00:59:29,680 --> 00:59:34,960
Speaker 1: Did you audition in a tiny.

1035
00:59:34,680 --> 00:59:38,960
Speaker 2: Well, listen, this is this might be that this is

1036
00:59:39,000 --> 00:59:43,360
Speaker 2: as effect right, every every different you know, every job

1037
00:59:43,400 --> 00:59:46,680
Speaker 2: has a different story. So this one, you know, was

1038
00:59:46,960 --> 00:59:52,720
Speaker 2: not an audition, so I was able to enjoy just say, yeah,

1039
00:59:53,000 --> 00:59:55,320
Speaker 2: would you like to be this? And I said I

1040
00:59:55,320 --> 00:59:58,960
Speaker 2: would love to be this, and so yeah, so you

1041
00:59:59,040 --> 01:00:01,520
Speaker 2: know it's it's not graduation, you know.

1042
01:00:04,160 --> 01:00:11,000
Speaker 1: Congratulations to you. I breaking news from the internet. There's

1043
01:00:11,080 --> 01:00:17,360
Speaker 1: no date yet, expected first quarter of twenty twenty five,

1044
01:00:17,960 --> 01:00:20,200
Speaker 1: so still you're gonna have to wait. But the Resident's

1045
01:00:20,280 --> 01:00:24,120
Speaker 1: coming out. Susan, thank you so much for joining me today.

1046
01:00:24,160 --> 01:00:26,440
Speaker 1: I can't tell you what a pleasure it was for

1047
01:00:26,520 --> 01:00:28,960
Speaker 1: me to get to know you a little bit and

1048
01:00:29,000 --> 01:00:32,360
Speaker 1: to hear your story. And I promise I will be

1049
01:00:32,560 --> 01:00:36,560
Speaker 1: looking ahead to not just the Residents, but whatever comes,

1050
01:00:36,840 --> 01:00:37,960
Speaker 1: whatever comes next for you.

1051
01:00:38,280 --> 01:00:41,360
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Brian, and I would like to

1052
01:00:41,440 --> 01:00:45,400
Speaker 2: see a link to your speech.

1053
01:00:48,360 --> 01:00:51,360
Speaker 5: Well, Well you know what, here's the thing.

1054
01:00:51,240 --> 01:00:54,800
Speaker 2: No pressure, but go ahead major in English too much.

1055
01:00:55,840 --> 01:01:00,000
Speaker 5: If it goes really well or really bad.

1056
01:01:00,040 --> 01:01:02,120
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm sure you'll.

1057
01:01:01,880 --> 01:01:03,840
Speaker 2: See it about it.

1058
01:01:03,800 --> 01:01:20,560
Speaker 5: One way or the other Susan. Thanks so much, Susan.

1059
01:01:21,360 --> 01:01:25,120
Speaker 1: Amazing to get to know you and your work today.

1060
01:01:25,360 --> 01:01:29,320
Speaker 1: I can't wait to watch the Residents. I'll be keeping

1061
01:01:29,360 --> 01:01:33,439
Speaker 1: an eye out for that and truly anything you do

1062
01:01:33,640 --> 01:01:36,640
Speaker 1: in the future. Listeners, you know what I'm gonna do next.

1063
01:01:36,800 --> 01:01:40,280
Speaker 1: I'm going to bring you another great guest for this podcast.

1064
01:01:40,440 --> 01:01:43,920
Speaker 3: I might even do it next Tuesday. You never know,

1065
01:01:44,160 --> 01:01:45,720
Speaker 3: so check back.

1066
01:01:45,520 --> 01:01:59,240
Speaker 1: In and until then, have a great week. Off the

1067
01:01:59,280 --> 01:02:03,200
Speaker 1: Beat is hosted and executive produced by me Brian Baumgartner,

1068
01:02:03,440 --> 01:02:07,440
Speaker 1: alongside our executive producer, Lang Lee. Our senior producer is

1069
01:02:07,520 --> 01:02:11,520
Speaker 1: Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris, and

1070
01:02:11,600 --> 01:02:16,000
Speaker 1: Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary, and

1071
01:02:16,080 --> 01:02:20,200
Speaker 1: our intern is Ali Amir Sahim. Our theme song Bubble

1072
01:02:20,280 --> 01:02:24,280
Speaker 1: and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratton,