Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to I've never said this before with me,
Speaker 1: Tommy Di Dario, I have the biggest ball of beautiful
Speaker 1: energy on my show today. I'm literally still smiling from
Speaker 1: this conversation. The brilliant actress Shanola Hampton joins me today,
Speaker 1: who became a household name through playing Veronica akav and
Speaker 1: the smash hit series Shameless. She played V for eleven seasons,
Speaker 1: which I mean, it's just unheard of in today's TV landscape.
Speaker 1: From the moment she graced our screens as V, she
Speaker 1: showed the world that we all need a little Shanola
Speaker 1: in our lives, and now she is playing a total
Speaker 1: badass in the NBC series Found Shanola starts as Gabby.
Speaker 1: She is a public relation specialist who shines a light
Speaker 1: on missing persons cases. So you throw in a little kidnapping,
Speaker 1: some shocking twists, some dark secrets, and of course rescuing
Speaker 1: those missing people, and you have one recipe for quite
Speaker 1: a thrilling show. But the recipe I also want is
Speaker 1: Shanola's recipe for life, because she has a spirit that
Speaker 1: can make even the grumpiest person in the world's crack
Speaker 1: and smile. That is her gift. So let's see if
Speaker 1: today we can get Shanola to say something that she
Speaker 1: has never said before. Shanola, I love you. I think
Speaker 1: I just said I'm leaving my husband for you. This
Speaker 1: is how we're starting the conversation.
Speaker 2: I love it. How long have you been married?
Speaker 1: Nine years this month?
Speaker 2: I mean you've done it.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Makes a ten? And then you and I have a life.
Speaker 1: We have fun together. We'd have some fun together. Pretty
Speaker 1: cute together.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean we could you imagine our kids? Oh
Speaker 2: my gosh, the eyes. See I don't know if everyone
Speaker 2: understands what it's like to sit across from those Okay,
Speaker 2: stop it. You do this thing where you act like, oh,
Speaker 2: I'm not really looking at you, but I am, and
Speaker 2: I know what my eyes are doing. I got fine, Yeah, okay,
Speaker 2: but really I'm just so nonchalantly looking at you, and
Speaker 2: I'm going to ask you questions and you're going to
Speaker 2: open up about everything to me. Yeah, I'm in for it. Okay,
Speaker 2: what do you want to know?
Speaker 1: Well, first of all, I feel like we're best friends
Speaker 1: because I've seen your face all over billboards for like
Speaker 1: months and months and months. Now does that ever feel normal.
Speaker 2: No, it doesn't feel normal, but it feels really good.
Speaker 2: And it also feels like I knew. It doesn't feel strange.
Speaker 2: Does that make sense. It doesn't feel normal, but it
Speaker 2: also doesn't feel like it's out of pocket or out
Speaker 2: of the realm of what was supposed to happen in
Speaker 2: my life. And not in like a cocky way, but
Speaker 2: in a very I used to pretend when I was
Speaker 2: a little girl. You just met my sister. We would
Speaker 2: go into restaurants and I used to pretend like the
Speaker 2: paparazzi was following me, and I was like, ten yea,
Speaker 2: and no, not right now, please, I just want to
Speaker 2: eat with my family. And I'm just in South Carolina
Speaker 2: pretending my family's like, oh, I got how are you doing?
Speaker 1: Relaxed, that's not happening. Yeah, I know that's happening for you.
Speaker 2: Oh. Of course, Shanolo is a lot and so imagine
Speaker 2: this energy at that age. So everything was Shanola, please,
Speaker 2: Shanola please, oh, Shanola please. So it was very much that.
Speaker 1: But when you look at those billboards, do you think
Speaker 1: I deserve that I put in the time. Yes, it
Speaker 1: is my time now.
Speaker 2: I always say this. I never I was not found
Speaker 2: in a coffee shop. No one walked by me on
Speaker 2: the sidewalk and said, you girl, that you're the one
Speaker 2: for this role. I absolutely feel like not only did
Speaker 2: I put my time in in the business, but educating myself,
Speaker 2: making sure that I had the resources dealing with a
Speaker 2: lot of blows in order to be able to accept
Speaker 2: this time in a way that doesn't feel like I'm
Speaker 2: an impostor, right, So it makes me feel like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I've earned this position. I think it's so wonderful if
Speaker 2: people have success that is quote unquote overnight when you
Speaker 2: see it in and they don't. But there is something
Speaker 2: about that earn It makes you mentally ready, which is
Speaker 2: really the biggest thing is getting your mind wrapped around
Speaker 2: what's happening in your life. And I feel I'm so
Speaker 2: complete at home. I've been married for twenty five years.
Speaker 2: Come on to the college, sweetheart, I have two kids,
Speaker 2: so it's sort of my career is not on the
Speaker 2: back burner, but it's just an additive to my already
Speaker 2: full life.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which is nice, and it's amazing because the world
Speaker 1: fell in love with you from shameless Yes eleven seasons.
Speaker 1: That's I mean, I don't even tell you that. That's
Speaker 1: almost unheard of nowadays to be on a show for
Speaker 1: eleven seasons. We did it, Yes.
Speaker 2: We did it. It was. It's so funny. When we
Speaker 2: met the first time we played Guitar Hero, we did
Speaker 2: miniature golf together. Because John Wells, who is the greatest
Speaker 2: showrunner of all time and creator of Material, knew Material,
Speaker 2: knew that he wanted to create a synergy. It had
Speaker 2: to be exactly right with these people, and he got
Speaker 2: it right. The kids on our show were nine and
Speaker 2: ten when we started the show. When we got done,
Speaker 2: they were nineteen and twenty, so so much life happened
Speaker 2: and I got to live it with them, and Jeremy
Speaker 2: was eighteen and Cameron was sixteen. It was it was
Speaker 2: such a moment in life that I can't describe to
Speaker 2: people how special that experience was. Because we were a
Speaker 2: family on and off screen and still are.
Speaker 1: That's not always the case, No, that's usually not the case.
Speaker 1: You know, when you're putting different people together, you hope
Speaker 1: it all works out, and you hope that you become
Speaker 1: a family and friends, but quite often you don't.
Speaker 2: Absolutely and sometimes you become family and friends, but it's
Speaker 2: just for that season and then it doesn't carry over
Speaker 2: when the show is over. That is not the case
Speaker 2: with us. As soon as I landed in New York,
Speaker 2: Jeremy's on my phone. You know, tell me and Steve
Speaker 2: how we talk? Not just once a week, multiple times
Speaker 2: a week. We're in each other's lives in a very real,
Speaker 2: real way and not five minutes. Hey, how are you
Speaker 2: doing conversations? Real life stuff like true friend true friendships,
Speaker 2: true family. Ethan's out here right now doing a movie.
Speaker 2: It's just we're very and also, I'm mama bear, so
Speaker 2: try to get rid of me if you want to.
Speaker 1: Know what you're doing? Where are you going?
Speaker 2: Why did I have to find out about this on
Speaker 2: social media? What are we doing? Yeah? That's that.
Speaker 1: I like you. What's your sign?
Speaker 2: I'm a geminia?
Speaker 1: Aren't?
Speaker 2: But can you see it completely?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: Are we compatible? I don't know. Someone looked that up.
Speaker 1: We're going to need to look that up. I hope
Speaker 1: we are. I hope we are. Baby. Let me let
Speaker 1: me tell you the show. I believe next year mark's
Speaker 1: fifteen years since it premiered.
Speaker 2: Is that true?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: That's insane. Yeah, that is insane.
Speaker 1: I mean I think that's a perfect time for a
Speaker 1: reunion of some sort.
Speaker 2: It would be such a dream and a pleasure at
Speaker 2: whatever point that that happens, to do a reunion, to
Speaker 2: reunite with not only our family, but to also see
Speaker 2: where the characters people fell in. The crazy fandom that
Speaker 2: is Shameless is unlike any other. Everyone wants to know
Speaker 2: what happened next. I want to know what where? Did
Speaker 2: did Veronica and keV really move?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Will Frank come back as a ghost? Did he even
Speaker 2: really die? I mean they did burn him up, so
Speaker 2: probably Yeah, I'm gonna go with you. But you know,
Speaker 2: he's got to come back somehow because we got to
Speaker 2: do it with Bill Masie. He's the best, and so
Speaker 2: it would be a dream. Now, listen, Jeremy has probably
Speaker 2: booked and busy. I hope he hears me say this,
Speaker 2: so he'll I you know, he might be too good
Speaker 2: for us now, I'm just kidding.
Speaker 1: Well, Mama Bear is the one that has to wrangle
Speaker 1: everyone together, so it's on you to make this all happen.
Speaker 2: Okay, Yeah, and he knows that I will uh huh
Speaker 2: when I say we're doing it.
Speaker 1: You the is so beloved, right, what part of your
Speaker 1: personality rubbed off on V or what part of these
Speaker 1: personality rubbed off on you over the years.
Speaker 2: Her energy, Yeah, and my energy I thing rubbed up
Speaker 2: on V. She's a little more street than I am.
Speaker 2: But they both have this, we both haven't they We
Speaker 2: both have this sense of loyalty about family and there was,
Speaker 2: if you think about shameless, V was a moral compass
Speaker 2: in this crazy world. Even when Fiona would be doing
Speaker 2: some of her shenanigans, she would try to bring her
Speaker 2: back to some sort of morality about it. Now, that
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that she's not gonna rab the milkman from
Speaker 2: you know, from the truck and set that up, but
Speaker 2: there was some sort of moral compass that she has,
Speaker 2: and she and keV were the only relationship that was
Speaker 2: sustainable the entire season series. They stayed together. They had
Speaker 2: that patch where they messed up and it wasn't but
Speaker 2: it wasn't a cheating patch, you know. It was a
Speaker 2: true love that you got to watch go through all
Speaker 2: of the things for eleven seasons. So I love that.
Speaker 1: You and keV, V, you and CAV. Let's have fun
Speaker 1: for a minute. If you guys were to have a
Speaker 1: spin off, yes, where would you be right now, and
Speaker 1: what would it be.
Speaker 2: Called, Well, it would be called no keV without V.
Speaker 2: Think about it, s e k e V no Kev'll
Speaker 2: be easier.
Speaker 1: And I did it.
Speaker 2: I did that for the audiences in their car. I didn't.
Speaker 2: We've thought about this because we're trying to pitch it
Speaker 2: right now. I'm just kidding, we're not. But no, and
Speaker 2: I think that it would be somewhere with us owning
Speaker 2: a bar together, because I just think that that allows
Speaker 2: for so many characters to come in and out with
Speaker 2: our girls going through puberty, that's where they would be
Speaker 2: right now and having a deal with that and being
Speaker 2: a biracial uh girls going through puberty at school. Maybe
Speaker 2: not in Chicago, but maybe we end up moving back
Speaker 2: to Chicago. I mean, I can go on and on
Speaker 2: and on. You have ideas, I have ideas and still
Speaker 2: having crazy sex. Can you say that one?
Speaker 1: Of course you can. You can say anything off. We're
Speaker 1: not daytime baby, this is my spot. That's right, That's
Speaker 1: that's your magic though. Your chemistry with everyone you work
Speaker 1: with is always so right on. And we're going to
Speaker 1: talk about that in this amazing show you're in now,
Speaker 1: which is Oh my god, just brilliant, but especially with keV.
Speaker 1: With Steve Howie, Yeah, who's my best friend? You guys
Speaker 1: were magic together. Yeah, that was magical together.
Speaker 2: People don't realize that to have that kind of relationship
Speaker 2: on screen that we have. I mean our first scene.
Speaker 2: This is true because I can say anything on you. Right, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's get into it. So our very first scene that
Speaker 2: we shot together, I am riding him like a bull.
Speaker 2: The first Hello, meet Sheanola Hampton, Sheanola, meet Steve. Are
Speaker 2: we ready? This is the pilot episode. Go back and
Speaker 2: watch it. Veronica has a strap on tne though. It's
Speaker 2: Frank saying, these are our crazy neighbors, and I am
Speaker 2: riding him. And he tells the story. But let's be
Speaker 2: for real. He's just being dramatic that because I pulled
Speaker 2: I have to pull his neck, that I really pulled
Speaker 2: his neck and I pulled something not true. I will
Speaker 2: not own that, but he says, and that's how so
Speaker 2: you know you're either going to get it together with
Speaker 2: one another or you're not. Right away, yeah, and we did.
Speaker 1: That could be a very uncomfortable situation. And you were like,
Speaker 1: I'm here, I'm ready.
Speaker 2: Let's go absolutely and he was the same way awkward
Speaker 2: it was. It was sort of this chemistry that we
Speaker 2: had right away. And of course he's such a an
Speaker 2: interesting personality when you first meet him, because he's so
Speaker 2: big and he can be sarcastic and people don't know
Speaker 2: how to take him. But he is the warmest, most
Speaker 2: loyal human being in the entire world. I mean, of
Speaker 2: course I feel that way because he's my best friend.
Speaker 2: But I also told him about male hygiene. Sir, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna need you to man escape.
Speaker 1: What was he shown up to set not doing that?
Speaker 2: Listen, here's the thing, girl, even though you are pretending
Speaker 2: to go down on someone, I'm still seeing something I've got.
Speaker 2: What I don't want to see is your pigs coming
Speaker 2: out of your underwear. So what you're gonna do is
Speaker 2: going and shape that out. He'll tell you that, right
Speaker 2: you met me like no, But but we didn't have
Speaker 2: to do a going down scene. It was after that
Speaker 2: first one, and I told him, before you get even
Speaker 2: think about doing a sex scene with me, get your
Speaker 2: butt in the shower. Sweaty balls, sweaty balls, don calm
Speaker 2: near me.
Speaker 3: Boo, not doing that.
Speaker 2: So he'll tell, he'll tell, he will admit to it
Speaker 2: that I taught him all the things he needed to
Speaker 2: know about male escaping.
Speaker 1: We need a Shanola in our lives. In our lives, yes, yes,
Speaker 1: but it's so true when you're working with someone so intimately,
Speaker 1: like you got to be honest and you have to
Speaker 1: you know, you want to smell good, look good, feel good,
Speaker 1: all of it. And when you're that close, yeah, you
Speaker 1: better be ready for anything that's right.
Speaker 2: And your partner wants the same thing.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, amen, Amen?
Speaker 2: What twenty five years married, twenty five years married, but
Speaker 2: thirty years together?
Speaker 1: Well I think you bring this honesty probably to that
Speaker 1: relationship too.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's so funny to watch my husband and
Speaker 2: I together because he is I'm the ying to his yang,
Speaker 2: and he would be in the room right now. I
Speaker 2: act the same way. I could jump, give you a
Speaker 2: lap dance, all the things, and he would just sit
Speaker 2: shake his head in that chair and just that's my wife.
Speaker 1: That's my wife. I feel like you and I are
Speaker 1: very similar. Like my husband he works on ABC, he's
Speaker 1: a news anchor, and I'm entertainment baby. So I'm like,
Speaker 1: what we do in entertainment is not all buttoned up
Speaker 1: on the News. Right, you don't want to listen to
Speaker 1: this show.
Speaker 2: Exactly, especially not after we talked about sweaty Balls.
Speaker 1: I mean, like I said, I love you already. I
Speaker 1: love you already. I just am in awe of everything
Speaker 1: you've built in your career and of the person you are.
Speaker 1: And you have this new, amazing show that you were
Speaker 1: starring in. Okay, producer, yes, okay, producer. It's on NBC,
Speaker 1: is called Found. How does doing this show fulfill you
Speaker 1: differently than Shameless? For example?
Speaker 2: What you've mentioned it just in that introduction of it
Speaker 2: is I am an executive on it. And one of
Speaker 2: the things that I was afforded after doing a show
Speaker 2: for so long, eleven seasons unheard of, Right, It's very
Speaker 2: rare that you have that was the ability to choose
Speaker 2: my next project and decide how I wanted my career
Speaker 2: to look. I knew a couple of things. I didn't
Speaker 2: want to just be an actor for hire anymore. I
Speaker 2: wanted to make sure that my voice. I had so
Speaker 2: much to offer on the back end and the things
Speaker 2: that you don't see on the camera creatively, that I
Speaker 2: wanted to make sure that my voice wasn't just mute
Speaker 2: it and I wanted to express myself as a director, producer,
Speaker 2: all of those things. I didn't know how that was
Speaker 2: going to materialize. I really didn't, but I knew that
Speaker 2: I needed to learn from the great John Wells while
Speaker 2: I was there, so he is one of my mentors,
Speaker 2: and I did the directing and I directed in the
Speaker 2: last season of Shameless and now being number one. If
Speaker 2: you think about Shameless, you have so many characters. So
Speaker 2: you have Bill who's number one, you have Emmy who's
Speaker 2: number two at the time. Then there's Jeremy because the kids,
Speaker 2: it's the Gallagher family. It's their story. So by time
Speaker 2: you get to the neighbors, you're at number sixty seven
Speaker 2: six seven ors. I mean whatever, however it pans out,
Speaker 2: and I go from that to number one, Wow, and
Speaker 2: a producer and it is it a great world where
Speaker 2: it's like yes, but it also opens up a new
Speaker 2: style of management that you have to do with people.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know from having your own up, you know,
Speaker 2: it comes with It's so great. I love my name
Speaker 2: being on this super cute picture. I love my photo.
Speaker 2: But we got to have the meetings and we have
Speaker 2: to get into stuff and we you know, there so
Speaker 2: it comes with pros and cons and that's truthfully, what
Speaker 2: I think people need to understand is we live such
Speaker 2: a life that looks like it's all glamour. Yeah, but
Speaker 2: the work that goes into I always say, for every
Speaker 2: red carpet picture you see me on that looks happy,
Speaker 2: and it is and it's a joyful time, imagine about
Speaker 2: eight times me crying in my closet for each one
Speaker 2: time you see me on the red carpet. And that's
Speaker 2: sort of the life that we've chosen to live.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's so real, and not everybody sees that, right
Speaker 1: They look at you and everything you have going on
Speaker 1: and they think, oh my god, nothing could be wrong
Speaker 1: in her Life's like no, no, no, you have struggles,
Speaker 1: You've have faced rejection, and you've gone through all of
Speaker 1: it like we all have in our careers.
Speaker 2: Lots of it. Imagine being a darskin girl with this
Speaker 2: deep voice, Hello everyone from South Carolina with a natural hair.
Speaker 2: What jobs am I getting? Boom? You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: So really, when you just look at it, but it
Speaker 2: also for me was never a doubt that I was
Speaker 2: going to sit here across from you looking at these
Speaker 2: piercing blue eyes. You know, having this conversation, conversation that's
Speaker 2: meaningful because I felt like it was already ordained for me.
Speaker 1: Well, and also, that's the beauty of the show is
Speaker 1: you're talking about things on TV that aren't really being
Speaker 1: talked about. Yeah, you know, and I'm sure for you
Speaker 1: that holds a lot of weight.
Speaker 2: It does. But you know what's interesting when people say
Speaker 2: we are and we are talking about things on the
Speaker 2: show that aren't really talked about. But in our community,
Speaker 2: we've talked about the fact that there is such a
Speaker 2: large gap between who gets the media attention and who
Speaker 2: doesn't when they go missing. And our show is just saying,
Speaker 2: listen everyone, We're not saying anything specific about any other group,
Speaker 2: but every single person deserves to be found. Every single
Speaker 2: person deserves the same media attention. And that's what we're
Speaker 2: trying to bring light to, is to make these headlines human. Yes,
Speaker 2: And I think we've been successful in doing that because
Speaker 2: we've also set it up in a way that it's palatable. Right,
Speaker 2: you can watch a thriller and you can watch a
Speaker 2: man be in the basement and us to this cat
Speaker 2: and mouse game, and the man is some people say
Speaker 2: good looking, I mean that's fine if y'all into the
Speaker 2: Marball love it all, Zach and all that. But you know,
Speaker 2: so you're looking at it from a way that is
Speaker 2: still has the thriller aspect, and I think that's what's worked.
Speaker 1: Well well right. It's not trying to prove a point
Speaker 1: or doesn't come off as preachy, feel like or it's
Speaker 1: a lesson. It's just it is what it is, right,
Speaker 1: But it's telling a story that needs to be told. Yes,
Speaker 1: you know, yes, so it's I mean, this show keeps
Speaker 1: us on the edge of our seats and you your character, I.
Speaker 2: Know, heels running in. Do you see that running in?
Speaker 1: Obviously, But she's also not a perfect character flaw and
Speaker 1: I love that with a character. I don't need to
Speaker 1: see another perfect person on TV board. Give me something
Speaker 1: juicy and.
Speaker 2: You play that, thank you. It is the best. I
Speaker 2: always call her this beautifully flawed character because in many ways,
Speaker 2: if you've seen the show, those who haven't, just know
Speaker 2: that a man kidnapped my character, and then my character
Speaker 2: re kidnapped the man when she got older. That's all
Speaker 2: you need to know. The man was in the basement
Speaker 2: helping solving cases. Yep, it's that good. Go watch it
Speaker 2: all right, get into it. But what I love about
Speaker 2: her and the human nature is we're not just one thing,
Speaker 2: and we all have a dark side. Now it's how
Speaker 2: much we're able to control leaning into that dark side
Speaker 2: and what those triggers might be to lean in even deeper.
Speaker 2: You know, if somebody comes from my kids, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: tell you right now, I don't know what I'm going
Speaker 2: to m hm. You come from my husband, I might
Speaker 2: let you just lie a little bit, but my kidnams
Speaker 2: getting it. It bends on but but so you just
Speaker 2: don't know until you're in it. And to be able
Speaker 2: to have her dealing with trauma and healing and all
Speaker 2: of the characters really dealing with some sort of trauma
Speaker 2: and having to heal from that, I think it makes
Speaker 2: it more human than us just seeing these number ones,
Speaker 2: you know, doing the oh I'm the hero all the time,
Speaker 2: because in many ways, is she just as bad as sir? Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: that's the question.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, And it makes for a really interesting watch
Speaker 1: because you never know where it's all gonna go, That's right.
Speaker 1: You don't know, like will you turn really dark eventually?
Speaker 2: I mean I could maybe maybe the next season. I
Speaker 2: mean you see by the end of this season, you
Speaker 2: know the good stuff.
Speaker 1: Mmm mm the finale's coming up. Yes, anything you can tease.
Speaker 2: I can say that I read the finale and I
Speaker 2: wasn't expecting what I read to be the finale because
Speaker 2: it made me. You wonder, Okay, how are we coming back? Okay,
Speaker 2: because it's it's sort of.
Speaker 1: Jack, you're dying up in here or something.
Speaker 2: Come on, let's not get crazy.
Speaker 1: But if I did the number one number one that.
Speaker 2: I just go you have to tie with your eyes open,
Speaker 2: in heels in heels, the heels would be up here.
Speaker 2: Oh sorry, So anyway, No, I can tell you that
Speaker 2: it is what Gabby does is unexpected and it was
Speaker 2: for me as well.
Speaker 1: Wow, I'm putting your hand. Just drop that on and
Speaker 1: just drop it wherever.
Speaker 2: Drop it like as hoigh.
Speaker 1: Okay, moving move that way. You're the star.
Speaker 2: I'm taking the head.
Speaker 1: Okay, so interesting. We can't wait for that finale. Where's
Speaker 1: the season three announcement? Girl? What are we waiting for?
Speaker 2: Listen?
Speaker 1: What are we doing? Uh?
Speaker 2: And b C. Yeah, I better announce it soon. Okay,
Speaker 2: she's in high demand. I'm I'm playing on this mud show.
Speaker 1: Well, by the time this airs, hopefully an announcement would
Speaker 1: have come out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and then you have to do that thing where
Speaker 2: you said since the taping of this show, you know
Speaker 2: how they do it on Blura has gotten a season
Speaker 2: three twenty two episode thick.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you'll come back for that. You'll come back for
Speaker 3: coming back to Your energy is infectious And I love
Speaker 3: what you said earlier. You alluded to always knowing that
Speaker 3: you would be doing this and that this was meant
Speaker 3: for you. And at five you had a dream, right
Speaker 3: and you didn't let anything dissuade you from being right
Speaker 3: here in this room with me talking about being number
Speaker 3: one on the call sheet in a primetime show, which
Speaker 3: is just amazing. So a lot of people listening have
Speaker 3: their own dreams, and it's hard to sometimes keep them
Speaker 3: around because life happens. So what would you say for
Speaker 3: anyone who has any sort of dream, whatever it may be.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that the biggest thing that I've always said,
Speaker 2: because I could asked this question, and it's really how
Speaker 2: do you block out the noise? That's the hardest thing
Speaker 2: to do. It's generally one or two things. It's other
Speaker 2: people around you giving you a look or even a
Speaker 2: sentence that makes you second guess yourself or it's your
Speaker 2: own demons that you're battling in your head. And what
Speaker 2: I would say is it's the intimate moments when you're
Speaker 2: about to go to sleep, that where your heart and
Speaker 2: your head are connected and no one else is around,
Speaker 2: that you have to talk to yourself and say no, no, no,
Speaker 2: no no no, no, no no no. This would not
Speaker 2: be put in my heart if it wasn't meant to manifest.
Speaker 2: And you have to keep saying it until your body
Speaker 2: starts to accept and believe it. Because the science of
Speaker 2: the mind is really what you have control of. You
Speaker 2: can't control how other people view you, you can't control
Speaker 2: the nose and the rejection, but what you can control
Speaker 2: is how you think about it and how you come
Speaker 2: into the next day. And that doesn't mean I'm not
Speaker 2: I mean I am kind of try hockey, But I
Speaker 2: don't mean that in the oh that sounds so good.
Speaker 2: I mean in the actual conditioning of one's mind to
Speaker 2: accept that this was placed on your heart because it
Speaker 2: was meant to manifest and believe And until you can
Speaker 2: condition yourself to believe it and feel it, just keep
Speaker 2: telling yourself.
Speaker 1: It there was never a point you wanted to give up.
Speaker 2: There wasn't a point that I wanted to give up,
Speaker 2: but there was definitely many points where I needed confirmation
Speaker 2: that I was on the right path.
Speaker 1: How did you get that?
Speaker 2: I'll tell you I was bartending. Most people know. I mean,
Speaker 2: I mean, come on, can you imagine me with my
Speaker 2: people's okay? And I had like I did a Martine shake.
Speaker 2: She made money. I don't drink. I do not like
Speaker 2: the taste of alcohol, but I can make it. Oh,
Speaker 2: come on, skin, thank you, thank you. And so when
Speaker 2: I was bartending, I would change my clothes. I would
Speaker 2: go to auditions, I come back. I bartend, you know,
Speaker 2: And then I would not get the part. And then
Speaker 2: I would be crying in the car and I'd be like,
Speaker 2: oh God, give me a sign. Oh I don't know.
Speaker 2: And I would book a commercial and sure it would
Speaker 2: be like adopt a proper commercial where they just skimmed
Speaker 2: over my face. But I booked a commercial and every
Speaker 2: time it would be something like that, or I would
Speaker 2: get one line on something or five lines on something.
Speaker 2: So it's like these little wins in the process of
Speaker 2: rejection that kept me knowing, Okay, I'm on the right path.
Speaker 1: And I always say, if you're open to looking for
Speaker 1: the signs, they're there. Absolutely, they're there. You just have
Speaker 1: to be to seeing them.
Speaker 2: Absolutely and I and that goes for everyone. You don't
Speaker 2: have to be spiritual I am, but you don't have
Speaker 2: to be. You just got to be open and willing
Speaker 2: and also willing to accept your dream. You accept it. Yeah, yes,
Speaker 2: this is my dream. I dreamed it for a reason.
Speaker 1: Except yes, look at me.
Speaker 2: What's your crazy eye?
Speaker 1: I can't put sunglasses on it? No, no, no, no, we're not.
Speaker 1: You're getting be flustered now and then.
Speaker 2: Look out cuture and then you got all red in
Speaker 2: the cheeks. I wish everyone could wait. Are they going
Speaker 2: to go back and see this?
Speaker 1: Can we zoom into the whole video? We don't need
Speaker 1: a zoom.
Speaker 2: Zooming?
Speaker 1: No zooming zoom. My god, you werelax all right.
Speaker 2: See if I was shooting you right now, I would
Speaker 2: go right in.
Speaker 1: The slow slow the cinematographer. Director.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you don't do your hands like this, you're
Speaker 2: not a real director. Director.
Speaker 1: I see you, I see you. You will be directing,
Speaker 1: thank you. I know you're going to be doing it all.
Speaker 1: Was there a role that we would be surprised to
Speaker 1: know you auditioned for and really wanted that didn't work.
Speaker 2: Out there, I'm true blood. Truelo crushed me, really crushed me.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: Oh when it was one of those roles that I knew,
Speaker 2: I was, uh, Tara, I think, what's the name or
Speaker 2: they're on the shut m. Yeah, it would have been
Speaker 2: the vampire and it was the friend and she's bartender.
Speaker 2: And went to the person that it was absolutely yeah,
Speaker 2: that the redhead, but she had a friend, Okay, okay,
Speaker 2: was it Retina Wesley? That anyway, anyway, you'll see you'll
Speaker 2: see even some similarities with us when I tell you
Speaker 2: that I'd psyched myself up so much that this was
Speaker 2: my role and I went in and I bombed the audition.
Speaker 2: I was devastated, because sure, you can get another opportunity,
Speaker 2: but once you've made that impression, it's very hard to
Speaker 2: come back. And I knew I could do it. I
Speaker 2: knew I could and I lost it. But I was
Speaker 2: maybe six months to a year later that I booked Shameless.
Speaker 1: See that, see that and the wild adventure you went
Speaker 1: on with that show. Never could have been.
Speaker 2: Never could have been Veronica in her boobs out and
Speaker 2: up to the sky. You know, all of those things
Speaker 2: would have not happened. And if I didn't take that
Speaker 2: l for True Blood and even if you look at
Speaker 2: the British version of Shameless, Veronica is a blonde hair,
Speaker 2: short hair. You know, girl looks nothing like me. Let's
Speaker 2: just say, but that was the role I was meant
Speaker 2: to have and that's what my dream was manifesting. It
Speaker 2: wasn't True bloods it was Shameless all along. But you
Speaker 2: can't listen now, doesn't that sound beautiful? All that was
Speaker 2: so flowery? Now when you're in it and you just bomb,
Speaker 2: you just embarrassed and crying and you know those tears
Speaker 2: it usually happens when you suffer from a bad breakup
Speaker 2: and you're throwing up and you like made yourself so
Speaker 2: sick and you're you know those kind of that was me,
Speaker 2: you know, making yourself sick in the toy those for real,
Speaker 2: the hitting of the staring wheel. It sounds so dramatic
Speaker 2: right now, but we've all done it where it's like no,
Speaker 2: and then playing the song or repeat because I deserve
Speaker 2: to just cry. You know, it's heartbreaking, it's so heartbreaking.
Speaker 2: I pulled over on the side of the road. I
Speaker 2: always remember this when I left that all edition and
Speaker 2: I just bawled and I called my manager, who's still
Speaker 2: I call her my Fraen Maager friend, family manager, still
Speaker 2: my manager to this day. And I was like, I
Speaker 2: just blew my career. That was my role.
Speaker 1: That was my role, Honey, look at where you are.
Speaker 2: Let's go.
Speaker 1: And it's hard to imagine anyone else in that role.
Speaker 1: You know what it really is for you? It was
Speaker 1: it really was just like this role, just like Found.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's such a fresh show. And I
Speaker 1: think Primetime, you know, Primetime has a ferocious audience.
Speaker 2: It's so hard, it's so hard to get him to stick.
Speaker 2: I've not done network TV. This is a whole different
Speaker 2: beast for me. I'm coming from the streaming you say,
Speaker 2: whatever world, you know what I mean, what did we say?
Speaker 2: I was Roden, Steve Howie put a dildel. That's the
Speaker 2: world I came from. And now I'm on network TV
Speaker 2: doing cold gay commercials. You know, so the audience you
Speaker 2: have to retain it. And what I think has worked
Speaker 2: for Found and what I appreciate about it is it
Speaker 2: does what NBC does so well procedural, but it's I
Speaker 2: called it, call it a heightened procedural because it gives
Speaker 2: you the thriller to be able to get the audience
Speaker 2: to want to come back and want more, and not
Speaker 2: just the standard procedural, but for those who love it,
Speaker 2: you get to solve a case every week. But then
Speaker 2: there's this other element that feels like a whole other
Speaker 2: show within a show. Yeah, and so I'm really proud
Speaker 2: of us being able to find that balance and really
Speaker 2: find an audience to appreciate that balance.
Speaker 1: Mm hmmm. That's why I'm we're waiting on the final
Speaker 1: the results of a new season because we want it.
Speaker 1: So call the powers f and make it happen.
Speaker 2: I mean, I went, Meg, can you make a call? There?
Speaker 1: We go, bring it home, Meg, bring it home, bring
Speaker 1: it home. Well, we have covered dil Do's, Yeah, we have.
Speaker 1: We've covered leaving our home because I've got.
Speaker 2: More on that topic.
Speaker 1: I'm sure you do.
Speaker 2: Look at Meg mag Is.
Speaker 1: Like, no, I'm sure you have more on that, Like,
Speaker 1: we are done. We are done. We've talked about leaving
Speaker 1: our husbands, yes, we've talked about having kids together.
Speaker 2: I'm not just leaving our husband for one another I
Speaker 2: mean it's got to be worth it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, come on now, nobody just out in
Speaker 1: the streets, no kids together too. So we've covered it all.
Speaker 1: But now I have a question for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: It's based off the title of my show, and the
Speaker 1: show is obviously called I've Never said this before, And
Speaker 1: it was born because I cover a lot of red carpets.
Speaker 1: I also work on a show called Extra, and I
Speaker 1: do jun kets and on.
Speaker 2: A show called Extra that hasn't been around for like
Speaker 2: thirty years.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't want to presume just subtle flex
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I picked it up home.
Speaker 1: There you go, and I get such limited time with people,
Speaker 1: And that's how the concept for this show was born
Speaker 1: is I often saw people wanting to say something a
Speaker 1: little bit more before getting cut off or not just
Speaker 1: having the same sound bites of what is your project about,
Speaker 1: what are you excited for? You know, the usual? And
Speaker 1: I thought, let me create a space where we can
Speaker 1: celebrate the work, but then have someone come on and
Speaker 1: say whatever they want to say that they don't get
Speaker 1: the chance to say. So, what is one thing you've
Speaker 1: never said before that you want to share today?
Speaker 2: Okay, one thing I've never said before. But it can
Speaker 2: be about just something. I just never hear.
Speaker 1: You want whatever it means to you, you.
Speaker 2: Know when Okay, you know what I've never ever said
Speaker 2: in my life is I hate someone Like I've never
Speaker 2: said that. I just hate just feels so strong now.
Speaker 2: I have strongly despised, right.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: I have people that could get it, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. And I got a couple that just ran
Speaker 2: through my head. But I've never ever said I hate
Speaker 2: that person, like behind their backs or to them. I've
Speaker 2: just never I've never been hateful in that way.
Speaker 1: Have you ever said I hate I don't think so,
Speaker 1: not about a person, maybe about like I hate that song, yeah,
Speaker 1: yeah no, but.
Speaker 2: Like to a part like a humans couldn't Yeah no.
Speaker 1: And I don't like that word. I really don't like
Speaker 1: that word. I mean maybe when I was younger I
Speaker 1: used it somehow, but I don't. I'm like you, I
Speaker 1: think in the sense that I'm very energy driven and
Speaker 1: I think what you put out is what you get,
Speaker 1: and I don't like that around me. I don't like it.
Speaker 1: Even like we have a friend right now that we're
Speaker 1: kind of going through a little thing with Yeah, And
Speaker 1: I just rather I rather not go to those dark places, sure,
Speaker 1: and just kind of cleanse Yeah, goodbye, because it's not
Speaker 1: worth it because guess what, it affects you. Absolutely, it
Speaker 1: affects you. You're putting that out, but it's actually coming
Speaker 1: back to you.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, and I believe that. So I think that's one
Speaker 2: thing I've never said. I also have never said that
Speaker 2: I'm a fifteen. I usually say ten.
Speaker 1: Well, I think you're a twenty. I think you're twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: So you had to catch that. You had to catch it.
Speaker 2: Just kidding out, Uh, but yeah, I think that. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I love that you have this platform where you can
Speaker 2: dig a little deeper and you're so good.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you?
Speaker 2: Am I allowed to say that on your show? Yeah,
Speaker 2: we're not zooming in.
Speaker 1: We're not zooming in.
Speaker 3: We are.
Speaker 1: Or not? But no, this is what I love. I
Speaker 1: love having people like you on who are so accomplished
Speaker 1: and so good at what you do, and who create
Speaker 1: art that really makes so many people feel seen and
Speaker 1: can escape into this world that you create. With everything
Speaker 1: else going on in our real lives. You create that
Speaker 1: space for people, and I love having artists like you
Speaker 1: Wan where we can talk about those projects. But then
Speaker 1: get to know you more and I think you're You're
Speaker 1: someone who I predict will be around for decades and
Speaker 1: decades and decades more.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I know you say that to all of
Speaker 2: your I do.
Speaker 1: Not play them all back, baby, I do not.
Speaker 2: I do not.
Speaker 1: I am an Italian from Jersey and I call it
Speaker 1: as it is.
Speaker 2: Thank you, and that means a lot. It really means
Speaker 2: a lot.
Speaker 1: Thank you well, thank you for hanging. Your show is
Speaker 1: out now, this is dropping finale weeks, so do miss
Speaker 1: the finale, y'all.
Speaker 2: Pick up already happened. Thank you so much, NBC.
Speaker 1: Put it out there, put it out there, and please
Speaker 1: come back.
Speaker 2: I really truly will. Okay, okay, oh no, no, okay,
Speaker 2: what the folks didn't see? Are we? Are we playing
Speaker 2: the music out? He did a wink. That's not fair,
Speaker 2: and he ended it with a nod. I've never said this, befo,
Speaker 2: I never said this before. What's y'all song? Y'all have
Speaker 2: a song?
Speaker 1: That's my song?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 2: Right?
Speaker 1: All right, all right, I've never said this before. Is
Speaker 1: hosted by Me Tommy Didario. This podcast is executive produced
Speaker 1: by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio and by me Tommy with
Speaker 1: editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've never said this before. It
Speaker 1: is part of the Elvis Duran podcast network on iHeart
Speaker 1: Podcasts for more rate, review and subscribe to our show
Speaker 1: and if you liked this episode, tell your friends. Until
Speaker 1: next time, I'm Tommy Diderio.