Speaker 1: Hey guys, welcome to I've never said this before with
Speaker 1: me Tommy di Dario. So if you've turned on Netflix lately,
Speaker 1: then you probably have seen the show XO Kitty sitting
Speaker 1: in that coveted number one spot on the charts my
Speaker 1: guest today while she is the star of Exokitty, the
Speaker 1: wonderfully Talented an a Cafcart Now the series It's taken
Speaker 1: over the world, first appearing in Netflix's top ten in
Speaker 1: over ninety different countries when it's debuted, and it's a
Speaker 1: spinoff of the streamer's wildly popular franchise To All the
Speaker 1: Boys I've Loved Before, which was based on the best
Speaker 1: selling young adult trilogy, of Course. So here's the backstory.
Speaker 1: Anna plays eighteen matchmaker aka Kitty, who followed her heart
Speaker 1: to an elite school in Soul. In season one, she
Speaker 1: was on the quest for love. Now she's realizing that
Speaker 1: life and love and family, well, as we all know,
Speaker 1: it's way more complicated than she ever imagined. The series
Speaker 1: is really cool because it's often praised for unpacking issues
Speaker 1: that are top of mind for teens today. I mean
Speaker 1: top of mind for a lot of people today, everything
Speaker 1: from self acceptance to classes in too, sometimes complicated relationships
Speaker 1: with parents, to discovering one sexuality and so much more.
Speaker 1: And Anna is the heart and soul of this show.
Speaker 1: And in this episode we get to celebrate her work
Speaker 1: that means so much to so many, but we really
Speaker 1: get to know who Anna is beyond the work that
Speaker 1: she does. So let's see if today we can get
Speaker 1: Anna to say something that she has never said before.
Speaker 1: Anna Cathcart, how you doing, my friend.
Speaker 2: I'm good. I'm so excited.
Speaker 1: Welcome to New York.
Speaker 2: Thank you, thank you, thank you for having me on
Speaker 2: a show.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, You've come with an entourage.
Speaker 3: I have my fam here supporting me, which I'm very
Speaker 3: lucky to have. It always helps, like have them on
Speaker 3: these work trips.
Speaker 1: So I love that I'm an Italian boy from New Jersey,
Speaker 1: so like Italians like to travel in packs too, So
Speaker 1: if like everyone could be in this room right now, they.
Speaker 2: Would totally no.
Speaker 3: I feel like my family to say, I'm like anywhere
Speaker 3: they can come to, please bring them, that would be great.
Speaker 1: Oh that's amazing. Well, welcome to New York.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: We have so much to cover today. Congratulations on season
Speaker 1: two of the show. It's it's amazing. It's amazing. Is
Speaker 1: it weird? Every time turning on Netflix and seeing it
Speaker 1: in like the number one spot, there's there's my face.
Speaker 2: It's so surreal.
Speaker 3: I still think like I don't know if it will
Speaker 3: ever become normal, Like that feeling is so strange. And
Speaker 3: it will sometimes come up like in the background, like
Speaker 3: our TV will just be on and it'll come like
Speaker 3: the preview of like oh, the new season just came
Speaker 3: out whatever, and like like, that's that's me, that's there
Speaker 3: I am. And like the weird thing is to think
Speaker 3: about all the other TVs it's showing up. I'm like,
Speaker 3: there's one of my friends like freaked me out the
Speaker 3: other day, like the best way possible. But she was like,
Speaker 3: you know how many people have Netflix and how many
Speaker 3: people you look up to who have Netflix. She was like, Anna,
Speaker 3: you could be like on Tom Holland TV, Like unintentionally,
Speaker 3: I'm sure he's not, you know, an Exo Kitty's biggest fan,
Speaker 3: but who knows. You never know it would be on
Speaker 3: his Netflix screen. I'm like, that's so weird.
Speaker 2: Like my face is just out there in the world.
Speaker 2: It's very, very wild, very surreal.
Speaker 1: Did you ever dream that you would be offered your
Speaker 1: own spin off series. When you were in the movies,
Speaker 1: you know, to all the boys about franchise, and then
Speaker 1: suddenly you're getting a call like, hey, we want you
Speaker 1: to lead your own show. I mean, have you wrapped
Speaker 1: your head around that by season two?
Speaker 2: No, I honestly still haven't.
Speaker 3: I feel like that sounds so cheesy, like it's just
Speaker 3: like such a dream and doesn't feel real. But honestly, truly,
Speaker 3: like when they first came up with the idea, I
Speaker 3: thought it was joke. Like I think people say that
Speaker 3: all the time, like, oh, we should do a spin
Speaker 3: off for like, oh, we love this character, but like
Speaker 3: you never, I don't know. I don't take it seriously,
Speaker 3: especially with this industry, like everything is like never one
Speaker 3: hundred percent for real, Like you can't Like I'm always
Speaker 3: like I try to have trust issues honestly from this
Speaker 3: job of being like, well like who knows until I'm
Speaker 3: actually on set standing there, I don't believe it. And
Speaker 3: this was totally one of those cases that it was
Speaker 3: so many years of talking about it and hearing different things,
Speaker 3: and then the day that I was actually on the
Speaker 3: plane going to Korea during season one, I was just
Speaker 3: like this is this is for real?
Speaker 2: Like, I still like it hasn't sunk in.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's humble though you're humble. You're a humble person.
Speaker 1: So I'm sure maybe it won't ever sink in until
Speaker 1: you're done and you'll be like, oh I did that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when you look back on it in reflection, I
Speaker 3: think it will sink in maybe in ten years, like, yeah.
Speaker 1: Good for you. That's amazing. Well, and what's so fascinating
Speaker 1: to me with somebody like you as you're an artist
Speaker 1: who very much has grown up in the spotlight, right,
Speaker 1: Like you've grown up on camera. We've all gotten to
Speaker 1: watch you grow up, and this is a very unconventional experience.
Speaker 1: Most people grow up in the privacy of their own life, right,
Speaker 1: So what's been the best part about that for you?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think when I was a kid, like
Speaker 3: when I was very young, I had dreamed about this
Speaker 3: idea of becoming an actor, but it felt so surreal
Speaker 3: and like not not reachable, like it was. I often
Speaker 3: compare it to a kid wanting to be an astronaut,
Speaker 3: or like dreaming of doing something just feels like that
Speaker 3: only happens in dreamland. It's it's not like a true career,
Speaker 3: So getting to achieve it as a kid in that mindset,
Speaker 3: I think there was something really special where for many
Speaker 3: years it was never a job. I didn't see it
Speaker 3: as like, this is what I do for work. I'm like,
Speaker 3: I'm twelve, this is what I do for fun, and
Speaker 3: this is like this is so unbelievable that getting to
Speaker 3: experience it in that stage when it wasn't really like
Speaker 3: work yet, I think that was really special and really
Speaker 3: valuable because it taught me so many things about like
Speaker 3: why I'm passionate about this and why I love it,
Speaker 3: and the pressures that you experienced in this industry as
Speaker 3: an adult. I was lucky to not have those as
Speaker 3: a kid, and I was really like fortunate to meet
Speaker 3: good people as at a young age, because I know
Speaker 3: it can obviously be a scary industry as well as
Speaker 3: a young person.
Speaker 2: But I was really lucky to have that.
Speaker 3: So I just think getting to enter it at the
Speaker 3: stage that I did was really beneficial for me. And
Speaker 3: it kind of happened in a gradual way as well.
Speaker 3: I was just talking about this with my mom actually yesterday,
Speaker 3: saying that my career kind of happened in a linear
Speaker 3: fashion of it like the recognition I got at the
Speaker 3: very start versus the recognition I got three years in,
Speaker 3: four years in now nine years in.
Speaker 2: Was never like no one knew you. The next day
Speaker 2: the whole world knew you.
Speaker 3: I think that would have been really overwhelming to handle,
Speaker 3: or like starting off with a really big project, a
Speaker 3: really big budget like network would be really scary. But
Speaker 3: I kind of did it in a gradual fashion that
Speaker 3: I was lucky to kind of ease my way into
Speaker 3: it a bit.
Speaker 2: So I love looking back on it.
Speaker 3: I just can't believe that, I don't know, the stuffs
Speaker 3: that we took to get here was crazy.
Speaker 1: So it's so interesting. That's such an interesting perspective that,
Speaker 1: you know, you feel like had it been that overnight
Speaker 1: kind of success or fame, it would have been a
Speaker 1: different experience for you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, exactly.
Speaker 1: Probably overwhelming for sure.
Speaker 3: I think I'm already quite overwhelmed and by this, and like,
Speaker 3: I can't imagine for so many people when it is
Speaker 3: that that way, when it is just like a one
Speaker 3: like one hit blows up, everything goes crazy. I think, Yeah,
Speaker 3: the like gradual entry of it was really helpful.
Speaker 1: So what's been the more challenging aspect of that, I think.
Speaker 2: Like balancing high school and regular life.
Speaker 3: I was really determined to like stay in regular public
Speaker 3: school and stay at home and be with my family
Speaker 3: because I've always school's really important to me. I always
Speaker 3: want to go to university after high school, and I
Speaker 3: didn't want to lose that just because I was an actor.
Speaker 3: And to keep that balance throughout so many years, starting
Speaker 3: when you're so young, I think that was hard for sure,
Speaker 3: But I also find it like because I had started
Speaker 3: in elementary school, doing college now at the same time
Speaker 3: almost makes it easier. That was like my trial run
Speaker 3: have so many years, but it is weird. It's a
Speaker 3: lot of pressures that you might not normally experience obviously
Speaker 3: as like a regular high schooler. So there's a lot
Speaker 3: of interesting parts that come with this job.
Speaker 2: For sure.
Speaker 1: I imagine you have to keep yourself very grounded and
Speaker 1: surround yourself with people who you know genuinely have your
Speaker 1: best interest, right m.
Speaker 3: I think staying in Vancouver, which is where I was
Speaker 3: born and where I was like where I grew up,
Speaker 3: staying there has definitely helped as well to have a
Speaker 3: grounding space and to kind of come back to, like
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 2: Know what our family sees as like real life.
Speaker 3: Sometimes, especially during high school, I kind of had my
Speaker 3: like a plot B plot of I would go and
Speaker 3: do my work life and go to LA and do
Speaker 3: some event and then come home to like a math
Speaker 3: test and just have to be a regular kid. And
Speaker 3: I think having that was very grounding and helped a lot.
Speaker 3: And I still try and keep that in my life
Speaker 3: right now. But for sure, family has been a huge,
Speaker 3: huge part.
Speaker 1: Listen, mom did a good job. Mom did a good job.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at her right now, probably from mom. I
Speaker 1: love that. All right, So here we go back to
Speaker 1: you landing this amazing show. You get the call. You're
Speaker 1: the lead, obviously, Ilana Kundor when the movies was the
Speaker 1: lead of those. Did you turn to her for any
Speaker 1: advice when you got this? Do you still turn to
Speaker 1: her for advice? Has she been like a mentor towards you?
Speaker 1: What's that relationship?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so funny.
Speaker 3: But I actually saw her today for the first time
Speaker 3: in a really long time, which was an amazing reunion.
Speaker 3: But definitely when the movies were happening, I was in
Speaker 3: a very formative years of my life. It was the
Speaker 3: summer between grade eight and grade nine is when we
Speaker 3: shot the first twell the Boys, and I was learning
Speaker 3: to become a teenager and looking up to these people
Speaker 3: that were such amazing role models. To have that whole
Speaker 3: cast who were all like five seven years older than me,
Speaker 3: that was so formative for me looking back, just as
Speaker 3: a person and as an actor, to learn like what
Speaker 3: it meant to do this profession, what it meant to
Speaker 3: be adult a teenager.
Speaker 2: Like, just to have them as.
Speaker 3: Like guiding lights was really huge, and still to have
Speaker 3: them now is everything.
Speaker 2: And to have Janelle as well.
Speaker 3: Who was on this season, which was so special, and
Speaker 3: just to like have them as role models truly has
Speaker 3: made a really big impat.
Speaker 1: Can you think of a single piece of advice that
Speaker 1: is stuck with you from any of them?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I think something that Lana had taught me as
Speaker 3: well as Janelle was the power of setting boundaries and
Speaker 3: the power of learning when it's okay to say no,
Speaker 3: when it's okay to put yourself first, and that you're
Speaker 3: allowed to want your rest and you're allowed to just
Speaker 3: like figuring out that balance of I think this is
Speaker 3: a really taxing industry at times, and though we all
Speaker 3: love it, so much and it's our dream to be here.
Speaker 2: It can be super exhausting.
Speaker 3: It's okay to take a step back and like acknowledge
Speaker 3: that and not feel ungrateful, because I think I often
Speaker 3: get worried that like this is a job that so
Speaker 3: many people would die to do, or like I'm like, oh,
Speaker 3: I'm so great, like I should be so lucky, Like
Speaker 3: why am I complaining if I'm tired? I'm like, there's there's.
Speaker 2: Those can both coexist.
Speaker 3: You can be super grateful but also want to like
Speaker 3: take a nap, like you can be really tired.
Speaker 2: That's okay, this is a lot.
Speaker 3: And like think both of them were really great at
Speaker 3: helping me realize that and learn that.
Speaker 1: Isn't it funny how uncomfortable sometimes we feel saying no
Speaker 1: or setting a boundary why right?
Speaker 3: For sure, I really struggle with that in a lot
Speaker 3: of aspects of my life, but definitely with work, because
Speaker 3: I also want to stay motivated, want to take the
Speaker 3: next step, always keep going, but learning when it's way
Speaker 3: more beneficial to say no, And that can be a
Speaker 3: hard thing to teach your brain because you like more
Speaker 3: is more. I'm like sometimes less is more, Like you
Speaker 3: need to have the space for yourself to something I
Speaker 3: remind myself to, like, I don't know, stay, stay as
Speaker 3: calm as possible, to like, you need the rest so
Speaker 3: you can do well and all the good things that
Speaker 3: you get the chance to do. And if you never
Speaker 3: take that rest, everything will be at fifty percent, and
Speaker 3: that's not what we want either. And yeah, I think
Speaker 3: that I really tried to learn when I was younger,
Speaker 3: and it's definitely helped.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because if your cup isn't filled all the way
Speaker 1: to the top, how can you go out and do
Speaker 1: your best work, or be a best friend, or be
Speaker 1: a best daughter, be the best version of yourself?
Speaker 2: Right exactly.
Speaker 3: Sometimes taking rest can be like the most productive thing
Speaker 3: to do, which is a hard thing to.
Speaker 2: Teach your brain.
Speaker 1: I am so jealous you've learned this at this point
Speaker 1: of your life, because here I am at thirty and
Speaker 1: I'm like still trying to learn it and remember it.
Speaker 1: And you know, in this industry, as we all know,
Speaker 1: it's hard. It's hard in any industry, but it's something
Speaker 1: you have to kind of keep reminding yourself up of, right, mm.
Speaker 3: Hmmm, No, Yeah, it's an ongoing process. We're definitely still
Speaker 3: in the thick of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure, for sure. So the new season is out,
Speaker 1: how do you handle public reception? Like, are you someone
Speaker 1: who reads comments?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: Are you browsing the blogs? Or blogs still a thing?
Speaker 1: Do your blogs exist?
Speaker 2: Probably?
Speaker 1: Okay, the blogs, the Internet, the Facebook of the Instagram
Speaker 1: and the TikTok but all of that, are you browsing
Speaker 1: all of that? And like seeing what people are saying?
Speaker 2: I think it's so hard not to.
Speaker 3: I found myself with especially in the first few days
Speaker 3: when the show just came out, going on TikTok and
Speaker 3: searching excitaty and seeing the different edits and seeing people
Speaker 3: because it was so exciting to see that the different
Speaker 3: fans around the world are putting in their own time
Speaker 3: and energy to create like collages of things or fun
Speaker 3: edits or their theories of what could be happening, or
Speaker 3: reading between the lines of specific scenes. And it's so
Speaker 3: cool to see people invested in our characters and in
Speaker 3: our show to the extent that they would make something
Speaker 3: online is so cool to see. So I definitely will
Speaker 3: get sucked into, like just scrolling on TikTok, so people
Speaker 3: are making it. It's know that I see them and
Speaker 3: I appreciate them.
Speaker 2: They mean a lot to me.
Speaker 3: But sometimes I do think there's a point. Now, I'm like,
Speaker 3: my for you page is just like me and my friends.
Speaker 3: I'm like, I don't know if that's the healthiest thing
Speaker 3: to be scrolling on, like as soon as you wake up,
Speaker 3: before you go to bed, all images of it, Like
Speaker 3: that's that's really interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, So how do you know when to pull
Speaker 1: back from it? Because I imagine it can be a little
Speaker 1: bit of a you know, it could trick your mind
Speaker 1: a little bit like are people saying good things? Are
Speaker 1: they saying bad things? You know? I'm sure every once
Speaker 1: in a while not great comment pops up totally. How
Speaker 1: do you protect yourself while also enjoying the journey of
Speaker 1: celebrating what you've accomplished and what you're doing.
Speaker 3: Honestly, that is a great question that I'm still trying
Speaker 3: to find the answer to. I think something that's really
Speaker 3: interesting about our brains is you could see one hundred
Speaker 3: good comments, but one bad one is.
Speaker 1: Going to stick with you alas always.
Speaker 3: And I always try and tell myself, like the fact
Speaker 3: that I can see something that is so positive and
Speaker 3: so kind, I'm like, oh, I don't know how much
Speaker 3: they mean it, like they're just being nice, they just
Speaker 3: want to say that. But if I see a negative comment,
Speaker 3: I'm like, no, that is one hundred percent true, and
Speaker 3: I'm sure they meant it with like every ants like
Speaker 3: that's that right there? Shows how like fickle that is,
Speaker 3: and that's just like made up of me focusing on
Speaker 3: the negatives that I'm definitely in the process of figuring
Speaker 3: that out, but I'm lucky for the most part. I
Speaker 3: think the reception is really positive and Exo Kittie fans
Speaker 3: are very warm, welcoming people.
Speaker 2: So it's a good community.
Speaker 1: No, what I announced you as my guest that we
Speaker 1: were going to be recording, people went crazy, like crazy,
Speaker 1: I'm like, are they going to show up? Like I
Speaker 1: was a little worried about it for a minute, But
Speaker 1: there's a lot of love for the show and for you,
Speaker 1: and for good reason. I think what you guys put
Speaker 1: out is so meaningful for so many different reasons, which
Speaker 1: we'll get to this season. You're very vulnerable, Yeah we
Speaker 1: see you cry quite a bit.
Speaker 3: Yeah that was new for me. Yeah, I've never really
Speaker 3: had to do that on screen. And Kitty got a
Speaker 3: little bit emotional at the end of season one and
Speaker 3: when she was figuring out her sexuality and coming to
Speaker 3: that journey, that was the most vulnerable we've seen her.
Speaker 2: But this season and we go through that a.
Speaker 3: Lot more of her kind of at her horror, crying
Speaker 3: or breaking down or questioning things and wondering if she
Speaker 3: messed up.
Speaker 2: And I think something that I love about Kitty is
Speaker 2: she's very brave.
Speaker 3: She's very courageous with her heart and she just like
Speaker 3: goes for it. She goes after what she wants. So
Speaker 3: to see someone with that personality trait question things and
Speaker 3: not always be strong, I think it's just as important
Speaker 3: and I think a really cool journey that fans get
Speaker 3: to see her on this season. So that was kind
Speaker 3: of nerve wracking for me too, though because I didn't.
Speaker 3: I'm not as comfortable in that space. I've done a
Speaker 3: lot of comedy in my past, and that is something
Speaker 3: I'm really confident and love to explore with. But being
Speaker 3: vulnerable and like crying on camera for the first time
Speaker 3: and learning how to access as emotions, that was something
Speaker 3: new for me, which I'm happy happy I got the chance.
Speaker 1: Was it weird for you to get into that zone,
Speaker 1: like the first day you knew, Okay, I have a
Speaker 1: really emotional scene coming up.
Speaker 2: I was so nervous.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yes, I will say I was so nervous. I
Speaker 3: had like my headphones and I'm like asking all my
Speaker 3: actual friends, like what do you do when you have
Speaker 3: to cry? Or like literally looking up on Google, like
Speaker 3: how do you make yourself cracks? Like accessing the emotions
Speaker 3: like in your performance and your tone of voice.
Speaker 2: That's one thing, and that's.
Speaker 3: Something that like I find really fun to deal with
Speaker 3: and figure out. But the actual like act of creating tears,
Speaker 3: it's so hard for me. It's something that was really
Speaker 3: really stressful. And then also not like not being hard
Speaker 3: on yourself, because I think I would get really.
Speaker 2: Like why can I do this? Like I want to be.
Speaker 3: An actor, this is something that I should be able
Speaker 3: to do, and I don't know. It is a tough
Speaker 3: thing that I'm definitely learning. And it was interesting I
Speaker 3: used like a tearstick for the first time, or a
Speaker 3: tear like it's like this little mechanism like blow air
Speaker 3: into your eye and that like all these tools to
Speaker 3: help you that I'd never really used before. So that
Speaker 3: was that was a really cool thing for Kitty and me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And what's so cool is you're ever growing, ever changing, right, So,
Speaker 1: like that's a new experience for you right now, but
Speaker 1: five years from now, you're probably gonna be like, oh
Speaker 1: my god, it can access that emotion right away and
Speaker 1: cry like that totally. That's what's so cool about being
Speaker 1: an artist. You're not supposed to have it all figured
Speaker 1: out all the time, like you need to grow.
Speaker 2: I appreciate that reminder for Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think that's really really cool. And you mentioned
Speaker 1: kitty sexuality, which is such a meaningful thing for so
Speaker 1: many people who watch the show, and she's still figuring
Speaker 1: it all out and exploring it. To have that as
Speaker 1: part of your storyline, I mean, do you feel like
Speaker 1: you have this beautiful responsibility to represent a whole new,
Speaker 1: new community that maybe you didn't think would be a
Speaker 1: part of her story.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I was really excited that this show explores that,
Speaker 3: and I think, especially with season two, we did it
Speaker 3: so delicately. I think we were all really cautious of
Speaker 3: like making sure it was something that was celebrated. And
Speaker 3: Kitty's stress that came from her romantic experiences were stressful
Speaker 3: because romance is messy at sixteen and she's a very
Speaker 3: chaotic person and a lot's going on. But it wasn't
Speaker 3: because she was queer. Wasn't because this experience was with
Speaker 3: a girl for the first time, and any of those
Speaker 3: topics they were embraced with curiosity, and Kitty starts the
Speaker 3: season being very excited about it and like, this is
Speaker 3: a new part of who I am and I just
Speaker 3: discovered this, and I want to see what that is like,
Speaker 3: and I want to explore that in my life and
Speaker 3: I want to try dating girls like that.
Speaker 2: That whole storyline.
Speaker 3: Does in an angle of love and curiosity, as well
Speaker 3: as the people in Kitty's life also embrace it. I
Speaker 3: think it's like equally important to have stories in media
Speaker 3: where there might be a struggle with that, because that
Speaker 3: is so often.
Speaker 2: The case, unfortunately.
Speaker 3: But it's also so special to see when it's not,
Speaker 3: when everyone in her life is like, cool, this is
Speaker 3: great and this is a part of who you are.
Speaker 3: When we get to see so many characters just accept it,
Speaker 3: I think that's really really special to see it as
Speaker 3: something positive.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think sometimes the story
Speaker 1: for the queer community is a lot of doom and
Speaker 1: gloom exactly and you know that is valid, but there's
Speaker 1: also so much more than that. And I think the
Speaker 1: way your show just normalizes it and make it such
Speaker 1: makes it such a beautiful part of her journey is rare.
Speaker 2: And special, you know, totally.
Speaker 1: Okay, we got to talk about this for a minute. Yes,
Speaker 1: And this is a spoiler alert, So if you haven't
Speaker 1: watched us yet, well what are you doing? Like, go
Speaker 1: watch it? But the end of season two, you and
Speaker 1: me and ho yep are together. You don't kiss? No,
Speaker 1: were you supportive of that decision because a lot of
Speaker 1: people thought there should or might be a kiss.
Speaker 2: There are a lot of comments saying where was the kiss?
Speaker 3: There's a lot of tiktoks of people like screaming in
Speaker 3: their living rooms over this, which honestly brings me joy.
Speaker 2: But I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think there is something special about like Kitty was
Speaker 3: really taking taking like her time with her heart, I guess,
Speaker 3: and figuring out what she wanted and what she needs
Speaker 3: right now. And I love that we took the time
Speaker 3: with that and explore kind of different areas to get
Speaker 3: to that at the end of the season, and to
Speaker 3: get to her and Mino, which a lot of fans
Speaker 3: really excited about, which is really cool to see. But
Speaker 3: I think, you know, if we're lucky enough to do
Speaker 3: season three, we got to save something, we gotta say
Speaker 3: something people to look forward to. And I really liked
Speaker 3: their relationships this season. I think it really blossomed a lot,
Speaker 3: and you got to see their true friendship, which was
Speaker 3: really cool, and you know, showing up for Kitty in
Speaker 3: a lot of ways, and Kitty getting to be vulnerable
Speaker 3: in front of him, and I really like where that went.
Speaker 3: And I think a lot of our scenes are some
Speaker 3: of my favorites. So I'm glad people or feeling the
Speaker 3: same way.
Speaker 1: Is working with him just a dream. I mean, you
Speaker 1: two have such great chemistry and it feels like a
Speaker 1: true friendship totally.
Speaker 3: I think it was really cool this season to see
Speaker 3: how different it felt in season one, because season one,
Speaker 3: we're all meeting each other for the very first time,
Speaker 3: and you're jumping into this big, crazy scenario together and
Speaker 3: you're figuring it out. And for him, it was his
Speaker 3: first show for season one and he'd never acted before,
Speaker 3: which was amazing, and he killed it. But this time
Speaker 3: we were so much more comfortable to each other, of course,
Speaker 3: and we knew to her so well and I have
Speaker 3: so much love for him, and specifically doing the dream
Speaker 3: sequence scenes, I think it made it very clear for
Speaker 3: us that season one, the dream sequence, I gotta be honest,
Speaker 3: it was very stressful. We were very stress We want
Speaker 3: to make sure it was right. It felt awkward, it
Speaker 3: was weird. Obviously, sometimes it's like intimate scenes can be
Speaker 3: a little stressful, especially when you haven't shot something like
Speaker 3: that before. And then this season, doing our dream sequence,
Speaker 3: we were like literally dying of laughter. We had to
Speaker 3: keep cutting because we kept looking at those eyes and
Speaker 3: then just laughing because now it's someone that you're so
Speaker 3: close to and you have so much love for, and
Speaker 3: it just felt so different that I that helps a lot,
Speaker 3: and you can see it on camera that our chemistry
Speaker 3: is there and our closeness is there, So it helps
Speaker 3: a lot.
Speaker 1: So for season three if one comes around, which I mean,
Speaker 1: why when't it? What's something you want to see that
Speaker 1: maybe you haven't shared yet.
Speaker 3: Oh okay, this is kind of funny, but our whole
Speaker 3: cast has talked about this.
Speaker 2: I want to do a musical episode. I think it
Speaker 2: would be so fun.
Speaker 1: Do you sing well?
Speaker 2: I really would love to say yes.
Speaker 3: I'm not the most confidence singer, but I think it's
Speaker 3: so fun. I think a lot of our castmates are
Speaker 3: incredible singers. So maybe Kitty's like the one who's just
Speaker 3: dancing and like not singing as much. But we have
Speaker 3: so many singers on our cast, and like Reagan's a rapper,
Speaker 3: and we have so many talented people. A lot of
Speaker 3: people dance as well that I'm like, this would be
Speaker 3: so fun. I think it suits the show. Like I
Speaker 3: can just picture it, like Kitty bumps your head and
Speaker 3: now we're like in dream sequence land and then everybody's
Speaker 3: singing and like dancing the cafeteria, Like I want to
Speaker 3: have the highest musical moment where we're like at the
Speaker 3: Kiss cafeteria dancing on the hallways.
Speaker 2: I think it suits it. I'm here for it to
Speaker 2: the showrunners, you know.
Speaker 1: Like we're going to get you in singing shape. We're
Speaker 1: gonna make it happen. No, no, auto t like we're
Speaker 1: just gonna go for it.
Speaker 2: You gotta start training, yes, but you dance?
Speaker 3: No?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Well I have, Like I used to dance a lot
Speaker 3: in high school and I haven't done it as much recently,
Speaker 3: but I did competitive like hip hop in high school,
Speaker 3: and then I did Descendants, which was so fun. Getting
Speaker 3: to explore like musical type of acting and type of
Speaker 3: filming was just like that's a whole other element of magic,
Speaker 3: and rehearsals was so much fun. So I would love
Speaker 3: to get back into that space. And I think this
Speaker 3: show would be so good for it.
Speaker 1: You know what, I'm putting it out in the air
Speaker 1: for you. We're gonna manifest it right now, a musical episode.
Speaker 1: I'm here for it. You had some amazing cameos this
Speaker 1: season in the show. The big question is will Lana
Speaker 1: make an appearance in a potential season three? Have you
Speaker 1: already been like blowing her up on the texting like, girl,
Speaker 1: you gotta come on, what's what's happening? What's the status?
Speaker 2: I think that would be so fun.
Speaker 3: I mean, I have no idea what the future of
Speaker 3: the show really looks like, but Lana is killing it
Speaker 3: and is booked and busy all the time, so we
Speaker 3: would be so lucky to have her.
Speaker 2: But yeah, we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: Were you surprised at the cameos to see you knew
Speaker 1: they were coming?
Speaker 2: I was, I didn't know they were coming.
Speaker 3: Now I found out pretty last minute, like just a
Speaker 3: few weeks before we were shooting that Noah was going
Speaker 3: to be there.
Speaker 2: I texted him and I was so so excited.
Speaker 3: And was so great to see him, and say, with Janelle,
Speaker 3: I found out like really close to the time that
Speaker 3: we were shooting that episode, and I love her so
Speaker 3: much and i'd seen her more recently, so it was
Speaker 3: so great to work with them again.
Speaker 1: Oh, that was such a nice little breadcrumb for the
Speaker 1: fans who loved the movies.
Speaker 2: You know, I love seeing their comparisons.
Speaker 3: I've seen a lot of videos of like Peter and
Speaker 3: Kitty in the movies and then Peter and Kitty now
Speaker 3: are like comparing our run to her hug and then
Speaker 3: our run to her hug, and like it's so like
Speaker 3: nostalgic for me to see it as well. It's crazy
Speaker 3: because I was me and Noah figured this out, which
Speaker 3: was really strange. But I am the age that Noah
Speaker 3: was in the first movie, and that just like, I
Speaker 3: don't know, it trips me out because at the time
Speaker 3: I thought he was so old. I was like, you
Speaker 3: are an adult, you have your life figured out. I'm
Speaker 3: like he was my age. Like during the first movie.
Speaker 2: He was twenty one.
Speaker 3: Wow, and that's so full circle that now I'm at
Speaker 3: that stage of my life.
Speaker 1: That's so cool. Oh my god. You should be so
Speaker 1: proud of everything you've come at your age and what
Speaker 1: you've done and the person you seemingly you know, have
Speaker 1: have seemed to hold on to throughout all of this
Speaker 1: for you is rare. It's not easy. I mean, do
Speaker 1: you have days where you're like, oh my god, Like
Speaker 1: I am at this point in my life and I've
Speaker 1: accomplished so much, Like do you view yourself as successful?
Speaker 3: I think I'm like learning to try and give myself
Speaker 3: credit more often. I think I often can fall into
Speaker 3: like I'm just lucky to be here. I don't know
Speaker 3: how I got here. I'm like, really not that cool.
Speaker 3: I've been talking about with my family like a lot
Speaker 3: this week. We've been doing a lot of press, and
Speaker 3: there's a lot of attention on the show right now.
Speaker 3: I'm always like how like me, like, how am I here?
Speaker 3: And I'm like, I think that's just like the classic
Speaker 3: imposter syndrome that I know a lot of my friends
Speaker 3: have experienced as well, when you're doing something that you
Speaker 3: still can't process that you're doing because it just feels
Speaker 3: like something you still look up to and something that
Speaker 3: felt so like out of reach that it is hard
Speaker 3: to take a moment to be like, no, you're You're
Speaker 3: allowed to own your accomplishments and know that you got
Speaker 3: here because of hard work and because you deserve it.
Speaker 3: And that fine balance coming back to the whole like
Speaker 3: wanting to be humble and wanting to be like aware
Speaker 3: of that, but also still taking up that space and
Speaker 3: knowing that you deserve it is such a tough balance,
Speaker 3: and I think I'm often like in fear of looking
Speaker 3: conceited or sounding like I think I'm all that, and
Speaker 3: that can sometime take away from also just knowing that
Speaker 3: you deserve this and taking up space where you deserve to.
Speaker 2: So I'm very much in the process of figuring that out.
Speaker 1: Okay, all right, Well, at least you're recognizing that you
Speaker 1: deserve a seat at the table and everything that's come
Speaker 1: your way as well deserved, And I mean, for what
Speaker 1: it is worth, I think you're gonna have a career
Speaker 1: for decades and decades and decades to come. Is there
Speaker 1: a dream project for you, a dream role, a dream project,
Speaker 1: a remake you would want to do?
Speaker 2: Oh, my god, I have so many dreams. My dream
Speaker 2: list is.
Speaker 1: Very before out come on, Let's go.
Speaker 3: I think one thing that I'm really dying to explore
Speaker 3: is like a subtle kind of acting where so many
Speaker 3: of the things that I've done recently, like XO Kitties
Speaker 3: not acessarily in like regular life like it's very like
Speaker 3: theatrical at moments, and it's it's fun and it's campy
Speaker 3: at times, and there's k drama to it that it
Speaker 3: doesn't feel like the style of acting where you're trying
Speaker 3: to emulate like very realistic tone, very realistic timing, And
Speaker 3: I think that's just such a cool, like artistic form
Speaker 3: that I love watching. I think it'd be really fun
Speaker 3: to do something in like a just a different like
Speaker 3: style where it feels very realistic.
Speaker 2: But on the opposite end of that, back.
Speaker 3: To musicals, I love musicals, and I definitely to like
Speaker 3: get on my singing training if I'm going to.
Speaker 2: Tell the world that I wanted musicals.
Speaker 3: But the dream dream, truly, I don't know if you've
Speaker 3: watched Tick Tack Boom is Andrew Garfield, he was not
Speaker 3: a singer. He was not a singer, and then lin
Speaker 3: Manuel Miranda trained this man for months and then he
Speaker 3: became a singer and then he was the lead in
Speaker 3: a musical. And I think Andrew Garfield is the coolest
Speaker 3: person ever.
Speaker 2: But I'm like that that right there is the dream
Speaker 2: I would love to do.
Speaker 3: That I would love to try, and I don't train
Speaker 3: that part of this art and then do a musical
Speaker 3: one day?
Speaker 1: Which musical? Which musical?
Speaker 3: Come?
Speaker 1: Come on?
Speaker 2: Talk to heanyk god? Okay?
Speaker 3: Well, as a fan, my favorite musical of life is
Speaker 3: Dear Evan Hansen.
Speaker 2: I'm just so obsessed. It's literally yes.
Speaker 3: I saw it the reopening night of it after COVID
Speaker 3: in New York and I was just sobbing and I
Speaker 3: very rarely cry when watching something and I was like
Speaker 3: just a complete mess. I was wearing a mask, it
Speaker 3: was COVID. The whole thing was just like soaked through.
Speaker 2: But what I want to be And I love Hairspray.
Speaker 2: I mean, hairstre would be so fun.
Speaker 3: I think Penny, the role of Penny and Hairspray is like,
Speaker 3: I don't know, I just see myself in that energy.
Speaker 3: I think it'd be so much fun to do, so
Speaker 3: who knows, maybe Limentlal Miranda will call me up one day.
Speaker 2: That's the dream.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know what, he might listen and there were
Speaker 1: listening hit me up. There we go, There we go.
Speaker 1: So as we wrap up, the name of the show
Speaker 1: is called I've never said this before? Yes, And I
Speaker 1: ask every guest this question. I work a lot of
Speaker 1: red carpets and you know, junkets, which you get three minutes,
Speaker 1: six minutes with somebody's not enough time to have a
Speaker 1: real conversation. They're important, But you know, I love this.
Speaker 1: I love sitting down with someone for half an hour
Speaker 1: and really getting to talk about all things and bouncing
Speaker 1: around and seeing where it goes. And I just think
Speaker 1: that's so fulfilling. So I asked this question for people
Speaker 1: to have the opportunity to share something whatever that means
Speaker 1: to them that they want to share that maybe in
Speaker 1: those moments they don't always get to talk about. So
Speaker 1: what is one thing that you've never said before?
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie. I thought about this a lot
Speaker 2: before this interview. I was like, what am I to say?
Speaker 3: Do?
Speaker 2: I want to be like light, I want to be serious.
Speaker 2: I was like asking my whole family, my team, like
Speaker 2: all days yow. I was like, what do I what
Speaker 2: do I say?
Speaker 3: And I, through this process of thinking hard about his answer,
Speaker 3: I like.
Speaker 2: Sparked a deep core memory.
Speaker 3: I don't think I've ever shared this before, and I
Speaker 3: think fans would be really interested to know, but I
Speaker 3: have never said that. At the very beginning, Xokitty, originally
Speaker 3: it wasn't even called Xokitty yet. It was just the
Speaker 3: Kitty spin off was going to be based tot Adler
Speaker 3: High which is the high school that Noah or that
Speaker 3: Peter and Larajane go to, and it was going to
Speaker 3: be based in Portland. It was just gonna be Kitty
Speaker 3: going to that high school, and we had a whole
Speaker 3: plotline kind of figured out. Then at one point we
Speaker 3: moved along from that, and then it was going to
Speaker 3: be based in Europe and Kitty was going to go
Speaker 3: to international school in Europe. And for a while that
Speaker 3: was the plan and that was what the show was
Speaker 3: going to be, and then months later it turned into
Speaker 3: Soeul and then everyone was really excited about that idea.
Speaker 3: And I had kind of just been told these different
Speaker 3: concepts and people were bouncing them around. And it also
Speaker 3: been so many years of like the possibilities and figuring
Speaker 3: it out until it actually became real. But yeah, then
Speaker 3: we landed in Kiss in Seoul, But for a long time,
Speaker 3: it was not supposed to be that, and I don't
Speaker 3: think that was ever shared by anybody, So I hope
Speaker 3: fans find the interesting.
Speaker 1: So what do you think was a deciding factor?
Speaker 4: I don't know.
Speaker 3: I think the family connection of figuring out that that
Speaker 3: would be a really cool storyline to explore Kitty finding
Speaker 3: out about her mom and figuring out all these unanswered
Speaker 3: questions that because her mom passed away when she was
Speaker 3: so little and she has a very distant relationship from
Speaker 3: her compared to her other sisters, having that aspect as
Speaker 3: a part of the show wouldn't have really been able
Speaker 3: to exist in these other localeations. So Soul really brought
Speaker 3: that family part, and I think everyone.
Speaker 2: Was really happy about that. So we went with it,
Speaker 2: and I'm so happy we did.
Speaker 3: But I find it so interesting that shows can go
Speaker 3: in so many different iterations in the preparing process.
Speaker 1: And what was that process from those ideas bouncing around
Speaker 1: to landing on where it is today? Like, how long
Speaker 1: did you know about this project before it actually started
Speaker 1: coming to fruition.
Speaker 3: Yeah, when we were shooting the third movie, it was
Speaker 3: brought up, but that was when I was still thinking
Speaker 3: it was like a joke, Like I honestly did not
Speaker 3: think it was real. And then when the second to
Speaker 3: All the Boys movie premiered right around that time, that's
Speaker 3: when it became official that it was like, contracts are real.
Speaker 3: This is a genuine thing that is going to happen.
Speaker 3: Casting is going to start at some point. And then
Speaker 3: that was twenty twenty, and then it took a while
Speaker 3: until we were actually on our feet. But it's crazy
Speaker 3: to think about the whole process.
Speaker 1: That's amazing that got it turned out to be what
Speaker 1: it is, because I don't know if it would have
Speaker 1: been the same totally. You know, Yeah, I agree, Oh
Speaker 1: my god, And I'm having so much fun with you.
Speaker 1: I don't often get Mom in a room right now,
Speaker 1: so I want Mom to come here first. Oh my god,
Speaker 1: I guess I'm gonna ask mom a question as we
Speaker 1: wrap this. Mom, get over here.
Speaker 2: This is so exciting.
Speaker 1: All right, mom, My question for you is what is
Speaker 1: the question what are you the most proud of When
Speaker 1: you look at your daughter?
Speaker 3: Oh, she's gonna cry, I am, Oh my god, she's
Speaker 3: already gonna cry.
Speaker 2: Her Oh so many things. I guess I'm.
Speaker 4: The most proud of how she stayed grounded out of
Speaker 4: all this stardom and all this attention she's getting. And
Speaker 4: she's just my little Anna, and she's so sweet and
Speaker 4: down to earth, and yeah, my husband and I, her
Speaker 4: dad and I are so proud of her.
Speaker 1: Thank you having fun well, Anna, it has been a pleasure.
Speaker 1: Tell everybody how to watch your season two of your show.
Speaker 3: Yes, Exo Kidy Season two is officially out on Netflix,
Speaker 3: so go watch it, and I hope you come.
Speaker 1: Back when season three comes out, because it's going to happen,
Speaker 1: and you're welcome back anytime.
Speaker 2: Appreciate it was so great talking to you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Thank you. I've Never Said This
Speaker 1: Before is hosted by me Tommy Dedario. This podcast is
Speaker 1: executive produced by Andrew Puglisi at iHeartRadio and by me Tommy,
Speaker 1: with editing by Joshua Colaudney. I've Never Said This Before
Speaker 1: is part of the Elvis Duran podcast Network on iHeart Podcasts.
Speaker 1: For more, rate review and subscribe to our show. And
Speaker 1: if you liked this episode, tell your friends. Until next time.
Speaker 1: I'm Tommy Dedario.