WEBVTT - One on One: Adam Shapiro 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:17.520 I am all in. Oh just you, I am all 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.160 in with Scott Patterson and I Heart Radio podcast. Hey, 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:24.000 everybody's Scott Patterson. I Am all in Podcast. One on 0:00:24.000 --> 0:00:28.400 one interview with Adam Shapiro. Adam is an actor and 0:00:28.480 --> 0:00:31.600 he appeared on one episode of Gilmore Girls as Sugarman, 0:00:31.720 --> 0:00:35.680 Season four, episode five, The Fundamental Things Apply. Uh. He's 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:40.040 an actor and director from Philadelphia, my hometown, known for 0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.000 the film Steve Jobs, TV shows Never Have I Ever 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:46.800 on Netflix and The Affair. He's been married to Katie 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:48.839 Lows since two thousand and twelve. They have two children, 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.600 and recently, during the pandemic, Adam and his wife started 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:54.920 a pretzel company. When Katie was co hosting Live with 0:00:55.000 --> 0:00:58.640 Kelly and Ryan, she mentioned her husband's prenzel obsession to 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:01.560 host Ryan Seacrest. Next day, the first of many citywide 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.040 deliveries came to see christ door. After just one bite, 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:09.200 the man was hooked and the on air Rave reviews 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:13.560 ensued with that shappy Pretzel company was off to the 0:01:13.680 --> 0:01:17.080 races and I bring Let's bring him in. Now let's 0:01:17.120 --> 0:01:20.080 talk to Adam Shapiro. Adam, Hello, welcome to the show. 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:26.160 How are you, Yeah, baby, I'm good. So first and foremost, 0:01:26.160 --> 0:01:28.119 tell us how you got the job. First of all, 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:30.720 was the audition process, Like, for you, how did I 0:01:30.800 --> 0:01:33.760 get the job on Gilma? All right? So one of 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:37.840 the things about Gilma, it was my first audition I 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.880 ever booked. I had a line on one television show 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:43.600 when I was a p A on The Andy Dick 0:01:43.640 --> 0:01:49.320 Show while I was in college, and and that was 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.200 that wasn't you know. I didn't audition for that of 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:55.480 It's just like who you put your walkie talking down 0:01:55.480 --> 0:01:58.760 and go say this line on the show. Yes, I'm 0:01:58.760 --> 0:02:03.120 gonna get my SAG card, you know. Gilmore Girls, I 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:08.680 think was my first audition that I booked, um and um. 0:02:09.560 --> 0:02:12.200 I just it was just just straight go to the 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:16.840 audition with a bunch of dudes show up. So it 0:02:17.120 --> 0:02:20.000 was it was like my first time really on a set, 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:24.640 um and first time really doing the whole thing, you know. 0:02:24.680 --> 0:02:27.200 Like I remember I showed up to the to the 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:32.519 wardrobe fitting and I was wearing a Temple Basketball T 0:02:32.639 --> 0:02:37.639 shirt that's like my favorite team guy and it said 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:41.600 winning as an Attitude coach John Cheney Temple Basketball or whatever, 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:46.399 and the I forget if it was the costume designer 0:02:46.639 --> 0:02:49.760 or maybe an assistance. She was like, I went to Temple. 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.560 That's so crazy that you're wearing that shirt. You should 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.160 wear it on the show. On the show, I am 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:59.520 wearing a Temple basketball shirt that says winning as an 0:02:59.520 --> 0:03:03.519 attitude and they just sort of pinned my overshirt over 0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:08.840 the logo and I have that a picture screen grab 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:12.680 of me wearing that shirt, signed by Temple basketball coach 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.880 John Cheney. Wow. So that was a big you know, 0:03:16.960 --> 0:03:19.000 for my first time really on TV, to be able 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.480 to represent my favorite team like that. So you were 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:26.480 part yeah, the Temple Owls, the legend of the Temple Owls. 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:28.760 You were. So you were part of the breakfast crew 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:33.560 at Yale when Rory uh went in there in her 0:03:33.600 --> 0:03:37.440 pajamas and her slippers. Do you what do you remember 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:40.240 about that day? Filming? That day? All right? Funny? Well 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.440 so uh. The actor sitting next to me is Ethan Cone, 0:03:44.560 --> 0:03:49.040 who I'm still good friends with. Love that man, Um, 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.320 I remember, you know, it's so funny now, I mean 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:55.000 it's its twenty years, Like, how long is it go? 0:03:55.160 --> 0:03:57.640 When did we shoot this? This is two thousands, so 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.400 eighteen nineteen years ago? Thanks years ago? So I you know, 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:04.240 it is so much harder to be in a scene 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:06.360 with one line than it is to be in a 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:09.840 scene with like fifty lines, you know, and you know 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:13.000 my line and in that in that episode is nice 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:16.719 bunny shoes. That is That's it. I just say nice 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:25.520 bunny shoes. And all I remember was trying two um 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:28.080 not just not mess up the whole scene with my 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:31.440 one line. And the hard part about the one line 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.880 thing is you have to like act like you're not 0:04:33.920 --> 0:04:35.920 just sitting there waiting for your line when that is 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:42.960 all you are doing. All you are doing that you 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:46.120 have to live. You have to live that reality every 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:49.159 moment of that scene in order to for people to 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.920 believe your one line get all the way to get 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:55.480 all And you know, the other thing was is I 0:04:55.880 --> 0:04:58.000 you know, I come from theater. I had never done 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:02.320 a TV show, so I was completely unaware of like 0:05:02.400 --> 0:05:06.520 where the cameras were, what that what my eye line was, 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.359 so I couldn't. I remember not being able to see 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:14.760 her money shoes, but having to say nice bunny shoes, 0:05:15.880 --> 0:05:18.240 and I kept standing up so that I could see 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:22.479 her money shoes with my and I remember the director 0:05:22.560 --> 0:05:25.960 being like, just you're you're you're stepping out of frame. 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:30.000 You're down, and stay nice monny shoes and move on. 0:05:30.160 --> 0:05:31.839 And you know, I was trying to make up total 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:36.560 meal out of it, and so I remember that really well. 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:41.760 I remember Alexis being really wonderful, and I remember her 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:47.719 saying she was like right here, she covered my face 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:51.040 and she was like, you look exactly like my low 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.960 in your like eyes. Oh my gosh, let me say, 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.000 let me say, let me say that. I don't, I don't, 0:05:57.680 --> 0:05:59.800 I don't see it. Hang no, no, do it? Do it? 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:05.960 Do it? Do open your eyes. You're squinting kind of 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:08.240 I'm a squinter. I don't know what. She was like, 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:10.920 you look you got And then he came on set 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:14.160 to visit. I don't know, maybe they were dating or 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:15.680 something at the time. I don't know, but but it 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:20.760 was like, um, and then I met him, and then 0:06:20.800 --> 0:06:25.200 I remember it was also like around I forget exactly 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.680 when we were shooting the episode, but um, I had 0:06:28.720 --> 0:06:32.400 gone to a passover sader. It was my first passover 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:36.599 statter in Los Angeles, and it was at Marta Kaufman's house, 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.520 who we all know is the producer of Friends, creator 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.320 and producer of Friends and I went with some family 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.160 friends of mine who were like, oh, you should come 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:48.880 to our satire and it just happened to be at 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.400 MARTA's house and it happened to be one of the 0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:52.599 coolest things, like to to date that I've been to 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:55.080 because it was just such an amazing group of people. 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:59.440 And um. She said to me, Hey, if you're ever 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:04.119 on the Warner Brothers lot, come come over to Friends 0:07:04.160 --> 0:07:08.560 and say hi. Now, like twenty years later, I now 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:12.160 know that means like you're you know what I mean? Like, 0:07:12.720 --> 0:07:14.560 I don't know if she meant to knock on the 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.880 door friends the moment I was on the Warner Brothers 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.360 law and asked for her, but that's what I did. 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:24.320 So we broke for lunch at Gilmore Girls and I 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:28.120 walked to the Friends stage and I knocked on the 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:32.720 door and this was like the peak of friends um 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:38.200 insanity and I UM and a big security guard came 0:07:38.200 --> 0:07:39.920 out and was like, who are you And I was like, Hey, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.080 I'm Adam Shapiro. Marta invited me to just come by 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.520 anytime I was on the Warner Brothers lot, and uh, 0:07:47.640 --> 0:07:50.320 you know he he like whired. He got all the 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.120 way to Marta whatever and they were like, yep, come 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:54.480 on in. And I walked in, and I walked through 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.480 the sort of backstage area and I go through a 0:07:57.480 --> 0:07:59.480 door and I'm sitting in the central perk on a 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:05.360 couch with entire cast in rehearsals. And Martha comes out 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:07.480 and says hi and introducing me the whole cast, and 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:12.160 I was just like, you know, this is my first 0:08:12.280 --> 0:08:14.360 day on a TV show and now I'm on another 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:17.640 set and it's friends and I'm in the middle of 0:08:17.680 --> 0:08:20.600 the cast on stage. I mean, it was just such 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:25.160 a ridiculously impactful, epic day for me. You were two 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:28.160 time in this man. I was completely too you were 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:31.880 too time. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe my luck. 0:08:32.400 --> 0:08:34.280 I had a line on a TV show and I 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:36.920 was on stage and they they came. They came to 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:39.960 find you during lunch to offer you more so, just 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:42.120 where is his overt? Friends? And you almost screw that. 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.880 I also learned that they're important lesson that actors need 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.679 to eat first and eat quickly so that they can 0:08:49.440 --> 0:08:51.360 get back into hair and makeup and be ready once 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:53.440 the cruise done their lunches, and I kind of all 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.000 that up. Oh how it just took too long because 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.520 I wasn't friends the whole lunch and I came back like, oh, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.040 now I can get lunch, and they were like, that's 0:09:03.040 --> 0:09:06.240 not how lunch works. Man. You gotta when it's lunchtime, 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.679 you get out of whatever you're gonna stay in, and 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:10.480 you move on and you get in lunch. And if 0:09:10.480 --> 0:09:13.120 there's a huge line of crew guys, they put you 0:09:13.160 --> 0:09:15.160 in the front. And I'm always like, no, don't put 0:09:15.200 --> 0:09:16.679 me in the front. They're like, we're not putting you 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.440 in the front because we think you're so spec you're 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:23.440 gonna get it, because because we're really special and we 0:09:23.520 --> 0:09:25.880 control everything, and we we don't want to pay extra 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:27.920 because it took you too long to this is what 0:09:27.960 --> 0:09:30.320 I'm talking about. It's the same with the chair. You know, 0:09:30.360 --> 0:09:32.280 you're like, oh, I'm an actor. I get the chair 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:33.920 and it says Adams appear on the back of the 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:38.320 chair that chairs a crib. It's a crib for the baby, 0:09:39.360 --> 0:09:42.200 and so they know where the baby is and when 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.040 the bonus time for the baby to get up, they 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:45.480 can go over to the crib and then be like, 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:48.520 all right, Adam, are ready for you. It's not because 0:09:48.840 --> 0:09:52.520 they want you to be comfortable, you know. Um, that's 0:09:52.520 --> 0:09:54.160 what I remember from the day. It was a pretty 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:59.560 epic day. So how long before Gilmore? Uh, had you 0:09:59.600 --> 0:10:04.120 move from Philadelphia to l A? About a year? A 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:07.439 year or so I moved, um to l A. I 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:08.959 didn't know if I want to be an actor, just 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.760 work in Hollywood. I've met with a really great talent 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:19.120 manager named Connie Tavill And Um, she was from Philly 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.920 and she we had some Philly connections, and she was 0:10:23.040 --> 0:10:25.120 the first person I met when I moved to Hollywood. 0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:28.480 And she was like, listen, I think you've got the 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:31.800 personality to be an actor. I think you you you 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:35.480 seem to be. You know that you want this, and 0:10:35.480 --> 0:10:38.240 and you come from a good family and he seems 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:41.600 like they're supporting you with this. And UM, what I 0:10:41.640 --> 0:10:44.199 would suggest for you, my piece of advice for you 0:10:44.240 --> 0:10:48.200 would be forget about acting for one year. Take one 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:50.480 year in l A and be an assistant to like 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:56.040 an agent or a manager, and learn the business of acting. 0:10:56.400 --> 0:10:59.320 Understand why people get cast, why they don't get cast, 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.800 How actors who are self destructive kind of ruin their 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:07.679 own careers, How actors that are really self starters can 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.120 like give themselves a really big boost, like find out 0:11:11.160 --> 0:11:14.320 what it takes so that when you do become an actor, 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:18.000 you've got a foundation of like how this business actually works. 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:24.120 And because it's a marathon, it's not a sprint. And 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.920 she's like, I think if you just jump into trying 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.320 to get an audition right now, hey, you're not going 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.040 to get one. You don't have a resume, you don't 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:35.640 have a real you don't have any experience or an agent. Uh, 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:39.040 you're gonna have a really rough first year and you're 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:41.400 finally going to squeak into a couple auditions at some point, 0:11:41.400 --> 0:11:42.839 and you're not gonna get it, and you're gonna take 0:11:42.840 --> 0:11:45.600 it really personally and you're not gonna understand how this 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.600 all works. So I did that, and I was an 0:11:47.600 --> 0:11:51.240 assistant to a manager for a year. Which manager can 0:11:51.280 --> 0:11:55.920 you say? Yeah, his name was Ted Shackter. He's still 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.840 a big old manager with a bunch of clients. I 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:02.400 see him all the time. Wonderful guy. It and uh, 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:06.360 he had a partner um that I was kind of 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.560 like his partner's assistant, But the partner was like a 0:12:09.600 --> 0:12:13.520 total dead dead beat, Like you gotta run out of 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:19.319 Town long Ago, Um, for probably seven thousand different reasons. Um. 0:12:20.679 --> 0:12:23.959 But the good part about that guy really never showing 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:25.600 up to work and not doing his job is I 0:12:25.640 --> 0:12:27.920 got to do his job a lot. You know. It's 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:29.600 a very low paid intern, but I got to do 0:12:29.640 --> 0:12:32.120 the job of a manager. And I got really close 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.960 with a bunch of actors who I'm still really good 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:37.400 friends with them, like Ken Marino I ran into the 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.640 other day, and Ken Mitchell and Lawrence Dimile and Joe Latrulio, 0:12:41.880 --> 0:12:45.160 and like I can like list off my clients from 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:50.400 that year, and uh Eddie Jamison and Frank John Hughes, 0:12:50.559 --> 0:12:53.360 and I remember going through all the trials and tribulations 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:58.160 of their own sort of casting and and auditions and 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.400 and getting to watch how they all did it. Like, 0:13:01.760 --> 0:13:06.360 you know, uh, David Hornsby just one of the executive 0:13:06.360 --> 0:13:08.880 brisions of Always Studding in Philadelphia and one of the 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.680 actors on Mythic Quest. He's incredible, And I got to 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:16.680 like watch that kid go from college to like killing it, 0:13:17.400 --> 0:13:19.679 and he was a huge inspiration for me. Anyway, at 0:13:19.679 --> 0:13:22.640 the end of that whole year, I quit that job 0:13:23.559 --> 0:13:26.440 and I got a commercial agent, and I immediately booked 0:13:26.440 --> 0:13:29.800 like a T Mobile campaign where I it was all 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.120 improv and I was like, yo, it's Adam Shapiro. I 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.480 want a road trip. And I went on this like 0:13:34.559 --> 0:13:37.240 road trip around the country with my like T mobile 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:42.280 cell service. That was great anywhere you are in the country. 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.560 This was like two thousand three or whatever. And and 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.560 then that commercial sort of like quickly sort of put 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:53.520 me on the mat. It just gave me something to show. 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.559 And that manager, Connie who gave me that advice, was like, hey, 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:59.680 with this commercial, I can start, I can get you 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:02.360 some up. And so she started representing me and she 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:07.439 sent me out for Gilmore Girls. Fantastic. Yeah, I mean 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.440 that's kind of you know, it sounds like a very 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:13.320 traditional path. You know. You come out here, you get 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.920 a manager, you get involved, you get a commercial, you 0:14:16.000 --> 0:14:20.680 start building. Yeah, just start building, like yeah, yeah, you don't. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:23.760 You know it's people just don't come into town and 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:25.360 all of a sudden, bab boom they're in a big 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:28.160 feature film. I mean that happens, that happens once every 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.640 ten years, seeing it happen to people. But yeah, that 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:38.360 is the rarest. It's very it's very very rare. I 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:45.040 also remember Wayne who plays I guess he was the guy. 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:48.160 He's the guy who brings. He's like in our Breakfast Club. 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:52.120 He was on the episode. I think he was like 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:55.680 running naked in the episode or the episode beforehand, like 0:14:55.920 --> 0:15:01.520 streaking through Yale. He was. I I remember seeing him 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:04.680 in the Rent movie and just being like, oh, so 0:15:04.800 --> 0:15:10.920 jealous he got that role. I had auditioned for that role, right, right, So, 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:16.080 of course you've had many roles since then. We can 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:18.600 talk about some of them. But but your wife, Kate 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:25.400 Katie Lows, is an actress, and how did you too meet? Yeah? So, um, 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:30.040 there's an actress name named Lindsay Kraft who's on Grayson 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:32.800 Frankie as well as a million other things. And um, 0:15:32.840 --> 0:15:36.520 we went to University of Maryland together. She when we graduated, 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:38.240 she went to New York to become an actor in 0:15:38.280 --> 0:15:41.400 New York. And I moved to l A. And about 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:46.320 a year or so, um, and or maybe two or 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.640 two or three years actually after I moved to l A. 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.320 She called me and said, hey, I auditioned against this 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.560 girl in New York and Katie Lows, and and you're 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:56.600 gonna You're gonna marry her. She's gonna move to l 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.840 A and you're gonna marry her? Like just wow, okay. 0:16:00.600 --> 0:16:04.880 And this was like pre social media too, so I 0:16:04.960 --> 0:16:07.040 was just like, okay, I don't know who she is 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:08.960 or what she looks like. You can't stalk her, you 0:16:09.000 --> 0:16:11.960 can't go on Instagram. Um. And then she ended up 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.080 moving to Los Angeles and we met at Lindsay's birthday 0:16:16.000 --> 0:16:20.400 her at the time, her her boyfriend's birthday party, and 0:16:20.400 --> 0:16:22.720 and then it was it was a weird courtship, but 0:16:22.840 --> 0:16:25.800 it happened. And then and then we got married ten 0:16:25.880 --> 0:16:30.480 years ago. Fantastic congratulation for like seventeen years or something 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:33.800 like that. Unbelievable. So and so she was co hosting 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:38.920 with Ryan Seacrest and she mentioned your pretzel business. Oh yeah, 0:16:38.960 --> 0:16:42.120 that's all started. Tell us about shappy pretzels. Tells us 0:16:42.280 --> 0:16:45.080 so this is the best. This is the best. So, 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.120 you know, she was doing Inventing Anna, which was a 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:51.480 Netflix series that was on last last season or I 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.600 don't know if you can even call things seasons anymore. 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:56.600 It was just on recently on Netflix. UM, and I 0:16:56.640 --> 0:16:59.880 was doing Never Have I Ever also for Netflix, and 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.200 the pandemic started and we had to just all sort 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:06.320 of come back together and move back into our house 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:09.480 in l A for a quarantine. We found out very 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.720 quickly after the lockdown started in March that she was 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:17.399 pregnant with our now two year old daughter, Vera and 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:21.080 uh and and are now five year old. Was was 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:24.639 was a two year old living in this quarantine with 0:17:24.840 --> 0:17:29.200 his parents in l A. And Katie's pregnant and really quarantined, 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:30.920 and she's like in the bedroom, She's like, I'll see 0:17:30.960 --> 0:17:32.639 you in nine months. I don't know what this is 0:17:32.640 --> 0:17:35.000 going to be like. And so I just started cooking 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:38.000 with my son and making him dishes from like places 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.159 that you know, his mom and I traveled before he 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:43.840 was born. And we were just googling dishes and Amazon 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:47.520 and ingredients and stuff to the house. And um, one 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:49.080 day I was like, what am I doing? I should 0:17:49.080 --> 0:17:52.280 be making a Philly pretzel for him. It's like, he's 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:55.040 too he needs to have his first Philadelphia pretzel. This 0:17:55.080 --> 0:17:58.840 is like what I grew up on. And um, and 0:17:58.880 --> 0:18:03.359 then I very quickly realized that like, there's not there's 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.879 no recipes for Philly pretzels online. It's not like a 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:11.600 thing that people make at home. And it's actually not 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:15.160 a thing people even eat outside of Philadelphia or like 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.960 New Jersey, parts of Delaware, maybe parts of New York. 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:23.760 It's a really regional cuisine and I am and so 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:27.280 I just started finding recipes for other soft pretzels and 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.679 then trying to make my own recipe for a Philly 0:18:30.680 --> 0:18:33.160 soft pretzel. And it was a few months of of 0:18:33.240 --> 0:18:36.040 really really shitty soft pretzels that I was making, and 0:18:36.080 --> 0:18:38.399 then one day I brought a batch out of the 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:40.679 oven and I bring in Katie to taste test, and 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:43.439 she's like, this is a Philip pretzel. This is a 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.000 great soft pretzel. And I'm like, right, this is like 0:18:46.480 --> 0:18:51.560 this is insane. Really, no one makes them. They're too prevalent. 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:54.919 It'd be like making a doughnut in Los Angeles. You 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.000 could just go right down the street and there's seven 0:18:57.040 --> 0:19:00.479 thousand donut shops in l A. Like, never waste your 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:02.960 time making a donut. And that's how it is in Philly, 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:04.879 Like no one makes these. You just go down the street. 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:06.840 You got your guy who sells pretzels on top of 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:10.080 a shopping car. You pick up a couple of pretzels, 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:13.160 you know, maybe like ten, bring him to wherever you're going. 0:19:14.160 --> 0:19:17.320 So I, Um, I start making him and I start 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.399 dropping them off to like Philly ex pats that live 0:19:20.440 --> 0:19:23.120 in l a that are stuck in their houses. And 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:26.560 then one day, uh, you know, Katie's had this job 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:31.159 ever since. Um we did Waitress together on Broadway, uh 0:19:31.359 --> 0:19:36.080 like four years ago, and and we had done Live 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.359 with Kelly and Ryan to promote the fact that we 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:40.760 were doing Waitress, and they were like, Katie, could you 0:19:40.840 --> 0:19:44.680 come back tomorrow and and co host with Ryan Kelly's out. 0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.560 Katie was just like, I've never done anything like that life. 0:19:48.560 --> 0:19:51.080 She does it, and now like four years later, she's 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:56.920 Kelly's like substitute. Really whatever. Whenever Kelly out, Katie jumps 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:58.760 on a plane ghost in New York and and and 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:04.280 does a few episodes Seacrest during the pandemic. Though when 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:06.880 she would fill in for for Kelly, it was a 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:12.120 live national broadcast live from our dining room via zoom, 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.480 just like you and I are doing right now. And um, 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:18.520 there was a day where Seacrests just randomly mentions to Katie, 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.199 what have you guys been snacking on during your your quarantine? 0:20:23.680 --> 0:20:25.639 And She's like, Oh, my husband's obsessed with trying to 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:27.679 make a Philly Pretzel. There was no company. There was 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:30.359 nothing at this point. I just jumped on TV and 0:20:30.400 --> 0:20:32.560 I was like, Yo, Ryan, I'm bringing you pretzels tomorrow. 0:20:33.080 --> 0:20:34.679 So I wake up at four in the morning, I 0:20:34.760 --> 0:20:36.680 make a batch. I bring it over to Seacrest House 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.480 in Santa Monica. He eats them on air the next 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:41.440 episode and he's like, these are the best pretzels ever. 0:20:41.440 --> 0:20:45.440 Everybody needs to buy Shappy's Pretzels. And I'm like, Shappy's Pretzels, 0:20:45.680 --> 0:20:48.040 it's just me and my two year old making them 0:20:48.040 --> 0:20:50.879 in my kitchen. Well, one thing led to another. I 0:20:50.920 --> 0:20:53.520 get the I get a website Shappy Petzel dot com 0:20:53.600 --> 0:20:55.840 just in case, and it just says, yo, your Mal's 0:20:55.840 --> 0:21:01.520 pretzel can go itself Shappy Pretzel and uh. It linked 0:21:01.520 --> 0:21:03.560 to an Instagram that said, hey, we're not an actual 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.520 pretzel company, but if we ever become one, we'll let 0:21:05.560 --> 0:21:08.560 you know. And then all of a sudden, I started 0:21:08.560 --> 0:21:10.760 like selling them like I was had a lemonade stand 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.400 at the bottom of my driveway. And then like the 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:18.159 news came, and then like the Hollywood Reporter and all 0:21:18.200 --> 0:21:21.240 these people started doing articles about it. And now two 0:21:21.240 --> 0:21:24.160 and a half years later, it's like a legit pretzel 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:27.680 biz with a baker that we do tons of catering 0:21:27.720 --> 0:21:31.560 for film sets and weddings and pop ups. It's awesome, fantastic, 0:21:31.640 --> 0:21:33.919 But for you, it's honestly like, I think, my my 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:37.080 favorite thing that's ever happened to me is this pretzel company. 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:42.719 It's really fun um So has auditioning or making pretzels 0:21:42.720 --> 0:21:45.080 taken up most of your time, so you're focusing on 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.679 the pretzel company. Well, the funny thing is, so I 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:50.440 just got during the pandemic, all I could do is 0:21:50.480 --> 0:21:52.800 the Pretzel company. It was awesome. It was the first 0:21:52.840 --> 0:21:55.240 time in my adult life that I didn't wake up 0:21:55.520 --> 0:21:57.960 with that sort of feeling that you as an actor, 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:00.199 you're like, I gotta get a job today. You like 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:03.840 that that constant, and I had gotten so used to 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:07.520 that feeling. It wasn't until the Lockdown, and I've talked 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:09.359 to a lot of actors about this, that it was 0:22:09.440 --> 0:22:13.359 like this sort of like weight off my shoulders, this 0:22:13.520 --> 0:22:20.040 like unbelievable relief. I hadn't even realized how much sort 0:22:20.040 --> 0:22:25.320 of daily pressure there is as as an actor, as 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:31.000 like an independent contractor actor, to just constantly hustle for 0:22:31.080 --> 0:22:35.520 that next role until I was told there's no auditions 0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:39.399 and nothing shoot it and nothing's on stage, and I 0:22:39.480 --> 0:22:42.560 was like, holy, it was like it opened up a 0:22:42.680 --> 0:22:46.240 huge space in my brain, you know, And within two 0:22:46.240 --> 0:22:48.399 months I had like a Pretzel company, you know what 0:22:48.480 --> 0:22:52.719 I mean. It was like unbelievable how much sort of 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:56.520 creative space opened up because of the pandemic for me, 0:22:56.720 --> 0:22:58.520