Speaker 1: Wind down and Michael and I'm radio podcast. All right,
Speaker 1: So this is a really fun episode because well for
Speaker 1: the tree Hillers, I mean for everybody, but for everybody.
Speaker 1: But it's like, you know, so many of your fans
Speaker 1: and following are tree Hillers, and they're loyal, so they're
Speaker 1: always wanting to hear from former cast mates from the show.
Speaker 1: And we have two awesome, awesome guys to Yeah, we're
Speaker 1: going to have James Lafferty and Stephen COLLETTI um coming
Speaker 1: on the show because they've got a new show on
Speaker 1: Hulu right now. Um. Everyone's doing great. It's a really
Speaker 1: really good show. So um, I'm excited to talk to
Speaker 1: those dudes. But how are you feeling. We're about to
Speaker 1: go to Canada this week? We are, I'm I'm excited.
Speaker 1: I'm excited for the change. I'm excited for as we're
Speaker 1: just as sounds. It's kind of a sense of normalcy,
Speaker 1: right because we're used to traveling, were used to like
Speaker 1: going places and doing things. So and Jason has become
Speaker 1: such I mean the kids O. But Jason really is
Speaker 1: a homebody because he's not used to traveling. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: go anywhere in two seconds out He's like home home. Yeah,
Speaker 1: thirty minutes stops and he's like home. So it'll be
Speaker 1: good for him to change things out because once, you know,
Speaker 1: traveling is a little bit more back to normal and
Speaker 1: we're traveling more. We always try to take the kids
Speaker 1: when we can if we're gone for a decent period
Speaker 1: of time, so we want them to get used to that,
Speaker 1: like Jolia is, Yeah, and I think I don't know, Yes,
Speaker 1: I just wish that there wasn't the quarantine period because
Speaker 1: it just adds because we have to quarantine for two weeks. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's not I mean, honestly, that's not the part
Speaker 1: that's giving me anxiety because I mean we pretty much
Speaker 1: a quarantine here anyways. I mean we don't go anywhere
Speaker 1: minus like the grocery store here there, or like Jolie's,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean we go a few places, but
Speaker 1: it's not maybe out to dinner once every two weeks.
Speaker 1: But I don't know, it's not like it's going to
Speaker 1: totally change. But I think just having to be being
Speaker 1: told that you can't do something is what gives me anxiety.
Speaker 1: So it's like you have to stay in this house
Speaker 1: for two weeks and you can't leave, like automatically, I'm
Speaker 1: like boom anxiety because I'm like, well, what if this happens,
Speaker 1: what if like we don't even have a car, Like
Speaker 1: what if something happens with the kids, like hello, emergencies
Speaker 1: in the middle of the night, you know. So I'm
Speaker 1: just starting to like freak out about that. So I
Speaker 1: just actually emailed production because I was like, as if
Speaker 1: there is something that happens in the the middle of the night,
Speaker 1: like I'm not gonna be able to sleep knowing just
Speaker 1: in case something happened. No, for sure, I think they
Speaker 1: need to understand that with two kids, like I don't
Speaker 1: care if they have a doctor on call, Like if
Speaker 1: we have to go, we have to go, so just
Speaker 1: to be able to have a car, they're accessible, and
Speaker 1: you know, we're adults, we're professionals. We're not going to
Speaker 1: go anywhere if they say don't go anywhere. Yeah you
Speaker 1: know what I mean, Like we're not going to jeopardize
Speaker 1: the production or the movie that you're doing to be selfish. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. It's just I don't know,
Speaker 1: I don't know why. I just have I have so
Speaker 1: much anxiety around it, and you know, kind of like
Speaker 1: we said, it's not our space. And but at least
Speaker 1: it's better than it's better than what some I know
Speaker 1: some people are they have to quarantine in their hotel
Speaker 1: room and for two weeks. I'm like that, I for
Speaker 1: sure like I would. I wouldn't do it. I couldn't
Speaker 1: do it. I would lose my mind. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: like being in a jail. I mean even mattress right,
Speaker 1: even me, who you know, loves to contain his excitement,
Speaker 1: and he's dropping her off, like singing, pull him out
Speaker 1: her luggage and everything. He's like, all right, have the
Speaker 1: most wonderful time. And she's like, no, put my bags
Speaker 1: back in the car. I'm not going anywhere. You're too
Speaker 1: him happy, Let's go home. And then on the way
Speaker 1: home he's just miserable. And then you talked about at
Speaker 1: lunch with his buddies, like the next day they're like,
Speaker 1: you're too happy. You gotta contain it. Everyone knows you
Speaker 1: gotta contain. It's like I'm gonna miss you, when really
Speaker 1: you're like high fiving yourself inside. It was pretty funny.
Speaker 1: That is funny. Huh yeah. But we're gonna be together.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be great. No, the that we're gonna be together.
Speaker 1: I mean because there had been I couldn't leave without
Speaker 1: my kiddos and family. So I'm super excited. Um, so yeah,
Speaker 1: we're heading off to Canada this week. Guys, you were
Speaker 1: from here on out, the episodes are going to be
Speaker 1: recorded in Canaday. They're all going to be in French.
Speaker 1: That would be awesome. Do the speak French and Vancouver
Speaker 1: that I thought that was more Quebec where we went
Speaker 1: last time. Um, yeah, it's more of the eastern Canada.
Speaker 1: But but still that was you know, a lot of
Speaker 1: that was French territory in general, so I still think
Speaker 1: there's more French. I guess there's more French than there's
Speaker 1: like Spanish. Sure, Um hey, guys, did anyone get my
Speaker 1: one brick Wines? If you didn't get him, now, well
Speaker 1: don't you update this? How's that going? It's going really good? Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we have a red blend, very inexpensive, low sugar, low
Speaker 1: and sulf fates. I'm excited. Good. The sales are good.
Speaker 1: Sales are doing good because I've been, I've been. People
Speaker 1: are liking it. So that's what's exciting about it. That
Speaker 1: is that is awesome because it's fantast it's so good.
Speaker 1: It's fantastic. Well, we have like the best wine maker
Speaker 1: too from Napa that did the you know, helped create
Speaker 1: the wine with me. So I've been and the fact
Speaker 1: that it's a little sugar makes me super happy. But
Speaker 1: I'm excited for you that it's doing well because this
Speaker 1: was like your baby. This was out of all the
Speaker 1: things that you're doing. I know you really want this too,
Speaker 1: you know, take off and be sustainable because it's something
Speaker 1: that you're so passionate about. I do like my wine.
Speaker 1: So um, and Michael is working on his hat business. Y'all,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be good. It's going to be excited. We're
Speaker 1: gonna you know. It's just we love you guys, that's all.
Speaker 1: So we just thank you for your support. So before
Speaker 1: we get um, James and Stephen on, you know, is
Speaker 1: it is it feel like kind of like when you're
Speaker 1: on a show like that, does it almost feel like
Speaker 1: a high school reunion? Not that based regardless of that
Speaker 1: was based in high school, but you know, it feels
Speaker 1: like you're seeing these friends from a long time ago.
Speaker 1: It just has that sense of like a high school
Speaker 1: reunion for sure. I mean, I was definitely closest to
Speaker 1: Stephen obviously, because I spent I did all my scenes
Speaker 1: with Stephen. Um, I had very few scenes with James.
Speaker 1: So and like when I was in the show, it was,
Speaker 1: you know there there was just some not cattiness, but
Speaker 1: just like you can't talk to this person if you're
Speaker 1: friends with this person, and so it just became like
Speaker 1: a So I wasn't very close to James because of
Speaker 1: certain situations on the set at the time, But now,
Speaker 1: I mean everyone's really close, and it's kind of frustrating
Speaker 1: because I'm like, why couldn't we have all been friends then?
Speaker 1: And you made like the Nevies life a little bit
Speaker 1: of hell. But it's cool al right, because you couldn't
Speaker 1: make up your mind for yourself because you as soon
Speaker 1: as you got in there, whoever you stuck with, you
Speaker 1: have to stick with. But now it's like annoying because
Speaker 1: they're like, we're all friends now out and I'm just
Speaker 1: like you one person literally made it hell for us
Speaker 1: because if we chose the wrong friend, we would be destroyed.
Speaker 1: So you know, now it's like, you know, well, now
Speaker 1: everyone's adults, but that's very true. Yeah, so um, which
Speaker 1: makes you just laugh at those things when you think
Speaker 1: about your anyone's past in general, right, the cattiness or
Speaker 1: the clickiness of things in high school in that age
Speaker 1: and young twenties, you're like why, You're like, why can't
Speaker 1: I have the knowledge I have the day and be like, um,
Speaker 1: You're an idiot for thinking that, And I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk to however, I want to know it's so true
Speaker 1: because but I mean, like going on, I mean, we
Speaker 1: me Chantala and Rob came on season seven, so it's
Speaker 1: like they've already had six years to form these catrets
Speaker 1: and connections and you know, all these things. So it's
Speaker 1: like we're just coming in like dipping our toes in,
Speaker 1: like I don't want to make a mistake, you know,
Speaker 1: but get that now though, it's nice, like you know,
Speaker 1: now that I've been able to spend more time with
Speaker 1: James on conventions and you know, just being able to
Speaker 1: you know, hang out, and it's you know, they're awesome.
Speaker 1: But yeah, Stephen and I are like we're like, kin,
Speaker 1: you know, I think what's cool too, And I mean
Speaker 1: just from their one convention I went with you two
Speaker 1: last year and then also meeting Chantelle and meeting these
Speaker 1: guys and a bunch of people in the cast. Um,
Speaker 1: everyone was just so nice, Like everyone was really approachable, friendly. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, you know, reciprocated in the conversation and questions
Speaker 1: and everything. It wasn't just one sided and anything when
Speaker 1: I was meeting any of these people. So that, you know,
Speaker 1: that just goes to show the kind of some of
Speaker 1: the character the people that I've met that you were
Speaker 1: able to work with. Yeah. So, and James and Stephen
Speaker 1: are definitely two of those guys, you know, So let's
Speaker 1: take a break and get them on all right, Tree Hillers.
Speaker 1: We've waited long enough. UM. So excited because James Lafferty
Speaker 1: and Stephen COLLETTI are going to be on the show today.
Speaker 1: So I remember they were working on Everyone is doing great. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And last time we talked to both of them was
Speaker 1: almost a year ago, was last February one Tree Hill conventiontion. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I'm just so proud of them because that Everyone's
Speaker 1: doing great. Um got picked up by Hulu, and you know,
Speaker 1: I have a little piece of that world with like
Speaker 1: pitching show. I mean, me and Brian who was on
Speaker 1: the show about um the first of the year, about
Speaker 1: Love Addict. So we we had a show we were
Speaker 1: working on. It is hard to pitch a show. I
Speaker 1: mean we went to HBO, we went to Hulu, we
Speaker 1: went to Amazon, like you know, you you go in
Speaker 1: there and it's just like then they'll give you notes
Speaker 1: with then this other network on something else. So I mean,
Speaker 1: it is so incredibly hard. I think I was something
Speaker 1: about The Queen's Gambit that was passed on like for
Speaker 1: ten years or something crazy like that, So I mean
Speaker 1: it's and then there was another show too, and I
Speaker 1: know that's not the right amount time, but it was
Speaker 1: something where it's so crazy. Um, even the Stranger Things
Speaker 1: that was passed on a million times. So to be
Speaker 1: able to have a show picked up on a network
Speaker 1: nowadays is so hard. And I'm so proud of them
Speaker 1: because these dudes are They're great guys. I mean I
Speaker 1: was obviously closer with Stephen filming because he was my
Speaker 1: scene partner. I didn't do much with James, UM, but
Speaker 1: I love both of them. I'm so proud of them. Um,
Speaker 1: and James just got engaged, which is awesome to a beautiful,
Speaker 1: girlish actress. And then Stephen, I believe he's still kicking
Speaker 1: it man, just in the single life but we have
Speaker 1: some questions that came in from our Instagram to ask them. So,
Speaker 1: did you see any on Yeah, there's definitely some on
Speaker 1: here that are that are sticking out to me. So
Speaker 1: as we're talking to him, I'll pepper these in there.
Speaker 1: Anything about Kristen, Yeah, there's one about you know, Stephen
Speaker 1: being pictured with Kristin at dinner recently or whatever. And
Speaker 1: you know, I think he already addressed that and said
Speaker 1: they're just good friends. Um, But now there's there's a
Speaker 1: bunch on here, and it's so funny. I mean, people
Speaker 1: love the Tree Hillers man. Oh yeah, I mean, and
Speaker 1: I think too James had I don't want to make
Speaker 1: this up, but I'm pretty sure James had a tough
Speaker 1: time coming off of One Tree Hill because he was
Speaker 1: so typecasted. Because I can imagine you being on a
Speaker 1: show like that that long and being super typecasted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I've always been someone on the outside of the industry.
Speaker 1: I've always wondered that it's like some of these shows
Speaker 1: that do so well, especially if it's like your your
Speaker 1: big break, you know, later down the road, does that
Speaker 1: plague you, you know, does that hurt you in a sense?
Speaker 1: You know, I mean it's kind of like, you know,
Speaker 1: our buddy Bob. Second, it's like you kind of just
Speaker 1: have to embrace it after a while. It's like, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm Danny Tanner. And but then again, you know, and
Speaker 1: I know Uncle Jesse wanted to do the farthest thing
Speaker 1: from Uncle Jesse. But then they obviously they did a rething,
Speaker 1: you know, um, a reunion, and they filmed again because
Speaker 1: Fuller House, because people love it, like people love to
Speaker 1: see that character. So it's kind of like, all right,
Speaker 1: you just have to embrace it a little bit. But Okay,
Speaker 1: I'm so excited because when I saw I think it
Speaker 1: was I was stalking your page, James. Sorry Stephen, but um,
Speaker 1: James posts a little bit more. But um, I saw that,
Speaker 1: you know, everyone is doing great was picked up on
Speaker 1: Hulu and I I literally out loud. I was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, yes, Like I was so excited for
Speaker 1: you guys because I know it's been a work in
Speaker 1: progress and it's been I mean, how many years has
Speaker 1: it been now even working on it? Four four? I think, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's coming up on four like the
Speaker 1: next month. I think since we shot, so I think
Speaker 1: we shot the pilot in April of two thousand seventeen,
Speaker 1: and then we got together because you guys were doing
Speaker 1: more of you were raising more money for it, right
Speaker 1: to shoot the some some episodes of it. Is that
Speaker 1: that was did We did the crowdfunding for additional episodes,
Speaker 1: and you were kind enough to come in and do
Speaker 1: one of our live watches, which those were very popular
Speaker 1: for us. That was that was that was huge, um,
Speaker 1: instrumental part of our campaign and it was nice to
Speaker 1: get that, you know, the One Trail community on board
Speaker 1: and have you guys come out and help us out
Speaker 1: and do those live watches like it was fun. I mean,
Speaker 1: we don't get to see each other too often, so
Speaker 1: it was nice to have an excuse to get together. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it was definitely fun. I'm curious though, because in
Speaker 1: those four years, was there ever kind of like that
Speaker 1: should we just stop like is this you know, we're
Speaker 1: pitching it, we're trying to do this, we're not getting
Speaker 1: or was it like, hey, no, we've got traction and
Speaker 1: this is all good. Or did you ever have that
Speaker 1: moment where you're like, I like, this isn't going to happen. Yeah? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think that was the that was the hardest part
Speaker 1: of it all. The work um was amazing, and just
Speaker 1: getting to do what we love to do was was
Speaker 1: incredible every step of the way. Um, there were growing
Speaker 1: pains for sure, and UM there were a lot of
Speaker 1: challenges and things we had to learn a long way,
Speaker 1: but it always felt it always felt good because we
Speaker 1: were learning and because we we did feel like we
Speaker 1: were towards something. But I do think the uncertainty of
Speaker 1: it all was the hardest part, um of just really
Speaker 1: not knowing, um where this was headed. We we never knew.
Speaker 1: We always wanted it to be on Hulu, but we
Speaker 1: never knew that we were going to get there. We
Speaker 1: always felt like we were a long shot at best.
Speaker 1: Um And in fact, you know, we were totally prepared
Speaker 1: to just self distribute and see how that went, which
Speaker 1: is a much tougher road. UM. So so yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I think that there were never moments where we
Speaker 1: just wanted to throw our hands up and give up.
Speaker 1: But there were definitely moments where I won't speak for Stephen,
Speaker 1: but at least for myself, it was like, Okay, what
Speaker 1: do we really doing here? Like how was this going
Speaker 1: to end? Because it just sort of felt like it
Speaker 1: was going on and on with no real life at
Speaker 1: the end of the tunnel, Stephen, what about for you? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, um, for me, we always had that plan
Speaker 1: of self distribution. That was the like, all right, the
Speaker 1: last plan. Um, if we feel like we've we've you know,
Speaker 1: exhausted all options and we feel like we've gotten our
Speaker 1: fair shot, Um, then what you know, we'll self distribute,
Speaker 1: which which is you know, which is fine? And again
Speaker 1: it's it's still the accomplishment was really for us to
Speaker 1: get the money to shoot the thing. I mean, and
Speaker 1: and there was points in that campaign where we're doing
Speaker 1: the indieog campaign where I was like, oh, man, like
Speaker 1: this is we knew it was gonna be a big task,
Speaker 1: but this is a lot bigger than than we expected.
Speaker 1: And it was really really hard. Um, but you know,
Speaker 1: we're we're grateful for the people that jump board to
Speaker 1: help us out and you know kind of propel us.
Speaker 1: But you know, you're you're asking money for forty five days,
Speaker 1: so you know, um, you know, we can't do live
Speaker 1: watches for forty five days straight, although that would have
Speaker 1: been fun. We've got have hung out a couple more times,
Speaker 1: but um, you know, there are those days is where
Speaker 1: you're supposed to be kind of getting content there and
Speaker 1: driving it every day, and you're like, ah, already i
Speaker 1: am not on social media that much, and now I'm
Speaker 1: on here every single day I ask people for money.
Speaker 1: She got a little overwhelmed. But again, at the end,
Speaker 1: goal there, for for the for the show, um was
Speaker 1: what continue to drive us. And then there were these
Speaker 1: moments along the way that like we're so unexpected, and
Speaker 1: whether it's like Janet you coming in and doing the
Speaker 1: live watch and that being very lucrative for us, or
Speaker 1: being at some TV festival and James and I literally
Speaker 1: sitting in a lounge at one point frustrated because we
Speaker 1: can't get this video on YouTube and just a couple
Speaker 1: of knuckleheads trying to you know, trying to work the internet,
Speaker 1: and a woman had come up to us and had
Speaker 1: just seen the screening and she just started talking to
Speaker 1: us casually. Thankfully we were nice to her, because then
Speaker 1: ten minutes later she's like, well, she's like, let me
Speaker 1: see your campaign, and she wind up donating over twenty
Speaker 1: dollars in that mone and so it's just, you know,
Speaker 1: it's one of those things where, uh, lesson I learned
Speaker 1: there is like you know, the perseverance, Like even when
Speaker 1: you feel down, you know you've got to continue to strive, strive,
Speaker 1: and if you need to seek help, see get you know,
Speaker 1: get get your friends. You know, to be honest with
Speaker 1: with yourself and your friends about you know, where you
Speaker 1: might be or what you might need. And as long
Speaker 1: as you're kind of putting yourself out there and you're
Speaker 1: working hard, you know, things will happen, maybe not like
Speaker 1: you expected, but still amazing things will happen. With the
Speaker 1: timeline being, you know, the past four years working on
Speaker 1: this project, how much, if at all, has the concept
Speaker 1: around it changed, Like from day one of you guys
Speaker 1: you know, having this idea and being to what it
Speaker 1: is now. M hmm. I think the concept has stayed
Speaker 1: pretty um, pretty consistent. I mean, we we always knew
Speaker 1: what kind of show we wanted it to be. We
Speaker 1: always knew we wanted it to feel dry. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: in terms of its humor, we we knew that the
Speaker 1: humor was going to come from like those little moments
Speaker 1: when people don't know what to say to each other
Speaker 1: instead of delivering punchlines. Um, we knew that we wanted
Speaker 1: it to feel raw and awkward. UM and uh and
Speaker 1: and sort of make you squirm a little bit. You know.
Speaker 1: That's the kind of humor that we're really drawn to.
Speaker 1: That's the kind of Those are the kind of shows
Speaker 1: that really inspired us to make this show. UM. But
Speaker 1: I will say that like one thing that really I
Speaker 1: guess pleasantly surprised us and and opened up the whole
Speaker 1: process for us was when we actually got to set
Speaker 1: and shooting that first the first season was UM. You
Speaker 1: know that the actors that came in and really elevated
Speaker 1: the material. UM. It took you know, We've given a
Speaker 1: lot of freedom to just do what they wanted with
Speaker 1: their characters, bring as much as of themselves to the
Speaker 1: character as they wanted to UM, because we felt like
Speaker 1: that would just make it feel that much more authentic
Speaker 1: and real and uh. And then every single actor that
Speaker 1: came in, whether it was like for um, you know,
Speaker 1: a tiny little scene or a reoccurring um, a reoccurring
Speaker 1: role or you know our other leads, like they just
Speaker 1: took what they had and what was on the page
Speaker 1: and they elevated to this other level that we just
Speaker 1: didn't even expect and was always so funny and so real,
Speaker 1: and it just gave it breathed this knife into the
Speaker 1: show that we were really grateful for because you know,
Speaker 1: we knew that a show just about you know, Seth
Speaker 1: and Jeremy and Andrea. Like any show that is only,
Speaker 1: uh based on a few characters or where there's a
Speaker 1: few characters that feel real, it's going to have a
Speaker 1: limit to how many people it can reach, Right, It's
Speaker 1: gonna have the limit to how many people actually it
Speaker 1: actually resonates with. And so to be able to get
Speaker 1: in the editing room and just feel like we actually
Speaker 1: know these characters that we're cutting together and like these
Speaker 1: these scenes that are coming to life in a way
Speaker 1: that we didn't anticipate, was like that was incredible and
Speaker 1: that was that was kind of unexpected. So, I know,
Speaker 1: what everyone is doing great is um But for the listeners,
Speaker 1: UM give us like the elevator pitch, like what is
Speaker 1: it about and what can they expect? Yes, So there's
Speaker 1: these three people, James and I character and Alex Park's
Speaker 1: character Andrea Davis, who were on this you know, huge
Speaker 1: vampire drama. It was number one in the Zeke think
Speaker 1: um uh you know Vampire Diaries or um what what
Speaker 1: were the movies, Um, Twilight, Ye, sorry Twilight, I forgot. Um,
Speaker 1: you know just where everyone is obsessed and these faces
Speaker 1: are everywhere and people know who they are. Um, and
Speaker 1: so you know that's where they were on a show
Speaker 1: like that, and it's five years later, Um, and you're
Speaker 1: just seeing them at home kind of struggling to put
Speaker 1: life together. You meet life head on as they are,
Speaker 1: you know, entering their thirties and and um middle age,
Speaker 1: and um, things are not you know, not as as
Speaker 1: smooth as they might have expected. And obviously coming from
Speaker 1: having it easy and feeling the world is that their
Speaker 1: fingertips earlier on in their life. Um, now they're they're um,
Speaker 1: you know, they're struggling. The wheels are just kind of spinning.
Speaker 1: So um, you know these characters what they're they're kind
Speaker 1: of having to lean on each other. Um, when when
Speaker 1: they all don't really have bus any leaning on each
Speaker 1: other because of all that they're going through. Were you
Speaker 1: guys able to draw from any personal stories or situations
Speaker 1: from yourself for people that you knew to kind of
Speaker 1: bring into this material. Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of what
Speaker 1: inspired us in the first place. Was is um, you know,
Speaker 1: getting into our thirties and and just sort of realizing
Speaker 1: that that that I guess that sort of I don't know,
Speaker 1: that could of invincibility that you feel in your twenties,
Speaker 1: you know, it starts to kind of wear off and
Speaker 1: you realize that it was all it was never actually there, right, like,
Speaker 1: you don't know. The more you learn, the more you
Speaker 1: realize you don't know, and the more scary of the
Speaker 1: world gets. And that's something that we were sort of
Speaker 1: experiencing as we ended our thirties, and we were experiencing
Speaker 1: it against the backdrop of you know, this industry that
Speaker 1: is so incredibly uncertain and it's so absurd. Everywhere you look,
Speaker 1: there's just crazy things going on and hilarious things going on,
Speaker 1: and um, and we just thought that there was a
Speaker 1: lot of comedy in that struggle. So, um, you know,
Speaker 1: knowing that and sort of having those building blocks, we
Speaker 1: just wanted to create characters for you know, for ourselves
Speaker 1: and for this world that we could really map onto
Speaker 1: those situations and have them deal with them in um,
Speaker 1: really funny ways. You know. We just at the end
Speaker 1: of the day, we just really wanted to make people laugh. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, the struggle that they may be going through.
Speaker 1: I feel like it's a way to get through things,
Speaker 1: just to try to laugh it off and um, and
Speaker 1: so yeah, it was really about just like, you know,
Speaker 1: characters that were close enough to ourselves that we felt
Speaker 1: we could really portray them and and have it feel
Speaker 1: real and authentic, but at the same time, you know,
Speaker 1: heighten certain aspects of our own personality, like take it
Speaker 1: further to one end of the character spectrum, so that, um,
Speaker 1: you know, when they do get in these situations, there's
Speaker 1: more sort of explosive things happening. Um. I love that
Speaker 1: because I feel like in your thirties is when you're
Speaker 1: just like a total wake up call, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. It's like what James said, I'd like we
Speaker 1: said the cloak of invincibility, because I think that that
Speaker 1: he just probably summed up my twenties perfectly. Right now,
Speaker 1: it's like I run around, whether it's it's burning them
Speaker 1: in oil or just you know, kind of not thinking
Speaker 1: too far ahead. It's everything's kind of a little more
Speaker 1: present and and and just the the long term consequences
Speaker 1: of things, like it's just not there, you know. And
Speaker 1: it's a beautiful thing. And I think we love to
Speaker 1: have that, but you know it's it's the push and
Speaker 1: pull about getting into your thirties. It's like you take
Speaker 1: the experiences that you have had, and we talked about
Speaker 1: this in the show, and you should be applying that
Speaker 1: and hopefully be in a better headspace, right Like, Oh,
Speaker 1: I just survived my twenties basically, and now I'm ready
Speaker 1: to grow up and be an adult. But it's just
Speaker 1: not that smooth of a transition now. I feel like
Speaker 1: when you get your thirties, you're like, I have issues
Speaker 1: and I gotta work three because it's mental and physical too.
Speaker 1: Like I used to I could play sports all the time,
Speaker 1: but now, like getting out of bed, you're like, oh man,
Speaker 1: I'm like I played in a softball game yesterday, and
Speaker 1: what's wrong with you? Um? I want to know some
Speaker 1: t though. Did you guys ever argue or fight during
Speaker 1: this process, like get annoyed with each other? Did we
Speaker 1: did we go to did we go to blows? Never
Speaker 1: any fisticuffs? When we got physical it got mentally physical. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we spent James and I had spent We spent basically
Speaker 1: all two thousand nineteen in an editing room together. And
Speaker 1: I don't care who you know who you love the
Speaker 1: most planet. But spending the whole year in the room together,
Speaker 1: that's marriage and quarantine. It's like when stop breathing last year,
Speaker 1: I know, I know, UM, so you know it's thankfully
Speaker 1: those are those are important moments for us because I
Speaker 1: usually when we're you know, having mental digits over something,
Speaker 1: it's something that you know is gonna be better off
Speaker 1: for it in the end. And you know, I think
Speaker 1: it'd be a real problem we were just constantly agreeing
Speaker 1: with each other and everything was hunky dorry because I
Speaker 1: wouldn't really be honest, you know, um. And what's a
Speaker 1: partnership about trust and honesty? So you know, you know,
Speaker 1: nothing crazy thankfully um. And and you know, but we
Speaker 1: know of course, where we are having a heated discussion
Speaker 1: over particular scene or something, um, you know, we were
Speaker 1: better off for it. And yet who wins who who?
Speaker 1: Who usually wins? And who's usually right? It's usually it's
Speaker 1: probably a coin toss, but it's usually I think that
Speaker 1: it's usually whoever was right because usually usually what do
Speaker 1: is well, you know, we'll have this like needed discussion.
Speaker 1: We'll you know, we'll lock horns over something and we'll
Speaker 1: sort of put it aside for a second until the
Speaker 1: end of the day, you know, just to get the
Speaker 1: work done, just to continue forward. And then towards the
Speaker 1: end of the day we'll talk about it again. Oh no,
Speaker 1: we're still we're still locking horns. And then it we'll
Speaker 1: just sort of like leave it for a minute and
Speaker 1: we'll go home. We'll go our separate ways, we'll get
Speaker 1: a good night's sleep. I mean, y'all are in a marriage.
Speaker 1: This is a marriage. But in a marriage, I was
Speaker 1: about to say, I wish it ended up with the
Speaker 1: person who is right, realizing that right, it doesn't really
Speaker 1: work that way in a marriage. That's because men are
Speaker 1: in James, you'll learn this, but like the women are right. No,
Speaker 1: you just think that because we're time to fighting the battle.
Speaker 1: So take it whatever I'm learning. There's some truth to that.
Speaker 1: If we really had any issues, we'd go to our
Speaker 1: producing team, or you know, we go to Alex with
Speaker 1: another actress um and producer on the show, uh and
Speaker 1: tossed by her, and we would get good insight there.
Speaker 1: So we need a mediatory. So, speaking of that, James,
Speaker 1: you and Alex are engaged, correct, Yes, congratulations, that's amazing.
Speaker 1: And so how long. I don't know when you all
Speaker 1: got engaged, but how long in that process with you
Speaker 1: guys working together, Like did you guys get romantic or
Speaker 1: get engaged and and kind of how is that working
Speaker 1: together with someone you want to spend your life with. Um,
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, it's it's great. It's like, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's a kin to working with this It's just
Speaker 1: I think it's it's a sort of what we do
Speaker 1: here with this show. You know, It's like, Um, Steven
Speaker 1: and I have known each other for a long time.
Speaker 1: I've known Alex since twenty fifteen when I directed on
Speaker 1: her show, and that's how we got to know each other. Um,
Speaker 1: And so you know, she has been there since the beginnings.
Speaker 1: It's the very first episode of this show. And UM,
Speaker 1: you know, we had the pleasure of working with producers
Speaker 1: that I've worked with on three films before this. They
Speaker 1: were the ones who, really, you know, they had all
Speaker 1: of this knowledge and how to get your turn of
Speaker 1: your your little into project into a reality. And they,
Speaker 1: you know, they were gracious enough to share that knowledge
Speaker 1: with us and and take us to the promised Land.
Speaker 1: So you know, what I have with Alex is just like,
Speaker 1: you know, I think about it the same way that
Speaker 1: you know I think about the rest of this sort
Speaker 1: of like film family that we formed. It's just like
Speaker 1: it's the best of both worlds when you find you
Speaker 1: know people that you you know, you love personally that
Speaker 1: you can then love working with as well. There's definitely
Speaker 1: a balance. So I will say that because I know
Speaker 1: working with with Mike is it can be hard because
Speaker 1: you're just you're always together. So it's about finding that
Speaker 1: personal time for yourself too that is so needed on
Speaker 1: more his side. But um of of course, of course two,
Speaker 1: I think in our experience it was like with Alex
Speaker 1: it was like she we needed to give her those
Speaker 1: the space that she needed as well, because we were
Speaker 1: really like taking over this house with these computers and
Speaker 1: like you know, we're editing, and we're editing. We we
Speaker 1: didn't always we couldn't always wear headphones. We needed to
Speaker 1: hear it from the speakers. So you know, she's trying
Speaker 1: to like live her life while we're is playing the same,
Speaker 1: like the same you know, piece of dialogue on a
Speaker 1: loop like seventy five times. It's just and sometimes it
Speaker 1: could be her, Yeah, sometimes it's her or sometimes it's
Speaker 1: Stephen like, there's there's not not to give too much away,
Speaker 1: but there's a there's a line that Stephen has in
Speaker 1: the show and he goes, you're trying to get me arrested?
Speaker 1: Are you trying to get me arrested? And She's like,
Speaker 1: that line is in my head when I wake up
Speaker 1: in the morning. It's in every time we hear the
Speaker 1: word arrested on TV. She's like, trying to get me arrested.
Speaker 1: For some reason, it's that line that she heard the most.
Speaker 1: How did you propose tour? Uh? Just here was it? Yeah?
Speaker 1: It was a quarantine proposal and we kept it super
Speaker 1: simple and safe. And you know, this is our this
Speaker 1: is uh yeah, this is our favorite place to be.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, I love that, Stephen. You know I
Speaker 1: have to ask you, is there going to be a
Speaker 1: Laguna beach reunion with you and Kristen? A love reunion?
Speaker 1: We were we had our union, We had dinner together.
Speaker 1: I know, we were like, all three of us should
Speaker 1: get together. That was It was good too to see her,
Speaker 1: and it's nice to have an friendship with her after
Speaker 1: all these years. Sure we've got quite the history back there,
Speaker 1: So it's always good to see her. I know, I
Speaker 1: love both of you. So it was it was cute,
Speaker 1: like I feel like because you guys were so young then,
Speaker 1: you know, but I was just like half the internet
Speaker 1: just lit up. I was like, well, this is this
Speaker 1: is going to go crazy because you know what it
Speaker 1: was like. It was nice to see that it was
Speaker 1: a pose reaction. I will say that because after the
Speaker 1: extreme discomfort of my phone blowing up and having to
Speaker 1: turn and um, you know just just yeah, having that
Speaker 1: kind of blow up much more than you ever would expect. Um,
Speaker 1: it's nice that, you know. For me, it's I don't
Speaker 1: really think too much about um Laguna and the show,
Speaker 1: and for people to have like a positive reaction into
Speaker 1: I think look back on the show fondly and kind
Speaker 1: of have memories of watching at and kind of rooting
Speaker 1: for these people on the show in a way, um
Speaker 1: brings them some sort of joy. That's cool. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that UM speaking of that. So right before we did this,
Speaker 1: we jumped on here with you guys on Jane's Instagram.
Speaker 1: We asked her followers to send some questions and it's
Speaker 1: lightening a lightening around. Yeah, it was a million questions,
Speaker 1: which I love it because of them aren't even questions
Speaker 1: or statements like James, marry me, Stephen, marry me, one
Speaker 1: of you marry me. I don't care who like. It's
Speaker 1: just it's unbelievable. It's so funny. They're just saying. One
Speaker 1: of them said, James was her hall pass? Oh yes, me, yeah,
Speaker 1: just noises. Um, you know. So, I'm sure you guys
Speaker 1: have heard a million of these before. I'm trying to
Speaker 1: get some different ones. But one thing is, you know
Speaker 1: a lot of people like to ask with a show
Speaker 1: like that, you know, what's if you can narrow it
Speaker 1: down to one thing, what's the one thing you're looking
Speaker 1: back like you miss about it the most. Stephen, I'll
Speaker 1: start with you with um with one try Hill sorry,
Speaker 1: with one show. Um, I missed Wilmington, North Carolina. It
Speaker 1: was a beautiful place. It was nice to, uh, to
Speaker 1: spend time on the East Coast after you know, I
Speaker 1: grew up on the West Coast, so um, you know,
Speaker 1: I spent a good chunk of my twenties on the
Speaker 1: East Coast and it was just a different culture. It
Speaker 1: felt like a little bit of a different country. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, it was it was nice to get that
Speaker 1: perspective and thankfully we actually went back to Wilmington's to
Speaker 1: um to shoot a little bit for our show. So
Speaker 1: there's some some pieces in a couple episodes, UM where
Speaker 1: one of the characters goes out to North Carolina and
Speaker 1: we shot in Wilmington's. So it was nice to to
Speaker 1: get it in our show as well. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it, James. Um, Yeah, I think the I
Speaker 1: think Wilmington's for sure, Like Steven said, UH, just fell
Speaker 1: in love with that place, still love. It's kind a
Speaker 1: special place in my heart. But also the people, uh,
Speaker 1: the people, the cast, that crew, Um, there were so
Speaker 1: many folks on both sides of the camera that we're
Speaker 1: there from from day one, m from you know, shooting
Speaker 1: the pilot and then you know, to get to know
Speaker 1: people like that for nine years is um. I just
Speaker 1: you know, the older I get, the more I realized
Speaker 1: how increasingly rare that is, and it's just reat to
Speaker 1: be able to spend that much time working on something
Speaker 1: with people. UM. So it's really special, Like I'm just
Speaker 1: I look back on that fondly because I realized how
Speaker 1: how rare it is to have that experience to get
Speaker 1: to know people for so long and to uh Yeah,
Speaker 1: to just in with them and and do the work
Speaker 1: and sort of have another little family, you know. Guilty pleasure, chocolate,
Speaker 1: a lot of it. A chocolate that's like wine and chocolate.
Speaker 1: Probably yes, nice. Uh quarantine, I mean my my, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the amount of money I've spent on wine in the
Speaker 1: last year. Um, so just make a wine and have
Speaker 1: it be researched, because that's what I what I just said.
Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, because I have a wine, so I'm like,
Speaker 1: it's all research. I drink wine, a wine. Yeah it
Speaker 1: comes out. Yeah, I came out. Well, I'll send you
Speaker 1: one you okay. Jana was like, you know, I drink
Speaker 1: of wine. Mys make my own get high on my
Speaker 1: own supply. Alright, brilliant. I'm questioning our friendship right now,
Speaker 1: the fact that you would after the wine that we
Speaker 1: enjoyed when Wilmington's and we had went through there too,
Speaker 1: then you wouldn't even I'm going to send to both
Speaker 1: of you in congratulations of your Everyone is doing great,
Speaker 1: hey you, um alright, so everyone, um watch Everyone is
Speaker 1: Doing Great now available on Hulu. UM. It's such a
Speaker 1: great show. I love you guys both, and thank you
Speaker 1: for just being so authentic and being awesome. Guys. We
Speaker 1: we appreciate you, and I just, um, I'm wanting to
Speaker 1: maybe audition for episode I mean for season two. You
Speaker 1: know there's a season to like hook Ull Girl Up
Speaker 1: Alex j Is Reunion. I don't know. I don't think
Speaker 1: you're gonna have to audition for that. Okay, cool, all right, Well,
Speaker 1: thank you guys so much. Appreciate you winding down with us.
Speaker 1: Thank you, first of all, love Stephen and James. Like
Speaker 1: I said at the beginning of it, they're just great dudes.
Speaker 1: They're so genuine how you guys hear them are exactly how.
Speaker 1: They are, very genuine, very nice, and I just I
Speaker 1: enjoyed talking to to anybody from the whole crew. Like
Speaker 1: you said, they're great and their shows. Everyone is doing great.
Speaker 1: Get it. It's on Hulu. It's really good. Watch it. Um.
Speaker 1: On a side note though, in one of the scenes,
Speaker 1: because you haven't watched it yet, but I was rinning
Speaker 1: on a treadmill and I was watching one of the
Speaker 1: first like two scenes or episodes, and I jumped on
Speaker 1: the guys. I saw that Stephen and James were going live,
Speaker 1: so I just like jumped on the live and in
Speaker 1: one of the scenes, Stephen has to the pillow, like
Speaker 1: the casting director and the director are like make love
Speaker 1: to the pillow, and he's literally humping a pillow like
Speaker 1: in one of the scenes. And so I went on
Speaker 1: Stephen and James's live. I was like, whose decision was it?
Speaker 1: To the pillow? That's so good? But apparently it was
Speaker 1: like something that Stephen was asked to do in an audition.
Speaker 1: Really yeah, I mean not to that extent, but like'
Speaker 1: not how uncomfortable? Yeah, I mean, I like when I
Speaker 1: was watching it, I was so uncomfortable. I'd be like,
Speaker 1: I don't care if it's Michael Bay, I'm not king
Speaker 1: a pillow. That's so uncomfortable, I know. And he's like
Speaker 1: caressing like the head of the pillow, Like I couldn't.
Speaker 1: I I don't care. I just I don't think I
Speaker 1: could do it. No. Yeah, that's and like what you know,
Speaker 1: as a casting director or whoever is in that room,
Speaker 1: what are they looking at when they're watching this person,
Speaker 1: Like you know his hips are pretty good or okay,
Speaker 1: it's like at his facial expressions or like what are
Speaker 1: they looking at? Like what are they looking for? I
Speaker 1: think it's a power trip. If it's of anything, that's
Speaker 1: what I make. I'm gonna make you capello. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I just sit around telling their other casting
Speaker 1: director buddies, I made this dumbass propello that's actually kind
Speaker 1: of funny. We got an email. Yes, um, this one's
Speaker 1: from Tabitha. So my husband I just found out we're expecting. Congrats,
Speaker 1: I'm only four weeks along. Two days after we found
Speaker 1: out I was pregnant, my husband took the whole day
Speaker 1: off um work for a one hour appointment. In my mind,
Speaker 1: he could have preserved those seven hours for O. B
Speaker 1: g U I N appointments or time after the baby comes.
Speaker 1: I tried to explain, it makes me nervous that he
Speaker 1: won't have is much time off available when we have
Speaker 1: appointments or when the baby comes. He got mad and said,
Speaker 1: my time off is my time, and I'll use that
Speaker 1: however I want. In his defense, his job is stressful
Speaker 1: and he needs mental health days to stay sane. But
Speaker 1: a whole day for a one hour appointment? Am I crazy? Uh?
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think she's crazy because it makes sense.
Speaker 1: I think I think the problem is as women think
Speaker 1: more logical than men. Men just think what they need
Speaker 1: in general. I don't know. I mean maybe i'm but
Speaker 1: I think women are like, okay, like you have because
Speaker 1: may days off, Like you should probably take you know,
Speaker 1: one day off while before I go, and like we're
Speaker 1: thinking like weeks and months ahead of guys. Like we're thinking, like, okay,
Speaker 1: so you're gonna have to take a day off like
Speaker 1: when I go into labor, and like what if I
Speaker 1: have like you know, bad days and there's like two
Speaker 1: days and then like you know, a few days after
Speaker 1: the baby comes, and like so like we're thinking does
Speaker 1: paternity believe If he doesn't, then he's wasting his days, right,
Speaker 1: And so I'd get that you would be upset. And
Speaker 1: I'm happy that you said something to him. I'm sad
Speaker 1: that he responded with such a defensive statement. Yeah. So
Speaker 1: first of all, they don't say it, but I can
Speaker 1: tell this is their first kid um, and I think
Speaker 1: that's that's the thing he's not used to really, you know,
Speaker 1: realizing that as time is not all his anymore, it's
Speaker 1: about to not be all his, you know, when it's
Speaker 1: just you and your partner. Yeah, you sacrifice some of
Speaker 1: your time because you're spending it together, but we all
Speaker 1: we enjoy that, so it's not really sacrificing your time.
Speaker 1: But when you have a kid, right your time, that
Speaker 1: is your priority with your time. So he's he doesn't
Speaker 1: understand that concept yet, right, So to your point, she's
Speaker 1: thinking ahead when the baby's here, that you know, when
Speaker 1: she needs help, when she's got things going on. He's
Speaker 1: not thinking of it as like it's my responsive old yet,
Speaker 1: so he so. And also in his defense, I don't
Speaker 1: know how Tabitha brought it up, not saying that she
Speaker 1: came at him hard about it. If she asked him
Speaker 1: from a good place and he acted that defensive, that sucks.
Speaker 1: But you know, I'm going to say that my girl,
Speaker 1: Tabitha came from a really good place and didn't get
Speaker 1: mad at him and was just like, hey, you know what,
Speaker 1: I'm feeling frustrated because you know, when I see that
Speaker 1: you took this whole day off, I make up that
Speaker 1: you don't care about me and you don't care about
Speaker 1: you know, the days that will be needed for the baby.
Speaker 1: That's how I know Tabitha said it. I know she.
Speaker 1: I know she said it that way and so well,
Speaker 1: and I appreciate Tabitha at least acknowledging his need for
Speaker 1: some some time mental health day. So it's just, you know, Tabitha,
Speaker 1: You're not crazy. You know. He needs to understand that
Speaker 1: his time is in his time here pretty soon, Okay,
Speaker 1: like the baby is a priority. So he'll hopefully he'll
Speaker 1: come around to that and realize that. So just keep
Speaker 1: having a conversation from a good place and you know,
Speaker 1: work it out. Here's another one for you. I've been
Speaker 1: married to my husband for five years now, and we
Speaker 1: have two beautiful children, ages four and one. Recently, with
Speaker 1: balancing our full time jobs, daily chores, and two very
Speaker 1: needy and demanding little children, at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: i just want to crawl into bed, but I'm also
Speaker 1: longing to connect with my husband, let alone, go out
Speaker 1: on a date. It's hard to find time alone time
Speaker 1: together amongst the chaos of raising a family. I'm horrible
Speaker 1: at staying up late to watch a movie. I feel
Speaker 1: like our alone time needs to be specifically planned out
Speaker 1: time activity, because we sometimes spend thirty minutes talking about
Speaker 1: what we should do together. What advice would you give
Speaker 1: to those couples just trying to ride out the wave?
Speaker 1: Good question, Kara, Um, Michael and I have a marriage calendar. Um,
Speaker 1: and we basically I mean it can change, but you
Speaker 1: know it's like Mondays we read a book together. Um,
Speaker 1: Tuesday's we have our own time or or something. Usually
Speaker 1: actually Monday's we've because you have therapy. So usually it's
Speaker 1: been like your own time, but like it it changes,
Speaker 1: but we have like Wednesday's will do game night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we try to have four nights a week that are
Speaker 1: typically planned on we're spending it together and what we're doing.
Speaker 1: So we have yet Jana said, typically Monday nights we
Speaker 1: read a chapter of this book that we're reading, and
Speaker 1: then we like maybe watch a show or hang out
Speaker 1: or play a game whatever else we want, but we
Speaker 1: do that first. This is all after the kids go down,
Speaker 1: you know. Tuesday is we play a game after the
Speaker 1: kids go down, and then maybe we'll watch the show
Speaker 1: or hang out. Wednesday's intentional time, so no phones, no TV,
Speaker 1: no you know, distraction. We just sit on the couch
Speaker 1: and a glass of wine and just talk, um, find
Speaker 1: out what's new in each other's worlds. And then we
Speaker 1: try to do a date night, you know, one of
Speaker 1: the other night. So we know that's not easy for everybody. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, it's easier said than done, but it's just
Speaker 1: knowing what you're gonna do. Like you're saying, you know
Speaker 1: Kara or is it Sarah? You think she suppose a't
Speaker 1: c A R A age. I mean I thought it
Speaker 1: was Sarah, but I'm thinking it's Kara because Car, I
Speaker 1: really thought that would planned that one out well to
Speaker 1: cover our bases. Kara, Kara, Sarah whereich every one of
Speaker 1: those were just want to respect you in your name? Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah, so I would say try to schedule something
Speaker 1: like that and just be flexible with each other. It's like, hey,
Speaker 1: I had a long day, I'm exhausted. Can we just
Speaker 1: get into bed and watch something? Sure, but then knowing
Speaker 1: that there are gonna be days where one or both
Speaker 1: of you're tired, but you committed to doing something different
Speaker 1: with each other, and if it's just like start with
Speaker 1: just one day, start with just like, Hey, on Wednesdays,
Speaker 1: can we just have intentional time or we just or
Speaker 1: on Thursdays, can we, um, you know, on Monday, let's
Speaker 1: pick up the movie we're gonna watch Thursday, so we
Speaker 1: don't wait already minutes to figure it out. Like Michael's like, hey,
Speaker 1: we're watching this movie on this day, you know, together. Um,
Speaker 1: so yeah, just it's tough, but just try to ask
Speaker 1: for what you need and um try to yeah, try
Speaker 1: to plan it out a little bit might help. Um,
Speaker 1: you guys are awesome. We'll see you in Canada.